Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a crimp die used to deform a ferrule onto a cable. The crimp die operates within multiple tool platforms. The crimp die includes a male die, a female die, and removable tab adapters. The male and female dies each have a mounting portion and an inner crimping surface to deform the ferrule onto the cable. When required by the tool platform, the tab adapters are removably affixed to the male and female dies to secure the dies to the tool.

Description:
Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to crimp dies, and more particularly to a large ferrule crimp die that operates within multiple tool platforms. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Crimp dies are used to install ferrules onto stranded cables. Crimp dies also prepare the cables and ferrule to fit into a lug. Typically a crimp die is chosen based on the ferrule, cables, and the installation or crimping tool. As a result, a number of crimp dies are manufactured for various crimping tools. Maintaining a plurality of crimp dies for various crimping tools is costly. Thus, it is desirable to provide one set of crimp dies that operate within multiple tool platforms. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a crimp die that operates within multiple tool platforms. The crimp die is designed to crimp a large ferrule onto a cable. The crimp die includes a male die and a female die. Each die has a mounting portion and an inner crimping surface. The inner crimping surfaces of the male and female dies deform the ferrule onto the cable. The crimp die also includes at least one tab adapter removably affixed to the male die or the female die. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of one embodiment of the large ferrule crimp die installed in a crimping tool with a ferrule positioned around cables to be crimped. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 1  installed in the tool. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a partially exploded view of the large ferrule crimp die and the tool of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a top exploded view of the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a bottom exploded view of the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a front view of the ferrule positioned in the large ferrule crimp die of the tool of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a front view of a crimped ferrule positioned in the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a front perspective view of the crimped ferrule positioned in the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a cross sectional view of the large ferrule crimp die and the tool taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a cross sectional view of the large ferrule crimp die and the tool taken along line  10 - 10  of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a cross sectional view taken along line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a perspective view of the ferrule crimped by the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 13  illustrates a perspective view of the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 1  installed in an alternative crimping tool. 
         FIG. 14  illustrates a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a large ferrule crimp die installed in the crimping tool of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 15  illustrates a perspective view of the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 14 . 
         FIG. 16  illustrates an exploded view of the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 17  illustrates a cross sectional view of the large ferrule crimp die taken along line  17 - 17  of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 18  illustrates a cross sectional view of the large ferrule crimp die taken along line  18 - 18  of  FIG. 17 . 
         FIG. 19  illustrates a perspective view of the large ferrule crimp die of  FIG. 14  installed in the alternative crimping tool of  FIG. 13 . 
         FIG. 20  illustrates a partially exploded left perspective view of the large ferrule crimp die positioned to be installed in the tool of  FIG. 19 . 
         FIG. 21  illustrates a partially exploded right perspective view of the large ferrule crimp die positioned to be installed in the tool of  FIG. 19 . 
         FIG. 22  illustrates the female die of the large ferrule crimp die positioned to be installed in the tool of  FIG. 19 . 
         FIG. 23  illustrates the female die of the large ferrule crimp die installed in the tool of  FIG. 19 . 
         FIG. 24  illustrates a cross sectional view of the large ferrule crimp die taken along line  24 - 24  of  FIG. 19 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate an embodiment of the large ferrule crimp die  100  installed in a crimping tool  50 . The crimping tool  50  is an example of a crimping tool that receives the large ferrule crimp die of the present invention. The crimping tool  50  is sold by Panduit Corp., assignee of the present invention, with a CT-2000 series or a CT-3000 series tool head. This style crimping tool is used for portability and on-site installation.  FIG. 3  illustrates a partially exploded view of the large ferrule crimp die  100  and the crimping tool  50 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the large ferrule crimp die  100  includes a male die  110 , a female die  150 , and a plurality of tab adapters  180 . The male die  110  includes a mounting portion  112  and an inner crimping surface  114 . The mounting portion  112  includes a center groove  113  along the outer side of the male die  110 . The front  116  and back  118  of the mounting portion  112  of the male die  110  include a pocket  124  with grooves  126  and a hole  128  centered between the grooves  126 . Each pocket  124  has a generally rectangular shape; however, it is contemplated that each pocket may be formed in other shapes that correspond to the shape of the tab adapters  180 . 
     The female die  150  includes a mounting portion  152  and an inner crimping surface  154 . The mounting portion  152  includes a center groove  153  along the outer side of the female die  150 . The front  156  and back  158  of the mounting portion  152  of the female die  150  include a pocket  164  with grooves  166  and a hole  168  centered between the grooves  166 . Each pocket  164  has a generally rectangular shape; however, it is contemplated that each pocket may be formed in other shapes that correspond to the shape of the tab adapters  180 . 
     The sides  120 ,  160  of the male die  110  and the female die  150 , respectively, include a side edge  122 ,  162  for engaging the tool head  54 . 
     The inner crimping surface  114  of the male die  110  includes a circular portion  130  that leads to two raised members  132 . The inner crimping surface  154  of the female die  150  includes a curved portion  170  that leads to angled portions  172  and then vertical portions  174 . 
     The tab adapters  180  of the large ferrule crimp die  100  have a generally L-shaped bottom portion  182 . The L-shaped bottom portion  182  includes a hole  184  and two extrusions  186 . Each tab adapter  180  is positioned in one of the pockets  124 ,  164  of the male die  110  or the female die  150 , respectively. The extrusions  186  of the tab adapter  180  are positioned in the grooves  126 ,  166  in the pockets  124 ,  164 . The hole  184  in the tab adapter  180  aligns with one of the holes  128 ,  168  in the pocket  124 ,  164  for receiving a fastener  198 , such as a screw. Fasteners  198  secure each tab adapter  180  to the front  116  and back  118  of the male die  110  and the front  156  and back  158  of the female die  150 . 
     The tab adapters  180  also include a mounting portion  190  for securing the tab adapter  180  and attached male die  110  or female die  150  to the crimping tool  50 . Each mounting portion  190  includes two legs  192  with a center opening  194  or aperture therebetween. The center opening  194  is designed with a narrow entrance end  196  to enable the tab adapter  180  to snap onto the pins  56  on the crimping tool  50 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 6-11 , the tab adapters  180  are fastened to the male die  110  and the female die  150  via the fastener  198 . The mounting portions  190  of the tab adapters  180  are secured to the pins  56  in the tool head  54  to secure the male die  110  and the female die  150  to the crimping tool  50 .  FIG. 8  illustrates the male die  110  and the female die  150  positioned within the tool head  54  such that the tool head  54  is located in the sides  120 ,  160  of the male die  110  and the female die  150 , respectively. 
     A large ferrule  60  with cables  62  positioned therein is placed between the male die  110  and the female die  150  installed in the crimping tool  50 . When the crimping tool  50  is activated, the male die  110  and the female die  150  deform the large ferrule  60  and cables  62  to the shape of the profiles of the inner crimping surfaces  114 ,  154  of the male die  110  and the female die  150  (see  FIG. 12 ).  FIG. 12  also illustrates the crimped ferrule with an imprinting of the size of the die on the ferrule. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates the large ferrule crimp die  100  installed in an alternative crimping tool  70 . The alternative crimping tool  70  is sold by Panduit Corp., assignee of the present invention, with a CT-900 series tool head. This style crimping tool is used for higher volume crimping applications. As illustrated, the tab adapters  180  have been removed and the male die  110  and female die  150  are directly secured to the crimping tool  70 . 
       FIGS. 14-17  illustrate an alternative embodiment of a large ferrule crimp die  200  installed in the crimping tool  50 . The large ferrule crimp die  200  includes a male die  210 , a female die  250 , and a plurality of tab adapters  280 . The male die  210  includes a mounting portion  212  and an inner crimping surface  214 . The mounting portion  212  includes a center groove  213  along the outer side of the male die  210 . The inner crimping surface  214  of the male die  210  includes a circular portion  230  that leads to two raised members  232 . The mounting portion  212  also includes a front  216  and a back  218  with a dove tail slot  226 . 
     The female die  250  includes a mounting portion  252  and an inner crimping surface  254 . The mounting portion  252  includes a center groove  253  along the outer side of the female die  250 . The inner crimping surface  254  of the female die  250  includes a curved portion  270  that leads to angled portions  272  and then vertical portions  274 . The mounting portion  252  also includes a front  256  and a back  258  with a dove tail slot  266 . 
     The sides  220 ,  260  of the male die  210  and the female die  250 , respectively, include side edges  222 ,  262  for receiving the tool head  54 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 15 and 16 , the sides  220 ,  260  of the male die  210  and the female die  250  also include apertures  224 ,  264  that extend through the dove tail slots  226 ,  266  located in the front  216 ,  256  and back  218 ,  258  of the dies  210 ,  250 . The apertures  224 ,  264  are designed to receive a pin  298  to secure a tab adapter  280  to the front  216 ,  256  and back  218 ,  258  of each die  210 ,  250 . 
     Each tab adapter  280  includes a dove tail  282  and a mounting portion  290 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 14-16  and  18 , the dove tail slots  226 ,  266  are designed to receive the dove tail  282  extending from one of the tab adapters  280 . However, the dove tail  282  and the dove tail slot  266  may be formed from other shapes that are complementary to each other. 
     Each dove tail  282  includes a groove  284  or indentation for receiving the pin  298 . As illustrated in  FIG. 17 , the pins  298  are installed through the apertures  224 ,  264  and in the grooves  284  of the dove tail  282  to secure the tab adapters  280  to the dies  210 ,  250 . 
     Similar to the tab adapters  180  described above, the mounting portion  290  of the tab adapter  280  secures the tab adapter  280  and attached dies  210 ,  250  to the crimping tool  50 . Each mounting portion  290  includes two legs  292  with a center opening  294  or aperture therebetween. The opening  294  is designed with a narrow entrance end  296  for enabling the tab adapter  280  to snap onto the pins  56  on the crimping tool  50 . 
       FIGS. 19-24  illustrate the large ferrule crimp die  200  installed in the crimping tool  70 . The tool head  74  includes inwardly extending lips  76 . The male die  210  and female die  250  are installed in the tool head  74  such that the lips  76  engage the side edges  222 ,  262  to prevent the dies  210 ,  250  from rotating within the crimping tool  70 . Additionally, the grooves  213 ,  253  along the outer surface of the male and female dies  210 ,  250  are designed to receive a spring loaded pin in the tool head (not illustrated) for holding the dies  210 ,  250  within the tool. As a result, the tab adapters  280  are not required to mount the dies  210 ,  250  in the crimping tool  70 . 
     Furthermore, while the particular preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the teaching of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as limitation. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.