GB1469341A - Apparatus and method for crimping electrical terminals - Google Patents

Abstract

1469341 Crimping; making crimped connections; shearing BUNKER RAMO CORP 29 Jan 1974 [20 Feb 1973] 04120/74 Headings B3Q B3A and B3W Apparatus for connecting conductors to electrical terminals, arranged at uniform intervals along a carrier strip which has feed apertures at the same intervals, and capable of using, without adjustment, strips with uniform intervals ranging from a minimum to slightly less than twice the minimum as long as the interval between a terminal and a feed aperture therefor is constant, comprises crimping means and reciprocating feed means comprising an element for entering a feed aperture to carry out a feed stroke, each feed and return stroke of the element being slightly less than twice the minimum value and the element being positioned at the end of each feed stroke at a distance from the crimping means equal to the said constant interval between a terminal and its feed aperture. As shown, Fig. 1, dies (25), 26, for crimping wire and insulation respectively are associated with an actuator 34 for a blade 28 for shearing a carrier portion 18<SP>1</SP>, Fig. 2A, of the terminal strip. The strip is fed to the crimping dies between a block 46 and a guide 48 with the carrier portion 18<SP>1</SP> in a slot 33 in the blade, the blade shearing the portion 18<SP>1</SP> against the edge of the crimping anvil (24) and the edges of the recess 29 in which the blade is spring-mounted. A conductor wire (not shown) is guided towards a stop 38 along a notch 36 in the blade 28 and a notch 35 in the actuator co-operates with the notch 36 to hold the wire during shearing. An adjustable guide 54 is positioned for engagement by the forward edges of the crimping tabs of the terminals 17<SP>1</SP>. The terminal strip is fed to the crimping dies by a feed finger 66 mounted on a carriage 64 urged towards the dies by a spring 96, Fig. 12, and retracted by engagement of a cam 90 with a follower roller (86), Fig. 8 (not shown), mounted on a shaft 84 projecting laterally from the carriage 64. The finger 66 is urged by a spring 65 to enter a hole in the strip rearwardly of the terminal to be crimped for feeding the strip towards the crimping dies. A drag lever (74), Fig. 10 (not shown), prevents retraction of the strip during the return stroke of the carriage 64. An adjustable stop 98 is positioned to stop the carriage when the hole in which the feed finger is engaged is spaced from the crimping position by the distance between that hole and the terminal to be crimped. There may be a hole aligned with, Fig. 2 (not shown), or adjacent, Fig. 2A, each terminal, the hole in which the feed finger is engaged to feed a terminal to the crimping position being that associated with a terminal to the rear, in the feed direction, of that terminal. The cam 90 is also adjustably mounted to allow the starting point of the feed stroke to be varied.