US3641649A

US3641649A - Assembly of terminals to bobbins

Info

Publication number: US3641649A
Application number: US71953A
Authority: US
Inventors: Willard Leroy Busler; Howard Charles Phillips; Milton Dean Ross
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1968-04-30
Filing date: 1970-09-14
Publication date: 1972-02-15
Anticipated expiration: 1989-02-15

Abstract

Elongated terminals are manufactured as a continuous strip made up of four side-by-side parallel columns of end-to-end connected terminals, these columns of terminals defining successive rows of side-by-side terminals, each row being separated from the next adjacent row by a transversely extending slug strip. A plurality of terminals are assembled to a bobbin or the like by feeding the strip until the leading ends of the leading row of terminals extend through a flange of the bobbin. The leading row, and the slug strip integral with the trailing ends of the terminals in the leading row, is severed from the next adjacent row of terminals. This slug strip remains integral with the inserted terminals until further forming operations are carried out and functions to maintain alignment of the terminals in the bobbin during these forming operations. The subsequent forming operations, in the disclosed embodiment, comprise the steps of bending the leading ends of the terminals through an angle of 90* until they lie in a plane of the flange of the bobbin. The terminals are thereafter staked to the bobbin flange and the slug strip is then severed from the trailing ends of the terminals.

Description

United States Patent Busler et al.

541 ASSEMBLY or TERMINALS T0 BOBBINS [72] Inventors: Willard Leroy Busler; Howard Charles Phillips; Milton Dean Ross, all of Harrisburg, Pa.

[73] Assignee: AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

[22] Filed: Sept. 14, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 71,953

I Related US. Application Data [60] Division of Ser. No. 725,299, Apr. 30, 1968, Pat. No.

Primary Examiner-Thomas H. Eager Attorney-Curtis, Morris and Safford, William J. Keating, Ronald D. Grefe, Gerald K. Kita, Frederick W. Raring, Jay L. Seitchik and John P. Vandenburg [151 3,641,649 Feb. 15,1972

[57] ABSTRACT Elongated terminals are manufactured as a continuous strip made up of four side-by-side parallel columns of end-to-end connected terminals, these columns of terminals defining successive rows of side-by-side terminals, each row being separated from the next adjacent row by a transversely extending slug stn'p. A plurality of terminals are assembled to a bobbin or the like by feeding the strip until the leading ends of the leading row of terminals extend through a flange of the bobbin. The leading row, and the slug strip integral with the trailing ends of the terminals in the leading row, is severed from the next adjacent row of terminals. This slug strip remains integral with the inserted terminals until further forming operations are carried out and functions to maintain alignment of the terminals in the bobbin during these forming operations. The subsequent fonning operations, in the disclosed embodiment, comprise the steps of bending the leading ends of the terminals through an angle of 90 until they lie in a plane of the flange of the bobbin. The terminals are thereafter staked to the bobbin flange and the slug strip is then severed from the trailing ends of the terminals.

4 Claims, 29 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 15 I972 SHEET UZUF 16 PATENTEDFEB15 1972 SHEET GSUF 16 PATENTEDFEB 1 51912 SHEET csnr 16 PATENTEDFEB 15 !972 SHEET 070F 16 PATENTEDFEB 15 I972 SHEET OBUF 16 PATENTEBFEB 15 I972 SHEET 11UF16 PATENTEBFEB 15 I91:

SHEET 12 0F 16 .Nam

SHEET 130F 16 a m? :l a... l- Q9 :8

PATENTEDFEB 15 I972 3: 13m 1 .a m\w 3 4mm um d O amn :0 L I arm y y/ PATENTEDFEB 15 1972 3, $41 ,549

- sum mar 16 PATENTEUFEB 15 I972 SHEET 150! 16 PATENTEBFEB 15 I972 SHEET 1BOF 16 ASSEMBLY OF TERMINALS TOBOBBINS This application is a division of application Ser. No. 725,299 filed Apr. 30, 1968, and now US. Pat. No. 3,562,903,granted Feb. I6, 1971.

BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improved form of terminal strip and to an apparatus for assembling terminals to a workpiece such as a flangeof a coil bobbin. While the disclosed embodiment of the invention relates specifically to coil bobbins and to the assembly of terminals thereto, other uses of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

A conventional electrical coil'of the type used in the com-. munications industry or in the manufacture of solenoidscomprises a bobbin, usually of plastic, having flanges on its ends and a winding of an insulatedconductor on its neck portion. Terminals are provided in one or more'of the flanges of the bobbin and the taps from the coil are led out to these terminals and electrically connected to one end of each terminal, the connections to the external circuitry being made to the other ends of the coils. The wire is automatically wound on'th'e bobbin and it is desirable, therefore, to assemble the terminals to the bobbin flanges prior to the winding operation. Because of the very large number of coils used and because of the fact that the cost of the coil must be maintained at a minimum level, it is desirable to automate the operation of inserting the terminals into bobbin flanges-as well as the winding operations.

The present invention has for one of its objects the provision of an improved form of terminal strip which'facilitates the assembly of terminals to bobbins. A further object is toprovide an improved apparatus forassembling terminals in strip form to bobbins and performing subsequent bending and staking operations to secure the terminals to the bobbins.

These and other objects of the invention "are achieved in a preferred embodiment thereof in which end-to-end connected terminals are manufactured in the form of acontinuous strip comprising two or more parallel columns of terminals, these columns defining successive rows of side-by-side terminals. Connecting slug strips extend transversely between adjacent rows of terminals and are integral with the terminals of the trailing end of one row and with the terminals in the leading end of the next adjacent row.

In accordance with the method aspect of the invention, a strip, as described above,is fed towards a bobbin and the terminals of the leading row of the strip are fed through openings in one of the bobbin flanges. The leading ends of these terminals are thereafter bent until they extend in the .plane of the bobbin flange and an intermediate portion of each terminal'is staked to the bobbin flange to secure the terminals firmly in position. During these bending and staking operations, the transverse slug strip remains integral with the trailing ends of the terminals thereby to maintain them in precise alignment relative to the bobbin flange. After the terminals have been firmly secured in the bobbin flange by bending and staking, this slug strip is removed so that the bobbin is then prepared for the coil winding operation. In many instances, it is desirable to assemble terminals to flanges on opposite sides of the bobbin and the disclosed embodiment of the present invention is, therefore, provided with duplicate inserting, bending, staking, and severing stations for simultaneously inserting stations on such opposite flange.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical coil bobbin; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the successive terminal insertion, terminal bending, terminal staking, and slug cutoff operations carried-out in accordance with the invention, the

bobbins being omitted from the two central stations in this figure in the interest of clarity;

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of a bobbin having terminals assembled thereto, this view being taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2; v

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view taken along the sense-*4 of FIG. 3 and showing the manner in which the terminals are secured in openings in the bobbin flange;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an individual terminal;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a preferred fonn of apparatus in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the manner is WhIch'FIGSQS, 9. 10, and 11 can be spliced to each other to produce a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the frontal portion of the ap' paratus shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the manner in which FIGS. 13, 14, 15, and l6can be spliced to produce a front'vie'w of the apparatus of FIG. 6;

FIGS. l7, l8, l9, and 20 are sectional views taken along the lines 17-17, 18-18, 19-l9,'and 20-20 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 21 is a fragmentary plan view of the upper surface of a main frame plate of the apparatus showing details of'a latching means at the severalstations for holding thecoil bobbins at the working stations;

FIG. 22 is a fragmentary perspective view showing details of the bobbin transfer slide;

FIGS. 23, 24, 24A, and 25 are views'taken along the lines 23-23, 24-24, 24A-24A, and 25-25 of FIG. 21;

FIGS. 26 and 27 are views taken along theliens 26-26 and 27-27 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 28 is a sectional plan view ofthe terminal insertion stations 70, this'view being taken along the liens 28-28 of FIG. l7.

Referring first to FIGS. 1-5, the disclosed embodiment of the invention is adapted to insert terminals 2 into upper and

lower flanges

9, 10 on one end of a' bobbin 4. The bobbin comprises a neck portion 6 having

flanges

8, 9, 10 at its opposite ends, the

flanges

9, 10 having suitable recesses I2in their edges for reception of the tenninals and having openings through which theterminals are fed, as shown in FIG. 2. The

individual terminals 2 have a notched leading end 16, a pairof laterally extending ears 18 intermediate their ends, and a trailing end 20 which may be provided with a stiffening rib 22. The ears l8 extendforwardly toward the leading end 'l 6and are partially sheared along the sides of the terminal so that they may be bent downwardly and staked to the bobbin flange as described below.

The terminals 2 are manufactured in the form of a continuous strip comprising threeor four (in the disclosed'embodiment)"parallel columns 30 of individual terminals the terminals of each column defining side-by-side rows "28. The

leading ends of the terminals of each row are integral with a transversely extending slug strip 32 which is also integral with the trailing end of the terminals of the next adjacent row.

The method aspect of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2 which shows the successive steps of feeding terminal strips towards a bobbin, bending the strips, clinching the cars 24 to the bobbin flanges, and finally severing the transverse slug strips from the inserted terminals. In the particular embodiment disclosed, a strip of terminals having three 'side-by-side columns is fed towards the upper flange I0 and a strip having four side-by-side columns is fed towards the lower flange 9. At the beginning of the operating cycle, the leading ends of the terminals in the leading rows of terminals will be free in that a slug strip will not be connected to these leading ends. The terminals of the leading rows are inserted through openings in the flanges of the bobbin until the laterally extending cars 18 bear against the outwardly facing surfaces of the flanges. Thereafter, the inserted rows of terminals, both the upper row and the lower row, are severed from the terminal strips but the transversely extending slug strips 32 remain on the trailing ends of the terminals and maintain the terminals in alignment with each other and properly positioned in the bobbin until subsequent forming operations have been carried out. The leading ends of the terminals are then bent through a angle as shown in the second view of FIG. 2 so that they extend parallel to the plane of the

flanges

9 and 10. The cars 24 are then staked downwardly in recesses 13 to securely lock the terminals to the bobbin flanges. Finally, at the last station, the slug strips 32 are severed from the trailing ends of the terminals in the flanges and the bobbin is ready for the coil winding operation.

In the preparation or assembly of terminals to bobbins as generally illustrated in FIG. 2, it is important that the individual terminals of the upper and lower rows be maintained in precise alignment with each other during the bending and staking operations so that the leading ends of the terminals will be lodged in the recesses 12 and the staked cars will be properly positioned on each side of these bobbins against the surfaces 1 1. It is also important that the lengths of the trailing ends of the terminals of the rows be precisely equal to each other. The slug strips 32 which remain integral with the trailing ends of the terminals during the bending and staking operations assure that the requirements set forth above are met. Thus, the slug strips maintain the terminals of the rows in precise alignment while the bending and staking operations are being carried out. When the slug-shearing operation is carried out, the trailing ends of the terminals are sheared along a transversely extending line and these trailing ends will be of precisely the same length. It follows that these slug strips perform a vital function during the bending and staking operations although they are removed after the bending and staking operations have been carried out and form no part of the finished assembly. The resulting advantage is that two or more terminals can be inserted through the bobbin flange simultaneously without sacrifice of dimensional tolerances or other quality considerations.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 13-16, a preferred form of apparatus for carrying out the method as described above comprises a base plate 34 and a horizontal frame plate 36 which is supported above the surface of the baseplate by suitable

vertical support plates

38, 40, 42, and 46. Power is supplied to the apparatus by means of a belt 52 which is driven by a suitable motor (not shown) and which passes over a pulley 50 mounted on one end of a shaft 54. The shaft 54 extends horizontally over the back surface of the baseplate and is supported by suitable

vertical plates

56, 58, and 60 having bearings mounted therein. A second shaft 64 extends forwardly adjacent to the pulley 50 and is coupled to the shaft 54 by means of a suitable right-angle drive 62. The shaft 64 is similarly supported in

upstanding plates

66, 68 having bearings mounted therein.

The bobbins are loaded in the machine at a loading and terminal inserting station 70 and carried from this station to a bending station 72 at which the leading ends of the terminals are bent to a staking station 74 at which the ears are staked to the terminals, and then to a slug-severing station 76 at which the transversely extending slugs are severed from the trailing ends of the terminals. The bobbins are transferred from Sta tion to station by a reciprocable slide bar 78 contained in a slot in the front edge of the frame plate 36, see FIGS. 17, 21, and 22. The left-hand end 80 of this slide bar is coupled to a slide block 82 in a block structure mounted on the frame plate 36 between gibs 84. The slide 82, in turn, is pivotally connected at 86 to a connecting rod 88 which, in turn, is pivoted at 90 to an eccentric 92 on the shaft 64 so that during each complete revolution of the shaft 64, the slide bar 78 is reciprocated. During such rightward movement, the slide bar pushes the bobbins at the several stations to the next station and ejects a bobbin from the severing station 76.

The bobbins are pushed from each station to the next station by feed pawls 94 (FIG. 21) mounted in recesses 96 in slide bar 78. As shown in FIG. 22, these pawls are pivoted to cars 100 integral with the slide bar and have inclined projections 94 extending beyond the front surface of the slide bar. These inclined surfaces define rightwardly facing shoulders 104 which push the bobbins during movement of the slide bar. Springs 102 bias the pawls outwardly but permit inward movement of the pawls during retractile movement of the slide bar past bobbins held at the several stations. The bobbins are guided from the station 72 to the station 76 by means of a guide bar 106 (FIGS. 18-20) which extends parallel to the transfer slide bar 78 and which has a recess for reception of the flanges 8 of the bobbins. The guide bar 106, in turn, is supported by a bracket 108 which is supported by, and secured to, the underside of plate 36 by cantilever brackets 107. Springs interposed between the bracket and the guide bar 106 urges the guide bar leftwardly in FIG. 18 so that the bobbins are lightly clamped.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 that the guide bar 106 extends leftwardly to the bending station 72. The bobbins are guided from the inserting station 70 to the station 72 by a guide means 110, 110 (FIG. 26) comprising T-shaped blocks secured to the upper and lower surfaces of the plate 36 and having head portions which extend parallel to the front edge of the plate 36. The undersides of these head portions are provided with grooves 112 which receive the

flanges

9, 10 on the upper and lower sides of the inner ends of the bobbins.

INSERTION AND LOADING STATION FIGS. 9, 14, 17, and 28 As shown in FIG. 17, substantially identical feeding means are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the plate 36 at the insertion station 70. Since these inserting means are substantially identical, a description of one will suffice for both and the same reference numerals, differentiated by prime marks, will be employed for corresponding structural elements on the upper and lower sides of the frame plate. The inserting means and the allied structure on the upper side only of the plate 36 will, therefore, be specifically described below and reference will be made to the lower inserting means where appropriate.

The feeding mechanism is driven by a reciprocable feed slide 116 mounted on the upper surface of the plate 36 between gibs 118. Slide 116 has an upwardly extending pin 120 which is received in a notch 122 of an upper arm 123 of a lever 124 (FIGS. 6 and 9), the left-hand end of this lever as viewed in FIG. 6 being pivoted at 126 between ears 128 extending from the plate 48. A connecting rod 132 is pivotally connected at 130 to the lever 124 intermediate its ends and extends rearwardly above the plate 34. The end of the connecting rod 132 is pivoted at 134 to the upper end ofa lever 136 which, in turn, is pivotally mounted on the upper surface of the plate 34 (FIG. 27). A cam follower 140 on the side of the lever 136 is received in a cam track of a cam 142 mounted on the shaft 54. It will thus be apparent that during each complete revolution of the shaft 54, the connecting rod 132 will be moved forwardly and then returned to its starting position to actuate the feed mechanism. The feed slide 116 which is mounted against the lower surface of the plate 36 is actuated by the lower arm 123 of the lever 124 and moves in unison with the upper feed slide 116.

The terminal strip is fed over the upper surface of the plate 36 by means of a feed finger 144 (FIG. 17) pivoted intermediate its ends on a pin 146 which extends across a recess 148 in the leading end of the feed slide 116. A spring 150 is interposed between the surface of the feed slide and the rearward end of the feed finger to bias the finger in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 17 so that its leading end will be urged into engagement with the terminal strip. The leading end of the feed finger is relatively wide and engages the slug strip 32 behind the leading row of terminals of the strip. As shown in FIG. 28, this leading end of the feed finger is notched to selectively engage this strip at the desired locations.

A light drag or holddown is imposed on the terminal strip beneath the feed slide by a holddown plate 154 (FIG. 17) which extends across the terminal strip and is biased downwardly by means of springs 156 mounted in recesses in the gibs 118. The strip is guided towards the bobbin located at the insertion station and by means of a fixed guide plate 155 mounted on the surface of plate 36 and surrounding the terminal feed path and the drag plate.

In order to permit severing of the leading row of terminals from the terminal strip by movable and fixed shearing members 184, 185, a yieldable support plate 158 is mounted in a recess 162 adjacent to the right-hand end of the feed track as viewed in FIG. 17. Support plate 158 is biased upwardly by springs 160 so that its upper surface is normally coplanar with the surface of .,the plate 36 but is permitted to move downwardlyagainst the biasingforce of the springs 160 when the severing blade 184, described below, moves downwardly. A counterpart support plate 158 for the strip being 'fed over the underside of the plate 36 is similar biased by the springs 160 which are interposed between the two plates mounted in the recess. As shown in FIG. 17, these plates have shoulder means which interengage with the fixed

shear plates

185, 185 and fixed hold down plates 185, 185' and fixed hold down plates 187, 187 secured to frame plate 36 to retain them in position.

