GB2295106A

GB2295106A - Semiautomatic setting tool and a process for its operation

Info

Publication number: GB2295106A
Application number: GB9514175A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Romani Angel Lopez; Verge Ramon Vidal
Original assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Current assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Priority date: 1994-11-21
Filing date: 1995-07-12
Publication date: 1996-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-12
Also published as: GB2295106B; SE9504159D0; GB9514175D0; SE9504159L; FR2727054A1; DE19514053A1; FR2727054B3

Description

22.95106 SEMIAUTOMATIC SETTING TOOL AND A PROCESS FOR ITS OPERATION The

present application relates to a semiautomatic setting tool and a process for its operation, whose novel characteristics of construction, configuration and design achieve the object for which it has been specifically intended with maximum reliability and effectiveness.

The proposed invention is used especially for presses basically intended for the setting of terminals on the corresponding cables at whose ends they are installed.

The setting operation involves the fitting and stamping of terminals at the end of an electric cable, this operation normally being carried out in conventional presses on whose plate there is placed the end of the cable with the terminal in its original position situated above the plate, the corresponding actuating support of the press then descending with a suitable preform and stamping and pressing the terminal right round the electric cable which is deprived of the corresponding insulating sheath at its end. 0 The setting operation which, while referring to the placement of the cable above the terminal, is usually carried out manually has the drawback that each time the end of the stripped cable is placed on the terminal situated above the plate of the press it adopts a different position since it is impossible for an operator engaged in such an operation always to position the cable at the same point with respect to the spread terminal ready for the setting operation, resulting in a large number of rejects during the setting operation since the bent terminal stamped at 2 the end of the cable does not remain correctly positioned which is why the subject of the present invention has been proposed. The main object of the invention is always to deliver the bare cable to the same position on the plate of the press so the setting operation takes place in the same way during each descent of the actuating support, resulting in practically no rejects and uniformity at the end of said setting operation.

The present invention relates to a semiautomatic setting tool which is formed by an upper gripper and lower gripper actuated at one of their ends by means of forks which in turn receive the movement of a pneumatic cylinder which forces the ends of the grippers to move toward one another trapping between said ends the stripped cable which is placed by the corresponding operator so that the free end on the same side abuts against the corresponding position limiter.

A movement f rom right to lef t is also then ef f ected by means of the corresponding pneumatic cylinder which situates the cable duly held by the ends of the grippers in the vicinity of the press plate and above the corresponding terminal which is trapped and stamped by the corresponding actuating support of a conventional press.

The placement of the bare cable between the ends of the grippers, said introduction being limited by the corresponding positioning device, imparts uniformity to the setting operation in the positioning of said stripped cable above the corresponding terminal because the aforementioned operation always takes place in the same manner, ensuring a high-percentage yield of about 1000-6.

3 The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section in a front elevation of a conventional press with a positioning mechanism situated in its right-hand portion above the structure thereof; Figure 2 is a transverse section in elevation of the proposed press; and Figure 3 is a plan view from above of the proposed positioning device forming the subject of the present invention.

In one of the preferred embodiments of the subject of the present application and as illustrated in Figure 1, a positioning tool 10 of which the object is to promote the exact positioning of a stripped cable by its ends in the vicinity of the plate of the press 31 is mounted by suitable means above the supporting structure of a conventional press 11.

The positioning device 10 is basically formed by two grippers, a lower gripper 27 and an upper gripper 26 facing one another at their ends 26a and 27a.

The opposite ends of the grippers 26 and 27: 26b and 27b are mounted by the fork 30 and are actuated by means of the shafts 25 of the grippers 26 and 27, by means of the pneumatic cylinder 22 which acts upon the fork 30, some proximity detectors 24 being mounted in the interior of said cylinder 22 and indicating to the cylinder 22 the length of the travel which it has to perform to bring the ends 26a and 27a of the grippers 26 and 27 toward one another with the aim of trapping the stripped end of the corresponding cable.

4 The pneumatic cylinder 22 is fastened to the positioning unit 10 by means of a ball and socket joint 20 and the grippers 26 and 27 to a ballbearing 16 which, in the bringing- together movement, slides from right to left via the guide rail 15 toward the plate 31 of the press, its right to left movement being terminated by means of the abutment 14 of the cylinder 22.

The movement of the positioning device 10 is carried out by means of a ball and socket joint 20 actuated by means of the cylinder 12 via the corresponding support 13 located in the right-hand portion of the positioning device.

The operating movement of the corresponding tool is as follows:

The operator places the stripped cable at the ends of the grippers 26 and 27, more specifically between 26a and 27a, until they contact the sensor abutment not shown in the drawings, a horizontal translation movement from right to left then taking place with the assistance and impetus of the pneumatic cylinder 12 which pushes the grippers 26 and 27 by means of the bearing 16 and the guide rail '15 mounted on the upper portion of the press 11 to the left in order to place the stripped cable above the plate 31 in which the corresponding extended terminal has previously been placed in order subsequently to actuate the press 11 and lower the actuating support 29 producing the actual setting operation.

The travel of the positioning device 10 is ensured by the limitation of the abutment 14 situated in the left-hand portion of the positioning device and mounted above the bed of the corresponding press 11.

The described invention forms a whole with the production process which cannot operate separately in application of the exception of article 24 of the patent law 11/86 of 20th March.

it will be appreciated that the setting tool of the invention provides a simple and effective construction which can very easily be used in practice and undoubtedly constitutes a novel industrial result.

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Claims

Claims

6 1. Semiautomatic setting tool and a process for its operation, of the type used for the placement on a stripped electric cable of a specific terminal with the aid of a press in which the terminal has previously been situated, setting being effected by the pressure of an actuator of the press on the corresponding terminal on which the end of the stripped electric conductor has been placed, the tool being formed by an assembly of elements duly fastened to the structure of the press, the assembly being able to slide by means of a ballbearing which passes over a guide rail provided with an end-of -travel by means of a cylindrical abutment, the positioning device being formed by grippers facing one another at their ends, the horizontal planes of the grippers coming toward one another owing to the action of a pneumatic cylinder which actuates the fork and forces the ends to come toward one another owing to the rotation of the two grippers with respect to the shaft, the cylinder being provided with corresponding proximity detectors for the movement of the grippers.
2. Semiautomatic setting tool and a process for its operation as claimed in Claim 1 in which the positioning device experiences a movement from right to left by means the guide rail mounted on the upper portion of the press by means of the action of a pneumatic cylinder which pushes the assembly to the left directing the end of the grippers in the vicinity of and plumb with the plate of the press, the ends of the movement being regulated by means of the proximity detectors.

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3. Semiautomatic tool and a process for its operation substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings t