Patent Publication Number: US-7584876-B2

Title: Wire injector apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   In many industries, such as the steel industry, it is necessary to precisely inject or feed a length of metal tubing, wire or the like for use in manufacturing. Such wire or tubing is fed through a machine to measure it to a desired length. One preferred type of wire or tubing is known as cored wire, which can be formed from many different types of materials. The cored wire industry has become a widely accepted solution for past problems involved in adding components to metal, such as nozzle clogging in continuous casting steel plants that frequently occurred when producing alloyed steels. 
   Ordinarily, metal, such as steel, is produced with the addition of one or more metal alloys so that the metal may exhibit certain characteristics, such as machinability, hardness, strength, durability, elasticity, brittleness or corrosiveness. For example, aluminum steel exhibits a higher tensile strength and is smoother than non-alloyed steel. The addition of cored metal wire is a popular way to produce alloyed steels due to its applicability to a diverse number of alloys and ability to exhibit certain desired properties. 
   Cored wire and solid wire are generally formed from well-compacted metal powder that is uniform in weight along the length of a wire. As a result, the length of the cored or solid wire corresponds to an amount of compacted powder. Therefore, a particular amount of metal powder required for the manufacture of a particular alloy can be easily measured and added to steel based on the length of the metal wire. 
   Manufacturers of steel alloys require large amounts of cored wire. This demand for cored wire, together with the popularity of cored wire in producing steel alloys, has led to a mass production of cored wire. Accordingly, manufacturers of cored wire produce and package long lengths of cored wire that are typically caged or reeled for ease in transportation and distribution. However, working with caged or reeled cored wire when producing metal alloys can be cumbersome and extremely burdensome. Further, in order to produce steel with accurate percentages of alloys, precise lengths of cored metal alloy wires must be added to liquid metal, preferably into a ladle prior to casting. 
   As a result, a need has grown for a machine or apparatus capable of feeding or injecting the caged or reeled cored wire into the ladle. In addition, a need exists for a machine to precisely measure cored wire to a given length for the addition of cored wire into a ladle. 
   While cored wire injectors are known, the present state of technology of is such that cored wire injectors are expensive and difficult to use and repair. For example, known wire injectors require two or more pneumatic actuators for each cored wire path fed by the injector. Known wire injectors require customized motors that are expensive to produce and to repair. The customized motors are typically located between core4d wire paths making the servicing of customized motors more expensive and time consuming. In addition, the vast number of parts in known wire injectors increases the frequency of failures and reduces the service life of the wire injector. Accordingly, such known wire injectors are costly to produce and operate. 
   As a result, a need exists for a wire injector that is less costly to manufacture, service, and operate. A need also exists for a wire injector capable of operating without customized motors. A further need exists for a wire injector having one or more motors positioned in a location operable for servicing. A need also exists for a wire injector requiring fewer parts for feeding cored wire through the wire injector. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In an embodiment of the present invention, a wire injector apparatus having a first wire path and a second wire path adjacent to said first wire path is provided. The wire injector has a drive wheel impelling a wire in said first wire path or said second wire path. Further, the wire injector has a first idler wheel engagable with said wire in said first wire path. Still further, the wire injector has a second idler wheel engagable with said wire in said second wire line path. Moreover, the wire injector has an actuator engaging said first idler wheel and said second idler wheel, said actuator engaging at least one of said first idler wheel with said first wire path and said second idler wheel with said second wire path or disengaging both said first idler wheel and said second idler wheel. 
   In another embodiment of the present invention, a motorized wire injector for impelling a wire is provided. The motorized wire injector has a motorized pulley assembly having a pulley and a belt whereby said pulley rotatably engages said belt and a drive shaft actuated by said pulley assembly. Further, the motorized wire injector has a plurality of drive wheels secured to said drive shaft wherein said drive shaft rotates said drive wheels and at least one of said drive wheels impels said wire. Still further, the motorized wire injector has a plurality of idler wheels pivotally engaging said wire to said drive wheels. 
   In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a metal wire injector for providing at least one length of metal wire is provided. The metal wire injector has motor and a drive wheel engaged to said motor, wherein operation of said motor rotates said drive wheel and said drive wheel impels said metal wire. Further, the metal wire injector has a plurality of clamps, each of said clamps includes an upper idler wheel and a lower idler wheel positioned at opposing ends of said clamps. Still further, the metal wire injector has a pneumatic actuator connected to said clamps to move said clamps to a first position where said upper idler wheels engage said metal wire, a second position where said lower idlers wheel engage said metal wire, and a third position where said upper idler wheels and said lower idler wheels do not engage said metal wire. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangements of parts with several embodiments being described in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein: 
       FIG. 1A  is a side perspective view of a wire injector having two wire paths in an embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 1B  is a front perspective view of  FIG. 1A . 
       FIGS. 2A ,  2 B,  2 C and  2 D are side views of an inside face, outside face, and assembled view of a drive wheel. 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are a side perspective view and a top perspective view, respectively, of an interior of a wire channel. 
       FIGS. 3C and 3D  are a side perspective view and a top perspective view, respectively, of an exterior of a wire channel. 
       FIG. 4A  is a side perspective view of a clamp engaging a top wire line path. 
       FIG. 4B  is a side perspective view of a clamp engaging a bottom wire line path. 
       FIG. 4C  is a side perspective view of a clamp that is not engaging the top wire line path or the bottom wire line path. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic for the operation of a pneumatic actuator. 
       FIG. 6A  is a first side perspective view of a wire injector having two wire line paths. 
       FIG. 6B  is a front perspective view of  FIG. 6A . 
       FIG. 7A  is a second side perspective view of a wire injector having two additional wire line paths. 
       FIG. 7B  is a front perspective view of  FIG. 7A . 
       FIG. 8A  is a side perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a wire injector having four wire line paths where a motor is directly connected to drive wheels. 
       FIG. 8B  is a front perspective view of  FIG. 8A . 
       FIG. 9A  is a third side perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a wire injector having six wire line paths. 
       FIG. 9B  is a front perspective view of  FIG. 9A . 
       FIG. 10A  is a fourth side perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a wire injector having eight wire line paths in an embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 10B  is a front perspective view of a  FIG. 10A . 
       FIG. 11A  is a side perspective view of an alternate configuration of a wire injector having six wire line paths. 
       FIG. 11B  is a front perspective view of  FIG. 11A . 
       FIG. 12A  is a side perspective view of an alternate configuration of a wire injector having eight wire line paths in an embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 12B  is a front perspective view of  FIG. 12A . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Without limiting scope of the present invention, the preferred embodiments of the invention are described with regard to implementation as a wire injector. However, it is understood that the improved wire injector of the present invention could be used in any manner known or readily ascertainable to one of ordinary skill in the art, such as for measuring, cutting, injecting and/or clamping numerous materials or substances as known to one of ordinary skill in the art. 
   Reference is now made to the drawings.  FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrates a side perspective view of a wire injector apparatus  20  The wire injector  20  can be used to feed or to inject a length of wire, such as, metal wire, for example, cored metal wire or solid metal wire into a steel ladle prior to casting. In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the wire injector  20  is capable of clamping or impelling two metal wires; hence the wire injector  20  is a two wire path wire injector. While the wire injector  20  shown in  FIG. 1A  provides for feeding two metal wire reels through the respective wire paths for injection into the steel ladle, it is contemplated that the wire injector of the present invention can have any number of wire paths depending on a desired number of metal wires to be added. 
   As generally illustrated, the wire injector  20  includes motors  23   a - c  operably mounted to a base  21 . Each of the motors  23   a - c  provides input power to a corresponding drive shaft  27  as illustrated in  FIG. 1B . In an exemplary embodiment, each of the motors  23   a - c  rotates a first pulley assembly  24   a  having a belt  25 , which engages a second pulley assembly  24   b  to rotate one of the drive shafts  27 . Sizes of the first pulley  24   a  and the second pulley assembly  24   b  may be adjusted to correspond to a desired output speed of the drive shaft  27 . While  FIG. 1B  shows one drive shaft  27  in conjunction with motor  23   a , motors  23   b  and  23   c  each also include a drive shaft (not shown), such as drive shaft  27  as well as the first pulley assembly  24   a , the second pulley assembly  24   b  and the belt  25 . 
   Rotation of each drive shaft  27  translates into rotation of each drive wheel  29  for impelling, for example, cored metal wire laterally through the wire injector  20 . The metal wire is fed or input into the wire injector  20  at input  30 . Each of the motors  23   a - c  provides torque for rotating the drive wheels  29  that move the metal wire laterally through the wire injector  20 . In a preferred embodiment, the torque or input power of each of the motors  23   a - c  is transferred to the drive shaft  27  from the second pulley assembly  24   b  and the first pulley assembly  24   a.    
   An embodiment of the drive wheel  29  is illustrated in  FIGS. 2A-2C . Each of the drive wheels  29  comprises an inside wall  40  (see  FIG. 2A ) and an outside wall  42  (see  FIG. 2B ). A plurality of teeth  41   a - d  are formed on the drive wheels  29  between the inside and outside walls  40  and  42 . In a preferred embodiment, the teeth  41   a - d  are formed at a forty-five degree angle with respect to a center of the drive wheel  29  as shown in  FIG. 2D . The outside face  42  of the drive wheel  29  has apertures  43   a - c  for attachment to the drive shaft  27 . As an example, the drive wheel  29  may be bolted to a bushing  45  attached to the drive shaft  27  through the apertures  43   a - c.    
   Referring again to  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the wire injector  20  includes upper idler wheels  31  and lower idler wheels  33  for engaging the metal wire with the drive wheels  29 . In a preferred embodiment, either the upper idler wheels  31  or the lower idler wheels  33  engage the metal wire to the drive wheels  29  at a given time. However, the present invention should not be limited to such a preferred embodiment, as it is clearly contemplated that both the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  could simultaneously engage drive wheels  29 . 
   Interposed between the drive wheels  29  and the upper idler wheels  31  is a top wire line path  50  whereby the metal wire moves through the wire injector  20 . A bottom wire line path  52  is interposed between the drive wheels  29  and the lower idler wheels  33 . The metal wire may move along one of the wire line paths  50 ,  52  and within a channel  54 .  FIGS. 3A-3D  illustrate an embodiment of a channel  54 . In the embodiment shown, the channel  54  is tubular with openings (indicated by the dotted lines) for exposing the metal wire to the idler wheels  31 ,  33 . 
   The upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  alternate in an engaged position whereby the drive wheels  29  or the metal wire is engaged with the upper or lower idler wheels  31 ,  33 . For example,  FIG. 1A  illustrates the upper idler wheels  31  in an engaged position and the lower idler wheel  33  in an unengaged position. Further, the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  can move to a neutral position such that metal wire and/or the drive wheels  29  are not engaged with either the upper idler wheels  31  or the lower idler wheels  33 . In a neutral position, the metal wire does not engage the drive wheels  29 , and, as a result, the metal wire does not move through one of the wire line paths  50 ,  52 . 
   At the engaged position the upper or lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  contact or engage the metal wire with the drive wheels  29 . The upper or lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  act to clamp or force the metal wire to engage the drive wheels  29  and thereby to impel the metal wire laterally through one of the channels  54  of the wire injector  20 . In a preferred embodiment, the upper idler wheels  31  are at the engaged position when the lower idler wheels  33  are at the disengaged position. Accordingly, in an exemplary embodiment, metal wire is only passing through one of the wire paths  50 ,  52  at a given time. To this end, an operator can safely operate the wire injector  20  by attentiveness to only one metal wire exiting the wire injector  20 . Of course, the wire injector  20  is contemplated for engaging or disengaging the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  simultaneously. 
   As the metal wire passes through one of the wire line paths  50 ,  52 , the metal wire tends to vibrate, twist or otherwise move in an unwanted direction. As a result, upper idler wheels  31  or lower idler wheels  33  at the engaged position are utilized to guide the metal wire during movement through the wire injector  20 . In a preferred embodiment, the idler wheels  31 ,  33  are circular in shape to rotatably engage the metal wire. 
   A clamp  60  connects the upper idler wheels  31  to the lower idler wheels  33  about the drive wheels  29 .  FIGS. 4A-4C  illustrate side perspective views of the clamp  60  in the engaged position with the top wire line path  50 , in the engaged position with the bottom wire line path  52  and the neutral position, respectively. Specifically,  FIG. 4A  illustrates the upper idler wheel  31  at the engaged position and the lower idler wheel  33  at the disengaged position.  FIG. 4B  illustrates the upper idler wheel  31  at the disengaged position and the lower idler wheel  33  at the engaged position. Furthermore, as illustrated in  FIG. 4C , the upper and lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  are at a neutral position that is intermediate to the engaged position and the disengaged position. The neutral position may be utilized to prepare the wire injector  20  for operation, such as, to connect the metal wire from a reel into one of the clamps  60 . The neutral position may also be utilized as a safety position or a shut off position when the wire injector  20  is not in operation. 
