EP0418993A2 - Assemblage de composants électroniques moulés de façon continue - Google Patents

Assemblage de composants électroniques moulés de façon continue Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0418993A2
EP0418993A2 EP90302433A EP90302433A EP0418993A2 EP 0418993 A2 EP0418993 A2 EP 0418993A2 EP 90302433 A EP90302433 A EP 90302433A EP 90302433 A EP90302433 A EP 90302433A EP 0418993 A2 EP0418993 A2 EP 0418993A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
assembly
machine
connector
onto
strip
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.)
Granted
Application number
EP90302433A
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0418993A3 (en
EP0418993B1 (fr
Inventor
Irwin Zahn
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Autosplice Inc
Original Assignee
Autosplice Inc
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Autosplice Inc filed Critical Autosplice Inc
Publication of EP0418993A2 publication Critical patent/EP0418993A2/fr
Publication of EP0418993A3 publication Critical patent/EP0418993A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0418993B1 publication Critical patent/EP0418993B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • H01R43/24—Assembling by moulding on contact members

Definitions

  • This invention relates to the field of electronic com­ponents and their improved mechanized assembly.
  • the current systems are used for assembling of pins or tabs or sockets into substrates.
  • the pin insertion machines al­low for insertion of different sizes of pins onto an apertured workpiece.
  • the pins can vary in cross section and length. They can also be bent to 90 o angles or kept straight.
  • the machine is fed from a continuous supply of prenotched pins wound on a reel.
  • the pins are fed, cut, formed and then inserted into the work­piece positioned below the inserter.
  • the alignment of the inser­tion hole with the pin can be achieved by manually positioning the workpiece below the insertion head, or automatically by a computer-controlled X-Y locating table onto which PWB's are loaded.
  • a similar type of machine can be used to insert sockets, or tabs or other components into PWB's.
  • Any socket pattern can be machine inserted or can be inserted into a plastic housing for manual insertion.
  • the above systems describe production systems to insert pins or sockets into substrates. It is accomplished by inserting one pin or one socket or one tab at a time.
  • One example of a electrical component that is currently being made individually and manually assembled is an electrical shunt connector or jumper, which is in common use today to inter­connect pins to configure, for example, a printed circuit board.
  • the plastic body of the shunt is currently individually molded, and a stamped metal conductor is inserted into the plastic body and then the completed shunt assembly is manually mounted on the PWB pins, using templates or light to properly locate the pins on which the shunt is to be assembled.
  • the process is labor in­tensive, expensive and causes re-work of boards if the shunt is improperly positioned.
  • wire and terminals Another example and an important electronic component is wire and terminals. Their assembly onto wires has not been auto­mated yet. The end terminal needs to be placed on the wire and is done so manually and individually. There is no known system that allows for the mechanized assembly of such components.
  • a principal object of the invention is a process to effi­ciently mechanize the manufacturing and assembling of electronic parts.
  • a further object is the integration of more aspects of the manufacturing and production so that the end product can be made more efficiently and less costly.
  • Another object is to avoid or minimize the need for indi­vidual handling of loose pieces in the manufacture and assembly of electrical components.
  • Another object of the invention is to automate the manufacture and assembly of electrical shunt connectors.
  • Still another object of the invention is to mechanize the process of mounting insulated posts on PWBs to serve as pilots for connectors.
  • a further object is to fully automate the process of wire terminals and their assembly to wires.
