Wire sorting machine and method of sorting wires

#The subject matter herein relates generally to wire sorting machines and methods of sorting wires.

#Many electrical components are mounted to ends of cables. The cables have individual wires that are terminated to the various components of the electrical component. For example, the wires may be soldered to circuit boards or terminated to contacts or terminals. Assembly of the electrical components and connection of the electrical components to the cables is time consuming. Typically, the wires are positioned manually, such as by an operator lacing the wires into a wire organizer for holding the wires in position for terminating to the circuit board or contacts. Such manual lacing is time consuming.

#There is a need for a cost effective automated process of sorting wires of a cable without human operator intervention.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a wire sorting machine formed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

#FIG. 2 illustrates a camera and wire manipulator for the wire sorting machine.

#FIG. 3 is a top view of a fixture of the wire sorting machine with cables loaded therein.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a wire sorting machine 100 formed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The wire sorting machine 100 is used for separating individual wires of a cable and positioning the wires in proper position, such as for attachment to a circuit board or for attachment to a contact or terminal. The wire sorting machine 100 automatically sorts the wires using an automated process.

#The wire sorting machine 100 provides vision guidance using a camera 102 to collect images and data relating to the wires and dynamically change parameters and control of the components of the wire sorting machine 100. Each cable presented to the wire sorting machine 100 may have a different layout of the wires (e.g. the wires exit the cable in a random orientation) and the wire sorting machine 100 identifies specific wires and properly positions the wire, such as for soldering to a circuit board. In an exemplary embodiment, the wires are color coded and each wire requires a predetermined position for termination to the circuit board. Such a layout may be generally defined as a footprint. The wire sorting machine 100 uses images from the camera 102 to identify characteristics of the wires, such as the layout, shape, positional data, color and the like, to distinguish which wire is which and to develop a motion profile for properly placing each of the wires. For example, the wire sorting machine 100 may determine which wires are overlapping wires and which wires are overlapped wires. The wire sorting machine 100 may first move the overlapping wires into position, thus exposing and allowing the overlapped wires to be accessible for moving such wires. The parameters and control of the wire sorting machine 100 may be based on geometrical characteristic data obtained based upon the image captured by the camera 102.

#In the illustrated embodiment, the wire sorting machine 100 processes a plurality of cables 104 (each having individual wires). The cables 104 are held on a fixture 106. Any number of cables 104 may be held by the fixture 106. Alternatively, the cables 104 may be individually presented to the wire sorting machine 100 rather than being presented as a batch as part of the fixture 106. In an exemplary embodiment, both ends of the cables 104 may be processed by the wire sorting machine 100 to sort the wires extending from both ends of the cables 104. Alternatively, the wires extending from only one end of the cables 104 may be sorted. In other alternative embodiments, the system may include two or more wire sorting machines 100 for sorting different cables 104 or different ends of the cables 104 held by the same fixture 106. The control of the wire sorting machines 100 may be synchronized or managed to ensure the components do not impact one another.