AUTOMATIC WIRE STRIPPING AND WRAPPING APPARATUS
United States Patent 3774283
An attachment for a wire stripping gun whereby jumper wires are automatically advanced, stripped and cut. A pneumatically controlled transfer unit including two pistons and clamping jaws advances wire from a supply reel to a cutting die actuated by a pneumatically controlled piston. Pneumatically controlled pivoted spring fingers grip the wire advanced through the cutting die and position it adjacent the gun whereby the wire may be stripped and wrapped.
US Patent References:
Dual wire wrapping head
Etchison, Jr. et al. - April 1966 - 3246381
WIRE POSITIONING APPARATUS
Reem et al. - July 1969 - 3455006
WIRE STRIP AND WRAP BIT
Micklewright - June 1972 - 3668763
Dual wire wrapping head
Etchison, Jr. et al. - April 1966 - 3246381
WIRE POSITIONING APPARATUS
Reem et al. - July 1969 - 3455006
WIRE STRIP AND WRAP BIT
Micklewright - June 1972 - 3668763
Application Number:
05/232415
Publication Date:
11/27/1973
Filing Date:
03/07/1972
View Patent Images:
Export Citation:
Assignee:
International Standard Electric Corporation (New York, NY)
Primary Class:
Other Classes:
29/761
International Classes:
H01R43/033; H02G1/12; H01R43/04
Field of Search:
29/23B,23D,23H,23R,23DG
Primary Examiner:
Eager, Thomas H.
Claims:
I claim
1. Automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus comprising:
2. Automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus, according to claim 1, wherein said wire cutting means comprises:
3. Automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus, according to claim 2, wherein said gripping means comprises:
1. Automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus comprising:
2. Automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus, according to claim 1, wherein said wire cutting means comprises:
3. Automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus, according to claim 2, wherein said gripping means comprises:
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a wire stripping and wrapping gun and more particularly to such a gun which automatically prepares jumper wires and makes wire wrapped joints.
Numerous individual tools and devices are known with which jumper wires can be cut either manually or mechanically and other devices are known with which the ends of insulated jumper wires can be stripped of their insulation. Devices are also known for producing wire wrapped joints instead of soldered joints. All of these devices are disadvantageous in that they require a substantial amount of time for wrapping an insulated wire onto a connecting terminal. Tools and mechanical wiring heads in which the functions of said cutting, threading and stripping a jumper wire are combined in one tool are also well known. These tools, which are either operated manually or according to a program, are subject however to the disadvantage that they usually cannot be held in the hand as hand tools, but rather are machines which require a large financial investment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore the main object of this invention is to provide a hand tool which automatically feeds, strips, cuts and wraps a jumper wire onto a terminal.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun which is capable of providing a plurality of jumper connection wires from a single wire supply.
According to the present invention there is provided an automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus comprising a wire stripping and wrapping gun including a winding mandrel, a stripper and a wrapping device, wire transfer means connected to said gun, selectively operable wire cutting means coupled to said transfer means for receiving wire therefrom and severing said wire, and gripping means coupled to said gun adapted to grip the wire transmitted by said cutting means and to position said wire for operation thereon by said gun.
Further objects and features of this invention will become more apparent by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of an automatic wire and stripping and wrapping apparatus according to the subject invention;
FIG. 2 is a partly sectioned view of FIG. 1 illustrating the inventive attachment to said gun;
FIG. 3 is a detailed illustration of the gripping means utilized with the inventive apparatus; and
FIGS 4-12 illustrate the sequence of operations of the subject invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The automatic wire stipping and wrapping gun illustrated in FIG. 1 essentially consists of the following subassemblies: a combined wire stripping and wrapping gun 1, a pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2 with a gripping finger 3, a program control part 4 consisting of radial control valves, an integrated fluid circuit 5, and a pneumatic amplifier 6. These subassemblies form a unit and are interconnected by corresponding lines, running e.g., from the program control part 4 to the attachment 2 via pneumatic line 7, or from the attachment 2 to the fluid circuit 5 via pneumatic line 8.
Since the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun operates with compressed air in all of its parts, only two connecting lines are required, i.e., a high-pressure line and a low-pressure line. For control purposes, including signalling, compressed air with low pressure, i.e., about 600 millimeters of water is necessary, while the operating function requires compressed air of about six atmospheres of pressure.
