GB1452445A - Method and apparatus for attaching connecting wire to terminals of one or more circuit boards - Google Patents

Abstract

1452445 Connecting wires to printed circuit boards; bending; assembling force fits; shearing GTE INTERNATIONAL Inc 23 April 1975 16915/75 Headings B3A B3E B3U and B3W [Also in Division H2] A wire 3 is force fitted into a slot extending from an edge of a circuit board 1 by locating the wire 3 between the edge of the board 1 and a probe member 7 and moving the probe member 7 relative to the board 1 to locate the wire 3 at the mouth of the slot and then to drive it into the slot. A wire 3 is connected between printed circuit boards 1 mounted on a co-ordinate table 4 by lowering a slide block 29 carrying a probe member 7 to bring a spring loaded pawl 45 below the end of a tubular needle 33a so as to bend the wire 3 extending from the needle 33a. An inner needle 6 within the needle 33a and containing the wire 3 is lowered to feed the wire 3 which is gripped by collets 88, 89 against the pawl 45 to form the wire end into a U-shape which is engaged by a probe member 7 carried by an adjacent slide block 30. A head unit (68), (Fig. 10, not shown), on which the blocks 29, 30 are mounted is pivoted about a vertical shaft (17) to trap the wire 3 between the edge of the board 1 and the probe member 7. Fluid pressure is applied to a ball piston (77), (Fig. 9, not shown) to move the probe member 7 laterally until the wire 3 has been located in the slot in the board 1, whereupon the head unit is pivoted with a greater force to force the wire 3 into the slot. With the wire 3 clamped in the slot, the wire 3 is fed through the needle 6 by reciprocating the feed collets 88, 89 by a solenoid (44), (Fig. 11, not shown), or a piston and cylinder unit to form a loop below the board 1 (Fig. 15, not shown), whereupon the table 4 is moved to bring the head unit to a position adjacent the next slot in which the wire is to be inserted. After gripping the wire 3 with levers (52), (Fig. 13, not shown), cutters 54b, Fig. 14, are moved by a cylinder V towards the wire 3 to sever the insulation on the wire, after which a plate 56 carrying the cutters 54b is lowered by a cylinder T to bare the wire 3 and compress the insulation. The bared wire 3 is then forced into the slot by the probe member 7 on the slide block 29, after which the plate 56 is lowered to move a stop 58 into an inoperative position so that when the cutters 54b are moved inwards the wire 3 is completely severed. Finally, the insulation on the end of the wire 3 is stripped ready for the next fitting operation. Each circuit board 1 is coated with a resilient layer, e.g. p.v.c. to prevent fracturing of the wire 3 by the sharp edges of the slot in the board. In a final operation, the inserted wires are connected to the conductive areas surrounding the slots by solder. The cylinders of the machine may be replaced by electro-magnetic solenoids.