JPH01313871A - Insertion of terminal with electric wire into connector housing and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform insertion for a general purpose when types or terminals are changed by holding a connector press connection portion with a terminal holding claw when inserting it into the terminal storage chamber of a connector housing. CONSTITUTION:A terminal holding claw 54 or an electric wire clamp plate 56 is lifted, an electric wire W1 is removed from an electric wire clamp 4, a moving plate 64 is laterally moved if necessary, the tip section of a terminal 48 is faced to the terminal storage chamber 73 of the desired housing selected among multiple connector housings I1.... A head holder 59 is advanced to the housing side, the electric contact section 48b of the terminal 48 is inserted into the terminal storage chamber 73, then the terminal holding claw 54 and an electric wire holding claw 55 are opened and lifted. Insertion can be performed with one device without using an auxiliary jig regardless of the type of the terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically inserting a wire terminal into a connector housing.

Conventional ■Kado Conventionally, the method of inserting a terminal with a wire into a connector housing is to position a trumpet-shaped terminal insertion guide facing the terminal accommodation chamber of the housing, and then use a terminal clamping jig that matches the shape of the terminal to insert the guide. There is a way to automatically insert the terminal through the terminal.

However, since there are so many types of terminals and their shapes vary, it is necessary to prepare guides and gripping tools of the same type as the terminal shape, which increases the size and configuration of the machine and increases the operational steps. In many cases, the disadvantage was that the production takt time was long.

In particular, housings with a large number of pins require the insertion of many types of terminals, making automation difficult.
Although this often involves manual labor, incorrect wiring or incomplete insertion due to incorrect insertion is likely to occur, which poses a major problem in the connector assembly process.

As a result of repeated studies to solve this problem, the present inventors discovered that the terminal is composed of an electrical contact part with the mating terminal and a wire crimping part, and the shape of the terminal is Focusing on the fact that there is no big difference in the dimensions of the wire crimping part even if the wire size and size change,
The present invention has now been completed.

That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and device for inserting a terminal with a wire into a connector housing, which does not require an auxiliary jig such as a terminal insertion guide and can be applied universally regardless of the type of terminal. be.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned problem of reducing the amount of water, the method of the present invention includes mounting heads mounted on a movable plate so as to be movable toward and away from the connector housing, and facing the connector housing. After the wire crimping portion and the wire of the terminal with electric wire are gripped by the pair of terminal gripping claws and wire gripping claws provided on the terminal, a terminal holding plate provided movably up and down between the pair of terminal gripping claws is lowered. After adjusting the attitude of the terminal, the mounting head is brought close to the connector housing, and when the electrical contact part of the terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing, the terminal gripping claw is opened and raised. Features.

In carrying out this method, it is preferable to grip the conductor crimped portion of the wire when gripping the wire crimped portion with the terminal gripping claw. This is because the outer diameter of the conductor crimping portion has little dimensional difference depending on the type of terminal, such as the shape and size of the terminal.

In addition, in order to smoothly insert the terminal with wire into the terminal storage chamber, a terminal holding plate that can be raised and lowered between the pair of terminal gripping claws is provided to adjust the horizontal orientation of the gripped terminal.
It is preferable to employ a centering mechanism that aligns the axes of the terminal and the terminal accommodating chamber.

The above method is for inserting terminals with wires into a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers of one connector housing. However, when a plurality of connector housings are arranged in parallel and a plurality of terminals with electric wires are arranged parallel to these housings at a predetermined interval, the movable plate cannot be freely moved in parallel with the plurality of connector housings. Just set it up.

Thereby, a desired terminal with electric wire can be inserted into a desired connector housing.

The device for carrying out the above method is provided with a pair of terminal gripping claws and wire gripping claws that can be opened and closed, respectively, at the lower end of the mounting head so as to be movable up and down, and a terminal holding plate that can be moved up and down between the pair of terminal gripping claws. a head holder for supporting the mounting head is provided so as to be movable towards and away from the movable plate, and to move up and down;
The movable plate is provided so as to be movable in parallel with respect to a set base on which a plurality of connector housings are arranged in parallel, and as described above, by providing a terminal holding plate and a sensor for centering, Insertion can be performed more smoothly.