FIG. 2 shows the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2 and the gripping finger 3 in a cross-sectional view. This attachment 2 with the gripping finger 3, laterally mounted in the front part of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1, tensions, tranfers, cuts and holds an inserted jumper wire. To this end, it is equipped with a cutting head 9, a transfer part 10, and a gripping finger 3.
The cutting head 9 comprises a piston 11, whose rod 12 is beveled in its front portion; thus, when moved, this rod displaces a cutting die 13 positioned thereabove. This cutting die 13, in cooperation with a stationary part, cuts the inserted jumper wire 14 through.
The transfer part 10 must perform two functions: it must hold the jumper wire and subsequently transfer it. To this end, it is provided with two pistons positioned one inside the other, i.e., a double piston and clamping jaws. The inner piston 15 of the double piston actuates the clamping jaws 16 when compressed air is admitted to it and causes it to move. After the removal of the compressed air, the piston 15 is returned to its initial position by a spiral spring 17, thus releasing the clamping jaws 16.
The outer piston 18 of the double piston, upon admission thereto of compressed air of six atmospheres of pressure, moves in the piston housing up to the projection 19. In doing so, it advances the jumper wire 14, held by the clamping jaws 16, by an equal distance. The return movement of the piston 18 is caused by admission of compressed air in the opposite direction or by suction.
In order to enable the jumper wire 14 to be inserted not only from the direction of the extension of the pilot hole, a pulley 28 is arranged before the thread opening 20. Now, the jumper wire 14 can also be taken from a laterally positioned supply spool. This also increases the freedom of movement of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1.
The gripping finger 3 has a rod 21, one end of which is pivotally mounted in the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2. The other end of the rod 21 carries a gripping element 22. The rod 21 is made as a pipe, and through the hollow space therein the gripping element 22 is supplied with compressed air. Mounted in the gripping element 22 is a piston 23 which is held in its rest position by a spiral spring 24 and whose rod 25 carries a spring 26. The gripping element 22 of the gripping finger 3 is led to the jumper wire 14, coming out of the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2, by a compressed-air-operated piston acting at the fulcrum of the rod 21 and pulls the jumper wire through the wrapper sleeve of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1.
FIG. 3 shows the front end of the gripping element 22 in an enlarged view and with a just gripped jumper wire 14. The leaf springs 26 clamped into the piston rod 25 have, at their front ends, semicircular deformations pointing towards each other. In addition, the ends are spread so as to slide well over the jumper wire 14. For gripping, compressed air is admitted to piston 23; this causes the leaf springs 26 to move out of the pipe 27 and enables them to receive a jumper wire 14. The jumper wire 14 is then located in the semicircular deformations. During withdrawal, the leaf springs 26 enclose the jumper wire 14 and hold it positively in a slot of the pipe 27 until it has been passed through the wrapper sleeve.
FIGS 4 to 12 show the mode of operation of the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun. In these figures, only the necessary parts are shown, partly in a simplified form. In FIG. 4, the jumper wire 14, which comes from a supply spool, has already been inserted in the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2 and is being held by the clamping jaws 16.
The outer piston 18 moves forward in the piston housing by the distance X up to the projection 19, as illustrated in FIG. 5, advancing the jumper wire 14 by the distance X, too. The jumper wire 14 is then caught by the gripping element 22.
Referring now to FIG. 6, it is seen that the clamping jaws 16 have released their hold, and the gripping finger 3 pulls the jumper wire 14 through the wrapper sleeve of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1.
Referring now to FIG. 7, the pistons 15 and 18 have returned to their initial positions, and the stripping of the jumper wire is initiated by the forward movement of the winding mandrel 30 in the wrapper sleeve.
In FIG. 8 is it shown how the jumper wire 14, stripped of insulation and ready for winding, lies in the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1. In this position the gun is slipped over the pin to be wrapped, and the wrapping operation is initiated manually.
After the wire-wrap joint has been applied, as illustrated at 31 in FIG. 9, the front part of the wrapper sleeve closes, and the laying sleeve and the jumper wire 14 remain loosely hung therein. Thereby, the jumper wire may be laid and transferred with the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1. In the next operating position, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the cutting head 9 cuts the jumper wire 14 through when the gripping element 22 of the gripping finger 3 has caught it. Thereafter, the gripping finger 3 pulls the jumper wire through the wrapper sleeve.
Referring now to FIG. 11, the laying sleeve opens again, and the second wire stripping operation is initated by the winding mandrel 30 being moved forward.
