Abstract:
The present invention provides a crimping device that facilitates an adjustment operation and has a reduced height. A crimping device has a crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core of a wire onto which a terminal is to be crimped and a crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating of the wire, the mechanisms having respective adjustment dials, and the front of the crimping device facing in the opposite direction of the core. In the adjustment mechanisms, the adjustment dials thereof are disposed on the same axis so that the crimping device can have a reduced height compared with conventional crimping devices in which the adjustment mechanisms are disposed at positions different in the vertical direction.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a crimping device that has adjustment mechanisms that adjust the crimp heights for a core and an insulating coating, respectively, of a wire with an end stripped.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     It is desirable to have the ability to adjust the crimp height for a core and an insulated coating of a wire when a terminal is crimped onto the core and the insulating coating. Crimping devices with adjustment mechanisms for adjust the crimp heights for a core and an insulating coating of a wire with an end stripped are known. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-6849, discloses a crimping device with adjustment mechanisms.  
         [0003]     However, in the crimping device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-6849, operating the crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core and the crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating involves additional operations, such as loosening of a predetermined fastened part, so that it takes time to adjust the crimp heights.  
         [0004]     Another crimping device that has two dials for operating the two height adjustment mechanisms is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-27086.  
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a front view of essential parts of the crimping device described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-27086. Crimping device  1  has, on the front thereof, dials for operating the crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core and the crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating and includes a prime mover section that produces a force required for crimping and an applicator that achieves crimping of a terminal using the force produced by the prime mover section.  
         [0006]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the crimping device  1  has a press ram  11 , which transmits force produced by a prime mover section to an applicator  20 . The applicator  20  is composed of a machine casing  21 , an anvil unit  22  and a base  23 . A pair of vertical rails  24  are fixed to the machine casing  21 , and an oscillation beam  26  is supported on the machine casing  21  by a shaft  26   a . A tool ram  25  is guided by the vertical rails  24  to move up and down. The tool ram  25 , in cooperation with the anvil unit  22 , crimps a terminal onto a stripped part  30   a  of a wire (see  FIG. 2 ).  
         [0007]     The tool ram  25  is connected to the press ram  11  described above and has a cam roller  25   b  supported on a side section  25   a  thereof by a shaft  25   c . The cam roller  25   b  is fitted into a cam groove  26   b  formed in the oscillation beam  26 . Thus, when the tool ram  25  moves up and down, the oscillation beam  26  oscillates about the shaft  26   a . A plate  28  is attached to a lower part of the oscillation beam  26 , and a feeding claw  27 , whose tip end engages with chained terminals n placed behind a terminal guide rail  23   a , is supported on the plate  28  by a shaft  27   b.    
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is a side view of essential parts of the crimping device shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0009]     A terminal n 1  shown in  FIG. 2  is composed of a contact part n 11 , an insulation barrel n 12  for holding the coating of the wire  30 , and a wire barrel n 13  for holding a core  32  thereof. Multiple terminals n 1  are connected to a carrier n 14  to constitute the chained terminals n. A crimper section  25   d  of the tool ram  25  shown also in  FIG. 1  is composed of a cut-off punch  251   d , an insulation crimper  252   d  for crimping the insulation barrel n 12 , and a wire crimper  253   d  for crimping the wire barrel nl 3 .  
         [0010]     In this crimping device  1 , operation of a feeding claw  27  causes the terminal n 1 , which is the closest to the anvil unit  22  of the plural chained terminals n, to be placed on the anvil unit  22 . Then, when the wire  30  with an end previously stripped is placed on the terminal n 1  on the anvil unit  22 , the press ram  11  moves downward, and the tool ram  25  connected to the press ram  11  is guided by the vertical rails  24  to move downward. Then, the tool ram  25  and the anvil unit  22  cooperate to cut a bridge part n 15 , which connects the terminal to the carrier n 14 , and crimp the terminal n 1 , separated from the chained terminals n, onto the stripped part  30   a . When the crimping is completed and the tool ram  25  begins to move upward, the cam roller  25   b  also moves upward along the cam groove  26   b  in the oscillation beam  26 , and thus, the oscillation beam  26  oscillates about the shaft  26   a  counterclockwise. This movement causes the feeding claw  27  to place a terminal, which is the closest to the anvil unit  22  of the chained terminals n, on the anvil unit  22  along the terminal guide rail  23   a.    
