Amp LLC

William R Over

Christopher K Brown

Donald A Wion

Robert A Long

Lex D Kensinger

Alden O Long, Jr

Keith Johnson, Jr

Herman D Walter

Carl L Moyer

Richard M Heffner

Gregory S Klopp

Daniel T Casey

Joseph Agusta Wise

Paul William Gress

Ronald Carl Brehm

Willard Allen Smith

Apparatus for orienting elongate bodies, for example electrical connectors, comprises magazines for containing vertical stacks of the elongate bodies, escapement slides for releasing one body at a time from each magazine, as required, first and second slidable traps mounted beneath the escapement slides and having an advanced, body supporting position and a retracted body release position, and guide surfaces on the escapement slides for guiding each body as it falls from a magazine, so that it lies across both of the traps when they are in their body supporting position. A pair of receptacles are slidably mounted on a carriage beneath the traps so that either of these receptacles can be positioned to receive a body released by the traps. If one trap is first retracted, the body will fall into the receptacle in one vertical orientation and if the other trap is first retracted, the body will fall into the receptacle in the opposite vertical orientation. The bodies may be stacked in the magazines so that in one of them the bodies are in one endwise orientation and in the other the bodies are in the opposite endwise orientation.

Apparatus for orientating elongate bodies

Apparatus for connecting electrical connectors to a flat multi-conductor cable comprises a work table on which are arranged a connector orienting assembly for placing electrical connectors at loading locations in different selected vertical and lengthwise orientations, a press for connecting the connectors to the cable by forcing the cable conductors into conductor receiving portions of terminals of the connectors, an assembly for feeding the cable intermittently through the press, a shuttle for receiving connectors from the loading locations and being movable intermittently along a path extending between the orienting assembly and the press, rams for loading connectors from the loading locations into the shuttle and an insertion assembly for driving the connectors from the shuttle into the press.

Apparatus for connecting electrical connectors to flat multi-conductor

Lead making apparatus has normally aligned transfer heads with conductor cutting and stripping blades therebetween. Each head is mounted on a rotatable transfer head shaft and has a slide with a clamp thereon through which wire is fed and clamped. The slides carry followers in respective first arcuate track segments which pivot to pull the slides away from each other for insulation stripping. The transfer head shafts rotate in opposite directions through ninety degrees to align stripped ends with terminating stations as the followers ride through first arcuate track segments into second arcuate track segments, each pair of track segments forming a continuous ninety degree arc of circular track. The second track segments pivot an adjustable amount to push the slides forward for inserting conductor into terminals to an adjustable degree. Transfer head shafts carry pinion gears fixed thereto against rotation and driven by a rack which reciprocates intermittently. Shafts have cylindrical tracking cams on the lower ends opposite the transfer heads, each having two circumferential tracks which contain two pairs of diametrically opposed followers on linkage which causes vertical movement of shafts. Only one track is profiled to closely contain its pair at a given stage of shaft rotation, so that vertical movement can be varied with angular position of the shaft. The linkage which controls vertical movement when heads are aligned with terminating stations is adjustable. A single camshaft carries tracking cams which control pivotal movement of track segments and vertical movement of the transfer head shafts. Shifting mechanism on linkage for vertical movement permits a different tracking cam for each transfer head to control vertical movement thereof as necessary for open barrel or closed barrel terminals.

Modular lead maker

Machine for interconnecting wire-in-slot type terminals in connectors mounted on a panel board utilizes a wire feed roll, rotatable insertion tooling, and an X-Y table. Wire is fed vertically through a rotation housing past wire inserters mounted above an aperture in a rotary plate. Wires are positioned for termination by wire feeding and movement of the X-Y table on which the panel board is mounted. Independently pivotable idler wheels cooperate with the feed roll to engage one or two wires. Insertion is effected by downward movement of the rotation housing which drives the inserters through the aperture in the rotary plate. The rotation housing is moved by pivoting a yoke with a variable pivot point to change limits of travel and therefore insertion depth. The plate, inserters, and rotation housing may be rotated to four orthogonal orientations to insert wires in terminals having like orientations. Through-wire type inserters may be shifted laterally on the rotary plate by solenoids so that wire cut-off type inserters will be poised above the aperture in the rotary plate, making the apparatus capable of threading a wire through several connectors prior to cutting it.

