EP0412732A1 - Electrical harness assembly apparatus - Google Patents
Electrical harness assembly apparatus Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0412732A1 EP0412732A1 EP90308559A EP90308559A EP0412732A1 EP 0412732 A1 EP0412732 A1 EP 0412732A1 EP 90308559 A EP90308559 A EP 90308559A EP 90308559 A EP90308559 A EP 90308559A EP 0412732 A1 EP0412732 A1 EP 0412732A1
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- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- wires
- cable
- wire
- station
- terminals
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R43/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors
- H01R43/04—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for forming connections by deformation, e.g. crimping tool
- H01R43/048—Crimping apparatus or processes
- H01R43/052—Crimping apparatus or processes with wire-feeding mechanism
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R43/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors
- H01R43/28—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for wire processing before connecting to contact members, not provided for in groups H01R43/02 - H01R43/26
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R43/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors
- H01R43/04—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for forming connections by deformation, e.g. crimping tool
- H01R43/048—Crimping apparatus or processes
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R43/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors
- H01R43/20—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for assembling or disassembling contact members with insulating base, case or sleeve
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Manufacturing Of Electrical Connectors (AREA)
- Insulated Conductors (AREA)
Abstract
Apparatus for manufacturing wire harness assemblies is provided. Each wire harness includes a shielded cable having a plurality of insulated conductors therein, with each conductor being terminated at its respective opposed ends and with the terminated ends being mounted in connector housings. The apparatus includes a plurality of pallets (36) that are movable along a conveyor to work stations (76,77,78) at which various assembly steps are carried out. A first station (76) is provided for mounting the cables to the pallet, such that the wires at the opposed ends are mounted in fixtures. A second station (77) may selectively deposit drop wires into fixtures on the pallets. A third station (80) trims and strips the ends of the wires and aligns the drop wires with the cable wires. A fourth station (92) sequentially crimps terminals to the ends of the wires, with the pallet being indexable between successive crimps. The crimp apparatus adjusts to the required crimp height depending on the presence or absence of drop wires and the presence or absence of grounding clips. A fourth station tests (126) for the presence of the terminals and inserts the terminated wires into housings.
Description
- Lighting systems for buildings typically are wired in the field by electricians. The electrician typically will run a shielded multi-conductor cable, such as BX cable, from a central panel through conduits that may be mounted in suspended ceilings or walls of a building. The cables that extend from the central panel typically will lead to distribution boxes, from which the electrician will extend a plurality of separate cables to lighting units, switches or the like. The electrician working in the field will strip insulation from the various cable wires and manually complete the electrical connections at the central panel, the distribution boxes and the junction boxes. Although this standard prior art process is effective, it is extremely labor intensive.
- Considerable manufacturing efficiencies have been achieved with respect to the stripping of insulation from wires, crimping terminals onto the wires and mounting terminated leads into electrical connector housings. In particular, the prior art includes many variations of apparatus and process for making electrical harnesses for signal lines having a plurality of insulated conductors terminated at each respective end, with the terminals thereof mounted in associated housings. The available harness assembling equipment, however, generally is operative to repeatedly perform a plurality of substantially identical operations, with each terminal, each wire and each harness being identical.
- Some known harness assembling equipment includes means for adjusting the crimp height to enable the harness assembling equipment to be changed over from making harnesses of a first dimension and/or type to making harnesses of a second dimension or type. Examples of this prior art include U.S. Patent No. 4,587,725 which issued to Ogawa et al. on May 13, 1986; U.S. Patent No. 4,790,173 which issued to Boutcher, Jr. on December 13, 1988; U.S. Patent No. 4,707,913 which issued to Moline on November 24, 1987; and U.S. Patent No. 4,400,873 which issued to Kindig et al. on August 30, 1983. Each of these references shows apparatus for selectively adjusting the stroke of the crimp press. Another prior art terminating press is shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,576,032 which issued to Maack et al. on March 18, 1986 and which shows a crimp press having deflectable members to account for certain ranges of variations in the dimensions of a crimped terminal.
- The prior art includes power wire harness assemblies that are intended to eliminate a substantial portion of the on-site wiring that typically is completed by electricians in the field. In particular, extremely effective power wire harness assemblies have been provided by Lithonia-Reloc of Conyers, Georgia. These assemblies include a shielded cable, such as BX cable, having a plurality of insulated conductors therein and having suitable electrical connectors securely mounted at opposed ends. The Reloc power wire harness assemblies can be extended from one junction box to another, from one cable to another or from a cable or junction box to a lighting fixture. Many power wire harnesses sold by Reloc include drop wires which extend from one of the two cable connectors of the power wire harness. The drop wire, with an associated connector mounted thereto, may be adapted to extend into a knockout on a lighting fixture.
- The typical power wire harness assembly manufactured by Lithonia-Reloc will include drop wires extending from the cable connector only at one end of the cable. The cable connector having drop wires extending therefrom will be mated to a cable connector on another harness assembly that has no drop wires. Thus, a daisy chain of power wire harness assemblies may be created, with drop wires extending from one cable connector in each harness assembly, and from one cable connector in each mated pair of cable connectors.
- The above described Reloc power wire harness assemblies substantially decrease the amount of on-site labor required by electricians. However, these prior art assemblies have not been well suited for the above referenced prior art automated harness assembling equipment. In particular, the terminations in each power wire harness assembly will vary significantly from one terminal to the next. For example, some terminations will require grounding clips, while others will not. Some terminals will include drop wires, while others will not. The drop wires may be 12 gauge solid wire, 18 gauge solid wire or 18 gauge stranded wire, with the particular selection of drop wires varying from one harness to the next. In most instances, the terminations at one end of the harness assembly will be significantly different from the terminations at the opposed end. In addition to the differences between the terminations on any single harness assembly, it is necessary to produce many different types of harness assemblies in accordance with the voltage and phasing requirements of the building's electrical system. For example, the gauge and number of conductors in the power cable may vary significantly from one harness assembly to the next. More particularly, the power cables are likely to include anywhere between three and five conductors per cable, with each conductor being either 12 or 18 gauge and being either solid or stranded. The length of the respective cables also will vary significantly from one harness assembly to the next. In view of these variables, the production of power wire harness assemblies has not been automated, and has merely moved the labor intensive assembling work from a largely uncontrolled field location to a more closely controlled factory location.
- Attempts to improve the efficiency of the above described power wire harness assembling process is also rendered difficult by the high degree of quality control required for power wiring in buildings. Quality control often can be assured by visually inspecting the harnesses at various stages of their manual assembly. Automated harness assembling devices, however, make visual inspection during the manufacturing process more difficult. In many instances, the terminations produced by the prior art apparatus are substantially hidden from view when the completed harness is ejected from the prior art apparatus.
- In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide an apparatus for more efficiently producing power wire harness assemblies.
- It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a power wire harness assembling apparatus that can readily adjust to different termination requirements from one conductor to the next and from one harness assembly to the next.
- A further object of the subject invention is to provide an apparatus and process for efficiently completing a power wire harness wherein selected terminals of the assembly have drop wires simultaneously terminated with selected cable wires.
- Still another object of the subject invention is to provide a power wire harness assembling apparatus and process which substantially simultaneously checks the presence of terminals and guides the terminals into a housing.
- An additional object of the subject invention is to provide a cable fixturing apparatus which places cable wires at a first pitch during trimming, stripping and terminating operations, but which establishes a second pitch for insertion into a housing.
- The subject invention is directed to an apparatus and/or a system of apparatuses operatively connected to one another for assembling power wire harnesses. In particular, the subject invention may comprise conveying means for conveying a multi-conductor cable to a plurality of assembly or work stations at which the various conductors are prepared, terminated and inserted into a housing.
- A conveying means of the subject invention may cooperate with pallets on which cables of preselected lengths may be coiled and fixtured. The conveying means may comprise means for selectively indexing the pallets to one or more work stations at which various harness assembling steps may be carried out. The system may include means for selectively permitting idling of the pallets while work is being performed at one or more downstream locations. The system may further include means for selectively disengaging pallets from the conveying means and maintaining disengaged pallets at fixed positions in proximity to one or more work stations of the system. Each pallet of the conveying means preferably comprises a pair of fixtures for rigidly fixturing each end of the cable, such that the respective conductors thereof are in controlled spaced relationship to one another, with the respective ends of the conductors being disposed for selected work to be carried out thereon. The fixtures may be operative to change the spacing between the conductors at selected work stations.
- The system of the subject invention may comprise a work station with means for cutting and stripping drop wires to be terminated with selected conductors of the cable. This station may further comprise means for automatically placing the drop wires into selected wire receiving portions of the fixtures on the pallets. The drop wires may be positioned in the fixtures prior to or after placement of the cable wires therein. The order in which the drop wires are placed in the fixtures may be selected to achieve the most efficient flow of pallets through the work stations of the system.
- The system may further comprise one or more stations for trimming the cable wires to selected lengths, and/or for stripping selected lengths of insulation from the cable wires. The stripping preferably is carried out by cutting means which cuts through the insulation and subsequently pulls the insulation relative to a fixedly positioned pallet on which the cable wires are fixtured. The positioning of the drop wires relative to the cable wires can be either before or after the trimming and stripping of the cable wires as noted above. However, in embodiments where the drop wires are positioned first, it may be necessary to dispose the stripped end of the drop wire axially rearwardly of the end of the cable wire to prevent interference between the drop wire and the trimming and stripping means for the cable wire. In these latter embodiments, the station for stripping the cable wire may further comprise mens for pulling the end of the drop wire axially forwardly and into alignment with the stripped end of the cable wire.
