WO1989007355A1 - A machine for lacing cables - Google Patents

A machine for lacing cables Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1989007355A1
WO1989007355A1 PCT/SE1989/000036 SE8900036W WO8907355A1 WO 1989007355 A1 WO1989007355 A1 WO 1989007355A1 SE 8900036 W SE8900036 W SE 8900036W WO 8907355 A1 WO8907355 A1 WO 8907355A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
cable
shaft
lacing
notches
lengths
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/SE1989/000036
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Ingvar Gustavsson
Original Assignee
Ingvar Gustavsson
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ingvar Gustavsson filed Critical Ingvar Gustavsson
Publication of WO1989007355A1 publication Critical patent/WO1989007355A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01B—CABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B13/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing conductors or cables
    • H01B13/012—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing conductors or cables for manufacturing wire harnesses
    • H01B13/01263—Tying, wrapping, binding, lacing, strapping or sheathing harnesses

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a machine for lacing cables and comprising a unit for cutting, stripping the ends of and straightening electrical cables in predetermined straight lengths, and a conveyer for transferring said lengths of cables to a lacing unit.
  • the lacing of cables i.e. the manufacturing of cable systems for vehicles and electrical devices, is often done manually.
  • machines are used for cutting, straightening and marking cables, but the grouping of separate cables, i.e. the lacing usually is done by hand.
  • the reason for this is that the positioning of cables of different lengths along the cable system is rather difficult to realize without elaborate and complicated machines. Normally, even a mass-produced product will be under continuous development, often resulting in alterations in the design of a cable system. Therefore, a machine for producing cable systems must be so designed that such alterations can be made easily, without tedious resetting. Also, a lacing machine should be flexible, so that it rapidly can be shifted between production of different types of cable systems.
  • the object of the invention is to provide a simple and cost effective machine for lacing cables, which machine may easily be shifted over for production of different kinds of cable systems.
  • the lacing unit comprises a plurality of carriers mounted at relative distances along a mutual rotatable shaft, said carriers having radially disposed notches for reception of cable lengths, said notches being arranged in lines right in front of each other, at equal pitch along a circumference which is coaxial with the shaft, that the shaft is connected to means for rotation of said carriers one pitch angel step at a time towards a cable lacing means being movable in parallel with said shaft, and adapted to lace together the cable lengths lying in one line of notches, at suitable places between said carriers, and that a feeder is arranged in parallel with the axis of said shaft for transport of the cable lengths, arriving one at a time from the transporter, to the line of notches.
  • the feeder preferably comprises two endless belt transporters, which are driven in parallel around vertical shafts and form a nip, in which one cable length at a time can be displaced to any desired position along the line of notches.
  • a batten is arranged in parallel with the shaft and radially movable in the nip between said two endless belt transporters, for transferring each respective cable length to the carriers.
  • Fig. 1 is a side view of a plant for manufacturing of cable systems, which comprises a lacing machine according to the invention
  • Fig. 2 is a section along line II-II in Fig. 1.
  • the cable system manufacturing plant shown in Fig. 1 comprises a prior art machine 10 for cutting, stripping the ends of and straightening electrical cables in predetermined, straight lengths. These lengths are carried, one at a time, over to an endless belt transporter 11, which is intermit ⁇ tently driven forward by means of a drive motor 11a.
  • the belt transporter in its turn, is arranged to transfer the cable length further to the lacing unit 12. As the belt transporter is slightly longer than the length of the longest occurring cable length, the three units mentioned above may work separately, without the need for mutual synchronizing.
  • the lacing unit 12 comprises a carrier unit in the form of a number of dis_cs 14 which are mounted at equal intervals upon a rotatable shaft 13, transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shaft.
  • Each disk is provided with a number of radially disposed notches 15 for reception of cable lengths in lines right in front of each other, at equal pitch along a circum ⁇ ference which is coaxial with the shaft.
  • four notches are arranged at angles of 90 degrees. The number of notches may vary within relatively wide limits.
  • the shaft 13 is connected to a drive motor 13a for inter ⁇ mittent rotation of the carriers, one step at a time, e.g. as shown 90° degrees towards a lacing pistol 16 on one side.
  • lacing pistols are used in the art for manual lacing of cables, wherein they are applied by hand at suitable places along a cable system for fastening of securing loops.
  • the lacing pistol is movable by means of a transporter 16a and a drive motor 16b in parallel with the shaft 13 upon guide rails 17, and may be pivoted in the disks by means of a pneumatic piston-cylinder 16c, in order to lace together the cable lengths lying in the line of notches, at suitable intervals between the disks.
  • the notches are turned vertically downward and the laced cable system (not shown in the drawings) may fall out of the carrier unit, e.g. into a collecting basket.
  • a feeder extends along the vertically upper line of notches, in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the shaft 13, and comprises two endless belt transporters 18, which are driven in parallel by means of a motor 18b around vertical shafts 18a.
  • the belt transporters 18 form a nip, in which one cable length at a time can be moved to a desired position along the line of notches 15 opening upwards.
  • a batten 19 is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft 13 and movably arranged between the two belt transporters 18, by means of a piston cylinder 20, to push down the respective cable length from the feeder to the line of notches facing upwards.
  • the belt transporters 18 and the batten 19 has a length substantially corresponding to the length of the longest occurring cable length.
  • the unit 10, the belt transporters 11, 18 and the drive means 13a, 16b for the shaft 13 and the lacing pistol 16 respectively, are controlled by a micro ⁇ processor, not shown in the drawings, preferably being programmable with respect to the number of cable lengths, the seize of their lengths and their mutual positions in the cable system.
  • the plant works in the following way:
  • the unit 10 pulls out cable from one or several supply rolls, cuts it at a predetermined length, strips off the insulation at both of its ends, straightens the cable length and moves it some distance onto the belt transporter 11.
  • the belt transporter 11 moves the cable length further into the nip between the two belt transporters 18 which together form the cable transporting means.
  • the cable transporting means moves the cable length further until it reaches its correct position along the shaft 13. Now the piston cylinder 20 is activated in order to lower the batten 19, wherein the cable length is pushed out of the nip between the belt transporters 18 and down into the upwards open line of notches 15 in the disks 14.
  • the lacing pistol 16 travels upon the guide rails 17 along the shaft 13 to different suitable positions between the disks 14, and binding loops are applied at suitable intervals along the cable system.
  • the shaft is turned another step, so that the completed cable system can fall out of the carrier unit disks.
  • the carrier unit disks 14 may be formed differently, e.g. with arms protruding from the shaft 13.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Manufacturing Of Electrical Connectors (AREA)
  • Basic Packing Technique (AREA)

