JP7680481B2 - Chain terminal manufacturing apparatus, chain terminal manufacturing method, and chain terminal - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a manufacturing device for chained terminals in which multiple terminals are connected to a strip-shaped chain portion (carrier), and a manufacturing method for chained terminals.

Chained terminals are widely known as terminals for electrical connections (see Patent Document 1). A chained terminal is a terminal in which multiple terminals are connected to a strip-shaped chain portion (carrier). In factories that manufacture this type of chained terminal, the chain portion of the manufactured chained terminal is wound up on a winding drum and then transported to another process (such as plating).

JP 2015-5500 A

However, when the metal plate that forms the linking part and the terminal becomes thick, such as in the case of high voltage terminals, the rigidity of the linking part becomes high. This increases the burden of winding, and there is also the inconvenience that it takes time to straighten out the curl (curvature) of the linking part when it is transported to the next process (such as a continuous plating process) after winding.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a manufacturing device for chained terminals, a manufacturing method for chained terminals, and a chained terminal that can eliminate the inconveniences that occur when winding and unwinding chained terminals.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the manufacturing apparatus for chained terminals according to the present invention has the following features.
A chained terminal manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a chain portion including a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers and a plurality of terminals connected via the chain portion, the chain portion comprising:
a terminal forming mechanism that forms a plurality of terminals by punching a metal plate;
a chaining mechanism that connects the terminals to the pair of subcarriers such that a pair of the subcarriers adjacent to each other in a transport direction of the chained terminals among the plurality of subcarriers are linked in the transport direction via the plurality of terminals,
the thickness of the subcarriers is smaller than the thickness of the terminals;
It is a manufacturing device for chain terminals.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the method for manufacturing a chained terminal according to the present invention has the following features.
A method for manufacturing a chained terminal, which manufactures a chain portion including a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers and a plurality of terminals connected via the chain portion, comprising:
stamping a metal plate to form a plurality of terminals;
a step of connecting the terminals to the pair of subcarriers such that a pair of the subcarriers adjacent to each other in the transport direction of the chained terminals among the plurality of subcarriers are connected to each other in the transport direction via the plurality of terminals,
the thickness of the subcarriers is smaller than the thickness of the terminals;
This is a manufacturing method for chain terminals.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the chain terminal according to the present invention has the following features.
A chain terminal including a chain portion made of a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers and a plurality of terminals connected via the chain portion,
The terminals are provided with a strip-shaped terminal side linking portion,
a pair of the subcarriers adjacent to each other in a transport direction of the chained terminal among the plurality of subcarriers are connected to each other by the strip-shaped terminal side chain portion so as to straddle the pair of the subcarriers and to link the pair of the subcarriers in the transport direction,
the thickness of the subcarriers is smaller than the thickness of the terminals;
It is a chain terminal.

According to the present invention, since the terminals can be connected to the linking portion (multiple subcarriers) that has a smaller plate thickness than the terminals, the burden when winding the linking portion can be reduced. In addition, since the occurrence of curling can be reduced, the burden when correcting the curling in a later process can be reduced or eliminated. In addition, since the linking portion is made up of multiple subcarriers, the linking portion (i.e., multiple subcarriers) is easy to handle.

The present invention has been briefly described above. The details of the present invention will become clearer by reading the following description of the embodiment of the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main portion of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a chain terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a first modified example of the chain terminal. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a second modified example of the chain terminal. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a plating processing apparatus. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the plating processing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a connection between a subcarrier and a terminal chain portion (however, the terminals are not shown).

<Embodiment>
The chained terminal of this embodiment includes a plurality of terminals 1 connected to a band-shaped linking portion 10 via a linking portion 2, and a plurality of band-shaped subcarriers 21 of a predetermined length. Specifically, the chained terminal is configured by connecting a pair of subcarriers 21 adjacent to each other in the transport direction of the chained terminal (see arrow Y1 in FIG. 1) by each of the linking portions 10 (see FIG. 2). The plate thickness of the subcarriers 21 is configured to be smaller than the plate thickness of the metal plate forming the terminal 1. The subcarriers 21 are arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the subcarriers 21 is aligned with the transport direction of the chained terminal. Here, the subcarriers 21 may be made of a metal plate or a resin plate. The predetermined length (longitudinal length) of the plurality of subcarriers 21 is appropriately determined based on the pitch (spacing) between the terminals 1, the shape of the terminals 1, and the like.

The manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment has a chained terminal primary processing means and a chained terminal secondary processing means.
1, the primary chain terminal processing means presses a thick metal plate to produce a chain terminal having a band-shaped linking portion 10 and a plurality of terminals 1 connected to the linking portion 10 via connecting portions 2. During this press processing, one pilot hole 11 is formed in the linking portion 10 for each terminal 1.

Next, the secondary terminal chain processing means separates the chained portion 10 of the chained terminal processed by the primary terminal chain processing means in its longitudinal direction for each terminal 1 (see the form in Figs. 1 and 2). Then, each separated chain portion 10 is press-processed. During this press processing, multiple (four in this example) connection holes (small holes) 12 are processed in the chain portion 10. Then, each chain portion 10 with the connection holes 12 is joined to a pair of subcarriers 21 adjacent to each other in the conveying direction (see arrow Y1 in Fig. 1) among the multiple subcarriers 21 by fitting and crimping the protrusions formed in the plate thickness direction and the small holes, and is re-chained.

That is, when processing the multiple subcarriers 21, each subcarrier 21 is provided with a protrusion 22 that corresponds to the connection hole 12 of the linking portion 10. Then, the four connection holes 12 are fitted into the two protrusions 22 (four protrusions 22 in total) of each subcarrier 21 so that the linking portion 10 straddles the pair of subcarriers 21, and the protrusions 22 are tightened. In this way, the multiple subcarriers 21 and the terminals 1 are connected via each of the separated linking portions 10. As a result, the multiple subcarriers 21 are linked in the transport direction by each linking portion 10, and are connected to the terminals 1 as a new linking portion 20.

The terminal 1 with the separated linking portion 10 is pushed and moved by a pushing member (not shown) so as to straddle the pair of adjacent subcarriers 21 and positioned on the pair of subcarriers 21. Then, the four connection holes 12 provided in the linking portion 10 are fitted into the two protruding portions 22 (total of four protruding portions 22) of each subcarrier 21, respectively, and in this state, the protruding portions 22 are tightened with a tightening member (not shown), thereby connecting the terminal 1 to the multiple subcarriers 21 via the separated linking portion 10. In this way, a chain terminal made of a composite material is completed, in which the terminal 1 is made of a thick metal plate and the linking portion 20 (multiple subcarriers 21) is made of a strip-shaped plate member of a predetermined length. Here, the protruding portions 22 may be formed by burring processing or dowel processing.

Laser welding may be used as a method for connecting the linking portion 10 and the subcarrier 21 (see FIG. 4). Alternatively, instead of the protrusion 22, a hole 22a corresponding to the connection hole 12 may be provided on the subcarrier 21, and the linking portion 10 and the subcarrier 21 may be fastened together and connected by a band B or the like (see FIG. 5). Alternatively, a crimping portion 10a may be provided on the linking portion 10, and the crimping portion 10a may be used to crimp the subcarrier 21 as shown in FIG. 8, thereby connecting the linking portion 10 and the subcarrier 21. In this way, the method for connecting the linking portion 10 and the subcarrier 21 is not particularly limited as long as it can realize the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a manufacturing system 200 including the manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment.
As shown in Figure 3 (a), the manufacturing system 200 is centered around a progressive die type press device 100 as a manufacturing device for chained terminals of the embodiment, and is equipped with a terminal material supply device 101, a material feed device 102, a product discharge device 104, and a product winding device 105.

The terminal material supply device 101 supplies material for the terminal 1. The material feed device 102 sends the material supplied by the terminal material supply device 101 to the press device 100. The press device 100 forms a chain terminal, which is a product manufactured by this manufacturing system 200. The product manufactured by the press device 100 is discharged by the product discharge device 104 and wound up by the product winding device 105.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the press device 100 is provided with a terminal forming mechanism 131 as a primary chain terminal processing means, and a subcarrier supply mechanism 132 and a chaining mechanism 133 as secondary chain terminal processing means.

The terminal forming mechanism 131 forms a plurality of terminals 1 connected to the chain portion 10 via the link portion 2. In this example, the subcarrier supply mechanism 132 supplies a plurality of subcarriers 21 to the chaining mechanism 133 along a direction (see arrow Y2 in FIG. 1) perpendicular to the conveying direction of the chained terminals (see arrow Y1 in FIG. 1). The chaining mechanism 133 separates the chained terminals processed by the terminal forming mechanism 131 into each terminal 1 in the longitudinal direction, and crimps a pair of subcarriers 21 adjacent to each other in the conveying direction among the plurality of subcarriers 21 supplied from the subcarrier supply mechanism 132 in a state in which the connection holes 12 of the chain portion 10 are fitted into the two convex portions 22 of the pair of convex portions 22 of each subcarrier 21 so as to connect the plurality of terminals 1 in the conveying direction via each of the chain portions 10 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). In this way, the chained terminals are manufactured in the press device 100.

The two convex portions 22 that make up a pair of convex portions 22 on each subcarrier 21 refer to the two convex portions 22 on the right side of the page for the subcarrier 21 on the left side of the page, and the two convex portions 22 on the left side of the page for the subcarrier 21 on the right side of the page, as shown in FIG. 2.

After the product manufactured by the press device 100 is wound by the product winding device 105, there are, for example, post-processes such as a plating process for plating the terminals 1, a crimping process for crimping electric wires or the like to the terminals 1, and a transport process for transporting the product to a facility (location) for carrying out these post-processes. In the above-mentioned post-processes, the terminals 1 are chained together as described above, which provides superior workability compared to handling multiple terminals one by one. Furthermore, by chaining the terminals 1, the above-mentioned post-processes can be automated.

When removing the terminal 1 from the multiple subcarriers 21 (chain portion 20) in the above-mentioned post-process, it may be removed by cutting the connecting portion 2, or it may be removed by releasing the connection between the chain portion 10 and the multiple subcarriers 21 (chain portion 20) by a specified method. Therefore, the connection between the chain portion 10 and the multiple subcarriers 21 (chain portion 20) may be connected so that it can be released by a specified method.

As an example of the post-process, a plating process will be described with reference to FIGS.
Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a plating system 300 including a plating apparatus used in the plating process, which is one of the above-mentioned post-processes. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of the plating apparatus.
The plating system 300 is mainly configured with a plating processing device 107 that performs plating processing on the chained terminals 1 (chained terminals) as described above, and also includes a product unwinding device 106 and a product winding device 108.

The product unwinding device 106 sends the product manufactured by the press device 100 and wound up by the product winding device 105 to the plating processing device 107. The plating processing device 107 plates the terminal 1 of the chain terminal, which is the product. The product unwinding device 108 winds up the product plated by the plating processing device 107.

In the plating process, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, a plating layer is formed on the surface of the terminal 1 by immersing the terminal 1 in plating 31 placed in a tank in the plating processing device 107. The plating processing device 107 is also provided with guide rollers 32 that, for example, send the product to the product unwinding device 108 and prevent the terminal 1 from floating up from the plating 31.

Note that, between the product winding device 105 and the product unwinding device 106, the product may be transported from one facility (location) where the product winding device 105 is installed to another facility (location) where the product unwinding device 106 is installed. Also, the product winding device 105 and the product unwinding device 106 may be installed in the same facility (location), and the manufacture of the product of the embodiment and the above plating process may be performed in a continuous flow.

