JP2007299601A - Cable connection method and cable connecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of connecting cables certainly and without making the connection portion thick by twisting core wires automatically and a cable connection device capable of realizing that method with a relatively compact structure. <P>SOLUTION: The cable connection device is equipped with two sets of twisting pawls which are applied on the outer circumference of a bundle of core wires in which the core wire at the rear end part of a foregoing cable C1 and the core wire at the front end part of a next-following cable C2 are put side by side and are arranged in the axial direction, an opening and closing mechanism 4 of the twisting paws 2, a rotating mechanism 3 of the twisting pawls 2, and a slide mechanism to make the twisting pawls 2 slide in axial direction. Since the strands are twisted by the action of rotating the two sets of twisting pawls 2 arranged in the axial direction, a large part of twisting works which are done manually up till now can be done automatically, and the time and effort can be saved greatly. Furthermore, the device can be made compact compared with the conventional one. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for connecting a tail end portion of a preceding electric wire and a tip end portion of a following electric wire. In particular, the present invention relates to a wire connection method and apparatus suitable for use in an automatic terminal crimping machine or the like for crimping a terminal to a stripped wire end, and capable of saving labor and increasing wire connection strength.

  In an automatic terminal crimping machine, after an electric wire is introduced from a roll wound with one electric wire through a strainer, the electric wire is cut to a predetermined length and the end coating is stripped (peeled). Thereafter, the terminal is crimped to produce an electric wire with a crimp terminal. When using one roll wire and replacing it with the next roll, connect the wire tail end of the preceding roll and the wire tip of the succeeding roll and introduce them to the automatic terminal crimping machine continuously. I will do it. By doing so, the work can be continuously performed even when the roll is moved to the next roll after using the roll.

  When connecting the wires, if the connecting portion becomes thick, it will become clogged during the operation of the automatic terminal crimping machine, so the connecting portion (the tail end of the preceding wire and the tip of the following wire) will strip off the surrounding coating. After connecting the core wires.

  As one of the connection work methods, a method is conceivable in which the core wires of both electric wires are sandwiched between two plate-shaped files and the files are translated in opposite directions. However, in this method, since the file does not circulate around the core wire, the strand is not twisted along the entire circumference, and the twisting efficiency is low and is not put into practical use.

A method for automating this wire connection work has also been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this proposed method, the ends of both electric wires are opposed to each other on the same axis, and a tape is wound around the ends to be connected. Although this method can automate the connection of the electric wires, the mechanism for rolling the ends of the electric wires on the tape is complicated, and a large-scale device is required.
Because of such circumstances, in many sites, manual work of twisting core wires by hand is performed, which is very time-consuming work.

Japanese Patent No. 3636949

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a method for connecting an electric wire reliably by twisting a core wire automatically and without making the connecting portion thick, and such a method. An object of the present invention is to provide a wire connecting device having a relatively compact structure that can be realized.

  The wire connection method of the present invention is a method of connecting the tail end portion of the preceding wire and the tip portion of the following wire, and the core wire of the tail end portion of the preceding wire and the core wire of the following wire are connected to each other. Follow the axial direction so that the core part and tip part are adjacent to each other, and apply two twisted claws arranged in the axial direction to the outer periphery of the axial center part of the bundle of attached core wires. While the claws are rotated in opposite directions, they are slid in the axial direction to move away from each other, and the core wires of both electric wires are twisted together.

  According to the present invention, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 15 and the like, the leading end of the core wire at the tail end of the preceding electric wire is wound around the base portion of the core wire at the leading end of the trailing electric wire, twisted, The operation of winding and twisting the tip of the core wire at the leading end of the row electric wire around the base of the core wire at the leading end of the preceding electric wire can be performed using a twisting claw that automatically opens, closes, rotates, and slides. For this reason, it is possible to automatically perform a considerable part of the torsion work that has been done manually until now, and the labor can be saved greatly. In addition, the apparatus can be made more compact than the conventional apparatus.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that a plurality of strands of the core wires of both the electric wires are interlaced with each other.

  In this case, the strands of both electric wires are first interlaced and attached, whereby the strands are intertwined and the connection strength between the two wires is increased.

  In the present invention, it is more preferable that the plurality of strands of the core wires of the two electric wires are intertwine and twisted by hand in advance, and then twisted by the twisting claw.

  In this case, since the strands are further entangled, the connection strength can be further increased.

  The wire connecting device of the present invention is a wire connecting device for connecting the tail end of the preceding wire and the tip of the succeeding wire, and includes the core wire of the leading wire tail end and the core of the trailing wire tip. Two sets of axially arranged torsion claws applied to the outer periphery of the bundle of core wires, an opening and closing mechanism for the torsion claws, a rotation mechanism for the torsion claws, and a slide for sliding the torsion claws in the axial direction And a mechanism.

  According to the present invention, since the operation of twisting the strands is performed by the operation of rotating the two sets of twisting claws arranged in the axial direction, an automatic connection device having a relatively simple structure can be configured.

  In the present invention, the torsion claw rotation mechanism includes a claw shaft having an attachment portion of the torsion claw at one end portion and a rotation driving portion at the other end portion, and the electric wire is introduced into the claw shaft. It is preferable that an electric wire setting groove to be set is formed.

  In this case, since the bundle of core wires (the tail end portion of the preceding electric wire and the tip portion of the following electric wire) attached to the side can be set from the side to the claw shaft, the electric wire setting operation can be easily performed. .

  In the present invention, it is preferable that a gear (shaft gear) attached to the rotation driving portion of the claw shaft is provided with a wire setting groove and includes a plurality of drive gears meshing with the shaft gear.

  As described above, in order to pass the connecting portion of the electric wire from the side through the set groove of the claw shaft, it is necessary to form a slit through which the electric wire is also passed through the shaft gear. However, if the gear is provided with a slit in this manner, a tooth profile defect portion is generated, and a rotational driving force may not be reliably transmitted. Therefore, by engaging a plurality of drive gears with the shaft gear, even if one of the drive gears is on the tooth profile missing part, the other drive gear is on the tooth profile of the shaft gear, so that power can be transmitted smoothly. it can.

  In the present invention, the opening / closing mechanism may include a sleeve provided with a turning action point of the torsion claw and an electric wire set groove, which rotates together with the claw shaft, and an actuator for sliding the sleeve. .

  In this case, the twisting claw rotates by rotating the sleeve and the claw shaft together after the sleeve is slid and closed. At this time, since the sleeve is also provided with the wire setting groove, the connecting portion of the wire can be passed from the side to the setting groove of the claw shaft.

  In this invention, it is preferable to further have a rolling bearing that contacts the sleeve in the axial direction, and the sleeve slides through the rolling bearing.

  In this case, by providing the rolling bearing in the mechanism for sliding the sleeve on the claw shaft, the sleeve can be smoothly rotated even when the center of the sleeve and the drive shaft direction of the actuator are displaced.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to further include a clamp that clamps an outer periphery of an axially central portion of the bundle of core wires.

  In this case, by holding the central portion in the axial direction of the bundle of core wires with a clamp, the bundle of core wires can be fixed near the center of rotation of the twist claw. Without moving up and down, left and right, twisting can be performed uniformly in the axial direction, and the finish is beautiful.

  As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electric wire connection method that can connect an electric wire with sufficient strength and with a connection portion that does not become thick, without requiring much manpower. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a wire connection device having a compact structure that can realize such a connection method.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
First, the concept of the electric wire connection method of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the concept of the electric wire connection method of the present invention.
First, as shown in FIG. 15A, core wires W11 and W12 in which the coating of the tail end portion of the preceding electric wire C1 is stripped, and a core wire W21 in which the coating of the tip portion of the following electric wire C2 is stripped. , W22 are arranged along the axial direction of the electric wire so that the original part and the front part are adjacent to each other. At this time, as shown to FIG. 15 (A), it is preferable in order to improve connection strength to interleave the some strand of both electric wires. The length of the strip portion can be 45 mm, for example.

  Next, two sets of twisting claws 2-1 and 2-2 arranged in the axial direction are applied to the outer periphery of the central portion in the axial direction of the bundle of core wires in which different strands are interlaced. As will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 4 and the like, the torsion claw 2 includes two claw members 20 facing each other. In FIG. 15 (A), one claw member 20-1 of the twisting claw 2-1 on the preceding electric wire C1 side abuts on the base portion W11b of the strand W11 of the preceding electric wire C1, and the other claw member 20-1 ′. Is in contact with the tip W22a of the wire W22 of the trailing electric wire C2. In addition, one claw member 20-2 of the torsion claw 2-2 on the trailing electric wire C2 side abuts on the tip portion W11a of the wire W11 of the preceding electric wire C1, and the other claw member 20-2 ' It is in contact with the base W22b of the wire W22 of the electric wire C2.

