Patent ID: 8387231

Claim:
A method of producing a stator coil which is to be wound through slots of a stator core of a stator for use in an electric rotating machine using a plurality of shaping press pairs each of which has press members opposed to each other across a looped travel path along which an insulator-coated conductor wire is to be traveled, a rotary retainer which has formed therein retaining holes through which the shaping press pairs are retained and which are arrayed away from each other, the rotary retainer rotating to move the shaping press pairs along the travel path, the retaining holes being elongated radially of the rotary retainer toward a center of rotation of the rotary retainer, and a rail cam which defines the travel path, the method comprising: an in-slot portion shaping step of shaping portions of the insulator-coated conductor wire into in-slot portions which are to be disposed in the slots of the stator core using the shaping press pairs which are being traveled by the rotary retainer along the travel path while being permitted to move along the retaining holes, respectively; and a coil-end portion shaping step of shaping portions of the insulator-coated conductor wire into coil-end portions each of which extends between adjacent two of the in-slot portions and which are to be disposed outside the slots of the stator core using the shaping press pairs which are being traveled by the rotary retainer along the travel path while being permitted to move along the retaining holes, respectively, thereby producing the insulator-coated conductor wire as the stator coil.