US3650142A

US3650142A - Method of and apparatus for decreasing the spacing between articles

Info

Publication number: US3650142A
Application number: US843107A
Authority: US
Inventors: William M Baldwin Jr; Vincent A Rayburn
Original assignee: Western Electric Co Inc
Current assignee: AT&T Corp
Priority date: 1969-07-18
Filing date: 1969-07-18
Publication date: 1972-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 1989-03-21
Also published as: CA925375A

Abstract

The spacing between articles depending from a deformable strip of stock material is decreased by crimping the strip between each adjacent pair of articles. The crimps are formed at spaced intervals starting with the centermost portions of the strip and progressing outwardly therefrom until a crimp is formed between each adjacent article pair. Crimping is accomplished by an arrangement of concentric piston-rams which are sequentially moved to advance pairs of forming tools to crimp and decrease the length of the strip of stock material.

Description

United States Patent Baldwin, Jr. et al.

[451 Mar. 21, 1972 [54] METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DECREASING THE SPACING BETWEEN ARTICLES [72] lnventors: William M. Baldwin, Jr.; Vincent A.

Rayburn, both of Baltimore, Md.

[73] Assignee: Western Electric Company Incorporated,

New York, NY.

[22] Filed: July 18, 1969 21 App1.No.: 843,107

521 user ..72/403,72/453,9l/168,

92/52 51 mu. ..B2lj9/l2 5s FieldofSearch ..72/403,3s5,3s1,4s3,347,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 24,689 7/1859 Worthen ..72/403 763,887 6/1904 Hastings 1,141,077 5/1915 Sickman.... 1,537,753 5/1925 Craven ..72/403 2,143,429 1/1939 Auble ..72/453 2,804,848 9/1957 OFarrell. .....91/l68 2,948,325 8/1960 Welindt ..72/313 2,954,068 9/ 1960 Williamson ..72/403 3,128,674 4/1964 Ganchar ..91/167 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,243,071 8/1960 France ..92/52 1,101,964 4/1959 Germany ..91/168 Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham Assistant ExaminerGene P. Crosby Att0rneyl-l. J. Winegar, R. P. Miller and R. Y. Peters [57] ABSTRACT The spacing between articles depending from a deformable strip of stock material is decreased by crimping the strip between each adjacent pair of articles. The crimps are formed at spaced intervals starting with the centermost portions of the strip and progressing outwardly therefrom until a crimp is formed between each adjacent article pair. Crimping is accomplished by an arrangement of concentric piston-rams which are sequentially moved to advance pairs of forming tools to crimp and decrease the length of the strip of stock material.

17 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHARZI 1912 sum 01 0F- 10 JA/VEA/TU E;

LU. m. EFL. DUI/N, JR.

\4 H. R'FIrEL/RN J U WE PAIENTEDHARZI I972 3,650,142

' SHEET UBUF 10 PATENTEUMRZI I972 SHEET [IQ 0F 10 PATENTEUHAR 21 I972 SHEET GSUF 10 PATENTEU MR2] I972 SHEET OBUF 1O PAIENTEDMARm I972 SHEET 09 0F 10 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS-F OR DECREASING THE SPACING BETWEEN ARTICLES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for sequentially corrugating articles and more particularly, to a method of and apparatus for sequentially operating a series of concentrically positioned sleeves or piston-rams to successively drive a plurality of forming tools to crimp portions of a deformable strip of stock material having gang-formed articles depending therefrom.

2. Technical Considerations and Prior Art During various types of manufacturing processes, it often becomes necessary to deform a strip of material at a succession of spaced locations. In these instances it is necessary to perform a succession of shape altering operations without introducing deleterious stress concentrations which act to alter the dimensions of the fabricated, deformed strip.

For example, in the stamping of small gang die-formed articles, such as miniature electrical contacts, it is often desirable to bring a relatively large number of articles into close proximity to facilitate subsequent handling thereof. This is particularly true, for example, when a large plurality of closely spaced miniature articles are to be gang-inserted into closely spaced retaining cells in a preformed assembly housing.

In this regard, the invention has particular utility in the fabrication of miniature gang-formed electrical contacts which are suitable for interconnecting successive lengths of telephone cable and which may be inserted into closely spaced cells in a miniature connector housing or block.

Typically, contacts suitable for use with such miniature connectors may be stamped from a strip of sheet stock so that a multiple of contact blanks are held by and depend transversely from backbone cross strips of the stock material. This is done to facilitate handling of the blanks during subsequent manufacturing operations, such as shaping the blanks into contacts having a predetermined configuration, or gold or tin plating the contacting surfaces of the contacts. Frequently, the shape of the contact blanks or the punches and dies used to stamp the blanks from the stock material require that the initial spacing between the longitudinal axes of the backbone-supported blanks be greater than the ultimate spacing between the completed contacts prior to insertion thereof into the precisely spaced cells of a connector housing block. Therefore, prior to insertion, the spacing between the longitudinal axes of the completed backbone-supported contacts must be fore-shortened or reduced.

One technique for fore-shortening or reducingthe spacing between the completed contacts involves severing each contact from the backbone prior to individually inserting each contact into a spaced connector cell. However, this technique has many disadvantages in that it is tedious, time consuming, expensive, and subject to assembly errors. It also results in an inordinate number of defective contact-connector assemblies, due primarily to damage incurred by the tangling and matting together of loose contacts during assembly.

Thus, it is apparent that, for economical mass production of miniature contact-connector assemblies, it would be advantageous if the spacing between the backbone-supported contacts could be reduced to correspond to the spacing between the precisely spaced cells of a connector housing, and the contacts inserted into the housing while they are still supported by the backbone strip. Such manifold or multiplex handling would necessarily obviate the problems inherent in individual contact handling techniques and would greatly facilitate multiple contact fabrication, handling, and assembling.

Summary of the Invention The present invention contemplates new and improved methods of and for successively operating a series of material shaping tools to successively crimp a strip-like article. In one application of the invention a method and an apparatus are provided for foreshortening or reducing the spacing between articles depending from a backbone strip of deformable stock material. More particularly, articles which may be electrical contacts, are moved in closer proximity to each other by troughing or crimping a portion of the deformable backbone strip between each adjacent contact. The crimps are formed at spaced intervals in the backbone strip starting at the centermost portion thereof and progressing outwardly therefrom until a crimp is formed between each adjacent contact pair. In order to insure that the contacts are spaced uniformly along the backbone strip, it is desirable that no unnecessary stresses be introduced which result in stretching of the backbone during the bending or crimping operation.

An apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention for crimping the backbone strip at predetermined spaced intervals comprises a hydraulically operated, telescopically arranged plurality of sleeves or piston rams, one slidably nested inside the other, and each having at least one material shaping element depending therefrom. Each ram is integral with and secured to a piston located in a series of axially spaced chambers. Both the pistons and the piston rams act as plungers slidably moved by the application of hydraulic pressure so that the dependent material shaping elements are sequentially displaced toward the backbone strip, starting with the element engageable with the centerrnost portion of the strip and progressing outwardly therefrom toward the elements engageable with the outermost portions thereof. The

piston and piston rams are mounted for limited movement so that the material shaping elements lie in a plane parallel with the plane of the uncrimped backbone when the central piston and piston rams are fully displaced to crimp the strip.

Displacement of the central piston controls the subsequent flow of hydraulic fluid to initiate the movement of the next succeeding piston, and this mode of operation is utilized to initiate the movement of the other pistons. It can be thus appreciated that the movement of the inner ram is followed by successive movements of the other concentrically arranged rams.