  Then, while rotating the torsion claws 2 in opposite directions, they are slid in the axial direction so as to move away from each other. The base part of each core wire is restrained by the covering of the electric wire and hardly moves, but the part on the front side is almost free. For this reason, the front-end | tip parts W11a and W22a of the strand which exist in the outer periphery which each claw member 20 contact | abuts near the front part of both core wires are twisted along the circumference | surroundings of an internal strand. For example, the claw member 20-1 in the upper left of the drawing is in contact with the base portion W11b of the wire W11, but the claw member 20-1 rotates because the same portion is restrained by the covering portion of the electric wire C1. It ’s hard to move. However, the tip portion W11a with which the claw member 20-2 is in contact has a relatively weak restraint force, so that when the claw member 20-2 rotates, the same wire tip portion W11a is shown in FIG. Thus, it is wound around the strands W21 and W12 existing inside thereof. The same applies to the element wire W22 on the lower side of the electric wire C2.

  Since each twisting claw 2 actually rotates around the core wire several times, the outer strand is wound around the entire circumference of the inner strand several times. Further, since each twisting claw 2 slides in the direction of moving away while rotating, the strand can be twisted along the length direction of the core wire, and the connecting portion does not become thick.

Next, the wire connecting device of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the wire connecting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of the wire connecting device of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a front view schematically showing the configuration of the wire connecting device of FIG. 1.
This electric wire connecting device includes an electric wire twisting mechanism 1 provided on the preceding electric wire C1 side on the left side in the drawing and an electric wire twisting mechanism provided on the subsequent electric wire C2 side on the right side in the drawing. 1 '. Each electric wire twisting mechanism 1, 1 'has the same configuration and structure, and the twisting claw 2, the rotation mechanism 3 of the twisting claw 2, the opening / closing mechanism 4 of the twisting claw 2, and each twisting claw 2 are slid in the axial direction of the electric wire. And a slide mechanism 7 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

The torsion claw rotation mechanism 3 and the torsion claw opening / closing mechanism 4 are provided on the movable base 31. Then, the slide mechanism 7 slides the movable base 31 in the axial direction, and slides the torsion claw 2 in the axial direction.
In the following description, the axial direction, the inner / outer direction, the front / rear direction, and the distal / proximal direction refer to the directions shown in the drawings.

First, the torsion claw 2 will be described.
4A and 4B are diagrams showing the structure of a claw member constituting the torsion claw. FIG. 4A is a plan view and FIG. 4B is a side view.
The torsion claw 2 includes a pair of claw members 20 having the same shape. As shown in FIG. 4, each claw member 20 has a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped claw portion 21 and a substantially triangular planar base portion 22. A side surface of the claw portion 21 is a core wire abutting portion 21a that is convexly curved outward.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the base portion 22 of the claw member 20 has a U-shaped cross section, and a groove 22a is formed at the central portion in the thickness direction. As shown in FIG. 4A, through holes 22b and 22c are formed in the vicinity of both ends of the base 22 so as to penetrate the groove 22a in the vertical direction.

Next, the torsion claw rotation mechanism 3 and the torsion claw opening / closing mechanism 4 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the torsion claw rotating mechanism 3 includes a claw shaft 33, a first gear 61, a second gear 62, a third gear 63, a fourth gear 64 formed on the claw shaft 33, and The motor 64 is mainly configured.
The torsion claw opening / closing mechanism 4 mainly includes a claw shaft 33, a sleeve 41, a slide block 47, and an air cylinder 49.

First, the torsion claw rotating mechanism 3 will be described in detail.
5A and 5B are diagrams showing the structure of the claw shaft. FIG. 5A is a plan sectional view, FIG. 5B is a side view, and FIG. 5C is a front view.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5A and 5B, the claw shaft 33 is a member that is long in the axial direction, and has a claw mounting portion 34 at the tip and a shaft portion 35 that is long in the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, it is rotatably supported by a side plate 32 erected on the movable base 31.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (A), the claw mounting portion 34 has a horizontal rectangular shape in plan view, a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 5 (B), and a groove 34a at the center in the thickness direction. Is formed. The height of the groove 34 a is substantially equal to the height of the base portion 22 of the claw member 20. In the vicinity of both ends of the claw mounting portion 34, two through holes 34b penetrating in the vertical direction across the groove 34a are formed.

  The shaft portion 35 has an electric wire set hole 35a penetrating the center in the axial direction. The tip of the hole 35 a is open to the groove 34 a of the claw mounting portion 34. As shown in FIG. 5C, the claw mounting portion 34 and the shaft portion 35 are formed with an axially extending slit 35b communicating with the electric wire set hole 35a.