In the present invention, when inserting a terminal with a wire into the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing, the wire crimping part of the terminal, preferably the conductor crimping part, is gripped by the terminal gripping claw, so that it can be used universally even if the type of terminal changes. It can be implemented. Further, since the terminal holding plate and the sensor adjust the insertion posture and center alignment of the terminal, the terminal can be inserted smoothly. Therefore, there is no need for the conventional terminal insertion guide, and many types of terminals with wires can be inserted into the connector housing with just one device.

Further, according to the present invention, since a desired terminal can be inserted into a desired connector housing and a desired terminal housing chamber between the plurality of connector housings and the plurality of terminals with electric wires, the case fitting is completed as described later. At the same time, a product close to the final wire harness can be obtained (see Figures 13 and 14). Since the terminals are all inserted automatically, it is possible to effectively prevent incorrect insertion or forgetting to insert them, especially when inserting different types of terminals into the multi-pole connector housing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings showing examples.

Implementation 1 Figure 1 shows a schematic layout of the entire automatic insertion device for a terminal with a wire into a connector housing, which includes the device of the present invention.

The automatic insertion process of terminals with electric wires includes the process of making a standard length electric wire, the process of stripping the standard length electric wire, the process of crimping the terminal to the electric wire (including composite crimping of two or more electric wires), and the process of fitting the terminal with electric wire into the case. Consists of etc.

Reference numerals 1 and 1' designate transport stands for the wire clamping rods 3 used in these various processes, and are equipped with an endless chain 2. From the left end of the conveyance table 1 in the figure, a fixed-length electric wire manufacturing device B that makes a fixed-length electric wire W+ from the long electric wire W of the reel station A is shown.
Also, adjacent to this are a wire straightening device C1, a wire stripping device D, and a plurality of terminal crimping bags? &El, Ex...
and a case fitting device F are arranged in this order. G is a control device that operates these various devices based on information programmed in advance. In addition, devices C, D and E,
E.

. . . can use known devices.

The electric wire clamping rod 3, which is commonly used in various processes, is used to clamp a fixed length electric wire W+ manufactured to a predetermined length into a U-shape, and to clamp both ends of the wire W+, as shown in Figs. 2a and b. As shown in FIG. 2, the base portion 4b of the wire clamp 4, which is made up of a pair of opposing clamps 4a and 4a, is fitted in parallel to a support rod 5 having a gutter-like cross section. At the tip of the clamp 4a, a wire guide inclined surface 4C1 is formed with a concave groove 4d on one side and a protrusion 4e on the other side to facilitate insertion of the wire.
It has a structure that can be held securely.

Reference numeral H in FIG. 1 indicates a stock station for empty wire clamping rods 3, and the wire clamping rods 3 are sequentially moved by a rod holder 7 provided at a predetermined pitch on a pair of endless chains 6. B is supplied.

This fixed-length electric wire manufacturing apparatus B mainly includes an electric wire U-turn turning head 8 and an enlarging head 9, and additionally includes an auxiliary electric wire temporary holding plate 10, a transfer head 11, and the like.

The electric wire U-turn turning head 8 bends the tip of the electric wire into a U-shape, and as shown in FIG.
It is provided with a pair of wire clamp plates 13 that can be opened and closed by rotating 180° around , and a pair of wire cutting pieces 14 of a known structure. The wire clamp plate 13 is located in front of the rotating sleeve 15 of the pin 12, and has a cutout recess 13a for escape from the wire clamp 4. A mounting board 16 of the rotating sleeve 15 is screwed onto the tip of a piston rod 18a of a cylinder 18 fixed to a frame 17 of a column (not shown). Further, the wire cutting blade 14 is attached to a cutting blade mounting plate 19 vertically provided in front of the mounting board 16, and has a pin 20 and its guide groove (
(not shown) so as to be vertically slidable, and its upper end is linked to the piston rod 21a of the cylinder 21. Therefore, the wire cutting blade 14 can be raised and lowered and opened and closed independently of the wire clamp plate 13. In addition,
The electric wire cutting blade 14 may be separated from the U-turn turning head 8 and provided below the fixed length electric wire W+.

22 is a motor for stepwise rotation of the rotating sleeve 15.

The enlarging head 9 is used to produce a fixed-length electrical wire by stretching the electrical wire to a required length, and as shown in FIG. (not shown) is provided with a wire hooking pin 24 that goes up and down through the wire. The mounting board 25 of the wire hooking pin 24 is attached to the head 9
The piston rod 26a of the cylinder 26 is screwed onto the lower end of the piston rod 26a fixed to the cylinder 26. Further, the enlarging head 9 is connected to a guide frame 2 disposed orthogonally to the conveyor table 1 as shown in FIG.
7 and is fixed to an endless chain 30 which is rotated by a length measuring motor 28 and a sprocket 29 attached to the frame 27, and is configured to be freely adhesive to the conveyor table 1.

The electric wire temporary holding plate 10 holds electric wires bent into a U-shape at a constant pitch, and has a wire arrangement plate 31 on the side edge on the reel station A side, and a wire arrangement plate 31 on the side edge on the stock station H side. It has a rod holder 32 for the wire clamp rod 3.

A plurality of trumpet-shaped wire feeding guide rings 33 are attached to the wire array plate 31 at a constant pitch.
An electric wire check roll 34 and an electric wire insertion tube 35 are erected in a straight line in front of the electric wire insertion tube 35, and a pair of electric wire engagement plates 36 are erected in line with the electric wire insertion tube 35.

The transfer rod 11 is used to transfer the electric wire whose tip end is bent into a U-shape on the electric wire temporary holding plate 10 to the electric wire clamp 4 of the electric wire clamp rod 3, and similarly to the U-turn turning head 8, it has a pair of opening/closing functions. A flexible wire clamp plate 37 is provided.

The transfer rod 11 is provided so as to be movable up and down by a cylinder 39 of a head holder 38, and also to be movable reciprocally by a cylinder 41 of a frame 40 installed across the wire temporary holding plate 10. That is, the wire clamp plate 37
can reciprocate and move up and down between the wire locking plate 36 and the wire clamp 4.

Further, a pair of wire fixing plates 42a are provided along with the U-turn turning head 8 so as to be able to open/close and move up and down with respect to the wire fixing head 42. This electric wire fixing plate 42 is for holding the bent end portion of the electric wire which is bent into a U-shape in the electric wire drawing process which will be described later (FIGS. 3d and 3e).

The wire stripping device cuts and removes the insulation coating at the end of the wire to expose the conductor of the length necessary for crimping the terminal, and a known device can be used together with the wire straightening device C. The explanation will be omitted.

The terminal crimping devices EI, E2, etc. each crimp different types of terminals, and the configurations of the devices themselves are known, but as shown in Fig. 5a and b, the base of each device is 43
are the lifting cylinder 44, the rod 45, and its guide tube 45.
It is provided so that it can be raised and lowered by means of a. FIG. 5a shows a state in which the device is in the lowered position and the exposed conductor W portion of the length wire WI is located between the open ram 46 and the press table 47,
Figure 5 shows the device in the raised position and the conductor W on the press table 4.
7 is shown. In the figure, 48 is a chained terminal, 49
indicates the terminal take-up reel. Further, a composite head 50 used for composite crimping of electric wires is installed between the terminal crimping device E and the stripping device.

The composite head 50 is movable up and down and has a wire clamp plate 51 which has the same structure as the wire clamp plates 13 and 37 and can be opened and closed.

The case fitting device F includes a plurality of connector housings I,
L', 1. It is slidably mounted on a support frame 53 installed horizontally on the back of the set table 52.

As shown in FIG. 6a, the case fitting device F includes a pair of terminal gripping claws 54, wire gripping claws 55, and wire clamping plate 56, each of which is configured to be openable and closable. As shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b, the terminal gripping claws 54 and the wire gripping claws 55 are each formed into a piece shape having L-shaped protrusions 54a and 55a at their tips, and there is an upward and downward movement between the terminal grasping claws 54 and 54. A freely movable terminal holding plate 57 is provided. The terminal gripping claws 54 pinch the wire crimping portion 48a of the terminal 48 from both sides.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a mounting head for the claws 54 and 55 and the wire clamp plate 56, and the head holder 59 is slidable on the holder support plate 61 by two upper and lower parallel guide rods 60 and a screw rod (not shown). The connector housings 1, 12, .

The terminal gripping claws 54 and the wire gripping claws 55 are provided so as to be movable up and down by a cylinder (not shown) within the mounting head 58. 63 is a cylinder for raising and lowering the terminal holding plate 57. Further, the base plate 62 of the holder support plate 61 is screwed onto the lower end of a Vincento rod 65a of a cylinder 65 attached to a movable plate 64, and the movable plate 64 is attached to a pair of upper and lower guide rolls on a guide rail 66 of the support frame 53. 67, and is moved toward a desired connector housing (It, It...) on the set table 52 by a step motor 68 and an endless chain 69 mounted on the support frame 53. do. 70
is a lock stand for each connector housing It, It, . . . .

As described above, the terminal gripping claw 54, the wire gripping claw 55, and the wire clamping plate 56 are attached to the connector housing 1 along with the movable plate 64. ．． 1. The terminal gripping claws 54 and the wire gripping claws 55 are moved parallel to the wire clamping plate 56 by a cylinder in the mounting head 58, and are movable up and down together with the holder support plate 61, as well as moving toward and away from each other. rises and falls independently.

Further, in conjunction with the case fitting device F, a centering mechanism for inserting the terminal into the connector housing and a check mechanism after insertion are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b, the centering mechanism is constructed by locating a sensor 71 on the side of the electrical contact portion of the terminal 48 with a mating terminal (not shown).

That is, the sensor 71 is attached to the mounting head 5 shown in FIG. 6a.
The terminal gripping claws 54 and the wire gripping claws 55 in 8 are attached obliquely in front of the terminal gripping claws 54 via a support arm (not shown) from the mounting board 58a, and the distance l' between the sensor 71 and the terminal 48 and the preset distance i are Measure the error of

In addition, the terminal insertion check mechanism includes a mounting head 5 including terminal gripping claws 54, wire gripping claws 55, etc., as shown in FIG.
8 is attached to the head holder 59 via a support shaft 72 so as to be swingable in the direction of the arrow. Instead of the swinging motion, the head holder 59 may be moved backward by the guide rod 60 of the holder support plate 61. However, the terminal 48
In the case of a structure in which the locking arm 74 locks the terminal accommodating chamber 73 of the connector housing 1 as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable to pull the terminal 4 upward by swinging.

Hereinafter, the steps from producing a fixed-length electric wire to fitting it into a case and the operation of each device will be explained.

[Production process of fixed length electric wire]

First, FIGS. 3a and 4a show that the tip of the long electric wire W pulled out from the reel station A (FIG. 1) is placed on the wire temporary holding plate IO by the wire feeding guide ring 33.
The wire is stretched into a U-shape by the stretching head 9 through the wire check roll 34 and the wire insertion tube 35, and is cut by the wire cutting blade 14 of the U-turn turning head 8, with both ends adjacent to the wire clamping rod 3. It shows the state where it is held between two wire clamps 4 (hereinafter referred to as the "end point").
.

The U-shaped stretching distance of the stretched and cut electric wire Wl is approximately 2, and its total length is approximately 2.

After cutting, the wire cutting blade 14 is raised by the operation of the cylinder 21 as shown in FIGS. The tip of the long electric wire W left behind is bent into a U-shape, and the bent end is pushed and held between the electric wire insertion tube 35 and a pair of adjacent electric wire locking plates 36. After clamping, the wire temporary holding plate 10 moves one pitch (distance between adjacent wire clamps 4 of the wire clamp rod 3) in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

In this way, by stretching and cutting the long electric wire W, a fixed length electric wire W is obtained.
After producing I, the tip of the remaining long electric wire W is bent into a U-shape and prepared for the next process of producing a fixed length electric wire by sequentially drawing and cutting. In FIG. 1, a wire temporary holding plate 10 (see FIG. 4) indicated by a two-dot chain line holds a plurality of long wires W bent in a U-shape, such as a wire insertion tube 35 and a wire locking plate 36. (hereinafter referred to as the "starting point").

Figures 3C and 4C show the starting state of the wire drawing process. In this state, the transfer head 1 is moved by the operation of the cylinder 41.
1 moves onto the wire locking plate 36 as shown by the arrow, and the pair of wire clamp plates 37 descend to grip the U-shaped bent end of the long electric wire W and its opposing portion, and After rising and retreating, it is moved and clamped by the wire clamp 4 (FIG. 4d).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 d and 4 d, the wire fixing plate 42 a of the wire fixing head 42 is lowered to clamp and fix the U-shaped bent end to the wire clamp 4 . At the same time, the enlarging head 9 approaches the U-shaped bent portion by rotation of the length measuring motor 28 (FIG. 1). At this time, the wire hooking pin 24
is in the lowered position, the front of the upper and lower bin guide plates 23.23 is in an open state, and the U-shaped bent part is in the lowered position.
go in between. Then, the electric wire hooking pin 24 is raised by actuation of the cylinder 26 to close the open portion.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3e and 4e, the enlarging head 9 is moved back by half (L) of the required wire length by the reverse operation. Then, the wire hooking pin 24 is lowered to release its connection with the wire, and the wire fixing plate 42 is raised and returned to its original position.

Finally, as shown in Fig. 3f, the swinging U-turn head 8 is lowered by the actuation of the cylinder 18 to the side of the long electric wire W that has been U-turned, and after the electric wire is clamped by the electric wire clamp plate 13, the electric wire is cut. When cut by the blade 14, it returns to the "end point" as shown in FIG. 3a.

Next, a U-shaped bent portion is sequentially formed on the long electric wire W,
It is transferred to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 and clamped by the newly supplied wire clamping rod 3.

As a result, the desired fixed length electric wire W having a total length of approximately 2L is obtained.

is created.

Hereinafter, by repeatedly repeating the steps from the "starting point" to the "end point" in FIGS. 3a-f and 4a-e, a plurality of wire clamping rods 3 of the same or different lengths are attached, as shown in FIG. 11a. A primary intermediate product P+ of a wire harness is obtained in which both ends of the fixed length electric wire WI are clamped and fixed to the electric wire clamp 4.

In the process of manufacturing the above-mentioned fixed-length electric wire, a wire clamping rod 3 with wire clamps 4 arranged side by side is used as a means for clamping and fixing both ends of the fixed-length electric wire W. It is possible to use an endless chain as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 12604, in which electric wire grippers (consisting of a pair of grippers that can be opened and closed) are provided at a predetermined pitch. In addition, the process of bending the tip of the long electric wire W into a U-shape, the stretching process, the cutting process, and their processing positions are separated, and the transfer head 11 is omitted, so that the wire temporary at the U-shape bending part is separated. It will be easily understood that the step of transferring from the holding plate 10 to the wire clamping rod 3 may be omitted.

[Wire stripping and straightening process]

The primary intermediate product P1 is sequentially conveyed one pitch at a time in the arrow direction on the conveyor table 1' as shown in FIGS. 1 and 11a, and the wire straightening device C eliminates bends and curls at the ends of the wire. After that, the wire is stripped using a wire stripping device.

[Terminal crimping process] A plurality of terminal crimping devices E, E, etc. shown in Fig. 1 are used.
・As mentioned above (Fig. 5 a, b), each of the rams 4
6 and the press table 47 are in the open and lowered position. Through this open space, the terminal portions of the plurality of fixed length electric wires W1 fixed to the clamp rod 3 move intermittently one pitch at a time. And each device E,,E.

. . . are each equipped with a chain of terminals 48 having different shapes and sizes.

Therefore, during the above-mentioned intermittent movement, desired terminals 48 can be successively and continuously crimped onto both ends of the predetermined length electric wire W1 using devices selected from the devices EI, E2, . . . . In FIGS. 11C and 11C, a terminal 48I is crimped by device E to one end of the fixed-length electric wire indicated by reference numeral Wl'. For crimping, the device El is raised by the cylinder 44 as shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b. Next, the wire crimping portion 48a of the terminal 48 is placed on the press stand 47 and the ram 46 is lowered using a known mechanism. After crimping, the device E1 is lowered in the opposite direction to return to the state shown in FIG. 5a.

Continuous crimping of terminals can also be achieved by providing one of the wire clamping rod 3 and the group of crimping devices E+, Ex, . . . so as to be able to move toward and away from the other.

[Composite crimping process for terminals]

Composite crimping, in which two or more electric wires are crimped and connected to one terminal, is achieved in parallel with the crimping process.

