US3075567A

US3075567A - Electrical terminal applicator

Info

Publication number: US3075567A
Application number: US51627A
Authority: US
Inventors: Willard L Busler
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1960-08-24
Filing date: 1960-08-24
Publication date: 1963-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 1980-01-29
Also published as: CA706586A; GB910815A; DE1146938B; CH407272A; NL132409C; FR1298263A; NL268082A

Description

9, 1963 w. BUSLER 3,075,567

ELECTRICAL TERMINAL APPLICATOR Filed Aug. 24, 1960 s Sheets-Sheet 1 aw w I INVENTOR. (Amman L. BusLER Jan. 29., 1963 w. BUSLER ELECTRICAL TERMINAL APPLICA'I'OR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed ig 24, 1960 23 Claims. (Ci. 153-1) This invention relates to machines for applying an electrical terminal or connector to a wire at a location intermediate the wire ends.

Specialized machines for crimping terminals in strip form onto the ends of wires are well-known to the art and are in widespread usage. Such machines are usually constructed in a manner such that the terminal can be applied only to the wire end and not to the wire at a lo: cation intermediate the ends. It is,-however, sometimes desirable or necessary to crimp a terminal onto a wire intermediate the ends thereof and to perform the crimping operation without bending or otherwise deforming the wire. 7

An object of the present invention is to provide an im proved terminal applicator for applying terminals to wires intermediate the ends thereof. A further object is to provide a terminal applicator capable of crimping terminals onto wires intermediate their ends without bending or otherwise deforming the wires during the operation. A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved applicator particularly adapted to crimp terminals onto wires extending from relatively small electrical components which are secured together in spaced-apart, parallel relationship in the form of a belt. A still further object is to provide an applicator for electrical terminals capable of applying terminals onto the wires extending from belted components without destruction of the belting itself.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment comprising a fixed crimping anvil and a movable crimping die which is reciprocable towards and away from the fixed anvil, A depressible shearing plate is disposed against, and extends above, the fixed anvil and has an elongated slot therein through which terminals can be fed to the anvil. Adjacent to the depressible shearing plate is a platform, also depressibly mounted, upon which is provided a terminal feeding mechanism for feeding a strip of terminals to the lower die. The press ram, upon which the movable crimping :die is mounted, also has mounted thereon a depressor member which, during movement of the ram, first engages the shearing plate to move the slot past the anvil and thereby shear the leading terminal from the strip. Thereafter, this depressor member engages the platform,

and lowers the platform and the shearing plate while the movable crimping die moves towards its bottom dead center position to crimp the terminal onto a wire. The wire itself initially extends across the upper surface of the shearing plate and over the platform, and is moved relatively downward into the leading terminal as the crimping operation proceeds in order to avoid bending or otherwise deforming 'it. J

Other objects and attainments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which there is 'shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention; it is to be understood, however, that this embodirnent is not intended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention but is given for purposes of illustration in order that others skilled in the art may fully understand the invention and the principles thereof and the manner -of applying it in practical use so that they may modify it "end of the cylinder.

in various forms, each as may be best suited to the conditions of a particular use.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a portion of a belt of electrical components;

FIGURE 3 is a side view, partly in section, showing the terminal feed-mechanism, the crimping die and anvil, and the shearing mechanism of the preferred embodiment;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are fragmentary views similar to FIGURE 3 but showing only the crimping zone of the apparatus and illustrating the shearing operation;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 66 of FIGURE 3;

I FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the terminal feed mechanism and shearing mechanism; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view showing the terminal feed finger and illustrating the manner in which it engages the strip of terminals.

FIGURE 2 shows a short section of belting 2 comprising a group of components, such as capacitors or resistors, each having a central body portion 4, from the ends of which extend wires 6. Electrical components of this type are frequently quite small and are manufactured as discrete units so that they present a packaging and handling problem, particularly when it is desired to handle them in large numbers. The belt of FIGURE 2 was primarily devised as a convenient method of packaging such small components, and is formed by simply aligning the components in parallel relationship and securing them in the positions shown by means of strips of tape 8 which extend parallel to each other near the ends of the wires. When components of the type shown in FIGURE 2 are used in printed circuit boards, as is frequently the case, the wires 6 must be cut to a relatively short length and terminals or tips 7 must be crimped onto 'the wire ends. The wires are then bent and the tips inserted into openings in the printed circuit board and soldered to the conducting paths of the board by immersing the entire board in a solder bath.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the instant invention, the terminals 7 are crimped onto the wires 6 at locations between the central body portions of the components and the tapes 8 while the components are still in the form ,of the belt. The components can then be removed from the belt by merely severing the wire of each component at a location adjacent the crimpedon connectors for subsequent use in a printed circuit board. It will be appreciated that this arrangement perrnits the components to be retained in the convenient belt form, even after the terminals are secured thereto and until it is desired to remove them for assembly to an electronic circuit.

Turning now to FIGURE 1, the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a press having a generally 0- shaped casting 10, to which is pivotally secured at 14 a piston-cylinder 12 from which a piston rod 16 extends. -In the disclosed form, the cylinder is of the single-acting type and a return spring 20 is provided to return the piston to its starting position after it has been moved 'upwardly by fluid pressure. This return spring acts between a crosshead 18 and a plate 22 secured to the lower Piston rod 16 is pivotally secured at its upper end by means of a clevis to one end of a lever 24 which, in turn, is pivotally mounted at 26 on the upper end of the press casting. The opposite end of the lever has a pivotal connection 28 with a toggle link 30 which, in turn, is pivotally connected to a ram :32. I This ram, which is not shown in detail in FIGURE 1,

M is contained within the press casting and is retained in place by a cover plate 34 secured to the casting.

A base plate 36 is mounted on the lower portion of the press casting and supports the various crimping and feeding and severing mechanisms which will now be described. A lower crimping die or anvil 38 having a terminal supporting surface 40 is mounted on this base plate by means of a pair of anvil holders 42, 44. The anvil is clamped between these holders, as shown in FIGURE 7, by means of screws 46 which extend through the anvil holder 42, through aligned openings in the anvil itself, and into threaded openings in the anvil holder 44. These anvil holders, in turn, are secured to a generally U-shaped base block 50 by mean-s of screws 48, and the base block, in turn, is mounted on the plate 36 by means of screws 52 extending through the bottom thereof. A plate 54 is clamped against the open end of base block 50' by means of the screws 48 which extend from the anvil holders through aligned openings in plate 54. This end plate 54 has a central channel 56 (FIG- URE 3) which faces the anvil holders, and in which is disposed a shearing plate 58 having a central, elongated slot 60 and a pair of relatively shorter slots 62 on each side thereof. The screws 49 extend through these shorter slots and retain the shearing plate in the position shown, while permitting relative downward movement of the plate as viewed in FIGURES 3 and 6. The plate is normally biased upwardly by means of springs 64 acting between recessed screws in base plate 36 and extending into corresponding aligned recesses in the shearing plate. The upper edge of the shearing plate is provided with a notch 66 to assist in positioning the wire during a. crimping operation as explained below.

In, operation, this shearing plate moves downwardly and the upper edge 70 of the slot 60 moves relatively past terminal supporting surface 40, thereby to sever the slug or connecting section 68 of the strip of terminals which connects the leading terminal of the strip to the next adjacent terminal. This slug or connecting portion of the strip must then be disposed of, and to this end there is provided a central depression 74 in the channel 56 of the plate 54 and the upper end of this depression is, in turn, beveled as shown at 72 to guide the slugs downwardly and into an opening 73 in the base plate.

A depres-sible support block 76 is mounted in the opening defined by the U-shaped block 50 and the plate 54. This block has a recess on its underside, in which is mounted a spring 78 which acts between the block and a recess in the base plate 36 to bias the plate upwardly as viewed in FIGURE, 3. A laterally extending foot 80 is provided on block 76 and normally bears. against base block 5% to act as a stop and limit upward movement of the depressible support. A platform 82 is secured by screws 83 to the upper surface of block 76 and extends rearwardly of the press A central groove or channel 84 of this platform extends across the upper surface of this platform and towards the terminals supporting surface of theanvil to define a feed path for the terminal strip. As is apparent from FIGURE 3, the bottom of this channel is substantially level with the terminal supportingsurface of the anvil when the parts are in their normal position. Advantageously, a hold-down plate 86 is provided to clamp the terminal strip in the channel 84 and to prevent overfeeding of the strip during operation. This holddown plate has a central rib 88 which projects inwardly of the sidewalls ofthe terminals and clamps them. lightly against the bottom of the channel. The plate itself is normally biased downwardly against the platform by means of springs 9tl which act betweenthesurface of the plate 86 and. the nuts 92- on the ends of rods 96. which extend from the platform and through. slots on the. op; pQsite sides, of the. plate. The. right-hand side. of the plate, as viewed in FIGURE 7, bears against the upper surface of platform 82 while the left side is held slightly above the platform surface by means of screws 98. These screws are threaded through openings in the plate and have hemispherical ends which bear against the platform surface. The hold-down plate thus pivots about its right hand side and is resiliently biased in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 7.

The terminal strip is fed by means of a feed finger on the underside of platform 82-. The end of this feed finger extends upwardly through a slot 104 in the platform and is provided with ears 102 which engage the connecting tabs 68 of the strip as best shown in FIG- URE 8. The opposite end of the finger is pivotally con nected at 106 to a slide member 108, and a spring 110, interposed between the finger andthe slide, normally biases the feed finger upwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 3. Advant-ageously, a lever 111 is provided on the finger for moving the finger in a counterclockwise direction and out of engagement with the strip for pur-- poses of adjustment. Slide block 108 is secured to the end of a piston rod 112 of a pneumatic piston-cylinder 114 mounted on the underside of the platform. It will be apparent that during each cycle of operation, the piston-cylinder 114 is actuated and the feed finger is driven leftwardly to feed the terminal strip and is then retracted to its starting position.

The end of the platform which is adjacent to the shearing plate 58 has bolted thereto a guide plate 116 having a rib, similar to the rib 88, extending into groove 84 to control the movement and the position of the end portion of the strip in order to insure precise feeding thereof to the crimping die. A fixed shearing plate 118 is mounted in a recess in the end of the platform for cooperation with the depressible shearing plate 58 so that as the movable shearing plate moves downwardly, the connecting slug will be severed by the shearing action of the edge 7 0 of the slot in the depressible shearing plate and the edge of the fixed shearing plate 118.

The press ram 32 has mounted on its lower end 'a movable crimping die 119 having a. central slot 121 which receives the lower crimping die when the ram moves relatively downwardly. A depressor 123 is also secured to the ram and has

foot portions

129, 131 for engagement with the movable shearing plate and the platform respectively. The foot portion 129 is slotted as shown in FIGURES 3 and 6, so that it straddles the wire when it engages shearing plate 58 as described below.

Quite frequently after the terminal has been crimped onto the wire, the terminal becomes jammed or stuck within the slot of the upper crimping die, and it is necessary to exert a slight downward force on the wire to remove it therefrom. To this end, there is provided a pair of stripping

blades

125 and 127 on each side of the upper crimping die which are mounted by means of brackets 25 on the block 50. These stripper blades engage the wire upon relative upward movement of the ram and dislodge the crimped terminal from the slot 121 of the crimper when necessary.

The strip of terminals is conveniently supplied from a reel mounted on a spindle adjacent to the press, and is led. from the reel through a guide tube 122 on the base of the press and over an apron 124to the channel or groove 84 of the platform.

The invention is of utility wherever it is: desired to crimp a terminal on a wire intermediate the ends thereof without bending or otherwise deforming the wire- The instant embodiment of the invention is particularly intended for components in-belted form as described above, and tofacilitate the handling of components-in this form there are provided on each side of the crimping die a pair of aprons 1'42 mounted on brackets 144 on the base plate 36.- For thepurpose of positioning theindividual components-and their wires with respect to the'crimpi'n'g die, there is provided a pair of

positioners

126, 128

having slots 130 therein for reception of the wires. Positioner 126 has a base 132 thereon which is secured to the upper end of an L-shaped bracket 134. This positioner is slotted to receive the anvil 38 and is positioned adjacent to the anvil with its slot in alignment with the notch in the crimping or shearing plate as shown in FIGURE 3. The positioner 128 is mounted on a hinge section 138 which is pivotally connected with a second hinge section 140 on the face of the plate 134, a spring being provided to bias the upper hinge section to the position shown in FIGURE 3. This arrangement of mounting the positioning device 128 on a hinge permits it to be conveniently moved out of the way when necessary for servicing of the machine.

The air supply for the press cylinder 12 and the terminal feed cylinder 114 may be of conventional form and need not be described in detail here. It is sufficient to say that in the disclosed embodiment of the press, a time delay valve 146 is provided for controlling the air supply to both the main cylinder 12 and the feed cylinder 114 upon actuation of a single inlet valve (not shown). The inlet valve is advantageously of the foot-controlled type so that the operators hands are free to manipulate the belt. In accordance with the preferred method of operating the press, the foot valve is opened and air is first supplied through valve 146 to the main cylinder 12 and, at the conclusion of the press cycle, to the terminal feed cylinder 114.

In use, at the beginning of an operating cycle, the parts will be in the position shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 with the feed finger in its retracted position and with a previously fed terminal on the terminal supporting surface of the anvil. The operator, at the beginning of the crimping operation, manipulates the belt and positions the wire onto which a terminal is to be crimped in the positioners 12 6, 128, with one side of the component against the side of positioner 126 thereby accurately to locate the terminal with respect to the wire. The wire extending from the opposite side of the component will be disposed in the slot in the front positioner 128 as shown in the perspective view of FIGURE 1. The portion of the belt which extends beyond the crimping die and the shearing plate will lie over the platform, and the section of wire between the crimping die and the tape will be located in the notch 66 on the upper surface of the shearing plate.

After the parts have been positioned in this manner, the operator actuates the foot valve and the piston rod 16 moves upwardly and the ram 32 downwardly as viewed in FIGURE 1. During such movement, the bifurcated foot 129 of the depressor first engages the upper surface of the shearing plate, and this plate is depressed as shown in FIGURE 4 until the upper edge of the notch moves past the lower edge of the terminal supporting surface of the anvil and past the shearing blade or plate 113. Upon such movement, the connecting slug 68 between the terminal on the anvil and the next adjacent terminal is removed and falls downwardly as indicated in FiGURE 4. At this intermediate stage of the cycle, the terminal will have been captured by the slot 121 in the crimping die so that it cannot change its position relative to the die or move off of the die. As the shearing plate continues to move downwardly, the entire section of the belt in the immediate vicinity of the die also moves downwardly until the wire is positioned in the leading terminal on the anvil. Thereafter, the foot 131 of the depressor engages the platform and both the shear ing plate and the platform move relatively downwardly as the terminal is crimped onto the wire by inward bending and curling of its sidewalls. It will be apparent that since the wire moves downwardly as the crimping operation takes place, it is not bent by the crimper. The ram thereafter moves upwardly and the crimping die carries with it the crimped terminal which will have become lodged within the slot. As the crimping die moves past the plate or blades- 125, 127, the wedged terminal will be ejected therefrom and the belt will once more be free of the crimping mechanism. The operator can then adjust the belt to position the wire extending from the next adjacent component over the crimping anvil. After upward movement of the ram, the terminal feed mechanism is also actuated by time delay valve 146 so that a terminal will be positioned on the terminal supporting surface for the next succeeding cycle of the press.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for crimping a terminal onto a wire at a location intermediate the ends thereof comprising, a fixed crimping anvil having a terminal supporting surface thereon, a reciprocable ram having a crimping die thereon for cooperation with said anvil, means for feeding connectors in end-to-end strip form to said anvil, a shearing plate disposed adjacent to said anvil in a plane extending transversely of, and intersecting, the path of feed of} said strip, said shearing plate extending beyond said terminal supporting surface and being resiliently biased towards said ram, an opening in said shearing plate to permit feeding of said terminals to said anvil, and means on said ram for engaging said shearing plate during movement of said ram thereby to move said open ing past said terminal supporting surface and to shear the leading terminal of said strip from the end thereof.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a platform having one surface which is normally substantially coplanar with respect to said terminal supporting surface, said platform being resiliently biased to its normal position and being movable in the direction of movement of said ram, and means on said ram for engaging said platform after initial movement of said shearing plate thereby to move said platform in the direction of movement of said ram.

3. Apparatus for crimping a terminal onto a wire at a location intermediate the ends thereof comprising, a reciprocable ram having a crimping die secured thereto and a fixed anvil having a terminal supporting surface for cooperation with said crimping die, a platform disposed adjacent to said anvil and having a surface which is normally substantially coplanar with said terminal supporting surface, said platform being resiliently biased to its normal position and being movable in the direction of movement of said ram, terminal feeding means on said platform for feeding terminals in end-to-end strip form across said platform surface to position the leading terminal of said strip on said terminal supporting surface, a resiliently mounted shearing plate interposed between said anvil and said platform and normally extending beyond the plane of said platform surface towards said ram, said shearing plate being movable in the direction of movement of said ram, an opening in said shearing plate to permit feeding of said terminal strip from said platform surface to said terminal supporting surface, a first depressor means secured to said ram and engageable with said shearing plate, and a second depressor means on said ram for engagement with said platform, said first depressor means being engageable with said shearing plate prior to engagement of said sec- 0nd depressor means with said platform whereby, upon positioning of a wire over said anvil and across said shearing plate and platform, and upon actuation of said ram, said opening in said shearing plate is first moved past said first surface of said platform thereby to sever said leading terminal from said strip, and said second depressor means thereafter engages and lowers said platform concomitantly with crimping of said leading terminal onto said wire.

4. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 3 including supporting surfaces on each side of said crimping die for supporting a belt of electrical components having wires extending from their ends.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim '3 including fixed wire guide means disposed on the opposite side of; said 2 ,778,097 fixed anvil from said shearing plate, said Wire guide 2,945,206 means having a slot extending parallel to the plane of said anvil for guiding said wire into said leading terminal.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,760,195 Berg Aug. 28, 1956 8 Berg Jan. 22, 1957 Hammell July 12, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS France May 2, 1960

Claims

1. APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING A TERMINAL ONTO A WIRE AT A LOCATION INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF COMPRISING, A FIXED CRIMPING ANVIL HAVING A TERMINAL SUPPORTING SURFACE THEREON, A RECIPROCABLE RAM HAVING A CRIMPING DIE THEREON FOR COOPERATION WITH SAID ANVIL, MEANS FOR FEEDING CONNECTORS IN END-TO-END STRIP FORM TO SAID ANVIL, A SHEARING PLATE DISPOSED ADJACENT TO SAID ANVIL IN A PLANE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF, AND INTERSECTING, THE PATH OF FEED OF SAID STRIP, SAID SHEARING PLATE EXTENDING BEYOND SAID TERMINAL SUPPORTING SURFACE AND BEING RESILIENTLY BIASED TOWARDS SAID RAM, AN OPENING IN SAID SHEARING PLATE TO PERMIT FEEDING OF SAID TERMINALS TO SAID ANVIL AND MEANS ON SAID RAM FOR ENGAGING SAID SHEARING PLATE DURING MOVEMENT OF SAID RAM THEREBY TO MOVE SAID OPENING PAST SAID TERMINAL SUPPORTING SURFACE AND TO SHEAR THE LEADING TERMINAL OF SAID STRIP FROM THE END THEREOF