  • a continuous injection molding process is preferably employed.
  • the endless line of parts is wound on a reel.
  • the known automatic ma­chines can then be directly employed or readily modified to pro­cess at a high production rate the reeled parts. It may require several machine passes before the component or its assembly onto a workpiece is completed.
  • the reeled parts can be fed to a machine which punches holes, inserts metal parts, or performs other secondary operations on the plastic pieces, and then re-­reels the worked pieces.
  • Another pass through an insertion ma­chine can sever one or more of the parts as needed from the supp­ly reel and mount the parts onto the appropriate workpiece. In this manner, more of the production process of the electronic components can be automated.
  • a feature of the invention is the initial formation of a continuous molded product on a reel.
  • the reel can be used to hold virtually any number of plastic parts in a variety of shapes needed for a particular application.
  • the reel is then mounted on one of the kinds of assembly, insertion or crimping machines pre­viously described and supplies an endless line of parts that can be added to or inserted on another part aligned by the machine.
  • Manual handling then reduces to transport of supply reel from ma­chine to machine or to a customer provided with a similar ap­plicator machine employing such reels for automatic assembly of the reeled components onto a PWB.
  • the invention provides flexibility and versatility in the variety and the amount of parts to be manufactured and assembled onto their corresponding workpieces.
  • a shunt connector is manufactured by injection molding a continuous line of plastic body parts and winding on a first reel.
  • the first reel is mounted on one of the automatic assembly machines which, from a supply of metal parts inserts the metal contact spring clip into each body part as it passes through the machine and is re-reeled onto a second reel.
  • the second reel is placed on another insertion machine which then severs a plastic body part with its metal contact spring clip from the endless supply and mounts it on pin terminals of a PCB accurately posi­tioned below.
  • wire end terminals can be manufactured and crimped to lead wires.
  • an endless line of plastic parts are made by a molding process and wound on a reel. They are then fed to an assembly machine that in a secondary operation inserts the metal tube connector, and after supplying a wire, crimps the met­al connector into place.
  • a continuous row of plastic posts is molded, wound onto a reel, and then inserted in a PWB by the previously de­scribed inserter machine from a reel supply.
  • the process generally entails: (1) molding, (2) reeling, (3) secondary operations of assembly when required and re-­reeling, (4) insertion.
  • the assembly, insertion and crimping ma­chines are already known and used in the art.
  • this aspect of the invention describes a process that efficiently mechanizes the manufacturing, assembly and insertion of electrical com­ponents achieved by integrating the supply reels of continuous strips of electronic component parts. This minimizes handling, expense and time of manufacturing and assembly of electronic com­ponents.
  • the invention also includes novel component parts, assem­blies and sub-assemblies and reels of such parts produced as in­ termediate or end products in the carrying out of the process of the invention.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates the starting point of the invention, which is an injection molding process.
  • One example is the injection molding process disclosed in Patent No. 4,832,622, which is incorporated herein by reference.
  • the preheating, plasticizing and molding is all done by the same machine.
  • Granules of plastic 10 are fed into an injection cylinder 19 through a hopper opening 12.
  • the granules are then heated to a molten state 13 in the cylinder 19 by a heating jacket 14.
  • the molten plastic is then injected by a ram 15 into mold 16 as shown in Fig. 1.
  • the mold 16 makes a discrete amount of plastic parts 17, all interconnected by thin plastic severable strips or webs 18.
  • the webs 18 are also formed during the molding process. At the end of each complete strip of parts and webs, there is an end extension or web 27, the free end of which is placed back into the mold so that the next strip of parts is molded and fused onto it. This process continues after each molding step. In this fashion, an endless or continuous elongated strip of plastic parts, held together by the webs 18, can be manufactured. All of the plastic parts are connected together by the thin plastic severable pieces, or webs, except for the first and last part which have only one connecting side.
  • Figs. 1-3 show the manufacture of the shunt housing 17.
  • the shunt housings 17 are connected to one another by webs 18 as shown in Fig. 3.
  • the continuous strip of shunt housing parts 17 is then wound onto a reel 20 and fed into an assembly machine which inserts a metal spring clip 25 and rewinds the continuous shunt strip now with the metal inserts back onto another reel 21. This is shown in Fig. 4.
  • Machines of the type described have been previously dis­closed and are already on the market. Only the insertion head 23 for the shaped metal spring clips is shown in Fig 4.
  • the metal spring clips 25 are supplied from a reel of continuous parts connected together by web pieces.
  • the secondary operation of the assembly machine detaches the spring clip from its strip fed along chute 24 and inserts it into the shunt hous­ing by a ram.
  • Fig. 5 shows a metal spring clip 25 being inserted into a plastic shunt housing 17 on the strip.
  • the spring clip is locked into the plastic housing by a step up lock 29 in the cavity of the housing.
  • the step up lock 29 allows the metal in­sert to be easily pushed in but then difficult to remove past the step in the shunt housing.
  • the completed shunt (with its spring clip) is wound on reel 21.
  • Fig. 6 shows the spring clips 25 fed as discrete items along chute 24.
  • the spring clips can be shaped by stamping into a continuous strip, reeled, and then fed to the assembly machine of Fig. 4 from a reel. Afterwards, the reel 21 is flipped over so that the open end of the shunt piece is facing downward ready for insertion on a terminal on a PCB. The flipped reel 21′ is then mounted to another machine 30 which separates the individual shunt 17 from its strip and inserts it onto a predetermined position on pin terminals of a PCB.
  • Fig. 7 shows the shunt supply reel 21′ feeding one by one the strip of shunts into the insertion head 31 of the machine to be inserted onto a PCB board 32.
  • FIG. 7 also shows some finished shunts (now referenced 34) already inserted onto the pin terminals 35 on the PCB on an X-Y table 36 of the machine which has been positioned under the inserter head 31.
  • Fig. 8 shows the X-Y table 36 and the PCB 32 with a shunt 34 inserted on terminals 35 at the left.
  • Fig. 8 also illustrates a new shunt 34 in the inserter head 31 being cut along the web 18 by shear tool 37 from the continuous shunt strip and about to be inserted on the underlying terminals 35 on the PCB 32 by means of ram 38.
  • Figs. 9-11 show the manufacture of the plastic housing, or insulator sleeve, part of the wire end terminal.
  • the injec­tion molding process previously described is used to manufacture the tapered plastic insulator of the wire end terminal 17′.
  • the mold 16′ makes a discrete amount of plastic parts 17′ all inter­connected by thin, severable plastic strips or webs 18′.
  • a web extension 27′ At the end of the strip of parts there is a web extension 27′ that is put in the subsequent made mold and fused to the next strip, as also previously described.
  • Fig. 12 shows the continuous strip of plastic parts wound on a reel 40 and fed into an assembly machine head 42. As a secondary operation, the assembly machine inserts a flared hollow metal tube into the insulator sleeve to make the wire end terminal.
  • chute 46 with the shear cutting tool 37′ used to cut the hollow wire piece 43′ from the endless strip of hollow wire 43.
  • the hollow wire 43 is fed down the chute 46, cut with the shear cut­ting tool 37′ and inserted into the tapered plastic housing part 17′.
