The present invention relates to an ultrasonic welding apparatus for welding rod-shaped electric conductors which are provided with an outer insulating sheath and have bare regions free of the sheath, comprising a compression space for receiving the bare regions to be connected to each other, and a positioning device for positioning the bare regions relative to each other, the positioning device having two stop elements which each have a stop surface for axially positioning a bare region in such a manner that the bare regions overlap with an overlap length l in order for a weld node to be formed.
From DE 10 2013 222 938 B3, a device of the kind mentioned above is known, in which the positioning device is formed on the compression space, positioning of the bare regions of the conductor between which a contact is to be formed thus taking place within the compression space. Moreover, in the known positioning device, the bare regions are positioned indirectly because the stop elements used to form the positioning device have stop edges against which an axial sheath end surface of the conductors, which delimits the bare region from the insulating sheath, is positioned.
Since the bare regions are positioned in the compression space, positioning takes place in a confined space. Moreover, the positioning contact between the conductors and the stop elements happens solely in the area of the sheathing insulation, which has only a small wall thickness, which means that exact positioning of the conductors requires corresponding dexterity of the operator.
The object of the present invention is to propose an ultrasonic apparatus for welding electrical conductors that is provided with a positioning device that simplifies exact positioning of the conductors in the compression space.
To attain said object, the device according to the invention has the features of claim 1.
According to the invention, the positioning device is remote from the compression space and is provided with a transferring device which has a receiving device for fixedly receiving, outside of the compression space, the bare regions axially positioned by means of the positioning device, and the transferring device serves to transfer the conductors fixed in a receiving position in the receiving device into the welding position in the compression space.
The device according to the invention allows handling for positioning the electrical conductors outside of the compression space without the confined space within the compression space making handling more difficult.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the stop surfaces of the stop elements are disposed at a positioning distance from each other in such a manner that a clearance is formed between end cross-sections of the bare regions fixed in the receiving device, and the transferring device is provided with an axial advancing device which serves to combine an axial advancing movement of the conductors with a transferring movement for transferring the conductors into the compression space in such a manner that in addition to the transferring movement of the conductors into the compression space, an axial advancing movement of the conductors is performed by means of the advancing device so as to make the bare regions of the conductors overlap.
This special embodiment provides the possibility of positioning the conductors outside of the compression space in a particularly simple and safe manner because the end cross-sections of the conductors can be positioned against the stop elements outside of the compression space, which eliminates the risk that positioning may hardly be possible without significant skill in handling the conductor ends because a contact surface between the stop elements and the conductors is too small.
The combination of the transferring movement and the advancing movement results in the overlap of the bare regions required for producing the weld node in the compression space without an operator's intervention in the axial positioning process. Instead, positioning in the compression space takes place solely because of the performance of the transferring movement by means of the transferring device.
While it is generally possible for the advancing movement and the transferring movement to be performed one after the other, it is particularly advantageous if the advancing device is configured in such a manner that the axial advancing movement happens during the transferring movement of the conductors into the compression space, which allows the advancing device to take up particularly little space. If the transferring device has two swivel arms, each of which is assigned to at least one conductor and has a releasable clamping device for forming the receiving device at its free end and is disposed on a swivel pin of a swivel bearing at its other end, the swivel pin being formed as a threaded spindle guided in a spindle nut so as to form the advancing device, an overlap between the bare regions between which a contact is to be formed can be brought about in a particularly simple manner by a simple swiveling movement of the swivel arms starting from a position in which the bare regions are spaced apart from each other outside of the connecting space.
Preferably, the threaded spindles are formed with threads that run in opposite directions, wherein it is particularly preferred if the threaded spindles have steep threads.
Preferably, the swiveling movement is performed manually so as to avoid the disposition of additional actuators or the like in the area of the compression space.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the clamping device is disposed on the swivel arms in such a manner that when the swivel arms are in the receiving position for receiving the conductors in the clamping device, a clamp opening faces upward, which allows the operator to comfortably place the conductors in the clamping device from above so as to position the conductors outside of the compression space, followed by actuation of the clamping device to fix the conductors and, after swiveling of the swivel arms, the clamping can be loosened and the conductors are released from the clamping device so as to arrange the conductors in the compression space.
This leads to the particular advantage that the conductors are no longer held in the clamping device during the ultrasound treatment of the bare regions for forming the weld node, adverse effects of the ultrasound treatment on the conductor surface, in particular on the insulation of the conductors, thus being precluded.
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the ultrasonic welding apparatus is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing.
As shown in
The substantial elements of a compression space 18 which is formed in the compression space arrangement 41 are illustrated in
In the compression space 18 illustrated in
As
Each swivel arm 50, 51 is disposed on a swivel pin 54 of a swivel bearing 55, the swivel pins 54 being formed as threaded spindles having threads running in opposite directions, each threaded spindle being guided in a spindle nut 56, the swivel bearings 55 thus forming an advancing device 57 in such a manner that, as illustrated in
As a result of the transferring movement of the swivel arms 50, 51 explained above, the conductors 17, 28, 29 which, in the receiving position, are placed into the receiving device 52 by an operator and the end-cross-sections 31 of whose bare regions 33 are positioned against the stop surfaces 48, 49 have a clearance x1 between them when in the receiving position as shown in
As shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2015 222 013.3 | Nov 2015 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2016/076232 | 10/31/2016 | WO | 00 |