Wire feeding means

Feeding apparatus for feeding material for a predetermined distance past a predetermined point on a feed-path comprises a pair of feed rollers, one of which is coupled to a stepping motor. A sensing means in the form of a light beam is provided on the feeding path at the predetermined point and when the material being fed intersects and interrupts this light beam, a control means for the stepping motor commences to count pulses transmitted to the motor. After a number of pulses have been counted which causes the motor to feed the material precisely to the predetermined location, the motor is stopped. The control means also has means for actuating a further apparatus (such as a crimping press) which performs an operation on the material. This control means is effective to delay energization of the crimping press is the press is not in a state of readiness for performing the crimping operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to feeding means for feeding material for a precise 
distance past a fixed point on a feed path and for energizing an 
associated apparatus which performs an operation on the material which has 
been fed. The invention is herein disclosed in conjunction with a lead 
making machine which transports individual wires to a crimping press which 
functions to crimp the terminal onto the end of each wire presented 
thereto. It will be understood, however, that the principles of the 
invention can be used for feeding other materials and in conjunction with 
other types of apparatus for performing operations on the fed material. 
Application Ser. No. 723,697 discloses and claims a lead making machine 
which serially applies terminals to the ends of each of a succession of 
wires which are presented to a crimping press which forms part of the 
machine. In accordance with the principles of the invention described in 
Application Ser. No. 723,697 the wires are transported laterally of their 
axes until they are positioned in axial alignment with, but spaced from, 
the crimping press. Thereafter, the wires are fed axially until the 
leading end of each wire is located between the die and anvil of the 
press. The press is then actuated to crimp terminals onto the end of the 
wire. It is essential that the end of the wire be precisely positioned 
between the die and anvil if satisfactory electrical leads are to be 
produced by machines of this general class. The instant invention provides 
a means for feeding the wires axially past a predetermined point on the 
wire feed path so that its end is precisely and accurately located between 
the die and anvil. Precise feeding of the wire is achieved by virtue of 
the fact that the feed rolls are driven by a stepping motor which is 
controlled by control circuit means as will be described below. During 
axial feeding of the wire, it interrupts a light beam thereby to cause a 
signal to be sent to the control means and upon receipt of this signal, 
the control means causes the stepping motor to be rotated through a 
precisely predetermined arc and thereby feed the wire beyond the light 
beam by a precisely predetermined amount. The amount by which the wire is 
fed can be readily changed by merely changing some switch settings so that 
the performance of the apparatus can be precisely controlled. The control 
means also incorporates means for actuating the crimping press after the 
wire has been fed. Additionally, means are provided for delaying actuation 
of the press after the wire has been fed if the press is not in a state of 
readiness to carry out the crimping operation; in other words, if the 
press has not completed its previous operating cycle. 
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved feeding 
means for feeding material, such as wire, for a precise distance beyond a 
predetermined point on the feed path. A further object is to provide 
feeding means and control means for a lead making machine including means 
for actuating the crimping press of the machine after conclusion of the 
wire feeding step. A further object is to provide a feeding means having 
switch means controlling the length of material is fed. A further object 
is to provide a relatively simple and durable feeding means for materials 
such as wire which can be used in conjunction with a wide variety of 
apparatus for performing operations on the material being fed.

A feeding means in accordance with the invention is disclosed herein in 
conjunction with the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 which presents wires 6 to a 
crimping press at which a terminal is crimped onto the end of each wire. 
Since an understanding of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is desirable for 
appreciation of the principles of the instant invention, the apparatus 
will first be described. 
The essential motions which are imparted to the wires by the apparatus are 
shown in FIGS. 2-4, the operator stacks the wires in a slot 48 at a 
loading station 8 (FIG. 3) and the wires are individually removed from the 
bottom of the stack and conveyed laterally to a wire feeding station 10. 
The lateral conveyance and axial feeding of each wire is carried out by a 
cylindrical conveying and feeding drum 16 which rotates continuously 
during operation. The wire is fed axially at the feeding station 10 to an 
operating zone 12 (FIG. 4) and the stripped end 4 is located in alignment 
with the terminal which is disposed on an anvil 14. Finally, the terminal 
is crimped onto the wire by a crimping die 15 (FIG. 5) and the terminated 
wire is ejected from the apparatus. 
