FI59312C - FRAMEWORK FOR THE FRAMEWORK OF FRAMEWORK - Google Patents

Description

| Ν Τ · # | [Β] (11) NOTICE C Q 7 4 O

lJ '' UTLÄGG NIN GSSKRI FT ^ ^ ^ 1 ^ ^ ^ (51) Kv.ik? /int.ci.3 H 01 R 4-3 / 00 FINLAND —FINLAND (21) IWttlh * k * mu * -P « tn »iwöknlni 998/7 ^ (22) Htkamitpllvi - An * tfkAln |« dk | 01.0 ^ 4.

^ ^ (23) AlkupftJvi — Glltifh «t (d» f Q1.04. Jk (41) Tullut julkltaktl - Bllvit offenttlg - ^ 0 7I)

Patent and other registrars .............

_ 'm (44) Date of dispatch and date of issue. -

Patent- och regitterttyralaan Anaökan utlafd ach utUkrtften publtc * r »d 31.03.81 (32) (33) (31) atuoJkeu» —B «glrd prlorltat q! . 0U. 73 USA (us) 3 ^ 7957 (71) AMP Incorporated, Eisenhower Boulevard, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA (US) (72) Earl Earnest Folkenroth, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA (US) (7M Oy Kolster Ab (54) Method and The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing an electrical wiring harness.

It is common practice to make an electrical shield of the type comprising a plurality of multi-switch ballasts and wire conductors attached to and extending between the terminals of the ballasts by providing a panel or sheath plate having a plurality of wire placement guides or comb plates These guides are placed at points corresponding to the locations of the wiring harness ballasts, and each guide has a plurality of parallel wings or partitions some distance apart. The conductors are wound on the surface of the board and placed between nearby partitions on the guides along paths that follow the positions and paths of the conductors being fabricated. After the conductors are wound on the plate and between the guides 2 5931 2 in this way, they are bundled or tied together, and the ends of the conductors in the guides are cut to a predetermined length. The wire bundle is then removed from the sheath plate, the individual wires are stripped, and the connectors are crimped to the ends of the wires. As a final step in this manufacturing method, the connectors are placed in the enclosures of the electrical ballasts.

This technique is relatively time consuming because it requires several extremely precise and cumbersome steps, and it is also difficult to perform flawless connection of wires and connectors.

The present invention is characterized by placing one of the electrical ballasts close to each controller so that the terminals of each ballast are located at a predetermined portion of the conductor extending to the controller in question, and moving conductors from the controllers to the terminals to connect the ends of the conductors directly to the predetermined conductor ends.

This technique reduces the number of separate steps required to make a protective sheath.

An additional advantage is that after the sheath plate has been wound with wires and the windings have been inspected, the wires are connected directly to the terminals in the ballasts, so that there is practically no possibility of error.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a multi-circuit electrical ballast connected to a plurality of conductors) Figure 2 is a perspective view of an electrical shield using four ballasts Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the ballast of Fig. 1, but showing only one of the plurality of similar connectors forming part of the ballast; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 1) Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the wire finishing device; showing the position of the parts towards the end of the wire finishing and positioning step) Fig. 7 is a side view of the device of Fig. 5 with the front portion in the open or raised position in this figure) Fig. 8 is a side sectional view of the device of Fig. 5 illustrating the position of the wire; Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7 illustrating the position of the parts towards the end of the wire finishing and positioning step; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a detail of the device; Fig. 11 is a top plan view of a shield plate specifically for use in making protective sheaths of the type shown in Fig. 2; and Figs. 12 to 14 show views similar to Fig. 11, illustrating the steps of manufacturing the protective sheath of Fig. 2.

The electrical connection device 8 (Fig. 1) comprises a number of connectors 6, each of which has a wire receiving groove 4 for the sheaths 2 of the protective sheath.

Each connector 6 has a flat tongue 10 extending to the front end of the connector bent backward at 12 to form a rearwardly engaging coupling portion 14, the coupling portion of the illustrated embodiment being grooved in the axial direction to provide two separate contacts.