  An outer peripheral portion of the shaft portion 35 near the claw attaching portion 34 is a sleeve slide portion 35c on which the sleeve 41 slides. A shallow annular recess 35d is formed in the center of the outer periphery of the portion 35c. The annular recess 35d is for reducing sliding resistance with the sleeve 41. A slightly deeper annular recess 35e is formed on the proximal end side of the sleeve slide portion 35d. The length of the recess 35e is substantially equal to the thickness of the side plate 32. The nail | claw axis | shaft 33 is supported by the side plate 32 by this recessed part 35e so that rotation is possible and it cannot move to an axial direction. In order to obtain such a configuration, the side plate 32 has a structure described below.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the structure of the side plate.
The side plate 32 has a through hole 32a through which the recess 35e of the claw shaft 33 passes. The periphery of the through hole 32a is a plain bearing surface. In addition, a slit 32b that communicates from the upper edge of the side plate 32 to the through hole 32a is formed. As shown in FIG. 3, the slit 32 b communicates with the slit 35 b of the shaft portion 35 of the claw shaft 33 and the electric wire set hole 35 a. The side plate 32 is made of two members 32A and 32B that divide the through hole 32a and the slit 32b into two. Each member 32A, 32B is connected by two bolts 37 extending in the thickness direction. The side plate 32 has a plurality of mounting holes for mounting gears, air cylinders, and motors to be described later.

  When attaching the claw shaft 33 to the side plate 32, first, the two through holes 32a of the side plate members 32A and 32B are applied from both sides of the recess 35e of the claw shaft 33, and the recess 35e is fitted into the through hole 32a. Since the length of the recess 35e is substantially equal to the thickness of the side plate 32, the claw shaft 33 is fixed to the side plate 32 so that it cannot move in the axial direction. Thereafter, the two side plates are joined by the bolt 37.

  A description will be given with reference to FIG. 5 again. The base end side of the annular recess 35e of the claw shaft 33 is a rotation drive unit 35f that is rotated by a torsion claw rotation mechanism described later. The rotation drive part 35f protrudes from the side plate 32 to the base end side.

  The first gear 61 (shaft gear) constituting the torsion claw rotating mechanism 3 is fixed to the surface of the claw shaft 33 on the proximal end side of the rotation driving portion 35f with a bolt. The first gear 61 is formed with a wire set hole 61 coaxial with the wire set hole 35a of the claw shaft 33, and a slit 61b communicating with the wire set hole 61a. The first gear 61 is fixed to the claw shaft 33 so that the electric wire setting holes 61a and the slits 61b coincide with the electric wire setting holes 33a and the slits 35b of the claw shaft 33.

  The first gear 61 meshes with both the second gear 62 and the third gear 63. These gears 62 and 63 have the same number of teeth, and are rotatably attached to the side plate 32. The second gear 62 and the third gear 63 mesh with the fourth gear 64. As shown in FIG. 1, the fourth gear 64 is fixed to a rotating shaft 65 a of a motor 65 attached to the side plate 32. With such a structure, when the motor 65 is driven and the fourth gear 64 is rotated, the first gear 61 is rotated via the second and third gears 62 and 63. When the first gear 61 rotates, the claw shaft 33 formed integrally with the gear 61 rotates.

  In the first gear 61, the slit 61b is formed as described above. That is, a tooth profile defect portion in which a part of the outer periphery of the gear is missing is generated. Therefore, in order to reliably mesh the first gear 61 with the fourth gear 64 fixed to the rotating shaft 65a of the motor 65, two gears meshed with the first gear 61 (second gear 62 and third gear 63). Provided. For this reason, for example, when the tooth-shaped defect portion (slit 61 b) of the first gear 61 reaches a position where it engages with the second gear 62, the two gears may not engage with each other, but the first gear 61 is connected with the third gear 63. Surely mesh. And since the 2nd gear 62 and the 3rd gear 63 are meshing | engaged with the 4th gear 64 which is a drive gear reliably, the driving force of the drive gear 64 (4th gear) can be transmitted to the 1st gear 61 reliably. Can do.

Next, the twisting claw opening / closing mechanism 4 will be described.
First, the structure of the sleeve 41 will be described.
7A and 7B are diagrams showing the structure of the sleeve, in which FIG. 7A is a plan view, FIG. 7B is a side sectional view, and FIG. 7C is a back view.
The sleeve 41 is a hollow member having a shaft hole 41 a having the same diameter, and is externally fitted to the sleeve slide portion 35 c of the claw shaft 33 so as to be slidable in the axial direction. As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the sleeve 41 has a front end flange 41b and a rear end flange 41c projecting outward, and an annular recess 41d formed between both flanges. The flanges 41b and 41c and the annular recess 41d are formed with slits 41e that extend in the axial direction and communicate with the shaft holes 41a. Two claw attachment portions 42 extending in the front direction are formed at the center in the height direction of the tip flange 41b. Each claw mounting portion 42 has a long hole 42a. The height (thickness) of each claw mounting portion 42 is substantially equal to the height of the groove 22 a of the base portion 22 of the claw member 20.