Referring now to FIG. 1, the apparatus comprises a conventional bench press 
20 mounted on a suitable support surface 22 and having a terminal 
applicator (not specifically shown) mounted on its platen. The ram of the 
terminal applicator is connected to the press ram and the crimping die 15 
is mounted on the applicator ram. Terminals in strip form 24 are fed from 
a reel over a guide plate 26 to the applicator to position the leading 
terminal of this strip on the anvil as shown in FIG. 4 in accordance with 
conventional practice. 
A housing 28 for the control circuitry and the motors of the apparatus is 
also supported on the support 22 and this housing has sidewalls and 
internal walls as shown at 32, 34, 35 on which various parts of the 
apparatus are mounted and supported as will be described below. The upper 
surface 30 of the housing 28 serves as a work surface for the operator and 
as a support for wires which are being serially fed into the machine by 
the operator. Advantageously, the casing 28 is provided with adjusting 
means 36 so that it can be raised and lowered relative to the surface 22 
and the press 20 can similarly be adjusted so that the conveyed and fed 
wires will be properly positioned above the anvil 14 after the wires are 
axially fed. 
The casing backwall 32 (FIG. 2) extends upwardly and rightwardly as viewed 
in FIG. 2 and as shown at 38. A spacer member 40 is secured against the 
face of the plate section 38 and a cover plate 42 is secured by fasteners 
as shown to this spacer. The loading means for loading wires onto the drum 
16 is mounted on the cover plate 42 and drive shafts and other parts of 
the apparatus are supported on the plate section 38 and the cover plate. 
The loading station 8 comprises left and right hand block assemblies 44, 46 
mounted on the plate 42 which are spaced apart to define the vertically 
extending guide slot 48 for the wires as shown in FIG. 3. While the wires 
may fall downwardly in this slot under gravitational forces, it is 
desirable to provide endless belts 42, 44 which are continuously driven 
downwardly as viewed in FIG. 3 to ensure that a jammed wire does not 
impede the downward movement of the wires to the conveying and feeding 
drum 16. These belts also serve to compact the wires in the slot and 
thereby ensure that a wire will enter the conveying drum or wheel 16 as 
will be described below. Belt 52 on block 44 extends over a drive pully 
58, downwardly on the left hand side of the slot, over an idler pully 56 
in the lower portion of the block 44 and back to the drive pully 58. Drive 
pully 58 is secured, as by keying, to a shaft 62 which extends rearwardly 
through the cover plate 42 to the plate section 38. Shaft 62 has a gear 66 
thereon which meshes with a worm gear 70 on a horizontally extending shaft 
72 which extends leftwardly as viewed in FIG. 3 and has its end journaled 
in an arm 74 of the spacer member 42. Shaft 70 has a spur gear 76 thereon 
which meshes with another spur gear 78 mounted on a main drive shaft 80. 
The drive pully and the idler 56 are disposed in suitable recess in the 
block 44 as shown at 51 and 53. 
The right hand block 46 has a drive pully 66 therein mounted on a shaft 64 
which drives the belt 54 downwardly, around an idler 56 and back to the 
pully 60. The shaft 64 on which the pully 60 is mounted has a spur gear 68 
mounted thereon which meshes with the worm gear 92 on a vertically 
extending jack shaft 90 which is journaled at its upper end in the spacer 
member 42. A bevel gear 88 on shaft 90 meshes with a bevel gear 86 on the 
previously mentioned horizontally extending main power shaft 80. The main 
power shaft is driven by a suitable fractional horsepower motor to which 
it is coupled through bevel gears by a vertically extending shaft 82 (FIG. 
2). It will be apparent from an inspection of FIG. 3 that during 
continuous rotation of the shaft 80, the pullies 58, 60 will be driven 
continuously and the portions of the belts 52, 54 which are on each side 
of the slot 48 will move downwardly continuously. 
The wire loading slot 48 extends through the lower portion of the block 44 
as shown at 50 and clearance is provided on the right hand side of the 
slot 48 at its lower end to permit the wires to move downwardly so that 
the lowermost wire will be properly located and fall into a groove 18 in 
the surface of the drum 16 which will be described below. It should be 
noted at this point that the upper ends of the blocks 44, 46 have 
divergent surfaces so that the operator can load wires into the slot 48 by 
merely placing them between the blocks and against one of these surfaces. 
The belts will then ensure that the wires will move downwardly and form 
the stack shown in FIG. 3. 
