Patent Publication Number: US-2011056026-A1

Title: Coaxial Cable Processing Tool

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a coaxial cable processing tool, and more particularly, to a tool which provides structural simplicity along with the functions of performing rotary cuts on a coaxial cable; crimping together a coaxial cable with a coaxial terminal; and allowing strip-cutting of the outer and inner insulators of a coaxial cable. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Various hand tools for cutting coaxial cables exist in the prior art. Most of these tools consist of a two-bladed structure for snipping off a coaxial cable; however, these tools flatten the circular-shape of the coaxial cable and turn the cross-sectional surface of the processed area into an oval shape. Moreover, when the conducting center (a material such as steel) of the coaxial cable is harder than the blade, the two-bladed cutting method can cause the blade to crack, thus damaging the tool. 
     Furthermore, coaxial cable can be processed in different ways, such as cutting off the cable, stripping the insulator, and crimping a coaxial cable together with a coaxial terminal. In the prior art, every process has its own specialized hand tool, and it is not convenient to switch among these various tools. 
     Therefore, a coaxial cable processing tool is needed to address the aforementioned problems. The new coaxial cable processing tool must be multifunctional, small, and cheap in cost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is to provide a coaxial cable processing tool which can be used to perform rotary cutting or crimping of the coaxial cable together with a coaxial terminal. 
     To achieve the above object, the present invention presents a coaxial cable processing tool comprising a body, a rotary cutting module, and a crimping module. The body comprises a first cable inlet hole. The rotary cutting module is mounted into the body, and it is used to substantially sever coaxial cables. The rotary cutting module comprises a movable rotary cutting unit, wherein the movable rotary cutting unit comprises a first opening, a first pressing section, and a first reacting portion. A first cutter is connected to the movable rotary cutting unit; the first cutter can substantially sever coaxial cables. A first spring element is connected to the first reacting portion, and it is used to provide the first cutter with the cutting strength during rotary cutting. A crimping module is mounted onto the body, and it is used to crimp coaxial cable with a coaxial terminal. Through the above configuration, the coaxial cable can be inserted into the space between the first cable inlet hole and the first opening when the first pressing section is pressed. When the first pressing section is released, the elastic force of the first spring will cause the coaxial cable to be clipped between the first cutter and the first cable inlet hole, and the first cutter can substantially cut off the coaxial cable by being rotated in an opposing rotational direction to the coaxial cable. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a disassembly diagram of a coaxial cable processing tool of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a 3D diagram of a coaxial cable processing tool of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a front view of a coaxial cable processing tool of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a diagram of a coaxial cable processing tool of the present invention rotary cutting a coaxial cable. 
         FIG. 4  shows the crimping between a coaxial cable and a coaxial terminal using a coaxial cable processing tool of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4A  shows the coaxial cable and a coaxial terminal before the crimping process. 
         FIG. 4B  shows the coaxial cable and a coaxial terminal after the crimping process. 
         FIG. 5  shows the stripping of coaxial cable using a coaxial cable processing tool of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5A  shows the coaxial cable after it has been stripped. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The advantages and innovative features of the invention will become more apparent from the following preferred embodiments. 
     Refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 2A  simultaneously.  FIG. 1  is a disassembly diagram of a coaxial cable processing tool.  FIG. 2  is a 3D diagram of a coaxial cable processing tool.  FIG. 2A  is a front view of a coaxial cable processing tool. The coaxial cable processing tool  1  of the present invention is used for processing coaxial cable  90 , wherein coaxial cable  90  comprises an outer insulator  92 , an inner insulator  94 , and a conductor  96  (refer to  FIG. 5 ). In the present embodiment, the coaxial cable processing tool  1  comprises three functions, including: rotary cutting the coaxial cable  90  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ); crimping the coaxial cable  90  with a coaxial terminal  80  (as shown in  FIG. 4A ), and strip cutting the outer insulator  92  and inner insulator  94  (as shown in  FIG. 5A ). Take note that the coaxial cable processing tool  1  of the present invention does not necessarily include all the functionalities as mentioned above. For example, it can consist of only the functionality of crimping and rotary cutting of the coaxial cable  90 . 
