Patent Publication Number: US-6212766-B1

Title: Apparatus for inserting terminal with wire and driving a wire sweeping arm

Description:
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/457,777 filed Jun. 1, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,147 allowed; which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/179,625 filed Jan. 7, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,924. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a method of automatically inserting terminals with wires into desired terminal accommodating cavities in a connector housing after putting neighboring wires aside, and an apparatus used for the method. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     FIG. 45 shows a conventional method of inserting a terminals with wires, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Showa 61-104578. 
     In this method, one of terminals  37  and  38  attached to both ends of a wire  36  is inserted into a connector housing  40  at an end of a transportation line  39 , and then, the other terminal  38  is transported on a supporting portion  44  on a rearrangement station  43  by a transportation head  42  on a base  41 . This rearrangement is carried out to insert the terminal  38  in a predetermined position of the a connector housing  45  in the next process in order. Then, the terminal  38  is inserted into a connector housing  45  in the order that they are placed on the station  43 . 
     However, with the conventional method described above, it is inevitable to rearrange the terminals with wires  47  so that the terminals  38  are inserted into the predetermined terminal accommodating cavities in the connector housing  45  without being interfered by terminals  36  which are already accommodated, resulting in increased manhour and an expanded manufacturing line. As a result, it has been difficult to manufacture a wire harness with a lot of wires due to limited manufacturing space. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of securely inserting terminals with wires into desired terminal accommodating cavities in a connector housing without rearranging the terminals, and an apparatus used for the method. 
     To accomplish the above object, the method for the inserting of terminals with wires into terminal accommodating cavities according to an embodiment of the present invention comprising the steps of: grasping the terminal with wire by terminal supporting hands and wire supporting hands; moving the terminal supporting hands in the direction that the terminal supporting hands sweep wires which are already accommodated in neighboring terminal accommodating cavities; moving the wire supporting hands and the terminal supporting hands toward the connector housing to insert the terminal with wire into the terminal accommodating cavity. 
     Further, the method of inserting a terminal with wire into a terminal accommodating cavities according to another embodiment of the present invention comprising the steps of: grasping the terminal with wire by terminal supporting hands and wire supporting hands; moving wire sweeping arms in the direction that the wire sweeping arms sweep wires which are already accommodated in neighboring terminal accommodating cavities, the wire sweeping arms disposed between the terminal accommodating cavities and the terminal supporting hands so as to move back and forth; moving the wire supporting hands and the terminal supporting hands toward the connector housing to insert the terminal with wire into the terminal accommodating cavity. 
     In the above methods according to the present invention, it is preferable to adopt wire sweeping arms comprising: a pair of guide arms with triangular cross-sections, the guide arms each having a triangular tip portion to form an edge when the guide arms are combined; an inclined guide portion projecting from an engagement face of a first guide arm of the pair of guide arms; a notch attached to an engagement face of a second guide arm of the pair of guide arms for accommodating the inclined guide portion. 
     As a driving device for the wire sweeping arms to perform the method of inserting the terminal with wire into the terminal accommodating cavity comprising: an air cylinder with a pair of legs for fixing a pair of guide arms, the guide arms used for sweeping the already accommodated wires and inserting the terminal with wire into the terminal accommodating cavities; a stopper abutting an outer face of one of the legs; a holder for fixing the stopper; a guide rail on which the holder travels in the direction perpendicular to the direction that the terminal with wire is inserted; a screw rod rotatably inserted into the holder; and a servo motor for rotating the screw shaft. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be more apparent from the ensuring description with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a method of inserting terminals with wires according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view showing the working of an insertion head A illustrated in FIG. 1 when wires are put aside by wire sweeping arms; 
     FIG. 3 is a side view showing the working of the insertion head A when the wires put aside by a terminal supporting hand; 
     FIG. 4 is a side view showing the working of the insertion head A when the wires are being inserted; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view showing the working of the insertion head  1 A when the wires are completely inserted; 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of the wire sweeping arms; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the wire sweeping arms and terminal accommodating cavities when the wires are vertically inserted into the cavities; 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the wire sweeping arms and the terminal accommodating cavities when the wires are put aside by the wire sweeping arms; 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the wire sweeping arms and the terminal accommodating cavities when the wire sweeping terminal is rearwardly moved; 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the wire sweeping arms and the terminal accommodating cavities when the wire sweeping arm is opened; 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the wire sweeping arms, the terminal accommodating cavities, and a terminal supporting hands when the terminal supporting hands holding a terminal with wire proceeds; 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the wire sweeping arms, the terminal accommodating cavities, and the terminal supporting hands when the terminal supporting hands supplementally put the neighboring wires aside to insert the terminal with wire into the terminal accommodating cavity; 
     FIG. 13 is a detailed front view of the terminal supporting hands and a wire supporting hands; 
     FIG. 14 is a front view of the terminal supporting hands in the open state; 
     FIG. 15 is a front view of the terminal supporting hands before inserting the terminal with wire; 
     FIG. 16 is a perspective view of modified wire sweeping arms; 
     FIG. 17 is a front view of the wire sweeping arms approaching an opening of the terminal accommodating terminal; 
     FIG. 18 is a front view of the wire sweeping arms and the terminal with wire between the arms; 
     FIG. 19 is a perspective view of wire sweeping arms according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 20A to  20 C are front views of the wire sweeping arms before being inserted into the wires, while being inserted into the wires, and after putting the wires aside in that order; 
     FIGS. 21A and 21B are a rear view of modified wire sweeping arms and an enlarged view of a tip of the modified wire sweeping arms in the closed state; 
     FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of the wire sweeping arm taken along the line B—B in FIG. 21A; 
     FIG. 23 is a side view of the wire sweeping arms shown in FIG. 21A; 
     FIGS. 24A and 24B are side views of a pair of guide arms; 
     FIG. 25 is a side view showing the position where the wire sweeping arms put the wire aside in the wire sweeping arm according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 26 is a side view of the position where the wire sweeping arms having guide arms but without a notch; 
     FIG. 27 is a plan view of wire sweeping arms according to another embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 28 is a side view of the wire sweeping arms according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 29 is a front view of the wire sweeping arm according to the second modification of the present invention; 
     FIG. 30 is a rear view of the wire sweeping arms according to the second modification of the present invention; 
     FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view of the wire sweeping arms taken along the line  31 — 31  in FIG. 30; 
     FIG. 32 is a cross-sectional view of the wire sweeping arms putting the wires aside; 
     FIG. 33 is a front view of wire sweeping arms according to a third modification of the present invention; 
     FIG. 34 is a rear view of the wire sweeping arm according to the third modification of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 35A and 35B show conditions that a terminal is abnormal position and normal state respectively in wire sweeping arms according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 36A to  36 E are plan views showing the processes for correcting the position of the terminal by the wire sweeping arm according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 37A to  37 C are lateral cross-sectional views for explaining a method of inserting a terminal with wire according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 38A to  38 C are laterally cross-sectional views for explaining a method of inserting a terminal with wire according to a third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 39A to  39 D are rear view for explaining the method according to the third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 40A to  40 C are side views for explaining the method according to the third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 41 is a front view of a driving device for wire sweeping arms according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 42 is a front view of a driving device for wire sweeping arms according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 43 is a side view of the wire sweeping arms according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 44 is a plan view of the wire sweeping arms according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 45 is a schematic view for explaining a conventional method of inserting terminals with wire in terminal accommodating cavities. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a method of inserting terminals with wires into terminal accomodating cavities in a connector housing according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this method, terminals with wires  4 , which are attached to both ends of the terminals by a press  1 , are transported to a terminal inserting device  6  while the terminals are grasped by a grasping base  5 . Then, the terminals are horizontally inserted into the connector housing  7  by using an insertion head A. The present invention is characterized in that terminals, which are already accommodated in the terminals accommodating cavities are put aside by terminal supporting hands  8  and wire sweeping arms  9  on the insertion head A during inserting the terminals with wires into the housing. 
     Wire supporting hands  10  and a pair of wire sweeping arms are mounted on the insertion head A with the terminal supporting hands  8  in between. The terminal supporting hands  8  are capable of putting wires  2 ′ aside by oscillating the wire sweeping arms right and left which are driven by a driving device (not shown). In addition, the terminal supporting hands  8  move up and down, and back and forth to insert the wire in synchronization with the movement of the wire supporting hands  10 , and another driving device described below opens and closes the wire sweeping arms  9 , and moves them up and down. 
     FIGS. 2 to  5  show the working of the insertion head A described above. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a base of a wire  2  is grasped by the terminal supporting hands  10 , and a tip of a terminal  3  is simultaneously grasped by the wire supporting hands  8  to be transported from the grasping base to an opening  11   a  of the terminal accommodating cavities in the connector housing  7 . The working of the supporting hands  8  and  10  are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Showa 60-119090. Then, when the terminal  3  approaches the openings  11   a  of the terminal accommodating cavities  11 , the wire sweeping arms  9  fall and open in the vicinity of the openings  11   a  to put the neighboring wires  2 ′ right and left. 
