LEAD OR HARNESS MAKING APPARATUS

Abstract: During a cycle of the apparatus, a wire (W) is advanced along a feed path (P) by a lead length, is clamped by means of wire clamps (8 and 12) on first and second rotary wire carriers (6 and 10). When a lead (L) has been severed from the wire (W) by blades (4), the carriers (8 and 12) are swung in opposite directions to position the wire end (SW) in a first terminating station (14) and the lead end (SL) in a second terminating station (16). The first terminating station (14) has three wire terminating applicators (36, 38 and 40) spaced lengthwise of the path (P). The first rotary wire carrier (6) is selectively adjustable stepwise, and lengthwise of the path (P) to position the wire end (SW) in a predetermined one of the applicators (36, 38 or 40) of the first terminating station (14). The second terminating station (16) applies a lead end (SL) to one contact of a multicontact connector (MC) at each cycle of the apparatus.

Description: LEAD OR HARNESS MAKING APPARATUS This invention relates to apparatus which can be arranged either for making electrical harnesses each comprising a plurality of electrical leads terminated at one end to a common multicontact electrical connector and the other ends of the leads being terminated to individual electrical terminals or different kinds, or for making individual electrical leads, the ends of which are terminated to electrical terminals of at least three different kinds. There is described in US-A-3,019,679 and US-A-3,612,369, a lead making apparatus comprising, means for advancing a wire along a wire feed path by a distance equal to a lead length, lead severing means on said path, a rotary wire carrier having a wire clamp on said path and being mounted on one side of said wire severing means, a rotary lead carrier having a lead clamp on said path and being mounted on the opposite side of said severing means, a wire terminating station on one side of said path and on one side of said severing means, and a lead terminating station on the opposite side of said path and on the opposite side of said severing means, the carriers being arranged to be swung in opposite senses away from said path, following the severing of a lead from the wire by the lead severing means and with the wire and the lead clamped by the wire clamp and the lead clamp, respectively; to locate the severed end of the wire in the wire terminating station and the severed end of the lead in the lead terminating station. In this known apparatus, each terminating station is in the form of a crimping press having a single crimping facility for crimping an electrical terminal to the severed end of each wire and the severed end of each lead that is applied to the terminating station. Thus the known apparatus is capable only of producing leads of the same kind unless the terminating stations are changed. There is an increasing demand, especially in the automotive industry, for electrical harnesses which comprise leads, which are different from one another, for example harnesses comprising a plurality of leads, one end of each of which is terminated to a multicontact electrical connector, the other ends of the leads being terminated to electrical terminals of different types, or harnesses in which for example one lead has a terminal of a first type crimped to one end and of a second type crimped to the other end, and other leads of the harness having a terminal of a third type crimped to one end and a terminal of the first type crimped to the other end. The present invention is intended to provide apparatus which is capable of producing harnesses of the first mentioned kind and leads for harnesses " of the second mentioned kind. According to the invention, at least one of the terminating stations has a plurality of terminating means which are spaced from each other lengthwise of said path, the carrier associated with that terminating station being selectively adjustable stepwise, lengthwise of said path, to locate the associated wire or lead end, as the case may be, in a predetermined one of said terminating means. Thus the stepwise movement of the or each carrier may be programmed, during successive cycles of operation, of the apparatus, to apply the wire ends or the lead ends, as the case may be, to the respective terminating means according to a predetermined sequence, each terminating means being supplied with electrical terminals of a different kind. One of the terminating stations may have a single terminating means past which a multicontact electrical connector is indexed so that during each operating cycle of the apparatus, each wire end or lead end, as the case may be, is terminated to a different electrical contact of the multicontact connector, whereby the apparatus produces complete harnesses of the first mentioned kind. The wire carrier and/or the lead carrier may be mounted for rotation on a slide carrying said wire advancing means, the slide being adjustable stepwise, lengthwise of said path. Insulation severing means may be disposed on said wire path, on each side of said lead severing means, or on one side thereof, as the case may be, the or each wire clamp being mounted to its carrier for movement relative thereto, towards and away from the associated insulating severing means to strip insulation from the lead end or the wire end, as the case may be, where the wire is an insulated wire. The wire carrier and/or the lead carrier may be swung by means of a piston and cylinder unit mounted on its slide, the slide being movable stepwise by means of a piston and cylinder unit on means carrying said slide, and the wire clamp being movable towards and away from the insulating severing means by means of a piston and cylinder unit on said carrier. For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURES 1 and 2 are diagrammatic plan views of harness making apparatus, illustrating two successive stages in first cycle of operation thereof; " FIGURE 3 is a similar view to that of Figure 2, but illustrating a stage in a second cycle of operation of the apparatus; FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary diagrammatic side view of the apparatus; and FIGURE 5 is a plan view of an electrical harness produced by the apparatus. Reference will now be made to Figures 1 and 2. The harness making apparatus comprises feed rolls 2 and 2' , for advancing a wire along a wire feed path P (Figure 1) , by the length of a lead L to be produced during a cycle of operation of the apparatus, lead severing blades 4 on said path P, a rotary wire carrier 6, having a wire clamp 8 and being mounted on one side of the severing blades 4, and being movable lengthwise of the path P, a rotary lead carrier 10 having a lead clamp 12, and being mounted on the opposite side of the blades 4 and being movable lengthwise of the path P, a wire terminating station 14 on one side of the path P and on one side of the blades 4, and a lead terminating station 16 on the opposite side of the path P and on the opposite side of the blades 4. Further wire clamps 17 and 19 " are also provided, one on each side of the blades 4. During each cycle of operation of the apparatus, he rolls 2 feed the wire W by said lead length so that its leading end LE, which was terminated during the previous cycle of operation, extends beyond the rolls 2* , as shown in Figure 1, the rolls 2' and the clamps 8, 12, 17 and 19 being in an open.position to permit the wire feeding operation. The blades 4 and then closed so as to sever the lead L from the wire W, the clamps 8, 12, 17 and 19 are closed, and the rolls 2' are opened and the carriers 6 and 10 are swung in opposite senses, as shown in Figure 2, to locate the severed end SW of the wire W in the terminating station 14 and the severed end SL of the lead L in-the terminating station 16. The terminating stations 14 and 16 are then operated to terminate the severed ends SW and SL, respectively, after which the carriers 6 and 10 and thus the severed wire and lead ends, are swung back to their Figure 1 positions. The clamps 12 and 19 are opened and the feed rolls 2 1 are operated to eject the finished lead L from the apparatus, the clamps 8 and 17 are opened and the feed rolls 2 are then operated again to feed the wire W, by a further lead length, along the path P so that the apparatus is ready to perform a further operating cycle. Where the wire W is insulated, and if the stations 14 and 16 are designed only to accept stripped ends SW and SL, two pairs of insulating severing blades 18 and 20, respectively, are provided and are closed to sever the insulation of the wire W and of the lead L at a position back from their ends SW and SL, as the lead L is being severed from the wire W, and prior to the carriers 6 and 10 being swung in opposite senses as described above. Also prior to the swinging of said carriers, the clamp 8 is retracted away from the blades 18 and towards the carrier 6, so that the severed end portion of insulating is dragged from the end SW, and the wire clamp 12 is retracted towards the carrier 10 and away from the blades 20 so that the severed end portion of insulation is dragged from the end SL. The wire W is drawn from an endless source (not shown) by a capstan 22 and rolls 24 and 26, a measuring roll 28 driven by the roll 24, being connected to an electronic wire length measuring system (not shown) which ensures that the capstan 22 pays out a length of the wire W which is precisely equal to one lead length, prior to each operating cycle of the apparatus. Before the feed rolls 2 are operated to drive the wire W, and whilst the capstan 22 is running, the wire W forms a loop (not shown) , the length of which is equal to said one lead length, just down stream of the roll 26. Guide tubes 30, 32 and 34, are provided for guiding the wire W and the lead L to be severed therefrom along the path P. As so far described, the apparatus operates in accordance with the teaching of US-A-3,019,679 and US-A-3,612,369 which are incorporated herein by reference. According to said teaching, the clamps and the blades act vertically although they are shown in Figures 1 to 4 as being horizontally acting in the interest of illustrating their operation. In accordance with the present invention, the wire terminating station 14 comprises a plurality of discrete wire end terminating devices which are in the form of conventional crimping presses 36, 38 and 40, operated by a common press ram 41 and being arranged to be fed, in conventional manner, with electrical terminals in strip form, by way of terminal strip guide tracks 42, 44 and 48, respectively. The press 36 is fed with end to end strip form ring tongue terminals Tl, the press 38, with end to end strip form larger tab receptacle terminals T2 and the press 40 with smaller side strip tab receptacle terminals terminals T3. The lead terminating station 16, as a single terminating means 50, comprising a lead end inserter 50 for inserting each severed lead end SL into a respective contact of a multicontact electrical connector MC. The connectors MC are indexed down a feed track 52 to bring, during each cycle of the apparatus, one contact of a connector MC into register with the inserter 50. The carrier 6 is mounted on a slide 54 which is in turn mounted in gibs 56 (Figure 4) on the base plate, for sliding movement lengthwise of the path P. The slide 54 is driven by a three position pneumatic piston and cylinder unit 58 connected to the slide 54 by means of a pin 60 riding in a slot 62 in a base plate 63, the piston 64 of the unit 58 being secured to the base plate 63 by means of a bracket 66. The carrier 6 has a vertical shaft 68 connected eccentrically and by means of a pivot pin 70, to the piston rod 72 of a piston and cylinder unit 74, the cylinder of which is connected by means of pin 76 to the slide 54. As will be apparent for Figure.; 1 and 2, the carrier 6 is swung from its Figure 1 angular position to its Figure 2 angular position by actuating the unit 74 to advance its piston rod 72 and is swung back from its Figure 2 position to its Figure 1 position by actuating the unit 74 to retract its piston rod 72. The guide tube 30 is mounted to the base plate 63 by means of a bracket 78 (Figure 4) , the guide tube 32 being mounted on a block 80 which is in turn mounted to the piston rod 82 of a piston and cylinder unit 84 by means of a yoke 86 and rods 88 extending therefrom, the clamp 8 being fixedly connected to the blocic 80 by means of rods 90. Thus the clamp 8 can be moved towards the carrier 6 by actuating the unit 84 to retract its piston rod 82 and away from the carrier 6 by actuating the unit 84 to advance its piston rod 82. The carrier 10 has a vertical shaft 92 connected eccentrically by means of a pivot pin 94 to the piston rod 96 of a piston and cylinder unit 98, the cylinder of which is connected to the base plate 63 by means of a pin 100. By actuating the unit 98 to advance its piston rod 96, the carrier 10 can be swung from this Figure 1 angular position to its Figure 2 angular position and back from its Figure 2 position to its Figure 1 position by actuating the unit 98 to retract its piston rod 96. The guide tube 34 is mounted on a block 102 connected to the piston rod 104 of a piston and cylinder unit 106 in the carrier 10 by means of a yoke 108 and rods 110 extending therefrom. The clamp 12 is fixedly connected to the block 102 by means of rods 112. Thus, by actuating the unit 106 to advance its piston rod 104, the clamp 12 can be moved away from the carrier 10 and by actuating the unit 106 to retract its piston rod 104, the clamp 12 can be moved SUBSTITUTE SHEET towards the carrier 10- Mounted intermediate the carrier 6 and the blades 18 is a wire marker 114. The units 58, 74, 84, 98 and 106, the clamps 8, 12, 17 and 19 and the blades 4, 18 and 20, and the means for feeding the terminals Tl, T2 and T3 and the connectors MC, as well as the electronic control system for the capstan 22, are operated under the control of a microprocessor, not shown, according to a predetermined harness making program. According to this program, the wire W is advanced by the rolls 2 during each cycle of operation of the apparatus, to feed the wire W by a predetermined lead length; a terminal of a predetermined strip of terminals Tl, T2 or T3 is fed to its respective press 36, 38 or 40; the connectors MC are indexed to position a contact of the leading connector MC under the inserter 50; the unit 58 is actuated to shift the slide 54, and thus the carrier 6 to one of its three positions lengthwise of the " path P to enable the severed wire SW to be located in the predetermined press 36, 38 or 40 when the carrier 6 is swung from its Figure 1 angular position to its Figure 2 angular -position. Also, according to the program, during each cycle of operation, the rolls 2', the clamps 8, 12 17 and 19 and the blades 4, 18 and 20 are opened, to allow the wire W to be advanced fay said lead length by the rolls 2, the blades 4, 18 and 20 and the clamps 17 and 19 are closed; the clamps 8 and 12 are closed and are retracted to strip the wire end SW and the lead end SL; the blades 4, 18 and 20 are opened, the carriers 6 and 10 are swung from their ' Figure 1 to their Figure 2 angular positions; the ram 41 and the inserter 50 are driven through a working and a return stroke; the carriers 6 and 10 are returned to their Figure 1 angular positions; the clamps 12 and 19 are opened; and the finished lead L is ejected from the apparatus by means of the rolls 2• ; and the rolls SUBSTITUTE SHEET 2' and the clamps 8 and 17 are opened, so that the apparatus is ready for another cycle of operation. It will be assumed that during the cycle just described, the slide 54 was moved, as will be apparent from Figure 2, to a position to enable the severed wire end WE to be located by the carrier 6 and clamp 8 in the applicator 38, the strip of terminals T2 -in the track 44 having been actuated by the unit 58 to position a terminal in the applicator 38 to be crimped to the wire end WE. During the next following cycle, the slide 54 may be advanced to enable the carrier 6 and clamp 8 to locate the severed wire end SW in the press 36 as shown in Figure 3, the strip of terminals Tl in the track 42 having been advanced to position a terminal T in the press 36. During yet a further cycle, the slide 54 may be advanced to enable the carrier 6 and clamp 8 to locate the severed wire end WE in the press 40, the strip of terminals T3 in the track 58 having been advanced according to the program to locate a terminal T3 in the press 40. It will be apparent from the above, that the apparatus may for example be programmed so as to produce the electrical harness shown in Figure 5 in which one end of each lead LI to L7 is terminated to a respective contact of the multicontact connector MC, the other end of the lead LI is terminated to a terminal Tl, the other end of each lead L4 and L6 is terminated to a terminal T2 and the other end of each lead L2, L3, L5 and L7 is terminated to a terminal T3. If the terminals Tl to T3 are insulating piercing, so that the end SW does not need to be stripped of insulation, the blades 18 may be omitted and the clamp 8 need not be movable towards and away from the carrier 6, and if the contacts of the connector MC are insulating piercing, the blades 20 can be omitted and the clamp 12 need not be movable towards and away from the carrier 10. If it is further required for the apparatus to produce discrete leads, for example with said one ends of each lead terminated to terminals Tl, T2 and T3, for example, instead of to the contacts of a multicontact connector MC, the terminating station 16 may be replaced by terminating station similar to the terminating station 14 and the carrier 10 may be arranged on a slide similar to the slide 54 and being similarly movable stepwise along the path P. In this case, if the wire W is insulated, the blades 18 and 20 must be provided and the clamps 8 and 12 must be movable towards and away from their respective carrier 6 and 10, unless the terminals Tl to T3 are insulating piercing terminals. The marker 114 is programmed to mark each lead produced according to the manner in which it has been terminated. The marker and the wire and lead clamps may be operated by servo means (not shown) .

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A lead or harness making apparatus comprising means (2) for advancing a wire (W) along a wire feed path (P) by a distance equal to a lead length, lead (L) severing means (4) on said path (P) , a rotary wire carrier (6) having a wire clamp (H) on said path (P) and being mounted on one side of said severing means (4) , a rotary lead carrier (10) having a wire clamp (12) on said path (P) and being mounted on the opposite side of said severing means (4) , a wire terminating station (14) on one side of said path (P) and on one side of said severing means (4) , and a lead terminating station (16) on the opposite side of said path (P) and on the opposite side of said severing means (4) , the carriers (6 and 10) being arranged to be swung in opposite senses away from said path (P) , following the severing of a lead (L) from the wire (W) by the lead severing means (8) and with the wire (W) and the lead (L) clamped by the wire clamp (8) and the lead clamp (12) , respectively; to locate the severed end (SW) of the wire (W) in the wire terminating station (14) and the severed end of the lead (SL) in the lead terminating station (16) ; characterized in that at least one of the terminating stations (14 and 16) has a plurality of terminating means (36, 38 and 40) which are spaced from each other lengthwise of said path (P) ; and in that the carrier (6 or 10) associated with that terminating station (14) is selectively adjustable stepwise, lengthwise of said path (P) to locate the associated wire end (SW) or lead end (SL) , as the case may be, in a predetermined one of said terminating means (36, 38 or 40) . 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said wire carrier (6) and/or said lead carrier (10) is mounted for rotation on a slide (54) for carrying said advancing means (2) , said slide (54) being adjustable stepwise and lengthwise of said path (P) . 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that insulating severing means (18 and 20) are provided on said wire path (P) on each side of said lead severing means (4) , the wire clamp (8 or 12) of the, or each, carrier (6 or 10) being mounted thereto for movement relatively towards and away therefrom. 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the, or each, wire carrier (6 or 10) is arranged to be swung by means of a piston and cylinder unit (74 or 98) mounted on said slide (54) , said slide (54) being movable stepwise along said path (P) by means of a piston and cylinder unit (58) on a base (63) carrying said slide (54) , and in that the, or each, wire clamp (8 or 12) is movable towards and away from its associated wire carrier (6 or 10) by means of piston and cylinder unit (84 or 106) on said carrier (6 or 10) . 5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said wire terminating station comprises a plurality of presses (36, 38 and 40) each for crimping an electrical terminal (Tl, T2 and T3 respectively) to the severed end (E) of the wire (W) , the lead terminating station (16) comprising an inserter (50) for inserting the severed end (SL) of the lead (L) into a contact of multicontact connector (MC) , indexed through of the inserter (50) . 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized, in that said presses (36, 38 and 40) are operated by a common ram (41) , the terminals (Tl, T2 and T3) being selectively fed to said presses (36, 38 and 40) .

Inventors: ANNACKER GUENTER, MAACK WERNER, ANNACKER, GUENTER, MAACK, WERNER
Applicants: AMP INC, AMP INCORPORATED
Application year: 1987
Main classification: H01R43
IPC codes: H01B13, H01R43