After the backbone strip is completely crimped and the electrical contacts are thereupon moved a predetermined distance closer to each other, the shaping elements are caused to retract successively in reverse order.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following. detailed description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with portions removed for the sake of clarity, of a strip of deformable material having a plurality of spaced gang-formed electrical contact blanks depending therefrom, the spacing of which may be effectively decreased in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the disposition of the subsequently formed contacts relative to the backbone strip from which such contacts depend and to a side strip which supports said backbone strip;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the relative decrease in the spacing between the contacts subsequent to the crimping of the backbone strip in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a strip material shaping apparatus above a vertically movable die block having strip cutter knives and strip hold-downs attached thereon;

FIG. -5 is a sectional view of a material shaping apparatus which may effectively corrugate a strip of stock material in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing of the hydraulic fluid system for controlling a series of concentrically positioned sleeves or piston rams having crimping tools thereon to sequentially crimp a deformable strip;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the manner in which a predetermined displacement of a piston drives the centermost material shaping element into pressing engagement with the deformable strip, and the manner in which said predetermined displacement uncovers a port of a conduit means to initiate movement of the nextadjacent material shaping element;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the disposition of the two innermost piston rams when the first and second pairs of material shaping elements are engaged with the deformable strip, and the relative decrease in the spacing between the contacts adjacent the portions of the strip deformed by said engagement;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 illustrating the decreased spacing between each adjacent contact after all of the material shaping elements are advanced into pressing engagement with the strip;

FIG. 10 is another schematic drawing of the hydraulic fluid system of FIG. 6 showing various control valves in position to effectuate the withdrawal of the concentrically positioned sleeves from contact with the crimped strip;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view, particularly illustrating the concentrically positioned sleeves or piston rams with the shaping elements attached on the ends thereof; and

FIG. 12 is a full cross-sectional view, taken along line 12- 12 of FIG. 5 illustrating an annular clearance gap disposed between the piston rod and the innermost sleeve which gap is needed for sequential application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Although the present invention may be employed whenever a series of tools are to be sequentially operated, it has particular utility where portions of a strip or strand are to be successively crimped or whenever a plurality of articles which are supported on a deformable strip of material are to be moved a predetermined distance closer to each other. The invention will be described in one specific application where spacing is decreased between electrical contacts depending from a backbone strip of stock material.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 depict a plurality of electrical contacts 21 in various stages of completion. FIG.

I 1 depicts a strip of electrically conductive sheet stock material having portions removed therefrom to define a plurality of spaced contact blanks 22. The blanks 22 may be formed by various techniques but they are typically gang-formed by a stamping operation so that each blank is supported by and extended transversely from the backbone cross strip 23. As illustrated, each backbone cross strip 23 may be supported by continuous side strips 24 of stock material 20 which facilitate handling and advancing the blanks 22 and the subsequently formed electrical contacts 21.

FIG. 2 depicts a portion of a side strip 24 and a backbone cross strip 23 having completely shaped electrical contacts 21 depending orthogonally therefrom. It should be apparent that the spacing of the contacts 21 is determined, at least in part, by the width of the blanks 22 shown in FIG; 1 and the external dimensions of the forming punches and the dies that are to be employed, and that the direction in which the contacts are made to depend from the backbone cross strips 23 and side strips 24 is determined by the subsequent fabricating and handling operations involved. For example, orthogonally depended contacts 21 as shown in FIG. 2 are advantageously oriented for subsequent plating operations, as when the contacting surfaces of the contacts 21 are submerged into a suitable plating bath for gold or tin plating.

Following fabrication of the contacts 21, the backbone cross strip 23 is positioned either manually or by automatic means between crimping apparatus 26 (FIG. 4) and a die block 27. The die block 27 is provided with oppositely disposed recesses 28-28 to accommodate holding pads 29- 29 secured to headed bolts 31-31. The headed bolts 31-31 are slidably mounted in bores formed in seats 32-32 andextend into a second pair of recesses 33-33. A pair of compression springs 34-34 urge and support the pads 29-29 so that the top surfaces project above the top surface of the die block 27. When the die block 27 is advanced by a piston ram 36, actuated by fluid supplied to a cylinder 37, the pads 29-29 engage opposed end sections of the backbone cross strip 23 to move the strip 23 into engagement with a pair of rigid pads 38-38 extending from the housing of the crimping apparatus 26.

A of shearing blades 39-39 are also secured to opposite sides of the die block 27. The tips of the blades 39-39 are positioned in lateral alignment with the top surfaces of the holding pads 29-29 so that when the die block 27 is advanced and the spring-urged pads 29-29 are holding the strip 23 against the pads 38-38, the blades move relative to the pads 29-29 and cooperate with shearing inserts 40-40 mounted in the edges of the rigid pads 38-38 to sever the ends of the backbone cross strip 23 from the side strips 24- 24. The top surface of the block 27 is provided with a plurality of die cavities 41 to receive sections of the backbone cross strip 23 which are deformed by operation of the crimping apparatus 26.

The removal of the side strips 24-24 is necessary prior to the crimping operation because the side strips are too stiff to move inwardly toward each other when the crimps are subsequently made on the backbone strip 23. When the side strips 24-24 are removed the strip 23 is ready for crimping and the spacing between contacts 21-21 is decreased by crimping or bending the backbone strips 23-23 between each adjacent contact 21. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the crimps or bends 42 are made by deforming the backbone cross strip 23 transversely, perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal axis of the pendant contacts 21-21.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an apparatus for performing successive crimping operations, which includes a piston 43 mounted for to and fro sliding movement between an upper face 44 and a lower face 46 of afirst cylinder cavity 47 in a cylinder block 48. The cylinder, block 48 is provided with three cylinder cavities or

chambers

47, 51, and 52 intercommunicating through

bores

53 and 54, the three chambers and the two bores being concentrically disposed about a common central axis in tiered order. The thickness of the piston 43 is chosen so that when an upper face 56 of the piston 43 abuts the upper face 44 of the cylinder cavity 47, a cylinder wall port 57 of a down-stroke fluid by-pass 58 opening into a side wall 59 of the cylinder cavity 47, is closed by the piston wall 61. At the same time, a cylinder face port 62 of an up-stroke fluid by-pass 63 in the lower face 46 of the first cylinder cavity 47 is opened as is a cylinder wall exhaust-port 64 opening into the cylinder wall 59 of the first cylinder cavity 47. When a lower face 66 of the piston 43 abuts the lower face 46 of the cylinder cavity 47, the cylinder face port 62 of the fluid bypass 63 and the cylinder wall port 64 of the up-stroke fluid outlet 67 are covered thereby, while the cylinder wall port 57 of the down-stroke by-pass 58 is opened. A material shaping ram 68 is rigidly secured to the piston 43 and is slidably-fitted through the first bore 53 to extend through the second chamber 51, the second bore 54, and the third chamber 52. The ram 68 also extends through a third bore 69. The ram 68 has an angularstepped offset 71 disposed at a predetermined distance from the end thereof to define a neck portion 72 extending from the offset 71 to the end of the ram 68. A pair of material shaping or crimping elements 73 extend from the neck portion 72 of the ram 68 and are fixedly mounted thereto so that displacement of the piston 43 and the ram 68 is translated tothe shaping elements 73. These shaping elements 73 are adapted to move within the complimentary die cavities 41 formed in a die block 27 to crimp an interposed backbone strip 23.

The crimping apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5 also includes a pair of telescopicallyarranged sleeves or hollow piston rams 74 and 76, having laterally projecting members in the form of piston heads 77 and 78, respectively, on one end thereof. The head 77 of the piston ram 74 is mounted for to and fro sliding movement between an upper face 79 and a lower face 81 of the second chamber 51, while the piston ram 74 is slidably mounted on the ram 68 and in the second bore 54. The piston ram 74 extends through the third chamber 52 and the third bore 69, and has a first angular stepped offset 82 disposed at a predetermined distance from the end thereof to define an annular gap or clearance space 83 (see FIG. 12) between the ram offset 71 and the piston ram offset 82. The piston ram 74 also has a second angular stepped offset 84 which, together with the first offset 82, define a necked-down piston ram portion 86 which slidably fits over the neck portion 72 of the ram 68. A pair of spaced material shaping or crimping elements 87 extend from the end of the neck-down portion 86 and are fixedly mounted thereto so that displacement of the piston head 77 and the piston ram 74 is translated to the shaping elements 87.

