DESCRIPTION

The present patent concerns the devices for the electrical wiring of IDC or IPC connectors, and more specifically it concerns a new automated hybrid system for wiring connectors, even IDC or IPC connectors.

Devices for wiring IDC/IPC connectors are known, IPC connectors being connectors which are configured to be connected to the conductor of an electric cable through a process during which one or more blades are forced through the insulating sheath of the cable, with no need for the insulating sheath to be stripped off the cable before the connection is carried out.

Automated devices are known which carry out this type of wiring by loading the wires on comb-shaped supports, where several wires are correctly aligned for the successive wiring of their free ends projecting from one side of the comb.

Several types of connectors are however known, and therefore there is often the need to maintain some of the wires outside the comb-shaped support for the successive wiring operation, which in this case must be carried out manually or in any case in a manner that cannot be automated, or in successive steps.

The patent document EP2846420 A1 concerns a device for wiring IDC connectors comprising a feed device for one or more electric wires, designed to feed each wire to be crimped for a desired length, and a rotary feed head suited to rotate in a programmed manner in order to carry the terminal part of a single wire to be crimped to at least one crimping station.

Said feed device and said rotary head are connected to each other by means of one or more sheaths in which the wires that need to be crimped slide, wherein said sheaths are flexible, in such a way as to allow the rotation of said head with respect to said feed device. The rotation angle of said head is, however, inevitably limited by the minimum curvature radius of said sheaths and of said wires, and therefore the maximum number of crimping stations that can be served by the head is consequently limited.

After the crimping operation, said rotary head can move the wire to a second position, from which the wire is moved forward in order to cut it to measure and insert it in a comb-shaped support.

In proximity to the point where the wire exits from the rotary head there is one pair of pliers made up of two tabs suited to be positioned parallel and close to each other, in such a way as to hold one wire at a time. Between the tabs there is a punch which slides vertically and presses the wire downwards, inserting it in a seat provided in the comb-shaped support.

Said tabs can rotate outwards, moving from a horizontal position, in which the rotary head can move forward the wire to be cut, to a vertical position, in which they are parallel and side by side so as to hold the wire.

The device described substantially feeds each wire towards the corresponding station, where the crimping operation or other operations are carried out, such as, for example, the stripping of the wire, before cutting it and loading it on the comb-shaped support.

While carrying out these operations, meaning from the operation of feeding the wire to the loading of the wire on the comb-shaped support, said device cannot perform other operations.

Therefore, during this time interval the crimping stations remain idle.

In order to optimize the operation of the device, the crimping or, generically, processing stations are arranged on a circle or an arc of a circle, so that the rotary feed head can reach all the stations carrying out the same rotary motion around a single axis.

A drawback of this device lies in that it is necessary to feed each wire towards said stations directly, through the rotary feed head, which thus needs to be moved continuously. Furthermore, this system does not allow the operator to work on more than one station at a time, since it is always the same feed head that sequentially carries the wires to both the processing stations and the comb-shaped support.

In addition to the above, once the device has been designed and installed, it cannot be supplemented with additional modules any longer, if not by intervening on the structure of the system.

A further drawback lies in that in order to carry out, for example, the head-to-head wiring of IDC connectors, where the wire section must be arranged to form a U so that both ends of a wire are mounted on the same comb, the system described above requires the use of further dedicated devices to position the wire section as explained above, since said gripping pliers cannot perform said operation.

Analogously, if there is the need to apply different terminals to both ends of a wire section, it is necessary to use further dedicated devices built specifically for this purpose, which complicates the system enormously, or to operate manually.

The subject of the present invention is a new automated system for wiring traditional and/or IDC connectors.

It is the main object of the present invention to provide a system that guarantees modularity, so that the system itself can be structured according to the production needs.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system that optimizes the processing times and consequently the production times, as the crimping operations and other processing operations on the wires can be carried out at the same time as the loading of the wires on the comb-shaped support.