     The coaxial cable processing tool  1  comprises a body  10 , a rotary cutting module  30 , a crimping module  20 , and a stripping module  40 . These modules are mounted into the body  10 . The body  10  comprises a cable placement groove  12 , a first cable inlet hole  14 , and a second cable inlet hole  16 ; the crimping module  20  can fit into the position of the cable placement groove  12 ; the position of the first cable inlet hole  14  corresponds with the rotary cutting module  30 ; the position of the second cable inlet hole  16  corresponds with the stripping module  40 . 
     The following describes the structure and the function of the rotary cutting module  30 . Refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2A ,  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 3A  simultaneously.  FIG. 3  shows a diagram of a coaxial cable processing tool rotary cutting a coaxial cable. 
     The rotary cutting module  30  is used to substantially sever the coaxial cable  90 . The rotary cutting module  30  comprises a movable rotary cutting unit  32 , a first cutter  34 , and a first spring  36 . 
     The movable rotary cutting unit  32  comprises a first opening  322 , a first pressing section  324 , and a first reacting portion  326 . The first opening  322  is used for inserting the coaxial cable  90 , and the first pressing section  324  is to be pressed by the user. In the present embodiment, the first pressing section  324  protrudes from the body  10 ; the position of the first reacting portion  326  of the movable rotary cutting unit  32  is located on the opposite side of the first pressing section  324 . 
     The first cutter  34  is connected with the movable rotary cutter  32 ; as a result, the first cutter  34  will move along with the movable rotary cutter  32 . The first cutter  34  can substantially sever the coaxial cable  90 . 
     The first spring  36  is pressed against the reacting portion  326 ; the first spring  36  provides the first cutter  34  with the force for performing rotary cutting. Refer to  FIG. 2A . The coaxial cable  90  cannot be placed between the first cutter  34  and the first cable inlet hole  14  before the user presses the first pressing section  324 . After the first pressing section  324  is pressed to act against the first spring  36 , the space formed between the first cutter  34  and the first cable inlet hole  14  is enlarged. 
     Meanwhile, the coaxial cable  90  can be inserted between the space formed between the first cable inlet hole  14  and the first cutter  34 . When the user releases the first pressing section  324 , the elastic force of the spring  36  causes the coaxial cable  90  to be clipped between the first cutter  34  and the first cable inlet hole  14 . 
     Next, the user can hold the coaxial cable processing tool  1  in one hand, and hold the coaxial cable  90  in the other hand and rotate the coaxial cable processing tool  1  (in an counterclockwise direction, as shown in  FIG. 3 ; however, the body  10  can also be rotated in a clockwise direction, as long as the coaxial cable  90  remains in a stable position) such that the first cutter  34  cuts the outer perimeter of the coaxial cable  90  in a circular manner. Meanwhile, the first spring  36  is pressed against the first cutter  34 , which causes the cut to deepen as the first cutter  34  rotates around the external perimeters of the coaxial cable  90  until the cable is completely severed by the first cutter  34  (as shown in  FIG. 3A ). 
     Theoretically the edge of the first cutter  34  will cut into the center of the coaxial cable  90  to sever the cable completely. 
     The following section describes the function and the structure of the crimping module  20 . Refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2A ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 4A .  FIG. 4  shows the crimping between a coaxial cable and a coaxial terminal using a coaxial cable processing tool.  FIG. 4A  shows the coaxial cable and a coaxial terminal before the crimping process.  FIG. 4B  shows the coaxial cable and a coaxial terminal after the crimping process. 
     The crimping module  20  is used to crimp the coaxial cable  90  with the coaxial terminal  80 . The crimping module  20  comprises a screw  22  and a handle section  24 . The screw  22  comprises an ending section  221 . The coaxial cable  90  and the coaxial terminal  80  are two separate pieces (as shown in  FIG. 4A ). When the user intends to crimp the coaxial cable  90  with the coaxial terminal  80 , the coaxial cable  90  is first placed in the cable placement groove  12  such that the coaxial terminal is located between the coaxial cable  90  and the screw  22 . When the handle section  24  is rotated (in a clockwise direction, as shown by the arrow in  FIG. 4 , but the handle section  24  needs to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction when the thread of the screw  22  is in a reversed direction), the screw  22  moves towards the coaxial terminal  80  such that the ending  221  of the screw  22  comes into contact with the coaxial terminal  80  and exerts pressure. The user then rotates the handle  24  continuously, and finally the coaxial cable  90  and the coaxial terminal  80  will be tightly crimped together (as shown in  FIG. 4A ). 
