Crimping press capable of crimping terminals onto a range of wire sizes

Claim 1

Crimping apparatus for crimping a terminal onto a wire, the apparatus being of the type comprising an anvil for supporting the terminal, a crimping die which is movable along a path of reciprocation towards and away from the anvil between a remote position and a shut height position, a rotatable power shaft having an axis which extends normally of the path of reciprocation, a mechanical coupling between the power shaft and the crimping die for moving the crimping die to and fro along the path of reciprocation during each revolution of the power shaft and for transmitting the crimping force from the power shaft to the crimping die, the apparatus being characterized in that: the power shaft is pivotally movable in a direction perpendicular to its axis along the path away from the crimping die, the power shaft being supported against such movement by a resiliently yieldable shaft support, the resiliently yieldable shaft support comprising a first shaft bearing which is located adjacent to the mechanical coupling and the biasing means, at least a portion of the first shaft bearing being movable with the power shaft away from the anvil, the biasing means being in engagement with the first bearing and biasing the first bearing towards the anvil, the power shaft being pivotally movable with respect to a pivot axis which is spaced along the shaft axis from the first bearing, and the yieldable shaft support is calibrated to resiliently yield upon development of a predetermined reaction force thereon during the final stages of a crimping operation, the predetermined reaction force being the force which is sufficient to crimp terminals onto wires which lie within a predetermined range of sizes whereby, the apparatus can be used without adjustment or modification to crimp terminals onto wires within the range and the shut height of the crimping die will vary for wires and terminals of different sizes within the range.