That is, as shown in FIG. 11, a combination head 50 which can be raised and lowered is located between the stripping device and the terminal crimping device E, and its wire clamp plate 51 is attached to a wire clamp indicated by reference numeral 4I. It's right above. Therefore, the wire clamp plate 51 descends and grips the end portion of the standard length wire W, // and then rises, moves the wire clamp rod 3 by one pitch, and lowers and rises in the reverse operation to the 11th As shown in Fig. C, the fixed length electric wire W, /// in the adjacent electric wire clamp 4□ is overlapped and held.

Figure 12 shows fixed length wires WI' and W using wire clamp 4□.
,'' shows a composite clamping state of wire clamping rod 3.
When the wire clamp 4□ reaches the desired terminal crimping device (E+, Ez, . . .) by intermittent movement, crimping connection can be made in the same manner as in the normal crimping process.

In addition, the above-mentioned composite clamping for composite crimping of electric wires (12th
), by moving the composite head 50 parallel to the wire clamp 3, a desired fixed length wire W1 can be obtained.
It can be done more easily and in a variety of forms.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 11d, a plurality of electric wires with terminals (standard length electric wires) W including composite crimping are formed into a secondary intermediate product P2 in which both ends thereof are held between the wire clamps 4 of the wire clamp rod 3. is obtained.

[Case fitting process]

The secondary intermediate products P2 are collectively transferred to a setting table 52 on which a plurality of connector housings l1tI2ylff and 4 are arranged as shown in FIG.

Here, the moving plate 64 is moved along the guide rail 66 by the operation of the step motor 68, as shown in FIG. 6a, and positioned above the desired wire clamp 4.

Next, by operating the cylinder 65, the holder support plate 61, that is, the wire clamp plate 56 is lowered to grip the fixed-length wire W1 (FIG. 6b), and then the terminal gripping claws 54 and the wire gripping claws 55 are lowered to clamp each terminal. 48 wire crimping part 48
a and the electric wire W from both sides (Fig. 6C).

At this time, as shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b, the terminal gripping claws 54
, 54 is lowered by the operation of the lift cylinder 63 to push down the terminal 48, and cooperates with the protrusions 54a and 55a to arrange the terminal 48 in a substantially horizontal constant position.

Subsequently, the terminal gripping claw 54 to the wire clamp plate 56 are raised in the reverse operation to remove the wire W from the wire clamp 4, and if necessary, the movable plate 64 is moved laterally in the same manner as above to remove the terminal 48. The distal end of the connector housing I, , I, .
Figure d).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6e and 6f, the head holder 59 is advanced toward the housing and the electrical contact portion 48b of the terminal 48 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 73, and then the terminal gripping claw 54 and the wire gripping claw 55 Open and raise.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6g, the head holder 59 is further advanced while holding the wire W with the wire clamp plate 56.
The terminal 48 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 73 as shown in FIG. As a result, the terminal 48 is engaged with and locked with the locking arm 74.

By repeating the above operations, the terminal 48 of the desired fixed length electric wire W1 is connected to the desired connector housing (I1).

I2...) can be inserted into a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber 73.

Note that even when a plurality of connector housings are arranged one above the other in a row, the movement of the mounting head 58 by raising and lowering the
Case fitting can be performed in the same manner as described above.

[Terminal alignment mechanism]

When the terminal 48 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 73 in FIGS. 6d and 6e, both axes N and N are aligned as shown in FIG. 8a.
' may be parallel, but if the axis N of the terminal 48 is tilted as shown in Figure 8, smooth insertion will not be possible.

Therefore, the sensor 71 determines the distance i' between the sensor 71 and the tip of the terminal 48 and the set value! If there is no error, move it by l and insert it as is. If there is an error (±Δ2), move the moving plate 64! Correct by moving ±Δl.

Since this set value i varies depending on the shape, size, etc. of the terminal 48, it is stored in advance in the control device G for each type. As the sensor 71, a known sensor including a light emitting element and a light receiving element including a phototransistor, for example, can be used. Further, instead of distances 2 and 2', reflection angles may be measured and compared.

In addition, when aligning the centers, it is not necessary to make the axis N of the terminal parallel to N'; insertion is possible as long as the center 0 of the tip of the terminal 48 coincides with the axis N' of the terminal receiving chamber 73. It is.

