CA1188080A - Method of, and apparatus for, producing wired electrical connectors - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

In a method of producing wired electrical connectors, wires are inserted into slotted plate terminals of miniature connectors at wire insertion stations. In order to avoid the overcrowding of wire insertion tooling at the insertion stations, each connector is advanced sequentially through the stations at each of which only some of the terminals thereof are wired, the terminals wired at each station being separated by at least one other terminal of the connector. Apparatus for carrying out the method comprises sliding shuttles in which the connectors are intermittently advanced through the stations.

Description

93~8 Th:is inventiorl relates -to a metilod of, and appara~us for, producing wired e]ec-trical connectors.
In a known method of produciny wirecl e]ectlical connectors each comprising an insulating housing havin~ a plurality of juxtaposed cavities therein each containing an electrical terminal having a wire receiving portion adapted to receive, and to m~ke electrical contact with, a wire, upon the wire being moved laterally of its longitudinal aY.is, into -the wire receiving portion, each wire is aligned with one of the wire receiving portions of the terminals of a connector at a wire insertion station and is there moved into such wire receiving portion laterally of the longitudinal axis of the wire~
In such a method, as carried out, for example, by means of apparatus described in U.S. paten~
A-4,136,440 , all the terminals of each connector are simultaneously connected to wires. Where, however, the centre-to-cen-tre spacing between the terminals of the connectors is very small, being, for exc~mp]e, of the order of only two or three millimetres, difficulty is encountered in so ~esigning toolin~ for inserting the wires into the wire receiving portionsl that the individual wire insertion punches of the toolin~, are as closely spaced as the terminalsO
Not only must such punches be so th:in as to be readil~r s~sceptible l:o da.nage in normal use, but ~ 9348 the close spacing between the punches greatly impedes cleaning and servicing of the tooling. Where as in the apparatus referred to above, means are provided in associatioll with the insertion tooling, for strippin~ insulation from the wires and for sevexin~ them to different lengths, such means must also be dimensioned so as to take account of the close spacing between the terminals of the connectors, thereby giving rise to further design dif~iculties.
The present invention proceeds from the realization that the design difficulties mentioned above can be overcome by wiring each connector at a plurality of different wire insertion stations, only some of the terminals of each connector being wired at each station.
According to one aspect of the invention, therefore, in a method as defined in the second paragraph of this specification~ each connector is advanced through a plurali-ty of wire insertion stations at each of which each of a plurality of wires is inserted into the wire receiving portion of a respective terminal of the connector, adjacent ones of these terminals being separated from one another at least by one other -terminal of the connector.
The known apparatus comprises a first wire insertion station in a wire inser-tion zone; means ~8~ 93~

