Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6658726
-
Patent Number
6,658,726
-
Date Filed
Friday, August 18, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, December 9, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Vidovich; Gregory
- Compton; Eric
Agents
- Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 029 753
- 029 755
- 029 33 M
- 029 33 F
- 029 747
- 029 748
- 029 749
- 029 861
- 029 863
- 029 865
- 029 866
- 029 867
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A swing-down separating means (24) connected to the pivot arm (21) is provided for the initial separation of the two cables (3,4) of a double crimped cable (25). This separating means may be moved such that it is in detachable engagement with a guide and separating part (28) arranged in a first cable deposit trough (26) which may be emptied as a result of a lateral pivotal movement. To transfer the double crimped cables (25) in the separated condition in the emptying position of the first cable deposit trough (26), this first cable guide and separating part (28) may in turn be moved such that it is in detachable engagement with a second cable guide and separating part (29) arranged in a second cable deposit trough (27), which is located below the first cable deposit trough (26) and may be moved laterally in the longitudinal direction.
Description
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a cable deposit device for automatic cable processing units.
The manufacture of double crimped cables by means of automatic cable processing units is known, in which two cables having possibly different cross-sections and different lengths are mutually connected at their one-end by means of a single crimp contact and were likewise each provided with a crimp contact at their other ends. Here, there is a risk of the two cable portions which are mutually connected in this manner becoming tangled with one another, and, after their manufacture, necessitates immediate removal and spatial separation of the two free cable portions by hand, as well as an appropriate deposit area.
The object of the present invention is to provide a cable deposit device of the type mentioned at the outset, which does not have the above-described disadvantages of the previous devices, that is to say by means of which two cable which are processed parallel to one another are deposited in a cable deposit trough such that, even when they are mutually connected at one end by way of a double crimp contact, they are spaced apart from one another at least over part of their length so that they may be separated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is explained in more detail below by way of example, with reference to the drawing, in which:
FIG. 1
shows a schematic sketch of an exemplary embodiment of a cable deposit device according to the invention combined with a previously known automatic cable processing unit;
FIG. 2
shows a perspective view of part of the cable deposit device illustrated in the sketch of
FIG. 1
;
FIGS. 3
to
5
shows perspective views analogous to
FIG. 2
, but illustrated in each case after a further operating step and without the receiving conveyor belt for the sake of clarity;
FIG. 6
shows a perspective view similar to
FIG. 3
, but from a different viewing angle, with the double crimped cable deposited in the first cable deposit trough;
FIG. 7
shows a perspective view analogous to
FIG. 6
, but as a double crimped cable is transferred from the first, laterally pivotal cable deposit trough into the second cable deposit trough, which may be drawn out in its longitudinal direction.
FIG. 8
shows, on an enlarged scale, a perspective view of the two cable gripping units mounted next to one another on a pivot arm according to
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 9
shows a section along the line A—A in
FIG. 8
;
FIG. 10
shows a perspective view, illustrated in a partial section, of the drive of the swing-down separating unit associated with the cable gripping unit in
FIG. 9
; and
FIG. 11
shows a section along the line B—B in FIG.
10
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention relates to a cable deposit device for automatic cable processing units for depositing two cables on at least one cable receiving surface, said cables being connected at their one end to form a double cable, cut to size and stretched out, and for separating these cables after they have been processed, a cable receiving region being formed in the region, of the ejection axes of cables conveyed out of the automatic cable processing unit, and a pivot arm having at least one cable gripping unit being provided in the cable entry region of said cable receiving region, said pivot arm serving to grip the rear ends—as seen in their transport direction—of the two cables and to supply the rear ends to be processed of the two cables to at least one cable processing station located in the pivot region of the pivot arm, the pivot region of he pivot arm extending. beyond :both ejection axes, and the last cable processing station in the cable processing procedure being constructed as a double crimping unit.
In the exemplary embodiment described, below, the cable receiving surface is formed by an upper carrying side of a continuously revolving receiving conveyor-belt
14
to form a region
15
for receiving and stretching out the cables. However, for shorter cables
3
,
4
, a stationary cable receiving surface would suffice.