A structure in which the twisted claw 2, the claw shaft 33, and the sleeve 41 are assembled and attached to the side plate 32 will be described.
8A and 8B are views for explaining a structure in which the torsion claw, the claw shaft, and the sleeve are integrally assembled. FIG. 8A is a plan sectional view, and FIG. 8B is a side view.
The sleeve 41 is externally fitted to the sleeve slide portion 35c of the claw shaft 33 so as to be slidable in the axial direction. When assembling both, the claw shaft 33 may be inserted into the shaft hole 41a from the distal end side of the sleeve 41 with the rotation drive portion 35f first. Then, the sleeve 41 and the claw shaft 33 are positioned so that the slit 41e (see FIG. 7) of the sleeve 41 and the slit 35b (see FIG. 5) of the claw shaft 33 are aligned. Thereby, the slit 41 e of the sleeve 41 and the slit 35 b of the claw shaft 33 communicate with each other, and these slits communicate with the electric wire set hole 35 a of the claw shaft 33. Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, the respective claw members 20 are arranged so that the core wire contact portions 21a face each other, and the inner portion (core wire side) of the base portion 22 of each claw member 20 is connected to the claw of the claw shaft 33. The outer portion is attached to the claw attaching portion 42 of the sleeve 41 so as to be rotatable.

  More specifically, the inner side portion of the base portion 22 of the claw member 20 is inserted into the groove 34a of the claw mounting portion 34 of the claw shaft 33, and the inner hinge pin 45 (rotation fulcrum) is passed through both the through holes. As a result, the claw member 20 can rotate around the inner hinge pin 45. On the other hand, the claw attachment portion 42 of the sleeve 41 is sandwiched between the outer portions of the groove 22a of the base portion 22 of the claw member 20, and the outer hinge pin 46 (operation point) is passed through both through holes. As a result, the claw member 20 can rotate around the outer hinge pin 46.

  With such a structure, the sleeve 41 and the claw shaft 33 are connected via the claw member 20 so as not to be relatively rotatable. That is, when the claw shaft 33 is rotated by the torsion claw rotating mechanism 3 described above, both the torsion claw 2 and the sleeve 41 are also rotated. When the sleeve 41 slides on the sleeve slide portion 35c of the claw shaft 33 in the distal direction (left direction in the figure), the outer portion of the claw member 20 that is rotatably connected to the claw mounting portion 42 of the sleeve 41 is moved. The outer hinge pin 46 is pushed in the tip direction (left direction in the figure). Then, the claw member 20 rotates inward about the inner hinge pin 45. At this time, the outer hinge pin 46 moves inward in the long hole 42 a of the attachment portion 42 of the sleeve 41. By this operation, the two claw members 20 simultaneously rotate inward, and the core wire contact portion 21a of the claw member 20 hits (the torsion claw 2 is closed).

  On the other hand, when the sleeve 41 is slid in the right direction in the drawing on the sleeve slide portion 35c of the claw shaft 33, the outer portion of the claw member 20 that is rotatably connected to the claw mounting portion 42 of the sleeve 41 is the outer hinge pin 46. Is pulled to the right. Then, the claw member 20 rotates outward about the inner hinge pin 45. By this operation, the two claw members 20 are simultaneously rotated outward, and the core wire contact portion 21a of the claw member 20 is separated (the torsion claw 2 is opened). Such a sliding operation of the sleeve 41 is performed by a slide block 47 (see FIGS. 1 and 9) that is rotatably fitted in the annular recess 41 d of the sleeve 41.

A fitting state between the slide block 47 and the sleeve 41 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a view showing a state in which the slide block is fitted in the annular recess of the sleeve, FIG. 9 (A) is a front view, and FIG. 9 (B) is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 9 (A). .
The slide block 47 is a substantially rectangular member having a large thickness, and the thickness (axial length) is substantially equal to the length of the annular recess 41 d of the sleeve 41. As shown in FIG. 9A, the slide block 47 is provided with a square through hole 47a through which the annular recess 41d of the sleeve 41 passes. In addition, a slit 47b that communicates from the upper edge of the slide block 47 to the through hole 47a is formed. Accordingly, when the slit 47 b of the slide block 47 is aligned with the slit 41 e of the sleeve 41, the slit 47 b communicates with the wire setting hole 35 a of the claw shaft 33 through the slit 35 b of the claw shaft 33. The slide block 47 is formed by two block pieces 47A and 47B that divide the slit 47b and the through hole 47a into two. Each block piece is connected by one bolt (not shown) extending in the thickness direction.