The rear part of the connector 6 acts as a conductor receiving part and is generally tubular, having a web part 16 and side walls 1Θ turned inwards and towards each other to form the aforementioned groove 4. The sidewalls are partially cut along oblique cut lines 20 extending from the groove 4 to the perforated holes 22 on each side of the groove to form two separate spring systems for the two yarns, as shown in Figure 4 · The upper portions of the sidewalls extend rearwardly behind the web portion 16 as shown at 24 and have tapered edges 25 which facilitate the guiding of the wires into the groove 4.

The ballast housing 26 is generally rectangular in shape and has a mating surface 28 and a back surface 50. A plurality of contact receiving spaces 52 extend through the rear wall of the housing to the mating surface and are separated by T-shaped partitions 54 on the mating surface side. As shown in Fig. 4, the rear end 56 of each space is widened to receive the tubular conductor receiving portion of the connector 6, and the upper surface 40 of the housing is provided with openings 58 »communicating with grooves and through which the wires extend in the finished and assembled ballast. The spacers or flanges 42 extend from the surface 40 at the top of the housing and separate the conductor receiving portions.

The back cover 44, which is placed on the back surface 50, is trough-shaped in cross-section and has forwardly extending flanges 46 surrounding the rear portions 24. The ends of this back cover have locking arms 48 with holes 50 for engaging the housing 26 against the 4 59312 to the projections 32 of the ends 39 of the fireplaces.

Referring now to Figures 3-7, a preferred form of device 34 for finishing wires and inserting finished wires into connector grooves comprises a fixed base 36 »which acts as a guide for the winding device and wire and serves as a wire finishing and setting tool 38 for releasably placing on the base. The base 36 comprises a base body 60 which may be permanently attached to a work surface, such as a sheath plate 62, the base body 60 having an L-shaped recess 64 extending across its upper or free end for receiving the housing 26 of the connecting device. The section 68 is inserted into a small recess in the upper end of the free top 67 of the body and has a single piece, spaced apart by partitions or wings, these partitions 66 being aligned with the partitions 42 of the housing in the recess 64. Does the section extend to the left over the receiving recess 64 of the insertion device, as shown in Figure 6, and has upper edges 40 between adjacent partitions 66 which act as fixed cutting edges, as will be described later.

The separate side plates 72 are secured by screws 74 to the ends of the body 60 and have grooves 76 »extending inwardly from their right-hand edges, as shown in Figure 3. The inner portions of these grooves are enlarged and these grooves are intended to receive the tool rails 118, 120, as described later. The housing 26 of the ballast must be precisely positioned in the recess 64 »and for this purpose screws 77 are used to secure the setting jaws or projections 78 to the side of the body 60 above the side plates 72. These projections have inwardly directed rods 79 »which extend above the surface 63 of the recess 64 and which act as stops for the alignment of the ends of the connecting device 26.

As best seen in Figure 7, the connecting device 26 remains securely in the recess 64 by means of a locking screw 82 threaded through the body plate 84. The partitions or wing portions 83 are provided at the upper end of the plate 84, the partitions being aligned with the partitions 66 on the base piece 60 previously described. As can be seen from Fig. 8, a wire 2 extending between the front partition and the adjacent partitions of the body extends centrally over the coupling connector 6 in a state of the housing.

The tool 38 comprises a circumferential body having side rails 86 and a crosshead 88 extending between the upper ends of these rails. The guide rails 90 extend between the rails 86 below the crosshead 88 and precisely guide the reciprocating carriage 92 »on which a tool for cutting and inserting the wire 5 59312 is placed. This carriage is driven by a cam follower 94 »mounted on a carriage 92 and associated with a cam 96 mounted on a shaft 98 extending through the crosshead ΘΘ. The cam 96 is provided with a hand position 100 so that when this handle is rotated counterclockwise as shown in Fig. 7, the carriage 92 moves downward from the position shown in Fig. 7 to the position shown in Fig. 9. The carriage 92 normally remains in its up position by means of return springs 102 extending between the pins at the crosshead and the carriage.

The lower end of the carriage 92 has a groove or recess extending across it which forms the flanges 104, 109. The applicator portion 106 (Fig. 10) is inserted into this recess between the flanges and secured in place by suitable pins 108. Here pairs extending from the lower surface of the applicator portion, each pair of aligned pins being separated by an intermediate portion so that the pins can move downward to the position shown in Figure 9 on either side of the receiving groove of the connector conductor. The flange 104, which is close to the cutting bar 68, has a lower edge 119 that moves with the cutting edge along with the cutting bar edges 70 to cut the private yarns as shown in Figure 9. The side tabs 86 have outwardly displaced portions 116 below the guide rails 90 and the inwardly facing surfaces of the rails have transversely extending mounting rails 118 and 120 sized to fit into grooves or slots 76 in the end plates 72.

During use, the installation tool is normally detached from the base 96, and when wires are to be connected to the ballast, the ballast is first placed in the recess 64 and the tabs 79 of the protrusions 78 the private wires are then placed between adjacent partitions 89 and between adjacent partitions 66 so that the wires extend over the connectors 6 as shown in Figure 8. After the wires are placed in the guide and at the connectors to which they are connected, the tool is placed on the bottom by placing the rails 118 in the recesses or grooves 76 and moving the tool transversely to these recesses in the side plates. The handle 100 is then rotated counterclockwise as shown in Figure 6 to move the carriage 82 downward to the position shown in Figure 9. During such a downward movement of the carriage, each pair of plugs 112, 110 joins one of the wires and pushes it downwards into the conductor receiving groove 4 in the connector, which connector 6 5931 2 is in its immediate vicinity. As the edge 115 moves past the edge 70 of the cutting bar, the wires become finished cut, and the finished ends are placed in the grooves of the connectors. When the end of the downward movement of the carriage is reached, the lower end of the flange 104 abuts the upward edge of the housing 30 as described at 122 in Figure 9. The screw 82 is then removed and the connecting device with wires connected to the connectors can be lifted up between rows of partitions 66, 83.

Referring now to Figure 11, the second surface 4 of the panel 124 has a bottom or guide portion 56A, 56B, 56C and 56D of the device. These guide members are of the type described in Figure 3 and are placed on the panel 124 near the corners with the wings or partitions 83 facing inwards or towards the center of the panel. The guide parts 56A to D are positioned relative to each other in positions corresponding to the location of the connecting devices assembled in the guard of Fig. 2. The panel 124 has two spaced apart center guide pins 126 and sludge guide pins 128 located near the guide portions 56A-D. In addition, the winding pins I30 are provided at the required locations on the panel 124 near the guide wall partitions 66.

In the manufacture of the protective sheath of Figure 2, the wire is wound between four guide portions along a path which causes the wires to extend between the desired predetermined terminal positions of the four electrical connection devices. The wiring modes shown in Figures 12 and 13 are typical * it will be appreciated that the actual electrical wiring modes will depend on the requirements for the shielding.

Fig. 12 shows the wire 131 wound or twisted around a pin 130 near the left end of the guide portion 56D, and the wire is placed continuously on the plate from this ballast to the other three ballasts along the paths indicated by arrows in Fig. 12. The wires are pressed around the pins or pins 128 when they enter or leave private guides, and are wound or pressed between pins 126 as they are inserted from one guide member to another. It should also be noted that this continuous wire 131 in Figure 12 is wound through the guide members by placing it between a pair of partition walls 83, 66 and then winding it around a nearby partition wall 66 and back through an intermediate space between the next nearby guide wall in the guide area. The end of this first wiring is tied to one of the pins 130 located near the guide portion 36B as shown.

* 59312

Fig. 15 illustrates the next step in a manufacturing process in which a second continuous wire 136 is wound according to a predetermined shape between four guide portions in a manner described with reference to wire 131. Additional wires may be wound on a plate in the same manner as needed.

After all the wires have been wound on the plate, the only remaining task is to place the finishing and setting tool on each of the guide parts 56A to 56D, finish cutting the wires on each guide part and place them in the terminal conductor receiving grooves 4 · After this finishing and setting step is completed wires permanently to the connectors and the finished sheathing can be removed from the panel plate. The wire bundle tower devices are preferably connected to four separate wire bundle trees that extend to private connectors, and additional ties are attached near the pins 126 to secure the center portions of the yarns together. The rear covers of the ballasts are attached to the housings of the ballasts after the housings of the ballasts with their extending wires have been removed from the guides.

