Patent Publication Number: US-11652328-B2

Title: Terminal crimping device

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a terminal crimping device for crimping a terminal to the tip end of an electric wire extending from one end of a sheath of an electric cable. 
     TECHNICAL BACKGROUND 
     A terminal crimping device is known, which is provided with a crimping means for crimping a terminal to the tip end of an electric wire, a terminal carrying means for carrying the terminal to a crimping position where the crimping means is provided, and an electric wire carrying means for carrying the electric wire before the terminal crimping to the crimping position. In order to supply terminals to such a terminal crimping device, a band-shaped terminal carrier may be used. The terminal carrier is for continuously supplying many terminals, and the terminals are arranged at a predetermined interval on one side edge of the terminal carrier. 
     In some cases, the terminal to be crimped is carried to the crimping position in a state where the terminal is provided on a band-shaped terminal carrier (in a state connected to one side edge portion of the terminal carrier). In contrast, in other cases, the terminal carrier is cut into a predetermined length. The crimped terminal is separated from other terminals before being carried to the crimping position. In the latter case, the terminal separated from the other terminals is carried to the crimping position with a part of the terminal carrier (also referred to as a “carrier piece”) attached thereto. The terminal is crimped to the tip end of the electric wire also carried to the crimping position. The carrier piece is separated from the terminal (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2014-143037(A) and 2016-213029(A)). 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Problems to be Solved by the Invention 
     An electric cable is known, which has a structure in which a cylindrical sheath houses an electric wire. When a terminal is crimped to the electric wire in such an electric cable, it is necessary to form the electric cable in advance so that the electric wire extends from one end portion of the sheath. As the extension length of the electric wire from the sheath end portion increases, there is a fear that an adverse effect such as noise easily gets on a transmitted signal occurs. Therefore, it is desirable to crimp the terminal with the extension length of the electric wire from the sheath end portion as short as possible. 
     However, shortening the extension length of the electric wire from the sheath end portion reduces the space (distance) between the sheath end portion and the crimped portion (the portion to which the terminal is crimped) of the electric wire. Therefore, when the terminal to be crimped is carried to the crimping position in a state where the terminal is provided on the band-shaped terminal carrier or in a state where the terminal is attached to the carrier, the terminal carrier or the carrier piece interferes with the sheath when the terminal is carried, the positional deviation between the terminal and the electric wire makes it difficult to crimp the terminal properly. 
     The object of the present invention is to provide a terminal crimping device capable of crimping a terminal to an electric wire while suppressing the positional deviation between a terminal and a tip end of the electric wire even in an electric cable having a short extension length of the electric wire from a sheath end portion. 
     Means to Solve the Problems 
     Disclosed is a terminal crimping device according to the present invention which has a cylindrical sheath and electric wire housed in the sheath, wherein the terminal crimping device crimps a terminal to the tip end of the electric wire of an electric cable having the tip end of the electric wire extending from one end of the sheath, comprising: a cutting device for cutting off a terminal provided in a band-shaped terminal carrier from the terminal carrier; a terminal carrying unit for carrying the terminal separated from the terminal carrier by the cutting device to a crimping position (for example, the terminal crimping work unit  14  in the embodiment); a cable carrier for carrying the electric cable to the crimping position; and a crimping device provided in the crimping position for crimping the terminal carried to the crimping position by the terminal carrying unit to the tip end of the electric wire of the electric cable carried to the crimping position by the cable carrier. 
     The terminal crimping device according to the present invention is preferably provided with an orientation adjuster (for example, the electric wire orientation adjuster  220  in the embodiment) for adjusting the orientation of the tip end of the electric wire before the crimping of the terminal is performed, wherein the cable carrier carries the electric cable to an adjustment position (for example, the electric wire orientation adjustment unit  11  in the embodiment) where the orientation adjuster is provided, and the orientation adjuster grips the tip end of the electric wire of the electric cable carried to the adjustment position by the cable carrier adjusts the orientation by swinging the tip end of the held electric wire. 
     In the terminal crimping device according to the present invention, preferably, the electric wire has a core wire and a covering body for insulating covering the core wire and is provided with a cover stripper (for example, an electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping device ( 230 ) in the embodiment) for stripping the covering body from the electric wire whose orientation has been adjusted by the orientation adjuster. The cable carrier carries the orientation-adjusted cable whose orientation has been adjusted by the orientation adjuster to a stripping position (for example, an electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping unit  12  in the embodiment) where the cover stripper is provided. The cover stripper is configured to strip part of the covering body at the tip end of the electric wire of the orientation adjusted cable carried to the stripping position by the cable carrier while holding the tip end of the electric wire. 
     In the terminal crimping device according to the present invention, preferably, the cable carrier is configured to carry a terminal-equipped cable produced by crimping the terminal to the tip end of the electric wire of the electric cable by the crimping device from the crimping position to a take-out position (for example, the cable insertion unit  8  in the embodiment), and includes a crimping portion inspection device (for example, the image inspection device  240  in the embodiment) for inspecting the crimping portion of the terminal-equipped cable by image analysis while the cable carrier is carrying the terminal-equipped cable from the crimping position to the take-out position. 
     In addition, in the terminal crimping device according to the present invention, preferably, the cable carrier is configured to transport a stripped cable having a part of the covering body stripped from the tip end of the electric wire by the coating stripping device from the stripping position to the crimping position. The crimping portion inspection device is configured to inspect the stripped portion of the stripped cable by image analysis, while the cable carrier carries the stripped cable from the stripping position to the crimping position. 
     In addition, the terminal crimping device according to the present invention, preferably, is provided a cable retainer capable of holding the electric cable in a state in which the electric wire extends from one side edge portion. The cable carrier has a retainer installation unit (for example, the cable carrier moving body  212  in the embodiment). The cable retainer holding the electric cable is installed and movable. The retainer installation unit in which the cable retainer is installed is moved to carry the electric cable. 
     In the terminal crimping device according to the present invention, preferably, the electric cable has a plurality of electric wires. The cable retainer is configured to hold some of the electric wires in a state of being bent toward the other end of the sheath when holding the electric cable. 
     Advantageous Effects of the Invention 
     According to the terminal crimping device of the present invention, an electric cable is carried to a crimping position by a cable carrier, a terminal provided on a band-shaped terminal carrier is separated from the terminal carrier by a cutting device. The separated terminal is carried to the crimping position by the terminal carrying unit. Then, the terminal separated from the terminal carrier is crimped to the tip end (crimped portion) of the electric wire extending from one end portion of the sheath of the electric cable by the crimping device provided at the crimping position. According to the present invention, even in an electric cable in which the length of extension of the electric wire from the sheath end portion is short, the space between the sheath end portion and the crimped portion of the electric wire is small. The terminal carrier or carrier piece is not attached to the terminal carried to the crimping position. Therefore, there is no possibility that the sheath of the electric cable and the terminal carrier or carrier piece interfere with each other at the crimping position. Therefore, even in such an electric cable, it is possible to appropriately crimp the terminal to the electric wire by suppressing the positional deviation between the crimped portion and the terminal of the electric wire extending from the sheath end portion. 
     In addition, according to the terminal crimping device of the present invention, an orientation adjuster for adjusting the orientation of the tip end of the electric wire before crimping the terminal is provided at the adjustment position, the orientation adjuster holds the tip end of the electric wire of the electric cable carried to the adjustment position by the cable carrier. Swinging the tip end of the held electric wire adjusts the orientation. The orientation of the tip end of the electric wire extending from the sheath end portion can be adjusted to an appropriate orientation that facilitates the alignment with the terminal to be crimped. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the positional deviation between the tip end (crimped portion) of the electric wire extending from the sheath end portion and the terminal to be crimped with high accuracy and crimp the terminal. 
     In addition, according to the terminal crimping device of the present invention, by providing at the stripping position a cover stripping device for stripping off a covering body for insulating the core wire from the electric wire whose orientation has been adjusted by the orientation adjusting device, carrying the orientation-adjusted cable whose orientation has been adjusted by the orientation adjusting device to the stripping position by the cable carrier, and stripping off a part of the covering body at the tip end while holding the tip end of the electric wire of the carried orientation-adjusted cable by the cover stripping device, it is possible to strip off a part of the covering body at the tip end of the electric wire extending from the sheath end with high accuracy. 
     In addition, according to the terminal crimping device of the present invention, the cable carrier comprises a terminal-equipped cable formed by crimping a terminal to the tip end of an electric wire by a crimping device is carried from the crimping position to the take-out position. The crimping portion inspection device is provided for inspecting the crimping portion of the terminal-equipped cable by image analysis while carrying the terminal-equipped cable from the crimping position to the take-out position, whereby it is possible to accurately inspect whether or not the terminal is appropriately crimped to the crimped portion of the electric wire extending from the sheath end. 
     In addition, according to the terminal crimping device of the present invention, transporting a stripped cable in which a part of the covering body is stripped from the tip end of the electric wire by the coating stripping device from the stripping position to the crimping position by the cable carrier, and inspecting the stripped portion of the stripped cable by image analysis by the crimping portion inspection device, while transporting the stripped cable from the stripping position to the crimping position, enable accurately inspecting whether or not a part of the covering body is properly stripped from the tip end of the electric wire extending from the sheath end. 
     In addition, the terminal crimping device according to the present invention is provided with a cable retainer capable of holding an electric cable in a state where an electric wire extends from one side edge portion. The cable carrier has a retainer installation unit where the cable retainer for holding the electric cable is installed and movable. The electric cable is carried by moving the retainer installation unit where the cable retainer is installed, whereby the electric cable can be carried to each position with high accuracy. In addition, providing a plurality of cable retainers enables setting another electric cable in another cable retainer while setting an electric cable in a cable retainer so that workability can be improved. 
