Molex Corporation

Lawrence M Kurek

Peter Ingwersen

Thomas P Pellegrino

Douglas L Heisner

A wire transferring assembly for a wire harness assembly machine has two adjoining termination stations. First connector elements are advanced in a reciprocating nest from a supply of connector elements into contact with wires extending from a positioning head and terminated thereto. After termination, to the wires, the connector elements are drawn away in the nest from the wire feed source and the wires are cut at their ends opposite the first connector elements. The cut wires are clamped onto a moveable clamping head and maintained in a preselected order while they are transferred to a second termination location, where a row of second connector elements are advanced into contact with the wire ends and terminated thereto.

Wire transfer and cutting assembly suitable for use with multiple wire

An apparatus for loading individual connectors into a wire-harness making machine includes a feed track which feeds a supply of connectors which have been separated from a connector supply chain. The lead connector is advanced into a feed channel whereupon a severing knife is advanced into the feed channel to separate the lead connector from an adjacent connector. The severing knife remains in place momentarily as a shuttle mechanism is actuated to move the severed lead connector along the feed channel, the severing knife blade forming a portion of the feed channel during the shuttling of the severed connector. Optical sensors may be mounted in proximity to the severing knife in order to verify the presence or absence of a connector prior to severing.

Feed assembly for connector termination apparatus

A wire harness-making machine for producing wire harnesses of the type in which multiple wires extend between opposing first and second electrical connector elements. The machine includes a feeding assembly which separates successive first wire connectors and a transfer nest which shuttles the first array of connectors from a first connector advancement track to a first termination station. Multiple wires are fed to the first termination station where first free ends thereof are terminated to the first connector. Once terminated to the multiple wires, the first connector is shuttled back to the first connector advancement track. The first connector is then advanced along a feedpath and a set of second free ends of the wires are transferred to a second termination station while maintaining the order of the wires. A second connector is advanced from a second feed track into the second termination station where it is terminated to the second wire free ends at the same time a succeeding first set of wire free ends is terminated at the first termination station.

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Elgin, IL, United States of America

Lawrence M Kurek