Patent ID: 9537277
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: G01N,G01R,H01R,Y10T

Claim:
1. A process for nondestructive evaluation of the quality of a crimped wire connector, comprising; providing a crimping tool having an anvil on which a wire circumscribed by a terminal is positioned, an upper jaw movable relative to the anvil to compress the terminal between the anvil and the jaw, a transmitting ultrasonic transducer mounted on one of the anvil and the jaw, and a receiving ultrasonic transducer mounted on the other of the anvil and jaw; moving the jaw relative to the anvil to close the distance between the jaw and the anvil, and thereby compress and crimp the terminal against the wire to form the crimped wire connector; detecting the position of the jaw relative to the anvil during the movement; recording the detected positions of the jaw as a function of time as it approaches the anvil; transmitting ultrasonic waves from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer while moving the jaw relative to the anvil, such that the ultrasonic waves are propagated through the terminal and wire; receiving ultrasonic waves at the receiving transducer while moving the jaw relative to the anvil; recording the received ultrasonic waves; detecting and recording amplitudes of the received ultrasonic waves as a function of time as the jaw is moving relative to the anvil; and predicting the quality of the crimped wire connector based on: