Crimping and wire lead insertion machine having improved insertion means

Claim 1

In a machine for crimping a plurality of electrical terminals one at a time onto wire leads, said machine including a press actuable for up and down movement and a die assembly mounted on said press, said die assembly including a die shoe with a crimp station whereat a terminal is crimped onto a wire lead, an insertion station whereat a terminated wire lead is presented, and a housing indexing assembly for supporting at least one connector housing having a plurality of terminal receiving recesses formed therein and indexing one of said recesses at the insertion station, an insertion assembly for inserting a terminated wire lead into a terminal receiving recess at the insertion station, a punch holder mounted on the press for movement therewith opposite and spaced from said die shoe having a crimp punch over the crimp station to crimp a terminal thereat, and a terminal feed assembly for supporting and feeding a strip of terminals one at a time to the crimp station in response to the movement of the press, the improvement comprising: said insertion assembly including a push member for engaging a terminal crimped on the end of a wire lead and inserting said terminal into the terminal receiving recess at the insertion station, said push member being mounted for programmed reciprocal movement in a direction substantially coincident with the longitudinal axis of said recess in response to the press between a preinsertion position not in contact with the terminal and an insertion position in engagement with the terminal inserted within the recess; and guide means mounted on the punch holder above the insertion station for guiding the terminal into a terminal receiving recess.