     Further, according to the terminal crimping device of the present invention, when holding an electric cable having a plurality of electric wires, the cable retainer is configured so that some of the electric wires among the plurality of electric wires can be held in a state of being bent toward the other end portion of the sheath, whereby it is possible to prevent the electric wires held in the bent state from coming into contact with a device constituent member such as a crimping device and being damaged during transportation. 
     Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitative of the present invention. 
         FIG.  1    is a front view of a terminal crimping device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    ( FIGS.  2 A- 2 F ) is a diagram illustrating an electric cable used in the terminal crimping device;  FIG.  2 A  shows the configuration of the electric cable,  FIG.  2 B  shows the state of the electric cable when the cable retainer holds it,  FIG.  2 C  shows the state of the electric cable in which the orientation of the electric wire is adjusted,  FIG.  2 D  shows the state of the electric cable after the electric wire is cut off,  FIG.  2 E  shows the state of the electric cable after the electric wire is stripped off, and  FIG.  2 F  shows the state of the electric cable in which the terminal is crimped to the electric wire. 
         FIG.  3    ( FIGS.  3 A- 3 B ) shows a terminal to be crimped to the electric cable, and  FIG.  3 A  is a plan view showing a single terminal and  FIG.  3 B  is a plan view showing a state in which a plurality of terminals are provided on a terminal carrier. 
         FIG.  4    ( FIGS.  4 A- 4 C ) is a view showing a cable retainer for holding the electric cable, wherein  FIG.  4 A  is a plan view of a state in which the electric cable is not held,  FIG.  4 B  is a plan view of a state in which the electric cable is held, and  FIG.  4 C  is a front view of a state in which the electric cable is not held. 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view of a cable retainer holding the electrical cable. 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic view showing a configuration of the apparatus main unit of the terminal crimping device. 
         FIG.  7    ( FIGS.  7 A- 7 C ) is a schematic diagram showing a configuration and a function of an electric wire orientation adjusting unit of the terminal crimping device, wherein  FIG.  7 A  is a plan view showing a state before the orientation adjusting unit grips the electric wire,  FIG.  7 B  is a plan view showing a state in which the orientation adjusting unit grips the electric wire, and  FIG.  7 C  is a side view showing a state of the electric wire during the orientation adjustment. 
         FIG.  8    is a front view showing a configuration of an electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping device of the terminal crimping device. 
         FIG.  9    is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of a terminal supply unit, a terminal cutter, and a terminal carrying unit of the terminal crimping device. 
         FIG.  10    is a perspective view showing a configuration of a terminal supply unit, a terminal cutting unit, and a crimping device of the terminal crimping device. 
         FIG.  11    is a schematic view for explaining the function of the crimping device. 
         FIG.  12    is a perspective view of a different embodiment of the cable retainer. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.  FIG.  1    shows a terminal crimping device  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, a general configuration of the terminal crimping device  1  will be described with reference to  FIG.  1   . In the following description, the vertical and horizontal directions are referred to in accordance with the directions indicated by the cross arrows shown in  FIG.  1   . Further, the direction from the rear side of the sheet of  FIG.  1    toward the front side of the sheet of  FIG.  1    is referred to as the forward direction. The direction from the front side of the sheet of FIG.  1  toward the back side of the sheet of  FIG.  1    is referred to as the backward direction. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , the terminal crimping device  1  includes an apparatus housing  2 , an apparatus frame  3  for supporting the apparatus housing  2 , a terminal supply frame  4  arranged on the left side of the apparatus housing  2  and the apparatus frame  3 , an operation panel  5  arranged on the upper portion of the apparatus housing  2 , an image display monitor  6  arranged on the left side of the apparatus housing  2 , and a cable set table  7  arranged on the right side of the apparatus housing  2 . The apparatus housing  2  includes a frame member assembled in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and a plurality of transparent panel members arranged to cover the front surface of the apparatus housing  2 . An apparatus main unit  10  (described in detail later) is provided in the apparatus housing  2 . A cable insertion unit  8  is provided on the front surface of the apparatus housing  2 . 
     The terminal supply frame  4  is provided with a terminal reel  9  around which terminal carrier  140  (see  FIG.  3   ), described later, is wound. The operation panel  5  is provided with various operation switches operated to start and stop the operation of the terminal crimping device  1 , various display lamps indicating the operating state of the terminal crimping device  1 , and the like. The image display monitor  6  is configured to display images captured in the cover stripping portion inspection and the crimping portion inspection described later. The cable set base  7  is configured to perform a cable set operation described later. 
     Next, the electric cable  110  and the terminal  130  supplied to the terminal crimping device  1  will be described with reference to  FIGS.  2  and  3   . As shown in  FIG.  2 A , the electric cable  110  has a tubular sheath  111 , two electric wires  112  contained in the sheath  111 , and a shield  116  disposed between the sheath  111  and the electric wires  112 . Each electric wire  112  comprises a core wire  113  made of one or a plurality of element wires and a tubular covering body  114  that insulates and covers the core wire  113 . Shield  116  comprises, for example, a mesh net wire. The core wire  113  and the shield  116  are formed of conductive material. The sheath  111  and the covering body  114  are formed of insulating material. 
