Wire lead-in funnel for a terminal applicator

A machine (40) is disclosed for crimping a terminal (12) onto a wire (10) thereby forming a crimped wire assembly (32). The machine includes a crimping bar 64 and a mating anvil (60) for performing the crimping operation. A terminal feed unit (70) is provided for feeding a strip (24) of terminals. The machine includes a wire guiding device (80) having an upper half (82) attached to the crimping bar (64) and a lower half (84) attached to the anvil (60). Each of the upper and lower halves include two wire guide members (88) that slide toward and away from a central axis (116) extending through the barrel (22) of the terminal (12) to be crimped. The ends of the four wire guide members (88), each having a quarter of a conical surface (118) formed thereon, are arranged so that the four surfaces form a complete conical section for guiding the wire (10) as it is being inserted into the barrel (22) of the terminal (12). The wire guide members (88) are arranged to retract as the leading edge (132) of the insulating jacket (16) engages the conical surfaces (118).

The present invention relates to terminal applicators for crimping 
electrical terminals to the ends of wires and more particularly to such 
applicators having an expandable lead-in funnel for guiding the wires into 
the barrel of the terminal without stubbing. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Applicator machines for the attachment of electrical terminals to very 
large conductors usually include a press having a movable ram that is 
arranged to undergo reciprocating motion toward and away from a bolster 
plate Crimping tooling is provided consisting of a fixed anvil that is 
attached to the bolster plate and a mating upper die that is attached to 
and carried by the ram. The terminals, arranged on a plastic carrier 
strip, are drawn from a reel by a feed mechanism and positioned, one at a 
time, in alignment with the anvil and upper die. A stripped end of a wire 
is manually inserted into the barrel of the terminal and the press 
actuated to crimp the terminal onto the wire. Such a machine is disclosed 
in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,613 which issued Jun. 28, 1977 to Brown et al., and 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,180 which issued Aug. 9, 1977 to Brown. In both of 
these patents, the machine includes a pivotal lifting device that serves 
two purposes. The first purpose being to guide the multiple-stranded wire 
end during operator insertion of the wire end into the barrel of the 
terminal prior to crimping, and the second to separate the crimped wire 
assembly from the anvil as the strip of terminals is advanced to position 
the next terminal in alignment with the anvil. Both of these devices 
provide wire guidance, the device of the '613 patent guides a full 360 
degrees while the device of the '180 patent guides only the lower 180 
degrees of the wire. The guiding mechanisms of both these devices suffer 
from the inability of the guiding surfaces to yield and retract slightly 
after the wire has begun to enter the barrel of the terminal and the edge 
of the wire's insulation engages the guide surfaces. The wire must be 
fully inserted into the barrel of the terminal so that the edge of the 
insulation is against the end of the barrel prior to actuating the 
crimping press. Since the outside diameter of the insulation is greater 
than the outside diameter of the wire, as the insulation engages the 
guiding surfaces, the guiding surfaces must easily retract to allow the 
insulated portion of the wire to pass. The two part funnel mechanism of 
the '613 patent has an upper half that is pivotally attached to the lower 
half so that it can pivot away as the wire is inserted, however, the lower 
half cannot retract. The funnel opening formed is slightly larger than the 
diameter of the wire but less than the outside diameter of the insulation 
of the wire. Further, the two halves form two mating conical sections 
having sharp corners. As the edge of the insulation engages the two 
conical sections; they are urged apart. The upper half is urged to pivot 
upwardly while the wire insulation is forced slightly upwardly over the 
sharp corners of the lower half, the sharp corners of both the upper and 
lower halves biting into and damaging the outer surface of the insulation. 
Further, the sharp corners tend to inhibit movement of the wire as it is 
being inserted. Very elaborate guiding devices having complex retraction 
mechanisms have been developed to overcome this problem but such devices 
are costly to manufacture and to maintain. 
What is needed is a wire guiding device that is effective in guiding the 
multi-stranded wire until it begins to enter the barrel of the terminal, 
and then the guiding surfaces should retract slightly as the insulation of 
the wire engages and passes them without sharp corners damaging the 
insulation or inhibiting insertion of the wire into the terminal barrel. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An apparatus is disclosed for crimping a terminal onto a wire and forming a 
crimped wire assembly. The apparatus includes a first tooling unit and a 
second tooling unit movable toward and matable with the first tooling unit 
in a work station for effecting the crimping. A wire guide is provided for 
guiding the wire into an opening in a barrel of the terminal in the work 
station. The wire guide includes a first guide portion attached to the 
first tooling unit and a second guide portion attached to and carried by 
the second tooling unit. The first and second guide portions each have 
first and second guide surfaces, respectively, that cooperate to form a 
substantially continuous guide surface in a closed position for guiding 
the wire. The guide surfaces mutually retract away from each other to an 
open position after the wire is at least partially inserted into the 
barrel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
There is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 a wire 10 and terminal 12 of the type 
to be crimped by the machine of the present invention that will be 
described below. The wire 10 includes a multi-stranded conductor 14 and an 
outer insulating jacket 16, a portion of which is stripped away to form a 
stripped end 18. The wire 10, in the present example is of relatively 
large gage, generally having a conductor diameter larger than about 0.250 
inch and a minimum of about 500 strands of 26 gage wire. The terminal 12 
to be crimped onto the end 18 includes a terminal portion 20 and a barrel 
22 having a hole for loosely receiving the end 18. The terminal 12 is 
carried by a carrier strip 24 having a thin plastic layer 26 attached 
thereto that sandwiches the terminal portion of each terminal 12 
therebetween. The layer 26 is thermal-tacked to the carrier strip 24 to 
form pockets 28 which hold the terminals in place. As will be explained, 
when the terminal 12 is in position with respect to the crimping tooling, 
the wire end 18 is manually inserted into the barrel 22, as shown in FIG. 
2, and then crimped as shown at 30 in FIG. 3 to produce a crimped wire 
assembly 32. The required force imposed by the crimping tooling to produce 
a high quality crimp is about 9000 pounds. 
A terminal applicator machine 40 for making the crimped wire assembly 32, 
as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, includes a commercially available press 42 
having a ram 44. A die shoe set 46 is positioned within the press and 
comprises a lower bolster plate 48 having two vertically disposed guide 
posts 50 extending therefrom and an upper plate 52 in sliding engagement 
with the guide posts arranged to move vertically toward and away from the 
bolster plate. The press ram 44 is coupled to and carries the upper plate 
52 in the usual manner. Terminal applicator tooling 54 includes a lower 
tooling unit 56 attached to the bolster plate 48, and an upper tooling 
unit 58 attached to the upper plate 52 in the usual manner. The lower 
tooling unit 56 includes a crimping anvil 60 having a relatively deep 
crimping nest 62, shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. The upper tooling unit 58 
includes a crimping bar 64 having a die form 66, as best seen in FIG. 6, 
that cooperates with the nest 62 in forming the crimp 30 in a work station 
68. The crimping bar 64 is arranged to undergo limited vertical movement 
with respect to the upper tooling unit 58, as viewed in FIG. 4, and is 
urged downwardly by a spring, not shown. When the ram 44 has moved the 
upper plate 52 downwardly to its intermediate position, shown in FIG. 4, 
the die form 66 lightly engages the barrel 22 of the terminal 12 that is 
in the nest 62, thereby holding the terminal steady while the wire end 18 
is manually inserted into the barrel. The lower tooling unit 56 includes a 
feed mechanism 70 that intermittently feeds the carrier strip 24 during 
operation of the machine 40. A pivoting lift bar 72 is arranged to lift 
the crimped wire assembly 32 out of the nest 62 so that it can be easily 
removed from the machine. A wire guiding device 80 includes an upper half 
82 attached to and carried by the crimping bar 64 and a lower half 84 
attached to the anvil 60 of the lower tooling unit 56. 
As best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the upper and lower halves 82 and 84, 
respectively, are substantially identical, each having a wire guide frame 
86, two wire guide members 88, and a backing plate 90. Each of the wire 
guide frames 86, as shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, has two spaced 
counterbored mounting holes 92 for receiving mounting screw 94 for 
attaching the two frames and associated backing plates 90 to the crimping 
bar 64 and the anvil 60, as shown in FIG. 6. Each frame 86 includes two 
slots 96 formed in a back surface 98 thereof and positioned at about 90 
degrees from each other. Each slot 96 terminates in an end wall 100. A 
pair of elongated holes 102 are formed through the frame 86, one elongated 
hole in alignment with each slot 96 so that the elongated hole intersects 
the slot and its longitudinal axis extends parallel to the slot. Two 
threaded holes 104 are formed in the frame 86, one threaded hole 
intersecting each elongated hole 102, as best seen in FIG. 8, for a 
purpose that will be described below. Each wire guide member 88, as shown 
in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13, has an elongated body 106 that has a width sized 
to be a sliding fit within the slots 96 of the frames 86. A pin 108, as 
shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, extends from the top surface 110 of each member 
88 and into a respective elongated hole 102, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. 
The pins 108 limit sliding movement of the members 88 within their 
respective slots 96, as will be explained below. A blind hole 112 is 
formed in the end of each member 88, as shown in FIG. 13, for receiving a 
compression spring 114 that extends from the blind hole and into 
engagement with the end wall 100 of the slot 96, as best seen in FIG. 7. 
The springs 114 urge the four wire guide members 88 to slide toward a 
central axis 116, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Each wire guide member 88 
includes a conical shaped surface 118 that converges to a land 120. The 
conical surface 118 terminates on either side at side surfaces 122 and 
124, as best seen in FIG. 11. The two side surfaces 122 and 124 are each 
formed at an angle to the long sides 126 of 45 degrees so that the 
combined angle between the two side surfaces is 90 degrees, thereby 
forming a quarter segment of a conical section. A set screw 128 is 
disposed in each threaded hole 104 so that its end extends into its 
respective elongated hole 102 and abuttingly engages a respective pin 108. 
The set screws are adjusted to position the wire guide members so that 
their circular lands 120 form a complete and true circle, as shown in FIG. 
6. The diameter of the circle is the same as the inside diameter 130 of 
the barrel 22, as shown in FIGS. 1, 16, and 17. This is the position of 
the wire guide members 88 when the upper plate 52 is in its intermediate 
position, as set forth above. The purpose of the backing plates 90 is to 
close the open sides of the slots 96 and to retain the wire guide members 
88 in proper position. Additionally, the backing plates 90 serve to hold 
the parts together during assembly of the wire guide device 80 to the 
upper and lower tooling units. 
The operation of the machine 40 will now be described with reference to 
FIGS. 6, 7, and 14 through 17. It will be assumed that a terminal 12 is in 
position in the crimping nest 62, as shown in FIG. 16 that the wire guide 
members 88 are in their closed positions, and that the upper plate 52 is 
in its intermediate position, shown in FIG. 4. In this position the die 
form 66 lightly engages the barrel 22 of the terminal 12 that is in the 
nest 62, thereby holding the terminal steady while the wire end 18 is 
manually inserted into the barrel. The stripped end 18 of the wire 10 is 
then manually moved axially along the axis 116 so that its individual 
strands are guided by the conical surfaces 118 of the four wire guide 
members 88 into the circle formed by the lands 120. The springs 114 are 
strong enough to hold the guide members 88 in position while deflecting 
any wire strands that are out of alignment. As the wire end 18 passes 
through the circle formed by the lands 120 it enters the inside diameter 
130 of the barrel 22. At this point the leading edge 132 of the insulating 
jacket 16 approaches the four conical surfaces 118. As axial movement of 
the wire 10 continues, the leading edge 132 of the jacket engages the 
conical surfaces 118 causing the four wire guide members 88 to move away 
from the axis 116, against the urgings of the springs 114 just enough so 
that the larger diameter of the insulating jacket 16 can pass through the 
now enlarged opening by the lands 120 and engage the end of the barrel 22, 
as shown in FIG. 17. At this point the four wire guide members 88 have 
moved back in their respective slots 92 to the open position shown in FIG. 
14 where their respective pins 108 are about midway in the elongated holes 
102. The press 42 is then actuated to cause the ram 44 to carry the upper 
tooling 58 fully downwardly, bringing crimping bar 64 into crimping 
engagement with the barrel 22, as shown in FIG. 15. Note that this further 
downward movement of the upper tooling causes the adjacent side surfaces 
122 and 124 of the upper and lower wire guide members 88 to mutually 
engage, thereby causing each of the four members to move further within 
their slots 96 against the urging of the springs 114 to the extended open 
position shown in FIG. 15. In this position the pins 108 are now near the 
ends of the elongated holes 102 opposite the set screws 128. This further 
movement during the crimping of the terminal prevents damage to the wire 
insulation. As the ram 44 begins its return stroke moving the upper 
tooling 54 upwardly, the crimping bar 64 withdraws from the crimped 
terminal and the lift bar 72 engages and lifts the crimped wire assembly 
out of the nest 62 so that it can be removed from the machine, in the 
usual manner. The feed mechanism 70 now advances the carrier strip 24 so 
that a new terminal 12 is positioned in the nest 62 and the upper plate 52 
is again moved to its intermediate position, as shown in FIG. 6, and the 
process repeated any desired number of times. 
An important advantage of the wire guiding device of the present invention 
is that it is effective in guiding the fine multiple strands of the wire 
until they begin to enter the barrel of the terminal, and then the guiding 
surfaces of the device retract slightly as the leading edge of the 
insulated jacket of the wire engages and passes the guiding surfaces 
without damaging the insulation or inhibiting insertion of the wire into 
the terminal barrel. Additionally, the guiding surfaces are free to 
retract further as the crimping operation is performed. This retraction of 
the guiding surfaces is accomplished without the need of complex and 
costly actuating mechanisms.