US3465409A

US3465409A - Terminal attaching machine

Info

Publication number: US3465409A
Application number: US604350A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fritz V Brosseit
Original assignee: Western Electric Co Inc
Current assignee: AT&T Corp
Priority date: 1966-12-23
Filing date: 1966-12-23
Publication date: 1969-09-09
Anticipated expiration: 1986-09-09

Description

Sept. 9, 1969 F. v. BROSSEIT TERMINAL ATTACHING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 25, 1966 /(ll 110x iiiiJL- O O O O O O FRITZ v. BROSSEIT [I II II H INVENTOR ATTORN OOOOOOOOOO FIG. I

Sept. 9, 1969 F. v. BROSSEIT 3,465,409

TERMINAL ATTACHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 25, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4a

Sept. 9, 1969 F. v. BROSSEIT TERMINAL ATTACHING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 23, 1966 FIG.

FIG. 5a

United States Patent m 3,465,409 TERMINAL ATTACHING MACHINE Fritz V. Brosseit, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 604,350 Int. Cl. B231) 11/00; H01r 43/00 US. Cl. 29203 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for attaching terminals to both ends of a length of wire including a normally closed wire guiding channel, means for feeding wire into the channel, a pair of anvils positioned under the channel, means for feeding strips of terminals over the anvils, and a plurality of transfer members for movement into the channel, for camming the channel open, for severing the wire, for moving the severed wire out of the channel into engagement with the strips of terminals on the anvils and for cooperation with the anvils to crimp terminals on the strips around the wires.

In the past it has been the practice to wind strips of interconnected terminal blanks into coils and then to use the coil as the input to terminal attaching machines wherein wires are either manually or semiautomatically fed into engagement with the terminal blanks for attachment to the blanks. The inherent costs of winding, transporting, storing and unwinding the coils of terminal blanks together with the fact that the operation of terminal attaching machines frequently requires much manual labor causes this procedure to be very costly, especially when it is used in the manufacture of large numbers of identical parts.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to reduce the cost of attaching terminals to wires.

A further object of this invention is to provide a ter minal attaching machine which automatically forms pairs of terminal blanks, cuts wires to length and attaches the terminal blanks to the wires.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention these and other objects are achieved by simultaneously advancing two strips of terminal material along parallel paths and by progressively forming the strips into strips of interconnected terminal blanks. A normally closed wire guiding channel positioned between the strips positions an insulated wire over a terminal blank in each of the strips. A wire cut off and transfer mechanism positioned over the normally closed wire guiding channel cuts the wire to length, opens the wire guiding channel, moves the cut off wire into engagement with the terminal blanks and crimps a terminal blank around each end of the wire. Finally, the terminals are completed and separated so that the entire operation results in finished assemblies, each comprised of a length of Wire having a terminal attached to each of its ends.

A more complete understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing the operations performed by a terminal attaching machine employing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the die member of a terminal attaching machine employing the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 in FIG. 2 showing the terminal attaching portion of a terminal attaching machine employing the present invent1on;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 4--4 in FIG. 3;

3,465,409 Patented Sept. 9, 1969 FIG. 4a: is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 4 showing the parts in a partially closed position;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 55 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5a is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the parts in a closed position; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded, partial perspective view of the channel defining components of a terminal attaching machine employing the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, with particular reference being had to FIG. 1, there are shown two strips of terminal material stock S and a length of wire W. The strips S are advanced step-by-step along parallel paths through the terminal attaching machine shown in the remaining figures of the drawings and are progressively transformed from raw material to finished parts.

As the strips pass through the terminal attaching machine, various holes 10 are first formed in the strips S. Then, zig-zag cuts 11 are formed in the strips to separate the strips into unitary sections.

After the strips 8 are separated into unitary sections a pair of

insulation piercing tabs

12 and 13 are formed in each section. Then, the

tabs

12 and 13 are sharpened and wire engaging sides 14 are formed from the unitary sections. The cutting and sharpening of the

tabs

12 and 13 and the forming of the sides 14 are described in US. Patent 3,434,324 to F. V. Brosseit issued Mar. 25, 1969.

Upon completion of the

tabs

12 and 13 and the sides 14 the strips of terminal material S are ready to have the lengths of wire attached to them. The mechanism shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 positions the wire W over the strips S, cuts the wire to length, moves the wire into engagement with the strips S and crimps the walls 14 around the wire. This results in cut-off lengths of wire 15 which are attached to the strips by crimps 16.

After the wires 15 are attached, various perforations 17 are made in the strips of stock S to form the strips into finished terminals 1'8. Finally, the terminals 18 are separated one from another so that complete assemblies 19, each comprised of a length of wire 15 having a finished terminal 18 attached to each of its ends, result.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the details of a terminal attaching machine employing the present invention are shown. The terminal attaching machine is comprised generally of a punch member 11 and a die member 12. The punch member 11 includes a punch shoe 20 suitably formed for attachment to the ram of a standard punch press. An upper stripper member 21 is supported on the punch shoe 20 by upper stripper supporting screws 22 and is normally urged away from the punch shoe 20 by upper stripper springs 23. The punch shoe 20 supports various punch elements which are attached to the punch shoe 20 by a punch holder 26 mounted on the punch shoe 20. The elements are suitably positioned with respect to the punch shoe 20 by a spacer plate 27.

The die member 12 includes a spacer plate 30 having a pair of die shoes '31 mounted on it. The die shoes 31 support various die elements which are retained on the individual die shoes by a pair of die holders 32. A lower stripper 34 is supported on the die member 12 by lower stripper support screws 35 and is normally held in a spaced relationship to the die holders 32 by lower stripper springs 36. As is shown in FIG. 2 the lower stripper 34 supports two pairs of stock guides 37 which serve to guide the strips of stock S through the terminal attaching machine and the various work stations of the device.

In use, the punch press to which the punch member 11 and the die member 12 are attached moves the punch member 11 cyclically toward and away from the die member 12. As is fully disclosed in the above-identified co-pending F. V. Brosseit application, the upper stripper 21 supports various components (not shown in this application) which engage the lower stripper 34 during movement of the punch member 11 toward the die member 12 and which drive the lower stripper 34 into engagement with the die shoes 31 against the action of the lower stripper springs 35. All that need be understood for the purposes of this application is that during movement of the punch member 11 toward the die member 12 the lower stripper 34, and therefore the strips of stock S carried on the lower stripper are moved toward the die shoes 31.

As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 a feeder 40 is mounted on the spacer plate 30. The feeder 40 advances the wire W from a roll of wire 41 into the die member 12 of the terminal attaching machine. The wire passes from the feeder 40 through a guide 42 supported on the die holder 32 nearest the feeder 40 and through a normally closed wire guiding channel 43 into engagement with a stop 44 mounted on the die holder 32 remote from the feeder 40. As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the wire guiding channel 43 has funnel-shaped leading edges at each point where the wire W could possibly become jammed. This prevents any interference with the movement of the wire W from the feeder 40 into engagement with the stop 44 and assures rapid movement of the wire W throughout the complete length of the wire guiding channel 43.

Referring now to FIG. 6 the details of the wire guiding channel 43 are shown. The channel is comprised of a channel defining frame block 50 mounted on the lower stripper 34, L-shaped frame block 51 also mounted on the lower stripper 34, and an L-shaped channel defining member 52 slidably mounted on the L-shaped frame block 51. As is best shown in FIG. 2 the L-shaped channel defining member 52 is guided on the L-shaped frame 51 by a pair of guide pins 53 and is urged toward the channel defining block 50 by a pair of channel member springs 54.

Referring again to FIG. 6 is may be seen that the channel defining frame block 50 has a ledge 60 extending outwardly toward the L-shaped frame block 51 and that the ledge 60 has an inverted U-shaped channel 61 formed on its bottom side. The L-shaped channel defining member 52 has a ledge 62 extending outwardly toward the frame block 50. The ledge 62 normally underlies the inverted U-shaped channel 61 in the frame block 50 thereby forming a completely closed wire guiding channel defined by the three walls of the channel 61 and by the upper Surface of the ledge 62.

Referring again to FIG. 3 it may be seen that a pair of upper anvils 70 and three fork-shaped wire moving members 71 are attached to the punch shoe 20 by the punch holder 26. The upper anvils 70 are positioned directly above a pair of lower anvils 72 attached to the die shoe 31 by the die holder 32. As is shown in FIGS. and 6 the wire moving members 71 are positioned in a plurality of

notches

73 and 74 formed in the L-shaped channel defining member 52 and in the channel defining frame block 50, respectively, above a plurality of holes 75 formed in the lower stripper 34. The wire moving members 71 each have a camming surface 76 formed on their edge adjacent the L-shaped defining member 5?. and the member 52 has camming surfaces 77 formed in the notches 73 for cooperation with the camming surfaces 76.

As is shown in FIG. 3 operation of the device proceeds from the advancement of the Wire W through the normally closed wire guiding channel 43 which occurs each time the punch shoe 20 is raised. Upon downward movement of the punch shoe 20 the outer edge 80 of the upper anvil 70 adjacent the guide 42 cooperates with the inner edge 81 of the guide 42 to sever the wire W.

After the severing of the wire W, the camming surfaces 76 on the wire moving members 71 engage the camming surfaces 77 on the L-shaped channel defining member 52. As is shown in FIGS. 5 and 5a this drives the L-sha ed channel defining member 52 toward the L-shaped frame block 51 against the action of the channel member springs 54. Movement of the channel defining member 52 away from the channel defining frame block 50 opens the normally closed Wire guiding channel defined by the channel 61 and the ledge 62 on the L-shaped member 52 thereby allowing downward movement of the cut off wire 15 in the channel 43. At this time the upper anvils 70 and the wire moving members 71 engage the wire and drive it downwardly into engagement with the lower stripper 34. The engagement of the wire with the lower stripper has the effect of straightening the wire which assures that the cut-off wire extends its full length between the lower anvils 72.