     The electric cable  110  is, for example, a high-frequency cable for transmitting a high-frequency signal, and a shield  116  is provided to reduce noise during signal transmission and improve high-frequency characteristics. As will be described in detail later, in this electric cable  110 , a part of the sheath  111  is stripped so that two electric wires  112  extend from the tip portion of the sheath  111 . A terminal  130  is crimped against the tip end of each electric wire  112  extending from the sheath  111 . When the extended length of the electric wire  112  from the sheath  111  increases, there is a fear that noise may be superimposed on the transmission signal, and the high-frequency characteristics may deteriorate. Therefore, it is preferable to shorten the extension length of the electric wire  112  from the sheath  111 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  3 A , the terminal  130  is, for example, a terminal housed in a connector housing (not shown) and is provided with an electric connection unit  131 , which is fitted with a terminal (not shown) housed in a mating connector housing and electrically connected thereto, and a crimping piece portion  132  which is crimped to the electric wire  112  of the electric cable  110 . The crimping piece portion  132  is configured to include a core wire crimping piece unit  133 , which is crimped to the core wire  113  of the electric wire  112 , and a covering-body-crimping-piece portion  134  crimped to the covering body  114  of the electric wire  112 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  3 B , the terminals  130  are supplied to the terminal crimping device  1  in a state where they are provided in the band-shaped terminal carrier  140 . The terminal carrier  140  is for continuously supplying many terminals  130 . The terminals  130  are provided at predetermined intervals on one side edge portion of the terminal carrier  140 . Specifically, terminal mounting pieces  141  are provided at predetermined intervals on one side edge portion of the terminal carrier  140 . The terminals  130  are provided at the terminal carrier  140  so that the covering-body-crimping-piece portions  134  are integrally connected to the terminal mounting pieces  141 . The terminal carrier  140  has a plurality of engagement holes  142  and  143  formed at predetermined intervals on the terminal carrier  140  for use in moving the terminal carrier  140 . In the state where they are provided in the terminal carrier  140 , the core wire crimping piece units  133  and the covering-body-crimping-piece portions  134  of the terminals  130  are bent in advance to have a U-shape when viewed from the front. 
     Next, with reference to  FIGS.  4  and  5   , a cable retainer  160  for holding the electric cable  110  will be described. As shown in  FIGS.  4 B and  5   , the electric cable  110  is supplied to the terminal crimping device  1  while being held by the cable retainer  160 . The cable retainer  160  has a main body unit  161  and an attachment unit  162  detachably attached to the main body unit  161 . A holding groove  163  extending in the front-rear direction is formed in the upper surface portion of the main body unit  161  and the attachment unit  162 . An abutting wall  164  (see  FIG.  4 C ) formed in a concave shape in a front view is provided at an end portion of the holding groove  163  on the front end side (attachment unit  162  side). The main body unit  161  is provided with a pair of pressing members  165  that operate to protrude or retract into the holding groove  163  from both right and left sides of the holding groove  163 , and a pressing member operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the pressing member  165 . 
     An electric cable  110  is placed in a holding groove  163  at a predetermined length on the tip end side thereof. It is set and held in a cable retainer  160  by operating a pair of pressing members  165  to protrude into the holding groove  163 . The electric cable  110  is formed in advance such that a sheath  111  and a shield  116  on the distal end side thereof are partially stripped, and two electric wires  112  extend from the end portion of the sheath  111 . Shield  116  is stripped so as to remain longer than the sheath  111 . After removal, a portion extending from the end portion of the sheath  111  is folded back toward the sheath  111  side (see also  FIG.  2 B ). As shown in  FIG.  4 B , the electric cable  110  is placed in the holding groove  163  while the end portion of the sheath  111  abuts against the abutting wall  164 . Two electric wires  112  extend from the distal side edge of the cable retainer  160  and are set in the cable retainer  160 . 
     The setting operation of the electric cable  110  to the cable retainer  160  (referred to as “cable setting operation”) is performed manually by an operator on the cable setting table  7  (see  FIG.  1   ). The cable setting table  7  is provided with a mounting unit (not shown) on which the cable retainer  160  is mounted and held, and a pressing member operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the pressing member  165  of the cable retainer  160  mounted on the mounting unit through the pressing member operating mechanism. The cable setting operation supplies the electric cable  110  set to the cable retainer  160  to the terminal crimping device  1  from the cable insertion unit  8  (see  FIG.  1   ) while the electric cable  110  is held by the cable retainer  160 . 
     Next, the apparatus main unit  10  of the terminal crimping device  1  will be described with reference to  FIGS.  6  to  11   . As shown in  FIG.  6   , the apparatus main unit  10  includes the electric wire orientation adjustment unit  11 , the electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping unit  12 , the inspection work unit  13 , the terminal crimping work unit  14 , and the terminal-supply-and-carrying-work unit  15 , and the cable carrier  210  for carrying the electric cable  110  held by the cable retainer  160 . 
