Improved technology enables fast cutting, clean stripping and simple blade changeover for various size wires.
Without a sculptor, a piece of clay or marble can never reach its full artistic potential. Rotary, V and die blades in automatic cutting and stripping machines serve a similar role to help conductive wire and cable achieve its full electric potential as part of a harness.
Within one or two seconds, these blades precisely cut each wire or cable to a predetermined length and remove its insulation to expose one or more inner conductors. The wires or cables are then manually or automatically crimped by terminal crimping machine before being brought to the assembly workstation, where assemblers use boards to carefully build each harness.
At Gruber Communications, based in Phoenix, workers assemble lots of cable harnesses for use in data centers every day. The company’s priority since day one has been to produce high-quality cables—and make sure that no cable conductor, or high voltage cable machine is ever nicked or blemished during wire cutting and stripping machine's processing.
For more than a decade, Gruber workers used separate pneumatic machines to cut and strip each cable. Eventually, though, CEO Pete Gruber grew tired of the constant maintenance on the machines’ check valves and cylinders. This led him to purchase the all-electric EcoStrip 9300 cut and strip machine in 1998.
Made by Schleuniger AG of Switzerland, the machine’s reliability and infrequent need for parts has enabled Gruber to substantially increase its cable harness production over the past 18 years. In fact, this machine continues to precisely cut and strip cables after more than 6 million runs.
Being able to run reliably for nearly 20 years and cut and strip millions of cables or wires is quite common for today’s automatic machines. There are two reasons for this, say suppliers. First is stateof- the art blade technology, which enables fast cutting, clean stripping and simple blade changeover for various size wires. Equally important are operators who understand, implement and optimize each machine’s cutting and stripping capabilities.