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
  • H01R43/04—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
  • H01R43/042—Hand tools for crimping
  • H01R43/0428—Power-driven hand crimping tools
• • 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
  • H01R43/042—Hand tools for crimping
  • H01R43/0424—Hand tools for crimping with more than two radially actuated mandrels
• • 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
  • H01R43/0486—Crimping apparatus or processes with force measuring means

Definitions

• Portable tool for crimping connection pins on electrical conductors Portable tool for crimping connection pins on electrical conductors.
• the present invention relates to a portable tool for crimping pins or connection elements on electrical conductors, with integrated crimping quality control device.
• connection pins that i t is necessary to fix by crimping on the electrical conductors, can be considerable (for example much higher than 10000 on a helicopter).
• the diameters of the conductors are adapted to their function, so that one is led to use a wide variety of connection pins to correspond to the multiple diameters of the wires or cables.
• the crimping of pins or connection elements, male or female, onto the previously stripped ends of the electric wires or cables is therefore generally carried out by means of different manual pliers appropriate to the characteristics (diameter, length, locations of the crimping imprints, etc.) of these pins, and provided with manual adjustment means making it possible to adjust the axial positioning of said pins and the depth of the imprints.
• connection device for crimping connection elements on electrical conductors comprising:
• a fixed punch-carrying member provided with a plurality of sets of n punches which can be removed radially with respect to the electrical conductor around which said crimping pin is disposed;
• a second part mounted on said first part and provided with means for moving said pushers representative of the crimping force to be exerted on the punches, said second part being capable of being angularly displaced relative to the first part and to the punch-carrying member by means of second actuation means, so that the displacement means act on the pushers which, at their turn, act on the punches by carrying out the crimping of the pin on the electrical conductor.
• this device has the drawbacks of being complex and expensive. Indeed, its crimping head has two moving parts and its operation requires four motorization systems. It is therefore a Heavy device, working at a fixed station and not portable.
• the force sensor is placed at a distance from the axes where the crimping forces are exerted, so that the measured force is not representative of the actual crimping force and that the results of the crimping check can be find it distorted.
• the crimping device described in document EP-A-0,415,831 includes a system for centering the pins, before the crimping action.
• This centering system consists of a large number of members, some of which are movable and one of which is actuated by its own motorization, so that said system increases the complexity and the size of the crimping device.
• the crimping device described in the above-mentioned document is equipped with a pin positioning device which is also relatively complex and bulky.
• the invention particularly aims to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks of hand tools and automatic crimping devices of the kind described in document EP-A-0,415,831.
• the pliers or portable crimping tool comprises in particular:
• this bari llet punch holder mounted with a rotational ability, this bari llet comprising an axial passage and being provided with punches which can be removed radially between two extreme positions, said bari llet being preferably provided with at least two sets of punches differing in the shape of their crimping end;
• a fixed cam mounted around this barrel and against the active surface of which support the external ends of the punches, said active surface being shaped to allow either the positioning of all the punches in the rest position, or the displacement selective punches of a single set of punches in the direction of the axis of the axial passage of the barrel;
• a first advantage of the crimping pliers according to the invention lies in the fact that its mechanism for actuating the crimping punches as described above is of simple construction since it comprises only one movable part and, by Consequently, only one motor for driving this part.
• the crimping devices also include a longitudinal positioning system of the spindles comprising its own motorization device, the crimping pliers according to the invention comprises only two motors, so that in addition to its remarkable simplicity compared to the work it can do, it is relatively light, which makes it a portable tool eliminating disadvantages of stationary work.
• the active part of the fixed cam is shaped so as to allow immobilization of the punches from the set of punches selected in a pre-centering position, between their rest position and their position crimping.
• the portable tool does not have any particular mechanism for axial pre-centering of the pins, which contributes to reducing and reducing the size of said tool relative to the device described in the document EP. -A-0.415.831.
• force sensors for example constituted by load rounds, are housed in the fixed cam surrounding the punch holder barrel, these force sensors being placed on the axes of movement radial of the punches.
• the advantage arising from this location of the sensors is that it allows the crimping forces to be measured, as close as possible to the punches, in the axes where the forces are exerted.
• Another advantage stems from the fact that said sensors are housed in a fixed part of the crimping tool, so that they can be connected to the control-command system by means of fixed wiring with respect to the head of the crimping.
• the device according to the invention makes it possible to automatically adjust the crimping parameters, that is to say: choice of suitable punches, pre-centering of said punches, positioning
• control-command system or programmable control unit; they are chosen by the operator, either by means of a screen cleaner, or by a barcode reading system attached to said control system.