     Then, the wire sweeping arms  9  elevate and the supporting hands  8  and  10  cause the terminal with wire  4  to proceed in the vicinity of the openings  11   a  of the terminal accommodating cavities as shown in FIG.  3 . In this condition, the terminal supporting hands  6  oscillate right and left to supplementally put the wires  2 ′ aside. Tip portions  8   a  of the terminal supporting hands  8  are integrally formed with slant supporting arms  8   b , and horizontally extend and grasp the terminal  3  in such a manner that a tip  3   a  of the terminal  3  slightly projects from the tip portions  8   a  of the terminal supporting hands  8 . The terminal supporting hands  8  elevate under the conditions that the tip  3   a  of the terminal passes through the opening  11   a  of the terminal accommodating cavities as illustrated in FIG. 4, and the wire supporting hands  10  push the terminal with wire  4  into the terminal accommodating cavities  11  as illustrated in FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of wire sweeping arms according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wire sweeping arms  9 ′ comprise: a pair of lower links  12  having blade-shaped sweeping portions  12   a  at both lower end portions thereof; a pair of crank-shaped middle links  15  which are rotatably supported in the middle thereof by fixed supports and are connected to base portions of the lower links  12  with pins  13 ; and a pair of upper links  18  which are connected to the middle links with pins  16  and are connected to each other with a top pin  17 . The pair of lower links  12  are substantially horizontally opened by means of coil springs  19 . 
     The sweeping portions  12   a  are formed like thin blades so that they are easily put between the wires  2 ′. Further, projections  12   b  may preferably be attached to the sweeping portions  12   a  on the side opposing the openings  11   a  of the sweeping portions  12   a  as illustrated in FIG.  2 . The wire sweeping arms  9 ′ are closed by pushing the top of the upper links  18  as indicated by dotted lines or are opened by drawing the same portion as indicated by solid lines with a cylinder  20  as illustrated in FIG.  6 . 
     FIGS. 7 to  12  show an example to which the above method of vertically inserting terminals with wires into openings of a connector housing is applied. In FIG. 7, reference numeral  9 ′ shows wire sweeping arms which are substantially the same as in the above described embodiment. The wire sweeping arms  9  approach and move along a desired opening  11   b  of the terminal accommodating cavities in the directions indicated by arrows X and Y in this order, and then, the arms  9  oscillate right and left as shown by arrows Z and W in the vicinity of the opening  11   b  to put the wires  2 ′ aside. Further, the sweeping arms  9 ′ rearwardly move over the partition walls  21  as illustrated in FIG. 9, and go down behind a rear end of the housing  7 ′ and open right and left to further put the wires  2 ′ aside as illustrated in FIG.  10 . 
     Under the condition described above, the sweeping arms  9 ′ elevate as shown in FIG. 11, and the terminal supporting hands  22  and the wire supporting hands  23  grasping the terminal  4  with wire  2 ′ fall in the vicinity of a portion where the sweeping arms  9 ′ pass through a route, where the sweeping arms  9 ′ move while putting the wires  2 ′ aside, in the direction indicated by a arrow M. Then, both supporting hands  22  and  23  perpendicularly curve in the direction indicated by the arrow N in front of the desired opening  11   b  to supplementally sweep the wires  2 ′ at tip portions  22   a  of the terminal supporting hands  22 . Then, the terminal supporting hands  22  open over the opening  11   b  of the terminal accommodating cavities and the terminal  4  with wire  2 ′ is pushed in the terminal accommodating cavity  11 ′ by the wire supporting hands  23  as illustrated in FIG.  12 . The tip portions  22   a  of the terminal supporting hands  22 , which are horizontally integrally formed with inclined supporting arms  22   b , are used for vertically supporting the terminal  3 . The wire supporting hands  23  also support the wire  2  in the vertical direction thereof. 
     FIGS. 13 to  15  show the construction and working of the both supporting hands  22  and  23  in detail. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the wire supporting hands  23  comprise a pair of supporting hands  23   b  connected to each other with a pin  24  at upper portions thereof like a compass, and a spring  25  for outwardly urging the supporting hands  23   b . A pair of rollers  26  are pushed toward tapered faces  23   c  which are formed at upper portions of the supporting hands  23   b  to close the supporting hands  23   b . The tip portions  23   a  of the supporting arms  23   b  inwardly curve to grasp the wire  2 . 
     Further, the terminal supporting hands  22  are provided with the horizontally extending tip portions  22   a , as illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15, and the pair of straight supporting hands  22   b  which are connected to each other with a pin  28 . Springs  30  for urging the supporting hands  22   b  from outside in the direction that the supporting hands close between supporting members  29 . Adjusting screws  31  are attached to adjust an opening angle of the supporting hands. As a result, the supporting hands  22   b  are opened by pushing upper portions  22   c  of the supporting hands  22   b  with the cylinders  32 , and the rollers  33  abut the inner tapered faces  22   d  to close and lock the supporting hands  22   b . The supporting hands  22  and  23  move up and down by a driving means (not shown) as illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15. In the two embodiments described above, only the terminal supporting hands  8  or  22  may be used for putting the wires  2 ′ aside without the wire sweeping arms  9  and  9 ′. 
