JP2001176636A - Automatic terminal insertor and supplying method of connector housing to the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve productivity by reducing man hour, to cope with the production of other items by simplifying the change of products and further, reducing preparation man hour for production in the automatic terminal insertion machine. SOLUTION: In order to respectively fix plural connector receiver jigs on a board together with wire harnesses 9 that match according to items, the switching of connector receiver jigs to match the respective items must be made, and accordingly, it takes some time. Further, since mounting/dismounting of connector on the connector receiver jig is made one by one individually, it takes so much time for preparing. On the contrary, a block jig 35 to which plural connector housings 34 are made to be installed is removably mounted against an automatic terminal insertion machine 20, and it is constituted that each terminal 38 that is formed as a subharness 46 can be taken out from the automatic terminal insertion machine 20 body integrally together with the block jig 35.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic terminal inserting machine and a method of supplying a connector housing to the automatic terminal inserting machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Before describing a method of inserting a metal terminal (hereinafter referred to as a "terminal") of a wire with a terminal by a terminal insertion head of an automatic terminal insertion machine into a connector housing, the automatic terminal insertion machine will be described. First, 1 in FIG. 10 generally shows an automatic terminal insertion machine. A connector receiving base 4 is installed at a predetermined position of a mounting table 2 in accordance with a layout of a wire harness 3. These connector receiving jigs 4
Has a connector housing 5 (hereinafter referred to as "connector") incorporated therein in advance. A terminal insertion head 7 is provided on the vertical wall 6 of the automatic terminal insertion machine 1 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the mounting table 2. Reference numeral 8 denotes a long terminal block provided on the mounting table 2 and having a L-shaped cross section. The metal terminal 9 (hereinafter, referred to as “the terminal”) of each terminal-attached electric wire 10 constituting the wire harness 3 set on the mounting table 2 later. Terminals) (FIG. 13). 11 and 13 denotes a clamp rod for holding the electric wire portion 12 near the terminal 9 at both ends of the electric wire with terminal 10. After the connector receiving jig 4 incorporating the connector 5 is set on the mounting table 2, the wire harness 3 including the terminal-attached electric wire 10 in a state where the clamp rod 11 is held in the previous process is passed through the clamp rod 11. To the mounting table 2 (see FIG. 1).
0,13).

The terminal insertion is performed by the terminal insertion head 6 as follows (FIGS. 13 and 14). The terminal 9 of the electric wire 10, which is held by driving the electric wire portion 9 into the clamp rod 3 by a mechanical or artificial method, is in a state of being placed on the terminal block 8. Next, the terminal insertion head 7 descending from above approaches to a predetermined gripping position. The terminal insertion head 7 includes a terminal holder 13 and a terminal chuck 1.
4 and an electric wire chuck 15 are installed so as to move up and down, left and right, and front and rear directions.
The terminal 3 is lowered and the terminal 9 is sandwiched between the terminal block 8 and the vertical position of the head of the terminal 9 is corrected. The pair of openable and closable terminal chucks 13 and the wire chucks 14 that have been lowered after the correction is completed hold the terminals 9 and the wire portions 12 from sideways (chuck), and forcibly hold the wire portions 12 from the clamp rod 3. The wire 10 is lifted up to the height of the connector 5 while keeping a predetermined interval to move the electric wire 10 upward. The terminal 9 is advanced toward the connector 5 while maintaining the state, and the head at the front end of the terminal 9 is
Positioning for entry is made. Then, the terminal temporary presser 13 rises, and the terminal chuck 14 is also opened and moves upward. In this way, only the wire chuck 15 moves forward while holding the wire 10, and the terminal 9 is completely inserted into the predetermined terminal accommodating chamber 16 of the connector 5. Thereafter, the wire chuck 15 is also released and rises, and the terminal chuck 14 and the wire chuck 15 return to their original positions. In this manner, the terminal-attached electric wires 10 are inserted and fixed one by one into each terminal accommodating chamber 16, and when the insertion and fixing are completed, the form of the wire harness which is integrated with the connector 9 removed from the connector receiving jig 4. Is obtained and carried out to the subsequent process (FIG. 12).

