Patent Application
20110174041
This invention relates generally to the field of wire manufacturing, and more specifically to manufacturing of wire from stock metal materials.
The conventional process of creating enameled wire requires two steps. The first step requires converting raw materials (generally copper or aluminum rod coils, often referred to in the industry as rod stock) to wire. This process involves elongating and shaping the copper rod into wire. This is conventionally performed in a machine known in the industry as a rod breakdown machine, which can create one or two wires at a time, and operates at a very high speed. The output from rod breakdown process is typically referred to as process wire.
The second step involves coating the wire with enamel. The conventional enamel coating process involves passing the processed wire through an enameling oven, which coats the wire with enamel and then bakes the enamel to harden the enamel coating. The enameling process is much slower than the process wire manufacturing process.
Because of the difference in speed, the conventional practice in the industry is to produce large volumes of process wire using high-speed rod breakdown machines and to store the resulting process wire on spools or in baskets in a storage area. Then, when enameling is desired, a spool or basket of process wire is retrieved from the storage area and fed into the enameling oven to create the enameled wire.
This multi-step process can be inefficient. Having to produce and store process wire before enameling makes just-in-time production of custom (or small-batch) orders of enameled wire difficult. It also may result in the use of storage space for process wire that may not be enameled for a very long time.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system of processing raw rod stock into wire, which is then passed directly into an enameller without storing the wire before enameling.
The present invention can satisfy the above-identified needs by providing a system for manufacturing wire. The system for manufacturing wire includes a mill that can have a first die that can receive a wire having a first cross-sectional area and reduce the cross-sectional area of the wire as it passes through the first die. The mill can also have a first capstan that receives the wire from the first die and applies a first force on the wire. The mill can also have a second die that receives the first wire from the first capstan and further reduces the cross-sectional area of the wire as it passes through the second die. The mill can also have a second capstan configured to receive the wire from the second die and apply a second force on the wire. The first capstan and the second capstan can each be driven by individual motors. Each motor can be controlled by a computer.
The mill can also have a third die that can receive the wire from the second capstan and further reduce the cross-sectional area of the wire as it passes through the third die. The mill can also have a third capstan that can receive the wire from the third die and apply a third force to the wire. The mill can also have a fourth die that can receive the wire from the third capstan and further reduce the cross-sectional area of the wire as it passes through the fourth die. The mill can also have a fourth capstan that can receive the wire from the fourth die and apply a fourth force to the wire.
When the wire exits the mill, it can enter into a finishing station in a continuous fashion. The finishing station can be an enameller, and finishing the wire can include applying an enamel to the wire. When entering the finishing station, the wire can have a second cross-sectional area that is smaller than the first cross-sectional area. The first cross-sectional area can be one of 3 AWG to 15 AWG. The second cross-sectional area can be one of 4 AWG to 16 AWG. The wire can also be received by a flattener configured to flatten at least one side of the wire. The flattener can also flatten the wire to produce a wire that is substantially square in cross section after exiting the flattener. The flattener can include a roller.
The mill can also have a finish capstan that can receive the wire from the finishing station and apply a finish force to the wire. After finishing the wire continuously feeds the enamel operation.
Additional aspects, objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments. For a more complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings described below.
Turning now to
After passing through the entrance rollers 102, the rod stock passes into the rod mill 100 where it encounters a series of dies and capstans 106. Each die is configured such that, when wire stock is drawn through the die, the wire stock elongates and assumes a lesser diameter (i.e., the cross-sectional area of the wire is reduced). To draw wire through a die, wire stock is passed through a die and around a capstan. The capstan then rotates, applying a pulling force to the wire that forces the wire through the die. In an exemplary embodiment, the rod mill 100 includes four sets of dies and capstans 106. However, in alternative exemplary embodiments, the rod mill 100 can include any number of sets of dies and capstans 106, limited only by available manufacturing space. Further, not every capstan and die needs to be used in every wire run. Depending on the amount by which the diameter of the wire stock must be reduced, the rod mill 100 may be run using as few as one die and capstan 106.
Generally, after passing through the various dies, the wire will be circular in cross section. Circular wire is preferred for most applications. Certain applications, however, call for square wire. If square wire is desired, the wire may be passed through a flattener assembly 108, which uses a series of rollers to flatten two or four sides of the wire.
Once the wire has passed through the flattener 108 (or, if the flattener 108 is not being used, exits the final in-use capstan), the wire passes through a finish die 110. The finish die 110 is generally sized to provide the final size and shape of the wire. The finish die 110 may be configured to shape either a round or square wire (or both, depending on the application. Once wire exits the finish die 100, it is milled and ready for further processing, such as enameling.
Following the finish die 110 are two finish capstans 114. The finish capstans apply the final force to the wire to pull the wire through the finish die. In an exemplary embodiment, the wire then passes up to a booster capstan 116 that is used to assist in pulling the finish wire from the rod breakdown machine and elevate the wire for distribution to other areas of the manufacturing facility. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, the wire passes around the finish capstans 114 and out of the mill 100.
Once the wire has exited the mill 100, the wire passes to a finishing station (not shown). In an exemplary embodiment, the finishing station is an oven or other apparatus that is used to apply one or more coatings to the wire, such as enamel, plastic, or other coatings known to those of skill in the art. In alternative exemplary embodiments, the finishing station may perform other post-milling processing on the wire, such as any ferrous or non-ferrous manufacturing process such as further size reduction, cleaning, or annealing or coating.