As is best shown in FIGS. 4 and 4a the strips of stock S are guided by the stock guides 37 on the lower stripp r 34 into a position directly above the lower anvils 72. Therefore, as the lower stripper 34 is moved downwardly by the punch member 11, one of the unitary sections of each of the strips S is brought into engagement with each of the lower anvils 72. Thus, as the cut-off wire 15 is moved downwardly by the upper anvils 70 it is driven into engagement with the

insulation piercing tabs

12 and 13 formed in the strips of stock S. Since downward movement of the

tabs

12 and 13 is prevented by the lower anvils 72, this causes the

tabs

12 and 13 to penetrate the insulation of the wire 15 and to come into electrical contact with the conductive portions of the wire.

As is best shown in FIG. 4a the lower anvils 72 have upper surfaces 82 and the upper anvils 70 have lower surfaces 83 suitably shaped to bend the wire engaging sides 14 of the unitary sections of the strips S around the cut-off wires 15. This forms the crimps 16 around each end of the wire 15 and causes the wire 15 to be connected to the two strips S.

After the formation of the crimps 16, the punch member 11 is moved away from the die member 12 and the lower stripper 34 returns to the position shown in FIG. 3. As is shown in FIG. 4 this positions the strips S for advancement to a new station in the terminal attaching machine and positions the wire 15 for passage under the L-shaped block 51 out of alignment with the normally closed wire guiding channel 43. Thus, the mechanism shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6 operates to cut the wire W to length, to transfer the cut-off wire 15 from th normally closed wire guiding channels 43 into a crimping position, and simultaneously to form a crim 16 around each end of the wire.

Although only one embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and described in the foregoing specification, it will be understood that invention is not limited to the specific embodiment described, but is capable of modification and rearrangement and substitution of parts and elements without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for assembling terminals to wires which comprises:

a frame having at least one channel defining surface;

a channel forming member movably mounted with respect to the frame and having means positioned for cooperation with the channel defining surface on the frame to define a normally closed wire guiding channel;

a wire moving member mounted adjacent the frame and the channel forming member for movement toward and away from the frame to transfer a wire from the wire guiding channel to a remote point;

means on the wire moving member for displacing the channel forming member relative to the frame thereby opening the normally closed wire guiding channel;

means for advancing a wire into the wire guiding channel;

means on the wire moving member for cutting off a length of the wire in the wire guiding channel as the wire moving member moves toward the frame; and

means for attaching terminals to the cut length of wire.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the means for attaching includes:

a terminal supporting anvil mounted adjacent the wire guiding channel;

means on the wire moving member for moving a wire from the wire guiding channel into engagement with the terminal supporting anvil; and

cooperating means on the wire moving member and the terminal supporting anvil for forming a terminal around a wire when the wire is in engagement with the anvil.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the means for attaching includes:

a pair of anvils one positioned adjacent each end of the wire guiding channel; and

means on the wire moving member for moving a wire out of the wire guiding channel and into engagement with the anvils and for cooperation with the anvils to simultaneously attach a terminal to each end of the wire.

4. In a terminal attaching machine of the type wherein a forming member is reciprocated into engagement with an anvil to form a terminal around a wire, the combination with the forming member of:

a wire guiding member mounted in the path of the forming member as it travels into engagement with the anvil for defining a normally closed wire guiding channel; and

means on the forming member for moving the wire guiding member out of the path of the forming member thereby opening the wire guiding channel so that a wire may be moved therefrom into engagement with the anvil.

5. The combination according to claim 4 further including: means for advancing a wire into the wire guiding channel; and

means on the forming member for cutting a wire in the wire guiding channel to length.

6. A device for assembling wires and terminals includmg:

means for feeding two strips of terminal material in parallel paths a predetermined distance apart; means for forming the strips into interconnected terminal blanks;

means for defining a normally closed wire guiding channel extending transversely to the paths of the terminal material;

means for feeding a wire through a channel;

means for cutting the wire in the channel to a length approximately equal to the distance between the paths, for opening the channel and for moving the wire out of the channel and into engagement with one terminal blank in each of the strips; and

means for separating the terminal blanks one from the other thereby forming lengths of wire having terminals attached to each of their ends.

7. The assembling device according to claim 6 wherein the channel defining means includes means for guiding a wire as it is fed through the channel and wherein the wire moving means includes means for straightening the wire as it is moved out of the channel.

8. The assembling device according to claim 6 wherein:

the wire is comprised of an electrical conductor and ins'ulating covering on the conductor;

the blank forming means forms the strips into insulation piercing terminal blanks, and

the wire moving means causes the terminal blanks to pierce the insulation of the wire and to make an electrical connection with the conductor of the wire.

9. The assembling device according to claim 6 wherein the blank forming means forms the strips into terminal blanks having wire surrounding sides and wherein the wire moving bends the sides of the terminals around the wires.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,668,950 2/1954 Bohaboy et a1. 29243.57 X 2,768,425 10/1956 Andren.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 29243.57; 72324