According to the above configuration, the terminal 1 can be connected to the linking part 20 (multiple subcarriers 21) that has a plate thickness smaller than that of the terminal 1, so the burden when winding the linking part 20 can be reduced. In addition, the occurrence of curling can be reduced, so the burden when correcting the curling in a later process can be reduced or eliminated. In addition, since the linking part 20 is composed of multiple subcarriers 21 of a predetermined length, the linking part 20 (i.e., multiple subcarriers 21) is easier to handle than when a plate material having a length is used as in the conventional linking part (carrier).

Furthermore, according to the above configuration, the press device 100 is equipped with a subcarrier supply mechanism 132, which allows the series of manufacturing processes of terminal formation, subcarrier supply, and chaining to be carried out smoothly.

Furthermore, according to the above configuration, the subcarrier supply mechanism 132 supplies multiple subcarriers 21 to the chaining mechanism along a direction perpendicular to the transport direction, thereby shortening the supply (transport) section from the subcarrier supply mechanism 132 to the chaining mechanism 133.

<Other forms>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified, improved, etc. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

Here, the features of the chain terminal manufacturing apparatus, the chain terminal manufacturing method, and the chain terminal embodiments according to the present invention described above are briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [5].

[1]
A manufacturing apparatus (press machine 100) for manufacturing a chained terminal, the manufacturing apparatus comprising a chain portion (20) consisting of a plurality of strip-shaped sub-carriers (21) and a plurality of terminals (1) connected via the chain portion (20),
A terminal forming mechanism (131) that punches out a metal plate to form a plurality of terminals (1);
a chaining mechanism (133) that connects the terminals (1) to the pair of subcarriers (21) such that a pair of the subcarriers (21) adjacent to each other in the transport direction of the chained terminals among the plurality of subcarriers (21) are linked in the transport direction via the plurality of terminals (1);
The thickness of the subcarriers (21) is smaller than the thickness of the terminals (1).
Manufacturing apparatus for chained terminals (press device 100).

When multiple terminals having a thickness equal to or greater than a certain thickness are connected by a chain portion (carrier) and wound onto a reel, they will develop a curl. However, with the manufacturing device having the configuration of [1] above, the terminals can be connected to a chain portion (multiple subcarriers) that is thinner than the terminals, so the burden of winding the chain portion can be reduced. In addition, because the occurrence of curls can be reduced, the burden of correcting the curls in a later process can be reduced or eliminated. In addition, because the chain portion is made up of multiple subcarriers, the chain portion (i.e., multiple subcarriers) is easy to handle.

[2]
The manufacturing apparatus (press device 100) for chained terminals according to the above [1],
a subcarrier supply mechanism (132) that supplies the plurality of subcarriers (21) to the chaining mechanism (133);
Manufacturing apparatus for chained terminals (press device 100).

According to the manufacturing device having the configuration of [2] above, the subcarrier supply mechanism allows the series of manufacturing processes of terminal formation, subcarrier supply, and chaining to be carried out smoothly.

[3]
The manufacturing apparatus (press device 100) for chained terminals according to the above [2],
The subcarrier supply mechanism (132)
The plurality of subcarriers (21) are supplied to the chaining mechanism (133) along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction.
Manufacturing apparatus for chained terminals (press device 100).

According to the chained terminal manufacturing device having the configuration [3] above, the subcarrier supply mechanism supplies multiple subcarriers to the chaining mechanism in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction, thereby shortening the supply (transport) section from the subcarrier supply mechanism to the chaining mechanism.

[4]
A method for manufacturing a chained terminal, comprising: a chain portion (20) consisting of a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers (21); and a plurality of terminals (1) connected via the chain portion (20), the method comprising the steps of:
A step of punching a metal plate to form a plurality of terminals (1);
and connecting the terminals (1) to the pair of subcarriers (21) such that a pair of the subcarriers (21) adjacent to each other in the transport direction of the chained terminals among the plurality of subcarriers (21) are connected in the transport direction via the plurality of terminals (1),
The thickness of the subcarriers (21) is smaller than the thickness of the terminals (1).
A method for manufacturing chain terminals.

According to the method for manufacturing a chained terminal having the configuration [4] above, the terminal can be connected to a chain part (multiple subcarriers) that has a smaller plate thickness than the terminal, which reduces the burden when winding up the chain part. In addition, the occurrence of curling can be reduced, which reduces or eliminates the burden when correcting the curling in a later process. In addition, since the chain part is made up of multiple subcarriers, the chain part (i.e., multiple subcarriers) is easy to handle.

[5]
A chained terminal including a chain portion (20) consisting of a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers (21) and a plurality of terminals (1) connected via the chain portion (20),
The plurality of terminals (1) are
a pair of the subcarriers (21) adjacent to each other in the transport direction of the chained terminal among the plurality of subcarriers (21) is connected to the pair of the subcarriers (21) so as to link the pair of the subcarriers (21) in the transport direction;
The thickness of the subcarriers (21) is smaller than the thickness of the terminals (1).
chain terminal.

According to the chain terminal of the configuration [5] above, the terminal can be connected to a chain part (multiple subcarriers) that has a smaller plate thickness than the terminal, so the burden when winding the chain part can be reduced. In addition, the occurrence of curling can be reduced, so the burden when correcting the curling in a later process can be reduced or eliminated. In addition, because the chain part is made up of multiple subcarriers, the chain part (i.e., multiple subcarriers) is easy to handle.

1 Terminal 2 Connection part 10 Linking part 12 Connection hole (small hole)
20 Linking portion 21 Subcarrier 22 Convex portion 22a Hole portion 100 Pressing device 131 Terminal forming mechanism 132 Subcarrier supply mechanism 133 Linking mechanism 200 Manufacturing system

Claims (5)

A chained terminal manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a chain portion including a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers and a plurality of terminals connected via the chain portion, the chain portion comprising:
a terminal forming mechanism that forms a plurality of terminals by punching a metal plate;
a chaining mechanism that connects the terminals to the pair of subcarriers such that a pair of the subcarriers adjacent to each other in a transport direction of the chained terminals among the plurality of subcarriers are linked in the transport direction via the plurality of terminals.
Chain terminal manufacturing equipment. The manufacturing apparatus for chained terminals according to claim 1,
a subcarrier supply mechanism that supplies the plurality of subcarriers to the chaining mechanism;
the thickness of the subcarriers is smaller than the thickness of the terminals;
Chain terminal manufacturing equipment. The manufacturing apparatus for chained terminals according to claim 2,
The subcarrier supply mechanism includes:
supplying the plurality of sub-carriers to the chaining mechanism along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction;
Chain terminal manufacturing equipment. A method for manufacturing a chained terminal, which manufactures a chain portion including a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers and a plurality of terminals connected via the chain portion, comprising:
stamping a metal plate to form a plurality of terminals;
a step of connecting the terminals to the pair of subcarriers such that a pair of the subcarriers adjacent to each other in the transport direction of the chained terminals among the plurality of subcarriers are connected to each other in the transport direction via the plurality of terminals,
the thickness of the subcarriers is smaller than the thickness of the terminals;
A method for manufacturing chain terminals. A chain terminal including a chain portion made of a plurality of strip-shaped subcarriers and a plurality of terminals connected via the chain portion,
The terminals are provided with a strip-shaped terminal side linking portion,
a pair of the subcarriers adjacent to each other in a transport direction of the chained terminal among the plurality of subcarriers are connected to each other by the strip-shaped terminal side chain portion so as to straddle the pair of the subcarriers and to link the pair of the subcarriers in the transport direction,
the thickness of the subcarriers is smaller than the thickness of the terminals;
chain terminal.

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