[0004]

However, in the conventional structure and the conventional method, a plurality of connector receiving jigs 4 are individually fixed to the mounting table 2 in accordance with the wire harness 3 suitable for each type. Therefore, it is necessary to switch to the connector receiving jig 4 corresponding to the product number corresponding to the type, and it takes much time. Also, since the connector 5 is attached to the connector receiving jig 4 and removed from the receiving jig 4 one by one, much time is required for setup. Further, since the connector receiving jigs 4 corresponding to the part number are individually fixed, there is a limit in installing many receiving jigs 4 due to dimensional restrictions of the mounting table 2 of the automatic terminal insertion machine 1. It was difficult to respond to varieties.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described circumstances, and has improved productivity by reducing the number of man-hours required for setup, and has made it possible to cope with production of other types by simplifying product switching. The purpose is to reduce production preparation man-hours for terminal insertion machines.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic terminal insertion machine according to the present invention.
It has a terminal insertion head that can be moved in the front-rear, left-right, and up-down directions toward the automatic terminal insertion machine main body, and the terminal of the terminal-attached electric wire gripped by the chuck provided on the terminal insertion head is provided in a predetermined position of the connector housing. In an automatic terminal insertion machine configured to form a sub-harness by being inserted into a terminal accommodating chamber, a long block jig formed so as to be provided with a plurality of connector housings is detachably mounted along the left-right direction. Each of the terminals formed as the sub-harness is attached to the block jig and can be taken out from the main body of the automatic terminal insertion machine. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of supplying a connector housing to an automatic terminal insertion machine, comprising inserting a terminal of a wire with a terminal held by a chuck provided in a terminal insertion head into a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing. In the method of supplying a connector housing to an automatic terminal insertion machine, a plurality of the connector housings are mounted on one common block jig, and the block jig on which the connector housing is mounted is installed. Is supplied to the automatic terminal insertion machine, the terminal of the electric wire with terminal is inserted by the chuck into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing mounted on the block jig to form a sub-harness, and then the sub-harness is formed. The sub harness is integrated with the block jig so as to be taken out from the automatic terminal insertion machine. It is characterized in.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a long block jig formed so as to be provided with a plurality of connector housings is detachably attached to the automatic terminal insertion machine along the left-right direction. Each terminal formed as a sub-harness can be taken out of the main body of the automatic terminal insertion machine integrally with the block jig.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of connector housings are mounted on one common block jig, which is removably installed and supplied to an automatic terminal insertion machine. According to the wire harness, a predetermined connector housing can be mounted in advance on a corresponding connector receiving jig by external setup. Also, when removing the block jig from the automatic terminal insertion machine, take it out together with the sub-harness.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The automatic terminal insertion machine 20 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. Reference numeral 21 denotes a terminal insertion head, which can move in the left-right (horizontal) direction with respect to a vertical wall 22 via a slider 23, and in the vertical direction with respect to a support guide Can also be moved. Although not shown in this insertion head 21,
Various air cylinders are provided for moving the terminal chuck 25 and the wire chuck 26 back and forth, left and right, and up and down. The control for driving or moving necessary for the above-mentioned left, right, up and down directions and chuck operation in these is made to correspond to various kinds by having in advance position data according to the kind and size of the terminal and electric wire, The three-axis drive control is performed by the servo motor mechanism.

An angle-shaped electric wire guide member 32 is provided between a terminal block 29 on which the terminal 28 of the electric wire 27 with a terminal is placed and a clamp rod 31 for holding and supporting the electric wire portion 30. As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of grooves 33 are formed in the wire guide member 32 along the left-right direction. Thereby, before the electric wire portion 30 is chucked, the electric wire 27 with a terminal in the portion supported by the terminal block 29, the electric wire guide member 32, and the clamp rod 31,
It is supported so as to maintain a substantially horizontal state and a substantially straight shape.

On the other hand, the wire chuck 26 has
4 are provided. In this case, an electric wire holder 44 is provided on one of the pair of electric wire chuck claws (not shown). When the electric wire chuck 26 moves downward, first, the electric wire portion 30 supported by the clamp rod 31 is pressed from above and seated on the bottom of the groove of the rod 31. Thereafter, the claw of the wire chuck 26 holds the wire portion by the servo motor mechanism. By doing so, the terminal 28
And the electric wire with terminal 2 before the electric wire portion 30 is chucked.
The posture of 7 is corrected by the electric wire guide member 32 so as to be substantially linear in the left and right direction, and the posture of the terminal-equipped electric wire 27 is corrected by the electric wire holder 44 so as to be substantially linear also in the vertical direction. As a result, the terminal block 29, the electric wire guide member 32, and the terminal-equipped electric wire 37 supported by the clamp rod 31 are stably maintained in a substantially straight state in a standby state before chucking, and the terminal 28 is also in the terminal block. Without any inclination on 29,
The substantially horizontal state is stably maintained. . In this horizontal state, when the terminal 28 and the wire portion 30 are chucked and the terminal 28 is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector 34, the insertion direction substantially coincides with the direction in which the terminal 28 enters the receiving chamber. It is configured to be set as follows.

3 and 4, reference numeral 35 generally indicates a block jig used in the present embodiment. A long block jig body 36 has a groove 37 formed therein. The groove 37 is provided with a mounting hole 39 for positioning the housing receiver 38. The housing receiver 38 accommodates and holds the connector 34, and is fixed to the block jig main body 36 by appropriate fastening means such as bolts and screws. Thus, the block jig main body 36 in which the housing receiver 38 is integrated is arranged on the mounting table 41 along the longitudinal direction. At this time, the main body 36 is fixed to the block positioning stopper 43 by the block jig fixing device 42.

Next, a method of supplying the connector housing 34 to the automatic terminal insertion device will be described. The outer jig is required for the block jig main body 26 in accordance with the part number of the sub-harness 46 (FIG. 6) to be manufactured. A plurality of connectors 34 are housed in a housing receiver 38, which is integrated and fixed to a block jig 35. Connector 24
Is integrated with the automatic terminal insertion machine 2.
The block jig fixing device 42 and the block positioning sputter 43 are set at a predetermined position of zero. Next, a wire harness 45 composed of a group of electric wires with terminals 27 set on the clamp rod 31 is set as shown in FIG. 5 by fixing the clamp rod 31 to the mounting table 41. At this time, the terminal 28 is supported by the terminal block 29, and the electric wire portion 30 is supported by the electric wire guide member 32 (FIGS. 1, 7, and 8).
At this time, the terminal chuck 25 and the electric wire chuck 34 provided on the terminal insertion head 21 side are located above the electric wire 27 with terminal prepared by setting (solid line shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 7). Next, the entire terminal insertion head 21 descends to be in the state of the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 (FIG. 8). At this time, if the electric wire portion 30 is raised in the groove of the clamp rod 31, the electric wire portion 44
Is pressed against the groove bottom of the clamp rod 31. Further, the warpage in the horizontal direction and the variation of the curved deformation of the electric wire portion 30 inserted into the groove 33 of the electric wire guide member 32 in the horizontal plane are corrected.

Next, after the terminal-equipped electric wire 27 is straightened, the terminal crimping portion 28 'of the terminal 28 is
5 and the electric wire portion 30 is gripped by the pair of claws of the electric wire chuck 26 (FIG. 8). The chucked wire 27 is moved upward by the terminal insertion head 21 and moves to a position of the connector 34 facing a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber to be inserted. The front end of the terminal 8 is inserted into the entrance of the terminal accommodating chamber while the chucks 25 and 26 are kept at a fixed interval, and the positioning is performed. From this state, only the terminal chuck 25 is once pulled up, and the wire chuck 26 further advances toward the connector 34. Thus, the terminal 28 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber. After that, the wire chuck 26 is also pulled up,
The terminal insertion head 21 and the chucks 25 and 26 return to the initial positions, and prepare for the next terminal insertion step.

When all the terminals 28 of the wire harness 45 are inserted into all the connectors 34 set as described above, the wire harness 45 is removed from the mounting table 41 integrally with the block jig main body 36. A sub-harness 46 close to the final form of the wire harness is formed (FIG. 6). When making the next sub-harness,
This is performed by exchanging the clamp rod 31 incorporating a predetermined connector and the block jig 35. That is, by fixing the block jig 35 to the mounting table 27 as described above, the connector 34 is attached to the automatic terminal insertion machine at a time, and the clamp rod 31 is set at a position facing the connector 34 so that the wire harness 45 is set as shown in FIG. At the time of production, the required number of clamp rods and block jigs are supplied in advance. The supply and removal of the block jig and the clamp jig may be either a manual operation or an automatic operation.

Since the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, the installation and removal of the connectors 34 are performed one by one as in the prior art.
Since installation and removal can be easily performed, setup time during production can be shortened, productivity can be improved, and automation can be further reduced, and manpower can be saved. In addition, since a plurality of connectors 34 can be set by one common block jig 35, by preparing a block jig for each product type, it is possible to randomly switch the product number, and the versatility is improved. Therefore, it is advantageous for small-lot production of other products. Further, the connector 34 is adapted to the layout of the wire harness 45.
Is set in advance to the automatic terminal insertion machine 20. By setting the required number of connectors on the block jig 35 by the external setup, the number of production preparation steps can be significantly reduced. It becomes possible.

Although the present embodiment has been described in detail, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there is a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. Included in the invention. For example, in the above description, the block jig 35 is formed in a rail shape having the groove 39. However, as shown in FIG. 9, the block jig 35 'is provided with a concave portion 47, and the connector 34' is inserted into the concave portion 47. You may do so.

