JPH0215990B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for connecting exposed conductor portions at the ends of a plurality of electric wires inserted into an insulating cover through the sleeve terminal by crimping a sleeve terminal that is fitted and held within the insulating cover. By way of electrical connection,
Specifically, it is a sleeve-type connector formed by fitting and holding a sleeve terminal in the small-diameter cylindrical part of a transparent or translucent resin insulating cover that has a large-diameter cylindrical part for inserting electric wires and a small-diameter cylindrical part with a bottom for fitting the terminal. The conductor portions of the plurality of electric wires are inserted into the sleeve terminal, and the sleeve terminals are crimped by operating a pair of dies to connect the conductor portions of the plurality of electric wires together through the sleeve terminal. The present invention relates to a method for electrically connecting

The most important thing when implementing such a crimp connection method is to ensure that the end conductor portions of multiple wires are securely connected to each other through the crimped sleeve terminals so as not to cause poor conductivity. It is necessary to ensure that the insertion length of the conductive wire portion into the sleeve terminal before crimping is maintained at a predetermined amount or more.

However, the exposed conductor portion at the end of the wire is a collection of thin wires, and if it hits the periphery of the entrance of the sleeve terminal during insertion, it may fold back toward the entrance of the insulating cover or the tip may harden. As a result, for example, even if the wire itself is pushed in more than the set amount, the die may operate with insufficient insertion length of the conductor or not inserted at all, producing many defective products, or the apparent crimp connection. However, even a slight pulling force acting on the wire can easily cause problems such as the conductor part coming off in spots.

In view of the current situation, the present invention proposes a method that can reliably solve the above-mentioned problems by making an extremely simple improvement to the sleeve type connector and effectively utilizing the well-known detection means. Have a purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention includes forming a transparent or translucent cylindrical portion between the bottom of the small diameter cylindrical portion of the sleeve type connector and the bottom edge of the sleeve terminal. Then, an optical sensor is provided in the crimping part to detect whether or not the tip of the conductor part of the electric wire is inserted into the cylindrical part by transmitting the tip through the cylindrical part, and the optical sensor detects insertion. The present invention is characterized in that the die is automatically operated to perform a crimp connection based on a signal, and the effects of the present invention having such characteristics are as follows.

In other words, when the exposed conductor portion at the end of the wire is inserted into the sleeve terminal of the sleeve type connector by an automatic machine or by manual operation, the tip of the wire is inserted into the transparent or translucent cylindrical portion of the insulating cover. The sensor reliably detects changes in the light beams and magnetic lines of force that pass through the cylindrical part, and gives an operating command to the pair of dies based only on the insertion detection signal to make the desired crimp connection. By doing this, you can avoid crimping the conductor at the end of the wire into the sleeve terminal with insufficient insertion length or crimping connection without inserting the wire, and ensure crimping connection with the wire being inserted more than the set amount. Product yield can be significantly improved, and productivity can also be improved. Moreover, in the method of the present invention, there is no need for any modification that would reduce the necessary functions and strength of the sleeve terminal, such as forming a hole penetrating the sleeve in the diameter direction of the sleeve, and there is no need to make any modifications to the insulating cover such as the above-mentioned tube. It is easy to carry out as it is only necessary to form a shaped part, and a well-known sensor such as a phototube can be effectively used as a sensor.

Examples of the method of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show a sleeve-type connector 3 which is the object of crimp connection, and is a transparent or semi-transparent connector having a large-diameter cylindrical portion 1A for inserting an electric wire and a small-diameter cylindrical portion 1B with a bottom for fitting a terminal. A sleeve terminal 2 is fitted and held within the small diameter cylindrical portion 1B of the transparent resin insulating cover 1. A transparent or translucent cylindrical portion 1B is formed between the bottom portion 1b of the small diameter cylindrical portion 1B and the edge 2b of the sleeve terminal 2 on the bottom portion 1b side.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of sleeve-type connectors 3 are arranged so that the large-diameter cylindrical portions 1A of their respective insulating covers 1 face in the same direction and open, and are spaced at a constant or almost constant interval. In this state, each of the large-diameter cylindrical portions 1A is connected to the insulating cover 1 in a band-like manner via a narrow and thin resin band-like piece 7 that is molded integrally with the insulating cover 1.

