Patent Application
20070261467
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a crimping tool and, more particularly, to a crimping tool having an angled crimping surface.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
Traditional crimp tools employ crimping jaws or crimping heads which provide structural support for the crimping process. Typical examples include “C” shaped crimp heads, nest type heads, flip latch heads and scissor action jaws. This invention relates specifically to scissor jaw action crimp tools similar to the tool disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,024,911 for example. Such tools may have one stationary jaw and one jaw that articulates, or two jaws that articulate. Most jaws are designed to accept crimp die sets. Other jaws are designed to operate die-less (without crimp dies). There are also jaws that have two or more grooves within each jaw with at least one of the grooves accepting a die and one groove die less (dedicated groove).
In application, most scissor action crimp tools are limited on output crimping force with upper limits at approximately 6 U.S. Short Tons. One difficulty with scissor action tools and 6 U.S. Short Tons of crimp force is the limited crimp range with traditional maximum conductor size being 500 kcmil copper. To one skilled in the art of crimping it is known that crimping 600 kcmil copper is possible with a 6 U.S. Short Ton tool with a crimping head that is “C” shaped, nested, or flip latch style. These tools employ a linear advancing die holder that is on the same longitudinal axis as the opposing die holder. As a result the crimping dies or dedicated crimp grooves are always in line with each other and the majority of the 6 tons of crimp force is applied uniformly and evenly to the connector which results in a good crimp.
With scissor acting jaws the opposing dies are often misaligned with respect to each other. As a result, the dies approach the connector in an arc fashion. As seen in
There is a desire to provide a crimp tool with a scissor type of acting jaws that do not cause pinching of the connector, thereby uniformly distributing the crimp force over the majority of the connector.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an electrical connector crimp tool is provided including a first crimp jaw section; and a second crimp jaw section pivotably connected to the first crimp jaw section. The second crimp jaw section includes a center crimp force axis directed towards an electrical connector during crimping. The second crimp jaw section includes a crimp groove for directly contacting the electrical connector during crimping. The crimp groove has a center crimp path axis which is angled relative to the center crimp force axis.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an electrical connector crimp tool is provided comprising a first crimp jaw section; and a second crimp jaw section pivotably connected to the first crimp jaw section. The second crimp jaw section comprises a center crimp force axis directed towards an electrical connector during crimping. The second crimp jaw section comprises a removable crimp die having a crimp groove for directly contacting the electrical connector during crimping. The crimp groove has a center crimp path axis which is angled relative to the center crimp force axis.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an electrical connector crimp tool is provided comprising a first crimp jaw; and a second crimp jaw pivotably connected to the first crimp jaw. The second crimp jaw comprises a center crimp force axis directed towards an electrical connector during crimping. The second crimp jaw comprises a crimp groove for directly contacting the electrical connector during crimping. The crimp groove has a center crimp path axis which is angled relative to the center crimp force axis.
The foregoing aspects and other features of the invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to
Although the invention is described with reference to a battery operated hydraulic tool, features of the invention could be used in a manual hand operated tool, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,222 for example. Although the invention will be described with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the invention can be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.
The jaw sections 28 are pivotably connected to each other at a connection 30. Referring also to
Each crimp die 32 has a crimp groove 42 for directly contacting the electrical connector during crimping. The crimp groove 42 has a center crimp path axis 44 which is aligned with the center crimp force axis 40. As noted above, this type of conventional working head can result in the problem seen in
Referring also to
The solution in this case is to rotate location of the crimp grooves within the crimp jaws (versus the location in the prior art) such that the crimp groove axes are better aligned with the connector. For a 600 kcmil copper connector using industry standard “W” crimp dies, an approximate adjustment of 8 degrees is desirable (90-82 degrees shown in
It is best to dedicate a crimp groove for one particular connector size, as in this case 600 kcmil. However it is certainly possible to have a rotated crimp groove that may do several or more sizes that deviate on sizes adjacent to 600 kcmil. It would also be possible to place a permanent groove that is rotated and can accept other dies.
Referring to
It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