Advantageously, the block 44 is adjustably mounted for horizontal movement 
towards and away from the block 46 so that the width of the slot 48 which 
receives the wires can be adjusted. In the disclosed embodiment the block 
44 is mounted on a mounting plate 55 which is secured by a bolt 57 to the 
plate 42. The bolt extends through an elongated slot in the plate 55 so 
that the mounting plate and the block 44 can be moved rightwardly and 
leftwardly for adjustment purposes as viewed in FIG. 2. An adjusting screw 
59 may be provided to permit precise positioning of the mounting plate. 
The block 46 is provided with a cover plate 61 and the lower end of this 
block is recessed to provide clearance for a pressure roll 210 described 
below. 
The feed drum 16 is mounted on a shaft 94 which extends between two 
parallel fixed plates 32, 35 which form portions of the housing. A gear 98 
(FIG. 2) is secured to the shaft 94 between the plates 32, 35 and this 
gear meshes with a gear 100 on the output shaft 102 of a stepping motor 
104. 
As shown best in FIG. 3, a circumferential recess 106 extends 
concentrically into the side 108 of the feed drum 16 which is against the 
rightwardly facing surface of the plate 32. This recess receives a ring 
110 of plastic or other low friction material and the ring in turn is 
secured to the surface of the plate 32 by suitable fasteners 112. The feed 
wheel 16 thus rotates on the fixed ring 110. 
As shown best in FIG. 8, the groove 18 in the surface 114 of the feed drum 
is formed in part by a slot 116 which extends through the surface and 
communicates with the circumferential recess 106. This portion of the 
groove has an end 120 and extends for a substantial distance along a 
straight line as seen in the developed view, FIG. 9, of the surface 114. 
The groove extends from this straight portion towards the right hand side 
122 of the feed drum 16 and merges with this right hand side of the drum 
as shown at 123. 
The purpose of the fixed ring 118 is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11; the 
ring extends inwardly beneath proportions of the groove 18 in which wires 
are conveyed laterally towards the side 122 of the feed drum. During such 
lateral conveyance of the wires, it is desirable to avoid the imposition 
of an axial feeding force component on the wires and the imposition of 
such an axial feeding component is minimized by virtue of the fact that 
the inner surface 126 of the groove is stationary and the coefficient of 
friction between the wire and this stationary surface is low. The portion 
of the groove 18 shown at 118 in which the wire is fed axially lies in the 
solid portion of the drum, that is rightwardly of the recess 106 as viewed 
in FIG. 3 so that the inner end 127 of this portion of the groove imparts 
an axial force component to the wire tending to feed it towards the 
operating zone of the apparatus. Advantageously, this surface 127 of the 
groove is roughened or otherwise treated to produce a high frictional 
coefficient. As will be explained below, a wire being fed is resiliently 
urged against the surface 127 by a pressure roll 210. 
While the wires are being laterally conveyed from the loading station 8 to 
the axial feeding station 10, their leading ends bear against a surface 
128 of an irregularly shaped block 130 (FIGS. 4, 5, and 8) which is 
mounted in a recess or notch in the plate 32 and which has portions 
adjacent to the feed wheel and the plate 32. This block 130 thus has a 
depending portion 132, a recess 134 which extends into the block from the 
right hand side thereof as viewed in FIG. 8A through which the wires are 
fed, and a rearwardly projecting section 136 which extends towards the 
crimping die and anvil 14, 15 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8. 
A pin 140 is mounted in the upper section 138 of the block 130 and extends 
parallel to the direction of wire feed towards the operating zone 12. This 
pin has mounted thereon an actuator sector 142, indexable ejector wheel 
144 and a wire retainer plate 146. The sector, the ejector wheel, and the 
wire retainer serve to control a wire being fed towards the operating zone 
and to cause the ejection of a wire to which a terminal has been crimped 
as will be explained below. 
The indexable ejector wheel 144 is mounted between the sector 142 and the 
plate 146 and has four funnel-like recesses 148 extending axially through 
its surface at 90 degree intervals. Each recess 148 converges in the 
direction of wire feed and has a uniform diameter section 149 adjacent to 
the right hand end of the wheel as viewed in FIG. 4. The recess opens onto 
the cylindrical surface of the wheel to permit the wires to be ejected 
laterally of their axis during indexing the wheel as shown in FIGS. 6 and 
7. Notches 150 are provided in the surface of the wheel between the recess 
148 and each notch has a shoulder 152 which faces in a clockwise direction 
relative to the axis of the wheel as viewed in FIG. 6. 
