Patent ID: 8186564

Claim:
Apparatus for forming a length of wire into a ring, the apparatus comprising: an infeed of wire for conversion by the apparatus into a plurality of wire rings, each ring being formed using the apparatus to have a first shaped end and a second shaped end, with the first and second shaped ends being mated in a friction fit by the apparatus to provide each wire ring; a punch having a raised rib; a first actuator associated with the punch for movement of the punch in relation to the die; a die located adjacent the punch and having a groove configured to receive the rib of the punch and a guide slot defined on the die and across the width of the die for passage of the wire through the die and for positioning the wire adjacent the groove so that the wire can be acted on by the rib of the punch to form the first and second shaped ends; a block adjacent the die; and a second actuator associated with the block for bearing the block toward the die; wherein the second actuator is operated to urge the block against the die and a leading end of the wire is fed into the slot of the die such that the wire is below the groove of the die, after which the first actuator is operated to move the punch so that the rib of the punch is urged through the wire to form the second shaped end on the wire and a first shaped end of a successive wire portion; and the second actuator is operated to bear the block against the top of the die to hold the first shaped end on the wire in position as the punch moves the second shaped end into a friction fit with the first shaped end and thereby produce a wire segment having the first and second shaped ends on the opposite ends of the wire segment, with the first and second shaped ends being mated by the apparatus in a friction fit to provide the ring.