  When attaching the slide block 47 to the sleeve 41, first, the through holes 47a of the block pieces 47A and 47B that are divided into two are applied from both sides of the concave portion 41d of the sleeve 41, and the concave portions 41d are fitted into the through holes 47a. Since the length of the recess 41 d is substantially equal to the thickness of the slide block 47, the slide block 47 is fixed to the sleeve 41 so that it cannot move in the axial direction. Then, the two block pieces 47A and 47B are coupled with bolts.

  The slide block 47 is slid in the axial direction by the air cylinder 49. As shown in FIG. 1, the air cylinder 49 is attached to the side plate 32 such that the stroke direction is parallel to the axial direction. The head 49 b of the piston rod 49 a is fixed to the slide block 47. When the air cylinder 49 expands and contracts, the slide block 47 moves in the axial direction. Then, the sleeve 41 into which the block 47 is immovably moved moves in the axial direction on the sleeve slide portion 35 c of the claw shaft 33.

  Here, as clearly shown in FIG. 1, the slide block 47 is attached to the head 49 b of the piston rod 49 a of the air cylinder 49 in a cantilever manner. For this reason, when the force of the piston rod 49a is applied to the slide block 47, the block 47 is difficult to move straight in the stroke direction. In this case, the axial center of the through hole 47a of the slide block 47 and the axial center of the shaft hole 41a of the sleeve 41 are displaced, and when the sleeve 41 rotates with the claw shaft 33, it does not rotate smoothly with respect to the slide block 47. Things can happen. Therefore, a plurality of bearings (rolling bearings) 50 are interposed between the sleeve 41 and the slide block 47 as shown in FIG.

  In the through hole 47a of the slide block 47, a recess 47c extending diagonally from each corner is formed. The bearing 50 is accommodated in both ends of the recess 47c in the block thickness direction (see FIG. 9B). Each bearing 50 is passed through a low head bolt 51 and is locked to a head 51 a of the bolt 51. Each low head bolt 51 is fixed by being screwed into the block 47. With this structure, as shown in FIG. 9B, the bearing 50 fixed to the front side hits the inner surface of the front end flange 41b of the sleeve 41, and the bearing 50 fixed to the rear side is the rear end of the sleeve 41. It hits the inner surface of the flange 41c. Therefore, even when the slide block 47 does not move straight in the stroke direction, the sleeve 41 can slide on the claw shaft 33 and rotate smoothly with respect to the slide block 47.

Next, the slide mechanism 7 that slides both the twisting claws 2 in the axial direction will be described.
FIG. 10 is a bottom view showing the configuration of the slide mechanism.
In this slide mechanism 7, each movable base 31 is slid in the direction away from the axis, and each torsion claw 2 is slid in the opposite direction.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the slide mechanism 7 includes two linear guide rails 73 provided on the base 71 so as to extend in the axial direction, and a slider slidably engaged with the guide rails 73. 74, two link arms 75 that connect the movable base 31, and an air cylinder 77 that opens and closes each link arm 75.

  The two linear guide rails 73 are fixed to the upper surface of the base 71 so as to extend parallel to the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 1, each movable base 31 is arranged so that the twisting claws 2 of the twisting mechanisms 1, 1 ′ face each other and the electric wire setting holes 33 are arranged on the axis. The linear guide rails 73 are engaged via sliders 74 fixed to the lower surface of each movable base 31. Thereby, each movable base 31 is guided by the linear guide rail 73 and slides in the axial direction. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a shaft 31a is erected on the lower surface of each movable base 31 so as to extend downward. When each movable base 31 slides in the axial direction, the shaft 31 a passes through an elongated hole 71 a that is opened in the base 71 and extends in the axial direction.

  The air cylinder 77 is attached to the lower surface of the base 71 so that the operating direction is perpendicular to the axial direction. The base ends of the two link bars 75 are connected to the head 77b of the piston rod 77a of the air cylinder 77 by a hinge pin 76 so as to be rotatable. The end of each link bar 75 is rotatably connected to the shaft 31a of each movable base 31.

  When the piston rod 77a is extended by the operation of the air cylinder 77, the moving direction of the movable base 31 connected to the tip of the bar 75 is restricted in the axial direction, so the link bar 75 moves in the direction in which the tip expands. . Thereby, the movable base 31 slides on the linear guide 73 in the opposite direction. That is, the torsion mechanisms 1 and 1 ′ move in a direction away from each other. On the other hand, when the piston rod 77a contracts, the tip of the link bar 75 moves in a narrowing direction. Then, on the contrary, the movable base 31 slides in a direction approaching the linear guide 73. That is, the torsion mechanisms 1 and 1 ′ move in the approaching direction. Thus, the torsion mechanism 1, 1 ′ on the movable base 31 slides in the separating direction and the approaching direction by the expansion and contraction of the air cylinder 77.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a wire guide 81 is provided on the electric wire set hole shaft 33 on the base 71 on the base end side of the electric wire twisting mechanism 1, 1 ′.