  • the hollow metal tube is flared at the end to fasten tight­ly into the insulating sleeve.
  • the wire end terminal parts, in­cluding the tapered housing part 17′ with the inserted flared hollow metal wire tube 43′, connected together by webs 18′, are wound onto supply reel 41.
  • Reel 41 is then mounted onto another insertion or crimp­ing machine that inserts insulated wire pieces 47 into the wire end terminals 17′.
  • the insulated wire pieces are fed to the ma­chine after having the insulation stripped off their ends.
  • the stripped lead wire 45 is then inserted and crimped within the wire end terminal piece.
  • One method of achieving this is to have the insulated wires 47 already stripped at its ends 45 and fed down a chute 44 to the insertion head.
  • Fig. 14 shows the insu­lated wire 47 being vertically fed down a chute 44 into the in­sertion head of the machine 49.
  • the bare wire 45 at the end of the insulated wire is inserted into the wire end terminator part and crimped into place as depicted in Fig. 15.
  • crimping tool 48 crimps the insulated wire 47, the exposed wire 45 inside of the plastic part of the wire end terminal 17′, as well as the hollow metal wire part 49′ of the wire end terminal.
  • the entire workpiece is then cut from the supply strip on reel 41 by shear­ing tool 37 ⁇ as shown in Fig. 16.
  • Fig. 17 shows the one of the possible end products of the just previously described process: an insulated wire piece 47 crimped into wire end terminals 17′ and 43′.
  • the machine can readily combine a known automatic wire stripper and known crimper.
  • a continuous length of wire fed from a reel would have its leading end stripped, cut to length, and its trailing edge stripped and then crimped onto the terminal end as depicted in the drawings.
  • an operator can manually insert the stripped wires into each termi­nal as they are fed in succession to the crimping head 49.
  • Figs. 18-20 shows the injection molding process for pilot plastic posts.
  • the injection molding process has been previously described.
  • the mold for the pilot plastic post shows the posts each having bevelled ends 50, 50′.
  • the base part 51 is enlarged and provided with a broad plastic band 52 spaced from the en­largement 51.
  • Fig. 18 and Fig. 22 also show a slit 55 formed in the bottom part of the post.
  • the slit 55 extends from the center band 52 through the enlarged part 51 and out the bottom.
  • the slit bifurcates the base section of the post.
  • the last web 27 ⁇ is the ex­ tension web, used for fusion with the subsequent mold to make a continuous strip. This process has been previously described.
  • the continuous strip of parts is then wound on a supply reel 53 and fed to an insertion head 31′ of an insertion machine which cuts and inserts the individual post parts into aligned holes 54 in the PCB board 32′.
  • the PCB board sits raised above the X-Y table 36 so that the posts 17 ⁇ can go through the PCB board and lock into place.
  • Fig. 22 shows a shear tool 37 ⁇ cutting an individual pilot post 17 ⁇ from its continuous supply strip and being pushed onto a PCB 32′ by a ram 38′.
  • Fig. 22 also shows how the feature parts of the pilot plastic posts are used.
  • the bevelled ends 50 at the bottom are used to easily align the posts while inserting.
  • the posts are inserted in the one workpiece with the enlarged part 51 pushed through the hole 54, thus lock­ing the plastic part 17 ⁇ in place.
  • the slit 55 in the pieces are used to form a bifurcated end which can be contracted while in­serting and then will expand to keep the enlarged part locked into place.
  • the wider band 52 acts as a stop to prevent the post from being pushed all the way through the workpiece or PCB 32′.
  • the other bevelled end 50′ protrudes above the other electronic workpieces on the PCB.
  • a header with multiple metal pins would be mounted between the two posts 17 ⁇ shown in Fig. 21.
  • the two posts would then act to guide assembly of a female con­nector onto the pins to prevent bending, as earlier described.
  • the metal pins could be separately inserted into the PCB between the pilot posts 17 ⁇ .

