EP0271743A2 - Method and apparatus to cut to length cables coming from a cable reserve in order to treat the cable ends - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for cutting cables from a cable supply to process the cable ends. The front cable end is inserted through the cable feed (20, 22) into a guide channel, the rear part of which lies in a swivel part (28). If the front cable end abuts a stop (102) on the swivel part (28), the swivel part is thereby pivoted over a dead center determined by an eccentrically acting spring (40), and then the swivel part (28) by the spring (40) pivoted essentially 180 ° so that the front cable cover resting against the stop (102) points opposite to the feed direction. The cable loop formed is then enlarged to the desired length by a further cable feed and then the rear cable end is separated by a knife (82). By lowering the cable, the cable ends are transferred to the clamp holder (56) in a precisely positioned position, through which they can be transported to the processing stations.

Description

The invention relates to a method for cutting cables from a cable supply for processing the cable ends, the front cable end is brought into a certain starting position, then a cable loop of a certain length is formed by feeding cables, and after cutting off the supply, the rear cable end in essentially parallel to the front cable end with the same orientation as this is held in a predetermined starting position. The invention further relates to a device for performing this method, consisting of a feed and length measuring device, a cutting device and a positioning device for inserting the cable ends into clamp holders, which can be transported to processing stations.

For the assembly of cables, it is known to advance the front cable end in a straight line over the desired length ben and after cutting the cables with opposite ends to transversely to their longitudinal extent to the processing stations, which are arranged in two parallel rows (DE-PS 24 40 264). However, this arrangement of the processing stations takes up a lot of space, and it is very cumbersome to get to the processing stations in the event of malfunctions across the tensioned cables. Another major shortcoming is the difficulty in advancing the front end of the cable very quickly from the supply of cables over the large distance between the two rows of processing stations and then also positioning it precisely. The rapid feed is opposed by the friction along the entire length of the cable guide, and the desired speed and the great distance from the feed device make it difficult to bring the far forward front end of the cable into a specific position, as is required for processing.

It is also known from US Pat. No. 3,283,398 a device of the type mentioned, in which, in addition to feed rollers for the cable, a gripper which can be moved in the feed direction is also used to guide it in clamp holders for the cable ends in such a way that the starting position for further transport to the processing stations point both cable ends in a parallel position in the feed direction. Because of this orientation of the cable ends, the feed rollers cannot feed the cable into a previously formed loop with slight force. Rather, they first have to form the loop by compressing the previously stretched cable, with relatively large, fluctuating feed forces having to be applied depending on the type of cable and its differently straight stretch position, which lead to different slippage on the feed rollers and therefore uneven cable lengths. In addition, a carriage with a gripper arm and a swiveling gripper must have a reciprocating movement essentially over the length of the loop lead, ie not only the feed of the cable, but also the practically equally long retraction movement of the gripper must take place in the cycle time of the system. The cable is inserted one after the other into each of the two clamp holders for the front and rear cable ends in individual movement steps. Although this type of positioning of the cable ends by means of a guided gripper is relatively precise, it has to be bought with great mechanical effort and a long cycle time.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a method and a device of the type mentioned at the outset, in which precise positioning of the cable ends and also a relatively precise dimensioning of the cable length are achieved with simple means within a short cycle time.

The above object is achieved procedurally in that first the front cable end is advanced into a certain intermediate position and then bent to form a loop and brought into its starting position, pointing in the opposite direction to the direction of advance, then the cable loop is enlarged to the predetermined length by further cable advance and finally the rear cable end is cut off from the supply in its predetermined starting position.

In the proposed method, the cable only needs to be pushed forward a short distance, if necessary somewhat more slowly, in order to reach the defined intermediate position in the extended position with the front cable end. Then, by bending against the feed direction, the defined starting position of the front cable end for further transport to the processing stations is already obtained. At the same time a loop is formed with this bending, which lies so that the feed device now with further feed of the Conveys cables directly into the loop with only a slight feed force. Relatively long cables can easily be cut to length with great accuracy, it being noted that the exact positioning of the cable ends is more important than the exact dimensioning of the cable length. The previous trimming at a processing station is no longer necessary. In the case of the proposed method, the rear cable end also no longer needs to be positioned in a special work process, but is already in the starting position for being transposed to the processing stations when the cable supply is cut off.

