US3126750A - Crimping tool with full stroke compelling mechanism - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1964 l G. N. wlLLls 3,126,750

CRIMPING TOOL WITH FULL STROKE COMPELLING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 56 I/o. I.

Filed OCL. 3, 1960 1N VEN TOR. Gea/v7' M WLL/S rraeA/Eys.

G. N. WILLIS March 31, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 3, 1960 w 2 :0d m u M f W M m mM 2 w T M M f e 00 6 W. GJM/f FI w ---f w /N T w w w w y w w m m w ya w y M i i www d WIr/ o fw w 4 2 e M M w YO J m Y my m rraeA/Eys.

United States Patent O 3,126,750 CRIMPING TOL WITH FULL STROKE COMPELLING MECHANISM Grant N. Willis, Bristol, Conn., assignor to Cannon Electric Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Get. 3, 1960, Ser. No. 60,070 6 Claims. (Cl. 74-17.5)

The present invention relates to a tool` having a plurality of converging jaws, and it relates particularly to a crimping tool adapted to crimp a contact terminal for an electrical connector about the end of a conductor wire.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a tool having a plurality of opposed jaw members which converge during actuation of the tool, wherein novel wedge means is employed to insure completion of the converging movement of the jaws before the jaws may be released so as to diverge outwardly back to their initial, unactuated positions.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved jaw tool of the character described wherein the jaws are mounted in one end of an elongated housing and are actuated by sliding movement of an actuator bar mounted in the housing, and wedge means for requiring completion of the actuating stroke of the shaft in the housing, the wedge means including a wedge member slidable between the housing and the bar, shoulder means on the shaft being engageable with the wedge member to move the wedge out of wedging position upon completion of the stroke, and latch means in the housing for holding the wedge out of wedging position until the bar has returned to its initial position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a crimping tool of the character described in which the crimping jaws in the forward portion of the housing are caused to converge in a crimping stroke by forward axial movement of the jaws within the housing, the jaws being cammed radially inwardly against an inclined cam surface within the housing, the jaws being caused to diverge upon reverse axial movement of the jaws in the housing by means of the outward expanding force of an elastomer collet member disposed between the jaws.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear during the course of the following specification wherein the details of construction and mode of operation of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal central section, with portions in elevation, through a crimping tool according to the present invention, showing the parts of the tool in the fully opened position;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal central section, with portions in elevation, illustrating the crimping tool of FIG. 1 with the parts thereof disposed in a partially closed position of the tool;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section, with portions in elevation, similar to FIGS. 1 and 2, but with the parts of the tool disposed in the fully closed position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 6 illustrating the disposition of the jaws in the tool;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal central section of the crimping tool showing the parts thereof disposed in the open position, with a contact terminal and the end of a conductor wire inserted and ready for crimping; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal central section similar to FIG. 5, but with the parts of the tool disposed in the closed position at the completion of the crimping .n

stroke.

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Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 illustrate three successive phases in the operation of the crimping tool. Thus, in FIG. 1, the jaws are in their fully open positions, with the actuator shaft at its rearwardmost position in the housing. In FIG. 2, the jaws are partially closed, with the actuator bar moved forwardly from its rearwardmost position, and with the wedge means engageable between the housing and the shaft to prevent rearward motion of the bar, thus to insure completion of the crimping stroke. In FIG. 3, the jaws are fully closed, with the actuator shaft in its forwardmost position, and with the wedge latched in its inoperative position so as to permit return of the actuator bar rearwardly in the housing and to permit expansion of the jaws.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the manner in which a contact terminal is crimped about a conductor wire, the jaws Vbeing in the fully opened position in FIG. 5 corresponding to the position of the jaws in FIG. 1, and the jaws being fully closed in FIG. 6 at the completion of the crimping stroke corresponding to the position of the jaws in FIG. 3.

The crimping tool 10 shown in the drawings includes an elongated housing 12 which, for convenience in production and assembly, may comprise two elongated housing sections that are fastened together. The housing 12 Vhas forward and rear end portions 14 and 16, respectively, the rear end portion 16 being recessed atr18 to receive one end of a handle or lever 2@ which is pivotally connected to housing 12 by means of pin 22.

The housing 12 is provided with a longitudinal bore 24 which extends from the forward portion of the housing to the recess 18 at the rear of the housing. An annular axial recess 26 is provided in the forward portion of housing 12 for connecting a forward housing portion 23 for enclosing the jaws of the tool, the forward housing portion 2S comprising a rigid collet member. The forward housing portion 28 has a radially outwardly extending flange 30 at its rear or base end which is received in an annular groove 31 in recess 26 so as to lock the forward or jaw housing portion 28 in place.