   Further, the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  are positioned at opposing ends of the clamp  60 . In a preferred embodiment, the clamp  60  is generally C-shaped such that the drive shaft  37  is positionable intermediate to the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33 . The clamp  60  pivots about a pivot  63  to move the upper and lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  from the engaged position to the disengaged position. As illustrated in  FIG. 1A , a lever  38  secures to the clamps  60  at point  61  to pivot each of the clamps  60  about the pivot  63 . 
   The upper and lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  are secured within a slot  65  of the clamp  60  so that the idler wheels  31 ,  33  are movable vertically relative to the drive wheel  29 . To this end, the idler wheels  31 ,  33  can accommodate metal wire having various thicknesses without further alignment or adjustment. In addition, the upper and lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  are movable within the slot  65  to absorb vibrations or vertical movement of the metal wire, which may occur during operation.  FIG. 4B  illustrates springs  67  independently tensioning each of the idler wheels  31 ,  33 . The springs  67  absorb vibrations caused by the metal wire moving through the wire injector  20 . Still further, providing a corresponding slot  65  and spring  67  to opposing sides of the upper and lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  allows independent positioning of each side of the idler wheels  31 ,  33 . In other words, the upper and lower idler wheels  31 ,  33  are positionable at a range of angles within the slot  65 . 
   An actuator  35  controls movement of the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  along a range of positions from the engaged position to the disengaged position. Specifically, in a preferred embodiment, the actuator  35  engages the lever  38  to move each of the clamps  60 . As a result, in an exemplary embodiment, a single actuator  35  engages the clamps  60  and, in turn, the engagement of the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  to the top and bottom wire paths  50 ,  52 . Therefore, in such an embodiment, the actuator  35  controls the position of each of the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33 . 
   As illustrated in  FIG. 1A , the actuator  35  includes a pneumatically controlled piston  36  and a telescopically engaging housing  37 . The piston  36  and the housing  37  are positioned between the lever  38  and the base  21 . In operation, the piston  36  telescopically extends from the housing  37  to engage the lever  38 . In a preferred embodiment, a pneumatic cylinder  70 , such as, a pneumatic air valve, controls the piston  36 . 
     FIG. 5  illustrates a schematic of the regulation for the pneumatic cylinder  70  in an embodiment of the present invention. A first cylinder  71  and a second cylinder  73  control the clamps  60  for at least two wire fed lines (not shown). Spool valves  75   a - d  control airflow to and from the cylinders  71 ,  73 . Air is supplied via input  77  and is regulated by a bottom clamp pressure regulator  79  and a top clamp pressure regulator  81  before flowing to the spool valves  75   a - d . In an embodiment, a supply regulator  83  is positioned intermediate to the input  77  and the bottom clamp pressure regulator  79  and/or the top clamp pressure regulator  81 . 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B  illustrate another embodiment of a wire injector  100  having two wire line paths  102 ,  104  for impelling two metal wires.  FIG. 6A  illustrates a side view of the wire injector  100  having three clamps  60  and three upper idler wheels  31  for engaging the metal wire.  FIG. 6B  illustrates an additional set of clamps  60 , upper idler wheels  31  and drive wheels  29  secured at opposing ends of the drive shaft  27 . 
   In addition, a second actuator  35  is provided for controlling the second set of clamps  60  and upper idler wheels  31 . It should be appreciated that due to the arrangement of the components of the wire injector  100 , each of the motors  23   a - 23   c  rotates drive wheels  29  via each of the drive shafts  27 . 
     FIGS. 7A and 7B  illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. Wire injector  200  impels four metal wires through four wire line paths  202 ,  204 ,  206  and  208 . Similar to the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the wire injector  200  has the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  positioned on each of the clamps  60 . The present embodiment has a second set of clamps  60 , upper idler wheels  31 , lower idler wheels  33  and drive wheels  29 . The second set of the clamps  60 , idler wheels  31 ,  33  and the drive wheels  29  are located on an opposite end of the drive shaft  27 , as illustrated in  FIG. 7B . As shown in  FIG. 7B , a first pair of drive wheels  29  are controlled by one motor  23   a , a second pair of drive wheels  29  are controlled by another motor  23   b , and a third pair of drive wheels  29  are controlled by another motor  23   c . Accordingly, two wire line paths for impelling the wire are located on each side of the wire injector  200 . It should be appreciated that additional wire line paths for impelling the metal wire are often desirable in the industry since the steel alloy may require multiple metal alloys to be added via the metal wire. Often, due to the size of metal wire reels it is especially desirable to have multiple reels connected to the wire injector  200  to reduce or eliminate the need to disconnect a first type of metal wire and then connect a second type of metal wire. 