To carry out the new method, a device is proposed which is characterized in that the front cable end can be advanced into a certain position by the feed device in a rotatably mounted swivel part and then the swivel part can be rotated with the front cable end so that it has a directional component points against the feed direction, and the cutting device is arranged between the feed device and the pivoting part. This device can be made relatively small and simple because the swivel part only has to take up and bend the front region of the cable. No grippers or other guide parts need to be moved for the further cable feed into the loop formed, and the growing loop can also hang down on the device without guidance. Finally, the cutting device arranged between the feed device and the swivel part cuts off the rear cable end from the cable supply, it already being in the starting position parallel to the front cable end for further transport to the processing stations. The feed device runs without interruption during the formation and enlargement of the loop until it is cut off. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is proposed that the front cable end abut against a stop in the intermediate position during the advancement and thereby trigger the bending and the transfer into the starting position. For this is pre see that the feed and length measuring device is followed by a guide channel for the cable, to the front, fixed part of which, as seen from the feed device, the cutting device is attached and the rear part of which is arranged in the swivel part, which is preloaded by a swivel spring and is pivotable about 180 ° as soon as it has been pivoted past a dead center by the front cable end pushing against the stop in the guide channel with the feed force. This construction has the advantage of an automatic mechanical functioning, without the need for monitoring and control devices which are susceptible to faults. It is not possible to position more precisely than with a simple stop, and there is no safer indicator of the correct moment of bending the cable by means of the swivel part than if the cable itself moves the swivel part over the dead center and thus the further swivel movement by means of spring force Gear sets.

In order to ensure that the front cable end remains in contact with the stop during the pivoting movement and thus reaches the predetermined starting position for further transport to the processing stations at the end of the pivoting movement, barbs, e.g. B. in the form of obliquely against the cable spring tongues attached, which prevent retraction of the cable in the guide channel.

Another expedient measure to prevent a slightly flexible cable from being compressed and laterally deflected as a result of the feed and friction forces is that the feed device consists of a pair of conveyor belts arranged in parallel, between which guide strips are arranged for lateral guidance of the cable. Following the guide strips, the mentioned guide channel then takes over the guiding of the cable during feed. The lead tion strips and the parts with the guide channel should expediently be easily replaced or be adjustable in such a way that the clear cross section between the guide strips and in the guide channel can be adapted to the respective cable cross section, so that each cable is guided with as little play as possible.

Depending on the individual application, the cable ends should protrude more or less from the clamp holders that support them during processing. This adaptation to the different manufacturing tasks can be achieved in an expedient embodiment of the invention in that on the one hand the length of the rear part of the guide channel can be changed by adjusting the stop or by changing the swivel part, and on the other hand the cutting device in the feed direction of the cable is adjustable on the front part of the guide channel is arranged.

Since, according to the invention, the cable ends assume their starting positions when the rear cable end is cut off, in a further preferred embodiment of the invention they can at the same time be transferred essentially in the direction normal to the common plane of their central longitudinal axes to a conveyor element, from which they are then conveyed in their parallel position to the processing stations . For this purpose, the guide channel behind the cutting device has a lowerable bottom with an opening, in the area of which the cable ends can be inserted into the clamp holders when the bottom is lowered. So that the breakthrough of the floor during the initial advancement of the front cable end up to the stop can not cause interference, it is further proposed that the breakthrough in the area occupied by the rear cable end when the floor is lowered can be covered by a floor part that can be swiveled away laterally during the lowering.

The cable ends have in the starting position in the guide channel a cross-sectional position predetermined by its cross-section, in which the wires lie in a certain way next to one another in the cable. So that the cable ends also reach the clamp holder in this predetermined cross-sectional position, it is provided in a further preferred embodiment of the invention that, before lowering the bottom of the guide channel, an upper tool part can be lowered, on which a knife of the cutting device and, via springs, several clamping plungers for pressing the cable are attached to the lowerable floor. Furthermore, actuating plungers for opening the clamp holders are preferably also attached to the upper part of the tool in order to perform as many functions as possible simultaneously with a single working stroke. Finally, this goal also serves the further preferred measure of attaching a control cam to the upper tool part, which cam cooperates with a guide roller connected to the laterally pivotable bottom part via a lever arm.

In order to attach different terminals to the different wires, each with the color of their insulation, in the case of multi-core cables, the wires must be automatically located by means of electronic color detection and, if necessary, brought into a specific position for attaching the respectively assigned terminals. In electronic color detection, however, there have been many malfunctions to date, which can be attributed to the talcum usually introduced between the cable sheath and the individual insulation wires, which is deposited in different thicknesses on the colored insulation of the wires and in some cases makes it impossible to carry out color detection at certain points. So far, attempts have been made with little success to shake off or wipe off the talc. However, it is usually too tight for this. According to the invention it is now proposed for the first time that at least one cable end after removal of the cable sheath the wires are processed with rotating brushes, the reins force acts essentially in the longitudinal direction on the wire ends. In addition to the desired cleaning of talc, a twisting, that is to say essentially parallel alignment of the individual wires, is also achieved in a gentle manner. The brushes preferably have cutouts on the circumference, so that the talc is also tapped off.
The cables hang in loops while the cable ends are being processed. In order to store them in an orderly manner at the end of the processing, it is provided in a practical embodiment of the invention that one of the two cable ends held by the conveying member is dropped and the other is transported further that the cable is pulled over a shelf.

The procedure described above is suitable for cables and strands of all lengths if relatively short terminals or other parts are attached to the cable ends. In the manufacture of ignition cables, however, it happens that relatively short cables of z. B. about 20 cm in length, relatively long protective caps are to be applied. In order to also offer a solution for such applications, the invention provides that the pivoting part remains in its initial position, in which the rear part of the guide channel is aligned with its front part, until the cable is cut off and transferred to a clamp holder, and the cable ends can be processed by machining stations arranged on opposite sides of the conveyor track of the clamp holders, it being possible for the cables to be axially displaceable by means of a gripper between two successively arranged machining stations but on opposite sides when the clamp holder is temporarily released. In individual cases, z. B. protective caps, which are to sit in the fully assembled state at one end of the cable, are pushed onto the cable from the other end of the cable.

• Fig. 1 eine schematische Draufsicht auf eine Vorrichtung zum Ablängen von Kabeln und zur Bearbeitung der Kabelenden;
• Fig. 2 eine perspektivische Ansicht der Abläng-­und Positioniereinrichtung der Vorrich­tung nach Figur 1 in der Ausgangsstellung;
• Fig. 3 die Einrichtung nach Figur 2 in einer Zwischenstellung;
• Fig. 4 die Einrichtung nach Figur 2 und 3 in der Endstellung bei der Übergabe eines Kabels an Klemmhalter zur Beförderung zu den Bearbeitungsstationen;
• Fig. 5A eine vereinfachte Darstellung der Huban­triebe der Einrichtung nach Figur 2 bis 4;
• Fig. 5B eine Teilansicht gemäß Pfeil A in Figur 5A;
• Fig. 6 einen senkrechten Querschnitt durch die Kabel-Vorschubeinrichtung der in Figur 2 bis 5A gezeigten Vorrichtung;
• Fig. 7A, B horizontale Querschnitte durch ein Schwenkteil mit einem Kabelführungskanal der Vorrichtung nach Figur 2 bis 5A ohne bzw. mit Kabel;
• Fig. 8A, B Seitenansichten der in Figur 2 bis 4 gezeig­ten Klemmhalter mit unterschiedlichen ge­klemmt gehaltenen Kabeln;
• Fig. 9 eine perspektivische Ansicht einer Be­arbeitungsstation mit rotierenden Bürsten der Vorrichtung nach Figur 1;
• Fig.10 einen senkrechten Querschnitt durch ein ro­tierendes Bürstenpaar der Bearbeitungssta­tion nach Fig. 9;
• Fig. 11 eine vereinfachte perspektivische Ansicht einer für die Konfektionierung langer Ka­bel vorgesehenen Vorrichtung nach Fig. 1;
• Fig. 12 eine vereinfachte Draufsicht auf eine Vor­richtung zur Herstellung von Lampenkabeln mit einem mittleren Schalter;
• Fig. 13 eine Draufsicht auf eine Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von Zündkabeln mit Verteiler-­und Kerzenstecker;
• Fig.14 Draufsicht auf eine Vorrichtung zur Her­stellung von kurzen Zündkabeln mit Stecker­schutzkappen.

The invention is explained below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

• Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a device for cutting cables and for processing the cable ends.
• 2 shows a perspective view of the cutting and positioning device of the device according to FIG. 1 in the starting position;
• 3 shows the device according to FIG. 2 in an intermediate position;
• 4 shows the device according to FIGS. 2 and 3 in the end position when a cable is transferred to clamp holders for conveyance to the processing stations;
• 5A shows a simplified illustration of the lifting drives of the device according to FIGS. 2 to 4;
• 5B shows a partial view according to arrow A in FIG. 5A;
• 6 shows a vertical cross section through the cable feed device of the device shown in FIGS. 2 to 5A;
• 7A, B horizontal cross sections through a swivel part with a cable guide channel of the device according to FIGS. 2 to 5A without or with a cable;
• 8A, B are side views of the clamp holder shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 with different cables held clamped;
• 9 shows a perspective view of a processing station with rotating brushes of the device according to FIG. 1;
• 10 shows a vertical cross section through a rotating pair of brushes of the processing station according to FIG. 9;
• 11 shows a simplified perspective view of a device according to FIG. 1 provided for the assembly of long cables;
• 12 shows a simplified plan view of a device for producing lamp cables with a central switch;
• 13 shows a plan view of a device for producing ignition cables with a distributor and spark plug connector;
• Fig. 14 top view of a device for producing short ignition cables with protective caps.

1 gives an overview of the row-like arrangement of the processing stations of a device for the assembly of cables according to the invention. It can be seen that the processing stations are freely accessible from both sides without disturbing the cables being processed.

1, cable is withdrawn from a supply 1 and fed to a cutting and positioning device 2, in which individual cables of a certain length are cut and their ends are precisely positioned. These cables are then transported one after the other to the other processing stations shown, which, except for the following, by means of a conveyor element The special features described above can generally be of a known type and depend on the respective production task in the individual application. In the example, a station 3 is shown for stripping the cable ends, then a station 4 for brushing the exposed wires of the cable, then a station 5 for straightening, i.e. for rotating and aligning the cable about its longitudinal axis, followed by a stop press 7, which follows at the end of the cable to be later connected to an electrical device, the terminals provided for this purpose. This is followed by a twisting station 8, where the stranded wires of the wires are twisted at the other end of the cable, in order then to attach a plug bridge to the twisted wire ends in the subsequent station 9, the supply of which to the processing station 9 is indicated. The next station 10 is a test station, and in the following stations 11 and 12 first an upper and then a lower half-shell of a plug is attached to the plug bridge and ultrasonically welded in the following processing station 13. 14 is another test station, and then the ready-made cables are placed on a shelf 15.

If in individual cases the plug is not to be assembled from half-shells to be welded to one another, but is instead to be produced in one injection molding process, the processing stations 11 to 14 are omitted or are switched off. Instead, several cable ends, to which a connector bridge is already attached and the connector housing is now to be injection molded, are gripped by a gripper 16 and transferred to a transfer device 17, which introduces these cable ends into a spray frame, not shown, where multiple connectors are then injected simultaneously will.

The cutting and positioning device shown in perspective in FIG. 2, designated by 2 in FIG. 1, has two parallel arranged, rotationally drivable conveyor belts 20, 22, which frictionally engage the cable coming from the cable supply 1 between them capture and advance from right to left with reference to FIG. 2. The cable is inserted into a guide channel, the front part of which, as seen from the feed device 20, 22, is incorporated into the underside of a fixed guide block 24 and the rear part is incorporated into the underside of a swivel part 28 which can be rotated about a vertical axis 26. In the starting position shown in FIG. 2, the guide channels in the guide block 24 and in the swivel part 28 are aligned. They are closed at the bottom by a lowerable floor 30, on which the cable slides in the guide channel during advancement, the front part of which in FIG. 3 with 32 and the rear part of which is designated 34.

The swivel part 28 is eccentrically seated on a swivel shaft 36, which is connected non-rotatably above with a flat crank 38. A pre-tensioned tension spring 40, whose other end is fastened to the fixed frame 42 of the device, engages on the crank 38 eccentrically to the axis of rotation 26 of the pivot shaft 36. In the practical embodiment, the pin 44, on which the spring 40 engages on the crank disk 38, is adjustable relative to the axis of rotation 26, so that the torque which is exerted by the spring 40 on the pivot shaft 36 is adjusted by adjusting the point of application of the spring the crank disc 38 can be changed. In any case, however, the spring 40 is arranged with respect to the axis of rotation 26 such that the spring force in the position of the swivel part 38 shown in FIG. 2 tends to rotate the swivel shaft 36 counterclockwise with respect to FIG. 2, so that the pivoting part 28 is held in contact with the guide block 24. However, if the pivot member 28 is rotated only a little clockwise, the pin 44 with the spring 40 passes through the dead center position, and then the spring 40 pulls the pivot shaft 36 with the pivot member 28 clockwise into that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 position rotated by 180 °. In this case, a front cable end contained in the guide channel 34 in the pivoting part 28 is reversed, that is to say counter to the cable feed direction arc, so that a U-shaped cable loop is formed, which can be increased by further cable feed by means of the conveyor belts 20, 22, as shown in Fig. 3 using the example of a cable loop 46.

In order to pivot the swivel part 28 from the end position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 back into the starting position according to FIG. 2 after a cable loop 46 has been cut off and transported away, a reversible pneumatic motor 48 is provided, on the output shaft (not shown) of which a crank 50 is mounted. on which a hook 52 is pivotally mounted eccentrically to the output shaft. The hook 52 is under the action of a spring, not shown, which tends to pivot its free end towards the axis of rotation 26. The hook 52 can come into engagement with a projection of the crank disk 38 in the position shown in FIG. 2, and in the engaged position the motor 48 can drive the pivot shaft 36 in both directions of rotation via the crank 50, the hook 52 and the crank disk 38. When the crank 50 is in the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pneumatic tappet 54 can press against the rear end of the hook 52 and thereby detach it from the crank disk 38.

In order to insert the ends of the cable loops 46 produced into the clamp holder 56, the base 30 and an upper tool part 58 can be lowered from the initial position shown in FIG. 2 into the lower position shown in FIG. 4. The lifting drives of the base 30 and the upper tool part 58 are shown in FIGS. 5A, B. A power cylinder 60 is used to lower and raise the floor 30, by means of which a cam disk rotatably mounted on the frame 42 can be pivoted back and forth. A driving roller 64 engaging in the control cam of the cam plate 62, which is mounted on the floor 30, which is movably guided in the vertical direction, takes it up and down when the cam plate 62 rotates.

