Patent Publication Number: US-11051408-B2

Title: Fixing device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) of Chinese Patent Application No. 2017/10025048.1, filed on Jan. 13, 2017. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a fixing device and, more particularly, to a fixing device adapted to fix a needle-shaped member. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In electronic manufacturing, for example in a process of soldering a conductive terminal to a pad on a circuit board, it is often necessary to solder a needle-shaped member such as an elongated lead wire. In order to ensure soldering precision, the wire must be precisely positioned and fixed at a predetermined position. 
     No fixing device in the prior art is adapted to precisely position and fix a needle-shaped member for soldering. The needle-shaped member is usually manually positioned and fixed, reducing the soldering precision and reducing the quality of a resulting soldered product. 
     SUMMARY 
     A fixing device adapted to fix at least one needle-shaped member comprises a fixing base and a fixing mechanism. The fixing base has at least one positioning groove disposed at a front end of the fixing base. The needle-shaped member is adapted to be positioned in the positioning groove. The fixing mechanism has at least one pressing protrusion at a front end of the fixing mechanism. The pressing protrusion is adapted to press and hold the needle-shaped member in the positioning groove. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a fixing device according to the invention with a first link of the fixing device in an open state; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the fixing device with the first link in a closed state; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the fixing device with the first link in the open state; and 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view of the fixing device with the first link in the closed state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S) 
     Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. 
     A fixing device according to the invention is shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . The fixing device is adapted to precisely position and reliably fix a needle-shaped member  10 . 
     The fixing device, as shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , comprises a fixing base  100  having at least one positioning groove  111  at a front end thereof and a fixing mechanism  200 ,  300  formed with at least one pressing protrusion  210  at a front end thereof. The needle-shaped member  10  is positioned in the positioning groove  111  and the pressing protrusion  210  is adapted to press and hold the needle-shaped member  10  in the positioning groove  111 . In this way, it is possible to precisely position and reliably fix the needle-shaped member  10  in the positioning groove  111 . 
     The fixing base  100 , as shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , has a positioning boss  110  protruding forwardly on the front end thereof, in which the positioning groove  111  is formed. In various embodiments, the positioning groove  111  may be V-shaped or semicircular, and the pressing protrusion  210  is shaped and sized to be matched with the shape of the positioning groove  111 . In an embodiment, the needle-shaped member  10  is a welding wire such as a lead wire. In other embodiments, the needle-shaped member may be a needle-shaped pin of a chip. 
     The fixing base  100 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , has a receiving groove  102  receiving the fixing mechanism  200 ,  300 . The fixing mechanism  200 ,  300 , as shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , comprises a first link  200 , a second link  300  pivotally and slidably connected to a rear end of the fixing base  100 , and a connection portion  220  pivotally connected to the fixing base  100  between the rear end of the fixing base  100  and an opposite front end of the fixing base  100 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the first link  200  is pivotally connected with a front end of the second link  300 , which is positioned at a rear end of the first link  200 . The pressing protrusion  210  is formed on a bottom surface of the front end of the first link  200 . 
     The connection portion  220 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , is part of the first link  200  and is positioned between the front and rear ends of the first link  200 . The connection portion  220  is pivotally connected with a first pivot shaft  201 . The first pivot shaft  201  is pivotally connected to side walls of the receiving groove  102  at both ends of the first pivot shaft  201 . 
     The receiving groove  102  of the fixing base  100  is formed with a sliding slot  101  extending in a front-rear direction in the side walls of the fixing base  100 , as shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . The second link  300  is pivotally connected with a second pivot shaft  301 . Both ends of the second pivot shaft  301  are slidably received in the sliding slot  101  of the fixing base  100  at the rear end of the second link  300 . The rear end of the first link  200  is pivotally connected with the front end of the second link  300  by a third pivot shaft  202 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the fixing base  100  has a spring receiving chamber  103  in a bottom of the receiving groove  102 . A lower end of a reset spring  400  is disposed in the spring receiving chamber  103 . The reset spring  400  has an upper end abutting a lower surface of the second link  300  between the front and rear ends of the second link  300 . 
     The second link  300 , as shown in  FIG. 2-4 , has a pressing head  310  adapted to press the second link  300  downwardly on a top surface thereof. The pressing head  310  is located between the front and rear ends of the second link  300 . 
     The second link  300  is configured to drive the first link  200  to be rotated about the first pivot shaft  201  to an open state, shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , when a downward pressing force is exerted on the pressing head  310 . When the downward pressing force is exerted on the pressing head  310 , the front end of the second link  300  is moved downwardly and the rear end thereof is rotated about the second pivot shaft  301  and slides forwardly along the sliding slot  101 . The rear end of the first link  200  is rotated about the first pivot shaft  201  downwardly and the front end thereof is rotated about the first pivot shaft  201  upwardly so that the first link  200  is rotated to the open state. When the first link  200  is in the open state, the pressing protrusion  210  on the front end of the first link  200  is separated from the positioning groove  111  in the fixing base  100  to allow the needle-shaped member  10  to be arranged in or released from the positioning groove  111 . 
     When the downward pressing force exerted on the pressing head  310  is released, the second link  300  is urged by the reset spring  400  upwardly to drive the first link  200  to be rotated about the first pivot shaft  201  into a closed state shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 . When the downward pressing force exerted to the pressing head  310  is released, the front end of the second link  300  is moved upwardly and the rear end thereof is rotated about the second pivot shaft  301  and slides backwardly along the sliding slot  101 . The rear end of the first link  200  is rotated about the first pivot shaft  201  upwardly and the front end thereof is rotated about the first pivot shaft  201  downwardly, so that the first link  200  is rotatable to the closed state. When the first link  200  is in the closed state, the pressing protrusion  210  at the front end of the first link  200  is pressed against the positioning groove  111  of the fixing base  100  to press and hold the needle-shaped member  10  in the positioning groove  111 . 
     In the shown embodiment, the fixing base  100  has a plurality of positioning grooves  111  arranged in a row to simultaneously position a plurality of needle-shaped members  10 . The first link  200  may be formed with a plurality of pressing protrusions  210  arranged in a row to simultaneously press the plurality of needle-shaped members  10  in place.