Patent Application
20230369819
This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. CN202210523265.4 filed on May 13, 2022, in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to an insertion device and a method for inserting a cable assembly into a housing with the insertion device.
In the prior art, an electrical connection terminal of a dual-core cable assembly is usually inserted into a connector housing manually. However, the manual insertion process is inefficient and easily results in terminal or core wire damage.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an insertion device for inserting a cable assembly into a housing comprises a cable control module and a housing control module. The cable control module includes a terminal clamping device adapted to clamp to two terminals of the cable assembly, and a core wire clamping device adapted to clamp to two core wires of the cable assembly onto which the two terminals are crimped. The housing control module includes a housing clamping device adapted to hold the housing while the two terminals are inserted into the housing.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an insertion device for inserting a cable assembly into a housing is provided. The cable assembly comprises a cable and two terminals crimped on two exposed core wires of the cable. The insertion device comprises a cable control module and a housing control module. The cable control module includes a terminal clamping device for clamping two terminals, and a core wire clamping device for clamping two core wires. The housing control module comprises a housing clamping device for holding the housing when two terminals are inserted into the housing. During the process of inserting the parts of the two terminals other than their roots into the housing, the terminal clamping device is clamped on the roots of the two terminals and the core wire clamping device is in an open state of not clamping the two core wires. During the process of inserting the roots of the two terminals into the housing, the terminal clamping device is in an open state and not clamping the two terminals, and the core wire clamping device is clamped on the roots of the two core wires.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for inserting a cable assembly into a housing is provided. The cable assembly comprises a cable and two terminals crimped on two exposed core wires of the cable. The method comprises steps of: 1) providing the above insertion device; 2) clamping the housing with the housing clamping device, and clamping the roots of the two terminals with the terminal clamping device; 3) by moving the mobile seat, the front ends of the two terminals are inserted into the housing under the guidance of the guide device; 4) after the front ends of the two terminals are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat and opening the guide device; 5) further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until the parts of the two terminals other than their roots are inserted into the housing; 6) after the parts of the two terminals other than their roots are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat, opening the terminal clamping device and clamping the roots of the two core wires with the core wire clamping device; 7) further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until the roots of the two terminals are inserted into the housing; 8) after the roots of the two terminals are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat and opening the core wire clamping device; and 9) further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until the roots of the two core wires are inserted into the housing.
As shown in
The housing clamping device 210, 21 includes a housing clamp 210 and a housing clamp driver 21. The housing clamp 210 is installed on the mobile seat 202 and can be opened and closed to clamp or loosen the housing 20. The housing clamp driver 21 is installed on the mobile seat 202 to drive the housing clamp 210 to open and close.
The housing clamp 210 comprises a base 211, a clamping arm 212 and a connecting arm 213. The base 211 is fixed on the mobile seat 202 and has a positioning groove for positioning the housing 20. The clamping arm 212 is rotatably connected to the base 211 and can be opened and closed relative to the base 211 to clamp or loosen the housing 20. The connecting arm 213 is rotatably connected to the clamping arm 212. The housing clamp driver 21 includes a cylinder, the cylinder block 21a of the cylinder is rotatably connected to the mobile seat 202, and the telescopic rod 21b of the cylinder is connected to the connecting arm 213.
The housing control module 200 also includes a guide device 220,22, which is installed on the mobile seat 202 to guide the front ends of two terminals 1 into the housing 20. The guide device 220, 22 includes a guide member 220 and a guide member driver 22. The guide member 220 includes a pair of guide member halves 220a that can be opened and closed. The guide driver 22 is used to drive the pair of guide member halves 220a to open and close. A semi-conical guide hole is formed on the guide member half 220a. When the pair of guide member halves 220a is closed, a conical guide hole 221 is formed to guide the terminal 1 into the housing 20.
Two semi-conical guide holes arranged side by side are formed on the guide member half 220a. When the pair of guide member halves 220a is closed, two conical guide holes 221 arranged side by side are formed to guide two terminals 1 into two terminal slots 20a of the housing 20. In the process of inserting the front ends of the two terminals 1 into the housing 20, the pair of guide member halves 220a are closed to form two conical guide holes 221 for guiding the two terminals 1 into the housing 20. When the front ends of the two terminals 1 have been inserted into the housing 20, the pair of guide member halves 220a are opened to allow the parts other than the front ends of the two terminals 1 to be inserted into the housing 20.
The housing control module 200 also includes a fixed seat 201 and a mobile seat driver 23. The mobile seat 202 is movably installed on the fixed seat 201. The mobile seat driver 23 is installed on the fixed seat 201 to drive the mobile seat 202 to move along the longitudinal direction of the terminal 1. The mobile seat driver 23 includes a servo motor 231 and a transmission mechanism 232,233. The servo motor 231 is installed on the fixed seat 201. The transmission mechanism 232,233 is connected between the output shaft of the servo motor 231 and the mobile seat 202. The transmission mechanism 232,233 is used to convert the rotation of the output shaft of the servo motor 231 into the linear movement of the mobile seat 202.
The drive mechanisms 232,233 include a pulley drive mechanism 232 and a lead screw drive mechanism 233. The lead screw drive mechanism 233 includes a lead screw (not shown) and a nut (not shown) threaded with the lead screw. The nut of the lead screw drive mechanism 233 is connected to the mobile seat 202. The pulley drive mechanism 232 is connected between the output shaft of the servo motor 231 and the lead screw of the lead screw drive mechanism 233.
The terminal clamping device 110,11 includes a terminal clamp 110 and a terminal clamp driver 11. The terminal clamp 110 includes two terminal clamp halves 110a,110b that can be opened and closed. The terminal clamp driver 11 is used to drive the two terminal clamp halves 110a,110b to open and close to clamp or loosen the two terminals 1.
Two terminal positioning grooves 111b are formed on one of the two terminal fixture halves 110a and 110b for positioning the roots of the two terminals 1 respectively. Two terminal positioning protrusions 111a are formed on the other of the two terminal fixture halves 110a,110b to keep the roots of the two terminals 1 in the two terminal positioning grooves 111b respectively. The two terminals 1 are arranged side by side in a first direction, and the first direction is vertical to the longitudinal direction of terminal 1. The two terminal clamp halves 110a,110b are opened and closed in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the longitudinal direction of terminal 1.
The core wire clamping device 120,12 includes a core wire clamp 120 and a core wire clamp driver 12. The core wire clamp 120 includes a pair of core wire clamp halves 121 that can be opened and closed. The core wire clamp driver 12 is used to drive the pair of core wire clamp halves 121 to open and close to clamp or loosen two core wires 10a. The two terminals 1 are arranged side by side in the first direction, and the first direction is vertical to the longitudinal direction of terminal 1. The pair of core wire clamp halves 121 are opened and closed in the first direction. The two exposed core wires 10a of the cable 10 are arranged side by side in the first direction. In the process of inserting the roots of the two terminals 1 into the housing 20, the pair of core wire clamp halves 121 hold the two core wires 10a in the first direction. After the roots of the two terminals 1 are inserted into the housing 20, the core wire clamping device 120,12 is opened to allow further insertion of the two terminals 1 until the roots of the two core wires 10 enter the housing 20.
The cable control module 100 also includes a cable support frame 101, on which a cable positioning slot 101a for positioning and supporting the cable 10 is formed. The cable control module 100 also includes a frame (not shown). The terminal clamping device 110, 11, the core wire clamping device 120, 12 and the cable support frame 101 are installed on the frame.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method for inserting the cable assembly 10,1 into the housing 20 is also disclosed. The cable assembly 10, 1 includes a cable 10 and two terminals 1 crimped on two exposed core wires 10a of the cable 10 respectively. The preceding method includes the following steps of:
In addition, those areas in which it is believed that those of ordinary skill in the art are familiar, have not been described herein in order not to unnecessarily obscure the invention described. Accordingly, it has to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrative embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.
It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.
Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of the elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202210523265.4 | May 2022 | CN | national |