As can be seen in particular in
FIG. 1
, the cable deposit device
1
is connected to a conventional, previously known automatic cable processing unit
2
to form a common operating unit, and functions such that cables
3
and
4
, which have been processed by the automatic cable processing unit
2
, may be deposited separately for the manufacture of so-called double crimped cables
25
or for example two single conductors having different diameters.
By means of the two belt drive units
5
and
6
, the two cables
3
and
4
are supplied in known manner to a pivot head
7
which supplies the leading ends of the cables
3
and
4
to one or more of the processing stations
8
to
11
for the purpose of stripping them and then pressing a crimp contact thereon.
After the leading ends of the two cables
3
and
4
have been processed, they are ejected at high speed along the two ejection axes
12
and
13
into the cable deposit device
1
.
In the region of the two ejection axes
12
,
13
of the two cables
3
,
4
conveyed out of the automatic cable processing unit
2
, a region
15
for receiving and stretching out the cables is formed by an upper carrying side of a continuously revolving receiving conveyor belt
14
. Here, the receiving conveyor belt
14
is guided by way of the two idler pulleys
16
and
17
(FIG.
2
), and is driven by means of a drive motor
18
connected to the idler pulley
17
, such that the rotational speed of the receiving conveyor belt
14
is greater than the ejection speed of the two cables
3
and
4
conveyed out of the automatic cable processing unit
2
, in order that the two cables are received stretched out on the region
15
for receiving and stretching out the cables.
A pivot arm
21
having two cable gripping units
19
and
20
is provided in the cable entry region of the receiving conveyor belt
14
, said pivot arm being intended for gripping the rear ends-as seen in their transport direction-of the two cables
3
and
4
and for supplying the rear ends of the two cables
3
and
4
to a stripping unit
42
located in the pivot region of the pivot arm
21
, then to a unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together, and then to a double crimping unit
22
. Here, the unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together may be constructed in the manner described in the unpublished European patent application 98 810 861.9. In the unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together, the previously stripped rear ends of the two cables
3
and
4
are placed together and then mutually connected in a double crimping unit
22
by means of a common crimp contact.
Here, the pivot arm
21
provided with two cable gripping units
19
and
20
may be part of the automatic cable processing unit
2
or part of the cable deposit device
1
.
Here, in known manner, a first motor drive
47
serves to pivot the pivot arm
21
in precisely controlled manner, and a second motor drive
46
serves to displace the latter in the longitudinal direction (FIG.
8
).
As can be seen in
FIGS. 2
to
7
, in that pivoted position of the pivot arm
21
(illustrated by dashed lines in
FIG. 1
) which is. associated with the unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together, provided below the two cable gripping units
19
and
20
connected to the pivot arm there is both a cable supporting arrangement which is provided with a pivotal cable supporting bracket
23
and which, in this displaced, pivoted position of the pivot arm
21
, lifts the two rear ends, which have been brought together by the unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together, of the two cables
3
and
4
into the grasping region of the cable gripping unit
20
(FIG.
3
), and releases them after they have been gripped by the latter (FIG.
4
), as well as a swing-down separating means
24
which is connected to the pivot arm
21
by way of the cable gripping unit
20
and which, before the two cables
3
and
4
which are to be mutually connected are brought together by the unit
43
for bringing the two cables together, may be pivoted down in the vertical direction between the two latter.
After the double crimped cable
25
has been completed, this swing-down separating means
24
is left in the vertically downward pivoted separating position (
FIG. 4
) for the purpose of further separating the two cables
3
and
4
of said double crimped cable which are mutually crimped together, and, by pivoting the pivot arm
21
back in corresponding manner, is moved into a pivoted position of the latter in which the swing-down separating means
24
is located precisely above a first upwardly extending cable guide and separating part
28
, which is arranged in a first cable deposit trough
26
located below said swing-down separating means. In this pivoted position of the pivot arm
21
, by drawing out the cable guide and separating part
28
, the swing-down separating means
24
may be moved such that it is in detachable engagement with the first cable guide and separating part
28
extending from a first cable deposit trough
26
which, in this pivoted position of the pivot arm
21
, is located below the two cable gripping units connected to the pivot arm
21
, extends parallel to the longitudinal direction of the receiving conveyor belt
14
and may be emptied perpendicular to this longitudinal direction into a second cable deposit trough
27
as a result of a lateral pivotal movement, which second cable deposit trough may be moved below said first cable deposit trough in the longitudinal direction C thereof.
For the purpose of retaining the separated condition of the two cables
3
and
4
of a double crimped cable
25
during its transfer from the first cable deposit trough
26
into the second cable deposit trough
27
, in the emptying position of the first cable deposit trough
26
(
FIG. 7
) this first cable guide and separating part
28
, which may be pivoted together with the first cable deposit trough
26
, may be moved such that it is in detachable engagement with a second double-crimped cable guide and separating part
29
arranged in the second cable deposit trough
27
.
When using thin, very flexible cables
3
and
4
, it is possible that these may hang down slightly when the pivot arm
21
is pivoted out of a starting position extending parallel to the receiving conveyor belt
14
. If this occurs, in order to reliably prevent these cables
3
,
4
from possibly catching on the first cable guide and separating part
28
, the latter may be displaced in its longitudinal direction, that is to say, when the pivot arm
21
pivots, it may be drawn back into the position illustrated in FIG.
2
and drawn out later such that it is in engagement with the swing-down separating means
24
(FIG.
5
).
In order to ensure that the double crimped cable
25
located in the first cable deposit trough
26
is transferred—in problem free manner into the second cable deposit trough
27
, even when the pivoting angles of the first cable deposit trough
26
into the emptying position (
FIG. 7
) thereof are relatively small, a cable pushing means
30
is associated with the first cable guide and separating part
28
and may be displaced in its longitudinal direction along the latter.
In order to move the rear end—as seen in the movement direction—of the two cables
3
,
4
to be connected to form a double crimped cable
25
in and out of engagement with the cable processing stations
42
,
43
, and
22
, the two cable gripping units
19
and
20
mounted on the pivot arm
21
may be displaced in precise manner, controlled by way of the control unit
33
(FIG.
1
), with the aid of a motor drive
46
displacing the pivot arm
21
in its longitudinal direction.
Furthermore, the two cable gripping units
19
and
20
are mounted on the pivot arm
21
such that they are each pivotal in a horizontal plane about a respective vertical axis
38
and
39
and may be pivoted towards and away from the in each case other cable gripping unit by way of two pneumatic cylinder units,
32
and
33
respectively, each having three operating positions, so that for example, when crimping the rear guided together ends of the cables
3
and
4
in the double crimping unit
22
, the cable gripping unit
19
may be pivoted away laterally with the aid of the pneumatic cylinder unit
33
so that the rear ends of the cables
3
and
4
are more accessible.
In addition, thanks to the two vertical guide means
40
and
41
, the two cable gripping units
19
and
20
may be lowered resiliently downwards in opposition to the action of at least one upwardly acting pressure spring (not illustrated). This is particularly important when crimping takes place in the double crimping unit
22
, since, when crimping is effected, by means of a pressure die, the respective cable ends of the two cables
3
and
4
are thus lowered a little and, during this, the associated cable gripping unit
20
is lowered the same distance downwards in opposition to the spring action by way of the pressure die.
As already mentioned, the unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together is constructed in the manner described for example in European patent application 98 810 861.9, that is to say, as can be seen in particular in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, those two stripped ends of the two cables
3
and
4
which are to be crimped together are supplied to a respective gripper unit
44
and
45
of the unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together, then, after the two cables
3
and
4
have been released, these two ends are brought together by the two cable gripping units
19
and
20
as a result of a rotational movement on behalf of the gripper associated with the gripper unit
44
(FIG.
4
), the two cables
3
and
4
are held together by the cable gripping unit
20
, and then, after further displacement of the pivot arm
21
as far as the double crimping unit
22
, these two ends which are brought together in this manner are mutually connected in the double crimping unit by way of a single crimp contact.