     FIGS. 16 to  18  show an embodiment for guiding a terminal  3  between a pair of wire sweeping arms  86  and to insert the terminal  3  into a terminal accommodating cavity  11 . The pair of wire sweeping arms  86  are provided with forwardly projecting sweeping portions  87 , and a pair of claws  89  which project from the sweeping portions  87  to form inner guide faces  88  as illustrated in FIG.  16 . The pair of claws  89  may be opened slightly wider than that of the opening  11   a , and may be opened much more as indicated by two-dot chain lines after inserting the terminal  3  into the cavity  11 . 
     Then, the pair of claws  89  are opened by the width of the opening  11   a  while they are in close vicinity to the opening  11   a  as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, and the terminal  3  of which rear portion is grasped by the terminal supporting hands  90  between the claws  89  is guided and inserted along the inner guide faces  88 . When the tip of the terminal  3  is inserted into the opening  11   a , the terminal supporting hands  91  further push the terminal  3  into the opening to complete the insertion. As a result, the terminal  3  is securely inserted into the opening without being interrupted by an edge  11   a′ of the opening  11   a.    
     The wire sweeping arms  86  are supported by a holder  92  as illustrated in FIG.  16  and are detachable by a pair of block hands  93  opposing the holder  92  in accordance with the types of terminals  3  and connector housing  7 ′. 
     FIG. 19 shows a wire sweeping arm according to another embodiment of the present invention. The wire sweeping arm  50  is formed with a pair of guide arms  52  and  53  having triangular cross-sections with tapered guide faces  51  for guiding terminals at rear portions thereof. Both guide arms  52  and  53  are provided with tip portions with a shape of triangular pyramid, and those tip portions are combined and form one tip portion with a shape of a triangular pyramid when closing the both guide arms  52  and  53  as illustrated in FIGS. 20A and 20B. 
     A guide wall  57  projects on an upper portion of an inner wall  55  of one of the guide arms  52 , and an inclined guide portion  56  for the terminal  3  is formed on the guide wall  57 . On an inner wall  58  of the other guide arm  52  is formed a concave portion  59  for accommodating the guide wall  57 . The guide wall  57  is fully accommodated in the concave portion  59  when the both guide arms  52  and  53  are combined. Both guide arms  52  and  53  are combined with the inner walls  55  and  58  being in contact with each other. The guide arms  52  and  53  have edge-shape cross-sections, and tips  60  of the edges oppose the connector housing  7 , and rear walls  62  thereof oppose the terminal with wire  4 , which is supported by the terminal supporting hands  8  and the wire supporting hands  10 . The guide arms  52  and  53  are vertically and horizontally movable. 
     Then, the wire sweeping arm  50  is inserted from the above along a partition wall of the desired opening  11   a  of the terminal accommodating cavities while the both guide arms  52  and  53  are closed as shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B. Then, one of the guide arms  52  and  53  (left guide arm in this embodiment) horizontally moves by about the width of the opening  11   a  of the terminal accommodating cavities to sweep the wires  2 ′. 
     The guide wall  57  attached to the right guide arm  52  projects between the guide arms  52  and  53 , the inclined guide portion  56  is positioned over the desired opening  11   a  to guide terminal  3  into the opening  11   a  in combination with the rear tapered guide faces  51  of the guide arms  52  and  53 . 
     The wire sweeping arm  50  is detachable in accordance with the shapes of the terminals  3  and the connector housing  7 . The open width between the guide arms  52  and  53  is mainly controlled by a serve motor or a ball screw to apply the wire sweeping arm  50  to a variety of terminals  3  and the connector housing  7 . Therefore, one kind of the pair of guide arms  52  and  53  are applicable even if the kinds of the terminals  3  and the connector housing  7  are changed. 
     FIGS. 21A, B to  24 A, B show a wire sweeping arm  65  according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which comprise: a guide arm  66  having an inclined guide portion  56 ′ with a triangular guide face, and an arrow-head portion  68  at a tip thereof; and another guide arm  67  having a tip portion shorter than the arrow head portion  68  of the guide arm  66 . The tip portion of the guide arm  67  is formed like a triangular pyramid along a notched face of the arrow head portion  68 . The wire sweeping arm  65  according to this embodiment is characterized in that the triangular-pyramid-shaped tip portion  69  is situated inside the notched portion  68   a  when the both guide arms  66  and  67  are closed so that the tip portion  69  does not project beyond an extension line  68   b ′ of the slant face of the arrow-head tip portion  68  as illustrated in FIG.  21 B. 
     With the shape of the guide arms  66  and  67 , the radius of a round portion  68   c  of the arrow-head tip portion  68  can be designed to be larger, which prevents the wires  2  shown in FIG. 19 from being damaged at the insertion of the guide arms  66  and  67 . At the same time, the width L of the wire sweeping arm  65  can be made narrow to facilitate the insertion of the wire sweeping arm  65 . 
     When both guide arms  66  and  67  are closed, a guide wall  57 ′ with a triangular cross-section and an inclined guide portion  56 ′, which is formed on one of the guide arms  66 , is engaged with and fully accommodated in a notched portion  71  of the other guide arm  67 , which extends from a tip  70  to a middle portion of the arm  67  as shown in FIG. 23 on the side opposing the opening  11 , which forms the wire sweeping arm  65  with a wedge-shaped cross section. 
     FIGS. 24A and 24B show the shape of the guide arms  66  and  67 . The notched portion  71  of the other guide arm  67 , which is illustrated in FIG. 24B, extends in a longitudinal direction of the guide arm  67  except for a portion of a guide projection  76  which is formed in the middle of the arm  67 . The guide projection  76  opposes the inclined guide portion  56 ′ and is situated at a position lower than the guide portion  56 ′. An edge  70  of the guide projection  76  coincides with a front edge  78  of the guide arm  66 . The guide arm  66  shown in FIG. 24A is provided with a guide wall  57 ′ having the inclined guide portion  56 ′ on a flat engagement face  79  opposing the other guide arm  67 . The guide arm further includes a arrow-head tip portion  68  and a rear tapered guide face  51 ′. 
     The distance H of the guide projection  76  is slightly larger than the height of the opening of the terminal accommodating cavities  11  as shown in FIG. 25, and the terminal  3  is to be guided along the inner face of the guide projection  76 . Further, the width S of the notches  71  and  77  is set to be the difference between the distance S 1  which the wire sweeping arm  50  without the notch  71  can sweep the wires  2 ′ as illustrated in FIG. 26, and required minimum distance S 2  to prevent the guide arm  67  from contacting the housing  7  when the wire sweeping arm  65  is inserted between the wires  2 ′ as shown in FIG.  25 . 
     When only the other guide arm  67  is moved, as shown in FIG. 20C, the position where the guide arm  67  contacts the wire  2 ′ is rearwardly shifted by the distance S of the notched portion  71 , and the position of the wire sweeping arm  65  is set to be nearer the connector housing  7  by the distance S. As a result, the guide projection  76  approaches the opening  11   a  of the terminal accommodating cavities  11 , which allows the terminal to be more securely inserted. 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 21 to  25 , a pair of wire intrusion protecting bars  72  horizontally and rearwardly project from portions adjacent to the tip portions  69  of the both guide arms  66  and  61 . The wire intrusion protecting bars  72  are provided with tapered portions  74  which are outwardly stretched from the inclined side faces  73 , and straight portions  75  next to the tapered portions  74  are wider than the guide arms  66  and  67 . 
     Then, the tip portions  68  and  69  of the guide arms  66  and  67  are inserted between the wires  2 ′, and the wire intrusion protecting bars  72  simultaneously push the wires  2 ′ outward along the tapered portion  74  as shown in FIG.  25 . Further, in the process of further inserting the guide arms  66  and  67 , the wires  2 ′ slidably contact the tapered portion  74  to the straight portion  75 , and the obliquely rearwardly hanging wires  2 ′ are stretched by the straight portion  75  to prevent the wires  2 ′, which are put aside by the guide arms  66  and  67 , from intruding inside the guide arms  66  and  67 . As a result, the terminal  3  is smoothly inserted into the connector housing  7  from the portion between the guide arms  66  and  67  without interfering with the wires  2 ′. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 27, tapered notched portions  94  are formed at tip portions of a pair of wire intrusion protecting bars  72  to protect the wire  2  between the guide arms  66  and  67  from being entrapped while the guide arms  66  and  67  elevate. The elevation of the guide arms  66  and  67  are carried out after the terminal  3  is completely inserted as illustrated in FIG.  25 . 
     FIGS. 28 to  30  show a wire sweeping arm according to the second modification of the present invention in which the wire sweeping arm  65  illustrated in FIG. 25 is further modified. The wire sweeping arm  80  is characterized in that, as illustrated in FIG. 28, an upper portion of a guide arm  67 ′ from a guide projection  76 ′ projects and extends while rearwardly shifted by the distance F 1 , and a channel  82  is formed on the offset portion  81  in the direction that the wire is inserted. The portion of the channel  82  is inclined and the thickness thereof gradually increases from a front end  81   a  to a rear end  81   b  of the offset portion  81 . When both guide arms  66 ′ and  67 ′ are combined, the channel  82  is positioned nearer the center than inclined side face  73 ′ as illustrated in FIGS. 29 to  31 . 
     A longitudinally extending portion  83  is integrally formed with the channel  82  above the offset portion  81 , and is further shifted by the distance F 2 . The guide arm  66 ′ is also provided with a rearwardly longitudinally projecting portion  84  extending along the longitudinally extendinig portion  83 . As shown in FIG. 31, the offset portion  81  in further rearwardly shifted in comparison to the notched portion  71  shown in FIG. 23 according to the previous embodiment. Numeral  71  in FIG. 31 shows the position of the notched portion  71 . As illustrated in FIG. 32, the position where the guide arm  67 ′ contacts the wire  2 ′ when the wires  2 ′ are swept by the guide arm  67 ′ is further rearwardly shifted, which not only permits the wire sweeping arm  80  to be positioned in the vicinity of the connector housing  7  but also alleviates the curvature of a portion  2   a  of the wires  2 ′ adjacent to an opening of terminal accommodating cavities, preventing the wire  2 ′ from being damaged or deformed. 
     FIGS. 33 and 34 show guide arms  66 ″ and  67 ″ for guiding a terminal  95  with a pair of exposed contact curl portions  95   a  at upper portion thereof into the terminal accommodating cavities of the connector housing without vertically shifting. That is, one of the guide arms  66 ″ guiding the terminal  95  is provided with a horizontal contact face  96  at the lowermost portion of an inclined guide portion  56 ″ thereof to guide the curl portion  95   a , which allows the terminal  95  to horizontally move in the range of the horizontal contact face  96 . 
     The guide face of the inclined guide portion  56 ″ has a shape of substantial triangle without the horizontal contact face  96 , and the curl portion  95  elevates along the inclined face  97  on the side of the inclined guide portion in the range of the difference between the width of the terminal and the clearance between the both guide arms  66 ″ and  67 ″. As a result, there is a fear that the terminal  95  is vertically shifted. 
     In FIG. 33, the guide projection  76 ″ of the guide arm  67 ″ is provided with a downwardly inclined sliding surface  98 , and the guide projection  76 ″ is formed to be a wedge of which sharp edge is directed downward. As a result, the inclined sliding surface  98  prevents the guide projection  76 ″ and the wires  2 ′ from being interfered with each other when the arms  66 ″ and  67 ″ are inserted between the wires  2 ″ as shown in FIG. 25, permitting smooth insertion of the arms  66 ″ and  67 ″. The width H 2  of the guide projection  76 ″ is slightly wider than the width H 1  of the horizontally contacting face  96 , and the upper end face  99  is situated below the horizontally contacting face  96  at the engagement of the guide arms. The guide arms  66 ″ and  67 ″ are fixed to driving means not shown through mounting holes  200  and  201 . 
     FIGS. 35A,  35 B,  36 A,  36 B,  36 C,  36 D and  36 E show the construction of the guide arms  66 ″ and  67 ″ or the like in which the terminal  3  can smoothly be inserted even if the terminal  3  with a box-shaped contact portion  3   a  is shifted in the rotating direction. That is, the chamfer dimension of tapered terminal guiding face  51 A at the rear portions of the guide arms  66 ″ is larger than that of the other guide arm  67 ″ to correct the position of the terminal  3 . 
     As shown in FIG. 36A, the tapered guide faces  51 A and  51 B of the guide arms  66 ″ and  67 ″ oppose each other with the same inclination. The distance between ends of the guide faces  51 A and  51 B in the direction that the terminal  3  is inserted is K as indicated in FIG.  36 A. The terminal  3  abuts the smaller guide face  51 A at an end  3   b  of the box-shaped contact portion  3   a  while shifting in the rotating direction thereof as illustrated in FIG. 35A and 36B. Then, the end  3   b  slides on the guide face  51 B and pass therethrough as shown in FIG.  36 C. The other end  3   b′ does not contact the larger guide face  51 A when the end  3   b  starts to contact an inner side face  202  of the arm. Then, the end  3   b  moves along the inner side face  202  in the arm as shown in FIG.  36 D and the other end  3   b′ abuts the larger guide face  51 A. As a result, as the other end  3   b′ moves along the larger guide face, the terminal  3  rotates in the direction that the shifting is corrected. Finally, the terminal  3  is introduced into the terminal accommodating cavities  11  of the connector housing under the condition that the terminal  3  is horizontally sustained. 
