Patent Publication Number: US-2020287342-A1

Title: Metal Foil Flaring Apparatus

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. 201910160278.8, filed on Mar. 4, 2019. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a flaring apparatus and, more particularly, to a flaring apparatus flaring a metal foil of a cable. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In many applications, a cable is connected to a conductive terminal of a connector. Before the connection, an outer sheath layer and an electromagnetic shielding layer at an end of the cable must be stripped off. A layer of metal foil, such as a layer of aluminum foil, is then wrapped around an exposed inner insulation layer of the cable so as to restore an electromagnetic shielding performance of a joint of the cable. 
     In order to allow the conductive terminal of the connector to be easily connected to a conductor of the cable without damaging the metal foil, it is necessary to flare the metal foil into a cone shape, which may prevent the conductive terminal of the connector from contacting and damaging the metal foil. The metal foil, however, is generally flared into the cone shape manually. Manual flaring of the metal foil has low efficiency and poor quality. Further, the metal foil is apt to be damaged in the manual flaring process, thereby resulting in product waste. 
     SUMMARY 
     A metal foil flaring apparatus includes a frame, a flaring mechanism mounted on the frame and having a flaring mouth adapted to open and close, and a first driver mounted on the frame and adapted to drive the flaring mouth to open and close. The flaring mouth has a cone shape gradually contracted toward a front end of the flaring mouth. The front end of the flaring mouth is adapted to be forwardly inserted in a first direction between an inner insulation layer of a cable and a metal foil wrapped around the inner insulation layer when the flaring mouth is closed, flaring the metal foil outwardly into the cone shape. 
    
    
     
