To say that we live in a ‘wired’ world is an understatement.
With a wide array of modern appliances and advancements, the world around us abounds with technology like never before.
What has made all of this possible, among other things, is the humble wire. Drawn from metals, typically copper, they form one of the main infrastructure backbone of the modern world.
When it comes to using them, a major challenge is of stripping them, or in other words, to remove the layer of protective covering that they usually have around them.
There are many ways in which the same can be achieved, one of the most recent being the use of wire stripping machines. These are, as the name would suggest, machines that help to remove the insulation around wires, in a way that is fast, efficient and effective.
There are many ways in which the stripping function is carried out, in both manual as well as automatic strippers.
Explained in the points below are details about how a wire stripping machine works, in both the two cases.
1. The Wire Feeding Mechanism
The first step involved would be the feeding of the wires.
There are two ways in which this can happen. In some machines, there is just a single inlet for feeding the wires. In others, there are several, each of which is specialized for a certain degree of thickness and quality of wiring.
Once the wires are feed, whether in single or bulk, they are taken by the machine to the next step of the stripping process.
Also to add here is that typically, wires and cabling are entered in their full and unwound state, rather than a wound up one. This is however not something of concern in case of more modern designs, where one can put in large amounts of wire in both wound an unwound states, which the machine then sorts out all on its own.
In some cases, such as those of automatic machines, the feeding mechanism is usually done by the machine itself. All that one has to do is to place the wires in the designated area, after which the machines feed the same into the stripping mechanism. In others, the process will be entirely manual in nature, especially in those cases which do not have a high degree of productivity and processing requirement.
2. The Actual Stripping Mechanism
This is the part where the machinery actually strips the wire of its insulation. The exact strategy used for the process will certainly vary from one design to others.
One of the most common ways in which this is achieved, is with the help of cutting heads, which slice the insulation away. There are other designs which work to ‘crush’ the insulation, and thereby help to loosen up its hold around the wiring.
Regardless of the way the stripping mechanism works, this is the part where the wire is stripped of the insulation that covers it.
Modern designs also allow for the degree of stripping that is to take place. For example, some wires may only require a certain percentage of the wiring to be removed, while others would require all of it to be eliminated. These are things which the machine provides settings for, and which can be adjusted appropriately.
3. The Insulation Removal Process
Once the insulation is stripped, the next step would involve the removal of the same from the wire.
Typically, this is done using abrasive or otherwise obstructive heads, which only permit for the wiring to move, while holding back the insulation. This in turn allows for the loosened up or otherwise cut insulation layers to be held back by a machine, while allowing for the wiring to move ahead without issues.
There are other mechanisms used for achieving the same purpose as well. These are however in the minority, in comparison to the others.
The separated insulation fragments and pieces are often collected in a separate place, often a waste bin of sorts, for later disposal.
4. The Finished/Processed Wire
Once the wiring has been separated of all its insulation, it is released from the machine. This can happen in one of two ways, namely the same entry or a different one.
In those machines that operate using the same processing end, one just has to feed the wiring and remove it from the same entrance and exit point. This is typically used in cases where only a part of the insulation is to be removed.
In cases where the entire wire is to be stripped of its insulation, the most common design involves the feeding of the cable or wiring from one and the release of the processed metal wire from the other.
Quite often, these are collected in a separate place, usually a chamber of sorts, which can then be emptied for further use or processing.
5. Working Mechanism
There are two main ways in which wire stripping machinery works, namely that of manual and automatic.
Manual one is those which depend on human effort to be used, while those that are automatic are typically the ones powered using electricity, or in some cases, fossil fuels.
In general, those operations that is relatively light or of low intensity in nature, tends to be the ones that use manual machines. Likewise, the ones that have a high degree of productivity requirement and workloads, tend to be the ones that are automatic in nature.
In some cases, the machines themselves may be of a ‘hybrid’ nature as well, where they offer both a manual as well as automatic function. This allows them to be used for a far greater range of purposes and uses, than those machines which are only automatic or manual. At the same time however, these machines may come with the added issue of being more expensive, as well as carrying additional maintenance costs. Furthermore, they may also have issues with space requirements, given that they are often larger than other machines, making it rather problematic in terms of storage for everyday use.
To sum it all up, the above mentioned steps explains in detail the way in which a wire stripping machine works.
Do note that the above are but a standardized explanation of how the machines work. Depending on the make and model, and of course the internal mechanism, certain aspects about the wire stripping process may change. At the same time however, the fundamentals remain basic and similar to a very large extent.