The thickness of the piston head 77 is chosen so that when the head 77 engages the upper face 79 of the second chamber 51, a cylinder wall port 88 of the down-stroke fluid by-pass 58 opening into cylinder wall 89 of the chamber is covered by the piston head 77, while a cylinder face port 91 of the up-stroke fluid by-pass 63 and a cylinder wall port 92, opening into the bottom face 81, and cylinder wall 89, respectively, are uncovered. Also, when the piston head 77 engages the lower face 81 of the second chamber 51, the cylinder face port 91 of the up-stroke fluid by-pass 63 and the cylinder wall port 92 are covered, while the cylinder wall port 88 is uncovered.

The piston head 78 of piston ram 76 is mounted for to and fro sliding movement between an upper face 93 and a lower face 94 of the third chamber 52, while the piston ram 76 is slidably mounted on the piston ram 74 and in the third bore 69, through which the piston ram 76 extends. The piston ram 76 has an angular stepped offset 96 disposed at a predetermined distance from the end thereto to define an annular gap or clearance space 97 between the sleeve offsets 84 and 96; the

gaps

83 and 97 communicating through a bore or breather hole 98 extending between the

offsets

82 and 84. A pair of spaced material shaping or crimping elements 99 extend from the end of the piston ram 76 and are fixedly mounted thereto so that displacement of the piston head 78 and the piston ram 76 is translated to the shaping elements 99. The thickness of the head 78 is chosen so that when the head 78 engages the upper face 93 of the chamber 52, a cylinder wall port 101 ofa down-stroke fluid outlet 102 opening into cylinder wall 103 of the third cylinder chamber 52 is covered by the head 78, while cylinder face port 104 of an up-stroke fluid inlet 106 and a cylinder wall port 107 of the up-stroke fluid by-pass 63 opening into the lower face 94 and cylinder wall 103, respectively, are uncovered. Also, when the head 78 engages the lower face 94, the cylinder face port 104 and the cylinder wall port 107 are covered, while the cylinder wall port 101 is uncovered.

As depicted by FIGS. 5, 7, 8, and 9 of the drawings, the composite cylinder block enclosing the respective rams, piston-heads, cylinder cavities, fluid by-pass and inlet and outlet passageways comprises an assemblage of complimentary segments each having bores, slots, and/or grooves formed therein. Upon tiering the segments and bolting them together in proper radial orientation and axial order, the said bores, slots, and/or grooves align in conformance with the configuration shown. It can be appreciated that with a multi-chambered cylinder built up of a plurality of tiered segments, a press attendant is enabled to readily alter the size of the pistons, and the number and configuration of the chambers and passageways contained therein, simply by replacing with a greater or lesser number of preformed segments. As hereinafter set forth in detail, the facility to change the size of the pistons as well as the number and configuration of the chambers and passageways is of significant value to vary the size, spacing, and depth of stroke of the punches, as well as the number of them, to accommodate a wide variety of pressforming operations and stamped parts in accordance with the present invention.

It should also be apparent hat the force applied to the deformable strip of stock material 20 disposed in the path of the shaping

elements

73, 87, and 99 is proportional to the effective surface areas of the piston 43 and the piston heads 77 and 78, and to the pressure of the hydraulic fluid applied thereon. Accordingly, since it is desirable to avoid stretching of the deformable strip 20 while the crimps 42 are being formed at spaced intervals along the length of the backbone cross strips 23, and since the pressure of the hydraulic fluid is relatively easily maintainable at a constant level, it is desirable that the piston 43, and piston heads 77, 78 have substantially the same effective surface area. However, regardless of the surface area of the piston 43 and the

heads

77, 78, the danger of stretching the stock material 20 is minimized since, as most clearly depicted in FIG. 9, the lower face 46 of the first chamber 47, and the lower faces 81, 94 of the second and

third chambers

51, 52, respectively, limit the path through which the piston 43, and piston heads 77, 78 housed therein may be displaced, and are arranged to provide for planar alignment of the shaping elements when the piston 43 and heads 77 78 are fully advanced toward the stock material 20.

In addition, it should be readily apparent that the present invention contemplates the use of more than two telescopically arranged pistons when the width of the backbone strip 23 and the number of contacts 21 depending therefrom so dictate. Moreover, the present invention contemplates replacing the telescopically arranged piston rams with a plurality of adjacent, slidably arranged piston rams having material shaping elements depending from one end thereof and an enlarged head projecting transversely from the other end thereof.

OPERATION In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, and, more particularly, as depicted showing various operative stages of the control system and the crimping apparatus in FIGS. 4 to 10, a deformable backbone cross strip 23 have a plurality of electrical contacts 21 depending at spaced intervals therefrom is corrugated to reduce the spacing between each adjacent contact by first advancing the side strips 24-24 to position the cross strip 23 on the die block 27. Referring to FIG. 4, the die block 27 and the strip 23 are raised by operating the piston 36 and the air cylinder 37. When the cross strip 23 contacts the stop pads 38-38 of the crimping apparatus 26, the strip 23 is held in contact with the pads 38-38 by spring urged pads 29-29. As the die block 27 and blades 39-39 continue their upward motion, the blades 39-39 sever the side strips 24-24 from the cross strip 23. The cross strip 23 is now held by the spring urged pads 29-29 against the stop pads 38-38 with enough firmness to insure that there will be no bowing" at the ends of the strip 23, but yet permitting the ends of the strip to move inwardly toward the center of the strip during the crimping operation. As depicted in FIG. 5, the piston 43 and the piston heads 77 and 78 are disposed against the upper faces 44, 79, 93, respectively, of their

respective chambers

47, 51, 52, due to the force of the hydraulic fluid acting on the lower faces 66, 108, 109, respectively.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 6 which depicts a fluid system for controlling the operation of the crimping rams. The system includes a fluid reservoir 111 from which a pump 112 withdraws fluid and forces the fluid, under pressure, to a pressurized fluid accumulator 114. When the accumulator 114 is up to set pressure, it will no longer take the pump discharge and the pump discharge will pass through a relief valve 113 back to the reservoir 111. From the accumulator 114, fluid passes through a second one-way pressure relief valve 116 to a pair of

piston valves

117 and 118. The pump 112 is driven by an electric motor 119 having an energizing circuit connected through an overload pressure-operated switch 121.

