Abstract:
An auto-feed terminal wire clamping machine and its terminal structure. This invention can automatically sieve and randomly arrange the disordered terminal inner molds and feed them in an ordered direction to the feeding groove of such terminal wire clamper and automatically complete the terminal wire clamping operation.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to an inner mold terminal of a wire clamping machine, more particularly to a terminal structure used in a terminal wire clamping machine with an auto aligning feeder; such auto aligning feeder is used to arrange and align the disordered terminal inner molds automatically and feed them into a terminal wire clamper for the automatic terminal wire clamping operation. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   The method of manufacturing electric wire connectors regardless of the two-pin or three pin ones includes the steps of fixing the electric wire with the metallic insert pin of the connector, and then putting them into a mold for filling and fixing with plastic materials in order to wrap and fix the electric wire and the metal insert pin. However, such method usually causes defects to the finished goods and gives a high failure rate due to the wrong positioning of the wire and metallic insert pin by the operator. Therefore, manufacturers have developed an inner mold terminal as shown in  FIG. 1 , and such terminal inner mode has a through hole with appropriate size and position, so that the operator can connect the connecting end of the electric wire and the metallic insert pin first before inserting and fixing the metallic insert pin to the terminal inner mold. By such terminal inner mold, the metallic insert pin and the electric wire can be correctly positioned when the electric wire connector is molded, and such arrangement no longer causes defects to the finished goods due to the crooked positioning of pins. 
   However, the manufacturing procedure of such method by manually fixing the electric wire with the metallic insert pin and then manually inserting the metallic insert pin into the through hole of the inner mold terminal totally relies on the manual operations, and requires the clipping actions for three times to complete the connection of a set of metallic insert pin and the electric wire. Such clipping action cannot be completed in one time, not only wasting time, but also requiring a great deal of manpower, which causes limitations to the production output and makes the mass production difficult or even impossible. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a way of automatically completing the action of arranging the terminal inner molds in order, feeding, punching, and clamping automatically, not only can connect the whole set of metallic insert pins with the electric wire, but also can use the automated machine to replace labor forces and reduce costs. 
   To achieve the above objectives, the technical measure taken according to this invention comprises:
         a terminal wire clamper having a feeding groove, and the feeding groove at its rear end having a feeding push rod and at its front end having a terminal mold plate module that further comprising an upper mold plate and a lower mold plate, and the upper mold plate being disposed at the corresponding position above the lower mold and coupling to a pressurized motion device;   an aligning conveyer comprising an aligning groove for accommodating and storing the terminal inner groove, an opening at one end of the aligning conveyer being coupled to the side of the feeding groove; and a vibratory conveying motor disposed under the aligning feeder;   an auto aligning feeder having a vibratory disc on a machine table, and such vibratory disc having a spiral track that includes a positive and inverse alignment area, an angle alignment area, and an open position alignment area; wherein the spiral track is coupled to an opening at another end of the aligning groove;   a plurality of terminal inner molds, each having a ground terminal and two connecting terminals aligned in order and disposed on an inner mold stand, wherein the connecting terminal at its end having an outwardly bent wire clamping section such that the center of the wire clamping section shifting towards the outer side of the inner mold.       

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an illustrative diagram of the assembled inner mold terminal according to the prior art. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective diagram of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective diagram of the inner mold terminal to according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 4A  is an illustrative diagram of the motion of the terminal wire clamper according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 4B  is another illustrative diagram of the motion of the terminal wire clamper according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 4C  is another further illustrative diagram of the motion of the terminal wire clamper according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective diagram of the finished goods of the inner mold terminal according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  is an illustrative diagram of the planar motion of the auto aligning feeder according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 7A  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  7 A— 7 A as depicted in FIG.  6 . 
       FIG. 7B  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  7 B— 7 B as depicted in FIG.  6 . 
       FIG. 7C  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  7 C— 7 C as depicted in FIG.  6 . 
       FIG. 7D  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  7 D— 7 D as depicted in FIG.  6 . 
       FIG. 8  is an illustrative diagram of the planar motion of the auto aligning feeder according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 9A  is a perspective diagram of the inner mold terminal according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 9B  is a perspective diagram of the finished goods of the inner mold terminal according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 10A  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  9 A— 9 A as depicted in FIG.  8 . 
       FIG. 10B  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  9 B— 9 B as depicted in FIG.  8 . 
       FIG. 10C  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  9 C— 9 C as depicted in FIG.  8 . 
       FIG. 10D  is a cross-sectional diagram of the line  9 D— 9 D as depicted in FIG.  8 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   An auto-feed terminal wire clamping machine and its terminal structure comprises: 
   A plurality of inner molds  40  as shown in  FIG. 3  being an inner mold stand substantially triangular in shape, having two sheet connecting terminals  411 ,  412  disposed thereon, and the connecting terminal  411 ,  412  at the end having a wire connecting section  421 ,  422 , wherein the wire connecting section  421 ,  422  being bent outward to form a bottom edge  431 ,  432 , and the outer side of the bottom edge  431 ,  432  being bent into an external sidewall  441 ,  442  with a right angle, and the inner edge of the bottom edge  431 ,  432  being bent downward to form an internal sidewall  451 ,  452 , wherein the external sidewall  441 ,  442  and the internal sidewall  451 ,  452  being equal in length; a cylindrical connecting terminal  413  and the rear end of the connecting terminal  413  being bent and folded to form a clamping end with an opening upward; 
   A terminal wire clamper  10 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , comprising a feeding groove  11  disposed on a motive force machine table, and the rear end of the feeding groove  11  having an feeder  12  driven by an oil-pressure cylinder or air-pressure cylinder, and the front end of the feeder  12  being coupled to a feeding push rod  121  and sliding within the feeding groove  11 ; a feeding sensing device  111  disposed on the internal sidewall of the feeding groove  11  for detecting if there is an inner mold terminal  40  in the feeding groove  11 ; further the feeding groove  11  at its front end having a terminal mold plate module  13  which comprises an upper mold plate  131  and a lower mold plate  132  of corresponding shapes; wherein a pressurized motion device  14  disposed above the motive force machine table, and the upper mold plate  131  being secured to the bottom end of said pressurized motion device  14 , and the lower mold plate  132  being secured to the front end of the feeding groove  12 , and vertically corresponsive to the position directly under the upper mold plate  131  so that the pressurized motion device  14  producing a vertically down movement by the driving motive force, and brining the upper mold plate  131  to punch downward and engaging with the lower mold plate  132 ; 
   An aligning conveyer  20 , having an aligning groove  21 , and the aligning groove  21  being a storage space for accommodating and storing the inner mold terminal  40 , and an opening at one end of the aligning groove  21  being coupled to an edge of the feeding groove  11 , and a vibratory conveying motor  22  being disposed under the aligning conveyer  20 ; by means of the vibration produced by the vibratory conveying motor, the terminal inner molds  40  in the aligning groove  21  being pushed forward into the feeding groove  11 ; wherein a motion detector  211  being disposed on the sidewall of the aligning groove  21 ; 
   An auto aligning feeder  30 , having a vibratory disc  32  on a machine table  31  for placing a plurality of terminal inner molds  40 , and the vibratory disc  32  having an inwardly aslant spiral track  33 , and the spiral track have a clockwise and counterclockwise aligning area  34 , an angle aligning area,  35  and an open positioning area  36 ; a fixed direction arc plate  341  being secured on the clockwise and counterclockwise aligning area  34  on the spiral track  33  to define a clipping space  342 ; a stirring rod  361  in the same direction and a latch stirring rod  362  being disposed at the open positioning area  36 ; a latch flange  363  being disposed on and protruded from the spiral track  33 ; wherein the spiral track  33  being coupled to the opening at another end of the aligning groove  21 , and an opening disposed near the external edge of each aligning area for receiving the eliminated terminal inner molds  40  that falls into the lower layer of the spiral track  33  for sieving again; users may pour large quantity of terminal inner molds into the vibratory disc  32 ; by the vibration of the vibratory disc  32 , the terminal inner molds  40  gradually spreading out and moving up along the spiral track  33 . 
   Please refer to  FIGS. 4A  to  4 C. When the aligning conveyer  20  pushes and conveys the terminal inner molds  40  in the aligning groove  21  into the feeding groove  11 , the feeding sensor  111  will immediately start feeding device  12 . The feeding push rod  121  is used to push the terminal inner molds  40  in the feeding groove  11  to the lower mold plate  132 , and attach the wire connecting section  421 ,  422  and the clamping end  423  of the inner mold terminal  40  closely to the lower mold plate  132  (as shown in FIG.  4 B). Then, the operator can put the end of an electric wire  50  directly in each wire connecting section  421 ,  422  and the clamping end  423  or in the recession on the upper mold plate  131 . Then, the pressurized motion device  14  is started to drive the upper mold plate  131  and the electric wire  50  to press down. When the upper mold plate  131  and the lower mold plate  132  are engaged and pressed tightly, the wire connecting section  421 ,  422 , clamping end  423 , and electric wire  50  are pressed simultaneously for the connection (as shown in FIG.  4 C). When the upper mold plate  131  returns to its original position, the finished goods (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) can be taken out, and returns the feeding push rod  121  to the original position for repeating the previous motions; further, when the terminal inner molds  40  in the aligning conveyer  20  is reduced to a certain level (less than the predetermined safety storage), the motion detector  211  will drive the auto aligning feeder  30  to start operating and sieve and convey the inner mold terminal  40  from the vibratory disc  32  into the aligning conveyer  20 . If the storage of the terminal inner molds  40  in the aligning conveyer is full, the power of the auto aligning feeder  30  will be disconnected automatically in order to control the quantity of terminal inner molds  40  for the manufacturing, and save the power consumption. 
   Please refer to FIG.  6 . The theory for the auto aligning feeder  30  to adjust and align the terminal inner molds  40  is described in detail as follows: 
   When the inner mold terminal  40  enters into the clockwise and counterclockwise aligning area  34 , the fixed direction arc plate  341  in a clipping space  342  can fix the connecting terminal  411 ,  412  and the ground terminal  413  of the inner mold terminal  40  in the positive direction; on the contrary, since the direction is opposite or other disorderly compiled terminal inner molds  40  cannot be fixed in the clipping space  342 , the terminal inner molds  40  will fall down from the open groove  37 . Further, as shown in  FIG. 7A , when the inner mold terminal  40  enters into the angle aligning area  35 , the flange of the inner mold terminal  40  will latch to the edge of the spiral track  34 ; if there is a deviation to the angle of the inner mold terminal (as shown in FIG.  7 B), the flange of the inner mold terminal  40  is unable to latch to the edge of the spiral track  34 . When the vibratory disc  33  vibrates, the deviated inner mold terminal  40  will slide down along the slope of the spiral track  34  into next layer of the spiral track  34  for another sieve. 
   When the inner mold terminal  40  enters into the open positioning area  36 , the stirring rod  361  in the same direction can adjust the position of each inner mold terminal  40  such that the inner side of the inner mold terminal  40  aligned with the stirring rod  361  in the same direction. Please refer to FIG.  7 C. Since the connecting terminal  411 ,  412  of the inner mold terminal  40  is shorter than the ground terminal  413 , when the metallic insert pin of the connecting terminal  411 ,  412  presses against the latch flange  363 , the ground terminal  413  protrudes from the top of the latch flange  363  so that the inner mold terminal  40  can exactly pass through the latch stirring rod  362 . If the inner mold terminal  40  rotates in an improper direction, the ground terminal  413  will press against the latch flange  363  and cause the inner mold terminal to protrude from the latch stirring rod  362  and fall into the open groove  37 . 
   By means of the action of the foregoing aligning area in a clockwise and counterclockwise aligning area  34 , angle aligning area  35 , and open positioning area  36 , the sieved inner mold terminal can be arranged neatly and sent into the feeding groove  11  of the terminal clamping device  10  in a fixed direction, so that the terminal clamping device  10  will automatically complete the clamping of the terminal. 
   Please refer to  FIGS. 8  to  10  for the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, which can also be applied in the 2-pin terminal without a grounding terminal. Except the sieving method of the auto aligning feeder  30  is different and it requires to change to the terminal plate module  13  of the corresponding shape, the rest is the same as that described above, and thus will not be described here. 
   In  FIG. 9 , a plurality of inner mold terminals  70 , each being an inner mold stand in the shape of rectangular blocks and having two plate connecting terminals  711 ,  712 , and a wire connecting section  721 ,  722  at the end of the inner mold terminal  70 . The outer sides of the wire connecting section  721 ,  722  are bent and folded into a bottom edge  731 ,  732 , and the outer end of such bottom edge  731 ,  732  is bent upward into a right angle to form an outer sidewall  741 ,  742 , and the inner edge of the bottom edge  731 ,  732  is bent downward and then upward to form an inner sidewall  751 ,  752 , wherein the outer sidewall  741 ,  742  and the inner sidewall  751 ,  752  are equal in height; and the wire connecting section  721 ,  722  is for passing and fixing one end of an electric wire  80 . 
   In  FIG. 8 , the auto aligning feeder  60  has a vibratory disc  62 ; the vibratory disc  62  has a spiral track  63 ; the spiral track has a clockwise and counterclockwise aligning area  64  and an open positioning aligning area  65 ; such clockwise and counterclockwise aligning area  64  has a fixed direction arc plate  641  secured on the spiral track  63  to define a clipping space; the fixed direction arc plate  641  has a fixed stirring rod  642 , and such fixed direction stirring rod  642  has a height slightly higher than that of the lying inner mold terminal  70 ; such open positioning aligning area  65  has a latch stirring rod  651 ; wherein the side of the vibratory disc  62  adjacent to each aligning area has an open groove  66  for eliminating some inner mold terminals  40  and allowing them to fall to the next layer of the spiral track  63  for sieving again. 
   When the inner mold terminal  70  enters into the clockwise and counterclockwise aligning area  64 , the clipping space of the fixed direction arc plate  641  can fix the connecting terminal  711 ,  712  of the inner mold terminal  70  in the positive direction. On the contrary, since the connecting terminal  711 ,  712  of the inner mold terminal  70  in the reverse direction or disorderly piled cannot be fixed in the clipping space, and will fall off from the open groove  66 . Further, in  FIG. 10A , the fixed stirring rod  642  has a height slightly higher than that of the lying inner mold terminal  70 , therefore, the inner mold terminals  70  can pass through the fixed stirring rod  642 , but the vertical inner mold terminal  70  as shown in  FIG. 10B  has a height higher than that of the fixed stirring rod  642 , therefore the inner mold terminals  70  will be stirred out by the fixed stirring rod when they pass through the fixed stirring rod  642 . 
   Further, please refer to FIG.  10 C. Since the clipping end  712  of the inner mold terminal  70  is biased, and when the opening of the wire connecting section  721 ,  722  faces upward, the height of the clipping end  712  can pass through the latch stirring rod  6651 . When the opening of the wire connecting section  721 ,  722  faces downward and the inner mold terminal  70  tries to pass through the latch stirring rod  651 , the inner mold terminal will be stirred out by the latch stirring rod  651 . 
   By the motion described above, the present invention not only can be applied to the inner mold terminal  40  with 3 pins, but also can be applied to the inner mold terminal  70  with two pins. Further, the present invention can be applied to the inner mold stands of other different kinds of connectors by adjusting the aligning device. 
   While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation and equivalent arrangements.