Device and method for automatically twisting metal wires, in particular for connecting adjacent, preferably mutually intersecting structure elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9808854-B2
Application number	US-201314428934-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2013
Priority date	Sep 19, 2012
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

The invention concerns an apparatus, a method and a use of the apparatus for automatically twisting metal wires. The invention concerns in particular such an apparatus for connecting adjacent, preferably mutually crossing structural elements, comprising a wire feed means for feeding wire, preferably endless wire, into the apparatus, an arcuate wire guide which has a selectively openable and closable opening and which is adapted to guide the fed wire in the closed position along the arcuate wire guide from a first side of the arcuate wire guide to a second side of the arcuate wire guide, that is in opposite relationship with respect to the opening, a pulling slider adapted to engage the fed wire on the first side of the arcuate wire guide and to pull it towards the second side of the arcuate wire guide, and a twisting unit adapted to engage the fed wire on both sides of the arcuate wire guide and to twist it by means of a rotational movement.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for twisting metal wires for connecting adjacent or mutually crossing structural elements, the apparatus comprising:
a wire feed means for feeding wire into the apparatus,
an arcuate wire guide that has a selectively openable and closable opening and is adapted to guide the fed wire when in the closed position along the arcuate wire guide from a first side of the arcuate wire guide to a second side of the arcuate wire guide, wherein the first and second sides of the arcuate wire guide are in opposite relationship with respect to the opening,
a pulling slider adapted to engage the fed wire on the first side of the arcuate wire guide and to pull the fed wire towards the second side of the arcuate wire guide, and
a twisting unit adapted to engage the fed wire on both the first and second sides of the arcuate wire guide and to twist the fed wire by a rotational movement.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the first and second sides of the arcuate wire guide separate from each other to open the opening and come together to close the opening, and wherein the opening is arranged at a proximal end of the apparatus.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the twisting unit has a first wire guide passage hole and a second wire guide passage hole and wherein the wire feed means is adapted to pass the fed wire through the first wire guide passage hole.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the pulling slider is adapted to pass the wire pulled to the second side of the arcuate wire guide through the second wire guide passage hole in such a way that the wire forms a loop from the first wire guide passage hole to the second wire guide passage hole.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3 comprising a clamping device arranged on the first or the second side of the arcuate wire guide and adapted to hold the wire passed through the first wire guide passage hole or to hold the wire passed through the second wire guide passage hole.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5 comprising a drive means for conveying the wire, wherein the drive means is adapted to convey the wire passed through the second wire guide passage hole and held by the clamping device to shorten a loop that has formed to a predetermined size.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the drive means is associated with the wire feed means and is adapted to convey the wire selectively into the apparatus in a feed direction or in an opposite direction.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the drive means includes a drive member that is motor-drivable and is coupled to the pulling slider in such a way that the pulling slider is displaceable selectively from the first side of the arcuate wire guide towards the second side of the arcuate wire guide and from the second side of the arcuate wire guide towards the first side of the arcuate wire guide.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the twisting unit has two coaxially arranged gears through which first and second wire guide passage holes completely extend, and wherein the two coaxially arranged gears are drivable both in opposite directions and in a same direction.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a cutting body configured to sever the wire within the apparatus and adapted to sever the wire on at least one of the first side of the arcuate wire guide and on the second side of the arcuate wire guide.

11. A method of twisting a metal wire for connecting two or more adjacent or mutually crossing structural elements, the method comprising the steps:
providing two adjacent or mutually crossing structural elements,
feeding the wire into an apparatus according to claim 1 ,
passing a crossing region of the structural elements through the opened opening of the arcuate wire guide of the apparatus,
closing the opening of the arcuate wire guide so that the crossing region of the structural elements is enclosed by the arcuate wire guide,
engaging the fed wire by the pulling slider,
while the arcuate wire guide is in the closed position, pulling the fed wire by the pulling slider along the arcuate wire guide from the first side of the arcuate wire guide to the second side of the arcuate wire guide,
engaging the fed wire on both the first and second sides of the arcuate wire guide by a twisting unit, and
twisting the engaged wire by a rotational movement of the twisting unit.

12. A method according to claim 11 wherein the step of engaging the fed wire by a twisting unit includes at least one of the following steps:
passing the fed wire through a first wire guide passage hole, and
passing the wire that has been pulled to the second side of the arcuate wire guide in such a way that the wire forms a loop from the first wire guide passage hole to a second wire guide passage hole around the structural elements.

13. A method according to claim 12 including:
holding the wire passed through the first wire guide passage hole or the wire passed through the second wire guide passage hole.

14. A method according to claim 13 including:
conveying the wire passed through the second wire guide passage hole and held by a clamping device in such a way that the formed loop is reduced to a predetermined size.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein passing the fed wire through the first wire guide passage hole comprises using the wire feed means of the apparatus to pass the fed wire through the first wire guide passage hole.

16. A method according to claim 11 wherein the step of engaging the fed wire on both sides of the arcuate wire guide by the twisting unit includes:
driving in opposite directions two coaxially arranged gears, both of the gears including first and second wire guide passage holes such that the wire is passed through the first and second wire guide passage holes and is clamped, and
wherein the step of twisting the engaged wire by rotational movement of the twisting unit includes:
driving the two gears in a same direction with the clamped wire.

17. A method according to claim 11 including the step:
prior to the twisting step, severing the wire on at least one of the first and second sides of the arcuate wire guide by a cutting body within the apparatus.

18. A method of using an apparatus for automatically twisting metal wires for connecting adjacent or mutually crossing structural elements for the production of a reinforcing cage for a pylon element of a wind power installation, wherein the apparatus is an apparatus in accordance to claim 1 , the method comprising:
feeding wire into the wire feed means,
placing the opening of the arcuate wire guide in an open position,
placing the adjacent structural elements or the mutually crossing structural elements in the opening,
placing the opening in a closed position to surround the structural elements or the mutually crossing structural elements,
engaging the fed wire by the pulling slider at the first side of the arcuate wire guide,
using the pulling slider, pulling the fed wire towards the second side of the arcuate wire guide, and
twisting the wire fed on both sides of the arcuate wire guide by rotational movement of the twisting unit, and
wherein the reinforcing cage has first structural elements that includes a plurality of first and second prestressing cables arranged in mutually crossing relationship.

Assignees

• Wobben Properties Gmbh

Inventors

• Horn Gunther

Classifications

• E04G21/123

  Wire twisting tools (bundling articles by twisting, e.g. wire B65B13/28; bundling rods, sticks, or like elongated objects with, e.g. wire B65B27/10; tying devices for hops, vines or trees with, e.g. wire A01G17/08) · CPC title

• B21F15/04 Primary

  without additional connecting elements or material, e.g. by twisting · CPC title