A cycle of operation of the crimping apparatus is initiated by energizing a control circuit (not shown) which, in turn, operates a solenoid 122 to shift a piston valve element 123 to the right as shown in FIG. 6. High pressure fluid thus passes through a line 124, through the valve 118, through a line 126, to the valve 117. A piston valve element 127 shifts to the left to apply high pressure fluid from a line 128, through the valve 117, over a line 129 to the down-stroke fluid inlet 132 and through the fluid inlet port 131 into the cylinder 48. Suitable flow controls 133-133 meter the flow rate of the fluid. The hydraulic fluid initially contained in the cylinder 48 within the up-stroke fluid outlet 67 passes through the fluid outlet port 134 of the fluid outlet 67, through a line 136, through the valve 117, through a line 137, through a third one-way pressure relief valve 138 and into the reservoir 111.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 7, the pressurized fluid is thus applied against the effective area of the upper face 56 of the piston 43 to overcome the force of the hydraulic fluid acting against the smaller effective area of the lower face 66 thereof so as to advance the piston 43 toward and against a lower face 46 of the first chamber 47. As the piston 43 advances toward the lower face 46, four simultaneously occurring events are initiated; namely, (1) the hydraulic fluid, initially in the first cylinder chamber 47, is forced out through the cylinder face port 62 thence through the up-stroke fluid by-pass 63 thence through the cylinder wall port 92 and into the second cylinder chamber 51; (2) the material shaping elements 73, driven by the piston 43, are forced into crimping engagement with the cross strip 23, forming crimps or bends 42-42 therein and thereby causing the next adjacent contact 21 on each side of the crimps to move a predetermined distance closer to each other; (3) air and/or fluid vapor initially in the annular clearance 83 is expelled to the atmosphere through breatherholes 98-98, thence through annular gap 97 and thence through breather-holes 100-100, thereby preventing an undesirable increase of pressure on the angular offsets 82 and 96, and, consequently, a possible premature advance of the material shaping elements 87 and/or 99, in the event that said pressure were left to increase sufficiently to counteract the force of the fluid meanwhile applied against the lower faces 108 and 109 of the respective piston heads 77 and 78; (4) as piston head 43 moves down, cylinder wall port 57 of the down-stroke by-pass 58 is uncovered, allowing hydraulic fluid to pass therethrough and thence into the second cylinder chamber 51, exerting pressure on piston head 77.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the piston head 77 is thus forced toward and against the lower face 81 of the second chamber 51, whereby four similar simultaneously occurring events are initiated; namely, (5) the hydraulic fluid initially in the second cylinder chamber 51 is forced out through the cylinder face port 91, thence through the up-stroke fluid by-pass 63, thence through the cylinder wall port 107 and into the third cylinder chamber 52; (6) the material shaping elements 87-87, driven by the piston 77, are forced into crimping engagement with the cross strip 23 at points along the length thereof to either side of the previously formed crimps, forming two additional bends or crimps 42-42 therein, and thereby causing the next adjacent contacts 21-21 on each side of the last-formed crimps to move a predetermined distance closer to each other, that is, closer to the center portion of the cross strip 23; (7) air and/0r fluid vapor initially in the annular clearance 97 is expelled to the atmosphere through the breather-holes .100- 100, thereby preventing an undesirable increase of pressure on the angular offset 96, and, consequently, a possible premature advance of material shaping elements 99, in the event that said pressure were left to increase sufficiently to counteract the force of the fluid meanwhile applied against the lower face 109 of the piston head 78; (8) as piston head 77 moves down cylinder wall port 88 of the down-stroke by-pass 58 is uncovered, allowing the hydraulic fluid to pass therethrough and thence into the third cylinder chamber 52, exerting pressure on piston head 78.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the piston head 78 is thus forced toward and against the lower face 94 of the third chamber 52, whereby four additional simultaneously occurring events are initiated; namely, (9) the hydraulic fluid initially in the third chamber 52 is forced out through the cylinder face port 104 thence through the up-stroke fluid inlet 106, and thence, as illustrated in FIG. 6, through conduit 139, thence through valve 117, thence through

conduits

141, 142, and 137, and to relief valve 138 which opens momentarily under the increased, now excess, pressure of the fluid from chamber 52, allowing the fluid expelled therefrom to pass through the valve 138 and from thence, to return to the reservoir 111. It should here be noted that each time fluid is expelled from

chamber

47, 51, or 52 in this phase of the operating cycle, the increased pressure is transmitted through the up-stroke fluid passageways causing relief valve 138 to open long enough to discharge to the reservoir 111 that specific volume of the hydraulic fluid expelled, and no more; (10) the material shaping elements 99-99, driven by the piston 78, are forced into crimping engagement with the cross strip 23 at points along the length thereof to either side of the previously formed crimps, forming two additional bends or crimps 42-42 therein, and thereby causing the next adjacent contacts 21-21 on each side of the last formed crimps to move a predetermined distance closer to each other, that is, closer to the center portion of the cross strip 23; l l the space in the annular clearance 97, now being initially at its minimum as shown in FIG. 8, increases to its maximum, as shown in FIG. 9. The added volume of air needed to fill the space thus increased is drawn in through breather-holes 100-100 from the atmosphere, thus preventing an undesirable reduction of pressure on the angular offset 96, and, consequently, a possible retardation of the advance of the material shaping elements 99, in the event that a vacuum were to develop in clearance space 97 sufficient to partially counteract the force of the fluid on the upper face of piston head 78; (12) as piston head 78 moves down, cylinder wall port 101 of the down-stroke fluid outlet 102 is uncovered, thereby increasing the holding pressure of the hydraulic fluid in

lines

102 and 154 to operating pressure, up to the closed port ofvalve 117.

It should be appreciated that the material shaping elements 73-73 remain in engagement with the cross strip 23, while the next successive crimping elements 87-87 are forced into engagement therewith to maintain the relative positions of the now formed crimps, and the contacts that have been moved closer to each other. Likewise,

elements

73 and 87 remain in engagement with the cross strip 23 while the shaping elements 99-99 are brought into engagement therewith. It should also be appreciated, referring to FIG. 11, that when the piston rams 68, 74, and 76 are axially displaced, radial displacement of these

rams

68, 74, 76 is prevented by flat-faced extensions on the lower ends of the

rams

68, 74, and 76 which slide snugly within a rectangular opening 143 in a punch guide 144 made integral with the lower segment of the cylinder block 48.

After the

material shaping elements

73, 87, and 99 have engaged and crimped the cross strip 23, and have thereby decreased the spacing between the adjacent depending contacts 21, the

material shaping elements

73, 87, and 99 are retracted from the now crimped cross strip 23 in the reverse order. To restore the crimping apparatus to the initial retracted position, the control circuit (not shown) is again energized to actuate a solenoid 148 which functions to shift the valve element 123 to the left as shown in H6. 10. In this instance, operating pressure fluid from line 124 is impressed through valve 118, thence through line 149 upon the lefthand portion of the valve 117. The valve control element 127 shifts to the right as shown in FIG. 10 to apply high pressure fluid from the line 124 through a line 151, through the valve 117, through a line 152, through the line 139, through the upstroke fluid inlet 106, and through the cylinder face port 104 into cylinder chamber 52. The hydraulic fluid pressure in the down-stroke fluid outlet 102, line 154, valve 117,

lines

141, 142, and 137 is reduced from operating to holding pressure by relief valve 138, the surplus fluid passing to reservoir 111.

As shown in FIG. 9, the force of the fluid is applied against the effective area of the lower face 109 of the piston head 78 to retract the head 78 away from the lower face 94 of the third chamber 52, provided the hydraulic fluid pressure residual in the chamber 52 above the upper face 110 of the piston head 78 is relieved enough so that the total effective pressure against the lower face 109 of the piston head 78 is greater than the total effective pressure on the upper face 110. Since the effective piston head area of the lower face 109 of the piston head 78 is much less than the effective piston head area of the upper face 110, the unit pressure on the lower face 109 must be considerably higher than the unit pressure on the upper face 110 ofthe piston head 78.

