Patent ID: 8442664
Filing Date: 2013-05-14
Classification: H01R,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A wire harness assembly system comprising: a. a wire preparation system that comprises a programmable, automated wire cutting and crimping machine, said wire preparation system being operable to produce at least a first type of prepared wire elements having lengths and transverse dimensions, each of the prepared wire elements of the first type having opposite ends and a wire conductor extending between the opposite ends, said wire conductor having an outer surface and a wire insulator covering substantial portions of said outer surface, and each of the opposite ends being prepared ends characterized either as (i) a stripped end such that a portion of the wire conductor is not covered by the wire insulator at or near the respective end of said wire element, or as (ii) a terminated end such that a wire terminal is integrated with the prepared wire element in electrical communication with the wire conductor at or near the respective end of said wire element; b. a transportable storage structure removably positionable in a first proximity, said first proximity being proximal to said wire preparation system for receiving said prepared wire elements produced by said wire preparation system, said transportable storage structure containing an array of tubular surfaces assembled in a generally parallel arrangement, wherein: c. a loading system for directing movement of individual wire elements produced by said wire preparation system, to cause loading of said individual wire elements lengthwise into respectively different ones of said elongate storage spaces, said loading system operating to direct movement of said individual wire elements into the respectively different spaces by directing such movement of the individual wire elements from said wire preparation system through the identifiable locations of the respective first corresponding openings; and d. an indexing system for automatically creating a machine-readable index characterizing the identity of individual storage spaces of said transportable storage structure into which individual wire elements of the first type have been loaded by said loading system.