Abstract

A machine for lacing cable systems comprises a unit (10) for cutting, stripping the ends of and straightening electrical cables in predetermined straight lengths, and a conveyor (11) for transferring said lengths of cables to a lacing unit (12). The lacing unit (12) comprises a plurality of carriers (14) mounted at relative distances along a mutual rotatable shaft (13), and having radially disposed notches (15) arranged in lines right in front of each other, at equal pitch along the circumference. A feeder (18, 19) is arranged in parallel with the axis of said shaft for transport of the cable lengths arriving one at a time from the transporter (11), into one line of notches (15). When all cable lengths belonging to a cable system are present in the line of notches, the shaft (13) is rotated one step from the feeder to a cable lacing means (16) which is known in the field and can be moved along the shaft, and is adapted to lace together the cable lengths at suitable places between the carriers (14). When the lacing is completed, the shaft (13) is turned another step and the completed cable system may leave the machine.

Description

A machine for lacing cables
Technical field:
The present invention relates to a machine for lacing cables and comprising a unit for cutting, stripping the ends of and straightening electrical cables in predetermined straight lengths, and a conveyer for transferring said lengths of cables to a lacing unit.
Background:
The lacing of cables, i.e. the manufacturing of cable systems for vehicles and electrical devices, is often done manually. Certainly, machines are used for cutting, straightening and marking cables, but the grouping of separate cables, i.e. the lacing usually is done by hand. The reason for this is that the positioning of cables of different lengths along the cable system is rather difficult to realize without elaborate and complicated machines. Normally, even a mass-produced product will be under continuous development, often resulting in alterations in the design of a cable system. Therefore, a machine for producing cable systems must be so designed that such alterations can be made easily, without tedious resetting. Also, a lacing machine should be flexible, so that it rapidly can be shifted between production of different types of cable systems.
The object of the present invention:
The object of the invention is to provide a simple and cost effective machine for lacing cables, which machine may easily be shifted over for production of different kinds of cable systems.
Summary of the invention:
The invention is characterised in that the lacing unit comprises a plurality of carriers mounted at relative distances along a mutual rotatable shaft, said carriers having radially disposed notches for reception of cable lengths, said notches being arranged in lines right in front of each other, at equal pitch along a circumference which is coaxial with the shaft, that the shaft is connected to means for rotation of said carriers one pitch angel step at a time towards a cable lacing means being movable in parallel with said shaft, and adapted to lace together the cable lengths lying in one line of notches, at suitable places between said carriers, and that a feeder is arranged in parallel with the axis of said shaft for transport of the cable lengths, arriving one at a time from the transporter, to the line of notches.
The feeder preferably comprises two endless belt transporters, which are driven in parallel around vertical shafts and form a nip, in which one cable length at a time can be displaced to any desired position along the line of notches.
A batten is arranged in parallel with the shaft and radially movable in the nip between said two endless belt transporters, for transferring each respective cable length to the carriers.
Brief description of the drawings:
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a plant for manufacturing of cable systems, which comprises a lacing machine according to the invention, and Fig. 2 is a section along line II-II in Fig. 1.
Description of a preferred embodiment: The cable system manufacturing plant shown in Fig. 1 comprises a prior art machine 10 for cutting, stripping the ends of and straightening electrical cables in predetermined, straight lengths. These lengths are carried, one at a time, over to an endless belt transporter 11, which is intermit¬ tently driven forward by means of a drive motor 11a. The belt transporter, in its turn, is arranged to transfer the cable length further to the lacing unit 12. As the belt transporter is slightly longer than the length of the longest occurring cable length, the three units mentioned above may work separately, without the need for mutual synchronizing.
The lacing unit 12 comprises a carrier unit in the form of a number of dis_cs 14 which are mounted at equal intervals upon a rotatable shaft 13, transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. Each disk is provided with a number of radially disposed notches 15 for reception of cable lengths in lines right in front of each other, at equal pitch along a circum¬ ference which is coaxial with the shaft. In the disclosed embodiment, four notches are arranged at angles of 90 degrees. The number of notches may vary within relatively wide limits.
The shaft 13 is connected to a drive motor 13a for inter¬ mittent rotation of the carriers, one step at a time, e.g. as shown 90° degrees towards a lacing pistol 16 on one side. Such lacing pistols are used in the art for manual lacing of cables, wherein they are applied by hand at suitable places along a cable system for fastening of securing loops. However, at the disclosure, the lacing pistol is movable by means of a transporter 16a and a drive motor 16b in parallel with the shaft 13 upon guide rails 17, and may be pivoted in the disks by means of a pneumatic piston-cylinder 16c, in order to lace together the cable lengths lying in the line of notches, at suitable intervals between the disks.
At a further operating step, the notches are turned vertically downward and the laced cable system (not shown in the drawings) may fall out of the carrier unit, e.g. into a collecting basket.
A feeder extends along the vertically upper line of notches, in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the shaft 13, and comprises two endless belt transporters 18, which are driven in parallel by means of a motor 18b around vertical shafts 18a. The belt transporters 18 form a nip, in which one cable length at a time can be moved to a desired position along the line of notches 15 opening upwards.
A batten 19 is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft 13 and movably arranged between the two belt transporters 18, by means of a piston cylinder 20, to push down the respective cable length from the feeder to the line of notches facing upwards.
The belt transporters 18 and the batten 19 has a length substantially corresponding to the length of the longest occurring cable length. The unit 10, the belt transporters 11, 18 and the drive means 13a, 16b for the shaft 13 and the lacing pistol 16 respectively, are controlled by a micro¬ processor, not shown in the drawings, preferably being programmable with respect to the number of cable lengths, the seize of their lengths and their mutual positions in the cable system.
The plant works in the following way:
The unit 10 pulls out cable from one or several supply rolls, cuts it at a predetermined length, strips off the insulation at both of its ends, straightens the cable length and moves it some distance onto the belt transporter 11.
The belt transporter 11 moves the cable length further into the nip between the two belt transporters 18 which together form the cable transporting means.
The cable transporting means moves the cable length further until it reaches its correct position along the shaft 13. Now the piston cylinder 20 is activated in order to lower the batten 19, wherein the cable length is pushed out of the nip between the belt transporters 18 and down into the upwards open line of notches 15 in the disks 14.
The method described above is repeated until all cable lengths belonging to the cable system are present within said line of notches 15. Than the shaft 13 is rotated one pitch step in counter clockwise direction in Fig. 2, so that the former upwards opening notches are turned towards the lacing pistol 16. A number of spring wires (not shown in the drawings), are arranged along the shaft 13, in the paths of movement of the notches 16, in order to press the cable lengths towards the bottom of the notches, so that said lengths are fixed during rotation.
The lacing pistol 16 travels upon the guide rails 17 along the shaft 13 to different suitable positions between the disks 14, and binding loops are applied at suitable intervals along the cable system.
Meanwhile, new cable lengths are fed down into the next following line of notches 15.
When the lacing of one cable system, and the feeding of a new set of cable lengths respectively, is finished, the shaft is turned another step, so that the completed cable system can fall out of the carrier unit disks.
The invention is not limited to the above described embodiment, but several variations are possible within the scope of the accompanying claims. For example, the carrier unit disks 14 may be formed differently, e.g. with arms protruding from the shaft 13.