         [0011]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the anvil unit  22  is composed of a floating shear  221  having a groove cutting edge  221   a , an insulation anvil  222  and a wire anvil  223 . When the tool ram  25  moves downward guided by the vertical rails  24 , the bridge part n 15  of the terminal n 1  on the anvil unit  22  is cut by the cut off punch  251   d  and the groove cutting edge  221   a  of the floating shear  221 , and the insulation barrel n 12  is crimped onto the coating  31  of the wire  30  by the insulation crimper  252   d  and the insulation anvil  222 . In addition, the wire barrel n 13  is crimped onto the core  32  of the wire  30  by the wire crimper  253   d  and the wire anvil  223 .  
         [0012]     Here, in the crimping device  1  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the crimp heights for the core and the coating are adjusted by changing the bottom dead centers of the wire crimper  253   d  and the insulation crimper  252   d , respectively. In the crimping device  1 , the bottom dead centers are changed by rotating the dials  40  and  50  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The upper dial  50  is for the wire crimper, and the lower dial  40  is for the insulation crimper. Adjustment operations can be achieved by manipulating the dials of the adjustment mechanisms.  
         [0013]     In accordance with the recent trend toward downsizing, there is a demand for downsizing of the crimping devices for crimping a terminal onto a stripped part of a wire. However, the crimping device  1  disclosed in the above Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-27086 is difficult to reduce in height.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]     According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a crimping device is provided that has a crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core of a wire onto which a terminal is to be crimped and a crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating of the wire, the mechanisms having respective adjustment dials, and the front of the crimping device facing in the opposite direction of the core, in which the adjustment mechanisms are disposed on a same axis, and the adjustment dials of the adjustment mechanisms are disposed on the front of the crimping device.  
         [0015]     Since the adjustment dials of the crimping device according to the present invention is disposed facing to the operator, the crimp height adjustment can be readily achieved. In addition, since the crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core and the crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating are disposed on the same axis, the adjustment dials of the two adjustment mechanisms are also disposed on the same axis. Therefore, the crimping device according to the present invention can have a reduced height compared with conventional crimping devices that have the adjustment dials at positions different in the vertical direction. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  is a front view of essential parts of a known crimping device;  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a side view of essential parts of the crimping device shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a crimping device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  shows an applicator section of the crimping device shown in  FIG. 3 , viewed from the front thereof;  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is an exploded view of a tool ram of the applicator section of  FIG. 4 ; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a partial cross sectional side view of an upper part of the tool ram of  FIG. 5 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0022]     Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 3-6 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a crimping device according to the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0024]     A crimping device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 3  has a housing section  101  that contains a prime mover (not shown) that drives a press ram  11 , and an applicator section  102  that is attached to the housing section  101  and crimps a terminal onto a stripped end part of a wire using the force from the press ram  11 .  
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of the applicator section of the crimping device shown in  FIG. 3 , viewed from the front thereof.  
         [0026]     For the applicator section  102 , shown in  FIG. 4 , a terminal (not shown) is fed thereto from the left in the drawing, and a wire (not shown) with an end stripped to expose the core is fed thereto from the front in the drawing. As described in detail later, in the applicator section  102 , a crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core and a crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating are disposed on an axis of a dial  140  shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0027]     The applicator section  102  shown in  FIG. 4  essentially has a machine casing  121 , a tool ram  125  that moves up and down with respect to the machine casing  121 , an anvil unit  122 , and a base  123 . The machine casing  121  has a vertical rail  124  attached thereto, along which the tool ram  125  moves up and down.  
         [0028]     In addition, the machine casing  121  has a side plate  130  with an elongated hole  130   a  formed therein. A shaft  132  is provided between the machine casing  121  and a supporting member  133  attached to the housing section  101  (see  FIG. 3 ) located to the left in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0029]     The shaft  132  has a cam follower (not shown) provided thereon, which engages with a cam groove formed in a predetermined surface of the tool ram  125  to allow the shaft  132  to reciprocate in a horizontal direction in  FIG. 4  in response to the tool ram  125  moving up and down.  
         [0030]     A claw section  127  feeds one of a plurality of chained terminals n, which is the closest to the anvil unit  122 , to the anvil unit  122 . An arm  127   b  of the claw section  127  is connected to the shaft  132  and has a shaft  1271   b  passing through the elongated hole  130   a.  The side plate  130  has a composite nut  131  having a center section  131  a and a peripheral section  131   b  attached thereto at the center of the elongated hole  130   a . An end of the shaft  1271   b  of the arm  127   b  is press-fitted to the center section  131   a  of the composite nut  131 . The center section  131   a  of the composite nut  131  can rotate with respect to the peripheral section  131   b . Thus, when the shaft  132  moves in a horizontal direction in  FIG. 4  in response to the tool ram  125  moving up or down, the arm  127   b  rotates about the center section  131   a  of the composite nut  131  to move a claw  127   c  via a link section  127   a  connected thereto, and the claw  127   c  feeds a terminal to the anvil unit  122 .  
         [0031]     In addition,  FIG. 4  shows a wire dial  140  that is one of two dials provided on a same axis and located near the upper end of the tool ram  125 . A crimper section  125   d  is provided for achieving crimping in cooperation with the anvil unit  122  that is located directly below the dial and composed of a cut-off punch  1251   d  and an insulation crimper  1252   d  and the like.  
         [0032]     The anvil unit  122  has a floating shear  1221  that separates a leading one from the chained terminals in cooperation with the cut-off punch  1251   d . The anvil unit further includes an insulation anvil that achieves crimping in cooperation with the insulation crimper  1252   d  or the like, although the insulation anvil is not shown in  FIG. 4 . Furthermore,  FIG. 4  shows an abutment plate  126  located above the anvil unit  122 , against which the tip end of the core of the stripped wire abuts for positioning of the wire.  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the tool ram  125 , showing components thereof. In the lower area of  FIG. 5 , a cut-off punch  1252 , an insulation crimper  1253 , a flat washer  1256 , a spacer  1257  and a wire crimper  1254  are attached by a hexagonal screw  1251  to a lower part of a main section  1250  of the tool ram  125 . In the middle area of  FIG. 5 , a crimper support  1255  is attached to the middle of the main section  1250  by a screw  1258 . In the upper area of  FIG. 5 , the wire dial  140  is fitted into a hole  1250   a  formed in an upper area of the main section  1250  through a spring  160  and an insulation dial  150 . A pin  1259  is inserted directly above the hole  1250   a.    
         [0034]     A pin  1261  and a spring  1260  constituting a plunger and fitted into the bottom of the hole  1250   a  are shown directly above the main section  1250 . An upper edge  1254   a  of the wire crimper  1254  abuts against the bottom of a jaw  1255   b  of the crimper support  1255 . The flat washer  1256  is thicker than the insulation crimper  1253  and is fitted into an elongated hole  1253   a  formed in the middle of the insulation crimper  1253 . Thus, the insulation crimper  1253  can move vertically with respect to the main section  1250 .  
         [0035]     The wire dial  140  has a substantially cylindrical shape. The outer circumference of the main body of the wire dial, excluding a front dial plate  140   a  with numerics inscribed, is constituted by, from the dial plate toward the depth thereof, a section  141  that is surrounded by the coil spring  160  and the insulation dial  150 , a fitting section  142  that is a groove which is formed over the total circumference of the wire dial and into which a protrusion  1255   a  of the crimper support  1255  is fitted, and a polyhedron section  143  that is cut so that different points on the circumference are at different distances from the center of the wire dial. In the middle of each surface  143   a  of the polyhedron section  143 , a shallow conical hole  144  is formed into which the pin  1261  of the plunger is fitted to secure the surface when the surface is selected.  
         [0036]     The insulation dial  150  is a short component having a substantially cylindrical shape and has a polyhedron outer circumference. While the distance between the center axis and the inner circumference of the insulation dial  150  is constant, the distance between the center axis and the outer circumference varies with the position along the circumference. That is, the thickness of the insulation dial  150  varies with the point along the circumference. When rotating the insulation dial  150 , the insulation dial  150  is pulled toward the dial plate of the wire dial  140  against the biasing force of the coil spring  160 . When the insulation dial  150  is released, the pin  1259  protruding slightly from the main section  1250  of the tool ram  125  is fitted into a valley  151  formed in an edge of the insulation dial  150 , thereby securing the rotational position of the insulation dial  150 .  
         [0037]     Now, the crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core and the crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating, which are provided on a same axis according to this embodiment, will be described with reference to  FIG. 6 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 6  is a partial cross sectional side view of an upper part of the tool ram, part of which is shown as a side view. Specifically, the crimper part is shown as a side view. In this drawing, cross sections of the insulation dial  150  are shown above and below the cross section of the wire dial  140 , and the upper edge  1253   b  of the insulation crimper  1253  abutting against the outer circumference of the insulation dial  150  is shown.  
         [0039]     In addition,  FIG. 6  shows the protrusion  1255   a  of the crimper support  1255  fitted into the fitting section  142  formed in the outer circumference of the wire dial  140 , with the upper edge  1254   a  of the wire crimper  1254  abutting against the jaw  1255   b  of the crimper support  1255 .  
         [0040]     In the crimping device  1 , the tool ram  125  moves up and down in response to the press ram  11  (see  FIG. 3 ), which is movably provided in a space  125   a  above the tool ram  125 , moving up and down. When the press ram  11  moves down, the crimper or the like of the tool ram  125  suspended from the press ram  11  comes into contact with the terminal placed under the crimper or the like, and thus, the press ram  11  moving downward decelerates. Then, the press ram  11  continues to move downward until it reaches a predetermined bottom dead center, and thus, the surface  143   a  of the wire dial  140  selected at that time is pressed downward. In this process, the terminal is crimped onto the stripped part of the wire. Thus, the crimp height for the coating of the wire and the crimp height for the core of the wire are adjusted by adjusting the bottom dead centers of the insulation crimper  1253  and the wire crimper  1254 , respectively, that are responsible for crimping.  
         [0041]     The bottom dead center of the insulation crimper  1253  for crimping of an insulation barrel n 12  (see  FIG. 2 ) of the terminal is changed by rotating the insulation dial  150 , because the thickness of the insulation dial  150  varies with the position along the circumference as described above. In this way, the crimp height for this part can be adjusted.  
         [0042]     On the other hand, the bottom dead center of the wire crimper  1254  for crimping of a wire barrel n 13  (see  FIG. 2 ) of the terminal is changed by rotating the wire dial  140 , because the cutting of the wire dial  140  varies with the position along the circumference as described above. In this way, the crimp height for this part can be adjusted.  
         [0043]     As described above, in the crimping device  1  according to this embodiment, the adjustment dials are disposed toward the operator, and therefore, the crimp height adjustment can be readily achieved. In addition, since the crimp height adjustment mechanism for a core and the crimp height adjustment mechanism for an insulating coating are disposed on the same axis, the height of the entire device can be reduced compared with conventional crimping devices with the adjustment dials disposed at different levels.