DE19903194A1 - Crimp process monitoring involves checking insulating coating of electrical wire being processed and, if metal detected, identifying conducting wire and separating it if appropriate - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves checking (14) the insulating coating of the electrical wire (6) being processed and, in the event of detecting metal, identifying the conducting wire associated with the insulating coating and removing it if appropriate. The insulating wire is checked for metal and the metal wire removed if appropriate before crimping. An Independent claim is also included for an arrangement for crimp process monitoring.

Description

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for Crimp process monitoring when crimping an electrical contact elements to an electrical, jacketed with insulation electrical conductor wire.

Crimp process monitoring devices are usually used Use the force-dependent monitoring systems, e.g. B. have based on piezo-quartz (DE 42 15 163). The while The forces generated during a crimping process are Quartz recorded and recorded as a force / time or path. As a rule, the force / time or displacement of each crim pung recorded and compared with a previously generated reference curve chen. The forces running out of a set tolerance te are recognized by an evaluation device that corresponds to one outputs error message. The aim of this surveillance system is it, the ones that occur during production, the electrical qualifications Detect crimping impairment of the crimp and thus the possibility of sorting out defective produ to enable decorated products.

Because of the force fluctuation range of a crimping process and the tolerance range to be set depending on this, however there are also crimp errors that cannot be recognized. This is essentially not the result of the evaluation system limits, but due to the fluctuations in force of the crimping process self-inflicted. The following is a sample listing of the Factors influencing force illustrate the complexity of the Connections.

Force fluctuations that can be caused by the conductor wires:

• - fluctuations in the conductor cross-section
• - Material or composition (alloy)
• - Number of individual wires
• - Distribution of the individual wires in the wire crimp
• - Surface of the individual wires (tinned or similar).

Force fluctuations that can be caused by the electrical contact part:

• - Variations in material thickness
• - Material hardness or composition
• - Formation of the groove embossing
• - Training the chamfering of the wire claws
• - Training the transition to plug-in or insulation claws Area
• - surface condition
• - lubrication condition
• - Length of the wire crimp
• - Length of the wire claws (especially if these after the Roll up on the floor).

Force fluctuations that can be caused by the tool:

• - Uneven transport
• - Training of the upper stamp chamfer (trumpet formation)
• - stamp profile
• - stamp surface
• - Leadership quality for top package
• - Mech. Or pneum. Advance transport
• - Forming speed.

Force fluctuations that can be caused by the environment:

• - Fluctuations in force caused by the environment (e.g. crimping press and their wear and not properly fastened Guides, mounting plates, external vibrations, Contamination, defective components or settings, Temperature differences, etc.).

In addition, when evaluating using the force / time curve, there is a uniform press speed of great importance.

It is also of fundamental importance that the prescribed Stamp combinations and crimp heights used or maintained become.

All of the above influences lead to fluctuations in force and thus determine the force fluctuation range of the crimping process.

A large force fluctuation range of the normal process means but that the tolerance limits must be set relatively wide so that continuous production is achieved at all can be.

The set tolerance limits in turn determine which Crimping errors become recognizable. With far apart Tolerance limits, there may be differences in force caused by a crimping error, within the set Tolerance limit, and therefore the error is not selected can be. This faulty crimp connection will then, though manufactured with monitoring, continue as a good part.

It is essential, however, that unfavorable conductor wire cross sections and / or unfavorable material pairings too detectable errors. This is especially true large contact part material thickness and small conductor wire cross cut ahead. Here, the proportions of force during the Crimping on the contact part can be so large that Even gross errors in the conductor wire area are not recognized the. Accordingly, the combination of conductor wire cross section /  Contact part material thickness of elementary importance for the over alertness. In this regard, it is recommended to a cheap combination to look for (thin contact part material al / large wire cross section) if the monitoring result should not be affected. This problem solving is not possible in every case.

It also tries to control the selectivity of the crimp force devices by trying to make long-term changes to hide. The device manufacturers are offering install a setpoint adjustment. This setpoint Tracking can occur when the force values (drift) through z. B. temperature drift or the like) the monitoring curve and track the tolerance value. In this respect it is possible the tolerance closer to the process and sporadic Er to better recognize results such as crimping errors.

