Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – Means to interrelatedly feed plural work parts from plural...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-13
2002-06-11
Hughes, S. Thomas (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
Means to interrelatedly feed plural work parts from plural...
C029S754000, C029S809000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06401331
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rubber plug fitting apparatus for fitting a rubber plug on an end portion of a wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present disclosure relates to subject matters contained in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 7-7833, filed on May 2, 1994, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIGS. 1
to
3
are schematic configuration views illustrating respective steps of the rubber plug fitting apparatus. In
FIGS. 1
to
3
, a rubber plug feeding unit
2
, a rubber plug positioning unit
3
and a rubber plug holder
4
are respectively arranged at 90° intervals around a rotation center of a rotary unit
1
and at positions corresponding to an outer periphery thereof.
The rotary unit
1
has rubber plug holding rods
1
a
which are respectively arranged at 90° intervals and which are rotationally movable. The rubber plug feeding unit
2
has a rubber plug accommodation passage
2
a
where a number of rubber plugs
5
are arranged, and it comprises an inside pin
2
b
which is movable from a position where the inside pin
2
b
is inserted into a wire passing-through hole (not shown) of the forefront one of the rubber plugs
5
which have been accommodated in the rubber plug accommodation passage
2
a
up to a position where the forefront rubber plug
5
abuts on the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
of the rotary unit
1
, and a pushing rod
2
c
for pushing the forefront rubber plug
5
onto the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
of the rotary unit
1
.
The rubber plug positioning unit
3
has a positioning plate
3
a
formed with a small hole
3
b
, and the positioning plate
3
a
is movable between a spaced position (shown in
FIG. 1
) where it is spaced from the rotary unit
1
and an approached position (shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
) where it approaches to the rotary unit
1
. Also, the rubber plug holder
4
comprises a pair of rubber holding portions
4
a
,
4
a
which can be opened/closed and which are movable between a spaced position (shown in
FIG. 3
) where they are spaced from the rotary unit
1
and an approached position (shown in
FIGS. 1
,
2
) where they approach to the rotary unit
1
, and a pair of wire guide portions
4
b
,
4
b
which can be opened/closed and which are movable between a spaced position (shown in
FIGS. 1
,
2
) where they are spaced from the pair of rubber plug holding portions
4
a
,
4
a
and an approached position (shown in
FIG. 1
) where they approach to the pair of rubber plug holding portions
4
a
,
4
a
. A wire W whose outer cover has been stripped at its end portion Wa is disposed at a position corresponding to the rubber plug holder
4
.
Next, operation of the above structure will be explained. Each rubber plug holding rod
1
a
of the rotary unit
1
is stopped at positions corresponding to the rubber plug feeding unit
2
, the rubber plug positioning unit
3
and the rubber plug holder
4
sequentially according to rotation of the rotary unit
1
. Then, at the position corresponding to the rubber plug feeding unit
2
, the inside pin
2
b
is caused to pass through the wire passing-through hole of the forefront one of the rubber plugs
5
which have been accommodated in the rubber plug accommodation passage
2
a
and a leading end of the forefront rubber
5
is caused to abut on the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
. Next, the pushing rod
2
c
pushes the forefront rubber plug
5
to the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
side, and, by the pushing force of the pushing rod
2
c
, the rubber plug
5
is guided by the inside pin
2
b
to be fitted on the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
. At the position corresponding to the rubber plug positioning unit
3
, the positioning plate
3
a
is moved from the spaced position to the approached position. In the course of movement of the positioning plate
3
a
, the rubber plug
5
is pushed by the positioning plate
3
a
while the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
is being inserted into the small hole
3
b
. By this pushing, the rubber plug
5
is fitted up to a predetermined position on the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
. At the position corresponding to the rubber plug holder
4
, the rubber plug
5
is released from the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
by the pair of rubber holding portions
4
a
,
4
a
and the pair of wire guide portions
4
b
,
4
b
, and the rubber plug
5
which has been released is fitted on the wire W.
In the conventional rubber plug fitting apparatus, however, since the inside pin
2
b
is inserted into the rubber plug
5
so as to guide the same, it is necessary to set the diameter of the inside pin
2
b
to be equal to or less than the inner diameter (diameter of the wire passing-through hole) of the rubber plug
5
. Accordingly, for a rubber plug
5
with a very small inner diameter, the diameter of the inside pin
2
b
is reduced according to the very small inner diameter, and the inside pin
2
b
is easy to break, which results in lack of durability of the inside pin
2
b.
Also, since positioning the rubber plug
5
which has been fitted on the rubber plug holding rod
1
a
is performed by the rubber plug positioning unit
3
independent of the rubber plug feeding unit
2
, there is a problem where, in view of the whole body of the conventional rubber plug fitting apparatus, its structure becomes complicated and its manufacturing cost is increased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, the present invention has been achieved, and an object thereof is to provide an inexpensive rubber plug fitting apparatus which can perform a fitting of a rubber plug on a wire without any possibility of injury of parts or the like irrespective of the inner diameter of a rubber plug, which has an excellent durability, and which can perform a positioning of the rubber plug with a simple structure where a dedicated positioning unit is not used.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rubber plug fitting apparatus, comprising: a rubber plug feeding unit for feeding each of rubber plugs to a rubber plug feeding port; a rubber plug holder for holding one of the rubber plugs to fit the rubber plug on an end portion of a wire; and a rotary unit having a plurality of rubber plug holding rods which are fitted into each of the rubber plugs to hold the rubber plugs, the rotary unit rotationally moving each of the rubber plug holding rods between the rubber plug feeding unit and the rubber plug holder so that each of the rubber plugs can be delivered from the rubber plug feeding unit to the rubber plug holder through each of the rubber plug holding rods, wherein a pair of rubber plug guides are provided so as to be capable of being opened/closed at a side of the rubber plug feeding port of the rubber plug feeding unit; and wherein guide grooves are respectively provided at positions of the pair of rubber plug guides facing the rubber plug feeding port, so that the guide grooves guide an outer periphery of each of the rubber plugs which moves from the rubber plug feeding port to a side of each rubber plug holding rod when the pair of rubber plug guides are closed.
In the rubber plug fitting apparatus according to the first aspect, since a rubber plug is fitted on each of rubber plug holding rods by guiding the outer periphery of the rubber plug by respective grooves of a pair of rubber plug guides, there occurs no weak portion on the pair of rubber plug guides even when the inner diameter of the rubber plug is small, fitting of the rubber plug can be performed without injuring parts of the rubber plug fitting apparatus or the like irrespective of the diameter of the rubber plug, and the durability of a rubber plug fitting apparatus can be improved. Also, since there occurs no trouble such as a part injury and a rubber feeding can be surely carried out, the rubber plug fitting apparatus is prevented from being stopped due to any feeding failure, which results in improvement in productivity.
According to a second aspect of the present inv
Blount Steven
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Hughes S. Thomas
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Rubber plug fitting apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Rubber plug fitting apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Rubber plug fitting apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2912266