JP3932969B2 - Electric wire cutting and crimping method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is a cutting and crimping machine for cutting and crimping an electric wire with a pre-designed circuit pattern, and after feeding out the electric wire selected by the wire selector with a pre-feeder and cutting one end thereof to crimp the terminal fitting, The present invention relates to an electric wire cutting and crimping method in which the electric wire is fed out and then the other end of the electric wire is cut to crimp a terminal fitting.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, as shown in FIG. 8, while selecting one type of a plurality of types (for example, 30 types) of electric wires 1 with the wire selector 2, the selected electric wires 1 are intermittently sent to cut both ends. A cutting and crimping machine that sequentially manufactures products that have been subjected to desired processing by performing terminal processing such as skinning and crimping connection of terminal fittings sequentially on the terminal portion separated by this cutting 3 is known.
[0003]
As shown in FIG. 8, the wire selector 2 is arranged on the upstream side of the prefeeder 5 and the straightener 6 in the wire supply port 4 of the main body of the cutting and crimping machine 3, and cuts the wire 1 fed out by the prefeeder 5 with a cutter 7. On the other hand, the terminal fitting 10 is crimped to both ends of the electric wire 1 using the crimping machines 8 and 9, and the electric wire 1 is discharged to the conveyor 11. In addition, the code | symbol 12 in FIG. 8 has shown the length measurement part which measures the cutting length of an electric wire, and the code | symbol 13 has shown the clamp which fixes and fixes the rear-end part of the electric wire after a cutting | disconnection, respectively.
[0004]
Here, the operations of the wire selector 2 and the cutting and crimping machine 3 are automatically executed based on control by a predetermined control device (not shown).
[0005]
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an outline of the wire selector 2. In the wire selector 2, a plurality of types (for example, 30 types) of electric wires 1 fed from an electric wire supply unit called a centralized supply stand are respectively penetrated into a plurality of through holes 22 formed in parallel in the cartridge 21. The cartridge 21 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow P, and one of the plurality of types of electric wires 1 is selected and placed between a pair of delivery rollers 23a and 23b arranged to face each other in the vertical direction. And both the sending rollers 23a and 23b rotate in the state which pinched | interposed the selected electric wire 1, and this electric wire 1 is let out in the arrow Q direction.
[0006]
Conventionally, the operation in which the wire selector 2 replaces the electric wire 1 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a conventional wire replacement operation, and FIGS. 11 to 14 are state transition plan views at the time of conventional production lot switching.
[0007]
When the production lot of a certain circuit pattern is completed, the cutting and crimping machine 3 is first stopped in step S1 in FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the electric wire 1 used in the production lot passes through the pre-feeder 5 and the straightener 6, and the tip of the electric wire 1 is positioned in the vicinity of the cutter 7. Operation stops. At this time, information on the manufacturing conditions of the next production lot (cutting length, number of production, number of wire selector 2, necessity / unnecessity of condition line, skinning depth, etc.) is sent to a central server (e.g., host system) Information on these manufacturing conditions is input to the control device (not shown) by receiving data from a network (LAN) (not shown) or manually inputting data on a predetermined operation panel (step S2).
[0008]
Next, as shown in FIG. 12, the rollers 12a and 12b of the pre-feeder 5, the straightener 6 and the length measuring unit 12 are released, and the sending rollers 23a and 23b are reversely rotated and used in the production lots until then. The remaining electric wire 1 is pulled back in the arrow R direction (step S3).
[0009]
After the pull back of the electric wire 1 is completed, the cartridge 21 of the wire selector 2 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow P as shown in FIG. 13 to select a new electric wire 1 (step S4). The electric wire 1 is fed out in the direction indicated by the arrow Q by the delivery rollers 23a and 23b (step S5).
[0010]
Then, as shown in FIG. 14, while the electric wire 1 is drawn straight by the straightener 6, the electric wire 1 is sent out by the pre-feeder 5, and when the tip of the electric wire 1 reaches before the cutter 7, the length measuring unit The 12 rollers 12a and 12b are closed, and the operation of exchanging the electric wires 1 accompanying the production lot switching is completed. Thereafter, for the next production lot, the cutting and crimping machine 3 starts operation for cutting and crimping.
[0011]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in the conventional switching operation of the electric wire 1, as shown in FIG. 12, the remaining electric wires 1 used in the previous production lot are pulled back in the direction indicated by the arrow R. As shown by reference numeral 1a, the electric wire 1 was slackened, and the handling of this slack was troublesome.
[0012]
Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-210154 discloses a technique in which a cutter mechanism is provided at the wire supply port 4 in FIG.