- The system of the subject invention may further comprise one or more stations for crimping terminals to the ends of the wires. The crimping station may be in proximity to means for feeding grounding clips to selected terminals in the power wire harness. The crimping station preferably is operative to sequentially crimp terminals to the conductors at each end of the power wire harness assembly. However, the sequential crimping may be carried out simultaneously at both ends of the harness assembly.
- The crimping apparatus may comprise programmable means for selectively varying the crimp height for each sequential crimp as needed. In particular, the crimp height will be adjusted depending upon the gauge of wires to be terminated, the presence or absence of a grounding clip and the presence, absence and/or size of a drop wire. The adjustment of the crimp height may be carried out by at least one cam wedge means which may be linearly slidable relative to the crimping press to effectively alter the position of the head of the crimp press for both the conductor and the insulation at the completion of a crimping cycle. The crimp press also may be programmable to control the number of crimping operations carried out at each end of the harness assembly in accordance with the number of conductors that are present at a particular end of the harness assembly. More than one crimping station may be provided to achieve optimum flow of harness assemblies through the system. The crimping station may further comprise means for assessing the quality of the crimped termination for each terminal.
- The system of the subject invention may further comprise a station for inserting the terminated wires of the cable into housings. In particular, housings may be sequentially fed into proximity to the fixtured ends of the cables. Means also may be provided for urging the terminated wires into a center-to-center spacing corresponding to the pitch required for the connector. The mounting of the terminals into the housings preferably is carried out with guide means for ensuring that the terminals are urged into the respective housings without potentially damaging contact between the terminals and the housings as part of the insertion process. The guide means may comprise probes that are directed through terminal receiving apertures in the housing and which subsequently engage the terminals. The probes may define either pins for engaging pin receiving terminals on a harness assembly or concave structures for engaging pin terminals, blades or other such male terminal means on the harness. The housing and the terminals may be moved relative to one another after the probes have properly engaged the terminals, to enable the probes to guide the terminals into the housing.
- The probes may comprise portions of test assemblies which test for the presence of terminals. The test assembly may be programmable to test for the presence of the specified number of terminals for the particular harness assembly. The absence of a specified terminal will be sensed by the probes and may generate a signal to identify an unacceptable harness assembly.
- The completed harness assembly may advance to other stations for mounting shells over the connector housing. These other stations on the system may be employed to test the completed harness assemblies, mount connectors to the drop wires and/or prepare the completed harnesses for shipment or storage.
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- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art power wire harness assembly that is manufacturable by the system of the subject invention.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the system of the subject invention.
- FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a pallet for use in the system of the subject invention.
- FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a pallet in proximity to a crimper of the subject system.
- FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the wire continuity and position sensor assembly of the subject system.
- FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the crimp station of the subject system.
- FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a pallet at the crimp station.
- FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the crimp adjustment apparatus.
- FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of an alternate wire gathering assembly at the housing insertion station.
- FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of a wire lifter assembly for use with the wire gathering assembly.
- FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the housing insertion station.
- The system of the subject invention is operative to efficiently produce a prior art power wire harness as indicated generally by the numeral 10 in FIG. 1, which may be one of the harness assemblies of the type manufactured by Lithonia-Reloc. The power wire harness 10 depicted in FIG. 1 is intended for interior applications, such as the fluorescent lighting widely employed in the suspended ceilings of commercial, office or light industrial buildings. It is to be understood, however, that many other applications for the power wire harness 10 exist.
- The power wire harness 10 comprises a
cable 12, which may define a BX type of cable having a flexible outer metal shield. As depicted in FIG. 1, thecable 12 defines a relatively short length. It is to be understood, however, that the length of thecable 12 is subject to great variation depending upon the specifications established for the end use of the power wire harness 10. Thecable 12 of the harness 10 includes a plurality of separately insulated conductors or cable wires (not shown) therein. The number and the cross sectional dimension or gauge of the separate cable wires may vary significantly from one power wire harness 10 to another. For example, thecable 12 may comprise a total of four cable wires therein, which are intended to define two hot wires, one neutral wire and one ground on the completed harness 10. Other cables, however, may have only three cable wires, while others may have five. The particular number of cable wires within thecable 12 will depend upon voltage, phasing and other system parameters. - The power wire harness assembly 10 further comprises
connectors cable 12. Theconnectors cable 12. Theconnectors metallic shells cable 12. Theconnectors housings - The
connector 16 includes drop wires 25-28 extending therefrom. The drop wires 25-28 are terminated with the cable wires (not shown) to the respective terminals (not shown) within theconnector 16. The drop wires 25-28 are terminated to afixture connector 30 which can be snapped into engagement with a knock-out aperture in a lighting fixture for subsequent pluggable electrical connection to a corresponding connector on a lighting fixture. It will be noted that theconnector 14 does not include a corresponding array of drop wires. - A plurality of power wire harnesses 10 of selected lengths may be employed in daisy chain fashion by electrically joining the harnesses 10 in end-to-end relationship. Thus, the
connector 14 of one power wire harness 10 will be mated with aconnector 16 on a second power wire harness 10. The connections between power wire harnesses will be made in proximity to the knock-out apertures in the lighting fixtures, such that the drop wires 25-28 can be directed toward the lighting fixture. Thefixture connector 30 then can be snapped into engagement with the knock-out aperture in the lighting fixture. - It is to be understood that many of the power wire harnesses manufactured by the system and process of the subject invention will be similar to the harness 10 shown in FIG. 1, but will not include the drop wires 25-28. These harnesses will be used substantially like extension cords, and will minimize inventory problems of the specifically configured harnesses 10 having drop wires 25- 28 extending therefrom. It also should be emphasized that the harnesses 10 are subject to many other variations as noted above. In particular, the specifications of the drop wires may vary considerably as to the number of wires, the gauge of the wires, and whether the wires are stranded or solid. The number and gauges of cable wires also can vary. Additionally, certain of the cable wires will be terminated with grounding clips, while others will not.
- The system for forming the power wire harnesses 10 is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2, and is identified generally by the numeral 32. The system 32 includes a chain track 34 along which
pallets 36 are movable. The portion of the chain track 34 illustrated in FIG. 2 is operative to move thepallets 36 linearly in a direction indicated by arrow "A". The system 32 further comprises adown elevator 38 and an upelevator 40 which define the extreme ends of the system 32. The system 32 further comprises a lower chain track (not shown) which also connects thedown elevator 38 and the upelevator 40 but which is operative to travel in a direction opposite the direction indicated by arrow "A". It is to be understood, however, that the system 32 may define a loop disposed at a single elevation and without theelevators - A
pallet 36 is illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. More particularly, thepallet 36 is a generally rectangular planar structure having atop surface 42 and anopposed bottom surface 44. Thetop surface 42 of thepallet 36 includes a plurality of cable guides 46 rigidly mounted thereto in spaced relationship to one another. The cable guides 46 enable a coil ofcable 12 to be securely retained on thepallet 36, as shown in FIG. 3. - The
pallet 36 further comprises a pair ofcable support brackets 48 having generallysemi-cylindrical grooves 50 formed therein for receiving portions of thecable 12 adjacent the ends of the metallic shield thereon. The cable support brackets may optionally be provided with clamping means for securely, but releasably, retaining the cables therein. -
Wire holder assemblies 52 are mounted to thetop surface 42 of thepallet 36 adjacent thecable support brackets 48. This particular embodiment of eachwire holder assembly 52 comprises a pair of end supports 54 and 56 which are mounted to thetop surface 42 of thepallet 36 in spaced relationship to one another. A plurality of wire guides 58-62 are disposed intermediate thesupports wire guide 58 is rigidly mounted to theend support 54. However, spring assemblies 63-66 are sequentially disposed intermediate adjacent wire guides 58-62 are shown in FIG. 3. Thus, the wire guides 59-62 can be collapsed relative to one another and urged respectively toward thewire guide 58. However, the forces exerted by the springs 63-66 will urge the wire guides into a fully extended position relative to one another such that thewire guide 62 is adjacent to thesupport 56. - The
wire holder assembly 52 further comprises core pins 68 and 69 which extend slidably through thesupport 56 and are attached to thewire guide 62. Thus, a force exerted on the core pins 68 and 69 will overcome the forces exerted by springs 63-66 and cause the wire guides 59-62 to be urged toward one another and toward thewire guide 58. In their extended condition, as shown in FIG. 3, the wire guides 58-62 define center to center spacings of approximately 0.588 inch. However, in their collapsed condition the wire guides 58-62 define center to center spacings of only about 0.316 inch which corresponds to the pitch of the housing as explained below. Other selected center to center spacings in the expanded and collapsed conditions of thewire holder assembly 52 may, of course, be provided depending upon the requirements of the system. The object of the selective expansion and contraction of the wire holder assembly is to provide adequate room for trimming, stripping and crimping operations in the expanded condition, and also to enable efficient insertion of the terminated wires into closely spaced apertures in a housing. - An equally efficient but substantially less expensive alternative to the above described
wire hold assemblies 52 is to provide a rigid wire holder assembly with fixed wire guides disposed at a center-to-center spacing of 0.588 inch, or other appropriate spacing for the terminals being employed. An appropriate downstream station may then be provided to remove wires from the wire guides and to collapse the wires to a closer spacing for insertion into a housing as explained and illustrated below. - The
pallet 36 further includes a plurality of shot pin holes 70 which are engageable by shot pins 72 to lift thepallet 36 from the chain track 34 at selected work stations as shown in FIG. 3, and as explained further below. - Returning to FIG. 2, the
pallets 36 of the system 32 are movable along the chain track 34 to a plurality of different work stations. The first station is acable load station 76. A technician may be disposed atlocation 76 to manually load coils ofcable 12 onto thepallet 36 positioned atstation 76. Thecable 12 typically will be coiled to define a diameter of approximately 15 inches with lengths of cable extending between 2 inches and 12 inches beyond the tangent point of the coil. Thecable 12 will be pre-cut to a selected length and will have selected lengths of cable wires extending from the respective opposed ends of the shielding. -
Stations cable load station 76 and define stations for fixturing the cable wires within thewire holder assemblies 52. Thestations station 77 may be employed to position and fixture the cable wires at the first end of thecable 12, whilestation 78 may be employed to position and fixture wires at the opposed second end of thecable 12. The cable wires are mounted in thewire holder assemblies 52 in an unstripped condition. Additionally, in some operations, drop wires may be positioned manually in the fixtures immediately prior to the manual placement of the cable wires. Any drop wires that may be positioned at this station will be stripped and may have terminals attached to the trailing end. The drop wires will be positioned in the fixtures first and the cable wires will then be positioned with their unstripped ends axially forwardly relative to the ends of the precisely positioned drop wires. It should be noted that most drop wires will be automatically positioned at a down stream station as explained herein. Manual placement of drop wires will only be employed to achieve optimum cycle time in some situations. - A trim and
strip station 80 is disposed downstream from the cablewire fixturing stations strip station 80 is initially operative to simultaneously trim the cable wires to specified lengths, such that the trimmed ends of the cable wires are at specified distances forward of the fixtures and the ends of any previously positioned drop wires. Thestation 80 subsequently is operative to strip a selected amount of insulation from each cable wire. As shown in FIG. 2, the trim andstrip station 80 includes first and second trimming and strippingdevices cable 12. The trimming and strippingdevices pallet 36 and then to simultaneously strip all wires on the opposed first and second ends of thecable 12. The trimming and strippingdevices pallet 36 for pulling the insulation from the conductor of eachcable wire 12. This pulling movement of the trimming and strippingdevices - The
drop wire station 86 is operative to programmably pay-out specified lengths of a selected drop wire, which may be 12 gauge solid wire, 18 gauge solid wire or 18 gauge stranded wire. The leading end of the length of drop wire is appropriately stripped and is programmably placed in a selected wire guide 58-62 of thewire holder assembly 52. The opposed end of each drop wire may be stripped, partially stripped or unstripped depending upon the particular connection to be made with the drop wires. As noted above, not all harness assemblies produced by the system 32 will require drop wires. In situations where drop wires are not required, thestation 86 will merely define a test station. - The
drop wire station 86 includestesters 88 as shown in FIG. 5. Eachtester 88 includesprobes 90 which are disposed to be axially in line with anycable wires 12c ordrop wires 12d that may be present. Theprobes 90 are operative to move axially forward to contact the ends of the conductors that may be present, and to test for the presence of each conductor that should be present, to test for proper position of the conductor and to test for continuity between opposed ends of eachcable wire 12c. A failure of any test will generate a signal to identify the particular pallet for a special treatment which may vary depending upon the particular sensed condition. In some instances, thecable 12 will have to be scraped, while in other instances appropriate corrective action may be employed, such as realigning the stripped end of a wire or positioning a drop wire. - Crimp
stations drop wire station 86. The provision of two crimpingstations crimp station 92 may be operative to crimp terminals to three cable wires. Thecrimp station 94 normally will be operative only in situations where thecable 12 has more than three cable wires, and normally will be operative to crimp terminals to the cable wires in excess of three. Thecrimp stations crimp station - The
crimp station 92 as shown in FIG. 2 and 6-8 includes first and second crimpingpresses clip feed bowl 100 which is operative to feed ground clips (not shown) to the wire guides prior to crimping. The first andsecond crimp press reels wires cable 12. Thepallet 36 disposed at thecrimp station 92 is indexed incrementally between sequential cycles of the crimp presses 96 and 98 by the servo feed shown schematically in FIG. 7 and identified generally by the numeral 106 in FIG. 7. Thus, the crimp presses 96 and 98 will simultaneously crimp a terminal to afirst cable wire 12c plus anydrop wire 12d or ground clip that may be present in thecable 12. Thepallet 36 will then index approximately 0.588 inch and the first and second crimp presses 96 and 98 will crimp terminals to second cable wires in thecable 12 plus any drop wire or ground clip that may be present. This cycle will repeat at least a third time after which thepallet 36 may be advanced to a downstream station for either additional terminal crimping operations or for insertion of the terminated wires into the housing as explained below. - The crimping presses 96 and 98 comprise
wire locators support rods wire guide locators crimp press wire guide locators rods pallet 36 byservo motor 106 between sequential cycles of the crimp presses 96 and 98. - As noted above, the terminations will vary significantly from one terminal to the next, depending upon the gauge and type of any drop wire that may be present, and the presence or absence of grounding clips. The system of the subject invention includes a programmable controller, indicated schematically by the numeral 116 in FIG. 2, into which control data as to the number and gauges of
cable wires 12c, the presence, absence, type and location ofdrop wires 12d and the location of grounding clips may be entered. The crimping presses 96 and 98 comprise crimp height controllers 118 as shown most clearly in FIG. 8, which are operatively connected to theprogrammable controller 116 in which these control data are entered. In this manner, the crimp presses 96 and 98 are operative to perform an optimum crimp on the particular arrangement of wires and grounding clips being presented thereto. More particularly, the crimp height controllers 118 each comprisecam wedges stripper motors 122 and 124. The controlled sliding movement of thecam wedges 118 and 120 determine the maximum crimp stroke enabled by the crimp press for the conductor crimp and insulation crimp respectively. Thus, the crimp height controller is operative to achieve an optimum crimp height and pull out force for each particular crimp, depending upon the programmed characteristics of the wires and/or grounding clips being terminated. - After the termination has been completed, the
pallet 36 advances downstream to theinsertion station 126 as shown in FIG. 2. The movement of thepallet 36 into theinsertion station 126 causes the core pins 68, 69 of thewire holder assemblies 52 to be engaged, and thereby collapsing the wire guides 58-62 toward one another. Alternatively, a pallet without collapsible wire holder assemblies may be provided. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, theinsertion station 126 includes acollapsible fixture assembly 128 with separate notchedfixtures 130 for engaging the terminated wires. The notchedfixtures 130 are connected bypantograph linkage members 132 and are powered byair cylinder 134 to selectively collapse the wires to a 0.316 inch spacing. The insertion station 326 further includes a wire gripper andlifter assembly 136, as shown in FIG. 10, with selectivelyrotatable arms wires 12c into a spacing consistent with the collapsed condition of thefixture assembly 128. Thecollapsible fixture assembly 128 and the wire gripper andlifter assembly 136 are operative to lift the ends of the cable 32 from the fixture on the pallet and then to effect the collapsing. - The
insertion station 126 includes a dual track bowl feed andsupply hopper 142, as shown generally in FIG. 2, from which molded plastic housings are fed into first andsecond positions 144 and 146 adjacent the opposed first and second ends of thecable 12. The first andsecond positions 144 and 146 of theinsertion station 126 are in proximity tomovable probe assemblies 148 as shown in FIG. 11, which have a plurality ofprobes 150 corresponding in number to the maximum number ofcable wires 12c. Additionally, the spacing between the probes corresponding to the spacing betweenterminal receiving apertures 152 in thehousings 154. Theprobe assemblies 148 advance toward thehousing 154 such that therespective probes 150 pass through the correspondingterminal receiving apertures 152 in thehousings 154. Additionally, the movement of theprobe assemblies 148 causes therespective probes 150 to contact and engage theterminals 156 crimped to the ends of therespective wires - The
probes 150 are operatively connected to known test circuitry such that the presence of a terminal 156 can be sensed and, if desired, such that the continuity of acable wire 12c can be sensed. Acable 12 will be identified for rejection if a required terminal is not sensed as being present, or if theprobe assemblies 148 fail to accurately sense the necessary continuity along the length of thecable wires 12c. On the other hand, once theprobe assemblies 148 have sensed an acceptable product, theinsertion station 126 is operative to move thehousings 154 relative to theterminals 156 and theprobe assemblies 148. Theprobe assemblies 148 are thus operative to guide therespective terminals 156 into the terminal receivingcavities 152 of thehousing 154, while simultaneously ensuring that inadvertent and potentially damaging contact between the leading ends of theterminals 156 and the walls of thehousing 154 is avoided. Upon complete movement of thehousings 154 over theterminals 156, theprobe assemblies 148 are retracted and thepallet 36 is advanced to an unload station at which the completed harness assembly is unloaded. Thepallet 36 is then advanced toward the down elevator for recycling in the system. In optional embodiments (not shown), thepallet 36 may advance to locations at which a metallic shell is mechanically engaged around the housing and the jacket of the cable. - While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it is apparent that various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims (14)
1. Apparatus for producing wire harness assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of cable wires having opposed ends, a terminal mounted to at least one opposed end of each cable wire and at least one housing mounted to the respective terminals and cablewires, said apparatus comprising a plurality of pallets to which said cables are mounted, conveying means for sequentially moving the pallets to at least a terminating station for mounting the terminals to the cable wires and an insertion station for inserting the terminals into the housing, the apparatus being characterised by
at least one selectively expandable and collapsible wire fixture for engaging the cable wires, said fixture defining a major pitch between the wires in an expanded condition of the fixture and a minor pitch between the wires in a collapsed condition of the fixture; and
means for collapsing the fixture at the insertion station of the system, whereby the minor pitch between the wires defined by the collapsed condition of the fixture corresponds to the pitch required for the insertion of the terminals into the housing.
at least one selectively expandable and collapsible wire fixture for engaging the cable wires, said fixture defining a major pitch between the wires in an expanded condition of the fixture and a minor pitch between the wires in a collapsed condition of the fixture; and
means for collapsing the fixture at the insertion station of the system, whereby the minor pitch between the wires defined by the collapsed condition of the fixture corresponds to the pitch required for the insertion of the terminals into the housing.
2. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the fixture comprises a plurality of separate wire holders for holding the respective cable wires and connecting means disposed intermediate the respective wire holders for urging the wire holders into selected spaced relationship to one another.
3. Apparatus as in claim 2 wherein the expandable and collapsible fixture is mounted on the pallet, and wherein the connecting means comprises spring means for urging the wire holders into the expanded condition of the fixture.
4. Apparatus as in claim 3 wherein each wire fixture further comprises at least one pin for selectively urging the wire holders of each fixture into the collapsed condition, and wherein the insertion station comprises means for engaging the pin and urging the wire holders into the collapsed condition.
5. Apparatus as in claim 3 further comprising a stripping station for stripping insulation from the cablewires, the spring means for urging the wire holders into the expanded condition being operative to urge the fixtures into the expanded condition at the stripping station.
6. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the expandable and contractible fixture is mounted to the insertion station, each said pallet comprising at least one rigid fixture with wire holders defining the major pitch therebetween, said insertion station comprising means for removing the wires from the rigid fixture and means for mounting the wires in the expandable and contractible fixture.
7. Apparatus for producing wire harness assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of cable wires having opposed ends, a terminal mounted to at least one end of each cable wire and at least one housing mounted to the respective terminals and cable wires, said apparatus comprising a plurality of pallets to which said cables are mounted, conveying means for sequentially moving the pallets to at least a terminating station for mounting the terminals to the wires and an insertion station for inserting the terminals into the housings, the apparatus being characterised by
at least one probe assembly at the insertion station, said probe assembly comprising a plurality of probe guides corresponding in number to the number of terminals, each said probe guide being configured to engage a corresponding terminal;
means for moving the probe guides selectively into and out of engagement with the terminals;
electrical test means for sensing the engagement of a terminal by the probe; and
means for moving the housing relative to the terminals and the probe assemblies such that the probe assemblies guide the housings onto the terminals.
at least one probe assembly at the insertion station, said probe assembly comprising a plurality of probe guides corresponding in number to the number of terminals, each said probe guide being configured to engage a corresponding terminal;
means for moving the probe guides selectively into and out of engagement with the terminals;
electrical test means for sensing the engagement of a terminal by the probe; and
means for moving the housing relative to the terminals and the probe assemblies such that the probe assemblies guide the housings onto the terminals.
8. Apparatus as in claim 7 wherein the test means is operative to test the continuity of the cable wires between terminals at each respective end of the cable wires.
9. Apparatus for producing wire harness assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of cable wires having opposed ends, a terminal mounted to at least one end of each cable wire and at least one housing mounted to the respective terminals and cable wires, said apparatus comprising a plurality of pallets to which said cables are mounted, conveying means for sequentially moving the pallets to at least a terminating station having a crimp press for crimping the terminals to the cable wires and an insertion station for inserting the terminals into housings, the apparatus being characterised by
control means operatively connected to the terminating station for identifying an optimum crimp height for each termination; and
at least one cam wedge linearly movable in the terminating station in a direction orthogonal to moving directions of the crimp press for selectively altering the range of movement of the crimp press.
control means operatively connected to the terminating station for identifying an optimum crimp height for each termination; and
at least one cam wedge linearly movable in the terminating station in a direction orthogonal to moving directions of the crimp press for selectively altering the range of movement of the crimp press.
10. Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein the crimp press comprises a first crimping tool for crimping a first portion of said terminal to a conductor in said wire and a second crimping tool for crimping a second portion of said terminal to insulation on said wire, said at least one cam wedge defining first and second cam wedges operatively connected to the control means for independent movement for altering the range of movement of the first and second crimping tools respectively.
11. Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein the terminating station is operative to crimp the terminals to the cable wires sequentially and wherein the system comprises index means for indexing the cable between each sequential termination.
12. Apparatus for producing wire harness assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of cable wires having opposed ends, a terminal mounted to at least one end of each cable wire and at least one housing mounted to the respective terminals and cable wires, said apparatus comprising a plurality of pallets to which said cables are mounted such that the ends of each said cable wire are fixtured in specified positions, conveying means for sequentially moving the pallets to at least a terminating station for mounting the terminals to the cable wires and an insertion station for inserting the terminals into the housings, the apparatus being characterised by
at least one drop wire feed station for paying out selected lengths of insulated drop wires, said drop wire feed station comprising stripping means for stripping at least a first end of each drop wire and feeding means for feeding the stripped ends of the drop wires into a specified position adjacent the ends of selected ones of the cable wires; and
sensing means for sensing the presence of the cable wires and the drop wires in their respective specified positions.
at least one drop wire feed station for paying out selected lengths of insulated drop wires, said drop wire feed station comprising stripping means for stripping at least a first end of each drop wire and feeding means for feeding the stripped ends of the drop wires into a specified position adjacent the ends of selected ones of the cable wires; and
sensing means for sensing the presence of the cable wires and the drop wires in their respective specified positions.