  The cylinder 49 and the motor 65 described above are electrically connected to a control unit (not shown), and expansion and contraction of the cylinder 49 and the cylinder 77 and rotation of the motor 65 are controlled by the control unit.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, this electric wire connection apparatus can also be provided with a clamp 101 that clamps the outer periphery of the central portion in the axial direction of the bundle of core wires. By providing such a clamp 101, the bundle of core wires can be fixed near the center of rotation of the twisting claw 2, so that during the twisting claw processing, the bundle of core wires does not move up and down and left and right. Processing can be performed uniformly in the axial direction, and the finish is clean.

Next, a method for connecting electric wires will be described.
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing when the electric wire is set.
FIG. 12 is a plan view showing when the claw member is closed.
FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a state in which the twisting claw is rotated and slid in the axial direction.
FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a state in which the twisting claw is opened after the electric wire is connected.

  When the electric wire shown in FIG. 11 is set, the cylinder 49 is contracted and the sleeve 41 is retracted on the sleeve slide portion 35c of the claw shaft 33, so that the core wire contact portion 21a of the claw member 20 is separated and twisted. The nail 2 is open. Further, the slits of the first gear 61, the side plate 32, the claw shaft 22, the slide block 47, and the sleeve 41 are aligned and communicated with the electric wire setting hole 35 a of the claw shaft 33. The air cylinder 77 (see FIGS. 3 and 10) is contracted, the movable base 31 is in the closest position, and the interval between the twisting claws 2 of the twisting mechanisms 1 and 1 ′ is, for example, 20 mm. be able to.

  And the core wire which stripped the coating | coated of the tail end part of the preceding electric wire C1 and the core wire which stripped the coating | cover of the front-end | tip part of the succeeding electric wire C2 by manual work so that a mutual core wire original part and a front part may adjoin each other. Along the axial direction (see FIG. 15). At this time, the core wires may be simply overlapped in parallel, but stronger connection strength can be obtained by interleaving a plurality of strands of both electric wires. Furthermore, it is more preferable that the strands are interlaced and twisted by hand in advance because it is easy to set and the connection strength is increased. Then, holding the middle of each electric wire in each hand, the leading electric wire C1 and the following electric wire C2 are guided through the wire guide 81, and the slits of the torsion mechanisms 1, 1 'are centered so that the intricate part is at the center. Is set in the wire setting hole 35a of the claw shaft 33.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 12, the cylinder 49 is driven to extend, and the sleeve 41 is slid forward along the sleeve slide portion 35 c of the claw shaft 33. Then, as described above, each claw member 20 rotates inward, and the torsion claw 2 is closed. And the electric wire contact part 21a of each claw member 20 contact | abuts to the complicated strand.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13, the motor 65 is driven to rotate, and the air cylinder 77 (see FIGS. 3 and 10) is operated to extend. The rotation of the motor 65 is transmitted to the rotation drive part 35f of the claw shaft 33 by the gears 64, 63, 62, 61, and the claw shaft 33 rotates. Note that the motor 65 of the torsion mechanism 1, 1 ′ rotates in the same direction, and the claw shaft 33 of the torsion mechanism 1, 1 ′ rotates in the opposite direction on the plane. As the claw shaft 33 rotates, the torsion claw 2 and the sleeve 41 also rotate. As a result, the free tip portion of the wire of one wire, which is in contact with the wire contact portion 21a of the claw member 20, is wound and twisted around the constrained wire base of the other wire. (See FIG. 15). At this time, the claw shaft 33 rotates, but the electric wire itself set in the electric wire setting hole 35a of the claw shaft 33 does not rotate, and only the element wire in contact with the electric wire contact portion 21a of the claw member 20 rotates. To do. However, since a slight degree of rotational force is applied to each electric wire, it is better to hold the middle of each electric wire in hand. The claw shaft 33 can be rotated, for example, 6 times.

  In addition, when the thickness of a core wire differs, the stroke of the air cylinder 49 changes and the core wire contact part 21a contact | abuts to a core wire. For this reason, for example, electric wires having 7 to 19 core wires can be connected by the same device.

  Further, at this time, since the air cylinder 77 is operated so as to extend, the movable base 31 moves in the opposite direction, and the torsion mechanisms 1 and 1 'are separated. The moving distance of the movable base 31 is 12 mm, for example. That is, the claw member 20 slides in the opposite direction on the strand axis while rotating. By rotating the twisting claw 2 while sliding in this way, the free end portion of the wire is not wound around one place, so that the thickness of the connecting portion can be made substantially uniform. it can.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 14, the air cylinder 49 is contracted and the slide block 47 is slid in the proximal direction. Thereby, the twist claw 2 opens and the electric wire contact part 21a of each claw member 20 leaves | separates from a strand. And the connected electric wire is taken out from the electric wire set hole 35a of the claw shaft 33 of the twist mechanism 1, 1 ′.

It is a top view which shows typically the structure of the electric wire connection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows typically the structure of the electric wire connection apparatus of FIG. It is a front view which shows typically the structure of the electric wire connection apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the nail | claw member which comprises a torsion nail | claw, FIG. 4 (A) is a top view, FIG.4 (B) is a side view. It is a figure which shows the structure of a nail | claw axis | shaft, FIG. 5 (A) is a plane sectional view, FIG.5 (B) is a side view, FIG.5 (C) is a front view. It is a front view which shows the structure of a side plate. FIG. 7A is a plan view, FIG. 7B is a side sectional view, and FIG. 7C is a rear view. It is a figure explaining the structure where the torsion nail | claw, the nail | claw axis | shaft, and the sleeve were assembled integrally, FIG. 8 (A) is a plane sectional view, FIG.8 (B) is a side view. It is a figure which shows the state which the slide block fitted to the annular recessed part of the sleeve, FIG. 9 (A) is a front view, FIG.9 (B) is BB sectional drawing of FIG. 9 (A). It is a bottom view which shows the structure of a slide mechanism. It is a top view which shows the time of an electric wire set. It is a top view which shows a time of a nail | claw member closing. It is a top view which shows the state which rotated the torsion claw and was made to slide to an axial direction. It is a top view which shows the state which opened the twist nail | claw after the electric wire connection. It is a figure for demonstrating the concept of the electric wire connection method of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1 'twist mechanism 2 twist claw 3 twist claw rotation mechanism 4 twist claw opening / closing mechanism 7 twist claw slide mechanism 20 claw member 21 claw part 22 base part 31 movable base 32 side plate 33 claw shaft 34 claw attachment part 35 shaft part 37 bolt 41 Sleeve 42 Claw mounting portion 45 Inner hinge pin 46 Outer hinge pin 47 Slide block 50 Bearing 51 Low head bolt 61 First gear 62 Second gear 63 Third gear 64 Fourth gear 65 Motor 71 Base 73 Linear guide 74 Slider 75 Link bar 76 Hinge pin 77 Air cylinder 101 Clamp

Claims (9)

A method of connecting the tail end of the preceding wire and the tip of the following wire,
The core wire of the leading end of the preceding wire and the core wire of the leading end of the following wire are aligned along the axial direction so that the core portion and the tip portion are adjacent to each other,
Two sets of twisted claws arranged in the axial direction are applied to the outer periphery of the axially central portion of the bundle of core wires attached,
An electric wire connection method characterized by twisting the core wires of both electric wires by rotating both torsion claws in the opposite directions while sliding them axially away from each other.   The electric wire connection method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of strands of the core wires of the two electric wires are interlaced with each other.   The electric wire connection method according to claim 1, wherein after twisting a plurality of strands of the core wires of both electric wires and twisting them by hand in advance, the electric wires are twisted by the torsion claws. A wire connection device for connecting the tail end of the preceding wire and the tip of the following wire,
Two sets of twisted claws arranged in the axial direction applied to the outer periphery of a bundle of core wires in which the core wire of the leading end of the preceding electric wire and the core wire of the leading end of the following electric wire are attached;
An opening / closing mechanism for the twisting claw;
A rotation mechanism of the twist claw;
A sliding mechanism for sliding the twisting claw in the axial direction;
An electric wire connecting device comprising: The twisting claw rotating mechanism is
It has a claw shaft having an attachment part of the torsion claw at one end and a rotation drive part at the other end,
The electric wire connecting device according to claim 4, wherein an electric wire setting groove for introducing and setting the electric wire is formed on the claw shaft. An electric wire set groove is also formed on a gear (shaft gear) attached to the rotation drive portion of the claw shaft,
6. The electric wire connecting device according to claim 5, further comprising a plurality of driving gears meshing with the shaft gear. During the opening and closing mechanism,
A sleeve provided with a turning action point of the torsion claw and an electric wire set groove, which rotates together with the claw shaft;
An actuator for sliding the sleeve;
The wire connecting device according to claim 5, comprising: A rolling bearing that abuts the sleeve in the axial direction;
8. The electric wire connecting device according to claim 7, wherein the sleeve slides through the rolling bearing.   The wire connecting device according to claim 5, further comprising a clamp that holds an outer periphery of an axially central portion of the bundle of core wires.

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