GB2184372A - Clamping and positioning device for contact elements - Google Patents

Abstract

The device accepts a plug connector 19 arranged on a laying plate 17 and is associated with an appliance 18 for automatically contacting and cutting electric conductors 2 of a formed-cable. At the corresponding contact points of a formed-cable, such devices are arranged on the laying plate 17 perpendicularly to the laying direction and enable plug connectors 19 to be easily manipulated before the laying and connecting process and also enable them to be removed together with the contacted formed- cable. For this purpose, the device has couplers 8 which are guided in parallel on a body 1 and have a holding appliance and a lever appliance 11 having combined wire ejectors 16. Rotation of the lever appliance 11 causes roller cams 12 to move the couplers 8 between a plug connector insertion position 6 and a holding position 5 for connection to take place. Upon reverse movement, the ejectors 16, between conductor guide combs 14, remove conductor remnants. On the front of the holding appliance, pressure elements 15 act as a tension relief for the laid electric conductor at the particular connecting points. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Clamping and positioning device for contact elements The invention relates to a clamping and positioning device for contact elements, in particular plug connectors. The device is particularly suited for use with an apparatus for automatically contacting and cutting electric conductors of a formed cable. The device is especially suitable for connecting solderless plug connector systems by means of a formed-cable laying machine.

It is known to locate plug connectors on a laying plate by means of simple clamping elements, for example springs, or positive locking elements, or by inserting the connectors into holders at predetermined positions to enable contacting to be performed. For the contacting process per se, these plug connectors must be positioned and fixed exactly in said predetermined positions in order to eliminate laying errors.

For contacting, the respective plug connectors are arranged in such a way on the laying plate that their contacts, arranged in multiple number usually in pairs one behind the other, are provided in a direction corresponding to the direction in which the conductor or wire is laid, so that an electric conductor layed by means of the laying finger between or directly over those contacts can be contacted by means of the clamping and cutting tool allocated to the laying appliance. Because there are a large number of plug connectors on offer of different type, shape and size, a plurality of various tools is required which can be used for fixing the plug connectors. The large number of various tools for clamping and fixing the plug connector systems necessitates a considerable amount of re-tooling during programme changes.Moreover, the individual conductors of the formed cable are subjected to a high-tensile stress by the laying and connecting process, which tensile stress makes it more difficult to remove the formed-cable ends after connection to the plug connectors has been completed and negatively loads the contact points in the plug connectors. In addition, wire or conductor remains in the plug connectors can cause laying and connecting errors, because remnants can stick in the guide elements or other locations after the cutting process.

An aim of the invention is to simplify the contacting and cutting process when connecting electric conductors to plug connector systems, to facilitate the manipulation of the individual elements and formed cables and to increase the quality of the connecting points.

Another aim of the invention is to create a device for clamping and positioning contact elements, in particular for plug connector elements systematically arranged on a laying plate of an appliance for automatically contacting and cutting electric conductors of a formed-cable, which device enables the quality of the contacting and cutting process to be increased and more effectively arranged when connecting electric conductors to the plug connectors. It is also the object of the invention to enable the plug connectors to be adjusted exactly at the corresponding positions relative to the laying appliance and to avoid position and connecting errors caused by re- mains of electric conductors.

According to the present invention there is provided a clamping and positioning device for holding a contact element to which a conductor wire is to be attached the device including a body having a mounting portion for supporting a contact element, a clamping member mounted on a support which is movably mounted on the body, the support being movable between first and second positions, the clamping member in the first position of the support being arranged to engage and clamp in position a contact element supported on the mounting portion of the body, the clamping member in the second position of the support being arranged to be spaced from the mounting portion to enable a contact element to be inserted or removed from the body, a lever assembly pivotally mounted on the support and including cam means co-operable with a reaction surface on the body such that movement of the lever assembly causes the support to move between its first and second positions, a conductor guide comb located adjacent the lever assembly, the lever assembly including ejector elements which project between adjacent fingers of the guide comb, the ejector elements being movable with the lever assembly to eject lengths of conductor wire located between the fingers of said comb when the lever assembly is operated to move the support between its first and second positions.