Referring to FIG. 8, as the piston head 78 advances toward the upper face 93 of the chamber 52, four simultaneously occurring events are initiated; namely, (13) most of the hydraulic fluid contained in the upper part of the chamber 52 is expelled and passed through a cylinder face port 157, downstroke fluid by-pass 58, fluid inlet port 131, down-stroke fluid inlet 132, lines 129, 156, valve 117, lines 142, 137, to relief valve 138, which opens momentarily under the increased, now excess, pressure of the fluid from chamber 52, allowing the fluid expelled therefrom to pass through valve 138 and from thence, to return to the reservoir 111 (FIG. 14) since the relief valve 138 relieves at holding pressure which is much lower than the operating pressure now present in lines 139 and 106, the piston head 78 rises to retract the material shaping elements 99-99, driven by the piston 78, from the cross strip 23; (15) air and/or fluid vapor initially in the annular clearance 97 is expelled to the atmosphere through the breather-holes 100-100, thereby preventing an undesirable increase of pressure on the angular offsets 84 and 71, and, consequently, a possible premature retraction of material shaping elements 87 and/or 73 in the event that said pressure were left to increase sufficiently to counteract the force of the fluid meanwhile applied against the upper faces 55, 56 of the pistons 77,43; (16) as piston head 78 moves up, cylinder wall port 107 of the up-stroke by-pass 63 is uncovered, allowing hydraulic fluid to pass therethrough and thence into the second cylinder chamber 51, exerting pressure against the lower face 108 of the piston head 77. Referring to FIG. 7, the piston head 77 is thus forced toward and against the upper face 79 of the second chamber 51, whereby four similar simultaneously occurring events are initiated; namely, (17) most of the hydraulic fluid contained in the upper part of chamber 51 is expelled and passed through a cylinder face port 158, downstroke fluid by-pass 58, fluid inlet port 131, dowmstroke fluid inlet 132,

lines

129, 156, valve 117,

lines

142, 137, to relief valve 138 which opens momentarily under the increased, now excess, pressure of the fluid from chamber 51, allowing the fluid expelled therefrom to pass through the valve 138, and from thence to return to the reservoir 111 (FIG. l0); (18) the material shaping elements 87-87, driven by the piston 77, are retracted from the cross strip 23; (19) air and/or fluid vapor initially in the annular clearance 83 is expelled to theatmosphere through breather-holes 98-98, thence through annular gap 97 and thence through breather-holes 100-100 thereby preventing an undesirable increase of pressure on the angular off-set 71, and, consequently, a possible premature retraction of material shaping elements 73-73 in the event that said pressure were left to increase sufficiently to counteract the force of the fluid meanwhile applied against the upper face 56 of the piston 43; (20) as the piston head 77 moves up, cylinder wall port 92 of the up-stroke by-pass 63 is uncovered, allowing the hydraulic fluid to pass therethrough and thence into the first cylinder chamber 47, exerting pressure on the lower face 66 of the piston 43.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the piston 43 is thus forced toward and against the upper face 44 of the first chamber 47, whereby four additional simultaneously occurring events are initiated; namely, (21) most of the hydraulic fluid contained in the upper part of the chamber 47 is expelled and passed through fluid inlet port 131, down-stroke fluid inlet 132,

lines

129, 156, valve 117,

lines

142, 137, to relief valve 138, which opens momentarily under the increased, now excess, pressure of the fluid from chamber 47, allowing the fluid expelled therefrom to pass through the valve 138 and from thence, to return to reservoir 111 (FIG. 10). It should be noted that each time fluid is expelled from

chambers

47, 51, or 52 in this phase of the operating cycle, the increased pressure is transmitted through the down-stroke fluid passageway causing relief valve 138 to open long enough to discharge to the reservoir 111 that specific volume of the hydraulic fluid expelled, and no more; (22) the material shaping elements 73-73, driven by the piston 43, are retracted from the cross strip 23; (23) thespace in the annular clearance 83, being now initially at its minimum as shown in FIG. 7, increases to its maximum as shown in FIG. 5. The added volume of air needed to fill the space thus increased is drawn in through breather-holes -100 from the atmosphere, thence breather-holes 98-98, thus preventing an undesirable reduction of pressure on the angular offset 71, and, consequently, a possible retardation of the retraction of the material elements 73-73, in the event that a vacuum were to develop in clearance space 83 sufficient to partially counteract the forces of the fluid on the lower face 66 of the piston 43; (24) as piston 43 moves up, cylinder wall exhaust port 64 of the up-stroke fluid outlet 67 is uncovered, thereby increasing the holding pressure of the hydraulic fluid in

lines

67 and 136 to operating pressure, up to the closed part of valve 117 (FIG. 10).

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiment is simply illustrative of the principles of the invention. Thus although the invention has been described in connection with a method of and a particular apparatus for decreasing the spacing between electrical contacts which depend at spaced intervals from a deformable cross strip, it is to be understood that the principles thereof may be employed in carrying out other fabricating processes such as punching, cutting, scoring, etc., which require only different fabricating tools from those of the embodiment described.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for sequentially moving a series of tools into work fabricating relation with a work piece;

a plurality of rams concentrically mounted about a common axis;

work fabricating tools individually mounted on first ends of said rams;

means for moving a first one of the pluralityof rams to advance the tool associated with the first one of the plurality of rams into work fabricating relation with the work piece; and

means responsive to the movement of said first one of the rams through a predetermined distance for sequentially moving each successive ram to successively advance the tools into work fabricating relation with the work piece.

2. In an apparatus for sequentially advancing a series of tools into engagement with a work piece;

a plurality of rams concentrically mounted about a common axis;

means for mounting a pair of tools in diametrically opposed sections on the ends of each of said rams;

means for moving a first one of the plurality of rarns to advance the tool associated with the first one of the plurality of rams into work fabricating relation with the work piece; and

means responsive to the movement of said first one of the rams through a predetermined distance for sequentially moving the center then each successive outer ram to advance each pair of tools into engagement with the work piece.

3. A material shaping apparatus, which comprises:

a piston having an enlarged head and an elongated material shaping ram extending therefrom;

a piston-ram slidably fitted over said elongated ram, said piston-ram having a flange on one end thereof and an annular material shaping stern on the other end thereof;

a housing comprising:

a first chamber having said enlarged head slidably mounted therein;

a second chamber having said flange slidably mounted therein; a first bore interconnecting said first and second chambers for receiving said elongated ram; and

movement between a third and a fourth position within said second chamber, said piston-ram having a material shaping stem extending therefrom and through said second bore;

a housing having a plurality of chambers arranged therein for slidably receiving said telescopically arranged sleeves and piston, the faces of said chambers defining first and second limit position between which said piston and said a second bore terminating at one end thereof at said flanges aid leeves may be slidably displaced;

second hamber, a d t the other end the eof at a fluid passage means interconnecting each of said chambers, face of said housing, said second bore having said annuand terminating as P0115 in each of Said chambers, Said lar stem slidably mounted therein; ports of said fluid passage means in each of the respective means for advancing said piston and said material shaping l 0 Chambers being Covered by Said fl nge n Said piston ram; and housed therein when said flanges and said piston are means rendered effective upon a predetermined displacedisposed at said first limit Posifion, and Uncovered n ment of said piston in said first chamber for advancing said flanges and Piston are disposed at said second limit said flanged piston-ram and said material shaping stem. Position; 4, A i l h i apparatus, hi h i 15 means for passing a pressurized fluid onto said piston to a housing having a first chamber, a second chamber, a first sequentially advance Said p o I i Second limit bore communicating said first and second chambers, and Position uncover said P of said fluid Passage means a second bore communicating said second chamber with Opening in said Piston housing chamber, P said a Surface f id h i pressurized fluid through the now uncovered port of said a piston mounted for movement between a first and second fluid P g means and Onto the flange efsaid innermost position within said first chamber, said piston having a sleeve, to advance said flange and uncover the material shaping ram extending therefrom and through eeeding P of said fluid Passage means and P said first bore, said second chamber, and said second a fluid through each successively uncovered P of bore; said fluid passage means until all of said sleeves and said a flanged piston-ram slidably mounted on said ram for material shaping elements thereon have been sequentially advanced, starting with the shaping element on the next innermost sleeve and progressing outwardly toward the shaping element on the outermost sleeve.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 having facilities for returning said telescopically arranged sleeves and piston from said second limit positions to said first positions, which includes:

second fluid passage means interconnecting each of said chambers and terminating as ports in each of said chambers, said ports of said fluid passage means in each of the respective chambers being covered by said flanges and said piston housed therein when said flanges and piston are disposed at said second limit position, and uncovered when said flanges and piston are disposed at said first fluid passage means extending between said first and second chamber, terminating in the first chamber as a port, said port of said first fluid passage means being covered by said piston when said piston is disposed at said first position, and uncovered when said piston is disposed at said second position; and

means for applying a pressurized fluid against said piston disposed at said first position to sequentially 1) advance said piston and said material shaping ram to uncover said pass said pressurized fluid through said port of said second fluid passage means and against said piston, and (3) retract said piston and said material shaping ram.