An advantage of the present invention is that after the sheath plate has been completely wound with the necessary wires as shown in Fig. 13, the windings can be carefully examined so that any errors made during winding can be detected and appropriate corrections can be made. After inspection and locating all faults, the conductors are connected directly to the terminals on the guide parts so that there is little or no possibility of additional errors in placing the wire in the sheath ballast.

The sheath shown in Figure 2 is very simple with only four ballasts and a small number of wires. The method according to the invention is equally applicable to the production of much more complex casings.

In Figures 11 to 14, the sheath consists of two wires 131 «132 which are wound between four guide parts. It is entirely possible to make the sheath by winding the wire from the spool continuously until the wire parts are placed in the desired places on the guide parts, instead of winding two separate wires. The wire winding or installation step can be performed as described in two steps if two different types of wire or wires with different colored insulation are required for marking purposes. It should also be noted that some guide terminals do not need to have wire at the end of the winding step, as shown in Figure 13. Obviously, the wires can be wound to all wire guide positions to provide pre-wires that extend to all ballast terminals in the finished sheath. Again, the actual needs for the final sheathing dictate the exact number and location of the yarns. The wires, when wound through a special guide part, can lead away from the guide at a point rather than close to where they enter the guide part.

It will be appreciated that the described method of manufacturing the sheath does not require the particular form of device or electrical connection device shown and described. For example, each private guide part may have an installation tool rotatably connected to the base part in such a way that the tool can be rotated away from the guide part to allow a winding step over the upper parts of the guide parts. Alternatively, a simple hand tool can be used after the wires have been wound through the guide parts to cut the wires and connect them to the connectors of the ballasts. Furthermore, although a single panel is shown in the figures, the guide portions may be arranged on a plurality of panels spaced apart if the sheath to be manufactured has very long wires extending between the connecting devices and / or the sheath is relatively complex. Finally, it is likely that the method of the present invention can be used in connection with connection devices whose connectors do not have wire-receiving grooves but which have, for example, sleeves which are shrunk around the respective wires.

Claims (8)

9,59312 A method of manufacturing an electrical wiring harness of the type comprising a plurality of electrical connection devices, each comprising a housing having a plurality of electrical connectors, the wires extending between the connection devices, the wire ends connected to predetermined connectors of the connection devices, the method comprising the steps of corresponding to the desired locations of the electrical connection devices for the finished shield support, between the conductor winding guides along the path following the location of the conductor between the electrical connection devices in the final protective sheath, bundling the conductors together and connecting the conductor ends to a predetermined terminal, positioning the ballast (θ) close to each of the controllers (56A to 56D), the terminals (6) of each ballast (8) being located in a predetermined conductor (2) extending to the associated controller (56A-56D), and moving the conductors (2) from the controllers (56A-56D) to the terminals (6) of the electrical connection devices (θ) for connecting the ends of the conductors (2) directly to the predetermined terminals (6). A method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the step of checking the length of the conductors (2) in the guides (56A to 56D) during the transfer of the conductors (2) from the guides (56A to 56D) to the terminals (6). Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the electrical connection device (8) is placed in each controller (56A to 56D) before the conductors (2) are wound between the controllers (56A to 56D). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, when the connectors (6) have conductor-receiving grooves (4), the conductors (2) are transferred from the guides (56A to 56D) to the grooves (4). · An apparatus for making an electrical shield of the type comprising a plurality of electrical ballasts, each comprising a housing having a plurality of electrical connectors, the wires extending between the ballasts and connected at their ends to predetermined ballast connectors, the device comprising a panel, a plurality of wire guides placed on the panel, the guides being positioned relative to each other in positions corresponding to the locations of the ballasts in the protective sheath to be manufactured, characterized in that each guide (56A to 56D) is intended to hold the ballast (8) in place so that its connectors ( 6) are at the corresponding conductors (2) in the controller, the device still having a tool (58) which cooperates with the controllers (56A to 56D) to move and connect the conductors (2) on the controllers (56A to 56D) to the terminals (6) * at which the conductors (2) are located. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that each guide (56A to 56D) has a fixed cutting edge (70) and that the tool (58) has a movable cutting edge (115) * which cooperates with the fixed cutting edge to cut the conductors (2) simultaneously connecting the wires to the terminals, Device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the tool (58) can be releasably inserted into any of the guides (56A to 56D). 11 5 931 2