Patent GB-715068-A (GB)
Title: Machine for applying electrical connectors to electrical elements
IPC: H01R43/052
Filed: 1951-12-31
Abstract: 715,068. Making electric components. WARREN, S. F. (Aircraft-Marine Products, Inc.). Dec. 31, 1951, No. 30452/51. Classes 83 (2) and 83 (4). Crimping, shearing. A machine for assembling electrical connectors on to both ends of an electrical element comprises means for feeding the element transversely of its length to a connector applying position, means for feeding connectors to receive the ends of the element when in the connector applying position, and crimping means for crimping said connectors upon said ends. The mechanism for driving the various elements of the machine is mounted on a base 8 on a lathe-type bed 9 and is driven by a motor 2. A main shaft 12 is mounted in three bearings, two fixed and one adjustable along the bed 9. One of the fixed bearings is in a cross bar 16 fixed to posts 18 and 20 attached to the base 8 said posts serving as guides for a ram 22 supported on springs 24 and 26 which hold a cam follower 28 on the ram against a cam 30 on the shaft 12. The other fixed bearing for the shaft 12 is in an upright 32 affixed to a base 34 on the bed 9 and the adjustable bearing is carried by a base 38. A sprocket wheel 10 freely mounted on the shaft 12 has an overload release connection to a crank arm 40 fixed on the shaft 12 said arm being provided with a spring-pressed detent which engages in a conical seat in the sprocket wheel. The shaft 12 also supports a carrier for the lead wires which are to be provided with connectors said carrier comprising two octagonally shaped rotary members 60 and 62 freely mounted on the shaft and connected by spacer rods 64 the length of which may be varied for any particular length of lead. Mounted upon each of the opposed flat edges of the members 60, 62 is a wire clamp comprising a stationary clamp member 74 provided with a semi-cylindrical groove which co-operates with a pivoted spring-loaded clamp member 76 also provided with a semi-circular groove so forming a wire guide 78. A funnel-like recess 82 guides the lead wire into the guide 78. The carrier is rotated intermittently to bring the clamps into the lead receiving position, the connection applying position and the lead discharge position. This indexing is effected by a Geneva stop mechanism comprising a disc 84 mounted on a shaft 86 said disc having an arm 87 carrying a pin 88 which enters slots 90 in a disc 92 attached to the member 60 of the carrier. The shaft 86 is mounted in bosses 96 on the cross-bar 16 and carries the intermediate gear 98 of bevel gears 98, 100, 102 of equal diameter the gear 100 being fixed on the shaft 12. Lead wire feed.-The lead wire feeding mechanism (Figs. 2, 4 and 14) comprises a lower wheel 104 on a shaft 114 and an idler 106 on an eccentrically mounted ball bearing 107 permitting the idler to be spring-loaded on to the wheel 104 by an arm 108 to which a spring 110 is attached. The shaft 114 carries a bevel gear 118 meshing with a bevel gear 120 on a shaft 122 and a one-way clutch 126 is interposed between the gear 120 and a rack gear which enables the rack gear to rotate the shaft 122 only on the forward movement of a rack bar 128 which is adjustably connected to a crank arm 130 on. a shaft 132 which carries the gear 102. The shaft 132 is mounted in bearings on the cross-bar 16. By adjusting the position of the end of the rack bar 128 on the arm 130 the length of lead wire fed into the carrier at one stroke may be adjusted. The lead wire is guided to the feed rollers 104, 106 through a bell-mouthed tube 156 and from the rollers through a second bell-mouthed tube 158 into a guide block 160 on the cross-bar 16. To insure a more gradual feed the wire may be looped about a pulley having a spring connection to its support said pulley being positioned between the feeding roll 104 and the wire reel such that a sudden pull on the wire first stretches the spring and thus provides the necessary slack for the feed the spring gradually transferring the pull to the coil. The outlet end of the guide block 160 has a cutting edge co-operating with a knife 164 operated by a solenoid 166. The knife is carried on a slide 168 having a rod 170 guided in a bracket 172 a spring 174 maintaining the knife and slide in their uppermost positions. The solenoid core 176 bears on the upper end of the slide. The lead wire is slightly overfed so that it projects across the carrier and into an opening 78 in a guide block 180 also having a knife 182 operated by a solenoid 184. The projecting ends, on each side of the carrier, are cut to leave a sufficient length to receive a connector. The lead wire is guided across the carrier from one clamp to the opposite co-operating clamp by a guide mounted on an arm 186 attached to the cross-bar 188 which is mounted on rods 190 and 192 extending from the base 38 said rods guiding a ram 194 similar to the ram 22. The arm 186 carries a pivot shaft 204 in arms 200 and 202 on which swings one member 206 of a wire guide which extends across the carrier. The member 206 is suspended on short arms from the shaft 204 and one of these arms projects above the shaft 204 to provide a lever arm which has a link 208 guided through an opening in an upright 210 attached to the arm 186. A spring 212 surrounds the rod 208 and bears against a lever arm 207 and holds the member 206 in the closed position relatively to the stationary member 214 of the guide. When the lead wire has been fully fed and cut to length the wire guide is opened automatically by a solenoid 220 connected to the movable member 206 to permit the wire to be carried to the connector-receiving position. Connector feed.-A strip of connectors having open-sided insulator-piercing ferrules and pin ends is fed to the connector receiving position along a guideway formed by strips 226 on a block 224 (Fig. 19) secured to the base 8. A spring-loaded feed pawl 228 which engages the connectors behind the ferrules, is pivotally connected at 230 to the long arm 232 of a bellcrank lever fulcrumed at 234 on the cross-bar 16, the short arm 238 of the bell-crank carrying a roller 240 which engages a cam 242 on the main shaft. 12. The bell-crank is spring- loaded in the feeding direction by means of a rod 244 pivoted to the bell-crank at one end and guided by a bracket 246 at the other end said rod being surrounded by a spring 248. The feeding movement of the bell-crank is adjusted by a stop screw 252. A spring plate 258 anchored to the block 224 prevents backward movement of the connector strip on the non- feeding stroke of the pawl. Feed mechanism of the above type is situated on each side of the carrier. Crimping, shearing and wiping connectors.- A connector is fed into position to receive the projecting end of the lead inits open-sided ferrule and the cam 30 on the main shaft forces the ram 22 downward to effect the crimping of the ferrule on to the lead end and the severing of the connector from the strip and the removal of any burr left on the pin by a wiping operation. These operations are performed simultaneously upon both ends of the lead, the shaft 12 having a cam 256 on the other side of the carrier which depresses the other ram 194 carrying similar crimping, shearing and wiping tools. The lead ends are lifted slightly by a spring-loaded locator 266 so that they pass over the open side edges of the connectors. The locator is retained in its uppermost position by a spring 272 and is depressed by means of a solenoid-operated spring-loaded cam slide 276 (Fig. 15) which engages a cam shoulder 280 on the locater 266. The lead end is centred over the ferrules by a centring device 294 having a tapered slot 296, said device. being attached to the female crimping die 298. The slot has its rounded bottom slightly below the bottom of the crimping slot 300 in the die 298. The crimping, shearing and wiping mechanism comprises an upper crimping die 298, a tunker plate 302, and a shear 306 all connected to the ram 22 and a lower crimping die 292, a spacer plate 304 and the shear plates 308 and 310 connected to the base 8. The shear 306 has a slot 312 which straddles the connecting neck strip 314 on the strip of connectors and the shear plate 310 has a tapered recess 322 to provide discharge clearance for the sheared neck strips 314 which may be blown away by a compressed air nozzle. To remove any burr left on the rounded tip of the pin part of the connector a wiping groove 342 is provided in the front face of the shear plate 308 into which the end of the pin is forced by the tunker 302 thus wiping the burr into the rounded end of the pin. The crimping of the ferrule causes the insulation piercing points 344 to pierce the insulation 346 on the lead and effect an electrical contact with the conductor 248 (Fig. 23). As the ram 22 rises after the crimping, shearing and wiping operations the completed lead is free to be indexed towards the lead discharge position, where the leads are stripped from the carrier clamps by outer and inner spring fingers 350 and 352 on each side of the carrier said fingers being connected to a cross bar 354 (Fig. 7). If the lead wire is of sufficient weight to drop from an open clamp the movable jaw 76 of each clamp has attached thereto a leafspring arm 356 (Fig. 26) which, when it engages a stationary cam 358 during rotation of the carrier, opens the clamp against a spring 80 and allows the lead to drop out of the clamp. The solenoids are controlled by a cam 360 on the shaft 12 said cam engaging first a roller 362 controlling a switch 366 which actuates the cutter operating solenoids 166 and 184 and the wire guide gate-opening solenoid 220. The cam then engages a roll 368 controlling a switch 372 for energizing the solenoid 290 which effects the depression of the locater 266. The machine may be used for applying connectors at opposite ends of resistors, choke coils and the like. Specification 715,074 is referred to.