US3553814A

US3553814A - Terminal applicator for terminals in strip form

Info

Publication number: US3553814A
Application number: US738326A
Authority: US
Inventors: George William Rider
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1968-06-19
Filing date: 1968-06-19
Publication date: 1971-01-12
Anticipated expiration: 1988-01-12
Also published as: BE734628A; GB1211666A; ES368320A1; NL6908949A; FR2011204A1; NL143380B; SE366433B; CH492317A; JPS4829117B1; DE1929540B2; DE1929540A1; AT302446B; DE1929540C3

Abstract

TERMINAL APPLICATOR FOR APPLYING TERMINALS IN THE FORM OF A CONTINUOUS BELT HAS CRIMPING DIE AND CRIMPING ANVIL MOVABLE RELATIVELY TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. BELT OF TERMINALS IS FED ALONG FEED PATH EXTENDING BEHIND THE DIES TO PRESENT THE LEADING TERMINAL ON THE BELT TO THE DIES. AFTER CRIMPING, THE TERMINAL FEED MEANS MOVES LATERALLY OF THE FEED PATH AWAY FROM THE DIES WHILE THE TERMINAL IS HELD BETWEEN THE CRIMPING DIES SO THAT THE CRIMPED TERMINAL IS BROKEN AWAY FROM, AND THEREBY REMOVED FROM, THE BELT. IN ONE EMBODIMENT, EJECTOR ARM MOUNTED IN FRONT OF THE DIE IS MOVED LATERALLY AFTER CRIMPING TO MOVE CRIMPED TERMINATION FROM BETWEEN THE DIES.

Description

Jan. 12, 1971 l G W- mDER 3,553,814

TERMINAL APPLICATOR FOR TERMINALS IN STRIP FORM Filed June L9, 1968 6 Sheefbs--Sheerl 1 uo 13o v |42 o ""nw' f* uw` 1 l\ f i o 1 Y 22 38 1 a qq VIII.

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Jam. 2; 19H G. w. RIDER 3,553,8M

Y TERMINAL APPLICATOR FOR TERMINALS IN` STRIP FORM Filed June Le, 196e s shets-sheet 2 INH G. w.l RIDER Jan. 12, 1971 TERMINAL APPLICATOR FOR TERMINALS IN STRIP FORM Filed June L9, 196e 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 TERMINAL APPLICATOR FOR TERMINALS IN `STRIP FORM Filed June 19,1968

G. W. RIDER I Jan. 12, 1971 S Sheets-Sheet 4.

G. W. RIDER Jan. l2,

TERMINAL APPLICATOR FOR TERMINALS IN STRIP FORM sheebs-Sheet 5 Filed June L9, 1968 mm l l I lf I l m1 Jan. 12,1971 G. w. RIDER Y 3,553,314

l TERMINALAPPLICATORFOR TERMINALS IN STRIP `FORM Filed .June L9, 196e e sheets-sheet s United States Patent O M U.S. Cl. 29-203 7 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Terminal applicator for applying terminals in the form of a continuous belt has crimping die and crimping anvil movable relatively towards and away from each other. Belt of terminals is fed along feed path extending behind the dies to present the leading terminal on the belt tothe dies. After crimping, the terminal feed means moves laterally of the feed path away from the dies while the terminal is held between the crimping dies so that the crimped terminal is broken away from, and thereby removed from, the belt. In one embodiment, ejector arm mounted in front of the die is moved laterally after crimping to move crimped termination from between the dies.

It is now common practice in the art of crimped electrical connections to provide many types of crimpable connecting devices on a continuous belt of plastic or thin metal. The terminals are loosely secured to the belt in a manner such that they can be fed to a crimping apparatus and the leading terminal of the belt crimped onto a wire at which time it is removed from the belt.

The present invention relates to an improved applicator for crimping electrical terminals or the like in theform of a continuous belt onto the ends of wires and substantially simultaneously removing the crimped terminations from the belt. It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved applicator for crimping electrical terminals onto the ends of Wires. A further object is to provide an applicator having an improved means for feeding a belt or the like of electrical terminals to the crimping zone of the applicator. A still further object is to provide an applicator for crimping terminals, mounted on a continuous belt,` onto wires and removing the crimped terminations from the belt at the time of crimping. A still further object is to provide a crimping apparatus which is substantially foolproof in that it can be operated by an unskilled or semiskilled technician with the minimum of supervision or training.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment thereof comprising upper and lower crimping dies which are movable relatively towards and away from each other to crimp an electrical connecting or terminal device onto the end of a wire. The connectors or terminals are fed to the device in a form of a continuous belt of plastic, or the like, having the terminals secured to one surface of the belt in side-by-side spaced-apart relationship with their axes extending laterally of the length of the belt. The preferred form of feedving means comprises a pair of sprocket wheels coupled to each other by a feed belt having teeth on its external surface which are adapted to enter perforations in the terminal belt. One of these sprocket wheels is driven, by a mechanism concatenated with the press ram, so that the belt is intermittently moved along a continuous path whic'h extends behind the crimping dies in a manner such that the leading terminal of the terminal belt is presented to the dies during each operating cycle, The feeding means is movable between first and second positions, the location 3,553,814 Patented Jan. 12, 1971 of the feeding means when in its first position being adjacent to the path of movement of the crimping dies so that the leading terminal of the terminal belt or tape is between the dies. After the leading terminal has been crimped onto a wire, and while the dies dwell briefly in their closed condition, the feed mechanism including the feed belt, moves laterally with respect to the path of belt fed away from the crimping dies to its second position. Since this movement of the terminal belt takes place while the previously crimped terminal is being iheld between the closed dies, the crimped termination is broken from the belt as the feed belt moves laterally away from the dies. In accordance with the preferred embodiment, an ejector arm moves laterally with respect to the axis of the leading terminal immediately after the dies move apart so that the crimped termination is displaced laterally of the path of movement of the dies thereby to clear the crimping zone for a subsequent terminal belt feeding operation and crimping operation.

4In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a preferred form of terminal applicator mounted in a crimping press in accordance with the invention, this view showing the positions of the parts at the beginning of the operating cycle;

FIG. 2 is a side view, on an enlarged scale, of the applicator portion of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the applicator portion of the apparatus showing the positions of the parts at the beginning of the operating cycle;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the applicator showing the terminal belt feed mechanism and the crimping dies, the crimping dies being elevated from their normal positions in the interest of clarity;

FIG. 5 is a sectional side view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 3 but showing the positions of the parts immediately after the leading terminal of the belt has been crimped onto a wire and prior to removal of the crimped terminal from the belt;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the positions of the parts after the belt has been moved away from the crimping zone to break the crimped termination away from the belt;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are views taken along the lines 7 7 and 8-8 of FIG. 2 and showing respectively the drive sprockets for the belt feed mechanism and the actuating means for these drive sprockets; p

FIG. 9 is a View taken along the lines 9-9 of FIG. 3 showing details of a lifting mechanism for raising the upper or movable crimping dies away from the lower or fixed dies for servicing or threading purposes, this view showing the positions of the parts when the dies are in their lowered or normal positions; and

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing the positions of the parts when the movable crimping dies are in their raised positions.

Referring first to FIG. 4, a typical form of terminal belt comprises a relatively wide strip 4 of suitable plastic such as Mylar (polyethylene terephthalate) and a relatively narrow strip of the same material 6 which extends along one edge of the wide strip. The ring tongue portions 8 of the terminals are held against the surface of the wide plastic strip 4 by the narrow strip 6 which is bonded as by welding at discrete locations surrounding the terminal tongues 10. The neck portions 12 of the terminals extend laterally beyond the wide plastic strip 4 and merge with the barrel portions 14 of the terminals. The wide strip `4 of plastic has spaced-apart perforations 11 along its one side which are adapted to be engaged by suitable teeth of the feeding mechanism when the strip or belt is is placed in an applicator. The barrel portions Vof the terminals are adapted to be crimped onto the exposed core 16 and the insulation 18 of a wire during a crimping operation which the belt is fed towards the crimping zone of the applicator. It will be understood that a wide variety of types of terminal devices (including splices) are commercially available in belt form as generally illustrated although the details of the different types of terminals will differ from those shown in the drawing. The term terminals is used as a matter of convenience herein and is intended to include all types of connecting devices.

Referring now to FIG. l, the disclosed embodiment of the invention `comprises a press 20 having a suitable housing 22 with a channel-shaped casting 24 mounted against one side thereof and defining a gap 26 which the application for crimping the terminals onto the wires is mounted. The applicator is supported on an additional frame member 28 having a face portion 30. The press ram 32 is slidably mounted in a guide means above the gap 26 and is coupled by means of a link 34 to one arm 36 of a bell crank. This bell cran-k is pivoted at its elbow 38 in the press housing and has a rearwardly extending arm 40' which is coupled by means of a balljoint 42 to a connecting rod 44. The lower end of this connecting rod is coupled by means of a ball-joint 46 to a plate 48 eccentrically mounted on a shaft 50, a conventional single revolution clutch 52 being provided on the shaft to drive it through a single revolution when a suitable switch, such as a foot switch is energized. The shaft 50 has a flywheel 54 on its end which is coupled by means of a belt 56 to electric motor 58. It will thus be apparent that the motor and the ywheel rotate continuously and that during each operating cycle, the technician causes the clutch 52 to be engaged thereby to -rotate the plate 48 and move the connecting rod 44 downwardly as viewed in the drawing then upwardly. It should be mentioned at this point, that at the beginning of the operating cycle, the ram 32 is in a partially lowered position rather than in its raised position for reasons which will be explained as this description proceeds.

The terminal belt 2 is fed through the gap 26 of the apparatus by means of a pair of spaced-apart sprocket wheels 60, 62 (FIGS. 3 and 7) mounted on parallel spaced-

apart shafts

68, 70 in

recesses

64, 66 of a mounting block 72, this mounting block being rearwardly movable as will be described below. The right hand sprocket as Iviewed in FIG. 7, 62 is driven in a manner which will be described below and the two sprockets are coupled by means of a feed belt 74 which passes through a recess 76 on the upper side of the block 72. Feed belt 74 has internal teeth 78 on its underside which are engaged with sprocket teeth 80 of the two sprocket wheels. Belt 74 also has relatively large spaced-apart teeth 82 on its external surface which are adapted to enter the spaced-apart perforations 11 of the terminal belt 2 and pull the belt through the crimping zone during operation. As will be apparent from FIG. 7, a relatively large number of the teeth 82 are in engagement with the terminal belt 2 at all times so that the danger of a break-down as a result of tearing or an imperfection in the terminal belt 2 is minimized.

The sprocket 62 is mounted on the shaft 70` by means of a one-way clutch 86 and the shaft 70 has a drive sprocket 84 mounted on this clutch immediately behind the driven sprocket 62. The drive sprocket is intermittently indexed by means of a detent 88 mounted in a recess 90. This recess is provided in the cross-member of a yoke 92, the detent 88 being resiliently biased towards the drive sprocket by means of a suitable leaf spring 96 on the external surface of the yoke 92. The yoke 92 has an arm 100 which extends behind the rearwardly facing surface of the block 72 and a pin 102 mounted in this block extends through an opening in the arm 100, the arrangement being such as to permit rearward motion of the block 72 in a manner which will be described below.

A pin 102 is mounted in, and extends from, the arm and a clevis block 98 is pivotally mounted on this pin. A connecting rod 104 is pivoted to the block 98 and extends downwardly towards the base of the press. The lower end of this connecting rod is pivotally connected at 106 to a lever 108, this lever being pivoted intermediate its ends at 110 to a bracket 112 secured to the side of the press housing. The rearwardly extending arm of the lever 108 is pivoted at 114 to an upwardly extending connecting rod 116 and the upper end of this rod, in turn, is connected by a weldment 117 to a feed actuator arm 118 (FIGS. l, 2 and 3). The feed actuating arm 118 is pivoted at 120 to a bracket 122 secured to the side of the press housing. This arm, 118, extends leftwardly as viewed in FIG. 3 through the press housing and has a bearing block 124 secured to its inner end. A rod 126 extends slidably downwardly through an opening in block 124 and has a clevis 128 on its upper end by means of which it is pivotally connected at 130 to the arm 40 of the previously identied bell crank. A spring 132 surrounds the rod 126 and bears against the clevis 128 and against the surface of the block 124 to permit overtravel of the rod 126 when the arm 118 moves against an adjustable stop 134 mounted on the frame casting 24.

At the beginning of the operating cycle, the bell crank arm 40 will have swung through a clockwise arc from its upper limit of travel, the upper crimping dies will be partially lowered, and the arm 118, will be against the stop 134. During the crimping cycle, the arm 40 moves further downwardly and the rod 126 is moved downwardly through the block 124, the spring 132 being compressed during this portion of the cycle. When the bell crank arm 40 subsequently moves upwardly as viewed in FIG. l, after the terminal has been crimped, the spring 132 returns to its normal position and the arm 118 is then swung through a slight arc about its pivotal axis 120. Connecting rod 116 is moved upwardly as a result of such upward movement of arm 118 and the arm 104 is moved downwardly (see FIG. 2) thereby to index the drive sprocket 84 and the feed sprocket 62. As will be explained more fully below, after the arm 40 reaches the upper limit of its travel and then moves downwardly until the feed arm 118 is again located against the stop 134. Feeding of the bell thus takes place during the `final portion of the operating cycle but before the cycle is completed.

During each operating cycle, the terminal tape 2 is advanced over the upper surface of the block 72 by an amount equal to the spacing between the individual terminals on the tape. Advantageously, an apron 136 is provided on the front edge of the block 72 and this apron extends rightwardly and laterally in FIG. 4 beyond the edge of the block as indicated at 139 so that the tape, from which the terminals have been removed, will be led away from the operating or crimping zone of the apparatus. It will also be noted from FIG. 4 that a guide means for guiding the tape towards the operating zone is provided in the form of a bent rod secured to a bracket 137 which is fixed to the front face of block 72.

The terminal belt 2 is held against the upper surface of the apron 136 by means of a retaining plate 138 having a groove 140 on its underside which is adapted to receive the upper edges of the teeth 82 of the feed belt. The retainer plate 138 normally occupies the position shown in FIG. 5 but is pivotally mounted at its right hand end as viewed in FIG. 5 by means of arm 144 which extend on each side of the upstanding ears 144 of a bracket 146. When the applicator is deactivated for servicing purposes, or to thread a new section of terminal tape through the feed mechanism, this plate is raised in a manner which will be described below.

The block 72 has a rearwardly extending recess 158 on its underside which is lined with a suitable wear-resistant material 163 as shown in FIG. 4 and which straddles a fixed support or guide block 160. The rearward end of this support block is, in turn, supported 0n a block 162 and secured and positioned by a fastener 166 which extends through the

blocks

160, 162 and into an applicator base block 164. The applictor base block, in turn, is mounted on the upper surface of the frame section 28. The lefthand end of the support block 160 is supported on the upper surface 168 of a support block 170 which is mounted on the frame member 28 and has forwardly extending feet 172 which are secured to the plate 30 by means of suitable fasteners 174. The lower or fixed crimping die 4176 for crimping the barrel portion of a terminal onto the insulation of a wire and the wire barrel crimping die 178 are secured on the upper surface of the support block 160 and iixed by means of a fastener 182 to a rightwardly extending arm 180 of an additional tooling support block 184, this block being mounted on and secured to the previously identified support block 170.

The feed support block 72 is slidably mounted on the fixed block 160 and moved rightwardly as viewed in FIGS. and 6, during each operating cycle, to separate a crimped terminal from hte terminal tape. Such rightward movement of the block 72 is achieved by means of a connecting rod 148 which is pivotally mounted between ears on the bracket 146 and which extends through an opening in the frame section 24 as shown in FIG. 1. The right hand end of the connecting rod 148 is pivotally connected at 150 to a lever 152 which extends upwardly as viewed in FIG. 1 and is pivoted to a bracket 153 fixed to the frame. The upper end of the lever 152 has a cam roller 154 thereon which is adapted to be engaged by a cam plate 156 mounted on the periphery of the plate 48, which, as noted above, is secured to the shaft 50. It will be apparent from FIG. 1 that during each complete revolution of the shaft 50, the cam plate 156 will cause the lever 152 to swing through a slight counterclockwise arc about its pivotal axis thereby moving the connecting rod 148 rightwardly and moving the feed mechanism support block 72 from the position of FIG. 5 to the position of FIG. 6. Since the hold-down plate 138 is mounted on the support block 72 by means of a bracket 146, it also moves rightwardly during this interval.

As also shown in FIG. 5, the feed mechanism support block 72 is normally biased leftwardly, that is, to its forward position relative to the front of the applicator, by means of a spring 155 having one end secured to a pin 157 mounted in the base plate 164 and having its other end secured to a pin 159 which extends downwardly from a bracket 161, this bracket being integral with the block 72 and extending downwardly besides the fixed support block 160. As will be explained more fully below, rightward movement of the feed mechanism support block 72 takes place while the dies are in their closed positions and the crimped terminal is being held between the fixed and movable dies so that the terminal will be broken away from the rightwardly moving (as viewed in FIG. 5) belt.

The upper or movable crimping dies 186, 188 are mounted by means of a fastener 190 on the face of a die mounting block y192 which has a lost motion connection with the press ram 32. This lost motion connection comprises a pair of upwardly extending arms 194 on each side of the die mounting block which are slidably received in vertical slots 196 on the sides of the ram 32. Transversely extending slots 200 are provided on the ram sides intermediate the ends of the slots 196 and pins 198 extend through the arms 194 and into these slots thereby to permit a limited amount of lost motion between the die mounting block and the press ram. The die mounting block is normally biased downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 4 by means of a coil spring 202 which extends into aligned recesses on the lower side and upper sides respectively of the press ram of the die mounting block. During downward movement of the ram, this spring is compressed as shown in FIG. 5 and the pins 198 move relatively upwardly in the slots 200 until the lost motion has been taken up.

As previously noted, FIG. 3 shows the positions of the parts at the beginning of the operating cycle at which time an uncrimped terminal will. be contained between the fixed and movable crimping dies and the ram 32 will be in a partially lowered position. During the operating cycle, the ram 32 will move relatively downwardly from the position shown in FIG. 2 until the spring 202 is compressed as explained above, and the pins 198 `are at the upper limit of their relative motion within the slots 200. It is desirable, however, to be able to move the die mounting block 192 upwardly independently of the ram thereby to raise the movable crimping dies when it is necessary to thread a new terminal tape into the apparatus or for other servicing purposes. This is accomplished by means of a pin 204 extending laterally from the side of the die mounting block 192 above a reduced end 206 of the arm 208. Referring to FIG. 49, the arm 208 extends rearwardly and is pivotally mounted at 210 on a bracket 212 secured to the right hand (as viewed in FIG. 3) side of the press frame.. Arm 208 is raised by means of a roller or bearing 214 which extends through a horizontally extending slot 216 in the arm 208 which is eccentrically mounted on a short shaft 218. The shaft 218 is rotatably mounted in the bracket 212 and is provided with a handle 220. It will be apparent that when the handle is moved upwardly from the position of FIG. 9 to the position of FIG. 10, the reduced end 206 of the arm 208 will engage the pin 204 and raise the tool mounting block relative to the press ram.

In the disclosed embodiment, :a depending hook 224 is provided on the arm 208 and is interengaged with a similar hook 226 on the upper surface of the belt retaining plate 138. It will thus be :apparent that when the tool mounting block 192 is raised, the retaining plate 138 will also be raised so that the operator can thread a new belt through the apparatus by merely laying its surface against the upper surface of the block 72.

The disclosed embodiment is also provided with a safety feature in the form of a switch 221 mounted on the previously identified bracket 212 and having a switch arm 222 in engagement with the surface of the shaft 218. In the immediate vicinity of the switch arm, the surface of the shaft is ground iiat so that the switch arm occupies its normal position when the hanche 220l is in the position of FIG. 2, that is, when the applicator is being operated. When the handle 220 is raised, however, switch arm 222 is swung inwardly to open the switch 221 which is suitably wired in with the control circuits for the applicator in a manner such that the motor is deenergized when the handle 220 is raised.

After the leading terminal of the tape has been crimped onto the wire, and after the upper or movable dies have been raised from the position of FIGS. 5 and 6, the crimped termination is ejected laterally by means of an ejector arm 228 pivotally connected by pin 230 between the ears of an arm 232 which is secured to a pivot pin 234. The pivotal mounting of the arm 228 on the boss 232 permits the arm itself to be moved laterally or forwardly away from the crimping zone, again for purposes of servicing or repair. The pin 234 extends through the tool mounting block and has a plate 236 secured to its rearward end. This plate extends past an arm 242 of the previously identified yoke member and has an elongated slot which receives the pin extending from the arm 242, the arrangement being such that during downward movement of the connecting rod `104, the ejector arm 228 is moved along an arcuate path in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 to push the completed termination laterally away from the crimping zone. The convenience and importance of this feature will be apparent from a description of the operating cycle which follows.

At the beginning of the operating cycle, the parts will be in the position of FIGS. 2 and 3 with an uncrimped terminal located between the partially closed dies. The die holder 192 will be in its lowered position relative to the press ram 32 as, indicated by positions of the pins 198 in FIG. 3 and by the fact that the spring 202 is in its extended condition. The operator first inserts the stripped end 16 of a wire 18 into the terminal and engages the clutch S2 to drive the eccentric plate 48 through a single revolution. During the initial portion of the stroke, the ram moves relatively downwardly until the lost motion between the ram and the die holding block 192 is taken out. Thereafter, the ram moves a further portion of its downward stroke to crimp the ferrule of the terminal onto the wire. During this interval, and while the crimped termination is being held between the fixed and movable dies (FIGS. 5 and 6), the connecting rod 148 is moved rightwardly under the influence of the cam plate 1516 thereby to move the belt feed support block 72 from the position of FIG. 5 to the position of FIG. 6. Since the terminal is being held firmly between the dies 176, 178, and 186, 188, the belt is pulled away from the terminal so that the tongue portion of the terminal is broken away from the belt. The block 72 then returns to its starting position and,

in fact, the terminal may be reinserted into the belt between the strips 4, 6 although it will not be gripped tightly since the weldments 10 will have been broken. Thereafter, as the ram 32 moves upwardly, the arm 228 moves through a clockwise arc to eject the completed termination from the crimping zone and the belt feed mechanism is actuated by the connecting rod 104 to advance the belt and position an uncrimped terminal between the crimping dies. During the final portion of the cycle, the ram decends partially until the dies surround the uncrimped terminal and the parts return to the positions of FIG. 3.

A significant advantage of the disclosed embodiment of the invention is that the crimped termination is separated from the belt after crimping and in a positive manner without the neeed of any particular manipulative steps on the part of the operator. The significance of this advantage becomes apparent and is recognized that the complete operating cycle for a conventional crimping apparatus takes only a fraction of a second after the wire has been inserted and during this interval, the terminal is crimped onto the wire, the -belt is fed a distance equal to the spacing between adjacent terminals, and the crimped terminal must be removed from the vicinity of the belt. The operator holding the wire must thus follow the rightward movement of the belt during the final portion of the operating cycle if he is to remove the terminal from between the crimping dies prior to arrival of the next terminal of the belt and partial ascent of the dies. If he does not so remove the terminals from between the dies, the dies will possibly damage the previously crimped termination and possibly capture this termination along with the new fed terminal thereby partially compressing the newly fed terminal and ruining it. The speed of the cycle is, however, such that the operator can not follow the belt vmanually so that the rightward thrust imposed on the wire by the arm 228 overcomes any resistance which the operator may unconscienciously exert and the terminal is effectively removed from the crimping zone.

A further advantage of the invention is that the uncrimped terminal is accurately located at the beginning of the operating cycle by the dies which entirely surround the terminal and restrain it against undesired movement. Additionally, it will be noted that the terminal is held by the dies while the belt is being moved rearwardly so that no strain is imposed on the crimped connection.

As previously noted, a substantial length of the terminal belt 2 is engaged by the terminal feed belt. The terminal belt itself may be of relatively weak material and intends to break if it is pulled by only a few teeth engaging two or more perforations. In the disclosed embodiment, a substantial number of perforations extending between the sprocket wheels all engage the belt so that even a weak material can be accommodated,

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifications and Cil embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only.

What is claimed is:

l. Apparatus for crimping electrical connecting devices onto wires, said connecting devices being secured to a belt in side-by-side relationship with their axes extending laterally of said belt, said apparatus comprising:

a pair of cooperable crimping dies, said dies being movable relatively towards and away from each other to crimp a connecting device located therebetween onto a wire,

belt feeding means including belt guiding means on one side of said dies, said belt guiding means being effective to guide said belt along a path extending past said dies on said one side thereof thereby to locate the leading terminal on said belt between said dies, and

belt moving means for moving said belt guiding means relatively away from said dies while said dies are in their closed condition and in engagement with a crimped terminal thereon to break said crimped terminal away from said belt.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said feeding means comprises sprocket means.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said feeding means comprises a block having sprocket means thereon, said sprocket means being engageable with said belt to advance said belt over said block, said belt moving means comprising means for moving said block away from said dies.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1 including ejector means adjacent to said dies, said ejector means being movable in the direction of feeding of said belt after retraction of said belt feeding means thereby to eject a crimped connector from between said dies.

5. Apparatus for crimping electrical terminals onto wires, said terminals being in the form of a continuous strip and being removable from said strip upon relative axial movement thereof away from said strip, said apparatus comprising:

a crimping die and a crimping anvil, said die and anvil being movable relatively towards and away from each other along a-iirst predetermined path between open and closed positions,

strip feeding means for feeding said strip along a second predetermined path which extends transversely of said first predetermined path, said strip feeding means being movable between first and second positions, the leading terminal on said strip being on said first predetermined path when said strip feeding means is in said first position and said strip being beside and spaced from, said first predetermined path when said strip feeding mean is in said second position, and

actuating means effective to move said die and anvil relatively towards each other to said closed position and to move said strip feeding means from said first position to said second position while said die and anvil are in said closed position whereby,

o said leading terminal is crimped onto a wire and is removed from said strip when said strip is moved to said second position.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein said feeding means comprises sprocket means.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 including ejector mean engageable with said leading terminal and movable parallel to said first path, said actuating means including means for actuating said ejector means subsequent to crimping of said leading terminal onto a wire.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,155,137 11/1964 Stolz 72-307 3,184,950 5/1965 Sitz 72-331 5 3,386,153 6/1968 Lau et al. 29-203 10 3,416,212 12/1968 Busler et al. 29-203 3,416,213 12/1968 Cootes 29-203 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 72-307, 331