[0018]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal insertion head which can be moved forward and backward, left and right, and up and down toward an automatic terminal insertion machine main body. In an automatic terminal insertion machine in which a terminal of an electric wire with a terminal held by a chuck provided in the terminal insertion head is inserted into a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing to form a sub-harness, a plurality of connector housings are provided. A long block jig formed so that a
Each terminal formed as the sub-harness is detachably attached along the left-right direction, and each terminal formed as the sub-harness is integrated with the block jig so as to be taken out from the main body of the automatic terminal insertion machine. Is shortened, productivity is improved, and multiple connectors are set in one block jig. By preparing a block jig for each type, it is possible to randomly switch types and improve versatility. . In addition, high-mix low-volume production becomes possible. Since the connector setting position is determined in advance according to the layout of the wire harness, it is possible to reduce the work of individually fixing the required number of connector receiving jigs according to the layout, and to reduce the number of production preparation steps. it can. In addition, it responds to automation of connector setting and removal,
As a result, there is a possibility that labor-saving of the work can be promoted, and there are various effects such that the production cost can be advantageously reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic terminal insertion device for inserting a terminal of an electric wire with a terminal held by a chuck provided in a terminal insertion head into a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing. In the method of supplying a connector housing to a machine, a plurality of the connector housings are loaded into one common block jig, and the block jig loaded with the connector housing is detachably mounted on the automatic terminal insertion machine. Then, after supplying the connector housing to the automatic terminal insertion machine, the terminal of the electric wire with the terminal is inserted by the chuck into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing loaded in the block jig. Since the sub-harness was configured to be taken out integrally with the block jig,
The following specific effects are obtained. That is, since the installation and removal of the block jig can be easily performed, the setup time during production can be shortened, the productivity can be improved, and furthermore, automation and further labor saving can be promoted. In addition, since a plurality of connectors 34 can be set by one common block jig, it is possible to randomly switch product numbers by preparing a block jig for each product type, thereby improving versatility.
Therefore, it is advantageous for small-lot production of other products. Furthermore, since the position where the connector housing is supplied to the automatic terminal insertion machine and set according to the layout of the wire harness is determined in advance, the required number of connectors can be set on the block jig by external setup, and the initial The required number of connector housing receiving jigs during production preparation can be reduced by the required number according to the wiring harness layout.
Various effects such as a significant reduction in man-hours for production preparation can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external side view of an automatic terminal insertion machine used in a connector housing supply method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the electric wire guide member of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a state where a connector is attached to a block jig.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a block jig alone.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view schematically showing a state in which a block jig and a wire harness are set in an automatic terminal insertion machine.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a sub harness integrated with a block jig.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view showing a state before the terminal-attached electric wire is chucked.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view showing a state where the electric wire with terminal is chucked.

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of a modified example of the block jig of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an external perspective view of a conventional device.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view showing a state where an electric wire with a terminal is set in an automatic terminal insertion machine.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view showing a sub-harness in which a connector housing is inserted into a terminal-equipped electric wire.

FIG. 13 is an operation explanatory view showing a state of the electric wire with terminal before being chucked.

FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory view showing a state where an electric wire is inserted into the connector housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 automatic terminal insertion machine 21 terminal insertion head 25 terminal chuck 26 wire chuck 27 terminal attached wire 28 terminal 34, 34 'connector housing 35, 35' block jig 46 sub-harness

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A terminal insertion head which is movable in front and rear, left and right, and up and down directions toward an automatic terminal insertion machine body,
In an automatic terminal insertion machine in which a terminal of an electric wire with a terminal held by a chuck provided in the terminal insertion head is inserted into a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing to form a sub-harness, a plurality of connector housings are provided. A long block jig formed so as to be provided is attached detachably along the left-right direction, and each terminal formed as the sub-harness is integrated with the block jig to insert the automatic terminal. An automatic terminal insertion machine characterized in that it can be taken out of the machine body. 2. A method for supplying a connector housing to an automatic terminal insertion machine for inserting a terminal of an electric wire with a terminal held by a chuck provided in a terminal insertion head into a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing. The connector housing is mounted on one common block jig, the block jig mounted with the connector housing is installed, and the connector housing is supplied to the automatic terminal insertion machine, and then mounted on the block jig. The sub-harness is formed by inserting the terminal of the terminal-attached electric wire into the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing by the chuck, and then the sub-harness is integrated with the block jig from the automatic terminal insertion machine. A method for supplying a connector housing to an automatic terminal insertion machine, wherein the connector housing is configured to be taken out.