The new system, furthermore, is configured in such a way as to guarantee processing continuity, through a guide system and a carousel, if needed, as described and claimed here below.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system capable of processing any number of wires, without any potential limitation. The new system comprises:

at least one feeding station, in turn comprising at least one multiple feed device suited to accommodate a plurality of wires, and at least one feed head suited to make the wires advance selectively in order to expose their ends to be crimped or, generically, processed;

at least one guide, on which said feeding station slides;

one or more crimping or, generically, processing stations positioned along said at least one guide;

and wherein said at least one feed device and said at least one feed head, translating on said guide, are selectively positioned along the guide itself at the level of one of said crimping or, generically, processing stations.

Said feed device, as already said, is multiple and can load any number of wires. In the preferred solution it is built in a modular way, that is, it comprises one or more modules positioned side by side, wherein each module feeds a given number of wires, for example five.

Said feed device thus comprises one or more modules, wherein each module comprises:

introduction means designed to introduced a given number of wires, in turn supplied by a corresponding number of reels;

guides for moving said wires forward in parallel directions;

means for selectively moving one or more of said wires forward or backward along said guides.

Said feed head in turn comprises:

a body that translates with respect to said feed device and can be selectively positioned in front of one of said modules of the feed device, from which it receives said wires;

introduction means designed to introduce said wires fed by said at least one module of the feed device into said translating body; a number of feed terminals corresponding to the number of wires fed by said module, said terminals being mounted on the front of said translating body, and wherein each feed terminal is suited to accommodate one of said wires and expose one end of the wire by a length that is sufficient for the execution of a crimping or, generically, processing operation on said end.

Each one of said feed terminals comprises a terminal portion from which said end of the wire projects, and wherein said terminal portion can be translated with respect to said translating body between a forward position, in which said end of the wire to be crimped projects from the feed head, and a backward position, towards said translating body, in which said end of the wire, after the crimping operation, is positioned backward, so that it is outside the operating area of the crimping machines. The backward movement of said feed head after the crimping operation is caused by said means for moving the feed device forward/backward, which withdraw the wire. The connector applied to the end of the wire interferes with said terminal portion of the feed terminal, causing it to move backward. The crimped wire is then locked in said backward position by means of suitable locking systems mounted on said feed device or on said feed head.

To allow successive or further processing operations to be carried out on the wire end, said locking systems release the crimped wire, thus freeing the terminal portion of the feed terminal which, due to the action of elastic means, returns to said forward position, causing the corresponding advance movement of the crimped end of the wire.

Due to said advance movement, the crimped wire will then be made available and it will be possible to grip it in a gripping station or for other possible processing operations.

Said feeding station then translates along said guide and is selectively positioned at the level of crimping stations where other wires are crimped. As the wires are crimped, the corresponding feed terminals move backwards, excluding the crimped wires from the operating area of the crimping machines.

Once all the wires of the feed head have been processed, said feeding station translates along said guide until reaching a gripping and cutting station, where the gripping operations described below, the cutting operations and the operations for the passage to the successive steps are carried out.

Once all the crimped wires have been gripped and transferred to the successive steps, the feed head can translate to the second module of the feed device and continue with the crimping operations on the other wires, as previously described.

The system thus comprises also at least one gripping and cutting station for gripping the wires supplied by said feeding station, and in turn comprising cutting members suited to cut to measure a section of wire fed by said feeding station.

Said gripping and cutting station preferably comprises at least two first pairs of pliers suited to grip a wire from above, said two first pairs of pliers being configured so that they can be rotated by approximately 180° around a vertical axis, so that if necessary they can bend the wire fed by the feeding station in the shape of a U.

Said gripping station preferably comprises also at least two second pairs of pliers suited to grip from below said wire, possibly in the shape of a U, from said two first pairs of pliers and to move it to a successive transfer station.

Said gripping and cutting station comprises one or more blades suited to cut to measure a wire section gripped by said gripping station, before or after it has been gripped by said two second pairs of pliers.

The new system comprises also at least one transfer station, in turn comprising at least one pair of transfer pliers suited to grip said wire in said gripping station and transfer it on a comb-shaped support, and wherein said transfer pliers can be rotated by substantially 180° around a vertical axis.

Thanks to the presence of the double pliers assembly, a first assembly with four pairs of pliers in the gripping station and a second assembly in the transfer station, it is possible to arrange the wire sections on one or more comb-shaped supports in many different ways, with no need to use other dedicated devices, external or added to the system.

The system preferably comprises also a comb-shaped support in turn comprising at least one first comb for positioning the heads of the wire sections, meaning the first ends, and preferably also a second comb, positioned facing and parallel to said first comb, for positioning the tails of the wire sections, meaning the opposite ends, if necessary.

During the loading operations, said comb-shaped support remains stationary, as the transfer station provides for transferring each wire section from the gripping station to the comb-shaped support, while said feeding station, in the meantime, moves to one or more crimping or, genetically, processing stations.

The double pliers assembly makes it possible to position one or both of the ends of a wire section, already crimped or to be crimped or processed, on said two combs in various possible configurations:

head-to-head configuration, in which the wire section is arranged so as to form a U with both ends positioned on the same comb;

aligned head-tail configuration, with the wire section substantially arranged as a straight line, with the head positioned on a comb and the tail positioned on the opposite comb, in a corresponding position;

crossed configuration, in which the wire section is substantially arranged so as to form an S, with the head positioned on a comb and the tail positioned on the opposite comb, in a position that does not correspond to that of the head.

According to the invention, said gripping station is especially configured also to arrange a wire section so as to form a U; said gripping station, in fact, preferably comprises said first two pairs of pliers which rotate integrally by at least 180° on a vertical axis, wherein:

a first pair of pliers grips the head of a wire fed by a feed head;

said first pair of pliers rotates by 180° integrally with the second pair of pliers, thus arranging the wire in the shape of a U;

said second pair of pliers grips the same wire in a second point.

Said two second pairs of pliers of said gripping station grip said wire section, which is released by said two first pairs of pliers. Said two second pairs of pliers translate so as to pass from a gripping position, in which they grip the wire made available by said two first pairs of pliers, to a second position in which the wire is transferred to said transfer station.

Analogously, said transfer station preferably comprises two pairs of transfer pliers which grip both the head and the tail of the wire section from the gripping station at the same time and, by rotating integrally with each other and translating towards the comb-shaped support, selectively position the wire section on the comb-shaped support according to one of the configurations described above.

According to the invention, furthermore, the system may possibly but not necessarily comprise also a second transfer station, suited to transfer the wires on the comb shaped support from below, if the first transfer station inserts the wires on the comb shaped support from above. In this way, the processing times are optimized even further.

The crimping operation thus takes place before the wires are positioned on said comb-shaped support. Once said one or more combs have been loaded, said comb shaped support is transferred to a successive station, being in its turn mounted on a carousel or system of guides.

For example, said successive stations comprise:

a wire feeder, which feeds any other wires in the empty positions of said comb-shaped support;

a cutting device, which eliminates any wire portions projecting from the comb;

a station where the connectors are applied and closed;

a free checking station; an unloading station;

etc.

The system is thus modular, as the gripping or, generically, processing stations for the wires fed by the feeding station are distributed along the movement guide of said feeding station, while the processing stations on the comb-shaped support are arranged along the guide system or the carousel that moves the comb-shaped support. The characteristics of the new system are highlighted in greater detail in the following description, with reference to the drawings which are provided by way of non limiting example.

Figures 1 and 2 show two overall views of the system (100) according to a possible configuration.

Figure la shows a preferred embodiment of a part of the system (100), and more specifically it shows a front view of the guide system (106) designed to move a comb (30) loaded with wire sections to several successive stations. Said guide system (106) comprises, for example, two parallel guides (1061) at two different heights and two translating slides (1062) for the transfer from one guide (1061) to the other, so that the comb (30) follows a substantially closed trajectory.

Figure 3 shows a schematic view of a feeding station (10) in two different positions (G, 1"). The feeding station (10) translates on guides (20) in such a way as to be selectively positioned at the level of crimping or, generically, processing stations (PI, P2, P3, Cl).

Figure 3a shows a detailed view of the feeding station (10), comprising a feed device (11) and a feed head (12), while Figure 3b shows how the feed head (12) can, through its own translation, be selectively positioned with respect to said feed device (11). Figures from 4 to 9 schematically illustrate the operation of the gripping and cutting station (70) and of the transfer station (90) used to transfer crimped wire sections (F ¹ ) from the feeding station (10) to a comb-shaped support (30), arranging them according to different configurations (FI, F2, F3, F4, F5). Figure 10 shows a side view of the gripping station (70), where it is possible to observe also the pliers (91, 92) of the transfer station (90).

Figures 11a and l ib show a front view of the gripping station (70) only, with Figure 11a showing the four pairs of pliers (71, 72, 73, 74) in a first position, while Figure 1 lb shows two first pairs of pliers (71, 72), the upper ones, rotated by 180° to bend a wire so as to form a U.

Figure 12 shows an additional wire feeder (105), which feeds further wires to the comb-shaped support (30) shown in the preceding figures.

The new system (100) is characterized by high modularity, since it comprises stations and devices substantially arranged in a modular manner, which can be put together in various ways during the design step and the successive steps.

The new system (100) comprises:

a feeding station (10), in turn comprising at least one multiple feed device (11) suited to accommodate a plurality of wires (F), and at least one feed head (12) suited to selectively make the wires advance in order to expose their ends to be crimped or, generically, processed;

a guide system (20) on which said feeding station (10) translates;

one or more crimping or, generically, processing stations (PI, P2, P3, Cl) mounted along said guide system (20) in such a way that said feeding station (10) can translate on said guide system (20) and thus be selectively positioned at the level of one of said stations;

a gripping and cutting station (70) for gripping the wires loaded by said feeding station (10) and provided with members for cutting to measure each wire section (F ¹ ) fed by said feeding station (10);

at least one transfer station (90), suited to transfer each wire section (F ¹ ) on a comb-shaped support (30);

and wherein said at least one feed unit (11) and said at least one feed head (12), through their own translation on said guide system (20), are selectively positioned along the guides (20) themselves in one of said crimping or, generically, processing stations (PI, P2, P3, Cl).

More specifically, said feed device (11) and said feed head (12) translate integrally with each other, each on its own dedicated guide (21, 22), wherein said dedicated guides (21, 22) are parallel to each other.

The system (100) comprises also a carousel (106') or preferably a guide system (106), shown in Figure la, with said comb-shaped support (30) mounted and sliding thereon, wherein said comb-shaped support (30) can be transferred to any further stations for successive processing operations.

For example, the system (100) comprises an additional wire feeder (105), a cutting device, a station for applying and closing the connectors, a free checking station, an unloading station (107) for the finished product etc., generally arranged along said carousel (106).

With reference, more specifically, to Figures 3a and 3b, said feed device (11) is multiple and comprises two modules (110) placed side by side, wherein each module (110) feeds a given number of wires (F), for example five.

Each module (110) comprises:

introduction means (111) designed to introduce a given number of wires (F), in turn supplied by a corresponding number of reels;

guides (112) for the forward movement of said wires (F) in parallel directions

(X);

means (113) for the selective forward and backward movement of one or more of said wires (F) along said guides (112) in said advance direction (X).

Said forward/backward moving means (113) comprise, for example, a carriage (114) translating in a direction (Y) which is orthogonal to said advance direction (X) of the wires (F) and at least one wheel (115) which, by rotating in a direction or the opposite one and selectively resting, directly or indirectly, on at least one of said wires (F) loaded in said feed device (11), causes its corresponding forward or backward movement in said direction (X).

Said feed head (12) comprises a body (121) which translates with respect to said feed device (11) and is suited to be selectively positioned in front of one of said modules (110) of the feed device (11), from which it receives said wires (F).

Said translating body (121) of the feed head (12) translates on the corresponding guide (22) with respect to said feed unit (11) which, in its turn, translates on its guide (21).

As can be seen in Figure 3b, said feed head (12), by translating on the respective guide (22), can thus move from one module (110) to the other, while said feed device (11) remains stationary on the respective slide guide (21).

Said translating body (121) of the feed head (12) and said modules (110) of said feed unit (11) comprise mutual engagement means (122), suited to lock them in their relative position during their translation on said guide system (20).

The inside of said translating body (121) of said feed head (12) is provided with guides where the wires (F) fed by said feed device (11) slide.

Said feed head (12) comprises also a number of feed terminals (124) which preferably corresponds to the number of wires (F) fed by said module (110) of the feed device (11).

Said feed terminals (124) are mounted at the front of said translating body (121) and each feed terminal (124) is suited to accommodate one of said wires (F) and to expose one end (Ft) of the wire (F) by a length that is sufficient for the execution of a crimping or, generically, processing operation in a crimping or, generically, processing station (PI, P2, P3, Cl).

Each one of said feed terminals (124) comprises a terminal portion (125) from which said end (Ft) of the wire (F) projects, and wherein said terminal portion (125) can be translated with respect to said translating body (121) between a forward position, in which said end (Ft) of the wire (F) to be crimped projects from the feed head (12), and a backward position, towards said translating body (121), in which said end (Ft) of the crimped wire (F) is positioned backward in such a way as to be external to the operating area of the crimping machines.

With reference to Figure 3a, for example, the first feed terminal (124) on the left is in said forward position, while the second feed terminal starting from the left is in said backward position.

The backward movement of each of said feed terminals (124) after the crimping operation is caused by said one or more wheels (115) of said forward/backward moving means (113) of the feed device (11).

After the crimping operation, said wheels (115) reverse their rotation direction and make the crimped wire (F ¹ ) move backwards. The connector (G) applied to the end (Ft) of the crimped wire (F ¹ ) interferes with said terminal portion (125) of the feed terminal (124), making it move backward.

The crimped wire is then locked in said backward position by means of suitable locking systems mounted on said feed device (11) or on said feed head (12) and not shown in the figure.

To allow successive or further processing operations to be carried out on the end (Ft) of the crimped wire (F ¹ ), said locking systems release the same wire, freeing the terminal portion (125) of the feed terminal (124) which, due to the action of elastic means (126) interposed between the terminal portion (125) and the translating body (121), returns to said forward position, causing the corresponding forward movement of the crimped end of the wire, which is thus made available for gripping in a gripping station or for any further processing operations.

As the wires (F) are crimped, the corresponding feed terminals (124) move backward, excluding the crimped wires from the operating area of the crimping machines.

Once all the wires (F) fed by a module (110) to the feed head (12) have been processed, the whole feeding station (10) translates along said guides (21, 22), until reaching a gripping and cutting station (70).

With reference to Figures 4, 10, 11a and l ib, said gripping station (70) preferably comprises two first pairs of pliers (71, 72) suited to grip from above a crimped wire section (P) loaded by a feed terminal (124).

Said two first pairs of pliers (71, 72) of the gripping station (70) can rotate by at least 180° around a vertical axis in such a way as to arrange a wire section (P) so as to form a U, as schematically shown in Figure 7.

To obtain said“U” configuration, a first pair of pliers (71) grips the head (Ft) of a crimped wire (F ¹ ) which is positioned in front of the feed terminal (124) feeding the wire (F ¹ ) itself.

As schematically shown in Figures 11a and 1 lb, after the gripping operation, said two first pairs of pliers (71, 72) rotate by 180°, arranging the wire (F ¹ ) so as to form a U and so that said second pair of pliers (72) is positioned in front of said feed terminal (124) feeding the wire (F ¹ ). In this position, said second pair of pliers (72) grips the same wire (F ¹ ) in a second point, which will be the tail (Fd) of the U-shaped wire section.

At this point said cutting members (60) can cut the wire section (F ¹ ) arranged as a U, held at its head (Ft) and tail (Fd) by said two first pairs of pliers (71, 72) in said gripping station (70).

Said gripping station (70) comprises also at least two second pairs of pliers (73, 74), suited to grip from below said wire section (F ¹ ), possibly positioned so as to form a U, from said two first pairs of pliers (71, 72), which release it, and to move it, through its own translation, to a successive transfer station (90).

Said transfer station (90) preferably comprises two pairs of transfer pliers (91, 92) suited to grip said wire section (F ¹ ) from said two second pairs of gripping pliers (73, 74) and to transfer it on said comb-shaped support (30).

Said transfer station (90) can be translated from a position close to said gripping station (70), in which it grips said wire section (F ¹ ), and a loading position, where there is said comb-shaped support (30).

Said comb-shaped support (30) preferably comprises at least one first comb (31), for positioning the heads (Ft) and/or the tails (Fd) of the wire sections (F ¹ ), and a second comb (32) positioned facing and parallel to said first comb (31), for positioning the heads (Ft) and/or the tails (Fd) of the wire sections (F ¹ ), if necessary.

Said two pairs of pliers (91, 92) can rotate by at least 180° around a vertical axis (93), so as to arrange said wire on the comb-shaped support (30) in various possible configurations:

normal configuration (Figures 5 and 6), in which the wire section, indicated by FI or F2, is normally inserted in a seat provided in a comb (31, 32) of the comb shaped support (30). In order to carry out the insertion, one of said pairs of transfer pliers (92) grips a wire section (F ¹ ) from the gripping station (70) and then performs a translation movement and possibly a rotation movement, carrying it on the comb (31, 32) of the comb-shaped support (30) and inserting it in a corresponding seat;

head-to-head configuration (Figure 7) on a first comb (31), in which the wire section, indicated by F3, is arranged so as to form a U; in order to carry out the insertion, said gripping station (70) bends the wire (F ¹ ) so as to form a U by rotating said two first pairs of pliers (71, 72) and transferring the wire, through said two second pairs of pliers (73, 74), to said transfer pliers (91, 92) which grip said U- shaped wire (F ¹ ) and, through a translation movement, transfer it on said first comb (31) of the comb-shaped support (30);

head-to-head configuration (Figure 8) on said second comb (32), in which the wire section, indicated by F4, is arranged so as to form a U; in order to carry out the insertion, said gripping station (70) bends the wire (F ¹ ) so as to form a U by rotating said two first pairs of pliers (71, 72) and transferring the wire, through said two second pairs of pliers (73, 74), to said transfer pliers (91, 92) which grip said U- shaped wire (F ¹ ), translate until reaching the loading position and rotate by 180° in order to transfer the wire on said second comb (32) of the comb-shaped support (30); aligned head-tail configuration or crossed configuration (Figure 9), with the wire section substantially arranged as a straight line, with the head (Ft) positioned on a comb (31) and the tail (Fd) positioned on the opposite comb (32) in a corresponding position, or, as shown in Figure 9 and indicated by F5, substantially arranged so as to form an S, with the head (Ft) positioned on a comb (31) and the tail (Fd) positioned on the opposite comb (32), in a position not corresponding to that of the head (Ft). To carry out the insertion, said gripping station (70) bends the wire (F ¹ ) so as to form a U through the rotation of said two first pairs of pliers (71, 72) and the transfer, through said two second pairs of pliers (73, 74), to said transfer pliers (91, 92) which grip said U-shaped wire (F ¹ ), translate until reaching the loading position where, in sequence, they load the head (Ft) of the wire section (F ¹ ) on the first comb (31) and rotate by 180°, loading the tail (Fd) of the wire section (F ¹ ) on said second comb (32) of the comb-shaped support (30).

Therefore, with reference to the above description and to the attached drawings, the following claims are expressed.