Patent GB-715091-A (GB)
Title: Applicator for electrical connectors and the like
IPC: H01R43/052
Filed: 1952-03-03
Abstract: 715,091. Making electric components. AIRCRAFT - MARINE PRODUCTS, Inc. March 3, 1952 [March 31, 1951], No. 5485/52. Classes 83 (2) and 83 (4). Jointing by stamping; shearing.-A method of making electrical leads having a connector attachment at each end consists in crimping a connector upon the leading end of the connector wire, feeding the wire past the crimping position until the desired length of wire has been fed, severing said length, holding the end of each wire formed by the severing operation and crimping connectors on said ends and repeating the feeding, severing and crimping operations. A machine for carrying out the invention comprises a main shaft 2 supported in side frames 4 and 6 and rotated by pulleys 8 and 12 driven through chain-and-sprocket gearing by an electric motor 22. Each side frame has a ledge 34 on which is mounted a plate 36 which supports the wire feed mechanism, the wire guides and the stationary parts of the wire cutting and crimping mechanisms. A reciprocating head 52 is clamped to a block 48 which is reciprocated in guides 50 by an eccentric collar 42 on the main shaft 2. Wire guides are located in two slides 62 and 64. The slide 62 which first receives the wire from the wire feeding mechanism is mounted to slide between guides 66 and 68, the guide 66 being provided with a slot 72 through which projects a stud 74 which travels in a cam groove 76 in a plate 78 connected to the head 52. When the head is at the upper end of its stroke the slide 62 is held in the position shown in Fig. 3 in which its wire guide is in wire feeding alignment with the wire guide in the slide 64. The slide 64 travels in similar guides 80 and 82, the guide 80 having a slot 86 for a stud 88 travelling in a cam slot 90 in a plate 92 connected to the head 52. Both the guideways for the slides have bottom and top plates the bottom plates 94 being mounted upon vertically-movable spring-supported plungers 96 which hold the guideways at a predetermined distance above the plate 36 and also hold the wire guide in the slide 62 or 64 at a predetermined distance above the stationary crimping member into co-operative relation to which the slide 62 or 64 is moved after the wire-severing operation. After the slides 62 and 64 have been laterally offset into the crimping position the slides are moved downwardly towards the plate 36 by pushers 208 carried by the head 52, whereupon the projecting wire ends enter the open sides of the connector ferrules in the crimping anvils. The wire feeding mechanism comprises a crank arm 112 fixed on the driving shaft 2 and carrying an adjustable slide 114 in a guideway 150, said slide having a pivot pin 116 for a rackbar 118 which engages a pinion (not shown) on a shaft 122. An over-running clutch 124 on the shaft 122 prevents the shaft 122 from turning in the non-feeding direction on the down stroke of the rack 118. A bevel gear on the shaft 122 engages with a bevel gear on a shaft 128 carrying a feed roll 130 which extends between two studs 132 on an upright plate 134 carrying flexible wire conduits one of which is connected to the slide 62. An upper spring-loaded roll 140 presses the wire into feeding engagement .with the driven roll 130. The length of wire fed on each rotation of the shaft 2 may be varied by adjusting the slide 114 in the guideway 150 by means of the lead-screw 152. The crimping anvils 158 and 162 on the plate 36 are laterally offset to each other and to the line of wire feed, the anvil 158 receiving the connector ferrule for crimping on the trailing end of the lead wire which projects from the guide in the slide 64 after the severing operation and the anvil 162 receiving a connector ferrule for crimping upon the lead end projecting from the guide in the slide 62. The two connector strip feeding mechanisms for feeding connectors to the anvils 158 and 162 are described in Specification 715,068. The feeding of the connectors takes place on the upper half of the return stroke of the head 52 after the crimping operations. After feeding the wire to provide the desired length the wire is sheared midway between the wire guides carried by the slides 62 and 64. This takes place when the head has descended half of its stroke, that is, when the studs 74 and 88 have reached the inclined portions of the cam slots 76 and 90 when the offsetting of the slides begins. The upper shear blade movable with the head 52 is formed by an extension 194 of a plate 196 which constitutes the upper crimping die 198 co-operating with the anvil 158. The lower stationary shear blade is constituted by a rectangular notch 200 in a plate 202. The notch being open on one side to enable the wire end after shearing to be moved over the anvil 162 by the slide 62. The upper crimping die 204 which co-operates with the anvil 162 is formed in a plate 206 connected to the head 52. After the shearing of the wire the slides are laterally displaced until the wire end carried by the slide 62 is positioned over the ferrule on the anvil 162 and the wire end carried by the slide 64 is positioned over the ferrule on the anvil 158. When the studs 74 and 88 enter the upper vertical parts of the slots 76 and 90 respectively, pushers 208 engage the covers 70 and 84 of the, guideways for the slides and depress the guideways against the springs 102 until the wire ends enter the open sides of the ferrules. To ensure proper location of the wire ends on the ferrules a plate 212 attached to the plate 196 projects over the crimping die 198 sufficiently to engage the wire beyond the ferrule and press it down into the ferrule before the crimping operation. A similar plate 214 is attached to the plate 206 in which the crimping die 204 is formed. Before the crimping dies engage the ferrule sides the ferrules are positioned by spring-loaded arms 218 having bevelled ends 216 and 216a shaped to enter the recess 215 between the ferrule and the pin part of .each connector. The connector strip and the means for severing each connector from the strip is fully described in Specification 715,068, the severing being effected by upper slugging plates 228 and 230 which co-operate with pairs of shear plates 232, 234 and 236, 238. After a connector has been crimped upon each end of the wire the head 52 commences its return stroke, the springs 102 raise the guideways for the slides 62 and 64 to their normal positions above the base-plate 36, and the inclined portions of the cam slots 76 and 90 return the slides 62 and 64 back into wire feeding alignment whereupon the crank arm 112 on the main shaft commences the wire feeding. To enable the completed lead to be discharged the slide 64 has its wire guide formed of two relatively movable jaws, a fixed jaw 242 depending from the slide and a spring- loaded movable jaw 244 carried on the end of a rod 246. A stud-250 on the jaw 244 projects through a slot 252 in the slide 64 and is held in the slot by a plate 254 secured on the stud. The rear end of the rod 246 extends through the bottom of a spring socket 265 on the base 94 of the slide guide and a stop-nut 264 determines the setting of the jaw 244 in respect to the fixed jaw 242. Since the socket bottom 263 is fixed when the slide 64 is moved, after the cutting operation, to bring the wire end over the ferrule on the anvil 158, the jaw 242 presses the wire against the jaw 244 which moves against a spring 266, thus tightly clamping the wire. The lateral displacement of the slide 64 begins just before the wire is cut in order to cause the jaw 242 to clamp the wire against the jaw 244 and hold it firmly during the cutting operation. To open the jaws to release the completed lead a solenoid 268 connected to the rod 246 is energized to hold the jaw 244 stationary when the slide 64 starts its return movement after the crimping operation. A cam 276 on the shaft 2 operates the arm 278 of a microswitch for energizing the solenoid 268. The discharge of the lead is assisted by a spring wire and the lead drops into a shoot and is discharged from the machine.