US3287790A - Apparatus for making electrical splices - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 29, 1966 c. w. FRITZ ETAL. 3,287,790

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL SPLICES Filed May '7, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 29, 1966 c. w. FRITZ ETAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL SPLICES 7 Sheets-Sheet :1

Filed May '7, 1965 Nov. 29, 1966 c. w. FRITZ ETAL 3,287,790

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL SPLICES Filed May 7, 1965 7 Sheets-5hee N 2 1 c. FlTz ETAL 3,287,790

. APPARATUS FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL SPLICES Filed May '7, 1965 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 1966 c. w. FRITZ ETAL 3,287,790

. APPARATUS FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL SPLICES Filed May 7, 1965 '7 shee'tS-sheet 5 Nov. 29, 1966 c. w. FRITZ ETAL. 3,287,790

' APPARATUS FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL SPLICES Filed May 7, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 1966 c. w. FRITZ ETAL 3,287,790

APPARATUS FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL SPLICES Filed May 7, 1965 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 as: 112 r W6 IHI: in

United States Patent Filed May '7, 1965, Ser. No. 454,105 Claims. (Cl. 2933.5)

This invention relates to devices for making splice connections for electrical conductors.

The copending application of Richard E. Reem et al., Serial No. 351,024, now abandoned, filed March 10, 1964, for Method and Apparatus for Making Electrical Connections, discloses and claims an apparatus for splicing conductors in which the ends of the conductors are merely positioned between a crimping die and anvil and the die and anvil are moved towards each other. During crimping of the connector positioned between the dies, the ends of the wires are neatly trimmed and only the trimmed ends of the conductors are contained in the crimped connection. The copending application of William R. Over, Serial No. 426,257, filed January 18, 1965, for Crimping Tool, discloses an improved form of crimping device in accordance with the general teachings of the above-mentioned Reem et al. application.

The present invention relates to a further type of device in accordance with the general teachings of the Reem et al. application Serial No. 351,024 and incorporating a means for feeding a series of splice connectors in strip form to position the leading connector of the strip between the crimping die and anvil. The present invention is particularly directed to a semiautomatic splice applicator of a type which is adapted to be used to make splices in situ on communications cables or the like containing a large number of individual conductors. The provision of an automatic strip feeding mechanism, and other features of the present invention, particularly adapted to use under the circumstances where a large number of splices are to be made so that an automatic applicator is preferable to a hand tool, as disclosed in the above-mentioned Reem et al. and Over applications.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved applicator for applying splice-type connections to the ends of wires. It is a further object to provide a splice applicator including means for feeding a series of splice connectors to the crimping zone of the applicator. It is a further object to provide an applicator which is particularly adapted for use with communications cables having a large number of individual conductors, the applicator including means for automatically ejecting the individual conductors from the crimping zone after they have been spliced.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in one preferred embodiment thereof comprising a crimping die assembly having a transversely extending slot intermediate its ends and an anvil which is movable relatively towards and away from the die assembly. Connectors in strip form are fed from one side of the die and anvil assembly and laterally of the axis thereof to position the leading connector'of the strip between the die and anvil, provision being made for shearing the leading connector from the strip during each crimping cycle and while it is being crimped onto the ends of wires. The arrangement is such that the ends of the wires which are to be spliced are merely positioned between the forming surfaces of the die and led from the die assembly through the slot. After thus positioning the wires by a splice, the operator merely actuates an air cylinder which causes the anvil to move relatively towards the die. During such movement of the anvil, the wires positioned between the die and anvil are crimped, the leading con- 3,287,790 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 nector is severed from the strip, and the next adjacent connector of the strip is fed to a position between thedie and anvil.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1A is a perspective view of one form of crimped splice connection which is adapted to be formed by the apparatus of the present invention;

FIGURE 1B is a perspective view of a short section of connector strip;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus in accordance with the invention mounted on a supporting frame adjacent to a communications cable and showing the positions of the parts when the individual conductors of the cable are being spliced;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional side view of the present form of applicator showing the relative positions of the parts in the beginning of the operating cycle;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the positions of the parts after completion of the crimping operation;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are views taken along the lines 55 and 66 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the reciprocable slide assembly contained in the apparatus of FIGURE 1, parts of the outer housing of the apparatus 7 being broken away in the interest of clarity;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary side view of the crimping zone of the apparatus showing the ejector arms by means of which the finished crimped connectors are ejected from the crimping zone;

FIGURES 9 and 10 are views similar to FIGURE 8 but showing the positions of the parts at different stages of the operating cycle;

FIGURE 11 is a view taken along the lines 11-11 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary sectional side View showing the shearing mechanism by means of which the carrier strip is fragmented during the operating cycle;

FIGURE 13 is a view similar to FIGURE 12 but showing the positions of the parts at the conclusion of a shearing operation;

FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a shear block forming part of the mechanism of FIG- URE 12; and

FIGURE 15 is a perspective view showing the connector strip feeding means.