13. Apparatus as in claim 12 further comprising a stripping station for stripping the ends of the cable wires prior to feeding drop wires adjacent thereto.
14. Apparatus as in claim 13 further comprising:
a preliminary drop wire feed station for feeding at least selected ones of said drop wires to said pallets prior to fixturing the ends of the cable wires; and
a stripping station for stripping the ends of the cable wires and for axially positioning the ends of the drop wires with the ends of the cable wires.
a preliminary drop wire feed station for feeding at least selected ones of said drop wires to said pallets prior to fixturing the ends of the cable wires; and
a stripping station for stripping the ends of the cable wires and for axially positioning the ends of the drop wires with the ends of the cable wires.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US39280889A | 1989-08-10 | 1989-08-10 | |
US392808 | 1989-08-10 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0412732A1 true EP0412732A1 (en) | 1991-02-13 |
Family
ID=23552076
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP90308559A Withdrawn EP0412732A1 (en) | 1989-08-10 | 1990-08-03 | Electrical harness assembly apparatus |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0412732A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JPH0799650B2 (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0706242A1 (en) * | 1994-03-28 | 1996-04-10 | Murata Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Method and apparatus for manufacturing wire pressure-welding harness |
CN117293619A (en) * | 2023-09-22 | 2023-12-26 | 广州新李汽车零部件有限公司 | Terminal crimping equipment for automobile wire harness processing |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP2012064331A (en) * | 2010-09-14 | 2012-03-29 | Auto Network Gijutsu Kenkyusho:Kk | Wire harness |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FR2378381A1 (en) * | 1977-01-25 | 1978-08-18 | Amp Inc | DEVICE FOR INSERTING A CONTACT, FIXED AT THE END OF A CONDUCTIVE WIRE, IN A HOLE THROUGH A BOX |
EP0139368A1 (en) * | 1983-08-09 | 1985-05-02 | CKD Corporation | Terminal crimping apparatus |
EP0181780A2 (en) * | 1984-11-13 | 1986-05-21 | Westinghouse Electric Corporation | Wire preparation system |
EP0281244A2 (en) * | 1987-02-24 | 1988-09-07 | Molex Incorporated | Pitch transition wire guide apparatus for fabricating electrical harnesses |
Family Cites Families (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS5422824B2 (en) * | 1973-08-03 | 1979-08-09 | ||
JPH06100630B2 (en) * | 1984-06-29 | 1994-12-12 | アンプ インコーポレーテッド | Harness manufacturing equipment |
JPS6139414A (en) * | 1984-07-31 | 1986-02-25 | 新明和工業株式会社 | Wiring device |
JPH0429533Y2 (en) * | 1986-09-01 | 1992-07-17 | ||
JPS63187505A (en) * | 1987-01-29 | 1988-08-03 | 住友電装株式会社 | Wire assembling jig |
-
1990
- 1990-08-03 EP EP90308559A patent/EP0412732A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1990-08-10 JP JP2213568A patent/JPH0799650B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FR2378381A1 (en) * | 1977-01-25 | 1978-08-18 | Amp Inc | DEVICE FOR INSERTING A CONTACT, FIXED AT THE END OF A CONDUCTIVE WIRE, IN A HOLE THROUGH A BOX |
EP0139368A1 (en) * | 1983-08-09 | 1985-05-02 | CKD Corporation | Terminal crimping apparatus |
EP0181780A2 (en) * | 1984-11-13 | 1986-05-21 | Westinghouse Electric Corporation | Wire preparation system |
EP0281244A2 (en) * | 1987-02-24 | 1988-09-07 | Molex Incorporated | Pitch transition wire guide apparatus for fabricating electrical harnesses |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0706242A1 (en) * | 1994-03-28 | 1996-04-10 | Murata Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Method and apparatus for manufacturing wire pressure-welding harness |
EP0706242A4 (en) * | 1994-03-28 | 1997-09-10 | Murata Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Method and apparatus for manufacturing wire pressure-welding harness |
CN117293619A (en) * | 2023-09-22 | 2023-12-26 | 广州新李汽车零部件有限公司 | Terminal crimping equipment for automobile wire harness processing |
CN117293619B (en) * | 2023-09-22 | 2024-03-01 | 广州新李汽车零部件有限公司 | Terminal crimping equipment for automobile wire harness processing |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JPH0799650B2 (en) | 1995-10-25 |
JPH0395807A (en) | 1991-04-22 |
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