The continuous sleeve type connector band A constructed as described above is wound into a roll, and then set on the drive feed roll 9 of an automatic crimping machine 8 as shown in FIG. The unit connectors 3 are sequentially fed between the pair of upper and lower crimping dies 5, 5' while being forcibly and automatically transferred at pitches corresponding to the spacing between adjacent sleeve-type connectors 3. and,
As shown in FIG. 5, the exposed conductor portions 4a at the ends of the plurality of electric wires 4 are automatically or manually inserted into the sleeve terminal 2 of the connector 3 supplied between the crimping dies 5 and 5'. The plurality of electric wires 4 are inserted through the large-diameter cylindrical portion 1A of the insulating cover 1 so that the coated portions 4b of the plurality of electric wires 4 are inserted into the large-diameter cylindrical portion 1A.
At this time, light is transmitted to the cylindrical part 1B' of the insulating cover 1 of the connector 3 through the optical sensor 6 using a phototube, which is composed of a light emitter 6A and a light receiver 6B, which are mounted oppositely above and below the crimping part. By doing so, it is possible to detect whether or not the tips of the plurality of conductive wire portions 4a have been inserted into the cylindrical portion 1B' based on whether or not the light is blocked, and the detection signal is transmitted to the lead wires 11A, 1B'. 11B to the control box 12, and based on the detection signal of the presence of light interruption, the die drive mechanism 13 (generally an air cylinder is used for this, but its specific structure is well known and will not be described). ) is automatically operated to plastically deform the small diameter cylindrical portion 1B and the sleeve terminal 2 by the dies 5, 5', and as a result, the plurality of electric wires 4
The end conductor portions 4a are electrically and physically crimped and connected to each other via the sleeve terminal 2 of the connector 3, and at this time, the cutting edges 5a, 5a' formed at the front and rear of the dies 5, 5' are The band-like pieces 7 at the front and rear of the insulating cover 1 are then cut off and removed, and then collected by suction through the suction device 14 shown at * in Fig. 4.

Another embodiment will be described below.

[] As the sleeve-type connector 3, it is preferable to connect a plurality of these connectors in a band shape at regular intervals from the viewpoint of productivity, but it is preferable to connect the sleeve-type connectors 3 in a strip shape at regular intervals. It may be supplied to the pressure bonding section at time intervals.

[] As the optical sensor 6, a transmission type or reflection type phototube is preferable.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the sleeve type connector, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the continuous sleeve type connector band, and Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the crimp connection working state. The side view and FIG. 5 are schematic longitudinal cross-sectional views of the main parts showing the electric wire insertion situation. 1...Insulation cover, 1A...Large diameter cylinder part, 1B...
...Small diameter cylindrical portion, 2...Sleeve terminal, 3...Sleeve type connector, 4...Electric wire, 4a...Conducting wire portion,
5, 5'...Dice, 1B'...Cylindrical part, 6...Light sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sleeve terminal 2 is placed in the small diameter cylindrical portion 1B of a transparent or translucent resin insulating cover 1 having a large diameter cylindrical portion 1A for inserting electric wires and a small diameter cylindrical portion 1B with a bottom for fitting the terminal. of the sleeve-type connector 3, which is formed by fitting and holding the
With the exposed conductor portions 4a of the plurality of electric wires 4 inserted into the sleeve terminal 2, the pair of dies 5, 5' is actuated to crimp the sleeve terminal 2 to separate the conductors of the plurality of electric wires 4. This is a method of electrically connecting the parts 4a to each other via the sleeve terminal 2, in which the bottom part 1b of the small diameter cylindrical part 1B of the sleeve type connector 3 and the end edge 2b of the sleeve terminal 2 on the bottom part 1b side. A transparent or semi-transparent cylindrical portion 1B' is formed between the cylindrical portion 1B' and light is transmitted through the cylindrical portion 1B' at the crimping portion to allow the conductor portion of the electric wire 4 to penetrate into the cylindrical portion 1B'. 4
A sleeve characterized in that it is provided with an optical sensor 6 for detecting whether or not the tip end is inserted, and based on the insertion detection signal of the optical sensor 6, the dies 5 and 5' are automatically operated to perform crimp connection. Crimp connection method between type connector and electric wire. 2. A crimp connection method for a sleeve-type connector and an electric wire according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve-type connectors 3 are connected via strips 7 at constant or approximately constant intervals. .