6. A material shaping apparatus as defined in claim 4,

port of said first fluid passage means, (2) pass said presmt ositiow and surized fluid through said port of said fluid passage means p means for passing a second pressurized fluid onto the outerand onto said flange disposed at said third position in said mos flange disposed at said second limit position to a r i gf tigf gg g s g z sequentially (1) return said outermost flange to said first 2: gg g limit position and uncover said port of said second fluid p p passage means opening in the outermost flange receiving fft Shapmg app'fuatils as m claim i hav' chamber, (2) pass said second pressurized fluid through mg facilities for returning said piston and said flanged pistonthe now uncovered port f id second fluid passage ram to said first and third positions, respectively, which rnm e a ns and onto the next outermost flange'to remm Said dudes next outermost flange and uncover the next succeeding second fluid passage means extending between said first and port of Said fluid passaga means and 3) pass Said second second F terfmnatmg m h Second chamber a fluid through each successively uncovered port of said port port of f seconfj fl uld passage second fluid passage means until all of said flanges and {ncovered when Sam flange imposed Sald said piston have been sequentially returned to said first tron and covered by said flange when said flange IS at said limit position fourth Poslmmf and 9. A material shaping apparatus, which comprises: meens for PP X a pressurlzed against San flange a first piston ram having a first material shaping element on disposed at said fourth position to sequentially l) retract one end thereof and a piston head pr-ojecting transversely said material shaping stem and said flanged piston-ram, to f he other end h f; uncover said P of said seeend fluid Passage means (2) 0 a second piston rarn slidably mounted on said first ram, said second ram having a second material shaping element on one end thereof and a second piston head projecting transversely from the other end thereof;

a third piston ram slidably mounted on said second ram,

said third ram having a third material shaping element on one end thereof and a third piston head projecting transversely from the other end thereof;

a block having aligned interconnected chambers therein for slidably receiving said first, second, and third piston heads, the faces of said chambers limiting the movement of said heads between upper and lower limit positions;

said block having a first passageway interconnecting said first and second head receiving chambers, said first passageway terminating in a first port thereof in a wall of said first shoulder receiving chamber at a position wherein said first and second positions are defined by the 6 5 upper and lower faces of said first chamber, respectively, and wherein said third and fourth positions are defined by the upper and lower faces of said second chamber.

7. A material shaping apparatus, which comprises: a plurality of telescopically arranged sleeves, one nested inside another. each having a flange on one end thereof and a material shaping element on the other end; a piston having a ram slidably mounted within the innermost sleeve and having a material shaping element on one end thereof;

covered by said first head disposed at said upper limit position, and uncovered when said first head is disposed at said lower limit position, and in a second port thereof in the upper face of said second head receiving chamber; said block having a second passageway interconnecting said second and third head receiving chambers, said second passageway terminating in a first port thereof in a wall of said second head receiving chamber at a position covered by said second head disposed at said upper limit position, and uncovered when said first head is disposed at said lower limit position, and in a second port thereof in the upper face of said third head receiving chamber; and means for passing a pressurized fluid on said first piston head, disposed at said upper position, to sequentially 1) advance said first ram and material shaping element thereon to said lower position to uncover said first port of said first passageway, (2) pass said pressurized fluid through said first port of said first passageway and onto said second piston head disposed at said upper position to advance said second ram and material shaping element thereon to said lower position and to uncover said first port of said second passageway, and (3) pass said pressurized fluid through said first port of said second passageway and onto said third piston head, to advance said third ram and the material shaping element thereon.

10. A motion transmitting apparatus which comprises:

a first piston and projecting ram;

a plurality of second pistons and piston-rams disposed concentrically about the first ram, the second piston and piston-ram adjacent the first ram being slidably mounted onthe first ram, each succeeding second piston-ram being slidably mounted on each preceding second pistonram, and each succeeding second piston being axially spaced from said first piston and slidably mounted on each preceding second piston-ram;

a block having a plurality of chambers for receiving said first and second pistons;

means for applying a pressurized fluid to the first piston receiving chamber to initiate movement of said first piston; and

means rendered effective upon a predetermined displacement of said first piston for initiating sequential displacement of each succeeding second piston, the displacement of each succeeding second piston being initiated by a predetermined displacement of the immediately preceding second piston.

11. In a motion transmitting apparatus:

a plurality of pistons concentrically mounted about a common axis for axial movement along said axis and relative to each other;

means for applying fluid to move one piston relative to the others, and

means responsive to a predetermined movement of said moving piston for initiating motion to the next adjacent piston, each of the pistons being arrested following the movement thereof and during the movement of the other pistons.

12. A motion transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 11 wherein said pistons comprise piston heads and piston rams, said piston heads being axially spaced from each other and said piston rams being concentrically mounted about a center ram, and

said pistons have equal cross-sectional working faces against which the fluid is applied.

13. An apparatus for decreasing the distance between articles depending from a deformable strip of stock material, which comprises:

a block having a first chamber, a second chamber, a first bore interconnecting said first and second chambers, a third chamber, a second bore interconnecting said second and third chambers, and a third bore communicating said third chamber with a surface of said block;

a piston slidably mounted in said first chamber;

a'ram mounted to and extending from said piston, said ram passing through said second and third chambers, and through said first, second, and third bores, said ram having a first angular-stepped offset;

a first material shaping element positioned on the end of said ram;

a first sleeve slidably fitted over said ram and extending from said second chamber through said second bore, said third chamber, and said third bore, said first sleeve having a first peripheral flange slidably mounted in said second chamber and a second angular-stepped offset spaced from said first offset to provide a first gap therebetween;

a second material shaping element on the end of said first sleeve;

a second sleeve slidably fitted over said first sleeve and extending from said third chamber through said third bore, said second sleeve having a second peripheral flange slidably mounted in said third chamber and a third angular-stepped ofiset spaced from said second offset to provide a second gap;

a third material shaping element on the end of said second sleeve;

said second offset having a bore interconnecting said first and second gaps;

first fluid passage means between said first and second chambers terminating in the first chamber as a port, said first fluid passage means being covered by said piston when said piston is disposed at a first position, and uncovered-when said piston is disposed at a second position;

second fluid passage means between said second and third chambers, terminating the second chamber as a port, said second fluid passage means being covered by said first peripheral flange when said first flange is disposed at a third position, and uncovered when said first flange is disposed at a fourth position; and

means for applying pressurized fluid to said piston to advance said piston and said first material shaping element, and to sequentially l) uncover said port of said first fluid passage means, (2) pass said pressurized fluid through said port of said first fluid passage means and onto said first flange disposed at said third position in said second chamber, (3) advance said first sleeve to said fourth position to uncover said port of said second fluid passage means and to advance said second material shaping element, and (4) pass said pressurized fluid through said port of second fluid passage means and onto said second flange to advance said second sleeve and said third material shaping element.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 wherein the bottom face of said first chamber engages said piston disposed at said second position to limit the displacement thereof,

wherein the bottom face of said second chamber engages said first flange disposed at said fourth position to limit the displacement thereof, and

wherein the bottom face of said third chamber engages said second flange to limit the displacement thereof.

15. In a material shaping apparatus;

a block having a first chamber, a second chamber, a first bore interconnecting said first and second chambers and a second bore extending from said second chamber to the surface of said block;

a first piston slidably positioned within said first chamber and having a first material shaping ram extending through said first bore, said second chamber and said second bore;

a second piston slidably mounted on said first ram, slidably mounted in said second chamber, and having a second material shaping ram extending through said second bore;

means for applying pressurized fluid to said first'piston to move said first piston and said first material shaping ram; and

fluid passage means in said block uncovered by a predetermined movement of said first piston for passing pressurized fluid from the first chamber to said second chamber to move said second piston and said second material shapingram.

16. A process for decreasing the distance between adjacent articles depending from a deformable strip which comprises:

, of articles, wherein the articles are supported by and extend in e a parallel, spaced array from a deformable strip of stock material, which method comprises:

mounting a plurality of work tools concentrically about a mounting a plurality of work tools concentrically about a 5 common i C mm aXlS; moving a first one of the work tools through a predeterpl P for defQfmallon between adlacem mined distance into work fabricating relation with the pcfldmg amcles and for anal movgmem of the ends of the strip to apply a predetermined localized force transversej p toward each other; ly to the deformable strip and at a centermost portion f"! a fi of the Work 9 through a P 'f 10 thereof to crimp said strip, without stretching the material ""P dlstance f fabncatmg; the thereof, to decrease the distance between the articles on smp detsorm the between adlacem articles at a either side of said centermost portion and to decrease the center oi-non thereof without stretching the strip, and t distance between said centermost portion of said strip mone the artieilee on either sideof tjte deformation into a and the peripheral portions thereof; and tha" g' c a aq an t th d fth moving successive onesof the work tools into work fabricati z 295:" o i ig e a ST: 3 ing relation with the strip to sequentially apply predeterone o e Y 00 mug e pm rmme mined localized forces transversely to said strip at distance, successive ones of the work tools into work equidistant positions on either side of said centermost fabricating relation with the strip to sequentially deform onion and between articles at to ressivel rem" the strip, without stretching the material thereof, between gistances from said centermost z to fumes the next adjacent articles on each side of the preceding f t l th p t l deformations, starting from the center portion of the strip g s l i re mg w ma and progressing outwardly therefrom until each dependereo an d f y e F es d' at Progwsfwe ing article is moved into a predetermined closer proximity i :f 1 cemgrmost Porno a with each adjacent depending article. pre ete'mme stance c osen crew l7 A method of decreasing the distance between a plurality

Claims

1. In an apparatus for sequentially moving a series of tools into work fabricating relation with a work piece; a plurality of rams concentrically mounted about a common axis; work fabricating tools individually mounted on first ends of said rams; means for moving a first one of the plurality of rams to advance the tool associated with the first one of the plurality of rams into work fabricating relation with the work piece; and means responsive to the movement of said first one of the rams through a predetermined distance for sequentially moving each successive ram to successively advance the tools into work fabricating relation with the work piece.

2. In an apparatus for sequentially advancing a series of tools into engagement with a work piece; a plurality of rams concentrically mounted about a common axis; means for mounting a pair of tools in diametrically opposed sections on the ends of each of said rams; means for moving a first one of the plurality of rams to advance the tool associated with the first one of the plurality of rams into work fabricating relation with the work piece; and means responsive to the movement of said first one of the rams through a predetermined distance for sequentially moving the center then each successive outer ram to advance each pair of tools into engagement with the work piece.

3. A material shaping apparatus, which comprises: a piston having an enlarged head and an elongated material shaping ram extending therefrom; a piston-ram slidably fitted over said elongated ram, said piston-ram having a flange on one end thereof and an annular material shaping stem on the other end thereof; a housing comprising: a first chamber having said enlarged head slidably mounted therein; a second chamber having said flange slidably mounted therein; a first bore interconnecting said first and second chambers for receiving said elongated ram; and a second bore terminating at one end thereof at said second chamber, and at the other end thereof at a surface of said housing, said second bore having said annular stem slidably mounted therein; means for advancing said piston and said materIal shaping ram; and means rendered effective upon a predetermined displacement of said piston in said first chamber for advancing said flanged piston-ram and said material shaping stem.

4. A material shaping apparatus, which comprises: a housing having a first chamber, a second chamber, a first bore communicating said first and second chambers, and a second bore communicating said second chamber with a surface of said housing; a piston mounted for movement between a first and second position within said first chamber, said piston having a material shaping ram extending therefrom and through said first bore, said second chamber, and said second bore; a flanged piston-ram slidably mounted on said ram for movement between a third and a fourth position within said second chamber, said piston-ram having a material shaping stem extending therefrom and through said second bore; fluid passage means extending between said first and second chamber, terminating in the first chamber as a port, said port of said first fluid passage means being covered by said piston when said piston is disposed at said first position, and uncovered when said piston is disposed at said second position; and means for applying a pressurized fluid against said piston disposed at said first position to sequentially (1) advance said piston and said material shaping ram to uncover said port of said first fluid passage means, (2) pass said pressurized fluid through said port of said fluid passage means and onto said flange disposed at said third position in said second chamber, and (3) advance said flanged piston ram and said material shaping stem until said flange is disposed at said fourth position.

5. A material shaping apparatus as defined in claim 4, having facilities for returning said piston and said flanged piston-ram to said first and third positions, respectively, which includes: second fluid passage means extending between said first and second chamber, terminating in the second chamber as a port, said port of said second fluid passage means being uncovered when said flange is disposed at said third position and covered by said flange when said flange is at said fourth position; and means for applying a pressurized fluid against said flange disposed at said fourth position to sequentially (1) retract said material shaping stem and said flanged piston-ram, to uncover said port of said second fluid passage means, (2) pass said pressurized fluid through said port of said second fluid passage means and against said piston, and (3) retract said piston and said material shaping ram.

6. A material shaping apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said first and second positions are defined by the upper and lower faces of said first chamber, respectively, and wherein said third and fourth positions are defined by the upper and lower faces of said second chamber.

7. A material shaping apparatus, which comprises: a plurality of telescopically arranged sleeves, one nested inside another, each having a flange on one end thereof and a material shaping element on the other end; a piston having a ram slidably mounted within the innermost sleeve and having a material shaping element on one end thereof; a housing having a plurality of chambers arranged therein for slidably receiving said telescopically arranged sleeves and piston, the faces of said chambers defining first and second limit position between which said piston and said flanges of said sleeves may be slidably displaced; fluid passage means interconnecting each of said chambers, and terminating as ports in each of said chambers, said ports of said fluid passage means in each of the respective chambers being covered by said flanges and said piston housed therein when said flanges and said piston are disposed at said first limit position, and uncovered when said flanges and piston are disposed at said second limit position; and means for passing a Pressurized fluid onto said piston to sequentially (1) advance said piston to said second limit position to uncover said port of said fluid passage means opening in said piston housing chamber, (2) pass said pressurized fluid through the now uncovered port of said fluid passage means and onto the flange of said innermost sleeve, to advance said flange and uncover the next succeeding port of said fluid passage means, and (3) pass said fluid through each successively uncovered port of said fluid passage means until all of said sleeves and said material shaping elements thereon have been sequentially advanced, starting with the shaping element on the next innermost sleeve and progressing outwardly toward the shaping element on the outermost sleeve.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 having facilities for returning said telescopically arranged sleeves and piston from said second limit positions to said first positions, which includes: second fluid passage means interconnecting each of said chambers and terminating as ports in each of said chambers, said ports of said fluid passage means in each of the respective chambers being covered by said flanges and said piston housed therein when said flanges and piston are disposed at said second limit position, and uncovered when said flanges and piston are disposed at said first limit position; and means for passing a second pressurized fluid onto the outermost flange disposed at said second limit position to sequentially (1) return said outermost flange to said first limit position and uncover said port of said second fluid passage means opening in the outermost flange receiving chamber, (2) pass said second pressurized fluid through the now uncovered port of said second fluid passage means and onto the next outermost flange to return said next outermost flange and uncover the next succeeding port of said fluid passage means, and (3) pass said second fluid through each successively uncovered port of said second fluid passage means until all of said flanges and said piston have been sequentially returned to said first limit position.