Automatic wiring apparatus with rotatable insertion tooling

Optical waveguide terminating apparatus applies a pair of plug members of the type having metal retention sleeves therein to cut and strip the ends of a jacketed optical waveguide cable. Plug members are delivered to a insertion station attached to a metal carrier strip and are clamped securely between an anvil and an upper clamp which move together vertically under the action of followers riding in cam slots in a moving cam block, which also determines movement of other components. Cable is positioned relative to insertion station by aligning exposed fibers in narrow channels in top of shear bar which drops to remove carrier strip and positions cable guide channels in cable feed path. A pair of cam actuated jaws grip the cable and advance the ends toward the terminating station; the guides drop away during this advance to permit the jaws to fully insert the cable ends in the plug member. Cables are pulled back to seat them on lances in the retention sleeves and a hot cutting blade shears the optical fiber protruding beyond the plug members flush therewith.

Optical waveguide terminating apparatus

Terminating apparatus for flat multi-conductor cable comprises a gravity discharge magazine which dispenses connector having a cover partially assembled to a housing preloaded with terminals at a delivery station. A carriage which reciprocates transversely beneath the magazine transports the connector from the delivery station to a terminating station where the cable is inserted between the cover and housing from the opposite direction. A ram presses the housing against the cover to terminate the cable in the terminals while the carriage holds the connector at the terminating station and a clamp holds the cable in a guide channel which aligns the cable for termination.

Terminating apparatus for flat cable

The present invention relates to a housing of insulating material adapted to accommodate an electrical terminal and having a strain relief member adapted to be crimped into an encompassing engagement around the wire terminated to the terminal therein. More particularly, the strain relief member consists of a pair of vertical walls which are crimped inwardly and downwardly to mechanically grip the outer insulating jacket of the wire.

Terminal housing having an integral strain relief

Apparatus for inserting wires into the wire-receiving portions of terminals in an electrical connector housing comprises a wire-inserting press and a fixture means which is separate from the press and which can be mounted on the press during the inserting operation. The fixture means comprises a block-like member having wire-locating means and housing positioning means thereon arranged such that when the housing and wires are located on the fixture means, the wires will be in alignment with the terminals in the housing. When the fixture means and press are assembled to each other and the press ram is moved towards the fixture means, cooperative aligning pins and sockets on the fixture and on the press ram move into engagement with each other precisely to align the wires and the connector housing with the insertion punches on the press ram. The wires may be sheared immediately prior to insertion by means of fixed and movable shears which are provided on the press, the fixture means being so constructed as to receive the fixed shear when the fixture means is assembled to the press.

Apparatus for connecting conductors to contact terminals in an

A semiautomatic apparatus for attaching the ends of insulated electrical wires to a multi-contact electrical connector is disclosed. The connector has two parallel rows of slotted terminals with wire receiving portions facing in opposite directions. The apparatus has two reciprocal inserters for simultaneously inserting a pair of wires into oppositely facing terminals. The apparatus also has rotatable flipper members which are actuated by the inserters and which precisely position the wires in alignment with the inserters.

Applicator tool for multi-conductor connector

Apparatus for simultaneously inserting a plurality of wires in the wire receiving portions of terminals in a stackable module type electrical connector has a base portion and a removable inserting tool. The base portion has a module supporting surface and wire positioning means on each side of a module positioned on the base so that wires can be positioned with their axes extending across the module and in alignment with the terminals. The removable insertion tool is then assembled to the base and actuated to cut the wires and insert them into the terminals. The wire positioning means on the base can be selectively located at different levels above the module supporting surface so that wires can be inserted into all of the modules in the connector assembly.

Tool for trimming wires and inserting the trimmed wires into a connector

An apparatus for use in attaching multi-conductor flat cable to an electrical connector having conductor receiving portions facing in opposite directions is disclosed. The apparatus employs a movable ram which moves through multiple strokes to perform all of the necessary steps. A movable connector holder is utilized so that cables may be attached to opposite faces of the connector by using only a single movable ram.

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Harrisburg, PA, United States of America

William R Over