The forward housing portion 28 includes a cylindrical portion 32 and an inwardly tapered forward portion 34 having an inclined annular inside surface 36 which functions as a cam surface for camming the jaw members radially inwardly in the manner hereinafter described inkdetail. An axial opening 38 is provided in the front end of the forward housing portion 28. Y

An actuator bar 40 is slidably mounted in the bore 24 of housing 12, bar 40 having a front end face 42 and having a notch 44 at its rear end. A small arm 46 is pivotally mounted on the handle Ztl adjacent to pin 22, with the free end of arm 46 being engaged in the notch 44, so that when the handle 21B is pivoted toward the housing 12, the arm 46 will move the actuator shaftr4tl forwardly in the body 12. It is to be noted that the arm 46 functions as a toggle link, providing increased mechanical advantage as the bar 4i) moves forwardly toward the completion of the crimping stroke.

The bore 24 includes an enlarged portion forming a recess 48 in housing 12 for receiving a coil compression spring 50. Spring 50 is disposed about the bar 40 and engages a pin 52 extending transversely through bar 40 so as to bias the bar 46 rearwardly in the housing 12. A spacer washer 54 may be provided in the front end of recess 48 as a seat for spring 50 to control the amount of compression of spring 50 and hence the biasing force of the spring against bar 40. f

The front end of actuator bar 40 is provided with a slot 56 which is enlarged rearwardly of the front end face 42 to provide rearwardly facing shoulders 58. A tubular guiding member 60 is connected to theV front end portion of actuator bar 40 and extends forwardly therefrom axially through the tubular forward housing portion 28. The guide member 66 is provided with a head portion 62 at its rear end which seats against the shoulders 58 of actuator bar 46, the tubular guide member 6@ having a shank portion 64 which extends forwardly from head portion 62 through slot 56 in bar 40 and into the forward housing portion 28, guide member 60 also having an enlarged forward body portion 66. This enlarged forward body portion 66 includes a cylindrical outer wall portion 68 at the front end of guide 60 which is slidable Within the axial opening 38 at the front end of the housing, and also includes an outwardly tapering part 70 to the rear of the cylindrical part 68 which serves as a guide for the jaw members.

The guide member 66 has an axial bore 72 therethrough, with a counterbore 74 in the forward portion thereof, a contact terminal being receivable in bore 72 and counterbore 74 as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 so as to be positioned for the crimping operation. A countersink 76 at the front end of counterbore 74 provides an entrance ramp or guide for insertion of the contact terminal 112.

A plurality of jaw-receiving slots 78 are radially disposed through the enlarged forward body portion 66 of guide member 60, communicating with bore 72 and counterbore 74. Any number of the radial slots 78 may be regularly spaced about the guide member 6i), according to the number of jaws employed, three of the slots 78 being shown in the drawings.

A plurality of elongated jaw members 80 are disposed within the jaw housing 28, with the forward portion of each jaw member being slidably engaged in a respective radial slot 78. Each jaw member 80 includes jaw teeth 82 at `the front end of the jaw and adapted to project radially inwardly into the counterbore 74 in the closed position of the jaws to apply the crimp to the contact terminal. Each jaw member 8i) is provided at its rear end with an enlarged foot portion 84 having a flat rear surface 86, a radially outwardly projecting heel portion 88, and a radially inwardly projecting toe portion l96 having a forwardly facing shoulder 92. The forward portion of each jaw member 80 has an inclined outer edge 94 which is engageable against the inclined annular inside surface 36 in the forward housing portion 28 for camming the jaw radially inwardly upon forward movement of the jaw in the housing.

An actuator ring 96 is disposed in the forward housing portion 28 to the rear of jaws 80, ring 96 having a flat forwardly facing face 98 which abuts against the flat rear surfaces 86 of the jaws 80. A snap ring 100 in the forward housing portion 28 limits the rearward travel of actuator ring 96. The actuator ring 96 includes a short rearwardly projecting boss 102 which engages against the front end face 42 of actuator bar 40,4so that forward movement of bar 48 in housing 12 will cause actuator ring 96 and jaws 80 to slide forwardly in the housing, whereby the jaws 80 will be cammed radially inwardly against the inclined inside surface 36 of the housing. An annular positioning rib 104 may be provided on the shank portion 64 of actuator member 60 within the axial passage 106 through actuator ring 96 for centering the parts.

The guide member 60 is provided with an external annular flange 108 which extends radially outwardly in front of the forwardly facing shoulders 92 on jaw members 80, the ange 108 causing the jaws 80 to move rearwardly in the housing upon rearward sliding movement of actuator bar 40 and tubular guide member 60.