In use, the device is mounted on a laying plate such that the direction of movement of the support relative to the body is parallel with the direction of laying of the conductor wire by the laying machine.

The support has one or more clamp members for holding the contact elements. The contact elements will usually be incorporated in a plug connector the body of which will be held by the device. When the device is positioned as indicated above, the clamp members are located perpendicularly to the laying direction of an electric conductor. On the rear of the device, a vertical coupler element is in each case connected to the horizontal coupler elements, on the upper end of which vertical coupler element a bearing point is provided in which a lever arm is articulated which, in its part near to the bearing point, has a cam means in the form of a rolling body which is engageable with a rolling surface provided on the rear of the basic body.Moreover, comblike ejectors are provided between the lever arms on the rear of the device, the number, shape and size of which ejectors corresponds to the wire guide fingers or elements of the device and which can be moved with a lever arm pair. Vertically movable, tension devices in the form of spring-loaded pressure elements are provided on the front periphery of the device, which pressure elements are allocated to the wire guide elements and which are in operative connection with in each case one electric conductor during a contacting and cutting operation and also with the associated clamping and cutting tool.

When laying electric conductors to form a formedcable with multi-pole plug connectors to be connected to the initial and end locations, the devices according to the invention, in accordance with the number and connecting direction of the plug connector elements to be contacted, are arranged, adjusted and fixed according to a laying pattern on the laying plate of the laying appliance. For fitting the devices with particular plug connectors, the latter are inserted in the correct position between the holding element and the mounting portion of the basic body, and fastened by moving the lever arm, whereby the position is positively fixed relative to the laying appliance.

The clamping operation is realised in that, by the movement of the lever arm in the direction of the basic body, the rolling body is brought into contact with the rolling surface, which is located on the rear of the device, rolls on the rolling surface and, because of the distance between the bearing point and the rolling surface, displaces the support with the holding element toward its first position. After the programme of a laying operation is started, the electric conductors are in each case laid individually in accordance with the laying pattern over a groove of the provided connecting element and contacted by means of a clamping and cutting appliance, allocated to the laying appliance, by this clamping and cutting appliance being lowered and being brought into operative connection with the counterparts provided on the clamping and positioning device.The electric conductor thus clamped in the sharp edges of the plug connector contacts is located in front of the plug connectors above the associated pressure element which is relieved when the clamping and cutting tool is raised and acts as a tension relief for the electric conductor, as a result of which removal of a completely contacted plug connector is substantially facilitated. In electric conductors which, on account of the laying operation, are used for the first time and which, for example, have another insulation colour code or have another cross-section, the cutting operation mainly gives rise to remnants which, determined by the laying technology, remain laying in their comb-shaped guide elements until the end of a laying and contacting operation and the removal of the formedcable.Removing these remains was hitherto an involved manual operation and often led to laying errors and jamming of the contacting tool. When the device is opened, the wire remains are automatically removed from the wire or conductor guide elements by the ejectors connected to the lever arms.

Reference is now made to the sole accompanying drawing which is a side view of a device according to the present invention.

