Wrapper assembly
A wrapper assembly is disclosed that can be used, for example, to wrap a label around a wire. In the wrapper assembly, a pair of supports are spaced apart from one another and a plurality of rollers are disposed there between. The wrapper assembly further includes at least one yoke. Both the pair of supports and the yoke have positioning slots formed therein that support the rollers. By moving the yoke or yokes relative to the supports, the positioning slots in the yoke or yokes shifts relative to the positioning slots in the supports and thereby adjusting the positions of rollers relative to one another.
1. A wrapper assembly comprising:
a pair of supports spaced apart from one another, each of the pair of supports having positioning slots formed therein;
a plurality of rollers disposed between the pair of supports and supported by the positioning slots in the pair of supports, the plurality of rollers having axes that are substantially parallel with one another; and
at least one yoke having positioning slots formed therein that support at least some of the plurality of rollers, the at least one yoke being movable relative to the pair of supports to shift the positioning slots in the at least one yoke relative to the positioning slots in the at least one of the pair of supports to thereby alter a position of at least some of the plurality of rollers relative to one another;
wherein the pair of supports, the plurality of rollers, and the at least one yoke comprise a rotatable subassembly.
2. The wrapper assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of rollers are movable between a closed position and an open position.
3. The wrapper assembly of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of rollers are configured to capture an object centrally disposed there between when the plurality of rollers are between the closed position and the open position.
4. The wrapper assembly of claim 2 , further comprising at least one biasing element that engages the at least one yoke and wherein the biasing element is configured to bias the at least one yoke towards the closed position.
5. The wrapper assembly of claim 4 , wherein the biasing element is an extension spring.
6. The wrapper assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a frame into which the rotatable subassembly is received and wherein the rotatable subassembly is rotatable relative to the frame about a rotational axis.
7. The wrapper assembly of claim 6 , wherein the pair of supports are discs.
8. The wrapper assembly of claim 7 , wherein each of the pair of supports include a notch that generally extends from a center of the support to a periphery of the support and the at least one yoke includes a notch.
9. The wrapper assembly of claim 8 , wherein the frame includes at least one opening that aligns with the notch in at least one rotation position of the rotatable subassembly in the frame thereby allowing the insertion of an item into the rotatable subassembly.
10. The wrapper assembly of claim 6 , wherein the rotatable subassembly further comprising a worm wheel coupled thereto and wherein the wrapper assembly further comprises a worm gear configured to drive the worm wheel thereby causing the rotation of the rotatable subassembly.
11. The wrapper assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of spacers coupling the pair of supports to one another.
12. The wrapper assembly of claim 1 , wherein the wire wrapper includes a pair of yokes, with one of the pair of yokes being disposed proximate to each end of the plurality of rollers.
13. The wrapper assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of rollers include dowel rods extending from their axial ends and wherein the dowel rods are received in the positioning slots of the pair of supports and the at least one yoke.
14. The wrapper assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the positioning slots on each of the pair of supports includes a pair of collinear slots and a slot that is perpendicular to the pair of collinear slots; and
the at least one yoke includes a pair of linear slots that are at an angle relative to one another.
15. The wrapper assembly of claim 14 , wherein the pair of collinear slots in the pair of supports and the pair of linear slots that are at an angle relative to one another in the at least one yoke form a pair of intersections that thereby define axes for two of the plurality of rollers.
16. The wrapper assembly of claim 15 , wherein one of the pair of rollers is configured to translationally move with the at least one yoke and be supported by the slot that is perpendicular to the pair of collinear slots.
17. The wrapper assembly of claim 16 , wherein there are three rollers and the positional slots are configured such that, when the at least one yoke is moved to alter the axes of the three rollers relative to one another along a plane that is perpendicular to the axes of the three rollers, circles having a circumference defined by the intersection of the axes with the plane will be concentric with one another.
18. A wrapper assembly comprising:
a frame;
a rotatable subassembly received in the frame, the rotatable subassembly being rotatable relative to the frame about a rotational axis, the rotatable subassembly comprising:
a pair of discs spaced apart from one another, each of the pair of discs having positioning slots formed therein and each of the pair of discs include a notch that generally extends from a center of the disc to a periphery of the disc;
a plurality of rollers disposed between the pair of discs and supported by the positioning slots in the pair of discs, the plurality of rollers having axes that are substantially parallel with one another; and
a pair of yokes having positioning slots formed therein that support at least some of the plurality of rollers, the pair of yokes being movable relative to the pair of discs to shift the positioning slots in the pair of yokes relative to the positioning slots in the a corresponding one of the pair of discs to thereby alter a position of at least some of the plurality of rollers relative to one another.