     The following section describes the function and the structure of the stripping module  40 . Refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2A ,  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 5A  simultaneously.  FIG. 5  shows the stripping of a coaxial cable using a coaxial cable processing tool.  FIG. 5A  shows the coaxial cable after it has been stripped. 
     The stripping module  40  is used to strip the coaxial cable  90 . The stripping module  40  comprises a movable stripping unit  42 , a second cutter  44 , and a second spring  46 . 
     The movable stripping unit  42  comprises a second opening  442  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), a second pressing section  424 , and a second reacting portion  426 . The second opening  442  allows the insertion of the coaxial cable  90 ; the second pressing section  424  protrudes from the body  10 ; the position of the second reacting portion  426  of the movable stripping unit  42  is located on the opposite side of the second pressing section  424 . In the present embodiment, the movable rotary cutting unit  32  and the movable stripping unit  42  substantially move along the same axis, but in opposite directions. 
     The second cutter  44  is connected with the movable stripping unit  42 ; therefore, the second cutter  44  will move along with the movable stripping unit  42 . The second cutter  44  can strip off the outer insulator  92  and/or the inner insulator  94  of the coaxial cable  90  (as shown in  FIG. 5A ). 
     The second cutter  44  comprises at least one blade. In order to remove the outer insulator  92  and the inner insulator  94 , the second cutter  44  comprises a first blade  441  and a second blade  442  with a fixed spacing in between these two blades (as shown in  FIG. 2 ), wherein the second blade  442  feeds in more than first blade  441 , and wherein the feeding depth of the first blade  441  and the second blade  442  corresponds to the depth of the outer insulator  92  and the inner insulator  94  such that the first blade  441  cuts the outer insulator  92  and the second blade  442  cuts the inner insulator  94 . 
     The second spring  46  is pressed against the second reacting portion  426 ; the second spring  46  provides the second cutter  44  with the stripping force during rotary cutting. In the present embodiment, the first spring  36  and the second spring  46  are formed in one piece such that the first reacting portion  326  and the second reacting portion  426  can be pressed against by a single spring. 
     Refer to  FIG. 2A . The coaxial cable  90  cannot be inserted between the second blade  442  of the second cutter  44  and the second cable inlet hole  16  before the user presses the second pressing section  424 . After the second pressing section  424  is pressed to compress the second spring  46 , the space formed between the second blade  442  of the second cutter  44  and the second cable inlet hole  16  is enlarged. 
     Meanwhile, the coaxial cable  90  can be inserted between the space formed between the second cable inlet hole  16  and the second blade  442  of the second cutter  44 . When the user releases the second pressing section  424 , the elastic force of the spring  46  causes the coaxial cable  90  to be clipped between the second cutter  44  and the second cable inlet hole  16 . 
     Next, the user can hold the coaxial cable processing tool  1  in one hand, hold the coaxial cable  90  in the other hand, and rotate the coaxial cable processing tool  1  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ; a counterclockwise arrow indicates the rotational direction of the body  10 ; however, the body  10  can also be rotated in a clockwise direction, as long as the coaxial cable  90  remains in a fixed position) such that the second cutter  44  is able to cut the outer perimeter of the coaxial cable  90  in a circular manner. Meanwhile, the second spring  46  is pressed against the second cutter  44 ; as a result, the cut gets deeper as the second cutter  44  rotates around the external perimeter of the coaxial cable  90  until the first blade  441  of the second cutter  44  removes the outer insulator  92  and the second blade  442  of the second cutter  44  removes the inner insulator  94  of the coaxial cable  90  (as shown in  FIG. 5A ). 
     With the aforementioned details, the coaxial cable processing tool of the present invention is able to combine functionalities such as rotary cutting a coaxial cable  90 , crimping a coaxial terminal  80  with a coaxial cable  90 , and removing an outer insulator  92  and an inner insulator  94 . The present invention is multifunctional and reduces the overall space occupied by the tools; therefore, the user needs not to purchase separate tools for each function, which makes coaxial cable processing more convenient while simultaneously reducing manufacturing and the purchasing costs. 
     Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is also of vital importance to acknowledge that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.