All previous means of improving the crimp process monitoring aim at better recognizability, are very complex and expensive and make relatively little progress.

The object of the invention is a method and an apparatus to create crimp process monitoring with which the monitoring can be significantly simplified.

This object is achieved by the features of claims 1 and 15 solved. Advantageous developments of the invention are in the Subclaims marked.

The invention is therefore not concerned with improving the Detection of crimping errors due to fluctuations in crimping force, but she chooses a new, different way, namely the Vermei of material-related crimping errors. This ge succeeds in a simple way and with simple ones on the market means by detecting whether one of one Stripping knife of a crimping device from a wire end separated insulation section contains metal. Contains the  Isolation section metal, then the stripping knife has the massive wire conductor separated or in the event that the wire consists of individual wires or strands, one or more or all strands separated. The device according to the invention is so sensitive to metal that even a single thin strand of a conductor wire can be recognized in an insulation section can.

In the case of metal detection in an isolation section the associated conductor wire automatically discarded so that it insofar as no faulty crimp can occur.

With the inventive method and with the inventive ßen device can the known methods and devices possibly even be replaced. But it is also possible the inventive method and an inventive direction with the crimp process monitoring device described above to combine directions. This leads to a considerable Ver narrowing of the tolerance range in the crimp force control device and thus to a much better detectability of other crimping errors. The invention eliminates the problems that arise can in the case of unfavorable wire cross sections in relation to Material and shape of the electrical contact element because of defects in the area of the conductor wire are excluded. It doesn't have to either more on favorable combinations between conductor wire and con clock element be respected, because it does not come to that extent on the different proportions of force during crimping.

According to the invention expediently each Isolationsab cut through the measuring field of a correspondingly sensitive metal moved through the detector. Contains the insulation section wire metal of the electrical conductor wire, this is done by the detector registered. A switching device reacts to the metal detection, by z. B. triggers alarm or follow-up processes of a crimp car maten stops or the defective ladder is ejected caused by wire.  

For moving the insulation section through the measurement field of the metal detector can be a free fall for the Iso lationsabschnitt be provided. Isola is preferred tion section in an air flow through the measuring field, the enables faster movement and safer guidance. It is expedient to insert the insulation section into and through a guide approximately pipe, z. B. made of plastic, which in turn the Measuring field penetrates and the measuring field is not or only insignificantly disturbs. A gas stream, e.g. B. an air electricity by means of compressed air, or by applying an Un terdrucks are sucked.

It is advantageous to use a metal detector with a annular sensor, the z. B. surrounds the guide tube. The me talldetektor is operated by a switching device that Me Metal detection reacts.

The operation of the metal detector is known. In the metal Detector becomes a transmitter coil with a high-frequency change voltage fed, so that an electromagnetic field arises, which changes according to the induction principle when a metal part is moved through. A receiver coil in the metal detector grasp this change.

Metal detectors are used for the present invention, that can still detect when the metal-containing Isola tion section with speeds above 10 m / sec. by the Measuring field is moved. Ring metal detectors are preferred used, the metal-containing insulation sections still si cher can detect if the isolation section with Ge speeds between 18 and 22 m / sec. through the measuring field is moved. Conventional detectors only work safely at product speeds of 0.03 to 2 m / sec. This capable speed is for the present invention in most cases not sufficient because the crimping cycle rates are usually are so high that more insulation sections per unit of time accrued than from the conventional detector per unit of time  can be tiert. It was therefore within the scope of the invention Ring detector developed, the insulation sections also at speeds of over 20 m / sec. detect safely can.

Using the example shown in the drawing, the Invention explained in more detail below.

The single figure shows schematically an inventive monitoring device on a crimping device. From the Crimpvor direction only the stripping knife 1 is shown with the upper knife 2 and the lower knife 3 . Each knife 2 , 3 is connected to a movement device 4 . The Bewegungsein devices 4 move the knives 2 , 3 simultaneously and evenly in the double arrow direction 5 .

