Patent Application
20240120696
The present invention relates to the processing of wires or cables and associated terminals, and more specifically, to an improved system for applying terminals to wires of multi-wire cables, such as twisted pair cables.
Crimping or terminating systems for securing a terminal onto an element, such as an electrical conductor, typically include an applicator configured to feed a strip of terminals from a reel into position for crimping onto the conductor, and more specifically into a position above a lower crimping tool or die. Once the terminal is in place, an end of a wire or cable to be terminated is fed into position above or within the terminal. The terminal may be separated from the strip of terminals using a shear depressor attached to the movable end of an applicator ram used to drive an upper crimping die. As the applicator ram is moved, the depressor engages with a passive terminal shear or shear tool which shears the terminal from the strip just after the terminal is captured in the crimping tooling.
While effective for use with single wires, the above-described arrangement is not well-suited for use with multi-wire cables, such as twisted pair cables. Specifically, in multi-wire cable applications, the wire ends may only extend beyond the cable (e.g., its jacket) a relatively short distance due to the requirements of the final terminated assemblies. This creates difficulty in placing the individual ends within the applicator during crimping operations. Further problems arise due to requirements that the pair of discrete wires must remain in close proximity to each other to prevent signal noise. Specifically, in the above-described crimping process, the pair of wires may be pre-formed into a shape that creates enough space for the crimp tooling. This separation, however, is greater than the final spacing in the connector and greater than the allowable spacing between the wires for signal integrity. Thus, the wires need to be reformed after crimping to locate them in closer proximity to each other. This forming and reforming process may result in length discrepancy between the wire pair or internal stresses causing the wires to flex too far apart. Further, the formed wires are not individually supported or controlled during crimping since the gripping occurs on the cable jacket behind the formed wires. Depending on the stiffness of the wire, drooping may occur which may affect the repeatability of accurate wire placement within the terminal.
Improved systems and methods addressing these deficiencies are desired.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a wire holding device comprises a base and a clamping assembly. The clamping assembly includes a first gripper attached to the base and adapted to grip a first wire of a cable, and a second gripper adapted to grip a second wire of the cable. The second gripper is movable relative to, and operable independently of, the first gripper.
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.
Embodiments of the present disclosure include a wire positioning device adapted to accurately position individual wires of a multi-wire cable (e.g., a twisted pair cable) relative to a cable termination system. The device includes a clamping assembly including a pair of clamps or grippers, with each gripper adapted to independently grip and position a wire of a cable for crimping. The assembly is movable such that each wire may be positioned in three dimensions. In this way, individual wires of the cable may be positioned accurately relative to a terminal prior to a fixing operation, such as crimping. The grippers may engage with and control each wire between the wire breakout from a cable jacket and the crimping location.
In one embodiment, a given wire is rotatable 22.5 degrees about an axis transverse to an axis of the cable, while the other wire of the cable is held generally straight or axially for crimping. This rotation provides the needed clearance for the crimp tooling. The device can be indexed to allow location of the straight wire in front of the crimp tooling. In one embodiment, the indexing is programmable into an associated system, and can be altered depending on the application. Likewise, the system includes additional programmable adjustments, such as in the vertical and axial directions of the wire/terminal to facilitate proper wire placement prior to crimping. Optionally, the positioning device, including its three-axis movement, can be used to locate the wires for other processing operations, such as stripping and trimming.
Referring generally to
Referring generally to
As shown in
As most clearly shown in
Likewise, a second gripper or clamp assembly 250 includes a fixed member 251 and a movable member 252. As with the first clamp 230, the movable member 252 is moveable in cam slots relative to the fixed member 251 as guided by pins 253. A linear actuator 254 is operative with a cam 255 attached thereto to articulate the movable member 252 relative to the fixed member 251. The cam 255 engages with a corresponding cam surface or slot 252′ of the movable member 252 to move the member relative to the fixed member 251, and selectively clamp the wire 12 between opposing clamping surfaces thereof. While the use of linear actuators are shown for enabling the selective gripping of each of the wires 12,14, other types of actuators may be used in a similar manner (e.g., rotary actuators) without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
The second gripper or assembly 250 is pivotally connected to the first gripper 230 via, for example, a connection pin 260 extending through each of the fixed members 231,251. A linear actuator 261 is provided for selectively rotating the second gripper 250 relative to the first gripper 230. In one embodiment, a movable end of the actuator 261 is connected to the fixed member 251, although other arrangements for achieving relative rotation between the assemblies are also envisioned. The rotation between the assemblies 230,250 selectively spreads or separates the wires 12,14 of the cable 10, as shown in
As shown in
Control of each of the actuators described herein, may be programmable in nature (i.e., under the control of at least one processor and associated memory devices), as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. This control is enabled by a plurality of position sensors for detecting the state or position of each for the actuators set forth herein. For example, a plurality of sensors 270 are provided for monitoring and/or controlling the position of, for example, the cams 235,255 and the cable clamp 220, as shown in
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 said 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.