• the device according to the invention also makes it possible to control the force of penetration of the punches into the pins and this as a function of the position of said punches.
• a position / force curve can be compared to a reference curve recorded in the database of the control system.
• the crimping is considered as defective. The operator can then be warned by the screen, or by an audible signal, or by keeping the pin in the crimping tool.
• the various functions previously indicated are performed by a relatively light portable tool (about 1.5 kg) and of reduced bulk.
• FIG. 1 is a front view of the portable crimping tool according to the invention , whose head is shown without the front wall of its casing.
• Figure 2 is a side view and in axial section of this tool L.
• Figure 3 is a front view, on a larger scale, of the crimping head of this tool.
• Figure 4 is a detail view, front and on a larger scale, illustrating the particular profile of the punch actuation cam.
• Figure 5a is an axial sectional view on a larger scale of the crimping head.
• Figure 5b is an exploded view of Figure 5a.
• Figure 6 is an exploded view, in longitudinal section, of the longitudinal positioning system of the pins.
• Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view along line 7-7 of Figure 5b.
• Figure 8 is a front view of the crimping head of the tool, shown in the pre-centering position.
• Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 and showing the crimping head during the action of crimping a pin on a conductor.
• the crimping head of this tool includes in particular:
• the barrel 1 is constituted by a cylindrical part comprising a front portion in which the punches are housed and a rear portion of smaller diameter around which are mounted bearings 5 and the rear end of which is provided with a conical toothing 6 in taken with a bevel gear 7 fixed on the output shaft 8 of a reduction gear 4 coupled to an electric motor 3 with which iL constitutes
• the motor means allowing the driving in rotation of said barrel.
• the 3-4 geared motor is of the direct current type and has a double direction of rotation; it is arranged radially with respect to the axis of the barrel, as close as possible to the latter, and it is housed in a casing 9 forming the handle of the tool and making it possible to house the various conductors connected to the tool's motors and sensors.
• the motorization axis AA is perpendicular to the axis of rotation aa of the bari llet ( Figure 2).
• the gear motor 3-4 is equipped with an incremental encoder 10 also housed in the casing 9.
• the bari llet 1 has an axial through passage 11, of circular section and into the front portion of which opens a plurality of radial passages 12 arranged in the same plane and regularly spaced 45 degrees. In each of these radial passages, is mounted a punch 13A or 13B axially movable.
• Le bari llet 1 has eight radial passages and contains eight punches 13A and 13B, but it is emphasized that this number is illustrated for information only and that said barrel could have a greater number of radial passages and punches or lower. More specifically, the barrel 1 is preferably provided with at least two sets of punches 13A and 13B arranged alternately, the punches 13A of one of these games differing from the punches 13B of the other game by the shape of their active end 13a or 13b, as can be seen more particularly in FIG. 3. The tests carried out have shown that the use of two sets of punches is sufficient to cover 90% of the crimp contacts, in the construction field. or aeronautical maintenance.
• Each punch 13A or 13B comprises a rod 13c, an enlarged head 13d and an active end or crimping end 13a or 13b.
• the heads of the punches preferably have cylindrical bearing surfaces allowing better distribution of the pressure in contact with the surfaces of the active parts of the cam.
• at least a portion of the punches 13A, 13B and passages 12 in which said punches can slide have a quadrangular section, for example rectangular, making it possible to immobilize said punches in rotation.
• the rectangular section portion of the punches 13A, 13B is consti ⁇ killed by the head 13d of the latter, while the rectangular section portion of the passages 12 is the portion thereof in which said head can slide.
• This res ⁇ spell 14 is wedged, by means of its opposite ends, on the one hand, against a circular shoulder 12a constituting the bottom of an enlarged portion of each passage 12 and, on the other hand, against a circular shoulder 13e constituted by the internal face of the swollen portion of the head 13d of each punch.
• the cam 2 is constituted by a cylindrical part whose rear portion 2a contains the bearings 5 and its active surface is constituted by the internal surface of its front portion 2b surrounding the front part of the bari llet 1 in which the punches 13A and 13B are housed whose heads 13d bear against said active surface which has, alternately, hollow parts 15 and active parts in relief 16.
• the punches 13A or 13B can be moved axially between two extreme positions, one of which ( rest position) results from their pressing against a hollow part 15 of the cam and the other (crimping position) from their pressing against an active part in relief 16 of said cam.
• This cam 2 has a particular profile allowing:
• the cam 2 has a number of hollow parts 15 and of active parts in relief 16 equal to the number of punches of each set of punches 13A or 13B.
