Apparatus for stranding at least two wires together

Claim 1

Apparatus for stranding a unit of at least two wires together comprising wire guide means (10) extending in a wire pass direction, downstream to a twisting station (22, 30, 34) to define individual feed paths for wires and prevent the wires from twisting together as they move along the guide means to the twisting station, the guide means being rotatably flexible about a longitudinal axis to provide torsional twist in the guide means and a twisting means (24, 28 and 36) in the twisting station and connected to the wire guide means, characterized in that the twisting means has means (44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58) to rotate it alternately, in one direction and then the other and for a plurality of revolutions, to rotate the guide means at the twisting station and place torsional twist in the guide means alternately in one direction and then the other about said longitudinal axis; the apparatus also having a stranding means in a stranding station (74) downstream along the feedpaths from the twisting station with at least a section of the feedpaths for wires being curved and of fixed orientation between the twisting and stranding stations; and means (60, 78) extending between the twisting and stranding stations to prevent the wires, after passage through the twisting means, from stranding together before they reach the stranding station, said strand prevention means comprising a wire separation tube (78) which is curved to extend along the fixed curved section of path and defines the individual feed paths for the wires, said separation tube being rotatable around an axis of rotation which coincides with the fixed curved path section and with a speed and direction of rotation the same as the twisting means, and the tube having flexibility to enable the tube to be maintained in its curved configuration along said fixed curved path section and torsional rigidity to avoid build-up and retention of twist.