9. A material shaping apparatus, which comprises: a first piston ram having a first material shaping element on one end thereof and a piston head projecting transversely from the other end thereof; a second piston ram slidably mounted on said first ram, said second ram having a second material shaping element on one end thereof and a second piston head projecting transversely from the other end thereof; a third piston ram slidably mounted on said second ram, said third ram having a third material shaping element on one end thereof and a third piston head projecting transversely from the other end thereof; a block having aligned interconnected chambers therein for slidably receiving said first, second, and third piston heads, the faces of said chambers limiting the movement of said heads between upper and lower limit positions; said block having a first passageway interconnecting said first and second head receiving chambers, said first passageway terminating in a first port thereof in a wall of said first shoulder receiving chamber at a position covered by said first head disposed at said upper limit position, and uncovered when said first head is disposed at said lower limit position, and in a second port thereof in the upper face of said second head receiving chamber; said block having a second passageway interconnecting said second and third head receiving chambers, said second passageway terminating in a first port thereof in a wall of said second head receiving chamber at a position covered by said second head disposed at said upper limit position, and uncovered when said first head is disposed at said lower limit position, and in a second port thereof in the upper face of said third head receiving chamber; and means for passing a pressurized fluid on said first piston head, disposed at said upper position, to seqUentially (1) advance said first ram and material shaping element thereon to said lower position to uncover said first port of said first passageway, (2) pass said pressurized fluid through said first port of said first passageway and onto said second piston head disposed at said upper position to advance said second ram and material shaping element thereon to said lower position and to uncover said first port of said second passageway, and (3) pass said pressurized fluid through said first port of said second passageway and onto said third piston head, to advance said third ram and the material shaping element thereon.

10. A motion transmitting apparatus which comprises: a first piston and projecting ram; a plurality of second pistons and piston-rams disposed concentrically about the first ram, the second piston and piston-ram adjacent the first ram being slidably mounted on the first ram, each succeeding second piston-ram being slidably mounted on each preceding second piston-ram, and each succeeding second piston being axially spaced from said first piston and slidably mounted on each preceding second piston-ram; a block having a plurality of chambers for receiving said first and second pistons; means for applying a pressurized fluid to the first piston receiving chamber to initiate movement of said first piston; and means rendered effective upon a predetermined displacement of said first piston for initiating sequential displacement of each succeeding second piston, the displacement of each succeeding second piston being initiated by a predetermined displacement of the immediately preceding second piston.

11. In a motion transmitting apparatus: a plurality of pistons concentrically mounted about a common axis for axial movement along said axis and relative to each other; means for applying fluid to move one piston relative to the others, and means responsive to a predetermined movement of said moving piston for initiating motion to the next adjacent piston, each of the pistons being arrested following the movement thereof and during the movement of the other pistons.

12. A motion transmitting apparatus as defined in claim 11 wherein said pistons comprise piston heads and piston rams, said piston heads being axially spaced from each other and said piston rams being concentrically mounted about a center ram, and said pistons have equal cross-sectional working faces against which the fluid is applied.

13. An apparatus for decreasing the distance between articles depending from a deformable strip of stock material, which comprises: a block having a first chamber, a second chamber, a first bore interconnecting said first and second chambers, a third chamber, a second bore interconnecting said second and third chambers, and a third bore communicating said third chamber with a surface of said block; a piston slidably mounted in said first chamber; a ram mounted to and extending from said piston, said ram passing through said second and third chambers, and through said first, second, and third bores, said ram having a first angular-stepped offset; a first material shaping element positioned on the end of said ram; a first sleeve slidably fitted over said ram and extending from said second chamber through said second bore, said third chamber, and said third bore, said first sleeve having a first peripheral flange slidably mounted in said second chamber and a second angular-stepped offset spaced from said first offset to provide a first gap therebetween; a second material shaping element on the end of said first sleeve; a second sleeve slidably fitted over said first sleeve and extending from said third chamber through said third bore, said second sleeve having a second peripheral flange slidably mounted in said third chamber and a third angular-stepped offset spaced from said second offset to provide a second gap; a third material shaping element on the end of said second sleeve; said second offset having a bore interconnecting said first and second gaps; first fluid passage means between said first and second chambers terminating in the first chamber as a port, said first fluid passage means being covered by said piston when said piston is disposed at a first position, and uncovered when said piston is disposed at a second position; second fluid passage means between said second and third chambers, terminating the second chamber as a port, said second fluid passage means being covered by said first peripheral flange when said first flange is disposed at a third position, and uncovered when said first flange is disposed at a fourth position; and means for applying pressurized fluid to said piston to advance said piston and said first material shaping element, and to sequentially (1) uncover said port of said first fluid passage means, (2) pass said pressurized fluid through said port of said first fluid passage means and onto said first flange disposed at said third position in said second chamber, (3) advance said first sleeve to said fourth position to uncover said port of said second fluid passage means and to advance said second material shaping element, and (4) pass said pressurized fluid through said port of second fluid passage means and onto said second flange to advance said second sleeve and said third material shaping element.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 wherein the bottom face of said first chamber engages said piston disposed at said second position to limit the displacement thereof, wherein the bottom face of said second chamber engages said first flange disposed at said fourth position to limit the displacement thereof, and wherein the bottom face of said third chamber engages said second flange to limit the displacement thereof.

15. In a material shaping apparatus; a block having a first chamber, a second chamber, a first bore interconnecting said first and second chambers and a second bore extending from said second chamber to the surface of said block; a first piston slidably positioned within said first chamber and having a first material shaping ram extending through said first bore, said second chamber and said second bore; a second piston slidably mounted on said first ram, slidably mounted in said second chamber, and having a second material shaping ram extending through said second bore; means for applying pressurized fluid to said first piston to move said first piston and said first material shaping ram; and fluid passage means in said block uncovered by a predetermined movement of said first piston for passing pressurized fluid from the first chamber to said second chamber to move said second piston and said second material shaping ram.

16. A process for decreasing the distance between adjacent articles depending from a deformable strip which comprises: mounting a plurality of work tools concentrically about a common axis; supporting the strip for deformation between adjacent depending articles and for axial movement of the ends of the strip toward each other; moving a first one of the work tools through a predetermined distance into work fabricating relation with the strip to deform the strip between adjacent articles at a center portion thereof, without stretching the strip, and to move the articles on either side of the deformation into a predetermined closer proximity; and moving, subsequent to and in response to the advance of the first one of the work tools through the predetermined distance, successive ones of the work tools into work fabricating relation with the strip to sequentially deform the strip, without stretching the material thereof, between the next adjacent articles on each side of the preceding deformations, starting from the center portion of the strip and progressing outwardly therefrom until each depending article is moved into a predetermined closer proximity wiTh each adjacent depending article.

17. A method of decreasing the distance between a plurality of articles, wherein the articles are supported by and extend in a parallel, spaced array from a deformable strip of stock material, which method comprises: mounting a plurality of work tools concentrically about a common axis; moving a first one of the work tools through a predetermined distance into work fabricating relation with the strip to apply a predetermined localized force transversely to the deformable strip and at a centermost portion thereof to crimp said strip, without stretching the material thereof, to decrease the distance between the articles on either side of said centermost portion and to decrease the distance between said centermost portion of said strip and the peripheral portions thereof; and then moving successive ones of the work tools into work fabricating relation with the strip to sequentially apply predetermined localized forces transversely to said strip at equidistant positions on either side of said centermost portion and between articles at progressively greater distances from said centermost portion to crimp successive portions of said strip, without stretching the material thereof, and to move the articles disposed at progressively more remote distances from said centermost portion a predetermined distance closer thereto.