Referring first to FIGURES 1A and 1B, a splice connection 2 of the general type disclosed in the c-opending application of James E. Marley et al., Serial No. 362,- 057, filed April 22, 1964, for Electrical Connections, is made by curling the sidewalls 7 of an open U-type connector onto the ends of wires 4, 6. The open U-type connector is advantageously provided with an insulating covering of suitable film material 9 such as Mylar (polyethylene terephthalate). The Mylar covering of each connector is connected at its ends to a pair of spaced apart carrier strips 5 which are utilized by the apparatus in accordance with the present invention to feed the strip towards the crimping zone as will be explained more fully below.

The applicator 8 in accordance with the invention is mounted adjacent to the ends 10, 12 of a communications cable containing a multiplicity of individual insulated conductors 4, 6. The mounting means for the applicator 8 comprises a frame 14 having top and bottom rails 22, 26 and side rails 24. Arms 30 extend forwardly from the side rails 24 and have plates 32 secured to their ends by means of which the frame is clamped to the ends of the cable as shown at 34. In FIGURE 2 of the drawing, the cable 10 is shown as being supported on ledges 17 extending from vertical support member 16 which are 3 secured to the walls 18 of manhole. The frame 14 is suspended from the cable by the clamping members 34. It is desirable to provide extendable legs 23 on the lower rails 26 in order to prevent the frame and applicator from swinging or rotating on the cable.

It should be mentioned at this point that the applicator 8 can be similarly mounted on communications cables extending between utility poles. Under such circumstances, the frame can be clamped either to the cable itself or to the messenger cable which is commonly provided with overhead utility cables.

A pair of parallel rails 36 extend between the side rails 24 and a pair of plates 33 are mounted on the rails 36. Sleeves 40 extend between the plates, one of these sleeves being provided with .a suitable latch member 42 to retain the plates 38 and sleeves 40 in a given position of adjustment. Guide rails 44 extend forwardly from the plates 38, and sleeves 46 are slida-bly mounted on these rails. Clamping screws 50 are provided in the sleeves 46 in a given position of adjustment. A pair of ears 52 are provided on the sleeves 46 and a pair of parallel rails 54 extend upwardly from these ears. Sleeves 56 are slidably mounted on the rails 54 and lock-ing screws 58 are provided in the sleeves 56 to secure these sleeves in .a given position of vertical adjustment. Ears 60 extend fnom the sleeves 56 and the applicator 8 is mounted on these cars by means of mounting brackets 62 having suitable pins extending through the ears. Locking screws 64 are'provi-ded to permit the applicator to be adjusted about an axis extending through the locking pins in the ears 62.

It will be apparent that the mounting frame 14 provides for adjustment of the position of the applicator 8 in accordance with an XYZ coordinate system and that, in addition, the applicator can be rotated about its mounting axis so that its upper end can be moved towards or away from the cable in any given position of XY-Z adjustment.

Referring now to FIGURES 2, 3, and 5, the applicator 8 comprises a pair of spaced apart side plates 66, 68 which are maintained in their spaced apart relationship by means of blocks 70, 72, and '73. The block 70 is secured to the opposed faces of the plates and has a slot 74 extending inwardly from its upper side as viewed in FIGURE 2 within which the wires are positioned when a connector is being crimped onto their ends. A crimpin'g die assembly is mounted on the underside of the block 70 and comprises three individual pairs of dies 78, 80, 82 one die of each pair being mounted on each side of the slot 74. In addition, a pair of stop blocks 84 are mounted on the underside of the block 70 on each side of the die assembly. Outwardly of the stop blocks 84 there are provided wire guides .and retainers 86 which may be of any suitable relatively firm plastic material and which have slots 88 extending inwardly from their ends through which the wires being spliced are led. Plates 0 are mounted on the upper sides of the die assembly (as viewed in FIGURE 2) on each side of the slot 74, these plates having flanged inner ends 92 which provide convergent edges 93 (see FIGURE 7) to guide the wires into the slots when the operator is preparing to form a splice connection.