     A cable carrier  210  is provided with a cable carrier moving body  212  provided with a holding member  211  for holding a cable retainer  160 , and a moving body operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the cable carrier moving body  212  to be movable within the apparatus main unit  10  of the device. The cable carrier moving body  212  is configured to be movable in each of the forward, backward, left, right, up, and down directions, and the cable retainer  160  holding the electric cable  110  can be moved between the cable insertion unit  8  (see  FIG.  1   ), the electric wire orientation adjustment unit  11 , and the terminal crimping work unit  14 . The two arrows of the two-dot chain line shown in  FIG.  6    illustrate the movable range of the cable carrier moving body  212  in the left and right direction within the main part  10  of the device. 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , the electric wire orientation adjusting unit  11  is provided with an electric wire orientation adjuster  220 . The electric wire orientation adjuster  220  includes an electric wire holder  221  and an electric wire holder operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the electric wire holder  221  to be movable and swingable within the electric wire orientation adjustment unit  11 . The electric wire holder  221  is configured to be movable in each of the forward, backward, left, right, up, and down directions and swingable in the vertical direction. As shown in  FIG.  7   , the electric wire holder  221  has three holding pieces: a center holding piece  222 C, a left holding piece  222 L, and a right holding piece  222 R. The center holding piece  222 C is fixed. The left holding piece  222 L and the right holding piece  222 R are movable in the horizontal direction with respect to the center holding piece  222 C. When the left holding piece  222 L and the right holding piece  222 R are moved toward the center holding piece  222 C, the three holding pieces are closed. When the left holding piece  222 L and the right holding piece  222 R have moved away from the center holding piece  222 C, the three holding pieces are opened. 
     The orientation adjustment of the electric wire  112  by the electric wire orientation adjuster  220  is performed, for example, as follows. First, the electric cable  110  held by the cable retainer  160  is carried from the cable insertion unit  8  to the electric wire orientation adjustment unit  11  by the cable carrier  210  so that the two electric wires  112  of the electric cable  110  are positioned in front of the electric wire holder  221  (see  FIG.  7 A ). Next, the electric wire holder  221  with the three holding pieces open is moved to approach the electric cable  110  so that the central holding piece  222 C enters between the two electric wires  112  so that the left holding piece  222 L is positioned on the left side of the left electric wire  112  and the right holding piece  222 R is positioned on the right side of the right electric wire  112 . Then, the three holding pieces are closed, and the two electric wires  112  are held (see  FIG.  7 B ). After the holding, as shown in  FIG.  7 C , the electric wire holder  221  is swung in the vertical direction so that the two electric wires  112  are swung in the vertical direction thereof. After swinging, the three holding pieces are opened at a position where the two electric wires  112  are horizontal so that the holding of the two electric wires  112  is released, and the electric wire holder  221  is moved away from the electric cable  110 . In  FIG.  7 C , the electric wire holder  221  and the cable holder  160  are not shown. 
     The series of operations of the electric wire holder  221 , as described above, adjust the orientation (redress the orientation) of the two electric wires  112 . As shown in  FIG.  2 C , the base portions of the two electric wires  112  after the orientation adjustment extend from the tip portion of the sheath  111  to spread to the left and right, and the tip portions are substantially parallel to each other and aligned in the left-right direction. Adjusting the orientation of the two electric wires  112  in this manner can adjust the orientation of the tip end of the two electric wires  112  extending from the tip portion of the sheath  111  to an orientation that facilitates the cutting operation of the two electric wires  112  and the stripping operation of the covering body  114  after the orientation adjustment. Therefore, the electric cable  110  having the two electric wires  112  after orientation adjustment (also referred to as “orientation-adjusted-electric-wire cable  110 ”) enables cutting and stripping operation with high accuracy. After the orientation adjustment of the two electric wires  112 , the cable carrier  210  carries the orientation-adjusted-electric-wire cable  110  held by the cable retainer  160  from the electric wire orientation adjustment unit  11  to the electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping unit  12 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , the electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping unit  12  is provided with an electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping device  230 . The electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping device  230  includes a pair of upper and lower cutting-and-cover-stripping members  231  and  232  and a cutting-and-cover-stripping member operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the cutting-and-cover-stripping members  231  and  232 . As shown in  FIG.  8   , the upper cutting-and-cover-stripping member  231  has a pair of left and right upper cutting blades  233  and a pair of left and right upper stripping blades  234 . The lower cutting-and-cover-stripping member  232  has a pair of left and right lower cutting blades  235  and a pair of left and right lower stripping blades  236 . 
     The electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping device  230  cuts the electric wire  112 , for example, as follows. First, the cable carrier  210  carries the orientation-adjusted-electric-wire cable  110  held by the cable retainer  160  from the electric wire orientation adjustment unit  11  to the electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping unit  12  so that the two electric wires  112  of the orientation-adjusted-electric-wire cable  110  are positioned between the pair of upper cutting blades  233  of the upper cutting-and-cover-stripping member  231  and the pair of lower cutting blades  235  of the lower cutting-and-cover-stripping member  232 . At this time, the relative positions of the cutting-and-cover-stripping members  231  and  232  and the orientation-adjusted-electric-wire cable  110  are adjusted in accordance with the intended cutting positions of the two electric wires  112 . Next, the cutting-and-cover-stripping member  231  and the cutting-and-cover-stripping member  232  are moved in vertically opposite directions relative to each other so that the cutting-and-cover-stripping member  231  and the cutting-and-cover-stripping member  232  approach each other, and the two electric wires  112  are cut at one time by the pair of upper cutting blades  233  and the pair of lower cutting blades  235 . This cutting operation adjusts the length of the two electric wires  112  extending from the tip portion of the sheath  111 . In the electric cable  110  having the two cut electric wires  112  (also referred to as the “cut-electric-wire cable  110 ”), as shown in  FIG.  2 D , the length of the two electric wires  112  extending from the tip portion of the sheath  111  is shorter than the two electric wires  112  before cutting (see  FIG.  2 C ). 
     The electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping device  230  performs cover stripping of the electric wire  112 , for example, as follows. First, the cut-electric-wire cable  110  held by the cable retainer  160  is carried by the cable carrier  210  so that the two electric wires  112  of the cut-electric-wire cable  110  are positioned between the pair of upper stripping blades  234  of the upper cutting-and-cover-stripping member  231  and the pair of lower stripping blades  236  of the lower cutting-and-cover-stripping member  232 . At this time, the relative position adjustment between the cutting-and-cover-stripping members  231  and  232  and the cut-electric-wire cable  110  is performed in accordance with the intended stripping positions of the covering bodies  114  of the two electric wires  112 . Then, the two cutting-and-cover-stripping members  231  and  232  are moved relatively in vertically opposite directions in such a manner that the cutting-and-cover-stripping member  231  and the cutting-and-cover-stripping member  232  approach each other, and the pair of upper stripping blades  234  and the pair of lower stripping blades  236  cut into the covering bodies  114  at the tip ends of the two electric wires  112 , holding the tip ends of the two electric wires  112 . The two cutting-and-cover-stripping members  231  and  232  are moved rearward away from the cut-electric-wire cables  110  with holding the tip end of the two electric wires  112 , and the covering bodies  114  at the tip ends of the two electric wires  112  are stripped from the positions where the upper stripping blades  234  and the lower stripping blades  236  have cut. In the electric cable  110  (also referred to as the “electric-wire-and-stripped-cover cable  110 ”) in which such a stripping operation of the covering bodies  114  is performed, a part of the covering bodies  114  at the tip ends of the two electric wires  112  are stripped off, and the core wires  113  at the portions covered by the stripped covering bodies  114  are exposed (see  FIG.  2 E ). After stripping the covering bodies  114  in the two electric wires  112 , the cable carrier  210  carries the electric-wire-cover-stripped cables  110  held by the cable retainer  160  from the electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping unit  12  to the inspection work unit  13 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , an image inspection device  240  is provided in the inspection work unit  13 . The image inspection device  240  includes a photographing camera  241 , a pair of left and right upper illumination lamps  242  for illuminating downward from the upper portion, a lower illumination lamp  243  for illuminating upward from the lower portion, and a lower surface image analysis unit (not shown). It is configured to perform an inspection (also referred to as an “inspection of stripped cover portion”) of a stripped portion (a portion where the covering body  114  of the two electric wire  112  is stripped) of the electric-wire-cover-stripped cable  110  by image analysis. 
     The inspection of the stripped cover portion by the image inspection device  240  proceeds, for example, as follows. First, the cable carrier  210  carries the electric-wire-cover-stripped cable  110  held by the cable retainer  160  from the electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripping unit  12  to the inspection work unit  13  so that the two wires  112  of the electric-wire-cover-stripped cable  110  are positioned within the imageable range of the photographing camera  241 . Next, a pair of upper illumination lamps  242  and lower illumination lamp  243  illuminate the two wires  112 . The imaging camera  241  images the two wires  112 . The image analysis section analyzes the image data of the two wires  112  taken and inspects the presence or absence of abnormality in the cover-stripped sections. The image of the two wires  112  taken is displayed on the image display monitor  6  (see  FIG.  1   ). After the inspection of stripped cover portion, the cable carrier  210  carries the electric-wire-cutting-and-cover-stripped cable  110  held by the cable retainer  160  from the inspection section  13  to the terminal crimping work unit  14 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , the terminal-supply-and-carrying-work unit  15  is provided with a terminal supply unit  250 , a terminal cutting unit  260 , and a terminal carrying unit  270 . The terminal supply unit  250  includes a terminal carrier transport stage  251  on which long terminal carriers  140  (with terminals  130 ) fed from a terminal reel  9  (see  FIG.  1   )) is placed, a terminal carrier transport unit  252  for intermittently transporting the terminal carrier  140  placed on the terminal carrier transport stage  251  rightward by a predetermined distance, and a terminal carrier transport unit operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the terminal carrier transport unit  252  to be movable in the left-right directions within the terminal-supply-and-carrying-work unit  15 . The terminal carrier transport unit  252  includes an engaging piece  253  protruding downward. The engaging piece  253  engages with the engaging holes  142  and  143  of the terminal carrier  140  to transport the terminal carrier  140  (see also  FIGS.  9  and  10   ). 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , the terminal cutter  260  includes a terminal upper cutting blade member  261 , a terminal lower cutting blade member  262 , and a terminal cutting blade operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the terminal upper cutting blade member  261  and the terminal lower cutting blade member  262 . The terminal upper cutting blade member  261  includes a terminal cutting blade (not shown) facing downward, and the terminal lower cutting blade member  262  includes a terminal cutting blade (not shown) facing upward. The terminal cutting device  260  operates the terminal upper cutting blade member  261  to disconnect terminal  130  from the terminal carrier  140  (see also  FIGS.  9  and  10   ). 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , the terminal carrying unit  270  is provided with a terminal holder  271  and a terminal holder operating mechanism (not shown) for operating the terminal holder  271  to be movable in the forward, backward, left, right, up, and down directions. The terminal holder  271  has a pair of left and right terminal holding pieces  272 L and  272 R that can open and close and are movable. As shown in  FIG.  9   , the terminal holder  271  holds the terminal  130  that is separated from the terminal carrier  140  by the terminal cutter  260  at a stage before the terminal is separated (concretely, the terminal holding pieces  272 L and  272 R hold the electric connection unit  131  of the terminal  130 ), and carries the separated terminal  130 . Terminal carrying unit  270  carries the terminal  130  held by the terminal holder  271  from the terminal-supply-and-carrying-work unit  15  to the terminal crimping work unit  14 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , a crimping device  280  is provided in the terminal crimping work unit  14 . The crimping device  280  is of a type called a die set. It includes a press machine  281 , an upper mold  283  mounted on a cylinder rod  282  of the press machine  281 , a lower mold  284  mounted on a support frame  288 , a guidepost  285  provided between the upper mold  283  and the lower mold  284  to guide the movement of the upper mold  283  in the vertical direction, a crimper  286  provided in the upper mold  283 , and an anvil  287  provided in the lower mold  284  (see also  FIG.  10   ). A curved receiving portion (not shown) is provided in the upper-end portion of the anvil  287  to support the crimping portion  132  of terminal  130  from the lower side. A pressing curved surface portion (not shown) is provided in the lower end portion of the crimper  286  to deform the crimping portion  132  while bending it plastically. As shown in  FIG.  11   , the crimper  286  includes a first crimper  286 A for the core wire crimping piece unit  133  of the terminal  130  and a second crimper  286 B for the covering-body-crimping-piece portion  134 . The anvil  287  includes a first anvil  287 A for the core wire crimping piece unit  133  and a second anvil  287 B for the covering-body-crimping-piece portion  134 . The crimping device  280  crimps the terminal  130  against the tip end of the electric wire  112  of the electric cable  110  (electric-wire-cover-stripped cable  110 ) by moving the upper mold  283  downward by the press machine  281  to fit the crimper  286  and the anvil  287  together. 
     The crimping device  280  crimps the terminal  130  to the electric wire  112 , for example, as follows.  FIG.  11    schematically shows the forward and reverse relative positional relationship of the electric wire  110 , the terminal  130 , the first anvil  287 A, the second anvil  287 B, the first crimper  286 A, and the second crimper  286 B at the time of the terminal crimping in the following description (the terminal carrying unit  270  and the cable carrier  210  are not shown). First, the terminal  130  separated from the terminal carrier  140  is carried by the terminal carrying unit  270  from the terminal-supply-and-carrying-work unit  15  to the terminal crimping work unit  14 , and the core wire crimping piece unit  133  of terminal  130  is set to be the receiving portion of the second anvil  287 A, and the covering-body-crimping-piece portion  134  of the terminal  130  is set to be positioned at the receiving portion of the first anvil  287 B. 
     Next, a cable carrier  210  carries an electric-wire-cover-stripped cable  110  held by a cable retainer  160  from an inspection work unit  13  to a terminal crimping work unit  14 , a core wire  113  part at the tip end of the electric wire  112  (one of the two wires) of the electric-wire-cover-stripped cable  110  is set to be positioned at the core wire crimping piece unit  133  of the terminal  130 . A part covered by the covering body  114  is set to be positioned at the covering-body-crimping-piece portion  134 . Then, a crimping device  280  is set so that the first crimper  286 A and the first anvil  287 A are fitted together, the second crimper  286 B and the second anvil  287 B are fitted together, the upper mold  283  is moved downward by a press machine  281 , the core wire crimping piece unit  133  of the terminal  130  is crimped to the core wire  113  part at the tip end of the electric wire  112 . The covering-body-crimping-piece portion  134  is crimped to the part covered by the covering body  114  at the tip end of the electric wire  112 . In this manner, the crimping device  280  performs the crimping of terminal  130  on two electric wires  112  separately. When the crimping of the terminal  130  on one electric wire  112  is completed, the cable carrier  210  moves the electric wire  112  to be removed from between the crimper  286  and the anvil  287 . Next, another terminal  130  separated from the terminal carrier  140  is carried from the terminal-supply-and-carrying-work unit  15  to the terminal crimping work section  14  by the terminal carrying unit  270 , and is set in the same manner as described above. Then, the other electric wire  112  having no terminal crimping is set by the cable carrier  210  in the same manner as described above, and the terminal  130  is also crimped to the electric wire  112  in the same manner as described above. 
     When the extension length of the electric wire  112  from the sheath  111  is short, the distance L (see  FIG.  11   ) from the tip portion of the sheath  111  to the portion to be crimped (the portion to be crimped with the terminal  130 ) of the electric wire  112  is also short. Therefore, when the terminal  130  is carried to the terminal crimping work unit  14  with the terminal carrier  140  provided or with the carrier piece attached thereto, the terminal carrier  140  or the carrier piece interferes with the sheath  111  or the cable retainer  160 , and the positional deviation between the terminal  130  and the electric wire  110  is likely to occur. In the present embodiment, since terminal  130  is carried to the terminal crimping portion  14  with the terminal carrier  140  completely separated from the terminal carrier (with no carrier piece remaining), there is no such concern. The terminal  130  can be appropriately crimped against the electric wire  112  while suppressing the positional deviation between terminal  130  and the electric wire  112 . An electric cable  110  (also referred to as “electric cable with terminal  110 ”) in which terminal  130  has been crimped against two electric wires  112  is illustrated in  FIG.  2 F . 
     After completion of the crimping of the terminal  130  to each electric wire  112 , the electric cable  110  with the terminal held in the cable retainer  160  is carried from the terminal crimping work unit  14  to the inspection work unit  13  by the cable carrier  210 . At this time, the image inspection device  240  of the inspection work unit  13  performs an inspection (also referred to as “crimping section inspection”) of the crimping section (the section where the terminals  130  of the two electric wires  112  are crimped) of the electric cable  110  with the terminal by image analysis. This crimping section inspection proceeds in the same procedure as the cover stripping section inspection described above and inspects the presence or absence of an abnormality in the crimping section. After the crimping section inspection, the cable carrier  210  carries the cable retainer  160 , holding the electric cable  110  with the terminal from the inspection section  13  to the cable insertion unit  8 . 
     A cable retainer  160  carried to a cable insertion unit  8  is removed from a cable carrier  210  (holding member  211  of a cable carrier moving body  112 ) and is taken out from the cable insertion unit  8 . Another cable retainer  160  holding an electric cable  110  to which terminals are not crimped is attached to the holding member  211  of the cable carrier moving body  112  standing by the cable insertion unit  8 . The cable retainer  160  taken out from the cable insertion unit  8  is carried to a cable set base  7 . The electric cable  110  with terminals held therein is taken out from the cable retainer  160  by the operator&#39;s manual operation. 
     Although the electric cable  110  has two electric wires  112 , the number of electric wires  112  in the electric cable  110  may be one or three or more.  FIG.  12    shows an electric cable  110 K with four electric wires  112  and a cable retainer  160 K to hold the electric cable  110 K. This cable retainer  160 K corresponds to the cable retainer  160  shown in  FIG.  5   , with its attachment unit  162  replaced by another attachment unit  162 K. The main body unit  161  is the same as that of the cable retainer  160 . The attachment unit  162 K includes a pair of left and right electric wire holding units  167  configured to hold two electric wires  112  out of the four electric wires  112  extending from one end portion of the sheath  111  in a bent state toward the other end portion of the sheath  111 . By holding the two electric wires  112  in a bent state in the electric wire holding unit  167 , the electric wires  112  held in the electric wire holding unit  167  do not get in the way when the terminal crimping work or the like is performed on the other two electric wires  112 , thereby improving the workability. In the example of  FIG.  11   , the electric wires  112  held in the electric wire holding unit  167  are not crimped to a terminal, but the electric wires  112  whose terminals have been crimped may be held in the electric wire holding unit  167 . 
     Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     For example, instead of using the cable retainer  160 , the electric cable  110  may be directly installed in the cable carrier moving body  212  to perform various operations such as terminal crimping. In the above embodiment, terminal  130  is crimped to one of the two electric wires  112 . Then the terminal  130  is crimped to the other electric wire  112 . However, terminal  130  may be crimped to the two electric wires  112  at a time. In the above embodiment, the case in which the electric cable  110  is a high-frequency cable is exemplified, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where the terminal is crimped to an electric cable other than a high-frequency cable. 
     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims. 
     RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This invention claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-008790 which is hereby incorporated by reference.