According to the drawing, the device for clamping and positioning contact elements such as a plug connector consists of a basic body 1 which is positioned and fixed on a laying plate 17. On its outer sides lying parallel to the laying direction of an electric conductor or wire 2, the basic body 1 in each case is provided with a horizontal guide 4. A support body is slidably mounted on body 1 and includes a horizontal coupler 8 mounted in slidable manner in each horizontal guide 4. On the rear 1.1 of the body 1, the couplers 8 each have a vertical coupler portion 9, on the upper side of which a bearing point 10 is provided in which lever arms 11 are articulated on one side. The vertical coupler portions 9 are connected to one another by a web (not shown) which, in combination with the coupler portions 9 forms the bearing points 10.Cam means in the form of tension rollers 12 are provided on the lever arms 11, which tension rollers 12 co-operate with a rolling surface 13 on the body 1, to displace couplers 8 between a front end position 5 and a rear end position 6 when the levers 11 are moved appropriately. In the position shown, the couplers 8 are located in their rear end position 6 whereby a holding element 3 connected to the coupler 8 on the front side of the basic body 1 presses against a schematically represented plug connector 19 and thereby presses the plug connector 19 against a mounting portion or support 21 which is connected to the body 1. Thus the connector is held in a definite position relative to a clamping and cutting tool 18, likewise schematically indicated. Comb-shaped wire or conductor guide elements 14 and 14.1 are mounted on the body 1 and arranged in alignment one behind the other and are arranged next to one another at a distance corresponding to the contact distance preset to the electric conductor 2 to be contacted with a plug connector 19.

During unlocking of the lever arm 11, a spring element 7 returns the coupler 8 to the front end position 5.

For contacting an electric conductor 2, the clamping and cutting tool 18 is lowered by means of a laying appliance (not shown) whereby contact is made in the plug connector 19 by the corresponding parts of the tools. Simultaneously with the downwards movement, the electric conductor 2 is cut off from the conductor or wire supply magazine by engagement with a cutting edge 20. Contact of the electric conductor 2 with the pressure element 15 is made by the downwards movement of the clamping and cutting tool 18, which pressure element 15 is made spring-elastic and is pressed downwards by the movement. The pressure elements 15 correspond to the number of combs of the wire or conductor guide elements 14 and 14.1 and are arranged in each case between the grooves of the combs. The pressure elements 15 co-operate with the tool 18 to serve as a tension relief for the laid wire 2 at the point of contacting with the connector. During certain laying processes, remnants of electric conductors 2 arise which, after cutting, come to lie between the comb of the wire or conductor guide elements 14 and, after completion of the contacting operation, are conveyed out of the comb grooves by the ejectors 16 which are connected to one another and are in operative connection with the lever arms 11. For this purpose, the ejectors 16 are arranged between the arms of the levers 11 and extend between adjacent elements 14 to eject wire located therebetween during raising of the arms 11 to move the couplers 8 to their front position 5 in order to release the connectors 19.

Claims (7)

1. A clamping and positioning device for holding a contact element to which a conductor wire is to be attached the device including a body having a mounting portion for supporting a contact element, a clamping member mounted on a support which is movably mounted on the body, the support being movable between first and second positions, the clamping member in the first position of the support being arranged to engage and clamp in position a contact element supported on the mounting portion of the body, the clamping member in the second position of the support being arranged to be spaced from the mounting portion to enable a contact element to be inserted or removed from the body, a lever assembly pivotally mounted on the support and including cam means co-operable with a reaction surface on the body such that movement of the lever assembly causes the support to move between its first and second positions, a conductor guide comb located adjacent the lever assembly, tne lever assembly including ejector elements which project between adjacent fingers of the guide comb, the ejector elements being movable with the lever assembly to eject lengths of conductor wire located between the fingers of said comb when the lever assembly is operated to move the support between its first and second positions.

2. A device according to Claim 1 wherein the guide comb is located between the lever assembly and the mounting portion of the body.

3. A device according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the support includes a pair of support members slidably located in guides form on opposed sides of the body.

4. A device according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein biasing means are provided between the body and support such that the support is biased for movement toward the second position.

5. A device according to any preceding claim wherein one or more tension devices are mounted on the body, the or each tension device being located so as to be engaged by the conductor wire to be contacted and arranged to resiliently resist movement of the conductor wire as it is moved by a pressing and contact tool.

6. A device according to Claim 5 wherein each tension device comprises a plunger mounted in a support block.

7. A clamping and positioning device substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.