Metal working – Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for... – Separate tool stations for selective or successive operation...
Patent
1997-05-30
1998-12-01
Briggs, William R.
Metal working
Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for...
Separate tool stations for selective or successive operation...
29 33M, 295644, 29753, H01R 4305
Patent
active
058422668
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical wire harness producing apparatus, and more particularly to an improved wire harness producing apparatus using cam drives to control its principal components in measuring and cutting predetermined lengths of wires and in crimping connectors to the opposing ends of the measured and cut wires arranged laterally in parallel.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Electrical wire harnesses are well known in the art and a number of proposals have been made for improvements in the harnesses and apparatus have been made. The principal components of such wire harness producing apparatus carry out the steps of: (1) drawing and measuring wires from wire supply reels; (2) stretching and cutting the drawn and measured wires; (3) terminating the wires to one or opposite ends of the cut wires arranged laterally in parallel; and, (4) discharging the terminated harnesses to a subsequent stage wherein they are tested for electrical characteristics. These principal components of such known wire harness producing apparatus are driven by associated pneumatic cylinders which operate wire chuck means, cutting-and-stripping blades, pressing dies, and operating discharging rod means, although some drive means other than pneumatic drives are used as auxiliary.
Primary and secondary wire chucks are used to stretch electric wires therebetween while cutting the wires from the supply reel and to separate cut lengths of wires from the remaining wires extending from the supply reel. The primary and secondary wire chucks are placed at stationary positions and operate by opening and closing jaws to hold and release the electric wires.
In instances where connectors are crimped on one set of ends of the parallel wires the wire insulation is removed from the opposing ends of the wires, a composite blade assembly having a wire-cutting blade and an insulation-stripping stripping blade is used which permits the insulation-stripping blade to cut a line in the wire insulation at the time of cutting each wire spaced apart from the line, and then strips the wires by displacing them toward the insulation-stripping blade.
As described earlier, all principal components for displacing the primary and secondary wire chucks, cutting electric wires, terminating electric connectors and discharging electric harnesses are known to be driven by associated pneumatic cylinders. One disadvantage to this arrangement is that subsequent pneumatic operations cannot be started before confirming that the preceding pneumatic operations have been completed. A delay is involved for the receipt of a signal indicating the completion of the preceding pneumatic operation. This delay time is cumulative for each principal operation, and its accumulation prevents the reducing the time required for producing wire harnesses below a certain limit.
In the case of relatively long wires (about 1500 mm long) stretched between the primary and secondary wire chucks, the wires tend to droop or tangle thereby causing the wires to be arranged at irregular intervals at their ends which are to be gripped by the secondary chuck. There is then a concern that the secondary chuck will improperly engage selected wires by their insulations which will provide defective wire harnesses.
Also, when the discharge rods are pneumatically driven to discharge the wire harnesses, one discharge rod may lead the other discharge rod, resulting in the wire harnesses being obliquely driven to a subsequent testing stage, in which they may take a wrong posture for testing which will prevent them from being properly tested.
The use of the dual blade structure in stripping electric wires also limits the shortest stripping length to the total thickness of the insulation-stripping blade and the wire-cutting blade, thus preventing selection of the stripping length below the wire-cutting blade, which is thick relative to the insulation-stripping blade.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a wire harness producing apparatus wh
REFERENCES:
patent: 3791008 (1974-02-01), Dyksterhouse
patent: 4375229 (1983-03-01), Mikami et al.
patent: 4404743 (1983-09-01), Brandewie et al.
patent: 4616396 (1986-10-01), Matsui
patent: 4638549 (1987-01-01), Okazaki et al.
patent: 4646404 (1987-03-01), Matsui
Briggs William R.
Cohen Charles S.
Molex Incorporated
Paulius Thomas D.
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