An elastomer collet 110 is circumferentially disposed about the shank portion 64 of guide member 60 between enlarged forward body portion 66 and flange 108. The elastomer collet 110 serves to bias the jaws 80 radially outwardly in the housing, collet 118 being compressed radially inwardly when actuator shaft 40 and actuator member 60 are moved forwardly so as to cam the jaws 80 inwardly, and the collet 118 shifting the jaws 80 radially outwardly when the jaws are shifted rearwardly by rearward movement of bar 46 and guide member 60.

It is to be noted that the spacing between the head 62 and flange 168 of actuator guide 60 is such as to permit the elastomer collet member to pivotally shift the jaws 86 at the completion of the law opening movement. At the commencement of the crimping stroke, the jaws will first pivot until their inclined outer edges 94 seat Hush against the annular inclined surface 36 in the housing, and thereafter the jaws 8i) and the actuator member 60' will move axially as a unit, with the jaws shifting radially inwardly until the crimping strike is completed.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 5 and 6, the contact terminal 112 which is to be crimped is inserted into the bore 72 and counterbore 74 of guide member 60, with the forward contact portion 114 of terminal 112 extending into the bore 72, and the enlarged crimping cup portion 116 of terminal 112 being disposed in counterbore 74. Conductor wire 118 is inserted into the cup portion 116 of the terminal, the insulation covering 126 of wire 11S being stripped back from the bare end of the wire to provide metal-to-metal contact between the wire and the terminal cup portion 116.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings, the novel wedge means for insuring completion of the crimping stroke will now be described. The wedge means is enclosed in a housing recess 122 adjoining the bore 24 between recesses 18 and 48. One wall of housing 12 in recess 122 comprises a surface 124 which is angularly inclined relative to the axis of actuator bar 40 so as to extend rearwardly and radially inwardly. A wedge block 126 is disposed in recess 122 between the inclined surface 124 and the bar 40, the block 126 having a ball 128 seated in a hole therethrough and eX- tending outwardly from block 126 so as to be engageable against the inclined surface 124 and the bar 40. A compression spring 130 is engaged at its respective ends against the housing 12 and the wedge block 126 so as to bias the block 126 rearwardly into its wedged position. It will be apparent that the shaft 40 is free to slide forwardly in housing 12, but will be locked against rearward movement by the wedge.

j The mechanism for insuring completion of the crimping stroke includes latch means for latching the wedge in a non-wedging, inoperative position at the completion of the crimping stroke so as to permit return of bar 40, guide member 60 and jaws 80 to their original positions for commencing another stroke, with means for releasing the latch when the parts have fully returned to their original positions. This latch means includes a latch member 132 which is pivoted to housing 12 within recess 122 on a suitable pivot pin 134, said latch member extending forwardly of the pin 134. The latch member 132 is biased toward bar 40 and wedge block 126 by a coil compression spr-ing 136 engageable at one end against housing 12 and at its other end against latch member 132. A forwardly facing shoulder 138 is provided on latch member 132, and latch member 132 has an inwardly facing lip 140 adjoining the shoulder 138. An inclined cam follower surface 142 extends rearwardly and inwardly on latch member 132 from the lip 140.

The latch means is completed by a pin or lug member 144 which extends outwardly from the bar 40, and which is provided with an inclined cam face 146 which is engageable against the opposed cam follower surface 142 on the latch member 132.

The operation of the latch means is as follows: At the beginning of the crimping stroke, with the parts disposed in the positions illustrated in FIG. l of the drawings, the wedge comprising the wedge block 126 and the ball 128, is in its rearwardmost position, being in wedging engagement between the shaft 40 and the inclined housing surface 124 so as to permit forward sliding of bar 40, but to lock the bar 40 against rearward sliding movement. At this time, the pin or lug 144 on bar 40 holds latch member 1.32 in an outermost position against the force of spring 136, permitting block 126 to move rearwardly under the lip 140 of latch member 132.

When actuation of the tool iirst commences, with body 12 being grasped in the hand and lever 211 being pivoted toward body 12 by closing the fingers about lever 29, the pin or lug 144 shifts forwardly with bar 4d out of engagement with the latch member 132, thus permitting the latch spring 136 to pivot the latch 132 inwardly until the lip 140 engages against the outer surface of block 126, in the manner shown in FIG. 2. In this position of the parts, the wedge is operative, being freely slidable under the lip 140 of latch member 132 to accomplish the wedging action.

