Patent GB-124215-A (GB)
Title: Improved Method of and Apparatus for Twisting Wires and the like and Assembling them to Form Rings.
Inventor: PRATT ALPHONSO COMSTOCK
IPC: B29D30/48
Filed: 1919-03-07
Abstract: 124,215. Pratt, A. C. Dec. 10, 1917, [Convention date]. Hoops and rings.-Metallic wires or strands made up in part of wire and non-metallic substances, or wholly of non-metallic substances, are formed into rings which may be used in connexion with motor tyres, or for forming grommets. Preferably a wire is bent to form a part of a circle, and then the wire is given a permanent spiral twist, and this twisting is continued until a ring formed of seven strands is formed, the end part of the outer strand being left plain so that it can be tucked between the six twisted outer strands at the portion of the ring which does not contain a plain core, and so complete the ring. A ring produced as described is shown in Fig. 3, when nearly completed. The plain core reaches from 17 to 18, and 19 indicates the end of the twisted outer strand, and 20 the plain portion which is tucked inside the ring between the parts 18, 17. The ring is formed by means of the apparatus shown in Figs. 5 and 6, or by the modification shown in Fig. 11, or in Fig. 13. The wire 38 is fed from a reel 37 by means of grooved rollers 39 which can be hand-driven to feed out a portion of the wire to form the plain core, and when this portion has been fed out and constrained by an annular covered channel in a fixed base 24 to form a substantially circular loop, the wire is placed round a spiral. groove in a die 55 which is then clamped in a detachable holder formed of two parts 54, 58, secured together by a screw 59. The pitch of the spiral twist which is given to the wire can be varied somewhat by giving a twist to the die 55 before holding it firmly in position by means of the screw 59. A screw 60 holds the die to the upper part 54 of the holder. The reel 37, and the feed-rolls are carried by a rotary ring member 29 driven by gearing from a belt 33. The wire is thus wound around the partially completed band 23. The feed-rollers are driven owing to this rotation of the ring 29, by the engagement of a bevel wheel 49 with a fixed bevel gear 50 attached to the mounting in which the ring 20 rotates. In order to remove the ring 23 when the coiling is completed, parts of the ring 29 and the rack 50 are capable of detachment, and the ring 23 is removed from the gap thus formed. A small portion 20 of the ring is left plain, this length being cut off, so as to extend from the part 18 to 17. In a slightly modified form, Fig. 11, the reel 37 is carried bv a ring 70 mounted to rotate in a ring 71 and driven by bevel gearing and universal joints 67<1> from the gearing which drives the ring 29. This construction prevents twisting of the wire, and is especially useful where a woven material or a wire with a woven covering is used. In a further modification, Fig. 13, the wire is bent to spiral form by being passed through holes in disks 76 located in a sleeve 75 and each formed with a hole through which the wire is passed. The successive disks are so adjusted by worm gearing 81, with the aid of indicators, that the wire is given a spiral twist of the desired pitch.