• each hollow part 15 is dimensioned to allow the simultaneous pressing of a punch 13A and a punch 13B of the two sets of punches, while each active part in relief 16 is dimensioned so as not to allow the support of only one punch 13A or 13B of a selected set of punches.
• the hollow parts 15 extend over more than 45 degrees, while the raised parts 16 for actuating the punches extend over less than 45 degrees.
• the slopes of the active parts in relief 16 have a particular profile called "constant force". According to this profile, each slope is more pronounced in its part where the effort to be made is lower, then this slope decreases in its part where the effort to be produced is greater. As is more particularly shown in FIG.
• each cam 16 of the multicame fixed member 2 comprises: - a first zone 17a having a large percentage of slope allowing the punches to be moved in the pre-centering position and the approach of these last in contact with the crimp pin; a second zone 17b with constant slope and at a lower percentage of slope, corresponding to the crimping action proper; - and a third clearance zone 17c with a large percentage of reverse slope allowing the positioning of the inactive punches in the inlet ends of the hollow parts 15 when selecting the punches suitable for a pressing cycle.
• sensors 18, for example constituted by load washers, known per se, are embedded in housings formed in the front part of the cam 2 which surrounds the set of punches 13A- 13B, outside the active surfaces of the raised portions 16.
• These load washers 18 are advantageously arranged on the outer side of flexible portions formed by the raised portions 16 of said cam.
• These flexible parts are, for example, obtained by cutting the raised portions 16 along strings of the cylindrical front part of the cam and by drilling in the bottom of this cut.
• the load washers 18 have very low crushing, of the order of 2 to 3 microns, so that the force measured is thus very representative of the real force.
• the force sensors 18 are connected to a control-command system or programmable footing unit comprising a computer. Another advantage already emphasized arising from the fixed positioning of the load washers 18, is to have a fixed wiring, not subjected to torsional or tensile movements. An instant measurement acquisition on the four load washers located above the punches allows a mathematical analysis and a very fast comparison of the reference curves. This analysis makes it possible to detect errors of type: cut strands of wire, bad pairing, spindle or wire out of tolerance, etc. The system for reaching these conclusions is based on the following principles:
• the depth of the footprint is a fixed characteristic, also given by the manufacturer; this dimension is recorded in the machine database (fixed parameter);
• the system allows the rapid and simultaneous acquisition of the position of the punches in the spindle material and of the force at each of their positions; - this curve after validation by the quality services is stored as a reference curve. From this curve, two other curves called envelope curves are deduced, an upper curve and a lower curve, in order to accept slight differences due to the machining tolerances of the spindles or the wires. These envelope curves become fixed parameters and are recorded in the database.
• a position / force curve is temporarily stored to be compared with the reference curve.
• the mathematical analysis consists in the search for inflection points signifying the beginning of a break, when the envelope curves are exceeded, to the overall energy which can signify one or more cut strands.
• the crimping assembly consisting of the bari llet punch holder 1 and Cam 2 is housed in the front part of a casing 19, the axis of which is oriented perpen ⁇ dicularly to the axis of the casing 9. At the front, this casing is closed by a plate 19a provided a central orifice 19b disposed in front of the entrance to passage 11, coaxially with the latter.
• the crimping tool according to the invention also comprises a system for longitudinal positioning of the wire / pin pair consisting of a male or female pin into which the stripped end of an electric wire or cable is inserted.
• this Longitudinal positioning system comprises a movable assembly mounted with the ability to move axially in a fixed guide 20 rigidly secured to the head housing 19.
• the moving element comprises a tubular slide 21 in which is housed an inductive detector 22 in front of which is disposed a centering cone 23 movable axially with respect to this detector, and that a spring 24, acting in compression, tends to repel forward, that is to say away from said inductive sensor.
• This centering cone 23 can be pushed back against the antagonistic action of the spring 24, until its rear part 25, formed by a small metallic mass, comes into contact with the inductive detector 22.
• the guide 20 is arranged coaxially with the barrel 1 and its front portion is engaged in the enlarged rear portion of the axial passage 11 formed in said barrel.
• the front part of the centering cone 23 is engaged and guided in the front part of smaller diameter of said axial passage 11.
• the movable assembly 21-22-23-24 is subject to drive means allowing its axial displacement, that is to say the adjustment of its position inside the fixed guide 20, as a function of the length of the pins to be crimped.
• the cylindrical rear part 20a of the guide 20 has two longitudinal slots 26 diametrically opposite and around this rear part is mounted a cylindrical sleeve 27 provided with two helical slots 28. In these helical slots, are engaged diametrically opposite lugs, integral with L posterior end of the slide 21 and passing through the longitudinal slots 26 of the rear part 20a of the guide 20. These lugs can be formed by the opposite ends 29a of a drive rod 29 disposed through the rear end of the slide 21 .
