A terminal temporary holding jig and an automatic terminal inserting apparatus

Abstract: [Object] To provide a terminal temporary holding jig with which a later-inserted terminal can be securely held and quickly taken out. [Solution] A terminal temporary holding jig J is comprised of a terminal holder 1 secured to a base B of an automatic terminal inserting apparatus, and a lid 2 for opening and closing terminal insertion grooves 5 formed in the terminal holder 1 and extending in forward and backward directions. When the lid 2 is closed, it is magnetically attached to the terminal holder 1, and a locking member 9 made of a leaf spring in the form of saw teeth and provided in the lid 2 projects into the terminal insertion grooves 5 obliquely backward. If a later-inserted terminal T is inserted through a front end opening of the terminal insertion groove 5 in this state, it is locked in the terminal insertion groove 5 by the engagement of a step b" thereof with the leading end of the locking member 9. The terminal T is taken out by opening the lid 2 with the holding jig J inverted upside down by the rotation of the base 3 B and pushing the terminal T and the wire A together down.

Description: The present invention relates to a terminal temporary holding jig for temporarily holding a later-inserted terminal, in particular when subassemblies forming a wiring harness are manufactured in an automatic terminal inserting apparatus. Furthermore, the invention relates to such an automatic terminal inserting apparatus. Generally, when an automotive wiring harness comprised of a multitude of wires is manufactured, subassemblies is first formed of a relatively smaller number of wires, and the wiring harness is formed by combining a plurality of subassemblies. The subassemblies may include later-inserted terminals which are not inserted into connector housings until they are formed into the wiring harness or are connected with devices equipped in an automotive vehicle. If these later-inserted terminals are left hanging, the wires connected therewith may be entangled with other wires to hinder a later process or to deform the terminals themselves, making the insertion of the terminals into the connector housings impossible. As a countermeasure, it may be considered to temporarily hold a later-inserted terminal during the manufacturing of a subassembly in an automatic terminal inserting apparatus using a temporary holding jig disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-199664 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-64333), which discloses a jig according to the preamble of claim 1. However, with the above jig, the terminal and the wire have to be slid along longitudinal direction when the terminal is taken out from the jig to be transferred to a later process, presenting a poor operability. In view of this problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal temporary holding jig and an automatic terminal inserting apparatus with which a later-inserted terminal can be securely held and quickly taken out. This object is solved according to the invention by a terminal temporary holding jig according to claim 1 and by an automatic terminal inserting apparatus according to claim 6. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject of the dependent claims. According to the invention, there is provided a terminal temporary holding jig for an automatic terminal inserting apparatus, comprising: a terminal holder which is to be secured to a base of the automatic terminal inserting apparatus, one or more terminal insertion grooves formed in the terminal holder for at least partially accommodating one or more terminals to be inserted thereinto, a lid for at least partly opening and closing the terminal insertion grooves and a locking member provided in the lid , wherein, when the lid is substantially closed, the locking member at least partly projects into one of the terminal insertion grooves so as to hold or lock the terminal in the terminal insertion groove. According to a preferred embodiment, the locking member extends obliquely backward into the terminal insertion groove when the lid is in its substantially closed position. Preferably, if a terminal is inserted through a front end opening of the terminal insertion groove when the lid is substantially closed, the leading end of the locking member can engage a step of the terminal. According to a further preferred embodiment, there is provided a terminal temporary holding jig in or for an automatic terminal inserting apparatus, comprising: a terminal holder secured to a base of the automatic terminal inserting apparatus, a lid for opening and closing terminal insertion grooves formed in the terminal holder and extending in forward and backward directions, and a locking member provided in the lid, wherein, when the lid is closed, it is held by the terminal holder and the locking member projects into the terminal insertion grooves obliquely backward, and if a terminal is inserted through a front end opening of the terminal insertion groove in this state, the leading end of the locking member engages a step of the terminal. In the above holding jig, the later-inserted terminal inserted into the terminal insertion groove is securely held without coming out therefrom by the engagement with the locking member. Further, when the lid is opened with the holding jig inverted upside down by the rotation of the base, the terminal can be easily taken out by being pushed down together with the wire. Further preferably, a magnetic portion is provided on one of the base plate and the lid and a magnetically attachable portion is provided on the other of the base plate and the lid, and wherein the lid is fixed in its substantially closed position by the interaction of the magnetic portion and the magnetically attachable portion. Accordingly, the lid can be easily opened and closed. Further preferably, the lid is pivotably or rotatably mounted on the base plate. Most preferably, the locking member comprises a leaf spring in the form of saw teeth, each saw tooth preferably at least partly extending into a corresponding terminal insertion groove. According to the invention, there is further provided an automatic terminal inserting apparatus for mounting subassemblies forming a wiring harness by at least partly inserting terminals into corresponding connectors and pulling the terminals for verifying that they are properly inserted or locked, comprising one or more terminal temporary holding jigs according to the invention or an embodiment thereof. According to a preferred embodiment, the terminal temporary holding jigs are pivotally or rotatably provided on or in a frame of the automatic terminal inserting apparatus so as to rotate around the longitudinal direction of a base thereof. Preferably, the automatic terminal inserting further comprises at least one stopper, wherein when the terminal temporary holding jig is rotated or pivoted a lid in its substantially open position is moved, preferably pivoted to its substantially closed position by an interaction with the stopper. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a used state of a terminal temporary holding jig according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the holding jig with a lid substantially closed, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the holding jig with the lid substantially opened, FIG. 4 is a perspective view partly in section showing a portion of the holding jig, FIGS. 5(A) to 5(E) are vertical sections showing a process of inserting a terminal into a terminal insertion groove of the holding jig, FIG. 6 is a front view of the holding jig inverted upside down, and FIG. 7 is a front view showing how the terminal is taken out from the holding jig. Hereinafter, one embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A terminal temporary holding jig J according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is mounted on a base B of an automatic terminal inserting apparatus for temporarily holding a later-inserted terminal T not inserted into a connector housing C when a subassembly V is formed. The subassembly V formed at one side of the base B is taken out at the other side by or after the rotation or pivotal movement of the base B, and a next set of connector housings C are then set. The automatic terminal inserting apparatus inserts terminals T into a temporary holding jig J and preferably pulls the terminal T so as to verify that the terminal T is firmly held in or properly inserted into the temporary holding jig J and/or to verify that a holding member 9 (to be described later) is properly functioning. The holding jig J is, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, comprised of a terminal holder 1 and a lid 2. The terminal holder 1 is secured to the base B via a base plate 3, and the lid 2 is pivotally coupled to one side of the terminal holder 1 via a pin 4. A multitude of terminal insertion grooves 5 extending in forward and backward directions or along an insertion direction of the terminals T are arrayed substantially side by side in the terminal holder 1, and are at least partly opened and closed as the lid 2 is pivoted to a first, preferably substantially horizontal position (FIG. 2) and to a second, preferably substantially vertical position (FIG. 3), respectively. The front ends of the terminal insertion grooves 5 are substantially open in the front surface of the terminal holder 1. A magnet 6 is mounted on the other side of the terminal holder 1, and a magnetically attachable portion 7 and a grip 8 are provided at the leading end of the lid 2. Further, a locking member 9 preferably made of a leaf spring in the form of saw teeth and extending toward the back side is mounted on the lid 2. When the lid 2 is closed, it is attached to the terminal holder 1 due to the magnetic attraction acting between the magnetically attachable portion 7 and the magnet 6, and the locking member 9 projects into the terminal insertion grooves 5 obliquely backward. In the manufacturing of the subassembly V using the holding jig J constructed as above, if the terminal T is inserted through the front end opening of the terminal insertion groove 5 as shown in FIG. 5(A), it is further inserted into the terminal insertion groove 5 while warping or bending or deflecting the locking member 9 upward or away from the terminal insertion groove 5 as shown in FIGS. 5(B) and 5(C). When a tubular portion "a" at the leading end of the terminal T passes the locking member 9, the locking member 9 is elastically restored substantially to its original state as shown in FIG. 5(D). If the terminal T is pulled in this state as shown in FIG. 5(E), the leading end of the locking member 9 engages a step "b" of the terminal T to prevent the terminal T from coming out of the terminal insertion groove 5. Therefore, the terminal T is held without hanging. Upon completion of the subassembly V, the base B is rotated to invert the holding jig J upside down as shown in FIG. 6. At this time, the lid 2 is not opened by the action of gravity since being attached to the terminal holder 1 by the magnetic force of the magnet 6. Before being transferred to a subsequent process, the terminal T is taken out from the holding jig J by pushing the grip 8 down and disengaging the magnetically attachable portion 7 from the magnet 6 to open the lid 2 and by pushing the terminal T and the wire A together down as shown in FIG. 7. The terminal T can be easily taken out from the holding jig J by such an operation. The lid 2 needs to be closed for a succeeding terminal inserting operation after the terminal T is taken out from the holding J. Even if it is forgotten to close the lid 2 at this time, the leading end of the lid 2 is received by a stopper S located below the base B. Thus, the lid 2 is closed by the action of gravity when the holding jig J is returned to its erect position by the rotation of the base B. Therefore, a reduction in operability due to an operation error can be prevented. As described above, since the later-inserted terminal inserted into the terminal insertion groove is securely held therein without coming out by the engagement with the locking member in the inventive terminal temporary holding jig, a damage of the later-inserted terminal and entanglement of the wires can be prevented. Further, since the terminal and the wire can be easily taken out by being pushed down together if the lid is opened with the holding jig inserted upside down by the rotation of the base, operability can be improved. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS J terminal temporary holding jig T terminal a leading end tubular portion b step A wire B base 1 terminal holder 2 lid 3 base plate 4 pin 5 terminal insertion groove 6 magnet 7 magnetically attachable portion 8 grip 9 locking member

Claims: A terminal temporary holding jig (J) for an automatic terminal inserting apparatus, comprising: a terminal holder (1) which is to be secured to a base (B) of the automatic terminal inserting apparatus, one or more terminal insertion grooves (5) formed in the terminal holder (1) for at least partially accommodating one or more terminals (T) to be inserted thereinto, characterised in that it further comprises a lid (2) for at least partly opening and closing the terminal insertion grooves (5) and a locking member (9) provided in the lid (2), wherein, when the lid (2) is substantially closed, the locking member (9) at least partly projects into one of the terminal insertion grooves (5) so as to hold or lock the terminal (T) in the terminal insertion groove (5). A terminal temporary holding jig according to claim 1, wherein the locking member (9) extends obliquely backward into the terminal insertion groove (5) when the lid (2) is in its substantially closed position. A terminal temporary holding jig according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein if a terminal (T) is inserted through a front end opening of the terminal insertion groove (5) when the lid (2) is substantially closed, the leading end of the locking member (9) can engage a step (b) of the terminal (T). A terminal temporary holding jig according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein a magnetic portion (6) is provided on one of the base plate (3) and the lid (2) and a magnetically attachable portion (7) is provided on the other of the base plate (3) and the lid (2), and wherein the lid (2) is fixed in its substantially closed position by the interaction of the magnetic portion (6) and the magnetically attachable portion (7). A terminal temporary holding jig according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the lid (2) is pivotably or rotatably mounted on the base plate (3). A terminal temporary holding jig according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the locking member (9) comprises a leaf spring in the form of saw teeth, each saw tooth preferably at least partly extending into a corresponding terminal insertion groove (5). An automatic terminal inserting apparatus for mounting subassemblies (V) forming a wiring harness by at least partly inserting terminals (T) into corresponding connectors and pulling the terminals (T) for veryfing that they are properly inserted or locked, comprising one or more terminal temporary holding jigs (J) according to one or more of the preceding claims. An automatic terminal inserting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the terminal temporary holding jigs (J) are pivotally or rotatably provided on a frame of the automatic terminal inserting apparatus so as to rotate around the longitudinal direction of a base (B) thereof. An automatic terminal inserting apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising at least one stopper (S), wherein when the terminal temporary holding jig (J) is rotated or pivoted a lid (2) in its substantially open position is moved, preferably pivoted to its substantially closed position by an interaction with the stopper (S).

Inventors: KOBAYASHI HARUHITO, NAKAHIRA SHIGEHARU, OHTA YOSHINOBU, KOBAYASHI, HARUHITO, NAKAHIRA, SHIGEHARU, OHTA, YOSHINOBU
Applicants: SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: H01R43
IPC codes: H01R13, H01B13, H01R43