The wheel 144 and the wire retainer plate 146 are indexed during each 
operating cycle by the sector 142 which is oscillated relative to the axis 
of the pin 140 by a solenoid 4 (FIG. 2) which has an actuating member (not 
specifically shown) that is connected to the sector by a connecting rod 
156 at a pivotal connection 158. The rearwardly facing surface of the 
sector, the surface which is against ejector wheel 144, has mounted 
thereon a pawl 160 by means of a pivotal connection 162 adjacent to the 
outer end of the sector. The pawl is resiliently biased in a clockwise 
direction as viewed in FIG. 6 by a spring 166 which is connected at one 
end thereof to a pin 167 which extends through an oversized slot in the 
sector. The other end of spring 166 is connected to a pin 168 mounted in 
the sector. The end of the pawl is contoured as shown at 170 such that it 
will enter the recesses 148 in the wheel and, during clockwise movement of 
the sector as viewed in FIG. 3, it will cause the wheel to be indexed in a 
clockwise direction. The end of the pawl is also designed such that it can 
move in a counterclockwise direction without effecting the wheel. 
In order precisely to control the wheel 144, stops are provided to prevent 
overfeeding of the wheel and to prevent reverse motion of the wheel after 
it has been indexed. The anti-overfeed stop (FIG. 6) comprises an arcuate 
arm 174 on one end of a lever 176 which is pivoted intermediate its ends 
at 178 to the frame plate 32. Lever 176 is biased in a counterclockwise 
direction as viewed in FIG. 6 by a spring 180 which is secured by means of 
a pin to the right hand end of the lever and which is secured to its other 
end to a pin which is anchored in the plate 32. The arm 174 has a tooth 
182 extending from its side which is adjacent to the surface of the wheel 
144. This tooth is dimensioned to enter the notches 150 in the wheel and 
bear against the shoulders 152. 
The sector 142 has a pin 184 extending towards the indexing wheel and this 
pin bears against the side of the arm 174 which is adjacent to the surface 
of the wheel 144. When the parts are at rest, that is, when they are in 
the positions of FIG. 6, the pin 184 maintains the arm 174 in the position 
of FIG. 6 in which it is spaced from the indexing wheel. As the sector 
moves through its clockwise arc from the position of FIG. 6 to the 
position of FIG. 7, the pin 184 moves out of engagement with the arm 174 
so that the tooth moves into the notch 150 which is proximate to the end 
of the arm as shown in FIG. 7. The shoulder 152 moves against the toothe 
and the wheel 144 is thus stopped from further rotary movement at a 
precisely predetermined position. When the sector 142 then moves through a 
counterclockwise arc to its normal position (FIG. 6) it raises the arm 174 
and disengages the tooth from the notch 150. 
Counterclockwise movement of the wheel 144 is prevented by a stop on the 
end of an arm 186 which is pivotally mounted at 188 on the left hand side 
of the indexing wheel as viewed in FIG. 6. Arm 186 is biased in a 
clockwise direction by a spring 190 and the end of the arm is dimensioned 
to enter the recesses 148 as shown in FIG. 6 such that counterclockwise 
movement of the indexing wheel is prevented while clockwise movement of 
the indexing wheel can take place with accompanying deflection of arm 186. 
As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 8 the rightwardly extending portion 136 of the 
block 134 has an inclined surface 194 which extends generally tangentially 
with respect to the indexing wheel so that the surface of the wheel is 
close to the inclined surface of the block. An L-shaped guide block 192 is 
secured to a suitable fastener to the inclined surface 194 and the corner 
of this block is provided with a notch 196 (FIG. 6) which is in alignment 
with the axis of the recess 148 which is adjacent to the inclined surface. 
A passageway for a wire being fed is defined by this notch and by a 
retaining arm 198 which extends forwardly, that is towards the operating 
zone, from the previously identified wire retainer plate 146. Plate 146 is 
mounted on the pin 140 and against the end of the indexing wheel. The arm 
198 is disposed against the open side of the notch 196 when the plate 146 
is in the position of FIG. 6. The plate 146 has a flange 202 extending 
from the outer end and an arm 204 extends rightwardly from upper end of 
the plate as viewed in FIG. 6. The end of this arm is pivotally connected 
at 206 to the sector 142 so that when the sector is oscillated as 
previously described, the plate 146 and, therefore, the arm 198 moves with 
the sector. 