When wire is being passed directly into a finishing station, the speed at which the finishing station operates must be accounted for in the operation of the mill. By way of example, conventional enameling machines run very slowly, moving wire through the system at speeds as slow as 35 feet per minute. On the other hand, conventional rod mills 100 process wire very quickly, often as fast as 3,500 feet per minute.
Accordingly, because of this significant difference in speed, wire exiting from conventional rod mills 100 must be spooled or placed in baskets and stored until it can be processed in the finishing station at a later time.
To allow wire to pass directly from the rod mill 100 to the finishing station without an intermediate step of spooling and storing the processed wire, the capstans 106 of the rod mill 100 operate at a slower speed than conventional capstans. However, to draw the wire through the dies such that the wire stretches properly, each capstan must generate the same amount of force per wire line as conventional capstans that operate at a much faster rate. To achieve the appropriate amount of force, and also to allow for greater flexibility in capstan speeds, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, each capstan 106 in the rod mill 100 is powered by its own AC motor 104. The capstan speed can then be controlled for each individual capstan 106, and varied for any possible combination of dies and finishing station speeds. In an exemplary embodiment, each motor 104 is coupled to a central computer that dictates the speed of each motor 104. The computer can be programmed with the die diameters installed in the rod mill 100, the desired input size, and the desired output size. The computer can then fix the speed of each motor such that the capstans will turn at the appropriate speed for the particular configuration. The individual motor speeds can then be adjusted during operation as needed. Table 1, below, sets forth certain exemplary configurations of the present invention that can be used to convert an input of 5/16″ copper rod into wire of varying sizes (in AWG).
Turning now to
Turning now to
Conventional rod mills that have multiple capstans employ a single motor to drive two or more capstans, typically using a variety of belts and pulleys to drive each capstan. Because the speed at which a wire is drawn through a die must change depending on the size of the input wire, the size of the die, and the desired quality of the wire after being drawn, conventional rod mills 100 essentially were fixed as to the die sequences that can be used, as changing standard elongations typically involved a complicated process of changing the belts and pulleys driving the capstans to change the capstan speed to be suitable for a particular application. Accordingly, conventional machines were effectively fixed as to the types of available inputs and outputs. With a separate motor 106 for each capstan 104, however, individual motors can simply be accelerated or slowed as required for a given die or combination of dies, allowing for additional flexibility in input and output wire sizes.
Turning now to
Turning now to
Turning now to
Turning now to
A die plate 708 is coupled to the die support member 704. In an exemplary embodiment, the die plate 708 includes one die 710 for each wire the mill 100 is capable of processing. By way of example, the die plate 708 includes five dies 710, as the exemplary mill 100 is configured to receive five wires. Each die 710 is held in place by a die clip 712, which, in the exemplary embodiment, is a hinged clip that, when closed, applies pressure to the die 710 in order to hold it in the die plate 708. In an exemplary embodiment each die 710 is the same size as each other die 710. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, each die 710 may be different, and may present different shapes. For example, certain dies 710 may be square, while others are round.
Turning now to
The rollers 814 in the second roller portion 804 are coupled to axles 808 that extend horizontally from the flattener 108. The rollers 814 in the second roller portion 804 are configured such that a wire passing through them will be flattened on the top and bottom.
The flattener 108 also includes a horizontal adjustment unit 810 and a vertical adjustment unit 812. The horizontal adjustment unit 810 allows the spacing between the first rollers 806 to be adjusted to accommodate wires of varying sizes. Horizontal adjustments can be made to space the rollers 806 sufficiently apart such that they will not flatten the sides of the wire passing through the rollers.
The vertical adjustment unit 812 allows the spacing between the second rollers 814 to be adjusted to accommodate wires of varying sizes. The vertical adjustment unit also allows the second rollers 814 to be spaced sufficiently apart such that they will not contact wire passing through the rollers 814, thereby preventing the top and bottom of the wire from being flattened.
Turning now to
Turning now to
The horizontal sliding member 1006 is slidably engaged with the upper flattener support member 1010. The upper flattener support member 1010 is coupled to the horizontal adjustment unit 810, which is further coupled through a window 1012 in the upper flattener support member 1010 to the top roller support member 1004 via the horizontal adjustment unit interface member 810. In an exemplary embodiment, the portion of the horizontal adjustment unit 810 that is coupled to the top roller support member 1004 is threadably connected with the portion of the horizontal adjustment unit 810 that is coupled to the upper flattener support member 1010. When the wheel of the horizontal adjustment unit 810 is turned, the top roller support member 1004 is moved horizontally with respect to the bottom roller support member, as described above.
The bottom assembly 1014 includes the top horizontal roller support member 1016, which is coupled to the vertical sliding member 1020, which is in turn coupled to the vertical adjustment interface member 1022. The vertical adjustment unit 812 is coupled to the top horizontal roller support member 1016 and the bottom flattener support member 1026. With the exception of operating vertically, the vertical adjustment unit 812 operates substantially similarly to the horizontal adjustment unit 810. When the wheel is turned, the top horizontal roller 1018 moves vertically with respect to the bottom horizontal roller 1024, as described above.
Alternative embodiments of the system for manufacturing wire will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Thus, although this invention has been described in exemplary form with a certain degree of particularity, it should be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts or steps may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description.
