Apparatus for making electrical connections

• Main Author: JR. HOWARD E. STINE
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 06.10.1964
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CURRENT COLLECTORS; ELECTRICITY; LINE CONNECTORS

1,011,788. Assembling connectors and wires to terminal posts; breaking. AMP Inc. April 13, 1964 [April 29, 1963], No. 15086/64. Headings B3A and B3E. A method of applying connectors of generally channel section with side walls having inwardly turned ends opposed to a web of the channel to terminal posts by sliding action to trap a conductor between a connector and a post, comprising feeding a strip of connectors transversely of a linear path in which a plunger reciprocates, to engage a leading connector on its advancing stroke and to bend the strip portion connecting it with the succeeding connector, pivoting the leading connector from the feed path into the linear path and to shear the connector from the strip so that continued movement of the plunger urges the connector towards the terminal post. A pneumatically operated tool comprises a pistol grip handle 2 having an actuating trigger 148, an angularly adjustable cylindrical support member 3 on which a tool unit 4 is mounted, a pneumatic cylinder device 6 and a connector supply reel 8. An anvil assembly 40 is replaceably mounted between a pair of spaced apart plates 20, 22 and comprises an anvil block 42 having a nose 44 fitted with guide springs 64, a post locating shoulder 46, a T-shaped lower projection 49 along which the connector is pushed by rails 84 of a reciprocating plunger, a wire receiving opening 50 communicating with a lateral opening 51 through which severed lengths of insulation are discharged by an air blast and an inclined central groove 54 communicating with the opening 50. A keyhole-shaped opening 52 and a connector-guide slot 62 are provided in a spacer block 38. Connectors 10, in strip form, are advanced from the reel 8 along an arcuate path 82 by a spring-biased pawl 118 mounted on an upwardly spring-biased pivoted arm 122 which is depressed during the advancing stroke of a reciprocating block 90, pivotally coupled at 92 to a block 94 of a connecting rod 96, so that the pawl cams over the strip and after the retraction of the block is raised by the spring 126 to feed one connector post a bending die and guide block 74 into an arcuate shaped cavity 70. The connector feed plunger comprises a pair of rails 84, connected by a web 86 which extend rearwardly to the block 90 and have connector receiving recesses 88 at their leading ends. The cylinder of the pneumatic means 6 is coupled to the plate 20 whilst the piston-rod 116 thereof is coupled to one end of a sliding member 112, a bracket 106 on the other end thereof slidably supporting the end of the rod 96. The piston-rod 116 advances the slide 112 to move a shouldered collar 98 along the rod 96 to initially compress a spring 102 mounted thereon against the block 94 and which subsequently transmits forward movement thereto up to the end of the piston stroke, after which the spring expands to complete the forward movement of the plunger. With a length of insulated wire inserted upwardly through openings 52, 50 and the tool end positioned on a post P, the trigger 148 is actuated to admit compressed air to the cylinder to advance the piston-rod and thereby the block 94 to drive the plunger forwards, guided by its rails 84 over the anvil block 74 by ears 79 thereon. The leading end portion thereof engages the upstanding leading connector 10 to bend it substantially horizontally into alignment with the anvil 48 and sever it from the strip, in the region between the connectors, by breaking due to bending or by subsequent stretching during further forward movement of the plunger. The connector, now confined between the rails 84 is moved along the anvil 48 past the wire and the insulation severed by engagement with the anvil adjacent the groove 54, the core of the conductor wire being drawn from the severed insulation and moved forwardly through the keyhole slot 57 as the connector is pushed on to the post to trap the wire there against, Fig. 5 (not shown). The web 86 of the plunger severs the remaining connector connecting strip portion from the next leading connector as it advances past the anvil 74. The tool may be indexed through 90 degrees in either direction, relative to the handle, by-depressing a spring biased locking plunger 142 and rotating the barrel to the required position. Specification 968,118 is referred to.