At the completion of the crimping stroke, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the pin or lug 144 on bar 40 has moved forwardly sufficiently to engage the wedge block 126, moving the block 12d forwardly until the latch member 132 snaps inwardly behind block 126, with the forward shoulder 138 on latch 132 engaging against the rear end of block 126 so as to hold the wedge forwardly in an inoperative position. Thus, with the wedge held inoperative by latch member 132, when the handle 211 is released, the shaft 49 will be moved rearwardly by spring 50, jaws 8f) being shifted radially outwardly by the elastomer collet member 114B. The wedge will remain latched out of operative position until the bar 4t) has returned rearwardly in housing 12 sufficiently for the cam face 146 on pin or lug 144 to engage the cam follower surface 142 on latch member 132 so as to shift the latch member 132 radially outwardly from behind the wedge block 126, thus preparing the tool for another crimping stroke.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A full stroke compelling mechanism which comprises: a housing; an actuator member movably mounted in the housing so as to move between an unactuated position and an actuated position; and means requiring completion of movement of the actuator member to said actuated position before the actuator member can be returned toward said unactuated position; said means including a wedge member normally engageable between the housing and the actuator member to prevent movement of the actuator member toward the unactuated position but permitting the actuator member to move toward said actuated position; shoulder means on the actuator member engageable with the wedge member when the actuator member reaches said actuated position so as to shift the wedge member to an inoperative position permitting return movement of the actuator member toward said unactuated position; means operative to hold said wedge means in said inoperative position to permit said actuator member to return to said unactuated position; and wherein said last mentioned means includes latch means automatically engageable between the housing and the wedge member when the wedge member is shifted to said inoperative position by said shoulder means, so as to hold the wedge member in said inoperative position during return movement of the actuator member from said actuated position to said unactuated position.

2. A mechanism as defined in claim 2 which includes cam means on the actuator member for disengaging said latch means upon completion of the return movement of the actuator member to its said unactuated position from its said actuated position.

3. A full stroke compelling mechanism which comprises: a housing; an actuator bar slidably mounted in the housing so as to move between an unactuated position and an actuated position; and means requiring completion of movement of the bar to said actuated position before the bar can be returned toward said unactuated position; said means including a surface in the housing spaced from the bar and inclined at an angle relative to the bar, a wedge member disposed between said surface in the housing and the bar so as to normally lock the bar against movement toward said unactuated position but permitting the bar to move toward said actuated position; shoulder means on the bar engageable with the wedge member when the bar reaches said actuated position so as to shift the wedge member to an inoperative position permitting return movement of the bar toward said unactuated position; means operative to hold said wedge member in said inoperative position to permit said bar to return to said unactuated position wherein said last mentioned means includes latch means automatically engageable between the housing and the wedge member when the wedge member is shifted to said inoperative position by said shoulder means, so as to hold the wedge member in said inoperative position during return movement of the bar from said actuated position to said unactuated position.

4. A mechanism as defined in claim 3 wherein said latch means comprises a latch member pivotally mounted in the housing.

5. A mechanism as defined in claim 3 which includes cam means on the bar operatively engageable with said pivoted latch member upon completion of the return movement of the bar to its said unactuated position from its said actuated position.

6. A mechanism as defined in claim 3 which includes spring means engageable between the housing and the bar so as to bias the bar toward its said unactuated position in the housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 786,386 Seelye Apr. 4, 1995 1,414,728 Enders May 2, 1922 1,698,392 Hannah Nov. 23, 1926 1,911,821 Gangler May 30, 1933 1,984,234 Schmid Dec. 11, 1934 2,369,180 Rosenthal Feb. 13, 1945 2,587,931 Van Der Wilt Mar. 4, 1952 2,985,047 Van Oort May 23, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 608,213 Germany Ian. 3l, 1935

Claims (1)

1. A FULL STROKE COMPELLING MECHANISM WHICH COMPRISES: A HOUSING; AN ACTUATOR MEMBER MOVABLY MOUNTED IN THE HOUSING SO AS TO MOVE BETWEEN AN UNACTUATED POSITION AND AN ACTUATED POSITION; AND MEANS REQUIRING COMPLETION OF MOVEMENT OF THE ACTUATOR MEMBER TO SAID ACTUATED POSITION BEFORE THE ACTUATOR MEMBER CAN BE RETURNED TOWARD SAID UNACTUATED POSITION; SAID MEANS INCLUDING A WEDGE MEMBER NORMALLY ENGAGEABLE BETWEEN THE HOUSING AND THE ACTUATOR MEMBER TO PREVENT MOVEMENT OF THE ACTUATOR MEMBER TOWARD THE UNACTUATED POSITION BUT PERMITTING THE ACTUATOR MEMBER TO MOVE TOWARD SAID ACTUATED POSITION; SHOULDER MEANS ON THE ACTUATOR MEMBER ENGAGEABLE WITH THE WEDGE MEMBER WHEN THE ACTUATOR MEMBER REACHES SAID ACTUATED POSITION SO AS TO SHIFT THE WEDGE MEMBER TO AN INOPERATIVE POSITION PERMITTING RETURN MOVEMENT OF THE ACTUATOR MEMBER TOWARD SAID UNACTUATED POSITION; MEANS OPERATIVE

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