The precise structure of the individual crimping dies 78, 80, 82 need not necessarily be as shown in the drawing, the disclosed type having opposed convergent sidewalls 94 and parallel sidewalls 96 which are curved inwardly towards each other to form a cusp. The function of these sidewalls is to form the sidewalls of the con nector 2 into overlapping relationship with respect to the conductors being spliced as explained more fully in the above-identified Marley et al. application.

Referring now to FIGURES 2, 3, 5, and 7, the various crimping and strip feeding operations are accomplished by means of a reciprocable slide assembly 98 comprising a pair of spaced apart plates 100 contained between the housing plates 66, '68. The plates 100 are maintained in their spaced apart relationship by means of blocks 102, 104 which extend between the opposed faces. A pin 106 extends through the block 102 and beyond the surface of the plates 100 and through parallel slots 108 in the housing plates 66, 68. A pin 110 extends through the block 104 in the lower end thereof as viewed in FIGURE 7 and extends laterally through parallel slots 114 in the housing plates 66, 68. Guide rolls 112 are provided on the projecting ends of this pin to assist in guiding the slide assembly along a rectilinear path. It should also be noted that the block 164 has a central projection which is received within a recess 107 in a spacer block 73 which further assists in guiding the slide assembly in its path of reciprocation.

The lower end of the block 104, as viewed in FIGURE 7, is provided :with a central recess 116 through which the pin extends. A link 118 has one of its ends pivotally mounted on pin 110 in this recess and has its other end pivoted to a pin 120 which extends between a pair of parallel spaced apart levers 122. The ends of these levers are pivotally mounted on a pin 124 extending between ears 125 integral with the block 73. These levers are pivotally connected at theirother ends. 126 to a piston rod 128 of a piston-cylinder 130. The rearward end of this cylinder is pivotally mounted on a pin 132 which extends between the housing plates 66, 68. It will be apparent from the foregoing that upon upward movement of the piston rod as viewed in FIGURE 2 (i.e. leftward movement as viewed in FIGURES 3 and 4), the slide assembly 98 will be moved relatively towards the fixed block 70. During such movement of the slide assembly, a shearing arm 136, which extends from block 102, moves into the lower portion of slot 74 (as viewed in FIGURE 4) and trims the ends of the wires as will be explained more fully below. The piston-cylinder is preferably of the double-acting type in order that it will have the capability of providing a substantial amount of power on its return stroke (when the piston rod moves from the position of FIGURE 4 to the position of FIGURE 3). During the return stroke of this piston rod, power is needed to actuate an ejecting mechanism as is explained more fully below. The piston-cylinder 130 is controlled by means of a valve 129 which, in turn, is operated by a control cylinder 131, the piston rod 133 of which engages the valve 129.

The strip of connectors is advanced during each operating cycle to position an uncrimped connector on the anvil block by means of a reciprocable feed block 138 which extends between the plates 100 and which is pivotally mounted on a pin 1 42 extending between a pair of spaced apart levers 144. The one side of the block 136 is provided with a recess v140 conforming to the external contour of an uncrimped connector so that when the block 138 is moved rightwardly from the position of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURE 4, the second connector from the end of the strip will be nested in the recess 140. Upon subsequent leftward movement of the block, as viewed in FIGURE 4, the first uncrimped connector of the strip will be advanced and positioned between the anvil block and the die assembly.

The block 138 is normally biased in a clockwise direction with respect to its pivotal axis 142 by means of a spring 146 which extends between a pin on the lever 144 and a pin extending from the block. The levers 144 are pivotally mounted on a stationary shaft 148 which extends between the plates 100 and have arms 150 extending from their lower ends as viewed in FIGURE 3. These arms are disposed between the sides of the channel-shaped spacer block 72 so that :when the slide assembly moves upwardly as viewed in FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURE 4, the levers 144 will be swung through a slight clockwise arc to retract the feed block as previously described. When the parts return to the position of FIG- URE 3, the levers 144 swing through a corresponding counterclockwise arc to advance the strip as indicated. In order to prevent the feed block 138 from retracting the connector strip during movement of the feed block from the position of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIG- URE 4, a pair of stops 145 are provided on brackets 152 (described immediately below). These stops comprise spring members having ears 147 which extend beside the carrier strips 5 and which lodge against the leading connector of the ship as best shown in FIGURE 15. These spring members are cammed upwardly during the feeding stroke of the feed block to permit movement of the strip in the feeding direction.