for feediny tlle w,ires along a first path to presen-t the wires in a colr~lorl plane in the wire insertiorl zone, the wire insextion station havin~ first connector locatiny means for removably locating a first connector on one si.de of the common plane with the row of terminals of the first connector extending transversely of the first path; and first insertion means in the wire insertion zone and on the other side of the common plane, for inserting wires into the wire receiving portions of the terminals of the first connectorl the insertion means being movable along a second path, towards and away from the connector.
According to another aspect of the invention such apparatus further comprises a second wire insertion station having second connector locating means ~or removably locating a second connector on the one side of the common plane in juxtaposed relationship with the first connector and with the row of terminals of the second connector in longitudinal alignment with the row of terminals of the first connector, second insertion means ,in the insertion zone and on the said other side of the common pl.ane, the second insextion means being movable along ~ third path towards and away from a connector in the second connecto~ locating means;
the first insertion means being arranged to insert wires into the wire receiving portions of a fiîst ~ 93~8 group of termlnals of a first connec-tor i.n the first locating mearis and the second insertion means being arranged to insert wires into the wire receiving portioIIs a second group of terminals of a secon connectox in the second locating means, adjacent terminals in the first group being separated from each other by at least one terminal of the second group and adjacent terminals of the second group being separated from one another by at ]east one terminal of the first group.
For a better understanding o~ the invention reference ~lill now be made by way of exc~ple to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figures 1 and 2 are diagrammatic perspective views illustrating, in outline/ respective stepsin the operation of apparatus for sequentially producing wired electrical connectors;
Figures 3 to 8 are diagrammatic longitudi.nal sectional views of a wire inser-tion station of the apparatus, illustrating in greater deta:il respective steps in the operation oE the apparatus;
Figure 9 is a perspective view of the apparatus;
Figure 1.0 is an enlarged fragmenta.ry plan view of a cen-tral portlon of the apparatus;
Figure 11 is a similar view to that of Figure lO but is drawn to a reduced scale and shows further ~ 93~8 detalls of -the apparatus;
~igllres 1.2 to 14 are views taken on -the lines XII - XII and XIII ~ XIII of Figure 11 and on the lines XIV - XIV of Figure 12, respectively;
Figure 15 is a similar view to that oE Figure 14, but showing the parts of Figure 14 in a different position;
Figure ]6 is a schematic plan view illustrating electrical connector feed tracks of the apparatus;
and ~ igures 17 and 18 are enlarged views taken on the lines XVII - XVII of Figure 15 and XVIII - XVIII
of Figure 11, respectively.
The operation of the apparatus will first be described in outline mainly with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
During each cycle of operation of the apparatus, a fully wired electrical connector 10 (Figure 2), is produced, having insulated wires 14 connected to, and extending from, each o~ electrical terminals 11 (Figure 10) contained in the housing 12 of the connector 10 which may be according ~o US-A-q,l.59,158.
The housing 12 has a row of nine juxtaposed cavities 13 each containing a terminal 11 arranged to receive, and to estahlish, electrical contac-t with~
a wire 14, UpOIl movemer~t of the wire 14 lateral:l.y of its axis and i.n-to a wire receiving slot (not shown) ~ 93~8 in a wire xeceiviny por-tion ll' (Figure lO) of the terminal ll. Tl-le cavities 13 are identified as to their posit;ons :in -the row by numerals marked on one o~ -the side walls of the housing 12, as shown in Figures l and 2.
Fiyures l and 2 show three connectors lO
positioned in respective first, second and third wire insertion stations 18, 20 and 22, in a wire insertion zone 16 of the apparatus, means, described below, being provided at each of these stations ~or locatiny a connector lO therein in aliynment with insertion punches 44 (as shown in Figures 3 and 4), ; arranged to force selected wires 14 into the slots of the wire receiviny portions ll' of the terminals ll in the connectors lO. The connectors lO at the inser-tion stations 18, 20 and 22 are identified in Figures l and 2 by the reference numerals lO-l, 10~2 and 10-3, respectively. ~s shown in Fiyure l, the connector lO-3 a-t the insertion station 22 has wires connected -to its terminals at positions 1,

2, ~, 5, 7 and 8, the connector 10-2 at the wire insertion station 20 has wires connected to its terminals at positions l, ~ and 7, while the connector 10-l, at the w.ire insert.i.on station 18 has no wi.res connected to its terminals. During each operatin~
cycle of the apparatus, wires 1~ are advanced in th.ree groups by means described below and are located ~8~ 93~8 as shown i.n Figu:re ]., in a common plane so that each wire of the firs-t group is in alignment with one of -the pos.i-tions 1, ~ and 7 oE the connector 10-1, each wire o~ the second group is in alignment with onc of the positions 2, S and 8 of the connector 10-2, and each wire of the third group is in alignment wlth one of the positions 3, 6 and 9 of the connector 10-3. Each wirc of each group of wires is accordingly aligned with a terminal of the co~respondi.ng group of terminals. Adjacent terminals of each group are separated ~rom one another by X-l intervening terminals, where X is the number of the stations 18, 20 and 22. ~he wires of each group number X~ where M is the total number of terminals in each connector 10.
During the operating cycle, the insertion punches 44 are lowered so as to engage each of the wires 1~ and to insert them laterally of their longitudinal axes, and simultaneously, into the terminals with which -they are in alignment. ~t the end of this insert~.on step, the connector 10~3 of Figure 1 has wires connected to all terminals therein and can be removed from the apparatus, as shown in Figure 2. ~s the completely wi.red connector is rernoved from the insertion zone 16 and from the apparatus, the connectors 10-1 and 10-2 at the stations 1~ and 20, respectively, are advanced along ~8~8~ ~3~8 a :Eeed track 24' to the stations 20 and 22, respectively, and a connector 10 :Erom a connector supply feed track 24 is advanced, as indicated in Figure 2, -to the station 18. The insertion step is then repeated so that the connector at the insertion station 22 is fully wired at the end of the operating cycle, after which the connectors are advanced again as described above.
The wires 14 shown in Fic~ure 1, which have been positioned in the common plane above the connectors in preparation for their i.nsertion into the terminals thereof, are spaced apart by a substantial distance, a distance which in fact is equal to three times the distance between the adjacent terminal positions in the connectors. The insertion punches 44, shown in Figure 3, need not therefore be mounted on closely spaced centrelines, so that ample distance for the avoidance of interference between the punches 44, can be provided between adjacent punches. As explained be].ow, this -~eature also facilitates the mounting of wire insulation stripping and wire lengthening means described below, with reference to Figures 3 to 8.
The operation o~ the apparatus will now be described in yreater detail with reference mainly to Eigures 3 to 8.
As shown in Fiyures 3 to 8, at each insertion ~8~ 9348 station 18, 20 and 22, individual wires lfi are fed from supply reels 26 across a guide roll assembly 28 and extend into a wire feed shu-ttle assembly, generally referenced 30, which comprises a rear wire guide 32~ a wire cl~mping block 34, and a forward wire guide 36 wh.Lch is normally spaced ahead of the elamping block 34 and is eonnected thereto by a resilient lost motion eoupling 38 for movement relatively towards the bloek 34.
A eonnector feed shuttle 66, described in detail belowl is provided for positioning each eonnector lO at the insertion stations 18, 20 and 22, a fixed wire loeating and guide bloek 86, described below, being also provided for guiding the wires 14 into the terminals of the conneetor lO, Each insertion punch 44 is arranged to be depressed from the position of Figures 3 and 4 to that of ~igures 5 to 8, to insert one o~ the wires 14 into an aligned termin~]. ll of a connector 10.
During each operating cycle, the wire feed shuttle 30 is advanced from the posi.tion of F~gure 3 to that of Figure 4. When the forward guide 36 arrives at the insertion zone 16, it stops in abutment with the block 86. The block 34 ancl the rear guide 32 continue to move, so that the wires 14 are projeeted into wire guiding slots 96 in the block 86 so that eaeh wire is positionecl above a termi.nal ~ 10 --~ 934 11 of ~ conllec-tor 10, a-t the corresponcliny wire insertion s-tation, as shown in Figure 4. When the punches 44 have inserted the wires into the te:rrninals of the connec-tor, the clamp 34 is opened as shown S in ~igure 5, ancl the feed shut-tle assembly 30 is retrac-ted to its initial posi-tion (Figure 6), the wires being held taut during such retraction of the assembly 30 by the insertion punches 44 which remain in their lowered positions so as to clamp the wires 14 in the terminals in the connectors 10.
Wire severing and insulating stripping means are provied, which comprise lower and upper tooling blocks 46 and 52, respectively. The lower toollng - block 46 has for all the wires 14, a single rectilinear wire severing blade 48, and an insulation severing hlade 50 for each wire 14. The blades 50 are staygered so as to be positioned at varying distances from the severing blade 48. The upper tooling bloc]c 52 has similarly positioned wire severing and insulating cutting blades thereon for co-operation with those of the block 46 so that when the block 52 is loweJ^ed, the trailincJ end of each wire 14 is severed and the insulation adjacent to such end, but not the core of the wire, is severed circumferentially. By virtue of the staggerincJ of the insulati.on severing blades, the wire end porti.ons are str.ipped of insula-tion to dlfferent ~ 8~ 93~8 lengths.
Wire leng-thening means are provided which comprise for each wire, a vertical wire lengthening bar 54 provided at its lower end with a roller 56, the lower ends of the bars 54 being normally positioned, at varying elevations above the feed path o.. the wires 14, as shown in Figures 3 to 6.
Towards the end of each operating cycle, after the shu-ttle assembly 30 has been returned to its starting position (Figure 6), the bars 54 a.re lowered, each b~y the same distance, as shown in Figure 7, to draw additional wire from the spools 26, to an extent determined by the initial ~7ertical positions of the rollers 56. The upper tooling ]5 block 52 is then depressed to the position of Figure 8 so that the wires 14 are severed by the wire severing blades and the insulation of each wire is severed circumferentially by a pair of the insulation severing blades. Thereafter, the bars 54 are further lowered (Figure B) so that the indivi.d~lal wires 14 are drawn from between the -tooling blocks 46 and 52, so as to withdraw the severed ends of the cores of the wires from the severed portions of insul.ation thereof.
The wire lengtheni.ng bars 54, the tooling ; block 52 and the insertion punches 44 are then r.ai.sed to their initial positi.ons, and the ~ul].y wi.red 12. -~ 93~8 connector 10-3 in the final wire insertion station 22 is removed from the apparatus. The connectors in the ~irst and second insertion stations 18 and 20 are then advanced and an unwired connector is fed to the station 20.
It is to b~ noted that the parts at all the wire insertion stations operate simultaneously i.n the manner described above.
The apparatus will now be further described with reference mainly to Figures ~ to 18.
Since the wire lengthening means and the insulation stripping and severing means may be substantially in accordance with EP-Al-78300102.7 or US-A-4,043,017 they will not be further described in detail here.
As shown in Figure 9, the apparatus is mounted on a table 58. The wixes 14 extend from the spools 26 (not shown in Figure 9) to the guide roll assembly 28 and to the shuttle assembly 30, which 20 is common to all the stations 18, 20 and 22 (as best seen in Figure 10). The wire severing and insulation stripp.ing means are con-tained within a cover 60, the wire insertion stations being contained within a cover 62. The wire lenghening bars 54 are ; 25 positioned between the covers 60 and 62.
The means for feeding the connectors 10 along the tracks 24 and 24' of Figures 1 and 2 and ~or ~ 93~8 locating -the leading ends of the wires 14 in al.ign~lent with -the terminals in t~e connectors 10 in preparati.on for their insertion into the terminals 11, ~re mounted, as best seen in Figure 12, on a base plate 64 which in turn is supported on the table 58. The plate 64 has sides 65 and 67 and ends 69 and 71 (Figures 11 and 14 to 1.6). As indicated diagrarmnatically in Fi~ure 16, the connector supply , feed track 24 extends parallel to the ends 69 and 71 and towards the side 67, the feed track 24', along which the wire insertion stations 18, 20 and 22 are located, extending parallel to the ends 69 and 71 and towards the side 650 The individual connectors 10 are transported along the feed tracks 24 and 24' by means of identical, individual connector transfer shuttles 66 (Figures 10 -to 13 and 17), one shuttle being provi.ded for each connector, there being accordingly a total of six shuttles 66. Each shuttle 66 has an 20 upper surface 68 (Figure 12) having a recess 70 dimensioned to receive an individual connector 10.
As shown in Figure 17, connector locating pins 72 mounted in each recess 70 are securable in selected positions longitudinally of the shutt].es 66 by means Of set screws 73, to perrnit the accommodation of connectors of various lengths iXI the recesses 70.
The shuttles 66 are slidably supported on ~ 8~ 93~

~he upper surEace of a shutt:Le support plate 7~, as best seen in Figures 12, 13 and 17, parallel to, and supported above, the base pla-te 64 by L~shaped support ancl guide plates 7~ and 76' (Fi.gures 14 and 15), described below, and by spacer blocks 78 located a~jacent io the sides 67, 65 of the base pla-te 64, as best seen in ~igure 15.
The feed tracks 24 and ~' are de-Eined b~
gui.de plates 80, 82 and 8~, Figures 12 and 13), which extend parallel to the ends 69 and 71 of the base plate 6~ and which are spaced so that the opposed vertical surfaces of the guide plates 80 and 82 define the feed track 24 while the opposed vertical surfaces of the guide plates 82 and 84 define the feed track 24'. These guide plates are fixed to the base plate 64 by fasteners, as shown. The guide plate 80 has a leftwardly (as seen in ~igure 12) ex-tending flange 81. on its upper end which projects over the shuttles 66 in order to confine them along their paths of travel. The plate 82 has a similar flange P,3, for the same purpose.
The ind:;vidual wires 1~ are positioned in alignment wi-th the terminals in the connector 10 by means of the wire locating and guide block 86 ~5 which is secured by fasteners 88 to the upper surface of the centre guide plate 82 and which extends leftwardly (as seen in ~igure 12) in cantilever ~8~ 9348 fashion a-t the wire inser-tion station~ 18, 20 and 22, over -the shuttles 66 in the track 2~ and over the front gui.de plate 84. The ~lock 86 has a depending ~lange 90 at its righthand (as seen in Figure 12) end, -the lower end of which flange 90 bears against the shuttles 66 on the feed trac~ 24 to con~ine and guide them. The underside 99 o~ the device 86 has a recess 92, to pro~ide clearance for the projecting upper portions of the connectors 11 fed along the track 2~'.
The block 86 has an enlarged lethand (as seen in Figures 12 and 13), end portion 94 into which extend the wire guiding slots 96, each slot 96 having an inner end 98 in alignment with the righthand (as seen in Figure 13) end of the connector 10 immediately adjacent to and beneath the slo~ 96.
The slots 96 open into the lower surface 99 of the device 86 so that the end portions of the wires can be moved from the slots 96 into the wire receiving portions 11' of the terminals 11 of the connectors 10 .
Each slot 96 has a wire entrance portion having an inclined upper wall 100 to guide a wire end into the slots 96 so that the wire end is positioned as shown in Figure 4.
The unwired connec-tors 10 are loaded into the shuttles 66 at a loca-tion 101 (Figure 16) on ~ 16 -~ 93 the track 24 adjacent to -the side 65 o:E the base plate 64. The shuttles 66 are then lnitially advanced along the feed track 24 towards the side 67. Each shuttle is transferred laterally a1 a loca-tion 103 adjacent to the side 67, onto the feed track 24' by means described below. During successive cycles of the apparatus, each shuttle 66 is <~
sequentially transferred through the stations 18 20 and 22~ Each shuttle 66 is transferred from the station 22 to the location 101 at which location the fully wired connector is removed from the shuttle 66.
The mechanisms for advancing the shuttles 66 along the tracks 24 and 24' are shown in Figures 14 and 15. The shuttles 66 are advanced along the feed track 24 by means of a slide 102 and along the track 24', past the insertion stations 18, 20 and 22, by means of a slide 102 . The slide 102 is mounted for reciprocating movement in a recess defined by the plates 76 and 80. As shown best in Figure 17, a dog 104 is mounted in the slide 102 in plate 105 secured in a recess in one end of the slide 102. The dog 104, ~hich is biased upwardly (as seen in Figure 17) by a spring 108, has a portion which projects through a slot 107 in the plate 7~
and is dimensioned to enter notches 112 in the lower surfaces of the shuttles 66 near their right hand ~ 8~ 9348 (as seen in Fi~ure 17) ends. It will be a.pparent from FigllYe 17 -that the slide 102 can be moved le:Etwardly (a.~ seen i.n F:igure 17) from the posit:ion shown, to cause the dog 104 to be retracted from the no-tch 112 in which it ls engaged and to move over the l.ower surface of the shuttle 66 until the dog 104 engages in the not.ch 112 in the next adjacent shuttle 66. Upon subsequent movement of the slide 102 in the opposite direction, the dog 104 advances the shuttle rightwardly (as seen in Figure 17) along track 24. Further notches 110 are provided near to the lefthand (as seen in Figure 17) ends of the shutt]es 66, so that a similar dog 104' (Figure 14~ can similarly advance the shuttles 66 lS along the track 24' described below.
The slide 102 is driven in reciprocating movement by means of a piston-and-cyli.nder unit 116 (Figure 14) mounted on the plate 64 and the piston rod 114 of which is threaded into a cross-head 118 which projects leftwardly (as seen in Figure 14 through an opening 122 in the plate 80. The cross-head 118 is in turn secured, by fasteners 120, to the slide 102.
The slide 102S is driven in reciprocating movement by the unit 116 acting through a pinion 126 mounted between the ends of the plates 76, 76' as shown in Figure 14. The pinion 126 meshes with ~ 9348 tee-tll on the lefthalld (as seen in Figure 1~) edge of the slide 102 and with the teeth on the righthand (as seen in Figure ]4) edge 124' of the slide 102'.
Thus when the piston rod 114 is retracted from the position of Figure 14 to that of Figure 15, the slide 102' is moved towards the side 65, to advance the shuttles 66 along the track 24' and the slide 102 is moved towards the side 67 to advance the shuttles 66 along the track 24. The dog 104' which engages the shuttle 66 which is nearest to the side 67 as shown in cross section in Figure 14.
The shuttle 66 at the end of the track 24 nearest the side 67 of the plate 64 is transferred laterally towc.rds the end 71 of the base plate 64, and is de]ivered to the track 24', by movement of a transfer plate 128~ When the plate 128 is moved from the retracted position in which it is shown in Fi.gure 15, to the advanced position in which it is shown in Figure 14, two upstanding posl-s 130 on 20 the plate 128 transfer the shuttle 66 which is at the end of the track 24, nearest the side 67, to the track 24'. A plate 132 (Figure 13) is provided on the free end of each post 130 to confine the sh.uttle 66, to support the connector 10 in the shuttle 66 during its transfer, and to position the shuttle on the track 24' so that the notch 112 of this shuttle .receives the dog 104.

, ~ 9348 The transfer plate 128 is moved between iks positions of Figures 14 and 15 by means of a pinion 138, the teeth of which mesh with teeth 136 on an edge of the plate 128 and with teeth 140 o~ a rack mounted in a recess in a cross-head 142 which is slidable between guides 137 and 139, as shown in Fiyure 14. The cross-head 142 is threaded on one end of a piston rod 144 oE a piston-and-cylinder unit 146. The rod 144 is retracted into the cylinder of the unit 146 as the parts move to their positions of Figure 15 so that the pinion 138 is rotated in a clockwise (as seen in Figure 15) sense causing the slide 128 to move to the position of Figure 15.
l'he slide ]28 is returned to its Figure 1~ position by advance movement of the piston rod 144.
~ similar transfer plate 128' provided adjacent to the side 65 of the base plate 64 and has upstanding posts 130'.
When the slide 128' is moved from the position 20 0~ ~igure 14 towards that o~ Figure 15, it delivers a shuttle 66 at the end of the track 24' nearest the side 65, to the location 101 where the wired connector 10 contained in such shuttle is removed therefrom and the unwired connector 10 is placed in the shuttle.
The transfer plate 128' is driven in reciprocating ~otion by means of the unit 3.46, a portlon 1~1~' of the piston rod oE which extends from its cylinder towards the side 65 of the base plat.e 64 and is screwed in-to a cross-head 142' containing a rack bar, teeth 140' of which mesh with a pinion 138'. The pinion 13~', in turn, meshes with teeth 136' on an edge of the plate 128'.
~ s shown in Figure 18, each insertion punch 44 is formed integrally with a mounting block 1~8 secured to a tool holder 150 arranged to be driven by a ram ~not shown) which may be actuated, for example by a bench press (not shown), within the cover 6~ shown in Figure 9.
The wire lengthening bars 54 are vertically adjustable relative to one another, as will be apparent from the relative positions of the upper ends of these bars in Figure 9, so that varying lengths of wire can be provided for the individual terminals in the connectors to be wired. The rollers 56 facilitate the withdrawal of wire from the spools 26 and reduce -the possibility of damage to the wires as they are withdrawn.
~s shown in F:igures 10 and 11, the individu.al insulation severing blades 50 are provided with mounting blocks 152 whi.ch are adjustably clamped 25 by means oE fasteners 154 in spaced grooves 156 in the tooling block 46. The distances between the blades 50 the wire severillg blclde 4~, shown in ~ 9348 Fi.gure 10, correspond to the different lengths of insulation to be stripped From the ends of the wires 1~ .
A roll 51 is provided at the right hand (as seen in Figure 10) end of the block 46. As will be apparen-t from Figures 7 and 8, as the wires 14 are depressed by the bars 54, the roll 51 reduces the frictional forces to which the insulation of the wires 14 is subjected.
The wire feed shuttle assembly 30 may be reciprocated towards and away from the insertion zone by means, for example, of a piston-and-cylinder unit (not shown). The shuttle assembly 30 is guided along its path of reciprocating movement by guide means ~not shown) which provide for upward movement (indicated by a broken line 158 in Figures 4 and 6) of the assembly 30 as it moves from the position of Figure 3 to that of Figure 4 and from the position of Figure 5 to that of Figure ~, to ensure that the assembly 30 clears the blades 48 and 50 during its traverse.
As shown in Figure 8, the wire guide 36 is depressed by the block 52 as it moves to the position of Figure 8, so to position the wires 14 on the blades 48 and 50. The shuttle assembly guide means may be provided with camming means for so depressing the guide 36.

~ 93~8 As shown in Figure 10, the terminals 11 of each connector 10 are closely spaced from one another, wi.th, for example, a centre-to-centre spacing of about 2.54mm. As shown in Figure 18, however, the insertion punches 44 are spaced from one another by a much grea-ter distance, each punch ~4 having a bulky mounting block 148. The punches could not in practice be mounted on the same centre-to-centre spacing as the terminal without suffering damage in operation. Since the bars 54 must, as shown in Figure 10, be thick enough to accommodate the rollers 56 it would be impractical for the rollers 56 to have such small thickness as 2.54mm.
~lso, the width of the blades 50 and their mounting 15 blocks 152 must greatly exceed 2.54mm, if these blades are to be sufficiently durable.
The wire insertion stations could for example be only two, or more than three in number. In any case adjacent ones of the terminals that are wired at each station are separated from one another by at least one other terminal.

Claims (10)

The embodiments of the invention for which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are as follows:-

1. A method of producing wired electrical connectors each comprising an insulating housing having a plurality of juxtaposed cavities therein each containing an electrical terminal having a wire receiving portion adapted to receive, and to make electrical contact with, a wire upon the wire being moved laterally of its longitudinal axis, into the wire receiving portion, in which method each wire is aligned with one of the wire receiving portions of the terminals of a connector at a wire insertion station and is there moved into such wire receiving portion laterally of the longitudinal axis of the wire;
wherein each connector is advanced through a plurality of wire insertion stations at each of which each of a plurality of wires is inserted into the wire receiving portion of a respective terminal of the connector, adjacent ones of these terminals being separated from one another at least by one other terminal of the connector.

2. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the wire insertion stations are at least three in number and are arranged in a row in a common wire insertion zone, and wherein, the connectors are advanced step by step through the stations from a first station at one end of the row to a second station at the other end of the row, the method comprising the following steps:-(a) providing for each connector applying station, a group of wires of a number , where M = the number of terminals in each connector and X = the number of the connector applying stations;
(b) aligning each wire of each group of wires with the wire receiving portion of a terminal of an individual one of the connectors, adjacent ones of these terminals being spaced from one another by X-l intervening terminals;
(c) moving each wire of each group into the wire receiving portion with which it is aligned;
(d) removing a fully wired connector from the second station, advancing the connectors along the row of connector applying stations to position a connector in each station excepting the first station and placing an unwired connector in the first station; and (e) continuously repeating steps (a) to (d).

