Pin alignment apparatus

Claim 2

Apparatus for axial alignment of an elongated member secured in a base at one end thereof comprising: a receptacle having a seat shaped for coaxial seating of the unsecured end portion of said elongated member in said receptacle to provide for axial twisting of said member along a substantial portion of its length; means for supporting and positioning said receptacle along a desired axis of alignment of said member; and means for moving the receptacle to seat the unsecured end portion of said member and rotating said receptacle through an arc about the axis of said seat to produce axial twisting of said member beyond the elastic limit of the material of said member along its length and produce a seat in axial alignment of a substantial portion of said member along the axis of the receptacle seat, said receptacle being resiliently supported to bE axially deflected to limit the force applied to a member engaged during axial movement of said receptacle for seating of the member.

Claim 3

A pin alignment head comprising: a receptacle having an internal bore for receiving and seating the free end of a pin having its other end secured in a base; means for supporting and positioning said receptacle axially for seating the free end of said pin in the bore, said bore having an inner periphery for engaging the free end of the pin for twisting thereof; and means for resiliently loading said receptacle to provide for axial deflection thereof by engagement with a pin not seating in the opening during axially positioning of the receptacle.

Claim 4

A pin alignment head comprising: a receptacle having an internal bore for receiving and seating the free end of a pin having its other end secured in a base; means for supporting and positioning said receptacle axially for seating the free end of said pin in the bore, said bore having an inner periphery for engaging the free end of the pin for twisting thereof; and means for resiliently loading said receptacle to provide for axial deflection thereof by engagement with a pin not seating in the opening during axially positioning of the receptacle.

Claim 5

The pin alignment head according to claim 2 in which said alignment head comprises of a plurality of receptacles, each including an internal bore for seating the free ends of a corresponding plurality of pins for twisting of said pins.

Claim 6

The pin alignment head according to claim 2 in which said receptacle is disposed along a desired axis of alignment for said pin and comprises an elongated member having an internal bore for seating the free end of said pin to twist said pin and further includes means for rotating said receptacle along its longitudinal axis and through an arc for twisting said pin beyond the elastic limit of the pin material for setting the alignment of said pin.

Claim 7

The pin alignment head according to claim 2 in which the internal bore of said receptacle includes a tapered opening for receiving and deflecting the free end of said pin into said bore to be seated therein.

Claim 8

The pin alignment head according to claim 3 which further includes driving means coupled to each of said plurality receptacles for producing concurrent movement of said receptacles for seating the free ends of corresponding pins in said bores and producing concurrent rotation of said receptacles for axial twisting of corresponding seated pins beyond the elastic limit of the pin material along the lengths thereof for permanence in setting the alignment thereof.

Claim 9

Pin alignment apparatus comprising: a pin alignment head comprising a plurality of pin sockets disposed in uniform axial alignment for inducing corresponding alignment of a group of pins; means including automatic means for providing automatic coordinate movements of said head along coordinate row and column axes for selectively positioning said sockets along row and column axes for seating coaxially on the free ends of a selected group of pins in a row having opposite ends secured in a base for initiating alignment of the selected group of pins in a row and groups of pins in sequential alignment operations cycles and selectively positioning said group of sockets along the column axis for sequential alignment of pins in groups in subsequent rows; and said pin alignment head further comprising means for concurrently moving said sockets axially thereof to seat on the free ends of said pins of a coordinately selected group to provide for rotational engagement for twisting of the pins from the free ends thereof in a seating phase of each of said cycles and rotating said sockets after seating in an alignment phase of each of said cycles, said sockets being rotated through an arc to produce a relative twist along the length of said pins of the group beyond the elastic limit of the pin material whereby the pins of the group are straightened to be set to the uniform axial alignment of the respective sockets in the respective alignment cycle, said means for moving and rotating the pin sockets comprising actuating means supported for reciprocating and rotational movements along the same axes, said actuating means including a reciprocating member driven axially to produce axial movements and a rotatable member drivingly coupled to each of said sockets and responsive to at least a predetermined portion of said axial movements to rotate said member and said sockets concurrently.