Then, the pivot arm
21
is pivoted back again, that is to say it is moved into the cable ejection position illustrated in
FIG. 5
, in which the first cable guide and separating part
28
is moved such that it is in engagement with the swing-down separating means
24
, and then the gripper of the cable gripping unit
20
is released so that, as can be seen in
FIG. 6
, the double crimped cable
25
drops down into the first cable deposit trough
26
with the cables
3
and
4
separated by the first cable guide and separating part
28
.
The arrangement and the pivot drive of the swing-down separating means
24
can be seen in particular on an enlarged scale in
FIGS. 9
,
10
and
11
.
As can be seen in these Figures, the pivotal swing-down cable separating means
24
and its drive
34
are flanged to the cable gripping unit
20
. To pivot the swing-down separating means
24
, the pneumatic drive
34
is provided with a rotary piston
35
which, as can be seen in particular in
FIG. 11
, may be moved pneumatically through approximately 90° between the lateral stop faces of a fixedly arranged stop element
36
within a cylinder
37
It is of course also possible to provide only one cable gripping unit
20
and to supply the two cables
3
and
4
to the unit
43
for bringing the cable ends together in two steps.
When this cable deposit device
1
is in operation, a particular batch size of completed double crimped cables
25
is first stored temporarily in the first cable deposit trough
26
and, after this batch size has been reached, is transferred into the second cable deposit trough
27
whilst retaining the separated condition of the cables
3
and
4
, said cable deposit trough then being displaced in its longitudinal direction C, thereby moving the completed double crimped cables
25
so that they may be separated and removed by hand from the danger zone of the automatic cable processing unit
2
.
After the first deposit trough
26
has been emptied, it may be moved immediately back into its receiving position again, so that the double crimped cables
25
may be manufactured continuously, and there is still sufficient time remaining for the completed batches of double crimped cables
25
to be removed by hand from the second cable deposit trough
27
in risk-free manner.
Claims
- 1. A cable deposit device comprising:a pivot arm having a cable gripping unit located in a cable entry region of a cable receiving region, said cable receiving region being in a region of an ejection axis of a pair of cables to be conveyed; a plurality of cable processing stations located in a pivot region of the pivot arm, the pivot region extends beyond the ejection axis; first means for separating the pair of cables; second means for separating the pair of cables, said first separation means being moveable to detachably engage said second separation means and guide the pair of cables into a first cable deposit trough on the same side of a vertical plane that runs through the cable ejection axis; and third means for separating the pair of cables, said second separation means being moveable to detachably engage said third separation means and guide the pair of cables into a second cable deposit trough.
- 2. A cable deposit device as in claim 1, further comprising:a continuously revolvable conveyor belt to receive and stretch out the pair of cables; and wherein the first cable deposit trough extends approximately parallel to a longitudinal axis of the conveyor belt and can be pivoted laterally in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis to empty its contents.
- 3. A cable deposit device as in claim 1 wherein the second separation means can pivot about a pivot axis that is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the first cable deposit trough.
- 4. A cable deposit device as in claim 1 wherein the second separation means is moveable in its longitudinal direction.
- 5. A cable deposit device as in claim 1 further comprising:means for pushing cables that are separated by the second separation means, the pushing means being moveable in its longitudinal direction along the second separation means.
- 6. A cable deposit device as in claim 1 wherein, next to said cable gripping unit, the pivot arm has another cable gripping unit.
- 7. A cable deposit device as in claim 1 wherein the cable gripping unit is connected to the pivot arm so that it may be displaced in a longitudinal direction of the pair of cables.
- 8. A cable deposit device as in claim 1 wherein the cable gripping unit is height-adjustable in a vertical direction with respect to the pivot arm.
- 9. A cable deposit device as in claim 6 wherein the pair of cable gripping units are arranged on the pivot arm so that they can be pivoted independently laterally from one another.
- 10. A cable deposit device as in claim 1 wherein the stations include means for bringing ends of the pair of cables together and means for crimping the pair of cables together.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
19991537/99 |
Aug 1999 |
CH |
|
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 788 200 |
Jun 1997 |
CH |