[0013]
However, in this Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-210154, after the last wire 1 in the production lot is cut and crimped, the wire 1 is exchanged (switching operation). Is about 15 seconds, and during this time, the cutting and crimping machine 3 is in a stopped state (non-operating state). In particular, in small-lot production for high-mix low-volume production, the non-operation time required for the switching operation becomes longer than the operation time of the cutting and crimping machine 3, which greatly affects the yield of electric wire products. Therefore, it has been desired to reduce the non-operation time of the cutting and crimping machine 3 accompanying the production lot switching operation as much as possible.
[0014]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric wire cutting and crimping method capable of shortening the non-operating time of the cutting and crimping machine 3 accompanying the production lot switching operation as much as possible.
[0015]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a cutting and crimping machine for cutting and crimping an electric wire with a pre-designed circuit pattern, and is controlled by a predetermined control device based on information on predetermined manufacturing conditions. After selecting and supplying one of a plurality of wires by a wire selector arranged at the wire supply port of the cutting and crimping machine, cutting one end of the supplied wire and crimping the terminal fitting , A method of cutting and crimping an electric wire by feeding the wire while measuring the length , then cutting the other end of the wire and crimping a terminal fitting, and repeatedly cutting and crimping a plurality of wires. The method stops the last wire of the current production lot in the middle of the current production lot, near the expiration of the production lot, and temporarily cuts near the expiration of the production lot at the wire supply port. A first step of cutting the end of the last wire of the current production lot and crimping a terminal fitting; and after the second step, the last step of the current production lot The electric wire is further extended, the rear end portion of the electric wire is cut so that the length of the electric wire becomes the cut length, a terminal metal fitting is crimped to the rear end portion, and the rear end portion is cut. A third step of discharging excess electric wires, and in parallel with the second step, the wires used in the next production lot are newly selected by the wire selector, and in the third step, In parallel with the operation of further feeding the last electric wire of the current production lot, the electric wire newly selected by the wire selector follows the rear end of the last electric wire of the current production lot. Feeding out from the wire supply port Latest at the end of the first step, the control device so as to retain information of the production conditions for the circuit pattern of the next production lot, giving information on the manufacturing conditions to the control device.
[0016]
The invention according to claim 2 is the electric wire cutting and crimping method according to claim 1, wherein the manufacturing condition information is transmitted from another computer having a database of the manufacturing condition information through a predetermined network. Provided to the controller.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an electric wire cutting / crimping method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 7 are state transition plan views when the cutting / crimping method is carried out. In FIGS. 2 to 7 and the description of this embodiment, elements having the same functions as those of the conventional technology are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the configuration of the wire selector 2 is particularly the same as that of the conventional technology. is there. The cutter 7 that has been provided conventionally will be referred to as a “first cutter 7”.
[0018]
That is, as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 7, the wire cutting and crimping method is such that the wire crimping and crimping is performed in lot units for each of a plurality of circuit patterns by the automatic operation of the cutting and crimping machine 3. The electric wires 1α and 1β selected in Step 2 are intermittently sent out and cut, and terminal processing such as skinning and terminal fitting crimping connection is sequentially performed on the terminal portion cut off by the cutting, and thereby desired. The products that have been processed are manufactured in sequence.
[0019]
In this cutting and crimping machine 3, since the types (colors, etc.) of the electric wires 1α and 1β used differ depending on the circuit pattern of the electric wires, the types of the electric wires 1α and 1β are automatically selected by the wire selector 2 every time the circuit pattern is changed. The cutting and crimping work is executed while exchanging them.
[0020]
A wire selector 2 is installed on the upstream side of the pre-feeder 5 and the straightener 6 at the wire supply port 4 of the cutting and crimping machine 3. Further, the wire selector 2 is produced at the wire supply port 4 between the straightener 6 and the wire selector 2. A second cutter 35 for temporarily cutting the rear end portion of the last electric wire 1α of the lot is provided separately for the first cutter 7.
[0021]
The cutting and crimping machine 3 and the wire selector 2 are connected to a predetermined control device 31, and information on various manufacturing conditions such as circuit patterns in a database stored in a central server (computer) 32 is transmitted to a network ( (LAN) 33 to a control device (cutting / crimping management computer) 31, which controls the cutting / crimping machine 3 (including the second cutter 35) based on the manufacturing condition information given from the central server 32. And each wire selector 2 is controlled.
[0022]
In the central server 32, for example, the production sequence for one day is planned in advance, and the circuit pattern (that is, information such as the length of the wire cut and the type of terminal fitting pressed against both ends) is controlled along the production sequence. It is transmitted to the device 31 at a predetermined timing described later.