The carrier strips 5 are guided towards the anvil block 134 guide tubes 154 secured to the inner surfaces of the plates 100 by means of brackets 152. A housing plate 156 extending between the side plates 66, 68 has a sloping portion 157 which leads towards the guide tubes 154 when the parts are in the positions of FIGURE 3. The strip is thus guided from a suitable reel or other supply source towards the feed block as is best shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

The disclosed embodiment of the invention is provided with means for automatically ejecting the finished splice connection from the crimping zone. As will be explained more fully below, the crimped connector is pushed downwardly from the position of FIGURE 4 when the extension 136 moves downwardly. -The connector and the portions of wire immediately adjacent thereto are then ejected laterally by means of a pair of ejector arms generally indicated at 158, 160. The arms 158 have notches 162 on their free ends and have their inner ends 164 pivotally mounted at 166 to the housing plates 66, 68 adjacent to the guide slots 108. These arms are normally biased towards the front of the applicator, as viewed in FIGURE 2 (i.e., upwardly in FIGURES 8-10) by means of springs 168 and are limited in their movement towards the front of the applicator by pins 170 in the housing plates 66, 68. Each arm is provided with a notch 172 between the point of engagement with the pin 170 and its pivotal axis 166, these notches sloping rightwardly as viewed in FIGURE 8 towards the pivot pin 166. Arcuate leaf springs 174 (see FIGURE 11) are secured to the external surfaces of the arms and have end por- 'tions 176 which extend through the notches 172 for engagement by the previously identified pin 106.

The principle function of the arms 158 is to move the wires rearwardly of the applicator, as viewed in FIG- URE 2, and position them on the path of movement of the arms 160 which, in turn, function to move the wires and the crimped connector laterally. The manner in which the arm 158 is actuated is as follows: In the beginning of the cycle, the parts are in the position of FIGURE 8 with the arms being biased against the pins 170 by the springs 168. When the slide assembly moves from the position of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIG- URE 4, the pin 106 moves from the position of FIG- URE 8 to the position of FIGURE 9. Such movement of the pin 106 thus takes place because of the fact that the end portion 176 of the spring 174 can be moved aside by the pin 106 and will snap back to its original position when the pin 106 reaches the position of FIG- URE 9. When the slide assembly 98 returns to its initial position, that is, when it moves from FIGURE 4 to the position of FIGURE 3 the pin 106 will move from the position of FIGURE 9 to the position of FIGURE and in doing so will move against the surface of the spring extension 176. This will cause pivoting of the arm shown in FIGURES 810 in a counterclockwise direction so that the arm will move relatively downwardly, as viewed in these figures, until the surface of the spring 176 is substantially parallel to the sides of the associated notch 108. When the arm shown in these figures reaches its lowermost position, the spring extension 176 will be permitted to pass the pin 106 and the arm will move upwardly to its initial position.

The arms each have hook-shaped end portions 178 which during the operating cycle move from the position of FIGURE 8 to the position of FIGURE 9 and then back to their initial positions during which time they function to carry the wires from the notched ends 162 of the arms 158. The arms 160 are in effect, the arms of bell crank levers 180 pivoted in the previously identifled pin 110. The other arms of these bell cranks are pivoted at 184 to L-shaped levers 186. The lower ends of these levers 186, as viewed in FIGURES 8-10, are pivotally mounted at 188 on the projecting ends of the previously identified pin 124 which extends beyond the housing plates 66, 68.

During each operating cycle, pin 110 moves first from the position of FIGURE 8 to the position of FIGURE 9 causing swinging of the bell crank levers in a clockwise direction with respect to the pivotal axis 110. The upper ends 178 are thus moved beyond the wire which is being spliced. When the pin 110 subsequently returns to its initial position, the arms 178 swing through a counterclockwise arc while they are being lowered and pull the wire from the notches 162. The travel of these arms 160 is such that the completed splices are transported beyond a retaining plate 190 extending between the housing plates which functions to hold the completed splices away from the area in which the operator is working.

Referring now to FIGURES 1214, the dis-closed embodiment of the invention provides means for shearing the connector being crimped from the carrier strips 5 and, additionally, for fragmenting the carrier strip as it emerges from the crimping zone. This shearing and fragmenting means comprises a pair of L-shaped levers 192 which are .pivotally mounted on pins 196 on opposite sides of the block 102. The levers 192 have arms 194 which extend leftwardly in FIGURE 7 so that their ends are disposed against the ends of the anvil block 134. Slots 198 are provided on the inner sides of the arms 194 of the levers to guide the carrier strips 5 past the anvil block and relatively downwardly, as viewed in FIGURES l2 and 13, through outlets 204 in the undersides 202 of the arms 194. The shearing and fragmenting operations are carried out by means of slidable plates 200 disposed against the undersides 202 of the arms and movable relative to the arms from the position of FIGURE 12 to the position of FIGURE 13. These blocks are normally maintain-ed against the sides 202 by means of leaf springs 206 which have their ends disposed against the block 200 and which have laterally projecting ears 208 extending through notches 207 in the plates 200. The ends of the springs 206 are integral with plates 212 which are secured to the block 104 by means of pins 214. A keeper 210 is also mounted against the block 104 adjacent to each of the plates 212 and has an opening at its end through which the ear 208 of the associated spring projects. It should be added that the keepers 210 also function as leaf springs and bias the arms 194 against the sides of the anvil in order to ensure shearing of the connector from the carrier strips.

The levers 192 are normally maintained in the relative positions shown in FIGURE 7 with the slots 198 disposed substantially co-planar with the connector supporting surfaces of the anvil block. During the operating cycle and upon movement of the slide assembly 98 relatively towards the die assembly, the levers 194 move against the stop blocks 84 as shown in FIGURE 13 causing the levers to be swung through a slight counterclockwise are as is apparent from FIGURES 12 and 13. During such movement of the levers, the slots 198 move from their co-planar relationship with the connector supporting surfaces of the anvil block to affect a shearing of the insulating material of the strip on each side of the connector that is disposed on the anvil. Such shearing of the insulating strip removes this leading connector from the strip while it is being crimped onto the wires in the die assembly.

The relative movement of the levers 192 also causes the plates 200 to be moved relatively over the outlets 204 of the slots 198 so that the projecting portions of the carrier strips are cut off as shown in FIGURE 13. This fragmenting operation disposes of the scrap carrier strip as it is produced thereby avoiding the accumulation of'long lengths of such strip in the working area.

To briefly review the openating cycle of the disclosed embodiment of the invention, the parts will normally be in the positions of FIGURES 2, 3, 5, and 8 at the beginning of the cycle. The operator leads the wires 4, 6 which are to be spliced through the notches 1162 of the arms S, loops them around projections 92 of plates 90 and pulls them laterally through the notch 74 of the block 70. After the operator carries out these manipulative steps, the wires will extend drom the notches .162, through the slots 88, between the die sidewalls 96 and through the slot 74. He then act-uates a suitable control valve to admit air to the right-hand side (as viewed in FIGURE 3) of the piston-cylinder 130 thus causing the piston rod tomove outwardly relative to the cylinder as illustrated in FIGURE 4. Such movement of the piston rod 128 causes the block 164 to move from the position of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURE 4 during which time the previously fed connector will be severed from the strip and crimped into embracing relationship with the wires disposed between the opposite surfaces of the dies. The wires are trimmed, during such movement of the block 104, when the extension 136 moves into the slot provided in the center of the die assembly. The terminal strip is fed during each operating cycle by reciprocation of the lever 144 and the finished cri-mped connection is ejected by the movement of the ejection arms 158, 160 as illustrated in FIGURES 8-10 and as described above.

An over-all advantage of the invention is that a splice connection can be made between a pair of wires extending towards each other by merely locating the wires between the surfaces of the dies and in the slot in the die as described above. It follows that an operator can achieve a high production rate in making the numerous individual splices required to splice all of the conductors of a communications cable of the type shown in FIG- URE 2. The operator is not required to manipulate or handle in any way any part of the apparatus while he is making the splices-and need only manipulate the individual conductors being spliced.

Changes in constnuction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the boregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by Way of illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective against the prior art.

We claim:

:1. An applicator for applying connecting devices onto the ends of wires, said applicator comprising, crimping die means having a transversely extending slot extending therethrough intermediate the ends thereof, an anvil and feed assembly, said anvil and feed assembly comprising a pair of spaced apart plates, at crimping anvil secured to, and extending between said plates, shearing means on said assembly in alignment with, and movable into said slot, a feed slide between said plates and beside said anvil, means for moving said feed slide towards and away from said anvil to feed an uncrimp-ed connector to a position between said die and anvil, and means rfor moving said anvil and feed assembly towards said die whereby the end portion of a Wire disposed between said die and anvil is trimmed, a connecting device is crimped onto the trimmed end of said wire, and an uncrirnped connecting device is fed to a position between said die means and said anvil.

2. An applicator for applying splice-type connecting devices onto wires extending from opposite directions towards each other, said applicator comprising, crimping die means having a transversely extending slot extending therethrough intermediate its ends, an anvil and feed assembly, said anvil and feed assembly comprising a pair of spaced apart plates, a crimping anvil secured to, and extending between, said plates, shearing means on said assembly in alignment with, and movable into, said slot, a feed slide between said plates and beside said anvil, means for moving said feed slide towards and away from said anvil to feed an uncrimped connector to a position in alignment with said die means and anvil, and means for moving said anvil and feed assembly towards said die whereby, upon positioning said wires with their axes extending between said die and anvil and with their end portions in said slot, and upon movement of said anvil and feed assembly towards said die means, said shearing means moves into said slot to trim said wires, and a connector positioned between said die and anvil is subsequently crirnped onto the ends of said wires.

3. An applicator for applying splice-type connecting devices onto the ends Olf wires comprising die means and anvil means, said die means having trough-like lforming sunface portions for forming said connecting device into crimped engagement with said wires, said anvil means being movable relatively towards and away drom said die means, ejecting mechanism for ejecting a finished crimped connection from between said die and anvil comprising a first pair of arms, one of said arms being disposed at each end of said die, each of said first pair of arms being movable past said forming surfaces following movement of said anvil means away from said die, a second pair of a-rms disposed on each side of said die, each of said second pair of arms being movable laterally past said ends of said die whereby, said finished crirnped connection is first removed from said die cavity and is then ejected laterally from between said die and anvil.

4. An applicator for applying splice-type connecting devices onto wires extending from opposite directions towards each other, said applicator comprising, a crimping die having a transversely extending slot intermediate its ends, an anvil and feed assembly movable relatively towards and away from said die, said anvil and feed assembly comprising a pair of spaced-apart plates, an anvil extending between, and secured to, said plates, a block secured to and extending between said plates, shear block means extending from said block and being in alignment with said slot, guide means on said plates for guiding a strip of said connecting devices beneath said block and between said anvil and wire shearing member, and means for moving said plates and anvil relatively towards said die whereby upon positioning said wires between said die and anvil "with their ends in said slot and upon movement of said shearing member into said slot and movement of said anvil relatively towards said die, said wires are trimmed and the trimmed ends are crimped onto said terminal.

5. In a device for applying connecting devices to the ends of wires extending from opposite directions towards each other, said device com-prising a crimping die and a crimping anvil, means for moving said die and anvil relatively towards each other to orirnp a connecting device disposed therebetween onto the ends of said wires, means for ejecting crirnped connections from between said die and anvil after crimping comprising a first pair of wire ejecting arms, one of said arms being disposed on each side of said die said first arms being movable in the direction of movement of said anvil away from said die after crimping of said connecting device whereby the axis of said wires extends between said die and anvil,

9 10 a second pair of ejecting arms on each side of said die, crim-ped connection is ejected laterally frcrn between said each of said second pair of arms being movable laterally die and anvil.

of said direction, means for moving said first arms concomitantly with movement of said anvil away from said die,'and means 'for moving said second arms after 5 movement of said wire by said first .pair whereby said RICHARD H, EANES, J Primary Examiner,

No references cited.

Claims (1)

1. AN APPLICATOR FOR APPLYING CONNECTING DEVICES ONTO THE ENDS OF WIRES, SAID APPLICATOR COMPRISING, CRIMPING DIE MEANS HAVING A TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING SLOT EXTENDING THERETHROUGH INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF, AN ANVIL AND FEED ASSEMBLY, SAID ANVIL AND FEED ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED APART PLATES, A CRIMPING ANVIL SECURED TO, AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID PLATES, A CRIMPING ANVIL SECURED ON SAID ASSEMBLY IN ALIGNMENT WITH, AND MOVABLE INTO SAID SLOT, A FEED SLIDE BETWEEN SAIDPLATES AND BESIDE SAID ANVIL, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID FEED SLIDE TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM SAID ANVIL TO FEED AN UNCRIMPED CONNECTOR TO A POSITION BETWEEN SAID DIE AND ANVIL, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID ANVIL AND FEED ASSEMBLY TOWARDS SAID DIE WHEREBY THE END PORTION OF A WIRE DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID DIE AND ANVIL IS TRIMMED, A CONNECTING DEVICE IS CRIMPED ONTO THE TRIMMED END OF SAID WIRE, AND A UNCRIMPED CONNECTING DEVICE IS FED TO A POSITION BETWEEN SAID DIE MEANS AND SAID ANVIL.

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