The terminal strip is fed through an opening 172 in a shear blade housing 164 secured to the upper surface of the plate 36 by fasteners 168 then through an opening 176 in an upstanding plate 166 which is secured to the front side of the shear blade housing by fasteners 174. Housing 164 has a vertically extending channel-shaped groove 170 in which the blade 184 is slidably contained, the lower edge of this blade being normally disposed above the surface of the strip to permit passage of the feed finger as illustrated in FIG. 17.

In order to accurately guide the leading row of terminals into the openings in the bobbin flange, a guide plate 178 is mounted against the surface of fixed plate 166. A space is provided between the lower end of this plate and the surface of shear plate 185 to permit passage of the leading row of terminals to the bobbin. This plate has leftwardly extending (as viewed in FIG. 17) fingers 182 which extend over the individual terminals of therow. Plate 178 is normally biased downwardly by means of a coil spring 180 mounted in a recess of the plate 178 and having one end anchored to the plate and having its other end anchored to the plate and having its other end secured to a pin extending from the surface of the plate 166. By virtue of this resilient mounting of the plate, it can be raised slightly to clear any jams which might occur by means of pins 189 which extend laterally beyond plate 166.

The terminal strip is firmly clamped during the shearing operation by means of a clamping plate 186 mounted next to the hold down plate 178 and contained by a cover plate 183 secured to the sides of the fixed plate 166. As shown in FIG. 14, the upper end of the clamping plate 188 is pivotally connected at 194 to a bellcrank 190, and the upper end of this bellcrank is connected by means of a pin 196 to a link 200. As shown best in FIG. 17, pin 196 extends through an elongated, slot 198 in the link 200 and a spring 202 mounted in this slot bears against the pin so that the clamping plate 186 is resiliently biased against a strip when the clamping plate is in its lowered position. The upper end of the link 200 is pivotally mounted on a pin 204 which extends through a cap piece 206 secured by fasteners 208 to the upper end of the plate 166.

The shear blade 184 is pivotally connected to a bellcrank 192 on the left-hand side, as viewed in FIG. 17, of the plate 166. This bellcrank, in turn, is directly pivotally connected to one end of a link 201, the other end of this link being pivoted to the pin 204 which extends through the cap piece 206.

The toggle linkage comprising a bellcrank 190 and the link 200 by means of which the clamping plate 186 is driven downwardly is straightened by means of a connecting rod 210 pivotally connected at 212 to the bellcrank 190, see FIG. 14. The end of this connecting rod 210 is pivoted at 214 to a lever 216 which extends vertically through a recess in block 85 on which the gibs 84 are mounted, and is pivoted on a pin 218 in this recess in this block. The upper end of this lever is offset in order to provide clearance for an additional lever 238 described below. A further connecting rod 222 is pivotally connected at 220 to the lower end of the lever 216 (beneath the composite block 85) and extends leftwardly past the plate 48 (FIG. 13). The end of connecting rod 222 is pivoted to a lever 224 which is pivotally mounted at 226 beneath ears extending from the plate 48. The lever 224 extends upwardly as viewed in FIG. 13 and has a cam follower 228 on its end which is received in a cam track of a cam 230 mounted on the shaft 64. It will thus be apparent that during each complete revolution of the shaft 64, the connecting rod 222 will be moved leftwardly and rightwardly as viewed in FIG. 14 to straighten the

toggle mechanism

190, 200 and move the clamp 186 against the row of terminals being inserted into a bobbin. It will be noted from FIG. 14 that the

corresponding toggle structure

190, 200 for the lower clamping member 186 is arranged to be straightened when the lower end of the lever 216 moves leftwardly while the

upper toggle structure

190, 200 is straightened when the upper end of the lever 216 moves rightwardly. The lower clamping structure is otherwise similar to the upper clamping structure.

The toggle mechanism 192, 201 for the shear blade 184 is straightened during each operating cycle by means of a connecting rod 240 which has one end pivotally connected to the bellcrank 192 and has its other end pivotally connected to the upper end of a lever 238. Lever 238 is also mounted intermediate its ends on the pivot pin 218 in the composite block and is oscillated during each operating cycle by means of a connecting rod 236 which has its right-hand end (FIG. 14) pivoted at 235 to the lever 238 and has its left-hand end pivotally connected to a lever 234 adjacent to a cam 232 on the shaft 64. The lower end of the lever 234 is also pivotally mounted on ears extending from the plate 48 and a cam follower on one side of this lever is received in a cam track of the cam 232. During each complete revolution of the shaft 64, the cam 232, acting through the liners and connecting rods 234,

' 236, 238, and 240, straightens the toggle mechanism 192, 201

and thereby drives the severing blade downwardly as viewed in FIG. 17. The lower severing blade 184 is drivenupwardly by a similar toggle mechanism mounted on the lower plate 166'. It is desirable to leave a slight time interval between the severing operations for the upper and lower strips in order to reduce the power requirements for the apparatus to reduce the level of the stresses imposed on the parts. This can be done by, for example, designing the

toggles

192, 201, 192, 201' such that they are straightened at different times.

The bobbin at the insertion station is held in means of a clamp 244 and 244'; each having a central opening 246 through which the upper and lower shear blades and the plates 186, 186' extend. Clamp 244 is pivotally mounted on pin 250 which extends into block 164 on opposite sides of the terminal feed path. The arms 252, 254 on each side of this opening extend rearwardly over the upper surface of the plate 36 and are biased downwardly by means of springs 248 with respect to pivot pins 250 extending from the fixed block 164. The arm 254 has a rearwardly projecting extension 256 which bears against a switch button 258 of a switch 260. When a bobbin is positioned in the insertion station, the clamping member 244 will be swung through a counterclockwise straight are against the biasing force of the spring 248 and the arm extension 256 will close the switch 260. This switch, its counterpart on the underside of the plate 36, and a third switch described below must all be closed before the cycle can be started. The lower clamping member 244' is swung through a slight clockwise arc and the bobbin is clamped between the two

members

244, 244.

The remaining switch for the circuitry is controlled by a bellcrank pivoted to 266 and having one arm 264 which is engaged by the inserted bobbin. The other arm 268 of the bellcrank moves against the switch button of the switch 272 when the bobbin is inserted' It will thus be apparent that the cycle cannot be initiated until a bobbin has been properly inserted at the inserting station with the openings in the bobbin flange in alignment with the leading ends of the terminals of the leading row. The

switches

270, 260, 260 are arranged to initiate the cycle through a suitable clutch immediately upon insertion of the bobbin.

position by

Claims

1. Apparatus for assembling postlike terminals to one flange of a coil bobbin, said terminals being in the form of a continuous strip comprising a plurality of parallel columns of end-to-end connected terminals, said columns defining a plurality of successive rows with transversely extending slug strips separating each row from the next adjacent row, said apparatus comprising: a conveyor for carrying a succession of said bobbins along a predetermined path, an inserting station on said path, feeding means at said inserting station for feeding a strip of said terminals towards said path until the leading ends of the leading row of terminals extend through said flange, strip severing means at said inserting station for severing the slug strip at the trailing end of the terminals of said leading row from the terminals of the next adjacent row while leaving said slug strip integral with the trailing ends of the severed row, bending means, downstream, from said inserting station for bending the leading ends of the terminals extending through a coil flange until said leading ends extend parallel to the plane of said flange, and severing means adjacent to said bending means for severing the slug strip from the trailing ends of terminals presented thereto whereby, said slug strips maintain the alignment of terminals in said flange until said terminals are locked in said flange by bending of the leading ends thereof.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said each of said terminals has ear means intermediate its ends, said apparatus including staking means along said path for staking said ear means to said flange.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a second inserting station, a second strip severing means, a second bending means, and a second slug severing means, said second multiple means being in alignment with said first multiple means on the opposite side of said path, said apparatus being adapted to insert terminals into flanges on opposite sides of bobbins.

4. Apparatus for assembling postlike terminals to one flange of a coil bobbin, said terminals being in the form of a continuous strip of end-to-end connected terminals, said apparatus comprising: a conveyor for carrying a succession of said bobbins along a predetermined path, an inserting station on said path, feeding means at said inserting station for feeding a strip of said terminals towards said path until the leading end of the leading terminal of the strip extends through the flange of a bobbin at said inserting station, strip severing means at said inserting station for severing the strip at the trailing end of said leading terminal, and bending means, downstream, from said inserting station, for bending the leading end of a terminal in a bobbin at said bending station laterally so that said leading end extends parallel to the plane of said flange and away from the axis of the bobbin.