FIG. 12 shows how the stripped jumper wire 14 lies in the wire stripping and wrapping gun. Now, the winding mandrel can be slipped over a pin, and the wire-wrap connection can be made
Thereafter, a new work cycle with the next piece of jumper wire can take place. The sequence starts again with the position shown in FIG. 4. Only when the wire supply on the supply spool has been used up does the jumper wire 14 finally leave the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun.
The sequence of operations of the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun is controlled via a pneumatic fluid control, which can be influenced from outside. Part of the control, i.e., the control sequence with its predetermined steps, is caused by the program control part 4. This is accompanied by a fluid scanning of the movements, whose fluid signals are processed in the integrated fluid circuit 5 and applied to the pnuematic amplifier 6, circuits of this type being well known in the art. Via a driving device, the amplifier 6 then advances the program control part with the radial control valves, so that the next step can take place.
It is to be understood that the foregoing description of specific examples of this invention is made by way of example only and is not to be considered as a limitation on its scope.
This invention relates to a wire stripping and wrapping gun and more particularly to such a gun which automatically prepares jumper wires and makes wire wrapped joints.
Numerous individual tools and devices are known with which jumper wires can be cut either manually or mechanically and other devices are known with which the ends of insulated jumper wires can be stripped of their insulation. Devices are also known for producing wire wrapped joints instead of soldered joints. All of these devices are disadvantageous in that they require a substantial amount of time for wrapping an insulated wire onto a connecting terminal. Tools and mechanical wiring heads in which the functions of said cutting, threading and stripping a jumper wire are combined in one tool are also well known. These tools, which are either operated manually or according to a program, are subject however to the disadvantage that they usually cannot be held in the hand as hand tools, but rather are machines which require a large financial investment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore the main object of this invention is to provide a hand tool which automatically feeds, strips, cuts and wraps a jumper wire onto a terminal.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun which is capable of providing a plurality of jumper connection wires from a single wire supply.
According to the present invention there is provided an automatic wire stripping and wrapping apparatus comprising a wire stripping and wrapping gun including a winding mandrel, a stripper and a wrapping device, wire transfer means connected to said gun, selectively operable wire cutting means coupled to said transfer means for receiving wire therefrom and severing said wire, and gripping means coupled to said gun adapted to grip the wire transmitted by said cutting means and to position said wire for operation thereon by said gun.
Further objects and features of this invention will become more apparent by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of an automatic wire and stripping and wrapping apparatus according to the subject invention;
FIG. 2 is a partly sectioned view of FIG. 1 illustrating the inventive attachment to said gun;
FIG. 3 is a detailed illustration of the gripping means utilized with the inventive apparatus; and
FIGS 4-12 illustrate the sequence of operations of the subject invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The automatic wire stipping and wrapping gun illustrated in FIG. 1 essentially consists of the following subassemblies: a combined wire stripping and wrapping gun 1, a pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2 with a gripping finger 3, a program control part 4 consisting of radial control valves, an integrated fluid circuit 5, and a pneumatic amplifier 6. These subassemblies form a unit and are interconnected by corresponding lines, running e.g., from the program control part 4 to the attachment 2 via pneumatic line 7, or from the attachment 2 to the fluid circuit 5 via pneumatic line 8.
Since the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun operates with compressed air in all of its parts, only two connecting lines are required, i.e., a high-pressure line and a low-pressure line. For control purposes, including signalling, compressed air with low pressure, i.e., about 600 millimeters of water is necessary, while the operating function requires compressed air of about six atmospheres of pressure.
FIG. 2 shows the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2 and the gripping finger 3 in a cross-sectional view. This attachment 2 with the gripping finger 3, laterally mounted in the front part of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1, tensions, tranfers, cuts and holds an inserted jumper wire. To this end, it is equipped with a cutting head 9, a transfer part 10, and a gripping finger 3.
The cutting head 9 comprises a piston 11, whose rod 12 is beveled in its front portion; thus, when moved, this rod displaces a cutting die 13 positioned thereabove. This cutting die 13, in cooperation with a stationary part, cuts the inserted jumper wire 14 through.
The transfer part 10 must perform two functions: it must hold the jumper wire and subsequently transfer it. To this end, it is provided with two pistons positioned one inside the other, i.e., a double piston and clamping jaws. The inner piston 15 of the double piston actuates the clamping jaws 16 when compressed air is admitted to it and causes it to move. After the removal of the compressed air, the piston 15 is returned to its initial position by a spiral spring 17, thus releasing the clamping jaws 16.
