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Abstract

A universal planetary feeder for feeding a wire which includes an elongate hollow body defining a wire feed axis and adapted for high speed rotation about the axis, and a pair of planetary rollers associated with the body so as to be rotatable together with the body about the feed axis and which are mounted about the feed axis in mutually skewed respective orientations. The planetary rollers define circumferential peripheral feed surfaces spaced from each other about the feed axis and are configured for simultaneous engagements with a wire along preselected lines of contact. Each of the feed surfaces is intersected at right angles by a plane which is offset from the feed axis by an offset angle. Each of the roller is pivotable about an axis normal to the feed axis so as to adjust the offset angle between the roller and the feed axis, thereby selecting a roller feed surface profile parallel to the feed axis which corresponds to the external configuration of a wire selected from a range of wires having different diameter sizes. The arrangement provides a line of maximum contact between the roller surface and the selected wire. The pair of rollers are simultaneously urging radially towards the feed axis so as to apply a normal force to the wire along the lines of contact between the roller feed surfaces and the wire. When the body and rollers are rotated about the feed axis, the rollers are apply to the wire a generally tangential force along the lines of contact, thereby feeding the wire along the feed axis.

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