     FIGS. 37A to  37 C show a method of inserting terminals with wires according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this method, a pair of guide arms  105  and  106  acting as a wire sweeping arm in a closed state are inserted between wires  102 , which are attached to a plurality of terminals already accommodated in a connector housing  101 . The guide arms  105  and  106  are inserted from the above in the vicinity of a front end portion of a connector housing into the wires  102  along a partition wall  8  (strictly speaking, an inner wall) of a terminal accommodating cavity  107 A to which the terminal with wire  103  is being inserted. The reason why the guide arms  105  and  106  are inserted along the partition wall  108  of the terminal accommodating cavities  107 A is to prevent the terminal with wire  103  from interfering with wires  102 A which are already inserted into upper accommodating cavities as illustrated in FIG. 39A. A terminal with wire  104 A is situated behind the guide arms  105  and  106  with being supported by the wire supporting hands  109  and  110 . The wire supporting hands and the guide arms  105  and  106  are independently laterally moved by driving devices (not shown). 
     Then, the guide arm  106  opens by the width S of the terminal accommodating cavity  107 A to put the neighboring wire  102  aside as illustrated in FIG.  37 B. In this case, the terminal with wire  104 A does yet not move and is situated at the same position as FIG.  37 A. Then, the terminal with wire  104 A is laterally moved together with the wire supporting hands  109  and  110  as shown in FIG.  37 C. The sweeping of the wires  102  and the movement of the terminal with wire  104 A may be carried out at the same time. The terminal with wire  104 A is transported by the wire supporting hands  109  and  110  between the guide arms  105  and  106  and inserted into the terminal accommodating cavity  107 A. 
     FIGS. 38A to  38 C show a method of inserting terminals with wires according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In this method, as illustrated in FIG. 38A, the pair of guide arms  100  and  106  are inserted between the wires  102  along the partition wall  108  of the terminal accommodating cavities  107 A of the housing  101  like the previous method shown in FIG.  37 A. Then, the guide arms  105  and  106  are laterally transported with the guide arms being closed toward the desired terminal accommodating cavity  107 A as shown in FIG. 38B, and both guide arms  105  and  106  are simultaneously opened right and left respectively by the half of the width S of the terminal accommodating cavity  107 A as shown in FIG. 38C to align the axis of the terminal accommodating cavity  107  and the center of the both guide arms  105  and  106 . 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 38B and 38C, the terminal with wire  104 A moves together with the guide arms  105  and  106  by a driving apparatus described below, and the center between the guide arms  105  and  106  and the axis of the wire supporting hands  109  and  110 , in other words, the axis of the terminal with wire  104 A are on the same line. The operations shown in FIGS. 38B and 38C are performed at the same time. However, the operation in FIG. 38B may be carried out slightly earlier, which prevents a wire  102 B from being swept excessively by the guide arm  105 . 
     FIGS. 39A and 40A show the condition in which the pair of guide arms  105  and  106  in the closed state are situated above and adjacent to the connector housing  101 . The terminal with wire  104 A is supported by the wire supporting hands  109  and  110 , and is situated behind the guide arms  105  and  106 . The guide arms  105  and  106  form a substantial triangular cross-section when combined. One of the guide arms  105  is provided with a triangular pyramid tip portion  112  and the other guide arm  106  includes a guide projection  112  for sweeping the wires and guiding the terminal in position, and a notched portion  113  for the relief of upper and lower wires  102 . Further, each of the guide arms  105  and  106  is provided with a wire intrusion protection bar  114  for preventing the wires  102  from intruding inwardly. 
     The guide arms  105  and  106  in closed state are inserted from the above between the wires  102 A alone the partition wall  108  of the desired terminal accommodating cavities  107 A as illustrated in FIG. 39B to prevent interference between the upper wires  102 A and the guide arms  105  and  106 . Then, the guide projection  102  of the guide arm  106  opposes an opening  101   a  of the desired terminal accommodating cavity  107 A as shown in FIG.  40 B. the terminal with wire  104 A is situated behind the guide projection  112 . 
     Then, the pair of guide arms  105  and  106  transversely transported toward the center of the desired terminal accommodating cavity  107 A with the guide arms  105  and  106  closed as illustrated in FIG. 39 c , and the guide arms  105  and  106  open right and left as shown in FIG. 39D to sweep the wires, and the opening  107   a  of the terminal accommodating dating cavity  107 A is provided between the opened guide arms  105  and  106 . In FIG. 39C, instead of transversely moving the guide arms  105  and  106 , the connector housing  101  may be transversely moved in the reverse direction to the movement of the guide arms  105  and  106  by the half of the width S of the terminal accommodating cavity  107 A. Then, the terminal with wire  104 A is inserted into the terminal accommodating cavity  107 A by the wire supporting hands  109  and  110  as shown in FIG. 40A-C. 
     FIG. 41 shows a driving apparatus for the wire sweeping arms which is applied to the method of inserting terminals with wires according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The driving apparatus  115  comprises: direct-drive sliders  118  and  119  for fixing base portions  116  and  117  of a pair of guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′; a horizontal guide shaft  120  capable of transversely moving the sliders  118  and  119 ; nuts  121  and  122  fixed to the sliders  118  and  119 , a ball screw  123  with right and left-handed screw portions  123   a  and  123   b  to which the nuts  121  and  122  are attached; and a servo motor  125  for rotating the screw shaft  123  through a timing belt  124 . 
     With the driving apparatus described above, the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′ can accurately be opened by the same distance, and the distance between the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′ is freely set by using the serve motor  125 . It takes approximately 0.25 seconds to fully open the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′. 
     FIGS. 42 to  44  show a driving apparatus for the wire sweeping arms according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The driving apparatus  128  comprises: an air cylinder  131  with a pair of legs  129  and  130  for fixing the base portions  127  and  128  of the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′; a stopper  132  abutting an outer face  129   a  of one of the legs  129 ; a holder  133  for fixing the stopper  132 ; a guide rail  134  for transversely moving the holder  133 ; a nut  135  fixed to the holder  133 ; a screw portion  136  engaged with the nut  135 ; and a small servo motor  138  for rotating the screw shaft  136  through a timing belt  137 , as illustrated in FIG.  42 . 
     The air cylinder  131  includes a vertically slidable piston  139 , a pair of driving links  140  rotatably supported at a tip of the piston  139 , and the legs  129  and  130  moved by the links  140 , and is driven through air pressure from an air duct  141 . The legs  129  and  130  are stopped by a tip  132   a  of the stopper  132 , and the stopper  132  is movable right and left on the horizontal guide rail  134  by the servo motor  138 , which determines the distance L between the guide arms when fully opened. The servo motor  138  is used for driving the stopper  132  with small force. Therefore, the output of the motor  138  can be decreased in comparison to that according to the first embodiment, resulting in reduced weight of moving elements of the apparatus and quick action. 
     Wire supporting hands  109  and  110  are integrally formed with the driving apparatus  126  for a terminal with wire  104 A as shown in FIGS. 43 and 44. The wire supporting hands  109  and  110  are opened and closed by the air cylinders  149  and  143 . The front wire supporting hand  109  grasping the terminal or a portion adjacent to the terminal is vertically movable through a vertical cylinder  144 . The both wire supporting hands  109  and  110  are forwardly movably by a first horizontal cylinder  145 , and the rear wire supporting hand  110  further proceed by a second horizontal cylinder  146 . In other words, the wire supporting hands  109  and  110  proceed toward the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′ by the first horizontal cylinder  145  while the wire supporting hands  109  and  110  grasp the terminal with wire  104 A, and the vertical cylinder  144  causes the front wire supporting hand  109  to elevate, and then, the second horizontal cylinder  146  causes the rear wire supporting hand  110  to insert to terminal with wire  14 A into the connector housing. Reference numeral  147  shows a drawer cylinder for checking the insertion of the terminal. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 44, the centers of the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′, and the wire supporting hands  109  and  110  are on the same line  100 C, and the apparatus  126  is totally vertically movable through a screw shaft not shown attached to the frame  150  as shown in FIG.  42 . Further, the apparatus  126  is horizontally movable along a horizontal guide  149  on an outer frame  148  as illustrated in FIG.  43 . As a result, the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′ and the wire supporting hands  109  and  110  are integrally movable to obtain the operation indicated in FIGS.  38 A to  39 C. 
     Moreover, it takes less than 0.1 second to fully open the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′, which is almost the same as the time for the action of the cylinder, and is shorter in comparison to the first embodiment of the present invention described above. Then, since the air cylinder  131  is adopted in this embodiment, there is no fear that the wire  102  is forced to be pushed by the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′, which prevents the wire  2  from being damaged even if the wire  2  is caught between the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′. It is sufficient to adjust the distance L between the guide arms  105 ′ and  106 ′ by the stopper  132  while the guide arms  105  and  106  descend about the connector housing  101  as illustrated in FIGS. 39A and 39B or while the guide arms  105  and  106  are moved toward another terminal accommodating cavity  107   a  as shown in FIG. 39D, which shortens the cycle time of the operation. 
     In the above method according to the present invention, wire sweeping arms or terminal supporting hands put neighboring terminals with wires aside to insert a terminal with wire into a desired opening of the terminal accommodating cavities, which prevents the terminal with wire from interfering the neighboring terminals, resulting in smooth insertion of the terminal. Therefore, it is unnecessary to insert the terminals from an end of the connector housing as carried out in conventional method, in other words, the terminals can be inserted into the terminal accommodating cavities at random. As a result, in the present method, the work for rearrange the terminals in the order accommodated in the terminal accommodating cavities to reduce manhour for the work and the space for the manufacturing line of the wire harness. Further, a wire harness for multiple circuits can be manufactured since the number of terminals to be accommodated is not restricted in the present method because no is necessary in order to perform work on rearrangement the terminals.