Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – Means to assemble electrical device
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-05
2001-01-09
Young, Lee (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
Means to assemble electrical device
C029S748000, C029S760000, C029S759000, C029S03300H
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170153
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for guiding a wire and, more particularly to a method and an apparatus for positioning the wire in a specified position before a terminal fitting is mounted on the wire in a terminal mounting unit.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
A terminal mounting unit, such as the continuous terminal mounting apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 4-78795, has a terminal mounting position where a terminal fitting is mounted at an end of a wire. Terminal fittings can be continuously mounted at ends of wires by automatically feeding the ends of the conveyed wires to the terminal mount position.
When being fed to the terminal mounting unit, the ends of the wires where the terminal fittings are to be mounted need to be accurately positioned. In view of this, the applicant of the present invention proposed a wire guide for guiding a wire (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-236792).
The proposed wire guide comprises a guide means for guiding a wire and an elastic holding means for elastically receiving the guided wire.
The guide means is specifically formed by, e.g. a restricting member secured on a for feeding a wire, or a pair of clamping members for gripping the wire. Further, the elastic holding means is specifically formed by an elastic member mounted on the terminal mounting unit. The guide means is displaceable with respect to the elastic holding means.
The elastic holding means may get caught by the wire and/or the terminal fitting after the terminal mounting operation and while the wire is being withdrawn from the terminal mounting unit. This may lead to a lowered durability of the member forming the elastic holding means and/or a difficult maintenance. Accordingly, in the prior art mentioned above, the durability is improved by elastically holding a wire receiving member of a hard material by an elastic member mounted on the terminal mounting unit.
Another construction in which a wire receiving member is elastically rotated so as to avoid interference with the wire and the terminal fitting is also known (Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-106093).
However, the above-mentioned wire guides cannot realize both accurate positioning and avoidance of an interference of the terminal fitting with the guide member.
More specifically, in the construction disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-236792, since the elastic holding means is secured on the terminal mounting unit, if the terminal fitting gets caught in the elastic holding means, either the terminal fitting or the elastic holding means is disadvantageously deformed. On the other hand, since the construction disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-106093 is such that the wire receiving member is merely made rotatable, the accurate positioning of the wire cannot be effected.
Further, in the case that the clamping members for gripping a wire are adopted as the guide means, it is difficult to properly position the center of the wire in the terminal mounting position since the positioning is performed merely by gripping the clamping members. Accordingly, it is difficult to accurately position the wire.
In view of the problems residing in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for processing a wire which, during conveyance of the wire, can prevent the terminal fitting from getting caught in an elastic holding means and effect accurate positioning of the wire.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a method for processing or guiding a wire (W) being conveyed to a processing apparatus that may be operative for mounting a terminal fitting on the wire. The method comprises the step of advancing a guide member from a retracted position. The guide member, in its retracted position, may be located under the wire and at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the wire. In particular the guide member may be transversely below a wire processing position, when the wire is conveyed toward the wire processing position, such as a terminal mounting position. Thus, movement of the guide member is effective for inserting the wire into a wire guide slot of the guide member to position the end of the wire in the wire processing position. The method continues by processing the wire, in particular by mounting the terminal fitting on the wire, and releasing the wire from the guide member.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises before the step of processing, the step of elastically holding the wire by means of an elastic means in the wire guide slot, in particular in an intermediate position thereof.
Preferably, the step of releasing the wire comprises the step of retracting the guide member after the mounting of the terminal fitting, thereby bringing the wire out of the wire guide slot, in particular to release the wire.
According to the invention there is further provided an apparatus for processing a wire, in particular for guiding a wire being conveyed. The wire may be one on which a terminal fitting is to be mounted such that an end thereof is located in a wire processing position, such as a terminal mounting position. The apparatus comprises a wire processing means. The apparatus also includes a guide member which comprises a wire guide slot into which the wire to be positioned is insertable. The guide member is shiftable to a guiding position and to a retracted position. Preferably the guide member is shifted at an angle, preferably transversely to the axis of the wire. The retracted position preferably is below the terminal mounting position particularly while bringing the wire out of the wire guide slot. The apparatus also includes means for shifting the guide member between the retracted position and the guiding position.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wire guide slot is substantially Y-shaped. The guide member preferably is advanceable or shiftable to the guiding position such that the end of the wire can be located in the wire processing position, while the wire is inserted into the wire guide slot. The guide member is retractable to the retracted position, a distance a distance from and/or below the wire processing position, while the wire is brought out of the wire guide slot.
Preferably, there is provided an elastic member mounted on the guide member for elastically receiving the wire, preferably in an intermediate position in the wire guide slot.
Further preferably, the guide member comprises a first guide member being located in the vicinity of the wire processing means, in particular a terminal mounting unit. The first guide member is adapted to position the wire. The guide member preferably further comprises a second guide member being opposed to the first guide member with respect to a longitudinal direction of the wire and adapted to guide the wire into the first guide member.
Still further preferably, the first guide member is detachable from and/or movable with respect to the second guide member, in particular along the longitudinal direction of the wire to be processed, so as to come closer to the wire processing position. Therefore it is easily possible to adapt the wire guide slot (in particular its width) of the first member to the thickness of the wire to be processed, in particular by replacing the first guide member that has a wrong or mismatched wire guide slot with a first guide member that has a correct or adapted wire guide slot.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the first guide member has a width selected in accordance with the thickness of the wire to be processed, and particularly a width that is necessary and sufficient to position the wire in the wire processing means. The second guide member may have a guiding surface, in particular a curved outer shape to guide the wire to the first guide member, in particular into its wire guide slot.
Further preferably, the width of the wire guide slot
Casella Anthony J.
Hespos Gerald E.
Porco Michael J.
Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.
Trinh Minh
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