In the example, a drive for the upper tool part 58 is a rotary drive motor 66 which rotates a cam disk 68, the control cam of which cooperates with a driving pin or a driving roller 70 which is mounted on a control rod 72 which is guided in a vertical direction and which in turn is connected to the upper tool part 58 is. The latter is displaceable along vertical guides 74.

In the example, four plungers 76 are attached to the tool upper part 58 via compression springs (not shown), which are intended to press the cable ends firmly against the base 30 according to FIG. 4 and thus hold them against displacement and twisting. Furthermore, two actuating plungers 78 with rollers 80 are attached to the upper part 58 of the tool, by means of which the clamp holders 56, as shown in FIG. 4, are opened.

A knife 82 is also attached to the upper tool part 58 and cuts the cable behind the feed device 20, 22 when the upper tool part is lowered. The knife 82 is adjustable in the feed direction of the cable by means of a clamping bracket 84. Since the knife 82 penetrates the guide block 24, another guide block 24 also belongs to a different position of the knife 82. Depending on the position of the knife 82, there is a more or less large protrusion of the rear cable end designated by 86 over the gripping holder 56 The protrusion of the front cable end 88 over the clamp holder 56 engaging it is determined by the length of the guide channel in the swivel part 28.

Finally, on the upper tool part 58 according to FIGS. 5A, B, a cam 90 is fixedly attached, the control cam of which cooperates with a driving pin or a driving roller 92, which is mounted on a lever 94, which in turn is pivotably mounted on the frame 42 at the upper end and at the lower end carries a bottom part 96 which partially covers an opening 98 in the bottom 30 in the starting position according to FIG. 2. In the position according to FIG. 2, the bottom part 96 is in the same plane as the bottom 30 and contributes to the fact that the guide channel 32, 34 in the guide block 24 and in the pivoting part 28 is closed at its entire length below. However, when the upper tool part 58 lowers, the lever 94 with the bottom part 96 attached to it is pivoted away laterally by means of the cam plate 90 and the driving roller 92, thereby opening the opening 98 in the bottom 30, so that the cable in the area of the opening in the clamp holder 56 can be inserted.

6 to 8 show some details of the device according to FIGS. 2 to 5. In FIG. 6, the guidance of the cable through lateral guide strips 100 is shown in a vertical cross section through the feed device consisting of the conveyor belts 20 and 22. They have a slightly lower height than the cable and can e.g. B. attached to the guide block 24. Usually you need such side guide rails only with very flexible cables, e.g. B. for electric shavers to use. The feed length of the cable can be determined by a measuring device which measures the number of revolutions or the angle of rotation of the drive rollers of the conveyor belts 20 and 22.

The cross-sectional representation of the pivoting part 28 in FIGS. 7A, B shows that the guide channel is closed at the extreme end by a stop 102, against which the cable abuts during the advance in the position according to FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 7B. Shortly before the stop 102, two spring tongues 104 are screwed onto the pivoting part 28, the free ends of which protrude obliquely in the feed direction into the guide channel 34 in such a way that they are moved from the position according to FIG. 7A into the guide channel by means of a cable pushed into the guide channel Position according to Fig. 7B are deflected. In this position, they act like barbs that prevent the front cable end 38 from being pulled back from the stop 102.

8A, B show a clamp holder 56 when holding two different cables. Each clamp holder consists of a lower part 106 and an upper part 108 pivotally mounted thereon, which together form a pliers mouth 110. The cable lying in the pliers jaw 110 is held clamped by a compression spring 112 clamped between the lower part 106 and the upper part 108. To widen the forceps jaw 110, it is only necessary to press against the force of the compression spring 112 from above onto the upper part 108, as is the case e.g. 4 by the rollers 80 on the actuating plunger 78. The pliers mouth has an essentially dovetail-shaped cross section, so that the same clamp holders can hold cables with very different cross sections.

The clamp holders 56 with their lower parts 106 are e.g. attached to a revolving drivable, endless conveyor chain or other traction element, which is guided along the individual processing stations and is driven step by step in such a way that the cable ends clamped in the clamp holders 56 are stopped and processed at a processing station during the intended cycle time.

The device shown in Figures 2 to 8 works as follows:

While the parts of the device are in the position shown in FIG. 2, the conveyor belts 20, 22 push cables through the front guide channel 32 in the guide block 24 and further through the aligned guide channel 34 in the pivoting part 28. The front cable end abutting against the stop 102 exercises Torque to the swivel shaft 36, which is sufficient to pivot the swivel shaft 36 with the crank disk 38 through the dead center position of the spring 40 when the hook 52 is opened by the pneumatic tappet 54. As soon as this has been done after a short swivel path, the spring 40 pulls the swivel part 28 essentially into the position swiveled back by 180 ° according to FIGS. 3 and 4. When the dead center position has passed, the motor 48 also receives a control signal and leads the hook 52 in the same direction of rotation in which the swivel part 28 has been pivoted, the hook 52 first being released from the pneumatic tappet 54 and then in the position according to FIG. 4 non-rotatably engaging with the crank disk 38. In addition to the spring 40, the motor 48 now first exerts a torque on the pivot shaft 36, which reliably guides the pivot part 28 into its pivoted-back position according to FIGS. 3 and 4 and holds it there.

