Amp LLC

Mark F Jackson

Edward J Paukovits, Jr

Richard V Spong

Keith A Bocchicchio

Karl H Letsch

David L Hall

Kenneth F Folk

Hung Thai Nguyen

Steven Feldman

Leo V Schuppert, Jr

Joseph R Keller

Phillip E Loomis

Joseph E Brandewie

Stephen P Lawruk

Dallas E Schlegel

Bruce C Longenecker

George Bonifanti

An apparatus for heat staking plastic parts to other parts to form an assembly are featured, using multiple heating elements which are arranged in zones and which are separately programmable in terms of temperature and displacement to develop optimum deformation of plastic having different characteristics. The heating elements are isolated thermally to provide an improved conservation of heat energy.

Heat staking apparatus

A pick-up head (20) for a robot (2), comprises a body (28) having a plate (30) for attachment to the Z-axis shaft (18) of the robot (2). Two pick-up arms (34), pivotally attached to the body (2) each carry a riveting tool (26). The tools (26) are driven through a working stroke by a piston and cylinder drive unit (52) on the body (2), against the action of return springs (82). The tools (26) are inserted by the robot (2) lowering the pick-up head (20), into rivets at the ends of the leading electrical connector (25') at a pick-up station (21) and are arranged to be releasably secured to the rivets to allow the robot (2) to transfer the connector (24') to a circuit board (19) and to insert projecting ends of the rivets into holes in the board (10). The drive unit (52) is then actuated to cause the tools (26) to expand the projecting ends of the rivets, the tools (26) are released from the rivets, and the pick-up head (20) is raised by the robot (2). The pick-up arms (34) can be pivoted towards or away from each other and then fixed in a given angular position to allow for connector length.

Pick-up head

Apparatus for clinching rivets on electrical connectors to the bottom of a circuit board, comprises a frame in which a shuttle for supporting the board is movable along a rectilinear horizontal path by means of a robot which places the connectors on the board. Two jaw carriages provided with rivet clinching jaws are mounted in the frame beneath the shuttle for movement towards and away from one another by means of cam tracks on the shuttle and cam follower rails on the jaw carriages. The cam tracks are so shaped that the clinching jaws will clinch the rivets where the connectors are placed on the board in longitudinally offset relationship according to the program of the robot. Each jaw carriage has a jaw drive unit thereon which is operated to open and close the jaws according to the robot program.

Apparatus for clinching workpieces to a board

Apparatus for severing components from a strip of components and for inserting the severed components one by one into a work piece, comprises means for feeding the strip of components incrementally to a component severing station, means for severing the leading component from the strip at the severing station and an insertion tool for inserting the severed leading component into the work piece; all driven by a stepping motor through step down transmission means acting on a main cam shaft. A disc cam on the shaft has on opposite faces cam tracks receiving cam followers connected to the insertion tool and the severing means, the feeding means being driven through a barrel cam on the shaft. An electronic control unit monitors the angular position of the shaft.

Component insertion apparatus

Apparatus for terminating ribbon cable to a two row connector having insulation displacing terminals facing opposite sides comprises a conductor programming station on a carriage, a connector positioning carriage, and a terminating station. The conductor programming station has combs which deflect individual conductors from the plane of the cable into channels in a pair of spaced apart templates which realign the conductors. The connector positioning carriage is slideable on a pair of rails to position a connector between the templates, and the two carriages are moved as a unit to the terminating station where the connector is positioned between a pair of insertion rams, which have tooling which passes through slots in the templates to terminate the conductors.

Apparatus and method for terminating ribbon cable

Apparatus and method for mass loading of terminated leads, carried laterally by gripping means on a conveyor, into a single row connector housing. Leads are all gripped a like distance remote from terminated ends, which are carried between guide plates into apparatus. Conveyor pauses while leads are aligned into grooves in a template then captured therein as combs align and capture all but the tips of the terminated ends. A connector housing is then moved onto the terminated ends by a carriage as the combs retract, the gripping means and grooves preventing displacement of leads as insertion force is overcome by the advancing carriage. All mechanical movements other than conveyor are effected by rotation of a single cam shaft.

Block loader

Block loader for inserting a plurality of terminated wire leads one at a time into a connector block by delivering wires laterally of their axes to a pair of feed wheels which engage the wire to drive it through a tunnel formed by the closure of a profiled lid against a platform and into a terminal receiving cavity in a connector block. Operations of lateral wire delivery, lid closure, and engagement of feed wheels to wire are effected by the linear motion of a single cam carriage in a single stroke without the use of switches or pneumatic actuators.

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Harrisburg, PA, United States of America

Mark F Jackson