EP0041332A2 — Apparatus for, and a method of, inserting electri…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 239 words

Apparatus for inserting electrical terminals (3 and 3') connected to a wire (1 or 1'), into respective cavities (5') in an electrical connector housing (5), the apparatus comprising a housing positioning unit (10) arranged to locate the housing (5) in a predetermined terminal receiving position; a terminal insertion unit (50) arranged to insert each terminal (3 and 3') into its respective cavity (5') in the housing (5), when the housing is located in its predetermined position; a terminal rotation member (30) arranged to rotate each terminal (3 or 3') prior to its insertion into its respective cavity (5'), the terminal rotation member (30) being movable towards and away from the terminal insertion unit (50), and means (60) arranged to transfer each rotated terminal from the terminal rotation member (30) to the terminal insertion unit (50), characterised in that the terminal rotation member (30) is arranged to rotate a first terminal (3) in one sense about the longitudinal axis of the wire (1) to which the terminal (3) is connected, in respect of a first traverse of the terminal rotation member (30) towards the terminal insertion unit (50) and to rotate a second terminal (3') in the opposite sense about such axis in respect of a subsequent traverse of the terminal rotation member (30) towards the terminal insertion unit (50), so that the first and second terminals (3 and 3') are inserted into their cavities (5') in oppositely oriented relationship.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 239 words

Apparatus for inserting electrical terminals (3 and 3') connected to a wire (1 or 1'), into respective cavities (5') in an electrical connector housing (5), the apparatus comprising a housing positioning unit (10) arranged to locate the housing (5) in a predetermined terminal receiving position; a terminal insertion unit (50) arranged to insert each terminal (3 and 3') into its respective cavity (5') in the housing (5), when the housing is located in its predetermined position; a terminal rotation member (30) arranged to rotate each terminal (3 or 3') prior to its insertion into its respective cavity (5'), the terminal rotation member (30) being movable towards and away from the terminal insertion unit (50), and means (60) arranged to transfer each rotated terminal from the terminal rotation member (30) to the terminal insertion unit (50), characterised in that the terminal rotation member (30) is arranged to rotate a first terminal (3) in one sense about the longitudinal axis of the wire (1) to which the terminal (3) is connected, in respect of a first traverse of the terminal rotation member (30) towards the terminal insertion unit (50) and to rotate a second terminal (3') in the opposite sense about such axis in respect of a subsequent traverse of the terminal rotation member (30) towards the terminal insertion unit (50), so that the first and second terminals (3 and 3') are inserted into their cavities (5') in oppositely oriented relationship.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 83 words

Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterised in that the terminal rotation member (30) is mounted on a carriage (21) which is movable towards and away from the terminal insertion unit (50), each terminal (3 and 3') being received by the terminal rotation member (30) at the same terminal pick-up position along the path of travel of the carriage (21) and being transferred to the terminal insertion unit (50) at the same terminal transfer position along the path of travel of the carriage (21).

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 100 words

Apparatus according to Claim 2, characterised in that the terminal rotation member (30) is mounted on the carriage (21) to swing about the axis of an arcuate guide surface (27) thereon, and is arranged to be swung in one sense about the axis of the guide surface (27) during the first traverse of the carriage (21) and in the opposite sense about such axis during the subsequent traverse of the carriage (21), the terminal rotation member (30) being stationary with respect to such axis during the intermediate return traverse of the carriage (21) away from the terminal insertion unit (30).

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 113 words

Apparatus according to Claim 3, characterised in that the terminal rotation member is in the form of an elongate wire clamp (30) one end (40, 49) of which is adapted releasably to receive a wire (l or 1') and the other end of which is arranged to follow the arcuate guide surface which is provided by a guide sector (27) secured to the carriage (21), the wire clamp (30) being mounted on a block (29) which is swingable on bearings (26, 28) about the guide sector (27), the wire clamp (30) being driven through a chain (33) and sprocket (32) mechanism, and the carriage (21) being driven by a separate driving device (24).

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 156 words

Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the terminal transfer means comprises a pair of terminal insertion jaws (60) of the terminal insertion unit (50), which are movable towards and away from the terminal rotation member (30) transversely of the path of travel thereof, and a movable jaw (49) of the terminal rotation member (30), the terminal insertion jaws (60) being arranged to grasp the wire (1 or 1') to which the,terminal (3 or 3') is connected, at a position just back from the terminal (3 or 3'), the movable jaw (49) being adapted to release the wire (1 or 1') to allow the terminal insertion jaws (60) to carry the wire (1 or 1'), with the terminal (3 or 3') thereon, towards the housing (5), to insert the terminal (3 or 3') into the housing (5) with the aid of wire stuffer projections (80) on the terminal insertion jaws (60).

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 109 words

Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the terminal insertion unit (50) comprises a terminal positioning sub-unit (70) for accurately locating each terminal (3 or 3') in alignment with the cavity (5') into which it is to be inserted by the terminal insertion unit (50), the terminal positioning sub-unit (70) comprising a pair of terminal positioning arms (78) which are closeable about the terminal (3 or 3') and which are movable between a terminal position location between the terminal insertion jaws (60) and the housing (5), and a retracted position to allow the insertion of the terminal (3 or 3') into its cavity (5).

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 91 words

Apparatus according to Claim 6, characterised in that terminal positioning arms (78) are provided with two pairs of recesses (79 and 79') each shaped to receive a terminal (3 or 3') in a different angular position about the longitudinal axis of the wire (1 or 1') to which the terminal is connected, the terminal positioning arms (78) being provided with means (74) for moving them between first and second terminal receiving positions, in dependence upon the angular position of a terminal (3 or 3') grasped by the terminal insertions jaws (60).

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 70 words

Apparatus according to Claim 7, characterised in that the terminal positioning sub-unit (70) includes a first driving device (76) for opening and closing the terminal positioning arms (78), a second driving device (74) for moving the terminal positioning arms (78) between their first and second terminal receiving positions and a third driving device {72) for moving the terminal positioning arms (78) between their terminal receiving location and their retracted position.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 141 words

Apparatus according to Claim 8, characterised in that the terminal insertion jaws (60) are secured to a first slide (53) which is in turn mounted to a frame (52) fixedly connected to a base plate (100) of the apparatus, the first slide (53) being slidable with respect to a slide base (71) carrying the positioning sub-unit (70), the third driving device (72) being mounted on the slide base (71) and the first and second driving devices (74 and 76) being carried by second and third slides (73 and 77) which are slidable with respect to the slide base (71), and with respect to one another, the first slide (53) being slidable transversely of the path of traverse of the terminal rotation member (30) and the second and third slides (73 and 77) being slidable in a direction parallel to such path.

Claim 11

Independent Claim 230 words

A method of inserting elongate electrical terminals (3 and 3') into respective cavities (5') in an electrical connector housing (5), comprising the steps of supplying respective terminals (3) to terminal rotation means (30) at a terminal receiving position thereof, operating the terminal rotation means (30) to rotate each terminal (3), in the course of moving the terminal rotation means (30) from its terminal receiving position, towards the housing (5) and transferring each terminal (3) from the terminal rotation means (30) into a respective cavity (5) of the housing (5); characterised in that a first terminal (3) is rotated by the terminal rotation means (30) by 90° about the longitudinal axis of the first terminal (3), in a first sense, and is transferred into the cavity (5') whilst returning the terminal rotation means (30) to its terminal receiving position; and a second terminal (3') is then supplied to the terminal rotating means (30), which is operated to rotate the second terminal (3') through 90 0 about its longitudinal axis in a second sense opposite to the first sense, whilst moving the terminal rotating means (30) towards the housing (5), the second terminal (3') is then transferred from the terminal rotating means (30) into a second cavity (5') in the housing (5), whereby the second terminal (3') is oppositely angularly positioned in the housing (5) with respect to the first terminal (3).

Claim 12

Independent Claim 230 words

A method of inserting elongate electrical terminals (3 and 3') into respective cavities (5') in an electrical connector housing (5), comprising the steps of supplying respective terminals (3) to terminal rotation means (30) at a terminal receiving position thereof, operating the terminal rotation means (30) to rotate each terminal (3), in the course of moving the terminal rotation means (30) from its terminal receiving position, towards the housing (5) and transferring each terminal (3) from the terminal rotation means (30) into a respective cavity (5) of the housing (5); characterised in that a first terminal (3) is rotated by the terminal rotation means (30) by 90° about the longitudinal axis of the first terminal (3), in a first sense, and is transferred into the cavity (5') whilst returning the terminal rotation means (30) to its terminal receiving position; and a second terminal (3') is then supplied to the terminal rotating means (30), which is operated to rotate the second terminal (3') through 90 0 about its longitudinal axis in a second sense opposite to the first sense, whilst moving the terminal rotating means (30) towards the housing (5), the second terminal (3') is then transferred from the terminal rotating means (30) into a second cavity (5') in the housing (5), whereby the second terminal (3') is oppositely angularly positioned in the housing (5) with respect to the first terminal (3).

Apparatus for, and a method of, inserting electrical terminals into an electrical connector housing

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