Metal working – Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for... – Separate tool stations for selective or successive operation...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-06
2002-05-28
Wellington, A. L. (Department: 3722)
Metal working
Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for...
Separate tool stations for selective or successive operation...
C029S837000, C029S03300H, C029S739000, C029S759000, C029S845000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06393689
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a system for fitting pins into a device such as a connector, a printed circuit, a coil body, a transformer or, in general, any device capable of housing pins. In the application described below, albeit nonexclusive, the object of the system is to fit the pins into the holes in a connector.
The term “pin” includes any type of male or female electrical contact, intended to be fitted into a support or a socket in order to form, after the contacts have been inserted into the support, a complete electrical connector that can be fixed to an apparatus or terminate a cable.
The pins to be fitted, usually called “studs” by technicians before they are fitted, are put in place in the holes or cavities in the sockets in two different ways:
either by placing them in the holes in molds and by overmolding the pins with a suitable plastic of which the socket of the connectors to be obtained is composed;
or by forcibly inserting the pins into the holes provided in the plastic sockets, made beforehand.
Whatever way is used, rapid fitting of the pins is in any case necessary, this depending on the packaging of the pins. This is because the pins may be in loose form, be placed on a carry strip or be prepared in the form of prescored portions of a continuous wire wound on a reel.
The system according to the invention essentially relates to pins formed from separable portions of a continuous wire wound around a reel, that is to say the portions are arranged one after another and linked together by frangible regions of smaller cross section, forming “notches”.
A system for fitting pins based on the portions of a continuous wire coming from a reel has already been taught by United States patents 4,176,448 and 4,318,964.
This system makes it possible to unwind the wire portions one by one, then to separate the first end portion from the rest of the continuous wire and, finally, to insert said separated portion into the hole in the connector support. Although this system is widely used, it does nevertheless have drawbacks.
This is because it comprises a cutting mechanism of the punch type for separating the end portion from the rest of the continuous wire, which acts, perpendicular to the axis of the portion, on the frangible region in question by drawing. Since the continuous wire forming the pins is made of a soft conductive material (brass, bronze, etc.), the frangible region does not break cleanly, thereby leaving a burr remaining on the end of the pins. This is all the more important as it is difficult to place the notch defining the frangible region in the optimum position with respect to the punch of the mechanism, on account of the length tolerances on the portions forming the future pins. Thus, such burrs may impair the actual connection operation and result in subsequent malfunctions.
Moreover, another drawback with this prior system stems from the arrangement of the punch mechanism, located near the end portion to be separated from the rest of the wire, which results in a bulky mechanical system near the insertion gripper and, in addition, excludes the possibility of fitting several pins simultaneously, especially pins with the currently required pitches which are less than 2 millimeters between two adjacent pins. A fortiori, connectors with right-angled pins, which comprise several rows for firstly fitting straight, rectilinear pins of length decreasing from one row to another and then fitting 90°-angled pins in a subsequent operation, cannot be handled by the system described in the aforementioned patents.
This system has other drawbacks. In particular, it is relatively slow since it is limited to the insertion of a single pin at a time. The use of a drawing-punch mechanism is also noisy and causes cyclic shocks and vibrations which are always deleterious for the actual system and its adjustments, as well as the accumulation of metal particles produced by the punch mechanism during the operation of separating the portions. The punch must also be changed regularly.
The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks and relates to a system which allows, especially, separation of the portions without a burr and without having to use strict indexing at the frangible region, simultaneous fitting of several pins, which may have different lengths and cross sections, and any fitting configuration of said pins (for example, four aligned pins or four pins forming the vertices of a square with one pin in the center, etc.).
For this purpose, the system for fitting, into a device such as, especially, a connector, pins formed by portions of a continuous wire which are separable at frangible regions connecting them together one after another is, according to the invention, one wherein:
there are included:
a unit for the step-by-step advancing and the guiding of said continuous wire and a
a unit for fitting said wire portions into said device; and
said units are movably mounted, one with respect to the other, so that they can move, one with respect to the other, thereby separating, by fracturing the corresponding frangible region, said end portion from the rest of the wire, from a first, loading position in which the end portion of said continuous wire is introduced into said fitting unit via said advancing and guiding unit to a second, fitting position in which said end portion of said wire, separated from the rest of said wire, is able to be fitted into said device, and vice versa.
Thus, by virtue of the design of the system in terms of two, advancing and fitting, units which can move with respect to each other, the separation of the end portion from the rest of the wire is achieved by a simple relative movement between the two units, which causes the frangible region to fracture, this being so without recourse to any cutting mechanism, such as a punch mechanism. As a result there is no burr, no noise and no vibrations, and the system requires less maintenance, thereby guaranteeing greater operating reliability of the system according to the invention. Moreover, the absence of a cutting mechanism near the portion to be separated makes it possible to fit pins (separated portions) which are arranged on small pitches, and even, simultaneously, several pins that may have different lengths and cross sections, without being impeded by such a cutting mechanism, since the space around said units is therefore free.
Preferably, in said first position, the two units are aligned so that said end portion introduced into the fitting unit and said rest of the wire guided in the advancing unit have a rectilinear configuration defining the direction of advance of said wire and so that, in said second position, after a relative movement between said units which has caused the corresponding frangible region to fracture, said fitting unit lies transversely to said advancing unit in order to allow said end portion to be fitted into said device.
In particular, said relative movement between said units consists of a rotation of the fitting unit about an axis perpendicular to the direction of advance of said wire, in order to bring said fitting unit from the first position, aligned with the advancing unit, to the second position, perpendicular to the previous one.
Structurally, the two units are supported by a frame, said fitting unit being mounted on a rotary shaft linked to said frame and perpendicular to the direction of advance of said wire, so as to allow, due to the action of driving means, said fitting unit to pass from the first position to the second position and vice versa.
Advantageously, the two units are linked to each other so that, during passage from the first position to the second position, the advancing unit follows the fitting unit in order to allow said frangible region between said corresponding portions to fracture smoothly. Thus, the separation takes place gradually and cleanly, making it possible to obtain spins which have a profile devoid of any roughness and which have not undergone deformation.
In this case, said linkage between the two units is define
Cadugan Erica E
S. M. Contact
Stevens Davis Miller & Mosher LLP
Wellington A. L.
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