   As previously mentioned, it is typically required in the metal wire industry to accurately measure a length of metal wire prior to injection into a steel ladle.  FIG. 7A  illustrates an upper counter wheel  113  and a lower counter wheel positioned adjacent to the idler wheels  31 ,  33 , respectively. The counter wheels  113 ,  115  are connectable to the idler wheels  31 ,  33  via a pulley assembly or belt assembly. The counter wheels  113 ,  115  may be connected or in communication with a device for calculating or computing a number of rotations of the counter wheels  113 ,  115 . For example, the counter wheels  113 ,  115  may be connected to a processing unit to convert a number of rotations to a length of the wire. In an embodiment, the upper idler wheels  31  and the lower idler wheels  33  can function as counter wheels in addition to idler wheels. 
     FIGS. 8A and 8B  illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention. The wire injector  300  is capable of impelling four metal wires similar to the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 7A and 7B . The present embodiment, however, eliminates the first pulley assembly  24   a  (connected to each of the motors  23   a - c ) and the second pulley assembly  24   b  (connected to the drive shaft  27 ). A motor  230  is directly connected to each of the drive shafts  27  to provide input power directly to the drive wheels  29 . It should be noted that it is contemplated that additional sets of clamps  60 , idler wheels  31 ,  33  and/or drive wheels  29  may be positioned on each of the drive shafts  27  of the present embodiment. 
   Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 9A and 9B . The wire injector  400  as shown is a six-path wire injector. That is, the wire injector  400  has six wire line paths for impelling or injecting six metal wires through the wire injector  400 . The present embodiment has an additional set of clamps  60 , drive wheels  29  and upper idler wheels  31  from the quad-path wire injector shown in  FIGS. 7A and 7B . Specifically, the additional set of clamps  60  includes the upper idler wheels  31  to provide an additional wire line path for the wire. Accordingly, the present embodiment has two additional wire line paths from the quad wire injector illustrated in  FIGS. 7A and 7B . Similar to previous embodiments, the actuator  35  is connected to each set of clamps  60  via the lever  38 . 
     FIGS. 10A and 10B  illustrate another embodiment of the present invention where a wire injector  500  is a eight-path wire injector. The wire injector  500  has an additional set of lower idler wheels  33  from the six-path wire injector shown in  FIGS. 9A and 9B . Specifically, the additional set of lower idler wheels  33  provides an additional set of wire line paths for the wire. Similar to previous embodiments, the actuator  35  is connected to each set of clamps  60  via the lever  38 . 
     FIGS. 11A ,  11 B,  12 A and  12 B illustrate different vertical arrangements of the six and eight-path wire injectors, respectively, as opposed to the horizontal arrangements of the previous embodiments of the wire injectors  400  and  500  shown in  FIGS. 9A and 10A . 
     FIGS. 11A and 11B  illustrate a six-path wire injector  600  having a vertical configuration. Specifically, the drive shaft  27  merely has two of the clamps  60  attached at opposing ends. Instead of securing additional clamps  60  to the drive shaft  27 , an additional drive shaft  161  is provided. The additional drive shaft  161  is positioned above the drive shaft  27  of the previous embodiments. The drive shaft  161  is located between a top of the wire injector  600  and the drive shaft  27  such that the width of the apparatus can be limited to a similar width as the quad-path wire injector  200 , shown in  FIGS. 7A and 7B . Further, the wire injector  600  has a third pulley assembly  162  and a fourth pulley assembly  164  that are connected by a belt  166 . The third pulley assembly  162  engages the drive shaft  27  for transferring power to the fourth pulley assembly  164 . In turn, the fourth pulley assembly  164  transfers the input power to the additional drive shaft  161 . 
   Although only the lower idler wheels  33  are connected to the additional drive shaft  161 , it is contemplated that the upper idler wheels  31  are connectable to the clamps  60  of the additional drive shaft  161 .  FIGS. 12A and 12B  illustrate such an embodiment as the wire injector  700  is an eight-path wire injector having a vertical configuration. 
   In view of the embodiments illustrated, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be customized by constructing a wire injector having any number of paths in various different orientations. In addition, the width and height can be adjusted to size by utilizing the vertical configuration, the horizontal configuration or a combination of those configurations. While the present invention is described with reference to several embodiments of the invention, nothing in the specification should be interpreted to limit this invention to any particular embodiment or any common characteristic except as explicitly recited in the appended claims.