Claim 10

Pin alignment apparatus comprising: a pin alignment head comprising a plurality of pin sockets disposed in uniform axial alignment for inducing corresponding alignment of a group of pins; means including automatic means for providing automatic coordinate movements of said head along coordinate row and column axes for selectively positioning said sockets along row and column axes for seating coaxially on the free ends of a selected group of pins in a row having opposite ends secured in a base for initiating alignment of the selected group of pins in a row and groups of pins in sequential alignment operations cycles and selectively positioning said group of sockets along the column axis for sequential alignment of pins in groups in subsequent rows; and said pin alignment head further comprising means for concurrently moving said sockets axially thereof to seat on the free ends of said pins of a coordinately selected group to provide for rotational engagement for twisting of the pins from the free ends thereof in a seating phase of each of said cycles and rotating said sockets after seating in an alignment phase of each of said cycles, said sockets being rotated through an arc to produce a relative twist along the length of said pins of the group beyond the elastic limit of the pin material whereby the pins of the group are straightened to be set to the uniform axial alignment of the respective sockets in the respective alignment cycle, said means for moving and rotating the pin sockets comprising actuating means supported for reciprocating and rotational movements along the same axes, said actuating means including a reciprocating member driven axially to produce axial movements and a rotatable member drivingly coupled to each of said sockets and responsive to at least a predetermined portion of said axial movements to rotate said member and said sockets concurrently.

Claim 11

The pin alignment Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said actuating means further includes a plurality of spindles for said sockets and a common pinion shaft coupling said rotatable member to said spindles to produce concurrent rotation of said sockets during the alignment phase of said cycle.

Claim 12

The pin alignment apparatus according to claim 8 in which said rotatable member comprises a cylindrical cam including means coupled to said reciprocating member to produce said rotation for twisting of said pins and providing for limited counter rotation to free the pin sockets prior to retraction thereof.

Claim 13

Pin alignment apparatus comprising: a plurality of pin sockets disposed in uniform axial alignment for inducing corresponding alignment of a plurality of pins; support means including means for positioning said sockets for seating coaxially on the free ends of said pins having opposite ends secured in a base for initiating an alignment operations cycle; means for concurrently moving said sockets axially thereof to seat on the free ends of said pins to provide rotational engagement for twisting of the pins from the free ends thereof in a seating phase of said cycle and rotating said sockets after seating in an alignment phase of said cycle, said sockets being rotated through an arc to produce a relative twist along the length of said pins beyond the elastic limit of the pin material whereby the pins are straightened to be set to the uniform axial alignment of the respective sockets, said latter means including a plurality of spindles for said sockets and a reciprocating member driven axially to produce axial movements; and a spindle housing for supporting said spindles for axial and rotational movement and resilient means coupling said housing to said reciprocating member for producing axial movements of said pin sockets.

Claim 14

Pin alignment apparatus comprising: a plurality of pin sockets disposed in uniform axial alignment for inducing corresponding alignment of a plurality of pins; support means including means for positioning said sockets for seating coaxially on the free ends of said pins having opposite ends secured in a base for initiating an alignment operations cycle; means for concurrently moving said sockets axially thereof to seat on the free ends of said pins to provide rotational engagement for twisting of the pins from the free ends thereof in a seating phase of said cycle and rotating said sockets after seating in an alignment phase of said cycle, said sockets being rotated through an arc to produce a relative twist along the length of said pins beyond the elastic limit of the pin material whereby the pins are straightened to be set to the uniform axial alignment of the respective sockets, said latter means including a plurality of spindles for said sockets and a reciprocating member driven axially to produce axial movements; and a spindle housing for supporting said spindles for axial and rotational movement and resilient means coupling said housing to said reciprocating member for producing axial movements of said pin sockets.

Claim 15

Pin alignment apparatus including a pin alignment head for axial alignment of an array of terminal pins uniformly spaced and projecting out of a panel board comprising: a positioning system arrangement for positioning of said panel board relative to said alignment head for sequential alignment of groups of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head comprising means including a group of pin sockets supported for axial and rotational movements and having seats disposed to provide the desired axial alignment for the terminal pins of said array, said group of pin sockets being rotated to provide the desired axial alignment of the group of pin sockets according to the uniform spacing between terminal pins of the particular array; means for producing axial movement of said pin sockets for seating a corresponding group of terminal pins disposed approximately coaxially with the seat of said pin sockets; means for concurrently rotating individual sockets of said group seated on the corresponding group of terminal pins, to twist said pins along the axial length thereof to produce a set in the alignment of the pins according to the alignment of the seats of respective pin sockets; and means for retracting said group of pin sockets including axial and rotational return movements for restoring the group of pin sockets to enable repositioning of the head and sockets for alignment of the next group of terminal pins in the array.

