Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-05
2004-02-17
Tugbang, A. Dexter (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
C029S739000, C029S740000, C029S742000, C029S771000, C029S784000, C029S783000, C029S791000, C029S799000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06691405
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembling apparatus, such as a fuse box assembling apparatus, for mounting a plurality of electric and/or electronic parts, such as fuses, in a receiving member, such as box or a board, and particularly a fuse box of an automotive vehicle. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a box assembling method, such as a method for assembling parts in a fuse box.
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior art fuse box has a plurality of fuses of different sizes and shapes that are mounted in a box. A prior art fuse box assembling apparatus is provided with a plurality of parts-feeders for successively feeding the respective kinds of fuses. The assembling apparatus further includes an inserting unit for taking the fuses one by one from the feeders and inserting them into a box. The inserting unit includes a clamping device for clamping each fuse and an arm mechanism for moving the clamping device between the respective parts feeders and the box. The respective parts feeders are arrayed side by side at one end of the assembly apparatus and the box is provided at the other end thereof. One fuse is selected from each parts feeder, taken out by the inserting unit, conveyed from the one end of the assembling apparatus to the other end, and inserted into the box. Assembly of the fuse box is completed after a series of these operations are repeated for all fuses.
The above described fuse box assembling apparatus requires a fuse to be taken from the respective parts feeder every time a fuse is to be inserted. This prior art process takes time and the fuse inserting operation cannot be performed while the clamping device moves between the parts feeders and the box. As a result, a tact time for assembling one fuse box, which is the time for completing a step or cycle in a process, tends to be longer.
To realize a shorter time, a fuse box assembling apparatus may be considered with a combination of the parts feeder and an inserting unit for each kind of fuse, and with a plurality of these combinations arrayed in a line according to the fuses to be mounted. However, such an assembling apparatus is large and complicated. Further, since there are many products in process, it is difficult to switch quickly between the kinds of fuse boxes when many kinds of fuse boxes are manufactured.
Prior art fuses come in different sizes and shapes, all of which must be accommodated by the prior art fuse box assembly apparatus. More particularly, the parts-feeders of the prior art fuse box assembling apparatus must successively feed the different types of fuses along transport rails. The prior art inserting units then receive the fuses one by one from the parts-feeders and insert the received fuses into a box. Each inserting unit includes clamping hands for clamping the fuse, and an arm mechanism for moving the clamping hands between the corresponding parts feeder and the box. However, the configurations of the transport rails of the parts feeder and the configurations and opening amount of the clamping hands may need to differ in view of the different sizes and shapes of the fuses. As a result, a special insertion station is provided for each type of fuse, and each insertion station includes a parts feeder and an inserting unit. The requirement for a special inserting station for each type of fuse results in a very large assembling apparatus.
The present invention was developed to solve the above technical problem, and an object of invention is to provide a box assembling apparatus and a box assembling method which allow easy mounting of a plurality of electric and/or electronic parts, and which can quickly mount a plurality of different kinds of fuses despite its simple construction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention is directed to an assembling apparatus for mounting a plurality of electric/electronic parts, preferably fuses, in or on a receiving member, such as in a box or on a board. The board could be, for example, an electric or electronic board. The assembling apparatus comprises a fixed mounting unit with a first parts-holding member for holding a plurality of parts that are necessary to assemble a receiving member. The parts are held in the order in which they are to be mounted in the receiving member. The fixed mounting unit is adapted to successively mount in the receiving member the plurality of parts held by the first parts-holding member. The assembling apparatus also comprises a second parts-holding member, which holds a plurality of parts in the order that they are to be mounted. The second parts-holding member is movable between one or more feed positions, where the parts are fed automatically or semi-automatically to the second parts-holding member, and a position corresponding to the mounting unit. The assembly apparatus further comprises a transferring mechanism for transferring the plurality of parts held by the second parts-holding member at once to the first parts-holding member of the mounting unit when the second parts-holding member comes to the position corresponding to the mounting unit.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a plurality of fixed parts-feeding units. Each fixed parts-feeding unit includes a parts chamber for at least partly accommodating a specified kind of parts, such as fuses. Each fixed parts feeding unit further includes a feeding mechanism for successively feeding the accommodated parts.
The second parts-holding member preferably is movable between positions substantially facing the respective parts-feeding units and a position substantially facing the mounting unit. The second parts-holding member holds a plurality of parts in the order that they are mounted by being moved successively to the positions substantially facing the parts-feeding units that accommodate the parts necessary to assemble the box or other such receiving member. The second parts-holding member receives and holds the parts fed from the parts-feeding units, and then is moved to the position substantially facing the mounting unit.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a fuse box or board assembling apparatus for mounting a plurality of fuses in a box or on a board. For simplicity, the apparatus will be described only with respect to a fuse box. The apparatus comprises a plurality of fixed parts-feeding units. Each fixed parts-feeding unit includes a fuse chamber for accommodating a specified kind of fuses and a feeding mechanism for successively feeding the accommodated fuses. The apparatus also has a fixed mounting unit with a holding means for holding a plurality of fuses necessary to assemble a fuse box in an order that they are to be mounted in the box. The holding means is adapted to successively mount in the box the plurality of fuses held by the holding means. The apparatus further has a parts-holding member, which is movable between positions facing the respective parts-feeding units and a position facing the mounting unit. The parts-holding member holds a plurality of fuses in the order that they are to be mounted by being moved successively to the positions facing the parts-feeding units that accommodate the fuses necessary to assemble the fuse box. More particularly, the parts-holding member receives and holds the fuses fed from the parts-feeding units, and then moves to the position facing the mounting unit. The apparatus also includes a transferring mechanism for transferring the plurality of fuses held by the parts-holding member at once to the holding means of the mounting unit when the parts-holding member comes to the position facing the mounting unit.
With the above construction, a specified number of fuses are collected in the parts-holding member from the respective parts-feeding units for one fuse box, and are transferred at once to the mounting unit to be mounted.
Further, if a plurality of fuse boxes is to be assembled, a fuse collecting operation for a fuse box to be assemble
Casella Anthony J.
Hespos Gerald E.
Nguyen Tai
Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.
Tugbang A. Dexter
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