Lead cut and outward clinch mechanism

Claim 1

An apparatus for shearing the ends of the component leads projecting through a circuit board and clinching the remaining portions to the underside of said circuit board, and comprising: a spindle reciprocatable along and pivotal about a longitudinal axis; a head assembly mounted to said spindle and comprising pivotal former means and immobilized cutter means for cooperating with said pivotal former means and shearing said ends, said former means for guiding and receiving said leads into said head assembly and for moving said leads into shearing engagement with said cutter means and for clinching said remaining portions; means for attaching said former means and said cutter means to said head assembly on a common axis generally perpendicular to said longitudinal axis; cover means removeably attached to said spindle for substantially enclosing said head assembly and said spindle and limiting the ingress of foreign objects thereto and immobilizing said cutter means; adjustable bias means attached to said cover means for adjustably biasing said former means away from said cutter means; spreader means reciprocatable along said longitudinal axis relative to said spindle for engaging said former means and actuating said shearing and clinching against the biasing of said bias means; detector means for engaging said leads during said shearing and for detecting the presence and absence of said leads; a scrap removal means in said head assembly for receiving said sheared ends and evacuating them out of said head assembly; a tubular housing telescopically receiving an adjustable bearing means for telescopically receiving said spindle and adjusting upper and lower limits of reciprocation of said spindle; indexing means for rotating said spindle about said longitudinal axis and orienting said former means for reception of said leads; and means for actuating said index means, reciprocating said spindle, and reciprocating said spreader means, upon command.

Claim 2

An apparatus for shearing the ends of the component leads projecting through a circuit board and clinching the remaining portions to the underside of said circuit board, and comprising: a spindle reciprocatable along and pivotal about a longitudinal axis; a head assembly mounted to said spindle and comprising pivotal former means and immobilized cutter means for cooperating with said pivotal former means and shearing said ends, said former means for guiding and receiving said leads into said head assembly and for moving said leads into shearing engagement with said cutter means and for clinching said remaining portions; means for attaching said former means and said cutter means to said head assembly on a common axis generally perpendicular to said longitudinal axis; cover means removeably attached to said spindle for substantially enclosing said head assembly and said spindle and limiting the ingress of foreign objects thereto and immobilizing said cutter means; adjustable bias means attached to said cover means for adjustably biasing said former means away from said cutter means; spreader means reciprocatable along said longitudinal axis relative to said spindle for engaging said former means and actuating said shearing and clinching against the biasing of said bias means; detector means for engaging said leads during said shearing and for detecting the presence and absence of said leads; a scrap removal means in said head assembly for receiving said sheared ends and evacuating them out of said head assembly; a tubular housing telescopically receiving an adjustable bearing means for telescopically receiving said spindle and adjusting upper and lower limits of reciprocation of said spindle; indexing means for rotating said spindle about said longitudinal axis and orienting said former means for reception of said leads; and means for actuating said index means, reciprocating said spindle, and reciprocating said spreader means, upon command.

Claim 3

An apparatus for cutting and clinching the component leads projecting beneath a circuit board, said apparatus comprising: a spindle reciprocatable along an axis; a head assembly mounted to said spindle, and comprising pivotal former means and immobilized cutter means for cooperating with said pivotal former means and shearing ends of said leads, said former means for moving said leads into engagement with and across said cutter means for said shearing and clinching; cover means removeably attached to said spindle for substantially enclosing said head assembly and said spindle for limiting the ingress of foreign objects thereto and immobilizing said cutter means; lead receiving means in said former means for receiving and guiding said leads into said former means prior to said shearing and for guiding said remaining portions of said leads out of said former means during said clinching; and reciprocatable spreader means for reciprocating along said axis relative to said spindle and actuating said former means.

Claim 4

An apparatus for cutting and clinching the component leads projecting beneath a circuit board, said apparatus comprising: a spindle reciprocatable along an axis; a head assembly mounted to said spindle, and comprising pivotal former means and immobilized cutter means for cooperating with said pivotal former means and shearing ends of said leads, said former means for moving said leads into engagement with and across said cutter means for said shearing and clinching; cover means removeably attached to said spindle for substantially enclosing said head assembly and said spindle for limiting the ingress of foreign objects thereto and immobilizing said cutter means; lead receiving means in said former means for receiving and guiding said leads into said former means prior to said shearing and for guiding said remaining portions of said leads out of said former means during said clinching; and reciprocatable spreader means for reciprocating along said axis relative to said spindle and actuating said former means.