As will be apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 6 and 7, after a terminal 
has been crimped onto wire in the operating zone, the indexing wheel is 
indexed through an angle of 90 degrees and after the recess in which the 
wire is held moves away from the inclined surface 194 the terminated wire 
is free to fall from the indexing wheel as shown in FIG. 7. 
As mentioned above, during the wire feeding step, the wire in the groove 18 
at the feeding station is resiliently urged against the inner end of the 
groove in order to impart a feeding which is component to the wire. To 
this end, a pressure wheel 210 (FIG. 3) is provided immediately above the 
upper end of the drum 16 at the wire feeding station. This pressure wheel 
is mounted on a shaft 218 which extends parallel to the shaft 94 and it 
has an intermediate cylindrical portion 212 which is adapted to engage the 
wire being fed. This intermediate cylindrical portion merges with a 
conical surfaced 214 which in turn merges with a cylindrical portion 216 
of reduced diameter. By virtue of the reduced diameter portion and the 
cylindrical and conical portion 214, the wires can be conveyed rightwardly 
until they are in the right hand portion of the groove 18 and beneath the 
cylindrical feed portion 212 of the idler roll. 
The shaft 218 on which roll 210 is mounted is carried in the lower end of 
an L-shaped block 220 which is slidably contained in a housing 222 that is 
mounted on the plate 42. A rod 226 extends upwardly from the block 220 and 
a spring 224 surrounds the rod and biases the block downwardly. The normal 
position of the block 220 is such that the roll 210 is in feeding 
relationship to a wire in the groove 18. During intervals when wires are 
not being fed, the rod 226 is moved upwardly against the biasing force of 
the spring 224 to disengage the roll from the wire. Upward movement of the 
rod 226 is brought about by a solenoid 234 which is mounted on the plate 
32 and which has an actuator rod extending therefrom coupled to the right 
hand end as viewed in FIG. 2 of a lever 228. The left hand end of this 
lever has a lost motion pin-slot connection 227 with the upper end of the 
rod 226 and the lever is pivotally mounted on the plate 42 intermediate 
its ends as shown at 230. It will thus be apparent that upon energizing 
the solenoid 234, the rod 226 will be moved upwardly to disengage the feed 
roll or to move the feed roll to its non-feeding position. 
It will be apparent that the axial feeding of the individual wires into the 
operating zone must be precisely controlled so that the ends of the wires 
will be properly located between the die and anvil and in alignment with 
the terminal disposed on the anvil. Such precise feeding of the wire is 
accomplished by a control system for the stepping motor 104 which causes 
this motor to rotate through a precisely determined arc after the wire 
passes a predetermined position during the wire feeding step. 
Specifically, as the wire moves through the block 192, it interrupts a 
beam of light which extends between the ends of two fibre-optic conductors 
238, 240. The upper fibre-optic light conductor 238 extends into the block 
192 and is in alignment with the lower light conductor 240 as shown best 
in FIG. 4. The light beam transmitted by these fibre-optic light 
conductors intersects the path of wire feed and when this light beam is 
interrupted by a wire being fed, the stepping motor is rotated through a 
precisely determined arc to feed the wire by the distance which separates 
the axis of the fibre-optic conductors and the terminal which is 
positioned on the anvil. This control system for the stepping motor is 
described below. 
The stepping motor control system comprises an emmitter/sensor block 242, 
an amplifier 244, a wire sense latch and counter enable 246, a counter 
248, a clock 250, and a motor control board interface 252 which is 
connected to the control board for the motor. The control board and the 
stepping motor may be of any suitable commercially available model, for 
example, good results have been obtained using a Superior Electric 
MO63-FC06 stepping motor in combination with a Superior Electric control 
board model STM1800D. This control board and motor are available from 
Superior Electrical Company of Bristol, Conn. 
The emmitter/sensor block 242 serves to sense the absence of, or the 
partial interruption of, the light transmitted through the fibre-optic 
conductors 238, 240. The interruption takes place when the leading end of 
a wire passes between these two conductors as illustrated in FIG. 4. This 
sensor block 242 thus comprises an incandescent light source 254 from 
which the light transmitted through the conductor eminates and a photo 
transistor 256 which responds to the interruption of the light source and 
sends forth a signal through a line 258 to the amplifier 244. The 
emmitter/sensor block may be, for example, a Scan-A-Matic model SO1116. 
The amplifier 244 is of the AC-coupled type and amplifies the pulse from 
the emitter/sensor block 242 before it passes through a line 260 to the 
sense latch and counter enable 246. This sense latch comprises a Schmitt 
trigger 262 which may be an RCA part number CD4093 and which serves to 
shape the pulse before it is transmitted to a clock D-type flip-flop 264 
which stores the pulse during the interval of measuring the wire feed, 
that is, while the wire is being fed from a location between the 
fibre-optic conductors to its final positions as shown in FIG. 4. The 
flip-flop may be of a type manufactured by the Radio Corporation of 
America and sold commercially as part number CD4013. 
The flip-flop 264 is connected by a wire sense signal line 266 to an AND 
gate 268 and to the flip-flop 282 which serves as an enabling means to 
cause the motor driving circuitry to begin the wire measuring counts, as 
described below, provided the press ready signal is high (i.e. the press 
is in a state of readiness for the crimping operation). It should be 
mentioned at this point that if the press ready signal is low, that is, if 
the press is not in a state of readiness but is in the process of 
completing its previous operating cycle, the stepping motor will be 
stopped momentarily when the light beam is interrupted to permit the press 
to complete its previous operating cycle and the wire will thereafter be 
fed into the operating zone. The circuitry for stopping the stepping motor 
under these circumstances will be described below. 
The AND gate 268 is connected as shown at 269 to cascaded counters 270a, 
270b, 270c which can be set for a given number of counts by thumbwheel 
switches 272a, 272b, and 272c respectively. The counters may be of the 
type sold by Radio Corporation of America part number CD4029. The AND gate 
268 is connected as shown in 271 to the clock output which in turn 
controls the continuous operation of the motor. The counter 270c is 
connected as shown at 273 to AND gates 276, 278, the gate 278 also being 
connected as shown at 275 to the clock 250. The clock 250 serves to supply 
pulses to the Superior Electric motor control board model STM 1800D (not 
shown) and comprises two multi-vibrator circuits 274 which form an astable 
multi-vibrator. 
The crimping press 20 requires a significant time interval to complete its 
cycle of operation when a fed wire is located between the die and anvil 
14, 15 and, depending upon the length of this time interval, the wire 
being fed to the operating zone may arrive at its final location prior to 
completion of the previous operation cycle of the crimping press. Under 
such circumstances, the crimping press will not be in a state of readiness 
and the signal for actuating the press must be delayed until the previous 
cycle has been completed as mentioned above. The control system for the 
apparatus, therefore, contains means for synchronizing the wire feeding 
operation with the operation of the crimping press and, when necessary, 
delaying the transmission of the signal to the press to commence its 
operating cycle until the previous cycle has been completed. In the 
disclosed embodiment, this synchronization means is provided in the motor 
control board interface 252 and comprises flip-flops 282, 284, OR gates 
286, 288, AND gates 290, 292, 294, and an AND inverter 296. These 
components may be of any suitable commercially available type, for 
example, the flip-flops 282, 284 may be RCA part number CD4013, the OR 
gates 286, 288 may be RCA part number CD4071, the AND gates 290, 292, 294 
may be RCA part number CD4081 and the AND inverter 296 RCA part number 
CD4049. 
Synchronization is achieved by monitoring a press ready signal which is 
transmitted from the press to the OR gate 288 and simultaneously 
monitoring the wire sense signal on line 266. The press ready signal can 
be derived in any suitable manner from the control circuitry for the 
press. For example, if the press is of the conventional type having a 
continuously rotating fly wheel and a single revolution clutch which is 
engaged with the shaft when the press is cycled, the signal can be 
obtained by providing a suitable switch on the shaft which is closed after 
the shaft has completed a single revolution. Alternatively, the press may 
be provided with a timing circuit which is designed to control the 
operation of the press including the mechanism for feeding the terminal 
strip, and which will produce a low logic level signal while the press ram 
is moving and a high logic level signal when the press ram comes to rest 
after the completion of an operating cycle. The disclosed embodiment has a 
timing circuit for the press which produces low and high logic level 
signals through the line 300 to the motor control board interface 252 as 
described below. 