After pivoting the pivoting part 28 and the cable loop 46 formed thereby, the feed device 20, 22 conveys so much cable from the supply into the loop that the predetermined cable length is reached. The feed speed can be relatively high because only relatively low friction forces have to be overcome and the precise position of the front cable end 88 determined by the stop 102 is not influenced by the feed of further cables into the loop 46. During the entire process of loop formation by means of the swivel part 28 and the feeding of further cables into the loop, the feeding device 20 conveys without stopping.

As soon as the predetermined cable length is reached, the tool upper part 58 lowers first. The plungers 76 come into contact with the cable, in part through the guide block 24 and the pivoting part 28. Because of the springs inserted between the upper tool part 58 and the plungers 76, the upper tool part 58 can lower further, while the plungers 76 press the cable against the floor 30 and hold it in place as the springs become more tensioned. Approximately when the cutting edge of the knife 82 meets the rear cable end 86, the floor 30 also begins to lower. This takes place essentially synchronously with the lowering movement of the upper tool part 58. The rear cable end 86 is separated from the supply of cables by the knife 82. Even during the lowering movement, in which the guide block 24 and the pivoting part 28 do not take part, the plungers 76 keep the cable loop 46, in particular the ends 86 and 88 thereof, in secure contact with the floor 30, so that the cable moves downwards out of the downward movement Guide channels 32 and 34 in the guide block 24 and pivot member 28 is pressed out. In the course of the lowering movement, the bottom part 96 is also pivoted away laterally under the rear cable end 86, and if the upper tool part 58 and the bottom 30 are lowered even further, the rollers 80 on the actuating plungers 78 hit the actuating plungers 78 in the area of the opening 98 in the area which can be pivoted against spring force Upper parts 108 of two clamp holders 56, which have been moved into such a position that the front cable end 88 and the rear cable end 86 each lie in the pliers mouth 110 of the clamp holder 56, as shown in FIG. 4.

It should be noted at this point that under the front cable end 88 in the position according to FIG. 3, no bottom part corresponding to the bottom part 96 is required, because the front cable end 88 is already up to the stop 102 in the guide channel 34 and is held there securely while the pan Part 28 comes at the end of the pivoting from the position shown in FIG. 2 into the position shown in FIG. 3 with the end region of the guide channel 34 opposite the stop via the opening 98.

As soon as the cable ends 86 and 88 have been inserted into two clamp holders 56, the return stroke of the upper tool part 58 begins, and as soon as the rollers 80 are lifted from the upper parts 108 of the clamp holders 56, the cable ends 86 and 88 are clamped in the pliers jaw 110 and the plungers 76 have lifted off the cable, the drive of the chain moving the clamp holders 56 is activated and the cable loop 46 which has just been cut off is transported to the first processing station. When the cable loop 46 has left the floor 30 as a result of the transport by the clamp holder 56, it moves back up to the starting position according to FIG. 2 and closes the guide channel in the guide block 24 and pivoting part 28 again at the bottom. As soon as the plungers 76 have been retracted sufficiently far upwards, the motor 48 also pivots the pivot shaft 36 with the pivot part 28 back into the starting position according to FIG. 2 via the crank 50, the hook 52 and the crank disk 38, and immediately when this is reached, the pneumatic plunger 54 also releases the hook 52 from the crank disk 38 so that the next cable feed can begin and trigger the next pivoting movement of the pivoting part 28 by bumping against the stop 102.