A conductor wire 6 is brought perpendicular to the working movement of the knife (double arrow 7 ) between the knives 2 , 3 and the isolation of a free end region 9 of the conductor wire 6 with the measuring sensors 2 , 3 is cut, so that an insulation section 8 is ent. The insulation section 8 is pulled off the conductor wire 6 with a knife movement directed away from the conductor wire end region 9 . In this respect, the device shown corresponds to the prior art.

According to the invention just before the end of the Leiterdrahtendbe Reich 9, the mouth 15 of a suction channel 10 is arranged, which merges via a bend 11 in a guide tube 12, wherein between the manifold 11 and guide tube 12, a suction nozzle 13 to be sorted. The guide tube 12 is surrounded by the ring sensor of a metal detector 14 operated by a switching device.

The indirect crimp monitoring device according to the invention works as follows.

In the suction channel 10, manifolds 11 and guide tube 12 with the suction nozzle 13, an air stream at a rate of z. B. 18 to 22 m / sec. generated. With the stripping knife 1 , an insulation section 8 is cut in the conductor wire end region 9 , pulled off with the stripping knife 1 from the conductor wire 6 and pushed into the mouth 15 of the suction channel 10 . For this purpose, the distance between the mouth 15 and the free end of the conductor wire 6 is expediently chosen such that the insulation section 1 of the insulation section 8 can be pushed into the mouth and / or can be reliably detected by the suction air flowing into the mouth 15 .

In front of and in the suction duct 10 , the insulation section 8 is carried by the air flow and pressed through the guide tube 12 . The insulation section 8 is detected.

With the invention thus succeeds with simple means and a simple way of indirect crimp monitoring by means of an over monitoring of the insulation section and thus an indirect over monitoring of the stripped available for the crimp Core area of a conductor wire.

Claims (18)

1. A method for crimping process monitoring during automatic crimping in a crimping device, wherein in each case one insulation section is separated from the end of a wire having an insulation sheath with a stripping knife device, is stripped from the conductor wire end and is then crimped with crimping tools, characterized in that the insulation section is made of metal is detected and, in the case of detection of metal, the conductor wire belonging to the insulation section is determined and, if necessary, is sorted out. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that each insulation section on Metal is detected. 3. The method according to claim 1 and / or 2, characterized in that the insulation section before the crimping of the associated conductor wire is detected. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the conductor wire in front of the crim pen is sorted out. 5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the conductor wire after the crim pen is sorted out.   6. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the isolation section by the measuring field of a metal operated with a switching device detector is moved. 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the insulation section in free fall is moved through the measuring field. 8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the insulation section with a gas flow passed through the measuring field, e.g. B. one Air flow is moved through the measuring field. 9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the insulation section with over 10 m / sec. is guided through the measuring field. 10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the insulation section with the 18th up to 22 m / s is guided through the measuring field. 11. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the isolation section by a ring sensor of an annular metal detector moves becomes. 12. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the isolation section by a pipe or hose passing through the measuring field through the Measuring field is moved. 13. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that an annular metal detector Tor is used, which has a transmitter ring coil, the is fed with a high-frequency AC voltage.   14. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that in addition a be known crimp force monitoring is carried out. 15. Device for crimping process monitoring z. B. as Zusatzein device for a crimping machine, which has an automatically operated stripping knife device and an automatically operated crimping device, the stripping knife device from the ends of an insulation jacket having conductor wires each separating an insulation section and pulling it off from the conductor wire end, in particular for carrying out the method according to one or several of claims 1 to 14, characterized by a metal detection device ( 14 ) and a device for dropping or moving through ( 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ) an insulation section ( 8 ) through the measuring field of the metal detector of the metal detection device ( 14 ). 16. The apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that the metal detection device ( 14 ) has a transmitter ring coil which is fed with a high-frequency AC voltage. 17. The apparatus according to claim 15 and / or 16, characterized in that the metal detector is a ring-shaped metal detector, the measuring field is located in the inner space of the ring, the measuring field is penetrated by a guide tube ( 12 ) through which the Isolationsab cut ( 8 ) is moved. 18. The device according to one or more of claims 15 to 17, characterized by an air flow generating device ( 13 ) which, at least in the guide tube, generates an air flow.