Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-04
2004-02-03
Ball, Michael W. (Department: 1733)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S157000, C156S166000, C156S175000, C156S169000, C156S049000, C073S379020, C439S392000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06685786
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for connecting a wire from an existing wire supply to a wire from a new wire supply during manufacturing of a wiring harness. The invention also relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a wire joint.
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior art wiring harness requires a plurality of wires of a specified lengths. The wires are drawn from a plurality of wire supplies to a cutting/mounting apparatus where the respective wires are cut to the specified lengths. Terminals then are crimped or otherwise connected to the cut ends of the wires. It is often necessary to change the wire that is being processed. To make this change, the wire drawn from a first wire supply is cut. A wire from a second wire supply then is connected with the cut end to enable a continued production of the wiring harness.
Several wire connection methods have been known and/or used in the prior art. One prior art wire connection method inserts the ends of the wires into a sleeve and compresses the sleeve to connect the wire ends. However, the compression force or the crimping force of the sleeve sometimes is insufficient. Accordingly the reliability of this connection method is low. Additionally, the sleeve is expensive.
A second prior art wire connection method welds the wire ends together, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-138824. However, this prior art method is expensive, and the finishing of the joint portion is unstable. More particularly, burrs and/or flash may be formed. Flash, in particular, may disadvantageously clog the nozzle through which the wire is fed.
A third prior art wire connection method successively feeds crimping pieces by a strip, positions the wire ends to be connected on the crimping piece along a straight line, crimps the crimping piece into a tubular shape, and cuts the crimping piece from a carrier piece, thereby connecting the wire ends by crimping. This prior art method requires the difficult step of positioning and abutting the ends of the wires against each other. Additionally burrs are likely to be formed if the wire ends overlap, and the burrs are likely to catch the nozzle.
A fourth prior art wire connection method winds an aluminum tape over and around the both wire ends to connect the wires. However the aluminum tape is expensive, and typically must be wound by hand, thereby causing poor operability and low connection reliability.
A fifth prior art wire connection method strips sheaths of the wire ends to expose strands and twists or braids the exposed strands to connect the wire ends. The twisting or braiding of the strands at both wire ends can be difficult to achieve. This operation is difficult to automate, and hence generally is done by hand. Manual operations of this type cause a poor operability and low connection reliability.
The manufacturing of a wiring harness requires a specified length of wire to be drawn from a wire supply and further requires terminals to be mounted on both ends of the cut wire by crimping, insulation displacement, etc. A prior art wire cutting/crimping apparatus is used for this purpose. A wire joint detecting apparatus is provided in a wire running path that extends from the wire supply to the wire cutting/crimping apparatus. The wire joint detecting apparatus detects the presence of a wire joint and cuts off the section of wire with a wire joint so that a product includes no wire joint.
The wire joint generally is formed by twisting exposed conductors. As a result, the wire joint typically is detected by applying a voltage to a pair of opposite untwisting rollers
1
(
1
a
,
1
b
in
FIG. 15
) that are provided along a running path of a wire “a”. More particularly, the rollers
1
a
,
1
b
are connected electrically via the wire joint when the exposed conductors of the wire joint pass between the rollers
1
a
,
1
b
. Thus the electrical connection of the rollers
1
a
,
1
b
detects the wire joint. A detection error can occur if there is a defective contact between the wire “a” and the rollers
1
a
and
1
b
. Additionally the wire joint cannot be detected unless the conductors are exposed.
Other prior art apparatus has detected the wire joint by a color sensor that detects the tape used in the prior art for joining wires. The detection by the color sensor does not require the conductors to be exposed. However, the sensor itself is expensive, it is difficult to adjust the sensor for detection and an erroneous detection frequently is made.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a wire connecting method and apparatus, which have high connection reliability and which can be automated easily.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a wire joint detection method and apparatus for reliably allowing a detection of a wire joint regardless of whether the conductors are exposed at the wire joint.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention relates to a wire connecting method for connecting wires. The method commences by placing the ends of the wires to be connected on a base plate. The wires may be aligned along substantially the same axis with the ends of the wires facing each other. The method proceeds by placing a tape near the wire ends with the adhesive surface of the tape facing towards the wires. The method continues by placing a movable plate on the wire ends, and then moving the movable plate to roll the wire ends onto the tape between the movable plate and the base plate. This movement causes the tape to be wound at least partly over and around the wire ends to connect the wires.
The tape displays a strong resistance to tearing forces that act in the longitudinal direction of the tape. Thus, the wires are connected strongly. The tape may contain reinforced fibers to provide even a stronger tear resistance.
A specific embodiment of the method for connecting wires comprises placing the ends of the wires on a base plate such that portions of the wires on the base plate lie along the same axis and such that the wire ends face each other. The method then includes placing the tape parallel to the portions of the wires on the base plate with the adhesive surface of the tape faced up, and then placing a movable plate for rolling the wires on the wire ends. The method then comprises moving the wire ends toward the tape to roll the wire ends onto the tape between the movable plate and the base plate for winding the tape over and around the wire ends to connect the wires.
The above-described method can be employed while guiding a wire from a wire supply to a wire processing apparatus. In particular, the method is employed to replace a first wire drawn from a first wire supply with a second wire drawn from a second wire supply. The replacement is achieved by connecting the trailing end of the first wire with the leading end of the second wire. In this embodiment, the first wire is cut on the base plate to create the trailing end. The leading end of the second wire then is positioned on the same axis as the trailing end of the first wire, and both wire ends are rolled to wind the tape over and around the wires. The connected wire ends then may be rolled in the opposite direction to return the connected wires to the path along which the wire is drawn and guided. Thus, twists created in the wire during the winding of the tape can be untwisted, thereby enabling the wire to run smoothly thereafter.
The connected wire ends may be clamped and pulled in directions away from each other to check the adequacy of the connection. The adequacy of the connection may be judged based on any movement of the wires in response to the pulling forces. The wire processing apparatus can be controlled in accordance with a connection judgment signal to prevent possible problems caused by a breakage of the wire and the like resulting from a defective connection.
A wire joint makes a step or cross sectional dimensional change on the outer surface of a wire regardless of which connecting me
Matsuzawa Susumu
Takeda Tomiyuki
Ball Michael W.
Casella Anthony J.
Fischer Justin
Hespos Gerald E.
Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.
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