The outer piston 18 of the double piston, upon admission thereto of compressed air of six atmospheres of pressure, moves in the piston housing up to the projection 19. In doing so, it advances the jumper wire 14, held by the clamping jaws 16, by an equal distance. The return movement of the piston 18 is caused by admission of compressed air in the opposite direction or by suction.
In order to enable the jumper wire 14 to be inserted not only from the direction of the extension of the pilot hole, a pulley 28 is arranged before the thread opening 20. Now, the jumper wire 14 can also be taken from a laterally positioned supply spool. This also increases the freedom of movement of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1.
The gripping finger 3 has a rod 21, one end of which is pivotally mounted in the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2. The other end of the rod 21 carries a gripping element 22. The rod 21 is made as a pipe, and through the hollow space therein the gripping element 22 is supplied with compressed air. Mounted in the gripping element 22 is a piston 23 which is held in its rest position by a spiral spring 24 and whose rod 25 carries a spring 26. The gripping element 22 of the gripping finger 3 is led to the jumper wire 14, coming out of the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2, by a compressed-air-operated piston acting at the fulcrum of the rod 21 and pulls the jumper wire through the wrapper sleeve of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1.
FIG. 3 shows the front end of the gripping element 22 in an enlarged view and with a just gripped jumper wire 14. The leaf springs 26 clamped into the piston rod 25 have, at their front ends, semicircular deformations pointing towards each other. In addition, the ends are spread so as to slide well over the jumper wire 14. For gripping, compressed air is admitted to piston 23; this causes the leaf springs 26 to move out of the pipe 27 and enables them to receive a jumper wire 14. The jumper wire 14 is then located in the semicircular deformations. During withdrawal, the leaf springs 26 enclose the jumper wire 14 and hold it positively in a slot of the pipe 27 until it has been passed through the wrapper sleeve.
FIGS 4 to 12 show the mode of operation of the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun. In these figures, only the necessary parts are shown, partly in a simplified form. In FIG. 4, the jumper wire 14, which comes from a supply spool, has already been inserted in the pneumatic and mechanical attachment 2 and is being held by the clamping jaws 16.
The outer piston 18 moves forward in the piston housing by the distance X up to the projection 19, as illustrated in FIG. 5, advancing the jumper wire 14 by the distance X, too. The jumper wire 14 is then caught by the gripping element 22.
Referring now to FIG. 6, it is seen that the clamping jaws 16 have released their hold, and the gripping finger 3 pulls the jumper wire 14 through the wrapper sleeve of the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1.
Referring now to FIG. 7, the pistons 15 and 18 have returned to their initial positions, and the stripping of the jumper wire is initiated by the forward movement of the winding mandrel 30 in the wrapper sleeve.
In FIG. 8 is it shown how the jumper wire 14, stripped of insulation and ready for winding, lies in the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1. In this position the gun is slipped over the pin to be wrapped, and the wrapping operation is initiated manually.
After the wire-wrap joint has been applied, as illustrated at 31 in FIG. 9, the front part of the wrapper sleeve closes, and the laying sleeve and the jumper wire 14 remain loosely hung therein. Thereby, the jumper wire may be laid and transferred with the wire stripping and wrapping gun 1. In the next operating position, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the cutting head 9 cuts the jumper wire 14 through when the gripping element 22 of the gripping finger 3 has caught it. Thereafter, the gripping finger 3 pulls the jumper wire through the wrapper sleeve.
Referring now to FIG. 11, the laying sleeve opens again, and the second wire stripping operation is initated by the winding mandrel 30 being moved forward.
FIG. 12 shows how the stripped jumper wire 14 lies in the wire stripping and wrapping gun. Now, the winding mandrel can be slipped over a pin, and the wire-wrap connection can be made
Thereafter, a new work cycle with the next piece of jumper wire can take place. The sequence starts again with the position shown in FIG. 4. Only when the wire supply on the supply spool has been used up does the jumper wire 14 finally leave the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun.
The sequence of operations of the automatic wire stripping and wrapping gun is controlled via a pneumatic fluid control, which can be influenced from outside. Part of the control, i.e., the control sequence with its predetermined steps, is caused by the program control part 4. This is accompanied by a fluid scanning of the movements, whose fluid signals are processed in the integrated fluid circuit 5 and applied to the pnuematic amplifier 6, circuits of this type being well known in the art. Via a driving device, the amplifier 6 then advances the program control part with the radial control valves, so that the next step can take place.
It is to be understood that the foregoing description of specific examples of this invention is made by way of example only and is not to be considered as a limitation on its scope.