US 5,471,741 AGranted

Wire harness termination apparatus

AssigneeMolex Incorporated

InventorsDouglas L. Heisner, Peter Ingwersen, Lawrence M. Kurek, Thomas P. Pellegrino

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Abstract

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.

Claims19

Dependent claims

An apparatus for assembling wire harnesses in which each assembled wire harness has a plurality of elongated wires with first and second ends interconnected to first and second of electrical connector elements, the apparatus comprising:

means for feeding multiple wires along a wire feed path from a wire source to a work station;
the work station including a first termination station aligned with the wire feed means, the first termination station having first means for terminating said first ends of the wires fed from said wire source into engagement with a first electrical connector element;
means for moving said first electrical connector element in a downstream direction away from said first work station along said wire feed path;
a second work station spaced apart from said first work station along a line generally perpendicular to said wire feed path, the second work station including a second termination station having second means for terminating said second ends of said wires to a second electrical connector element;
and,
means for transferring said wire second ends from said first termination station to said second termination station along a wire harness feed path generally transverse to said wire feed path,
whereby said first and second terminating means may be operated together to substantially simultaneously terminate, at said first termination station, a first electrical connector element to first ends of a plurality of wires and, at said second termination station, a second electrical connector element to second ends of a second plurality of wires, said second plurality of wires preceding said first plurality of wires through said work station.

4 more elements

A method of assembling wire harnesses by successively terminating electrical of connectors to opposite ends of sets of elongated wires, comprising the steps of:

a) providing first and second parallel connector advancement tracks;
b) providing first and second wire-connector termination stations along a wire harness feed path which is generally parallel to said connector advancement tracks;
c) feeding a plurality of wires along a wire feed path to said first wire-connector termination station;
d) conveying said first connector to said first wire-connector termination station along a first connector transfer path which is transverse to wire harness feed path;
e) inserting a first set of free ends of said wires into said first connector;
f) engaging said first connector with a first termination press to terminate said first set of free wire ends to said first connector;
g) conveying said terminated first connector to said first connector advancement track;
h) feeding a predetermined length of said wires past said first wire-connector termination station from a wire supply source;
i) guiding a first portion of said wires at said first wire-connector termination station;
j) clamping a second portion of said wires at a wire transfer mechanism, said first and second portions being adjacent each other and said second portion being downstream from said first portion;
k) cutting said wires between said first and second portions to define a second set of free ends of said wires clamped within said wire transfer mechanism and a subsequent first set of free ends of a subsequent plurality of wires maintained at said first wire-connector termination station;
l) simultaneously transferring along said wire feed path said second set of free ends of said wires to said second wire-connector termination station while advancing said first connector along said first connector advancement track a predetermined distance;
m) conveying a second connector to said second wire-connector termination station along a second connector transfer path which is transverse to said wire harness feed path;
n) conveying a subsequent first connector to said first wire-connector termination station along said first connector transfer path;
o) simultaneously terminating said subsequent first connector to said subsequent first set of free ends of said subsequent plurality of wires maintained at said first wire-connector termination station and said second connector to said second set of free ends of said plurality of wires clamped at said second wire-connector termination station to complete a first wire harness and to partially terminate a subsequent wire harness;
and
p) repeating steps g-o until a desired predetermined number of wire harnesses have been terminated.

14 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.