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Manufacturing Of Electrical Connectors (AREA)
  • Fixed Capacitors And Capacitor Manufacturing Machines (AREA)
  • Containers And Plastic Fillers For Packaging (AREA)
  • Chutes (AREA)
  • Injection Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
EP90302433A 1989-09-19 1990-03-07 Assemblage de composants électroniques moulés de façon continue Expired - Lifetime EP0418993B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US40952489A 1989-09-19 1989-09-19
US409524 1989-09-19

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0418993A2 true EP0418993A2 (fr) 1991-03-27
EP0418993A3 EP0418993A3 (en) 1993-02-24
EP0418993B1 EP0418993B1 (fr) 1996-01-17

Family

ID=23620875

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP90302433A Expired - Lifetime EP0418993B1 (fr) 1989-09-19 1990-03-07 Assemblage de composants électroniques moulés de façon continue

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0418993B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2777836B2 (fr)
AT (1) ATE133297T1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69024891T2 (fr)
HK (1) HK72696A (fr)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1998013186A1 (fr) * 1996-09-27 1998-04-02 Jari Ruuttu Procede de manipulation d'objets tridimensionnels dans un processus de fabrication
US7494620B2 (en) 2003-10-30 2009-02-24 Bayer Healthcare Llc Formats for optical analysis and methods of manufacturing the same
US8226904B2 (en) 2003-10-30 2012-07-24 Bayer Healthcare Llc Optical format with platform-and-well construction
CN103975222A (zh) * 2011-09-08 2014-08-06 美卓矿物(瑞典)公司 对受磨损壁上的磨损衬套元件进行更换的控制和定位系统

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5830012A (en) * 1996-08-30 1998-11-03 Berg Technology, Inc. Continuous plastic strip for use in manufacturing insulative housings in electrical connectors

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2060476A (en) * 1979-10-16 1981-05-07 Weidmueller Kg C Method and apparatus for production of electrical contacts with crimp connections
GB2126186A (en) * 1982-09-02 1984-03-21 Nichifu Terminal Crimp terminal holder strips
EP0115175A2 (fr) * 1982-12-27 1984-08-08 AMP INCORPORATED (a New Jersey corporation) Bande élastomère de contacts encapsulés
EP0158437A2 (fr) * 1984-04-06 1985-10-16 Molex Incorporated Procédé et appareil pour traiter des corps solides ayant des saillies espacées sous forme de broche et ensembles de tels corps
US4598471A (en) * 1985-01-22 1986-07-08 Symtron Corporation Pin inserter for electronic boards

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5938711U (ja) * 1982-09-07 1984-03-12 株式会社クボタ 移植機の苗移送装置
JPS60117582A (ja) * 1983-11-29 1985-06-25 株式会社ニチフ端子工業 スリ−ブ型接続子と電線との圧着接続方法
DE3584532D1 (de) * 1984-02-27 1991-12-05 Amp Inc Kontakt fuer schaltungstraeger und verfahren um diesen in ein gehaeuse einzusetzen.
JPS6454267U (fr) * 1987-09-26 1989-04-04

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2060476A (en) * 1979-10-16 1981-05-07 Weidmueller Kg C Method and apparatus for production of electrical contacts with crimp connections
GB2126186A (en) * 1982-09-02 1984-03-21 Nichifu Terminal Crimp terminal holder strips
EP0115175A2 (fr) * 1982-12-27 1984-08-08 AMP INCORPORATED (a New Jersey corporation) Bande élastomère de contacts encapsulés
EP0158437A2 (fr) * 1984-04-06 1985-10-16 Molex Incorporated Procédé et appareil pour traiter des corps solides ayant des saillies espacées sous forme de broche et ensembles de tels corps
US4598471A (en) * 1985-01-22 1986-07-08 Symtron Corporation Pin inserter for electronic boards

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1998013186A1 (fr) * 1996-09-27 1998-04-02 Jari Ruuttu Procede de manipulation d'objets tridimensionnels dans un processus de fabrication
US7494620B2 (en) 2003-10-30 2009-02-24 Bayer Healthcare Llc Formats for optical analysis and methods of manufacturing the same
US7731897B2 (en) 2003-10-30 2010-06-08 Bayer Healthcare Llc Formats for optical analysis and methods of manufacturing the same
US8226904B2 (en) 2003-10-30 2012-07-24 Bayer Healthcare Llc Optical format with platform-and-well construction
CN103975222A (zh) * 2011-09-08 2014-08-06 美卓矿物(瑞典)公司 对受磨损壁上的磨损衬套元件进行更换的控制和定位系统
CN103975222B (zh) * 2011-09-08 2017-06-06 美卓（瑞典）公司 对受磨损壁上的磨损衬套元件进行更换的控制和定位系统

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH03108291A (ja) 1991-05-08
DE69024891T2 (de) 1996-07-25
EP0418993A3 (en) 1993-02-24
DE69024891D1 (de) 1996-02-29
HK72696A (en) 1996-05-03
EP0418993B1 (fr) 1996-01-17
JP2777836B2 (ja) 1998-07-23
ATE133297T1 (de) 1996-02-15

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