US3840962A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Mechanical analogue computer in a wiring machine
Assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
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Filing: 1973-11-09
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Granted: 1974-10-15
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Expires: 1993-11-09
Abstract
Abstract A wiring machine for bridging a discrete length of electrical wire between selected point-to-point locations of a printed circuit board and a mechanical analogue computer used to compute the length of wire required to bridge between the point-to-point locations. The machine includes a table which carries the printed circuit board for displacement along each of two orthogonal axes. The computer is responsive to displacement of the table and includes a system of gear trains for driving a wire feeding mechanism to feed a discrete length of wire corresponding to the length of table displacement along either of said orthogonal axes. When said table is diagonally displaced with respect to the orthogonal axes, the computer will drive the wire feeding mechanism to provide a length of wire equivalent to the length of such diagonal displacement, thereby providing discrete point-topoint wiring on the printed circuit board.
Inventors
- 👤 J Coller
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 05:26
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05K; H05K13/00; H05K13/06; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T29/00; Y10T29/51; Y10T29/5176; Y10T29/5177; Y10T29/53; Y10T29/53039; Y10T29/53061; Y10T29/5313; Y10T29/53174
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
230 words
A machine for bridging a discrete length of electrical wire between selected locations of a substrate, comprising: a table for supporting said substrate, means adjacent said table for connecting first and second ends of said wire, respectively at first and second selected locations on said substrate, first displacing means for displacing said table along a first orthogonal axis, second displacing means for displacing said table along a second orthogonal axis, computer means operatively connected to and responsive to said first and second displacing means for computing a required length of wire necessary to bridge between said one and said second locations, wire supply means for supplying a continuous length of electrical wire to said first mentioned means, wire feeding means operatively connected to said wire supply means and operatively connected to and responsive to said computer means for feeding said required length of wire from said wire supply means to said first mentioned means, and cutting means on said machine for cutting said required length of wire from said continuous length of wire supplied from said wire supply means, said computer means and said wire feeding means and said first mentioned means cooperating for bridging said required length of wire between said first and said second locations on said substrate and for connecting said first and said second wire ends at said first and said second locations of said substrate.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
230 words
A machine for bridging a discrete length of electrical wire between selected locations of a substrate, comprising: a table for supporting said substrate, means adjacent said table for connecting first and second ends of said wire, respectively at first and second selected locations on said substrate, first displacing means for displacing said table along a first orthogonal axis, second displacing means for displacing said table along a second orthogonal axis, computer means operatively connected to and responsive to said first and second displacing means for computing a required length of wire necessary to bridge between said one and said second locations, wire supply means for supplying a continuous length of electrical wire to said first mentioned means, wire feeding means operatively connected to said wire supply means and operatively connected to and responsive to said computer means for feeding said required length of wire from said wire supply means to said first mentioned means, and cutting means on said machine for cutting said required length of wire from said continuous length of wire supplied from said wire supply means, said computer means and said wire feeding means and said first mentioned means cooperating for bridging said required length of wire between said first and said second locations on said substrate and for connecting said first and said second wire ends at said first and said second locations of said substrate.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
113 words
The structure as recited in claim 1, wherein, said table is displaceable along a path defined and located along the vector sum of its displacements along said first and second orthogonal axes upon simultaneous displacement of said table by both said first and said second displacing means, said computer means and said wire feeding means and said first mentioned means cooperating to compute said required length of wire equivalent to the vector sum of the table displacements along said first and said second orthogonal axes and to bridge said required length of wire along said path located along the vector sum of the table displacements along said first and said second orthogonal axes.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
184 words
The structure as recited in claim 1, wherein, said computer means includes: first sensing means for sensing both clockwise and counterclockwise angular displacement about a first axis of angular rotation, converting means operatively coupled to and responsive to said first sensing means for converting both clockwise and counterclockwise angular displacement sensed by said sensing means into a first unidirectional angular displacement, and second sensing means for sensing both clockwise and counterclockwise angular displacement about a second axis of angular rotation, said converting means being operatively coupled to and responsive to said second sensing means for converting both clockwise and counterclockwise angular displacement sensed by said sensing means into a second unidirectional angular displacement, said converting means being operatively coupled to and responsive to both said first sensing means and said second sensing means for simultaneously converting clockwise and counterclockwise angular displacements sensed by both said first sensing means and said second sensing means into a third unidirectional angular displacement, said computer thereby producing a unidirectional angular displacement corresponding to the sEnsed angular displacements either clockwise or counterclockwise about both said first and second axes.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
159 words
In a wiring machine having a displaceable table for carrying a substrate, a wire connecting mechanism for connecting the ends of a discrete length of wire between selected locations of said substrate, a wire feeding mechanism for supplying to said wire connecting mechanism a discrete length of wire having a length equal to the spacing between said selected locations of said substrate, and a computing mechanism for computing the required length of said discrete length of wire necessary to bridge between said selected locations of said substrate, the improvement comprising: a direct mechanical coupling of said displacable table through said mechanism to said wire feeding mechanism, whereby a linear displacement of said table either axially or diagonally with respect to a pair of orthogonal axes of table displacement directly and mechanically drives said wire feeding mechanism through said computing mechanism to supply a discrete length of wire having a length necessary to bridge between said locations of said substrate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
159 words
In a wiring machine having a displaceable table for carrying a substrate, a wire connecting mechanism for connecting the ends of a discrete length of wire between selected locations of said substrate, a wire feeding mechanism for supplying to said wire connecting mechanism a discrete length of wire having a length equal to the spacing between said selected locations of said substrate, and a computing mechanism for computing the required length of said discrete length of wire necessary to bridge between said selected locations of said substrate, the improvement comprising: a direct mechanical coupling of said displacable table through said mechanism to said wire feeding mechanism, whereby a linear displacement of said table either axially or diagonally with respect to a pair of orthogonal axes of table displacement directly and mechanically drives said wire feeding mechanism through said computing mechanism to supply a discrete length of wire having a length necessary to bridge between said locations of said substrate.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
132 words
The structure as recited in claim 4, wherein, said displacable table includes a first drive means for displacing said table about one of said pair of orthogonal axes, a second drive means for displacing said table along a second of said pair of orthogonal axes, and said computing mechanism includes a system of gear trains for directly and mechanically coupling said first and second drive means to said wire feeding mechanism, whereby the length of wire supplied from said wire feeding mechanism is equal to the vector sum of displacement of said table with respect to said orthogonal axes, which table displacement is caused by simultaneous operation of both said first and said second drive means in order to drive said table at a diagonal displacement with respect to said orthogonal axes.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3186077A
Cited
US3231967A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-10-14 | 1978-04-15 | 1978-10-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-10-14 | 1982-04-15 | 1982-10-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-10-14 | 1986-04-15 | 1986-10-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |