U.S. patent application number 10/612547 was filed with the patent office on 2004-01-15 for crimping press with contact feed.
Invention is credited to Imgrut, Peter, Meisser, Claudio.
Application Number | 20040007042 10/612547 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 30011300 |
Filed Date | 2004-01-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040007042 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Imgrut, Peter ; et
al. |
January 15, 2004 |
Crimping press with contact feed
Abstract
A crimping press has a cassette that can be inserted from the
rear of the press and carries a contact roll containing a supply of
belted crimp contacts. A contact belt passes over a tension pulley
and, twisting through 90.degree., is guided onto a lower tool. A
paper tape reel is driven over a toothed pulley by a mating gear
located in the crimping press.
Inventors: |
Imgrut, Peter; (Baar,
CH) ; Meisser, Claudio; (Cham, CH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MACMILLAN SOBANSKI & TODD, LLC
ONE MARITIME PLAZA FOURTH FLOOR
720 WATER STREET
TOLEDO
OH
43604-1619
US
|
Family ID: |
30011300 |
Appl. No.: |
10/612547 |
Filed: |
July 2, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
72/412 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R 43/055
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
72/412 |
International
Class: |
B21D 037/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 10, 2002 |
EP |
02405584.0 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A crimping press for producing a crimped connection with an
upper tool and a lower tool, the upper tool being moved in a linear
motion to crimp a contact onto an end of a conductor which contact
is laid on the lower tool, comprising: a cassette adapted to be
removably inserted into a crimping press having an upper tool, the
cassette including a lower tool with a contact advancer and a
supply of contacts whereby when said cassette is inserted into the
crimping press, the upper tool cooperates with said lower tool to
crimp said contacts onto conductors.
2. The crimping press according to claim 1 wherein said cassette is
insertable from a rear of the crimping press, said cassette having
guides and a supporting surface cooperating with guide surfaces and
a support surface respectively of the crimping press, and including
a positioning mechanism for positioning said cassette horizontally
and vertically in the crimping press.
3. The crimping press according to claim 2 wherein said positioning
mechanism includes a drive connected to a guide, and a pusher and a
locking lever swiveling on said guide whereby movement of said
guide by said drive in a predetermined direction positions said
cassette horizontally and vertically.
4. The crimping press according to claim 1 wherein said lower tool
has a vertical cutter guide, a cutter for separating the contacts
from a carrier belt and for fragmenting the carrier belt, and an
anvil for producing the crimp connection.
5. The crimping press according to claim 4 wherein said cutter has
a slider with a cutting edge and a fixed cutting block with a
spring, each contact being separable from said carrier belt by said
cutting edge engaging a cutting edge of said anvil.
6. The crimping press according to claim 1 wherein the contacts are
on a carrier belt and said contact advancer has an advancing finger
executing a swiveling movement and engaging in transporting holes
of the carrier belt, said advancing finger being moved an advancing
drive.
7. A crimping press for crimping a contact onto an end of a
conductor comprising: a crimping press having an upper tool movable
in a linear motion; a cassette removably inserted into said
crimping press; a lower tool mounted on said cassette; a supply of
contacts mounted on said cassette; and a contact advancer mounted
on said cassette for advancing contacts from said supply of
contacts into said lower tool whereby said upper tool cooperates
with said lower tool to crimp said contacts onto conductors.
8. The crimping press according to claim 7 wherein said cassette is
insertable from a rear of said crimping press, said cassette having
guides and a supporting surface cooperating with guide surfaces and
a support surface respectively of said crimping press, and
including a positioning mechanism for positioning said cassette
horizontally and vertically in said crimping press.
9. The crimping press according to claim 8 wherein said positioning
mechanism includes a drive connected to a guide, and a pusher and a
locking lever swiveling on said guide whereby movement of said
guide by said drive in a predetermined direction positions said
cassette horizontally and vertically.
10. The crimping press according to claim 7 wherein said lower tool
has a vertical cutter guide, a cutter for separating said contacts
from a carrier belt and for fragmenting said carrier belt, and an
anvil for producing the crimp connection.
11. The crimping press according to claim 10 wherein said cutter
has a slider with a cutting edge and a fixed cutting block with a
spring, each said contact being separable from said carrier belt by
said cutting edge engaging a cutting edge of said anvil.
12. The crimping press according to claim 7 wherein said contacts
are on a carrier belt and said contact advancer has an advancing
finger executing a swiveling movement and engaging in transporting
holes of said carrier belt, said advancing finger being moved an
advancing drive.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a crimping press for
producing a crimped connection by means of an upper tool and a
lower tool, in which the upper tool by means of a linear motion
crimps onto an end of a conductor a crimp contact which can be laid
on the lower tool.
[0002] In conventional crimping tools, the parts for advancing the
contact, as well as the fixed lower tool and the upper tool
arranged above it to move in a guide, are constructed as a unit.
Also, the contacts are fed in either horizontal or curved manner,
which results in a relatively wide construction. To feed the crimp
contacts which are wound on rolls into the press makes elaborate
extensions to the cable processing machine necessary. With
conventional tool technology, these factors cause the space needed
per crimping press with its tool and contact feeder to be large,
and the changeover time when the empty contact roll needs to be
replaced, or a different type of contact to be processed, to be
long.
[0003] The Japanese patent specification 07320843 shows a crimping
press in which belted crimped contacts are processed. A crimping
die and an anvil produce a squeezed connection between a crimp
contact and a cable. The belted crimp contacts are fed onto a
circular contact guide, the contact belt being moved forward by an
advancing finger.
[0004] A disadvantage of this known device is that when the
crimping tool is changed, or when the contact belt roll is changed,
long downtimes result. Furthermore, the space required by crimping
presses arranged side by side is large, because of the extensions
on the sides of the presses.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention provides a solution for avoiding the
disadvantages of the above-described known device, and creating a
crimping press which is narrow, simply constructed, and allows
short times for changing tools and contacts.
[0006] In the crimping press according to the present invention,
the upper tool with crimping die is a unit which can be used
directly in the pressing slider. The lower tool with anvil and
contact advance, the contact roll, and the contact feeder are
contained in a cassette which forms an interchangeable insert. The
crimp contacts are fed to the crimping tool in the form of an arc,
which causes the crimping press to be narrow. The lateral space
requirements for a crimping press are approximately halved, and the
changeover time is substantially reduced. On account of the
mechanical separation of the upper tool from the lower tool, the
contact belt no longer has to be unthreaded. On the crimping press
according to the present invention, the crimping height is
programmable (variable dead point). This also dispenses with the
manual adjustment of the crimping height and crimping tool which is
necessary on conventional tools.
[0007] Integrated into the receptacle for the upper tool in the
pressing slider is a force sensor to monitor the crimping force. On
conventional tools, this sensor must be built in either above the
coupling between the pressing slide and the tool, or under the
baseplate of the tool. This has the consequence that as well as the
actual crimping forces, other forces (contact advance, cutting
forces for separating the contact from the carrier belt, friction,
etc.) are measured along with them. By contrast, in the crimping
press concept according to the present invention, only those forces
relevant for evaluating the quality of the crimping are
measured.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The above, as well as other advantages of the present
invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art
from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment
when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in
which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a crimping press in
accordance with the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the crimping press shown in
FIG. 1 with the cassette removed and the upper tool removed;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled upper tool
shown in FIG. 1 from the front;
[0012] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the upper tool
shown in FIG. 3;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a tool receptacle for the
upper tool;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper tool inserted in
the tool receptacle;
[0015] FIG. 7 are perspective vies and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional
view showing details of a lower tool; and
[0016] FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 are perspective views of details of
positioning the cassette.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a crimping press CR according to the
present invention. FIG. 1 shows the crimping press CR assembled and
FIG. 2 shows the press CR with a cassette KA removed and with an
upper tool OW removed. A motor MO drives a gear GE. On an output
side of the gear GE is an eccentric device that converts the
rotational motion of the motor MO and the gear GE into a linear
up-and-down motion that can be transmitted to a pressing slider 11
being guided by a pair of spaced apart vertically extending guides
FU.
[0018] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show details of the upper tool OW, which
encompasses parts subject to wear such as a wire crimper 1, an
insulation crimper 2, and a cutting punch 3. Depending on the
crimped contact to be processed, further wear parts and distance
plates may be necessary. The wire crimper 1 is bolted tightly to a
holder 4, the remaining wear parts inserted, and the upper tool OW
closed with a front plate 5. To adjust the height of the insulation
crimping, a distancing piece 6 is exchangeable. The cutting punch 3
is supported in the upper tool OW in vertically movable manner, its
motion being limited by the dimensions of an oval hole 7 formed in
the punch.
[0019] As shown in FIG. 5, the upper tool OW is inserted manually
into a tool receptacle 10 arranged at the lower end of the pressing
slider 11, and held against a pin 13 by means of a latch 12. When
changing the tool, the latch 12, which is pushed upward by a pair
of compression springs 12.1, is pushed downward by means of an
extensible piston 14. For this purpose, the piston 14 must be
extended, and the pressing slider 11 must execute a vertical motion
in an upward direction.
[0020] Via supporting surfaces 15 of the upper tool OW, forces
arising during crimping are transmitted to a force sensor 16
positioned between the tool receptacle 10 and the slider 11.
[0021] FIG. 6 shows the upper tool OW inserted in the tool
receptacle 10. In a crimping operation, the cutting punch 3
actuates the cutter of a lower tool UW (FIGS. 1 and 2), by means of
which cutter a crimp contact 20 is separated from a carrier belt
21, and the carrier belt 21 fragmented. The forces arising when
this is done do not pass through the force sensor 16, because the
cutting punch 3 can move vertically in the upper tool OW, and lies
directly against a body 22 of the pressing slider 11.
[0022] The cassette KA, shown in FIG. 2, is insertable from the
rear of the crimping press CR and encompasses a contact roll 30
which contains the supply of the belted crimp contacts 20. A
contact belt KO passes over a tension pulley 32 and, being twisted
through 90.degree., is guided onto the lower tool UW. A paper-tape
reel 34 is driven via a toothed pulley by a mating gear located in
the crimping press CR.
[0023] Vertically spring-loaded guide bars 33 are arranged at both
sides of the cassette KA and serve to insert the cassette KA into
the crimping press CR for cassette changing, the guide bars 33
being guided in guides 33.1 of the crimping press CR. On insertion,
the cassette KA is connected pneumatically and electrically to the
crimping press CR by means of a quick-change plug connector 36.
[0024] FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 show details of the lower tool UW
comprising a vertical cutter guide 40, a cutter 41 for separating
the crimp contacts 20 from the carrier belt 21 and for fragmenting
the carrier, belt 21, an anvil 42 for producing a crimped
connection, and a contact surface 43 for guiding the crimp contacts
20. The fragmented carrier belt 21 falls into a waste pipe 44.
[0025] Advancing of the crimp contacts 20 is performed by a
swiveling movement of an advancing finger 45. This finger 45
engages in transporting holes of the carrier belt 21, and takes the
form of a spring-loaded catch which only pushes the contacts 20
forward when it swivels upward. The two end-positions of the
swiveling movement can be set with a pair of setting screws 46.1,
which determine the end-positions of a pneumatic advancing drive
46. Swiveling and guiding the contact belt KO while being advanced
is performed by a plurality of guides 47. These guides 47 are
collectively adjustable in the direction of the belt, so that the
position of the crimp contact 20 on the lower tool UW, and on the
anvil 42, can be determined with precision.
[0026] The crimped connection is produced by means of the upper
tool OW and lower tool UW, the upper tool OW by means of a linear
motion crimping onto an end of a conductor LE the crimp contact 20
which can be laid on the lower tool UW. This is shown in detail in
FIG. 9. The crimp contact 20 attached to the carrier belt 21 has
lugs 20.1 for the wire crimp, and lugs 20.2 for the insulating
crimp, the lugs 20.1 and 20.2 being plastically deformed by means
of the wire crimper 1 and insulation crimper 2 respectively, and
after the crimping operation tightly encircling a wire LD and
surrounding insulation LI respectively. The cutter 41 for
separating the crimp contact 20 from the carrier strip 21 comprises
a slider 41.1 with a cutting edge 41.2, and a non-moving cutting
block 41.3 with spring 41.4. In the crimping operation, the cutting
punch 3 moves the slider 41.1 downward against the spring force of
the spring 41.4, separating the crimp contact 20 by means of the
cutting edge 41.2 and a cutting edge 42.1 of the anvil 42.
[0027] FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 show details of the exact positioning
of the cassette KA in the crimping press CR. A V-shaped supporting
surface 50 of the cassette KA, and a V-shaped supporting surface
53.1 of a housing 53, serve to guide the cassette KA, it being
possible for the V-shape of the supporting surfaces 50 and 53.1 to
have a footing. A nose 51 with a stop 52 serves to position the
cassette KA, and a positioning mechanism 54 arranged on the housing
53 being provided as an active positioning component. FIG. 10 shows
the positioning mechanism 54 in the released state necessary for
cassette-changing, and FIG. 11 shows the positioning mechanism 54
in the activated state, in which the cassette KA is positioned and
tightly gripped. The positioning mechanism 54 consists of a drive,
for example a pneumatic cylinder 54.1, which is connected to a
guide 54.2 by means of a pneumatic plunger 54.9. Arranged in a
swiveling manner on the guide 54.2 are a pusher 54.3 and a locking
lever 54.4. The guide 54.2 and the locking lever 54.4 are guided on
each side in a vertical groove 53.2 of a side wall 53.3 of the
housing 53. Furthermore, the locking lever 54.4, which is fastened
by means of a swiveling axle 54.7 to the guide 54.2, is guided at
each side in a horizontal groove 53.4 of the housing side wall
53.3. When the guide 54.2 is lifted, a pressure bolt 54.6 of the
locking lever 54.4 is guided in a curve onto the nose 51. When the
guide 54.2 is raised, the pusher 54.3 which is held by an axle 54.7
is also moved upward, at which the pusher 54.3 under the force of a
compression spring 54.8 presses against the stop 52 of the nose 51.
With the movement of the pusher 54.3 and the pressure bolt 54.6,
the cassette KA is positioned horizontally and vertically.
[0028] In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes,
the present invention has been described in what is considered to
represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted
that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically
illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or
scope.
* * * * *