3. Apparatus for producing wired electrical connectors, such connectors each comprising an insulating housing containing a row of electrical terminals each having a wire receiving portion into which a wire can be inserted laterally of its longitudinal axis to make electrical connection with the terminal, the apparatus comprising a first wire insertion station in a wire insertion zone; means for feeding the wires along a first path to present the wires in a common plane in the wire insertion zone, the wire insertion station having first connector locating means for removably locating a first connector on one side of the common plane with the row of terminals of the first connector extending transversely of the first path;
and first insertion means in the wire insertion zone and on the other side of the common plane, for inserting wires into the wire receiving portions of the terminals of the first connector, the insertion means being movable along a second path, towards and away from the connector; the apparatus further comprising a second wire insertion station having second connector locating means for removably locating a second connector on the one side of the common plane in juxtaposed relationship with the first connector and with the row of terminals of the second connector in longitudinal alignment with the row of terminals of the first connector, second insertion means in the insertion zone and on the said other side of the common plane, the second insertion means being movable along a third path towards and away from a connector in the second connector locating means; the first insertion means being arranged to insert wires into the wire receiving portions of a first group of terminals of a first connector in the first locating means and the second insertion means being arranged to insert wires into the wire receiving portions a second group of terminals of a second connector in the second locating means, adjacent terminals in the first group being separated from each other by at least one terminal of the second group and adjacent terminals of the second group being separated from one another by at least one terminal of the first group.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3, further comprising a third wire insertion station having third connector locating means for removably locating a third connector on the one side of the common plane in juxtaposed relationship with the first and second connectors and with the row of terminals of the third connector in longitudinal alignment with the rows of terminals of the first and second connectors, and third insertion means in the insertion zone and on the said other side of the common plane, the third insertion means being movable along a fourth path towards and away from a connector in the third connector locating means, and being arranged to insert wires into the wire receiving portions of a third group of terminals in the connector in the third locating means, the terminals of each group being spaced by X-1 intervening terminals and being of a number , where X is the number of the wire insertion stations, and M is the number of terminals in each row.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 3, further comprising a mechanism for transferring each connector locating means from one wire insertion station to the next.

6. Apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein each connector locating means is in the form of a shuttle, the shuttles being arranged to be driven in juxtaposed relationship along first and second juxtaposed, spaced tracks, the second track extending through the wire insertion stations, and means being provided for transferring the shuttles from the first track to the second track.

7. Apparatus according to Claim 5 or 6, further comprising means for sequentially actuating the wire feeding means, the wire insertion means and the transfer mechanism, to cause the connectors to be shifted stepwise through the wire insertion stations and the groups of terminals in the connectors in the connector locating means to be simultaneously wired.

8. Apparatus according to Claim 3, wherein the wire feeding means comprises a single shuttle assembly arranged simultaneously to feed a plurality of groups of wires, so that the wires of each group are in each in alignment with one of the wire receiving portions of the terminals of one of the connectors in the connector locating means at the wire insertion stations.

9. Apparatus according to Claim 8, wherein wire lengthening bars are provided upstream, in the wire feeding direction, of the wire insertion means, each such bar being movable to cause a roller on the free end of the bar to engage one of the wires immediately following its insertion into the corresponding wire receiving portion, to draw a length of the wire from a wire supply source.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 9, wherein wire severing means and wire insulation stripping means are provided upstream of the wire lengthening bars, which are arranged to be further moved in the same direction after the lengths of wire have been drawn from the wire supply sources, to drag the wires from the insulation stripping means to strip the trailing ends of the wires, the wires engaging a wire friction reduction roll interposed between wire lengthening bars and the insulation stripping means.