[Terminal insertion check mechanism]

Although the case fitting is completed by inserting the terminal 48 shown in FIG. 6g, it is preferable to check for incomplete insertion.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the mounting head 58 is swung (backswinged) in the direction of the arrow to apply a predetermined tension to the electric wire WI. This makes it possible to determine whether A is incompletely inserted. As described above, instead of swinging, the wire clamp 56, ie, the head holder 59, may be moved backward.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the fixed-length wire W2 group fitted in the case is removed from the wire clamp rod 3. And each connector housing 1. ,1. , 13 and 14, tape T, ,T, ,T
When converging with 3... and expanding these, the 14th
A final product P in the form of a normal wire harness as shown in the figure is obtained.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to insert a terminal with an electric wire into a connector housing regardless of the type of terminal.
Moreover, without using auxiliary tools such as terminal insertion guides,
- By appropriately arranging a plurality of connector housings and terminals with electric wires, a wire harness similar to the final product can be obtained at the same time as the case fitting process is completed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic layout diagram of the entire automatic insertion device for a terminal with a wire into a connector housing including the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 a and b are an enlarged plan view and side view of a wire clamping rod used in the present invention; Figures 3a-f are side views showing the manufacturing process of a fixed length electric wire according to the present invention, Figures 4a and 4e are plan views showing the same (plan view showing the manufacturing process of a fixed length electric wire), and Figures 5a and b are the same. An explanatory diagram of the continuous crimping method of terminals according to the present invention, Figures 6a-g are explanatory diagrams of the case fitting process according to the present invention, and Figures 7a and b respectively show the gripping state of the electric wire and terminal in the case fitting process. 8a and b are explanatory diagrams of the terminal centering mechanism in the case fitting process; FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the terminal insertion state checking mechanism in the case fitting process; FIG. 10 11 is a cross-sectional view showing how the terminal is inserted into the connector housing, FIGS. 11a to 11d are explanatory diagrams of the process from straightening and stripping the fixed length electric wire to terminal crimping, respectively, and FIG. 12 is the fixed length electric wire according to the present invention. Two wires are combined into one for composite crimping.
FIGS. 13 and 14 are explanatory diagrams for converting the fixed electric wire, which has been fitted into a case, into a normal wire harness according to the present invention. 1.1'...transport platform, 2...endless chain, 3...
・Electric wire clamp rod, 4...Electric wire clamp, 4a...
Pincer, 5... Support rod, 6... Endless chain, 7.
... Rod holder, 8 ... U-turn turning head, 9 ... Enlarger head, 10 ... Wire temporary holding plate, 11 ... Transfer head, 12 ... Pin, 13 ... Wire clamp board, 1
3a... Notch recess, 14... Wire cutting blade, 15...
・Rotating sleeve, 16... Mounting board, 17... Frame, 18... Cylinder, 19... Cutting blade mounting plate,
20... Pin, 21... Cylinder, 22... Motor, 23... Bin guide plate, 24... Electric wire hooking pin, 25... Mounting board, 26... Cylinder, 27...
・Guide frame, 28... Length measurement motor, 29...
Sprocket, 30...Endless chain, 31...Wire arrangement plate, 32...Pole holder, 33...Wire feeding guide ring, 34...Wire check roll, 35...Wire insertion Pipe, 36... Wire locking plate, 37... Wire clamp plate, 38... Head holder, 39... Cylinder,
40...Frame, 41...Cylinder, 42...
Wire fixing head, 42a... Wire fixing plate, 43...
Base, 44... Lifting cylinder, 45... Rod, 4
5a... Guide tube, 46... Ram, 47... Press stand, 48... Terminal, 48a... Electric crimp part, 48b
... Electrical contact part, 49 ... Terminal take-up reel, 50.
...Composite head, 51...Wire clamp plate, 52...
-Set stand, 53...Support frame, 54...Terminal gripping claw, 54a...Protrusion, 55...Wire gripping claw, 5
5a...Protrusion, 56...Wire clamp plate, 57...
・Terminal holding plate, 58... Mounting head, 58a... Mounting board, 59... Head holder, 60... Guide rod, 61... Holder support plate, 62... Board part, 63
... Lifting cylinder, 64... Moving plate, 65... Cylinder, 66... Guide rail, 67... Guide roll, 68... Step motor, 69... Endless chain, 70...・Lock stand, 71...Sensor, 72・
... Support shaft, 73 ... Terminal accommodation chamber, 74 ... Locking arm,
A... Reel station, B... Apparatus for making fixed length electric wire, C... Wire straightening device, D... Wire stripping device, E, , E2... Terminal crimping device, F. ...Case fitting device, G...Control device, H...Stock station, II II2 s13...Connector housing, L...Length, N, N'...Axis line, 0.
...Center, P,,P,,P3...Primary, secondary, final product, TI, T,,T,...Tape, W...Long electric wire, Wl...Standard length electric wire , W... conductor. Patent applicant Yazaki Sogyo Co., Ltd. Figure 3 (a) (b) Figure 4 (el Figure 3 (dl) Figure 4 ((1) (b) Figure 6 48b 74 I4 Figure 12

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) A mounting head attached to the movable plate so as to be able to move toward and away from the movable plate and to move up and down is opposed to the connector housing, and a terminal with an electric wire is provided by a pair of terminal gripping claws and wire gripping claws provided on the mounting head so as to be able to move up and down, respectively. After gripping the wire crimping portion and the wire, the terminal holding plate, which is movable up and down between the pair of terminal gripping claws, is lowered to adjust the attitude of the terminal, and then the mounting head is approached to the connector housing. A method for inserting a terminal with an electric wire into a connector housing, characterized in that when the electrical contact portion of the terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing, the terminal gripping claw is opened and raised. (2) The insertion method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal gripping claw grips a conductor crimping portion of a wire crimping portion of the terminal. (3) The insertion method according to claim 1, wherein the wire terminal is held between a wire clamp consisting of a pair of opposing clamps arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval on a clamp rod. (4) The insertion method according to claim 1, wherein the electric wire of the electric wire terminal is held between openable and closable grips provided at predetermined intervals on an endless chain. (5) The mounting head, which is attached to the movable plate so that it can move up and down and move up and down, faces the connector housing. After gripping the desired terminals with electric wires held in parallel by the electric wire clamps arranged in parallel on the clamp rod, the terminal holding plate, which is provided between the pair of terminal gripping claws and can be freely raised and lowered, is lowered to adjust the attitude of the terminals. After the adjustment, the mounting head is brought close to the connector housing, and when the electrical contact part of the terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing, the terminal gripping claw and the wire gripping claw open and both gripping claws are opened. A method for inserting a terminal with an electric wire into a connector housing, the method comprising: raising the terminal with an electric wire, and then bringing the electric wire clamp plate holding the electric wire close to the connector housing to lock the terminal with an electric wire in the terminal accommodating chamber. (6) A mounting head mounted on the movable plate so as to be movable toward and away from it and to be able to move up and down is opposed to the connector housing. Grip the terminals and wires,
In the method of bringing the mounting head close to the connector housing and inserting the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber, a sensor is provided at a position close to the terminal gripping claw, and the distance between the tip of the terminal and the sensor is determined by the sensor. A method for inserting a terminal with an electric wire into a connector housing, characterized in that an error between the terminal accommodating chamber and the tip end of the terminal is performed according to the error by detecting an error between the terminal accommodating chamber and a set value. (7) At the lower end of the mounting head, a pair of terminal gripping claws and wire gripping claws, which can be opened and closed, are provided so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and a terminal holding plate that can be moved up and down between the pair of terminal holding claws is provided to support the mounting head. A terminal with electric wire, characterized in that a head holder is provided so as to be movable towards and away from a movable plate and can be moved up and down, and the movable plate is disposed so as to be movable in parallel to a set table on which a plurality of connector housings are arranged in parallel. Insertion device into connector housing. (8) The mounting head is provided with a sensor at a position close to the terminal gripping claw, and the distance between the sensor and the tip of the terminal of the wire-attached terminal gripped by the terminal gripping claw and the wire gripping claw is determined by the set value. 8. The insertion device according to claim 7, further comprising a mechanism for detecting errors and aligning the tip end of the terminal and the terminal accommodating chamber.