• the rear end of the driving sleeve is provided with a pinion 30 which can be formed in one piece with said sleeve.
• This pinion 30 is engaged with a motor pinion 31 wedged on the output shaft of a motorization device for example constituted by a direct current geared motor 32 housed in the casing 19 and whose axis is arranged at a distance and parallel to the common axis of the crimping device and the longitudinal positioning device, said gear motor also being equipped with an incremental encoder 36.
• the Longitudinal positioning device has two main functions:
• the crimping tool is also equipped with at least two position detectors.
• One of these detectors 33 allows very precise control of the position of the bari llet 1 allowing the depth of the imprint to be adjusted, while the second 34 makes it possible to control the position of the longitudinal positioning device.
• the various electrical or electronic components of the previously described crimping tool are connected, by means of a flexible cable 35 containing the various wires connected to these components, to a control-command system or programmable control unit known per se. and including:
• a barcode reading system preferably, a barcode reading system; and - an operator interface via keyboard screen or i Le touch screen.
• the Barcode Reading system makes it possible to read information carried on a label which could be found on the electric wire or cable.
• This information may include, for example.
• the information contained in the barcode may also include the end of the electric wire or cable, or its housing in the connector.
• the control of the effort / penetration curve i allows to reject a bad spindle accidentally placed.
• the crimping cycle carried out using the portable crimping tool according to the invention.
• the operator selects, on the keyboard screen of the control-command system, the wire gauge and the type of connection pin he wishes to crimp, this selection being able to be carried out fully automatically / as indicated above. , by means of the Barcode Reading system connected to the programmable control unit.
• the control system selects the appropriate punches (i.e. your punches 13A or the punches 13B) and orders a first approximation of their active ends 13a or 13b to place them in the pre-centering position ( Figure 8) by means of the rotation of the barrel 1 actuated by the gear motor 3-4; During this phase / The angular displacement amplitude of the barrel is very low and the profile of the initial portion 17a of the slopes of the cam 2 on which the heads of the punches slide causes a small displacement of the punches in the direction of the axis of the passage 11.
• the programmable control unit also controls the positioning of the centering cone 23 of the longitudinal positioning device, on the axis of rotation of the barrel 1, as a function of the length of the pin to be crimped.
• the gear motor 32 rotates the sleeve 27 which, by
• Tool ready information can be delivered to the operator to indicate that the tool is ready for the execution of the crimping operation. He can then introduce the stripped end of the wire F or electric cable on which the connection pin B is placed, into the passage 11 of the tool. During this introduction, the free end of the spindle presses in the bottom of the centering cone 23 which is pushed backwards against the opposing action exerted by the spring 24. The displacement of the cone of centering 23 is detected by the inductive detector 22 and the programmable footing unit controls the triggering of the crimping operation via the gear motor 3-4. An additional rotational movement is communicated to the bari llet 1.
• the value of the amplitude of the angular displacement of the punch barrel 1 and of the axial displacement of the selected punches 13A or 13B determining the depth of the crimping impressions is predetermined according to the characteristics of the spindle (material, thickness, diameter, length, etc.) and conductor (diameter, number of strands or strands, etc. ) .
• the load washers 18 disposed on the radial axes of movement of the punches 13A, 13B allow very precise measurements of the crimping forces.
• the punches are returned to their pre-centering position ( if the next spindle to be crimped is of the same type), under the action of the return springs 14, as a result of the rotation of the gear motor 3-4, in the opposite direction, the crimping cycle being effected by an angular displacement "back and forth" of the bari llet punch holder 1, of the order of 10 degrees to 20 degrees. If the crimping is not in conformity, an acknowledgment by the operator is necessary to obtain the return of the barrel to the rest position.
• the punches selected are the punches 13A of which the drive heads 13d are located at the entrance to the slopes 17a-17b of the active parts 16 of the cam 2 , before the operation of crimping proper, so that said punches are returned to the pre-centering position at the end of this operation, under the control of the programmable control unit.
• the programmable control unit authorizes a rotation of the bari llet 1 over 45 degrees, via the gear motor 3-4.

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• 1996
  • 1996-01-10 FR FR9600438A patent/FR2743449B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1997
  • 1997-01-10 EP EP97900624A patent/EP0873582B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1997-01-10 WO PCT/FR1997/000043 patent/WO1997025757A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1997-01-10 DE DE69700589T patent/DE69700589T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-01-10 AT AT97900624T patent/ATE185456T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1997-01-10 CA CA002241805A patent/CA2241805A1/fr not_active Abandoned

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