[0023]
The control device 31 is a general computer including a CPU, a hard disk device, a main memory, and a display device, and operates according to a software program stored in advance in the hard disk device. The operations described below are defined by this software program. Of the information given from the central server 32, the information about the production order can be modified and changed in the control device 31.
[0024]
Next, the operation when the electric wires 1α and 1β selected by the wire selector 2 are cut and crimped by the cutting and crimping machine 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0025]
Here, various information is given to the control device 31 from the central server 32 through the network 33. Based on the information on the production sequence in the central server 32 at the latest before the time of production lot changeover, two productions are performed. Manufacturing conditions for the circuit pattern of the lot are given (step T1). That is, in the cutting and crimping machine 3, information on manufacturing conditions for the next production lot is given while the current production lot is being produced.
[0026]
Then, in step T2, as shown in FIG. 3, it is stopped by the length L1 between the first and second cutters 7 and 35 in the middle of the current production lot and near the expiration of the lot. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the wire 1α continues to N98, N99, and N100, and this wire N100 is the last one in the lot, the second cutter 35 It is located at a point that is shifted to a point on the rear side by an excess wire NLOSS that is cut and removed later than the terminal point in product design.
[0027]
Next, in Step T3, the cutting and crimping machine 3 is stopped for a moment, and the rear end portion of the electric wire 1α is temporarily cut by the second cutter 35.
[0028]
Subsequently, in step T4, the operation of the cutting and crimping machine 3 is restarted, and the cutting and crimping machine 3 performs the cutting and crimping on the tip of the last electric wire 1α of the current production lot whose rear end is temporarily cut.
[0029]
At the same time, in step T5, as shown in FIG. 4, the wire selector 2 starts to move in the direction indicated by the arrow P, and starts selecting the electric wire 1β used in the next production lot.
[0030]
In step T6, after the cutting and crimping of the tip of the wire 1α of the current production lot is completed, the rollers 12a and 12b of the prefeeder 5 and the length measuring unit 12 are rotated, and the length measuring unit 12 While measuring the cutting length, the electric wire 1α is fed out in the traveling direction Q (FIG. 4). In this way, the pre-feeder 5 and the straightener 6 are released when the rear end of the last wire 1α of the current production lot has passed the pre-feeder 5 (FIG. 5).
[0031]
At the same time, in step T7, as shown in FIG. 6, the first wire 1β of the next production lot is moved from the wire supply port 4 to the cutting and crimping machine 3 side by the rotation of the feed rollers 23a and 23b of the wire selector 2. Pull out. In this case, the first electric wire 1β of the next production lot is fed into the cutting and crimping machine 3 so as to follow the rear end portion of the electric wire 1α of the current production lot.
[0032]
For the last wire 1α of the current production lot, when the wire 1α has advanced by an appropriate cutting length by length measurement by the length measuring unit 12, the rear end portion of the wire 1α is cut by the first cutter 7. (FIG. 6).
[0033]
Here, in the above-described step T3, the second cutter 35 is located at a point shifted from the terminal point of the last electric wire N100 to the rear side by the remaining electric wire NLOSS that is cut and removed later. Therefore, when the first cutter 7 cuts, a surplus electric wire NLOSS is generated. For this reason, in Step T8, the surplus electric wires are discharged to a predetermined conveyor (not shown) arranged on the downstream side by the rollers 12a and 12b of the length measuring unit 12, or fixed by a clamp (not shown). Discharge at work.
[0034]
Thereafter, in step T9, as shown in FIG. 7, the new wire 1β is fed out until the tip of the first wire 1β of the next production lot reaches the downstream side of the first cutter 7, and the next production is performed. The cutting / crimping operation of the lot is executed by the cutting / crimping machine 3.
[0035]
In this way, while cutting and crimping is being performed on the final wire 1α of the current production lot, the switching operation of the next wire 1β is performed at the same time. However, even when cutting and crimping, it is possible to substantially eliminate the non-operation time required for switching between wires, and to greatly improve the yield of wire products.
[0036]
In addition, unlike the conventional wire switching operation, it is not necessary to perform the operation of pulling back the remaining wires in the finished production lot (see FIG. 12), which is convenient because it is not necessary to consider the handling of wire slack.
[0037]
In the above-described embodiment, information on manufacturing conditions for two production lots is always transmitted to the control device 31 from the central server 32 through the network 33. When, for example, the bar code written in the production instruction sheet referred to as “F” superimposed on the production order is sequentially read, and the circuit pattern information and the like of each production lot is given to the control device 31. In addition, the bar code may be pre-read up to two production lots so that the control device 31 always has the production conditions for two production lots.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first and second aspects of the invention, the wire switching operation by each wire selector and the wire crimping operation of the wire by the cutting and crimping machine are operated in parallel. The production efficiency can be improved compared to the conventional technology in which the operation is stopped and the switching operation is performed by the wire selector. In particular, in high-mix low-volume production, since it is necessary to frequently perform switching operations for each small lot, the effect of improving the production efficiency becomes very effective by the parallel processing of the switching operations, and the yield can be greatly improved. In addition, since it is not necessary to perform the operation of pulling back the remaining wires in the finished production lot, it is not necessary to consider the handling of the slack of the wires, which is convenient.
[0039]
When both the wire selector and the cutting / crimping machine operate according to the control by the control device, at the latest at the end of the first step, that is, at the time when the circuit pattern of the electric wire is switched, the control device Since the information on the manufacturing conditions is given to the control device so as to hold the information on the manufacturing conditions, even if the electric wire replacement operation for the next production lot is performed in parallel during the operation state in the cutting and crimping machine, The controller does not run out of manufacturing condition information. This is particularly effective when manufacturing condition information is received from a database in another computer via a network.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a method for cutting and crimping an electric wire according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state transition when the electric wire cutting and crimping method according to one embodiment of the present invention is performed.
FIG. 3 is a state transition plan view when the electric wire cutting and crimping method according to one embodiment of the present invention is performed.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a state transition when the electric wire cutting and crimping method according to one embodiment of the present invention is performed.
FIG. 5 is a state transition plan view when the electric wire cutting and crimping method according to one embodiment of the present invention is performed.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of a state transition when the electric wire cutting and crimping method according to one embodiment of the present invention is carried out.
FIG. 7 is a state transition plan view when the electric wire cutting and crimping method according to one embodiment of the present invention is performed.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a cutting and crimping machine and a wire selector used in a general method for cutting and crimping electric wires.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a general wire selector.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a conventional wire replacement operation.
FIG. 11 is a state transition plan view in the case where a conventional electric wire cutting and crimping method is carried out.
FIG. 12 is a plan view of a state transition when a conventional electric wire cutting and crimping method is performed.
FIG. 13 is a state transition plan view in the case where a conventional electric wire cutting and crimping method is carried out.
FIG. 14 is a state transition plan view when a conventional electric wire cutting and crimping method is carried out.
[Explanation of symbols]
1α, 1β Electric wire 2 Wire selector 3 Cutting / crimping machine 4 Electric wire supply port 5 Pre-feeder 6 Straightener 7 First cutter 12 Length measuring unit 31 Control device 32 Central server 33 Network 35 Second cutter

Claims (2)

In a cutting and crimping machine for cutting and crimping an electric wire with a pre-designed circuit pattern, it is executed by control by a predetermined control device based on information on predetermined manufacturing conditions, and is arranged at an electric wire supply port of the cutting and crimping machine After selecting and supplying one of the plurality of electric wires with a wire selector, cutting one end of the supplied electric wires and crimping the terminal fitting, and then feeding out the electric wires while measuring the length of the electric wires. A method of cutting and crimping an electric wire by repeatedly cutting and crimping a plurality of electric wires by cutting an end and crimping a terminal fitting,
The method of cutting and crimping the electric wire
A first step of stopping the last electric wire of the current production lot in the middle of the current production lot and near the expiration of the production lot, and temporarily cutting near the expiration of the production lot at the wire supply port;
A second step of cutting a tip portion of the last electric wire of the current production lot and crimping a terminal fitting;
After the second step, the last electric wire of the current production lot is further drawn out, the rear end portion of the electric wire is cut so that the length of the electric wire becomes the cut length, and the rear end portion A third step of crimping the terminal fitting to the second end and discharging the excess electric wire cut at the rear end,
In parallel with the second step, the wire selector selects a new wire to be used for the next production lot,
In parallel with the operation of further feeding out the last wire of the current production lot in the third step, the wire newly selected by the wire selector is used as the rear end of the last wire of the current production lot. To feed out from the wire supply port to follow the part,
The electric wire is characterized in that information on the manufacturing conditions is given to the control device so that the control device holds information on the manufacturing conditions for the circuit pattern of the next production lot at the end of the first step at the latest. Cutting and crimping method. A method of cutting and crimping an electric wire according to claim 1,
The method of cutting and crimping an electric wire, wherein the information on the manufacturing conditions is given to the control device through a predetermined network from another computer having a database on the information on the manufacturing conditions.

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