       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 metal foil flaring apparatus according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of a flaring mechanism and a first driver of the flaring apparatus; 
         FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the first driver and the flaring mechanism; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the flaring mechanism with a flaring mouth in a closed position; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the flaring mechanism with the flaring mouth in an open position; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of the flaring mechanism; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the flaring mechanism with a housing removed; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the flaring mechanism with a rotation plate removed and the flaring mouth in the open position; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the flaring mechanism with the rotation plate removed and the flaring mouth in the closed position; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of an end of a cable positioned in the flaring mouth with the flaring mouth in the open position; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the end of the cable positioned in the flaring mouth with the flaring mouth in the closed position on the cable; 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of an operation of moving forward the flaring mouth to flare a metal foil wrapped around the end of the cable into a cone shape; and 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of a front end of the flaring mouth. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S) 
     The technical solution of the disclosure will be described hereinafter in further detail with reference to the following embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the description, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar parts. The description of the embodiments of the disclosure hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to explain the general inventive concept of the disclosure and should not be construed as a limitation on the disclosure. 
     In addition, in the following detailed description, for the sake of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may also be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are illustrated schematically in order to simplify the drawing. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1, 2, and 10-12 , a metal foil flaring apparatus comprises a frame  10 , a flaring mechanism  1  mounted on the frame  10  and having a flaring mouth  100  adapted to be driven to open and close, and a first driver  20 ,  30 ,  40  mounted on the frame  10  and adapted to drive the flaring mouth  100  to open and close. 
     In a closed position, the flaring mouth  100  has a cone shape gradually contracted towards its front end. The front end of the flaring mouth  100  is adapted to be forwardly inserted between an inner insulation layer  2   a  and a metal foil  3  of a cable  2  wrapped around the inner insulation layer  2   a  of the cable  2  in a first direction Y so as to flare the metal foil  3  outwardly into the cone shape. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1, 2, and 10-12 , the metal foil flaring apparatus further comprises a slide rail  50  and a second driver  60 . The slide rail  50  extends linearly in the first direction Y, and the frame  10  is slidably mounted on the slide rail  50 . The second driver  60  is adapted to drive the frame  10  and the flaring mechanism  1  mounted on the frame  10  to move linearly in the first direction Y. The slide rail  50  is mounted on a fixed base (not shown), and the second driver  60  may comprise a motor and a transmission mounted on the fixed base. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1, 2, and 10-12 , the flaring mechanism  1  is driven by the second driver  60  to move linearly forward so as to insert the front end of the flaring mouth  100  between the inner insulation layer  2   a  of the cable  2  and the metal foil  3  when the flaring mouth  100  is closed and the front end of the flaring mouth  100  is clamped onto the inner insulation layer  2   a  of the cable  2 . 
     The flaring mouth  100  is rotatable about an axis parallel to the first direction Y, shown in  FIG. 1 , after the flaring mouth  100  is closed. The first driver  20 ,  30 ,  40  is further adapted to drive the flaring mouth  100  to rotate about the axis after the flaring mouth  100  is closed. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4, 5, and 10-12 , the flaring mouth  100  is adapted to define a center retaining hole  101  extending linearly in the first direction Y after the flaring mouth  100  is closed. The inner insulation layer  2   a  of the cable  2  is adapted to be retained in the center retaining hole  101  of the flaring mouth  100 . When the inner insulation layer  2   a  of the cable  2  is retained in the center retaining hole  101  of the flaring mouth  100 , the slightly bent cable  2  may be straightened by rotating the flaring mouth  100 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6-9 , the flaring mechanism  1  includes a rotary spindle  600  rotatably mounted on the frame  10  to be rotatable about an axis, a fixed plate  300  fixed on the frame  10  and formed with three guide grooves  310 , three transmission mechanisms  500 , each of which has a first end pivotally connected onto the rotary spindle  600  and a second end provided with a first sliding bar  510 , and a rotation plate  400  rotatably mounted on the fixed plate  300  to be rotatable about the axis and having three radial sliding grooves  410  perpendicular to the axis. 
     The flaring mouth  100 , as shown in  FIGS. 6-9 , has three flaring mouth members  110  comprising a connection plate  120  perpendicular to the axis, a pair of second sliding bars  130 , and an insertion hole  140  located between the two second sliding bars  130 . The first sliding bar  510  on each of the transmission mechanisms  500  is inserted into one of the guide grooves  310 , one of the radial sliding grooves  410 , and one of the insertion holes  140 . The two second sliding bars  130  on each of the flaring mouth members  110  are inserted into one of the radial sliding grooves  410 . Each of the guide grooves  310  has an arc-shaped guide groove  311  centered on the axis of the rotary spindle  600  and a radial guide groove  312  communicated with the arc-shaped guide groove  311  and extending perpendicular to the axis of the rotary spindle  600 . 
     The first driver  20 ,  30 ,  40  is adapted to drive the rotary spindle  600  to rotate about the axis. The rotary spindle  600  is adapted to drive the first sliding bars  510  of the transmission mechanisms  500  to slide in the respective guide grooves  310  and the respective radial slide grooves  410 . The first driver  20 ,  30 ,  40 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , includes a motor  20  mounted on the frame  10 , a pulley  30  connected with the rotary spindle  600 , and a drive belt  40  connected between an output shaft of the motor  20  and the pulley  30 . The pulley  30  is driven by the motor  20  to rotate through the drive belt  40  to drive the rotary spindle  600  to rotate. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 7-9 , the three flaring mouth members  110  may be driven to open or close when the first sliding bars  510  on the transmission mechanisms  500  slide in the radial guide grooves  312  of the guide grooves  310 . The three flaring mouth members  110  and the rotation plate  400  may be driven to rotate about the axis when the first sliding bars  510  of the transmission mechanism  500  slide in the arc-shaped guide grooves  311  of the guide grooves  310 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , each of the flaring mouth members  110  is formed with an arc-shaped retaining groove  102  extending linearly in the first direction Y. The arc-shaped retaining grooves  102  in the three flaring mouth members  110  are arranged to define the center retaining hole  101  when the three flaring mouth members  110  are closed. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6, 8, and 9 , each of the transmission mechanisms  500  has a main body perpendicular to the axis, a pin  520  provided at a first end of the main body, and the first sliding bar  510  provided at a second end of the main body. The rotary spindle  600  has a flange formed with a connection hole  620  matched with the pin  520 . The pin  520  is adapted to be inserted into the connection hole  620  and freely rotatable in the connection hole  620 . 
     The flaring mechanism  1 , as shown in  FIGS. 2-6 , includes a housing  200  mounted onto the fixed plate  300 . The rotation plate  400  and the connection plate  120  of the flaring mouth  100  are accommodated in the housing  200 . The housing  200  is formed with a circular opening  201 , through which the flaring mouth member  110  of the flaring mouth  100  protrudes from the housing  200 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , in an embodiment, the flaring mouth  100  has a plurality of notches  103  at the front end to facilitate an insertion of the front end of the flaring mouth  100  between the inner insulation layer  2   a  and the metal foil  3  of the cable  2 . The front end of the flaring mouth  100  is formed as a wedged-shape to be easily inserted between the inner insulation layer  2   a  and the metal foil  3  of the cable  2 . 
     A method for flaring the metal foil  3  into a cone shape (also referred to as a trumpet shape) by the flaring mouth  100  will be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 10-12 . 
     First, as shown in  FIG. 10 , an exposed section of the inner insulation layer  2   a  of the cable  2  is placed in the open flaring mouth  100 . 
     Then, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the flaring mouth  100  is closed so that the exposed section of the inner insulation layer  2   a  of the cable is held in the flaring mouth  100 . 
     Thereafter, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the closed flaring mouth  100  is rotated to properly straighten the ends of the cable  2 . 
     Finally, as shown in  FIG. 12 , the flaring mouth  100  is moved toward the cable  2  and inserted between the inner insulation layer  2   a  and the metal foil  3  of the cable  2  so as to flare the metal foil  3  outwardly into a cone shape. The metal foil flaring apparatus may thereby automatically flare the metal foil  3  into the cone shape, improving the flaring efficiency and the quality.