Claim 16

Pin alignment apparatus including a pin alignment head for axial alignment of an array of terminal pins uniformly spaced and projecting out of a panel board comprising: a positioning system arrangement for positioning of said panel board relative to said alignment head for sequential alignment of groups of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head comprising means including a group of pin sockets supported for axial and rotational movements and having seats disposed to provide the desired axial alignment for the terminal pins of said array, said group of pin sockets being rotated to provide the desired axial alignment of the group of pin sockets according to the uniform spacing between terminal pins of the particular array; means for producing axial movement of said pin sockets for seating a corresponding group of terminal pins disposed approximately coaxially with the seat of said pin sockets; means for concurrently rotating individual sockets of said group seated on the corresponding group of terminal pins, to twist said pins along the axial length thereof to produce a set in the alignment of the pins according to the alignment of the seats of respective pin sockets; and means for retracting said group of pin sockets including axial and rotational return movements for restoring the group of pin sockets to enable repositioning of the head and sockets for alignment of the next group of terminal pins in the array.

Claim 17

The pin alignment apparatus according to claim 11 in which said alignment head means includes automatic means for automatically positioning along both row and column coordinate axes of the array and cycling said head through an alignment operations cycle at each position for providing for a series of movements including said axial movement of said pin sockets for seating respective end portions of terminal pins of the coaxially disposed group, said rotating of individual pin sockets of said group through an arc to twist the seated group of pins to set the alignment thereof, and said movements for restoring the group of pin sockets.

Claim 18

Pin alignment apparatus including a pin alignment head fOr axial alignment of an array of terminal pins projecting out of a panel board comprising: a positioning system arrangement for positioning of said panel board relative to said alignment head for sequential alignment of groups of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head comprising means including a group of pin sockets supported for axial and rotational movements and having seats disposed to provide the desired axial alignment for the terminal pins of said array; means for producing axial movement of said pin sockets for seating a corresponding group of terminal pins disposed approximately coaxially with the seat of said pin sockets; means for concurrently rotating individual sockets of said group seated on the corresponding group of terminal pins to twist said pins along the axial length thereof to produce a set in the alignment of the pins according to the alignment of the seats of respective pin sockets; and means for retracting said group of pin sockets including axial and rotational return movements for restoring the group of pin sockets to enable repositioning of the head and sockets for alignment of the next group of terminal pins in the array; the configuration of the terminal pins and pin sockets at opposing seating surfaces requires circumferential alignment of said pin sockets to seat on end portions of coaxially disposed pins, and said means for supporting the group of pin sockets includes means for resiliently biasing said sockets to provide for deferring of terminal pin seating until the pin sockets are circumferentially aligned during rotation for seating on said terminal pins.

Claim 19

Pin alignment apparatus including a pin alignment head fOr axial alignment of an array of terminal pins projecting out of a panel board comprising: a positioning system arrangement for positioning of said panel board relative to said alignment head for sequential alignment of groups of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head comprising means including a group of pin sockets supported for axial and rotational movements and having seats disposed to provide the desired axial alignment for the terminal pins of said array; means for producing axial movement of said pin sockets for seating a corresponding group of terminal pins disposed approximately coaxially with the seat of said pin sockets; means for concurrently rotating individual sockets of said group seated on the corresponding group of terminal pins to twist said pins along the axial length thereof to produce a set in the alignment of the pins according to the alignment of the seats of respective pin sockets; and means for retracting said group of pin sockets including axial and rotational return movements for restoring the group of pin sockets to enable repositioning of the head and sockets for alignment of the next group of terminal pins in the array; the configuration of the terminal pins and pin sockets at opposing seating surfaces requires circumferential alignment of said pin sockets to seat on end portions of coaxially disposed pins, and said means for supporting the group of pin sockets includes means for resiliently biasing said sockets to provide for deferring of terminal pin seating until the pin sockets are circumferentially aligned during rotation for seating on said terminal pins.

Claim 20

The pin alignment apparatus according to claim 12 in which said automatic means includes means for reversing the rotation of the group of pin sockets through an arc sufficient to relieve the stress induced by twisting of said group of terminal pins in order to free the sockets of the group before retracting the pin sockets by axial movement to restore said sockets.

Claim 21

The pin alignment apparatus according to claim 12 in which said automatic means includes means for detecting completion of operations in the cycle and means for automatically repositioning of said alignment head to sequential groups of terminal pins along both row and column axes.

Claim 22

Pin alignment apparatus including a pin alignment head for axial alignment of an array of terminal pins projecting out of a panel board comprising: a positioning system arrangement for positioning of said panel board relative to said alignment head for sequential alignment of groups of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head comprising means including a group of pin sockets supported for axial and rotational movements and having seats disposed to provide the desired axial alignment for the terminal pins of said array; means for producing axial movement of said pin sockets for seating a corresponding group of terminal pins disposed approximately coaxially with the seat of said pin sockets; means for concurrently rotating individual sockets of said group seated on the corresponding group of terminal pins to twist said pins along the axial length thereof to produce a set in the alignment of the pins according to the alignment of the seats of respective pin sockets; means for retracting said group of pin sockets including axial and rotational return movements for restoring the group of pin sockets to enable repositioning of the head and sockets for alignment of the next group of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head means includes automatic means for automatically positioning along both X and Y axes of the array and cycling said head through an alignment operations cycle at each position for providing for a series of movements including said axial movement of said pin sockets for seating respective end portions of terminal pins of the coaxially disposed group, said rotating of individual pin sockets of said group through an arc to twist The seated group of pins to set the alignment thereof, and said movements for restoring the group of pin sockets wherein said automatic means includes means for reversing the rotation of the group of pin sockets through an arc sufficient to relieve the stress induced by twisting of said group of terminal pins in order to free the sockets of the group before retracting the pin sockets by axial movement to restore said sockets; and means for producing a sequence including retraction of said pin sockets axially before completing the reverse rotation of the pin sockets to their initial circumferential position at the beginning of the operations cycle.

Claim 23

Pin alignment apparatus including a pin alignment head for axial alignment of an array of terminal pins projecting out of a panel board comprising: a positioning system arrangement for positioning of said panel board relative to said alignment head for sequential alignment of groups of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head comprising means including a group of pin sockets supported for axial and rotational movements and having seats disposed to provide the desired axial alignment for the terminal pins of said array; means for producing axial movement of said pin sockets for seating a corresponding group of terminal pins disposed approximately coaxially with the seat of said pin sockets; means for concurrently rotating individual sockets of said group seated on the corresponding group of terminal pins to twist said pins along the axial length thereof to produce a set in the alignment of the pins according to the alignment of the seats of respective pin sockets; means for retracting said group of pin sockets including axial and rotational return movements for restoring the group of pin sockets to enable repositioning of the head and sockets for alignment of the next group of terminal pins in the array; said alignment head means includes automatic means for automatically positioning along both X and Y axes of the array and cycling said head through an alignment operations cycle at each position for providing for a series of movements including said axial movement of said pin sockets for seating respective end portions of terminal pins of the coaxially disposed group, said rotating of individual pin sockets of said group through an arc to twist The seated group of pins to set the alignment thereof, and said movements for restoring the group of pin sockets wherein said automatic means includes means for reversing the rotation of the group of pin sockets through an arc sufficient to relieve the stress induced by twisting of said group of terminal pins in order to free the sockets of the group before retracting the pin sockets by axial movement to restore said sockets; and means for producing a sequence including retraction of said pin sockets axially before completing the reverse rotation of the pin sockets to their initial circumferential position at the beginning of the operations cycle.

Claim 24

Pin alignment apparatus for straightening of elongated members formed of material having an elastic limit and secured in a base at one end thereof, comprising: a receptacle having opening for receiving and engaging the unsecured end of an elongated member for seating in said opening; means for supporting and positioning said receptacle along the desired axis of alignment of the elongated member relative to other members, said receptacle being resiliently supported to be biased toward said member for axial deflection by said member in order to limit axial force applied to a member engaged during axial seating movements of said receptacle; and means for moving the receptacle for seating the unsecured end portion of said member and for rotating the receptacle through an arc about the desired axis to produce axial, relative twisting of the material of the member beyond its elastic limit along a substantial portion of its length between the seated and secured ends thereof so that a permanent set is induced in the material along the length of the member for retaining the straightening of the member along a substantial portion of its length and for producing the desired axial alignment of the member.

Claim 25

Pin alignment apparatus for straightening of elongated members formed of material having an elastic limit and secured in a base at one end thereof, comprising: a receptacle having opening for receiving and engaging the unsecured end of an elongated member for seating in said opening; means for supporting and positioning said receptacle along the desired axis of alignment of the elongated member relative to other members, said receptacle being resiliently supported to be biased toward said member for axial deflection by said member in order to limit axial force applied to a member engaged during axial seating movements of said receptacle; and means for moving the receptacle for seating the unsecured end portion of said member and for rotating the receptacle through an arc about the desired axis to produce axial, relative twisting of the material of the member beyond its elastic limit along a substantial portion of its length between the seated and secured ends thereof so that a permanent set is induced in the material along the length of the member for retaining the straightening of the member along a substantial portion of its length and for producing the desired axial alignment of the member.

Claim 30

The method of claim 19 in which the drive members are moved axially to unseat the pin and the twisting force applied to the pin by the drive members is removed prior to axial movement of the drive members to remove counter torque and friction between the drive members and pin.