FIG. 9 shows the brush station 4 indicated in FIG. 1 in perspective. It has two pairs of brush rollers 116 which can be driven in rotation by means of a drive motor 114. These can be moved axially by means of a power cylinder 118 with respect to the cable ends 86 and 88 and become open during this travel movement the clamp holders 56 are driven towards and away from them in the direction of rotation that a tensile force is exerted on the cable ends 86 and 88 towards their free ends, which untwists the wires exposed by stripping the cable ends and aligns them essentially in parallel. In addition, the brush rollers 116 clean the differently colored outer insulation of the wires, so that they are recognized by an electronic color recognition device at the next processing station, rotated into a predetermined rotational position of the cable cross section by loosening clamp holders 56, then stripped and each provided with the correct assigned terminal can be.
FIG. 10 shows in cross section a preferred embodiment of the brush rollers 116 in the processing station 4. As shown, the brush rollers are provided with cutouts on the circumference, the arrangement according to FIG. 10 preferably being such that the bristles of the one brush roller are a little into one Engage the recess in the other brush roller. 10, there may also be more than two recesses and bristled sectors on the circumference of each brush roller. There is also the possibility of assembling each brush roller from a multiplicity of narrow brush disks, each disk being provided with recesses between the bristles on the circumference in a staggered arrangement with respect to the adjacent disks. The bristles preferably extend not only radially, but more in the form of tufts, ie also with axial directional components, so that there is no bristle-free space axially between the bristles of adjacent disks. Finally, there is also the possibility of attaching the bristle areas helically along the axes of the brush rollers.
FIG. 11 shows a supplement to the device according to FIG. 1 in that long loops are supported. This version is primarily intended for the assembly of particularly long cables, eg vacuum cleaner cables. An accompanying conveyor belt 120 is arranged parallel to the row of processing stations - only the first processing stations 2-5 are shown in FIG. 11 for the sake of simplicity. Its distance from the row of processing stations 2-5 is variable and adjustable according to the length of the cable loops 46 to be assembled. On the cutting and positioning device 2 there is a guide plate 122 which, when the cable loop 46 is formed and enlarged at this work station, prevents the closed end of the cable loop 46 from falling to the ground. The possibly slightly inclined guide plate 122, which can also be designed telescopically, guides the closed end of the cable loop 46 over the accompanying conveyor belt 120 when it is enlarged to the intended length, in such a way that the cable loop 46 overlaps, as shown in FIG. 11 the accompanying conveyor belt 120 hangs and with the closed end of the loop pointing to the floor. The accompanying conveyor belt 120 is driven synchronously with the conveyor which moves the clamp holders 56, so that all cable loops 46, even if they are very long, remain aligned in parallel during further transport from one processing station to the other and do not entangle with one another.
Since the cable loops 46 hang loosely over the accompanying conveyor belt 120, they do not hinder access to the processing stations from the side of the accompanying conveyor belt 120. 11, it can also be ensured that the accompanying conveyor belt 120 has a base frame 124 which is separate from the machine frame of the processing stations and which can be moved and removed independently if this is necessary for repair or maintenance of the processing stations.
FIGS. 12 to 14 show still further versions of cable processing devices that are modified compared to FIG. 1. In the case of FIG. 12, two pieces of lamp cables are first prepared on two parallel rows of processing stations in the same cycle, which are then brought together on a third line of processing stations and connected to a switch, which at the end in the middle region on the entire lamp cable is arranged. In detail, the same reference numerals 1 to 5 denote the same units as in the embodiment according to FIG. 1. Otherwise, 6ʹ means a stripping and twisting station, 7ʹ a jumper stop, 8ʹ a test station, 9ʹ and 10ʹ mounting devices for a lower or upper one Connector half-shell, 11ʹ an ultrasonic welding station for connecting the connector half-shells and 12ʹ a test station. On this lower production line in FIG. 12, the cable part is manufactured which carries a plug at one end and is connected to the line switch at the other end. In the other production line shown at the top in FIG. 12, the cable part that leads from the switch to the lamp is assembled. 13ʹ is a stripping station and 14ʹ a stop press for the device-side terminals. Double grippers 15ʹ bring together the cable ends to be connected to the switch, so that the lower and upper parts of the switch can then be assembled in processing stations 16ʹ and 17ʹ. 18ʹ is a test station and 19ʹ denotes a storage of the finished, provided with switch cables. As can be seen, despite the spatially compact arrangement of the processing stations and the large number of cables being processed simultaneously, all stations are easily accessible.
In Fig. 13 is a plant for the production of ignition cables with distributor and core Zen connector shown. The reference numerals 1, 2 and 3 have the same meaning as in the embodiment according to FIG. 1. Otherwise: 4ʺ a stop press for terminals, 5ʺ a test device, 6ʺ a glycerin metering device, 7 ″ an assembly station for straight distributor plugs, 8ʺ an assembly station for spark plug connectors, 9 "an alternatively switchable to station 7ʺ assembly station for angular distributor plugs, 10" a swivel gripper, which detects two ignition cables at a time and transfers them to a circular conveyor with three workstations, 11ʺ representing two screwing stations, in each of which two connectors are screwed simultaneously so that the cycle time can take eight seconds for a screwing operation, for example, while the processing stations 2 to 9ʺ work with a cycle time of four seconds.

14 is intended for the production of short ignition cables with protective caps. In this case, the short ignition cable on the cutting and positioning device 2 is not bent into a loop and clamped with clamp ends 56 in both ends of the cable, but the swivel part 28 remains in the position according to FIG. 2, and the short cable is only on one End inserted in a clamp holder 56. The clamped cable end is then fed to a stripping station 3ʹʺ and a terminal impact press 4ʹʺ. An assembly station 5 ʺʹ follows in the processing step, where a candle plug with protective cap is attached to the held cable end. At the next work station 6ʹʺ there is a gripper which pulls the cable in the longitudinal direction through the pliers mouth 110 when the clamp holder 56 is temporarily open, after which the other end of the cable is clamped in the clamp holder 56. The next following processing stations are arranged on the opposite side of the cable conveyor. It is an assembly station 7 ʹʺ for the pre-assembly of an angular distributor plug protective cap, a stripping station 8ʹʺ, a terminal impact press 9ʹʺ and an assembly station 10ʹʺ for assembly of the distributor plug. At 11ʹʺ a gripper then lifts it down hanging end of the cable, this is fed to a test station 12ʹʺ and finally placed on a shelf 13ʹʺ. The sequence of the processing stations described results from the fact that the last processed cable end can only be stripped after the angle cap has been placed on the processing station 7ʹʺ.