Claims

CLAIMS:
1. A machine for lacing of cable systems, and comprising a unit (10) for cutting, stripping the ends of and straight¬ ening electrical cables in predetermined straight lengths, and a conveyer (11) for transferring said lengths of cables to a lacing unit (12), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in, that the lacing unit (12) comprises a plurality of carriers (14) mounted at relative distances along a mutual rotatable shaft (13) , said carriers having radially disposed notches (15) for reception of cable lengths, said notches being arranged in lines right in front of each other, at equal pitch along a circumference which is coaxial with the shaft (13) , that the shaft is connected to means for rotation of said carriers one pitch angel step at a time towards a cable lacing means (16) being movable in parallel with said shaft, and adapted to lace together the cable lengths lying in one line of notches, at suitable places between said carriers (14) , and that a feeder (18, 19) is arranged in parallel with the axis of said shaft for transport of the cable lengths, arriving one at a time from the transporter (11) , to the line of notches (15) .
2. A machine according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in, that the feeder (18, 19) comprises two endless belt transporters (18) , which are driven in parallel around vertical shafts and form a nip, in which one cable length at a time can be displaced to any desired position along the line of notches (15) .
3. A machine according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in, that a batten (19) which is parallel with the shaft (13) is radially movable in the nip between said two endless belt transporters (18) , for transferring each respective cable length to the carriers (14) .
PCT/SE1989/000036 1987-10-09 1989-01-31 A machine for lacing cables WO1989007355A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
SE8703907A SE463438B (en) 1987-10-09 1987-10-09 MACHINE FOR CABLING BUNDLE
SE8703907-9 1988-02-02

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1989007355A1 true WO1989007355A1 (en) 1989-08-10

Family

ID=20369817

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/SE1989/000036 WO1989007355A1 (en) 1987-10-09 1989-01-31 A machine for lacing cables

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU3036189A (en)
SE (1) SE463438B (en)
WO (1) WO1989007355A1 (en)

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1812430A1 (en) * 1968-02-28 1969-09-04 Morgan Construction Co Device for counting, bundling and weighing of elongated products
US3881374A (en) * 1974-05-24 1975-05-06 Artos Engineering Co Rotary wire stripper

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1812430A1 (en) * 1968-02-28 1969-09-04 Morgan Construction Co Device for counting, bundling and weighing of elongated products
US3881374A (en) * 1974-05-24 1975-05-06 Artos Engineering Co Rotary wire stripper

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU3036189A (en) 1989-08-25
SE463438B (en) 1990-11-19
SE8703907D0 (en) 1987-10-09
SE8703907L (en) 1989-04-10

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