When the presence of the end of the wire is signaled through line 266, the 
stepping motor is stopped if the machine ready signal is low as monitored 
by the flip-flop 282 and OR gate 288. The low signal, of course, indicates 
that the crimping press is not in a state of readiness to perform the 
crimping operation on the wire. Under such circumstances, the clock output 
is gated off by the AND gate 294 only when the clock is in the low state. 
The clock low condition is sensed by the AND inverter 296, the AND gate 
292, and the flip-flop 284. This gating off prevents a clock high pulse 
being cut short or chopped so that the counters 270a, 270b, and 270c are 
decremented but the stepping motor does not step because of the short 
pulse width. The motor is restarted when the machine ready signal at OR 
gate 288 is high to indicate that the press is now in a state of readiness 
for its operating cycle. 
The foregoing explanation assumes that the press is not in a state of 
readiness when the wire interrupts the light beam. If the press is in a 
state of readiness when the end of the wire is sensed, the stepping motor 
will not be stopped and the wire will be fed without interruption into the 
operating zone of the press. 
When the counter zero signal is transmitted through 273 to the AND gate 276 
and the AND gate 278, the clock output ceases and the motor stops. The 
output from the gate 278 is fed through the AND gate 294 to a 
CMOS-to-high-current driver 280 which may be of the type sold by Sprague 
Electric part number ULN 2004. The multi-vibrator circuits 274 may be of 
the type sold by RCA, part number CD4098 and the AND gates 276, 278 and 
may be of the type sold by RCA part number CD4081. 
To summarize, when the light transmitted through the fibre-optic conductors 
238, 240 is interrupted by the leading end of a wire, the emmitter/sensor 
block 242 in combination with the amplifier 244 provides a pulse through 
line 260 to the wire sense latch 246. Upon receipt of this pulse the 
counter is enabled and the wire measuring sequence is started provided the 
crimping machine is ready. The motor rotates by an amount determined in 
the setting of the thumb-wheel switches 272a-272c and when the counters 
are fully decremented, a zero signal is transmitted to the gates 276, 278 
which has the effect of stopping the clock and, therefore, stopping the 
motor. 
The zero signal functions as a start signal to the other circuitry which 
controls the functions of crimping the terminal on the wire, feeding the 
terminal, and ejecting the terminated lead. This circuitry then sends the 
load counters signal back to the motor control system through line 298 
which restarts the stepping motor. The machine ready signal functions as a 
synchronization signal as explained above. 
The disclosed system has the advantage of being extremely sensitive to the 
wire when the leading end of the wire interrupts the light beam which 
extends between the adjacent ends of the fibre-optic conductors 238, 240 
in the block 192. Advantageously, these conductors comprise bundles of 
glass fibers which are bunched to form a cable having a rectangular cross 
section, the dimensions of this cross section being about 0.125 inches by 
0.010 inches. If the leading end of the wire interrupts as little as 25 
percent of the light beam transmitted between the ends of these 
conductors, the disturbance will be sufficient to cause a signal to be 
sent through the line 258 to the amplifier 244 and, thereby, start the 
wire measuring sequence. 
It will be apparent from the foregoing description that during continuous 
operation of the apparatus, the operator simply stacks stripped leads 6 in 
the vertical slot 48 and the machine transports the leads from the slot to 
the crimping station and ejects them into a suitable retaining bin formed 
in the cover as shown in FIG. 1. The operation of stacking the leads in 
the slot does not require a high degree of skill and does not require 
precise location of the wires since the upper ends of the blocks are 
provided with inclined surfaces to guide the wires into the slot. The 
machine can operate at speeds in excess of four thousand leads per hour 
and an operator has no difficulty in placing wires in the slot at a rate 
sufficient to keep the conveyor supplied with wires. 
The invention has herein been disclosed in conjunction with the lead making 
machine shown in the drawing for the reason that this machine requires 
precise, accurate, and reliable feeding of the wire and thereby 
demonstrates some of the advantages of the invention. It is to be 
understood that the principles of the invention can be used for 
intermittently feeding materials other than wire, such as strip metal in 
other types of machines. For example, if it is desired to feed strip metal 
through a shearing apparatus which shears the metal strip into discrete 
lengths, the material can be fed past the shearing blades by the required 
amount by means of a feeding apparatus in accordance with the invention. 
The outstanding feature of the invention is the fact that the end of the 
material being fed is detected and the precise feeding which takes place 
after detection of the end ensures that the end will be precisely located 
after the feeding step has been completed.