The exemplary embodiments show how variably the devices can be adapted to a wide variety of manufacturing tasks, since following the very quickly and precisely working cutting and positioning station 2, which brings the cables into an optimal position to be transported and processed, the following processing stations in each case the best possible location and mutual arrangement, easily accessible from both sides, easily detachable and replaceable can be attached to a rail, along which the cable holder carrying the cables are guided. It can also be seen that the shown and described cleaning of the wire ends of talc by means of rotating brushes 116, the formation of the clamp holders 56, the arrangement of an accompanying conveyor 120 supporting the cable loops 46 and the methods and arrangements described in connection with FIGS. 12 to 14 also can be used for other types of cable assembly devices.

Claims (12)

1. Method for cutting cables from a supply of cables to process the cable ends, the front cable end being brought into a specific starting position, then a cable loop of a certain length being formed by feeding cables, and after cutting off the supply, the rear cable end is essentially parallel to the front cable end with the same orientation as this is held in a predetermined starting position, characterized in that first the front cable end (88) is advanced into a certain intermediate position and then bent to form a loop (46) and brought into its starting position, in the opposite direction the feed direction, then the cable loop (46) is enlarged to the predetermined length by a further cable feed, and finally the rear cable end (86) is cut off from the supply (1) in its predetermined starting position. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the cable is continuously advanced until it is cut off, the front cable end (88) abutting a stop (102) during the advancement into the intermediate position and thereby triggering the bending and the transfer into its starting position . 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that in the case of multi-core cables, the cores of which are each individually provided with insulation, are sheathed together by an outer cable sheath, the sheath is removed on at least one cable end (86, 88) and the cores are removed with rotating brushes (116) are processed, the Frictional force acts essentially in the longitudinal direction on the outside of the wire ends. 4. Device for cutting cables from a cable supply for processing the cable ends, consisting of a feed and length measuring device, a cutting device and a positioning device for inserting the cable ends into clamp holders, through which they can be transported to processing stations, characterized in that the front cable end (88) can be advanced from the feed device in a rotatably mounted swivel part (28) to a certain position and then the swivel part (28) can be rotated with the front cable end (88), so that it points with a direction component against the feed direction, and the Cutting device (82) is arranged between the feed device (20, 22) and the swivel part (28). 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that a guide channel (32, 34) for the cable connects to the feed and length measuring device (20, 22), at the front of which, seen from the feed device (20, 22) , fixed part (32) the cutting device (82) is arranged, and the rear part (34) is arranged in the swivel part (28) which is preloaded by a spring (40) and can be swiveled by approximately 180 ° as soon as it is through the in the guide channel (32, 34) with the feed force against a stop (102) butting the front cable end (88) has been pivoted past a dead center. 6. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that on the rear part (34) of the guide channel barbs (104) are attached, which prevent the cable from being pulled back. 7. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that the swivel part (28) by a releasable coupling (38, 52) can be coupled to the swivel motor (48) against the spring force (40) in the starting position in which the rear with the front part of the guide channel (32, 34) is aligned, the swivel motor (48), which can be operated in both directions of rotation, can be uncoupled after reaching the initial position of the swivel part (28) and can be recoupled again after the dead center position of the swivel part (28) has been overcome by the cable feed, to turn the swivel part into its swiveled end position. 8. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that the guide channel (32, 34) behind the cutting device (82) has a lowerable bottom (30) with an opening (98), in the region of which the cable ends (86, 88) when lowering of the bottom (30) can be inserted into the clamp holder (56). 9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that before lowering the bottom (30) of the guide channel (32, 34) an upper tool part (58) can be lowered, on which a knife (82) of the cutting device and via springs a plurality of plungers (76 ) are attached to the lowerable floor (30) for pressing the cable (46). 10. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the clamp holder (56) in the closing direction spring-loaded pliers with an open top Zan genmaul (110), which has a substantially dovetail cross-section. 11. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the clamp holder (56) after stripping the cable ends (86, 88) in a processing station (4) can be moved, where the exposed wires of the cable by rotating, over the circumference with an irregular radius trained brushes (116) can be machined, which exert a tensile force on the veins. 12. The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that an accompanying conveyor (120) is arranged parallel to the row of processing stations (2-5), which supports the formed cable loops (46) and synchronously with the clamp holders (56) along the row of processing stations (2 - 5) is movable.

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