Terminal crimping machine including an electrical crimp consolidation circuit

A terminal crimping machine that crimps a terminal to a wire, the terminal crimping machine comprising:

• a termination tool having an actuator and crimp tooling comprising an anvil and a ram movable by the actuator, a crimping zone being defined between the ram and the anvil that receives the terminal and the wire, the ram being actuated by the actuator during a crimp stroke in an advancing direction to form a crimped segment between the terminal and the wire and then being actuated by the ram in a retracting direction, the ram being actuated by the actuator in the advancing direction from a released position to an initial contact position where the ram makes initial contact with the terminal, the ram being actuated by the actuator in the advancing direction from the initial contact position to a bottom dead center position where the ram is at the closest position to the anvil during the crimp stroke, the ram being actuated by the actuator in the retracting direction from the bottom dead center position to a separation position where the ram separates from the terminal, the ram being actuated by the actuator in the retracting direction from the separation position to the released position where the ram is at the furthest position from the anvil during the crimp stroke;
• and
• an electrical crimp consolidation circuit electrically connected to the crimped segment and operated during the crimp stroke to provide an electrical pulse to at least one of the wire and the terminal after the ram is in the initial contact position and before the ram is in the bottom dead center position, the electrical crimp consolidation circuit comprising a power supply having a capacitor storing energy, a switch coupled to the power supply and receiving the energy, and a trigger coupled to the switch for activating the switch to release the energy as the electrical pulse to the crimped segment during the crimp stroke.

A method of crimping a terminal to a wire, the method comprising:

• positioning a terminal and a wire in a crimping zone between an anvil and a movable ram;
• actuating the ram through a crimp stroke from a released position in an advancing direction to a bottom dead center position and then in a retracting direction back to the released position, the ram crimping the terminal to the wire to form a crimped segment as the ram is moved in the advancing direction;
• and
• sending an electrical pulse through the crimped segment during the crimp stroke as the ram is actuated in the advancing direction.