Device and method for joining multi-core cables

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for joining a multi-core cable (2) with at least two individual conductors (3) to contacts (7), which first comprises gripping the multi-core cable (2) with individual conductors (3) arranged in a starting position by a handling device (4) and then a predetermined actuation of the individual conductors (3) by means of the handling device (4) from their starting position to an assembly position. Subsequently, one individual conductor (3a) of the at least two individual conductors (3) is positioned in front of an assembly tool (6) and joined to a contact (7) by means of the assembly tool (6). Then, the steps of positioning and joining are carried out with further or all individual conductors (3a) of the at least two individual conductors (3). Next, the individual conductors (3) are returned from the assembly position to the starting position or a pre-assembly position by means of the handling device (4).Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for joining a multi-core cable (2) with at least two single cores (3).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device and a method for joining a multi-core cable with at least two individual cores.

[0002] When manually, but especially when automatically, inserting contacts on a multi-core cable into a connector housing, the precise orientation, in particular alignment and rotation, of the contacts is crucial to ensure the lowest possible joining forces and thus a processable joining process.

[0003] Depending on how the contacts on the multi-core cables must be aligned for insertion into the contact chambers, the corresponding alignment of the cable is currently achieved by manually or automatically twisting it after crimping the crimp contacts onto the cables. However, the stranding of the individual wires in the cables then leads to large deviations in the rotational alignment of the contacts. If further twisting occurs during the alignment of the stranding, damage to the individual wires can even occur due to torsion.

[0004] Due to the inherent tension of the stranded individual wires, which have aligned but not entirely matching contacts to the alignment of the chambers, the joining forces of the contacts in the contact chambers increase greatly due to tilting.

[0005] With small, stamped contacts, burrs can cause abrasions of the insulating material during joining, which can impair electrical signal transmission.

[0006] Furthermore, due to the greatly increased joining forces, especially in the case of miniaturized contacts, the permissible load forces of the contact may be exceeded, which necessitates the termination of the joining process.

[0007] In the event of a significantly different orientation of the contacts to the contact chambers, a joining process may be impossible despite the use of optical measurement technology, since already inserted cables may be damaged when the rotating gripper moves in front of the chambers during the orientation of the cables or contacts in the gripper.

[0008] Furthermore, with very short stripping or untwisting lengths of multi-core cables, parallel crimping of the contacts is often not possible because the distances to the next contact are too small.

[0009] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and a device for joining a multi-core cable with at least two individual cores, in which the mechanical stress on the contacts is reduced during automated joining.

[0010] This problem is solved by the combination of features according to claim 1.

[0011] According to the invention, a method for joining a multi-core cable with at least two individual conductors is proposed, which first comprises gripping the multi-core cable with individual conductors arranged in a starting position by a handling device and then a predetermined actuation of the individual conductors by means of the handling device from their starting position to an assembly position. Subsequently, one individual conductor of the at least two individual conductors is positioned in front of a joining tool and joined to a contact by means of the joining tool. Then, the steps of positioning and joining are carried out with further or all individual conductors of the at least two individual conductors. Next, the individual conductors are returned from the assembly position to the starting position or a pre-assembly position by means of the handling device.

[0012] An advantage of this is that when the individual wires are actuated by the handling device from their initial position to the assembly position, the individual wires are spread apart to achieve spatial separation, which makes it possible to process several wires automatically with one joining tool. A further advantage of the automated method is that the wires do not need to be oriented by rotation after joining. Furthermore, the wires with the contacts are not twisted after joining, but are only bent back and held by the handling device. Subsequently, the handling device opens and grips the wires again, but in the axial direction of the wire in front of the former bend point in the direction of the contact.In this way, the lines are all arranged almost in their original state, but with attached contacts oriented appropriately for further processing.

[0013] Furthermore, the use of a handling device for feeding the wires to the joining tool and the automation of a previously manual process are generally enabled. This allows for high process flexibility compared to conventional joining systems and enables quick changeovers to a different number of wires or orientation of the contacts. Any contact suitable for the respective application can be used, such as crimp contacts or cable lugs. The corresponding joining method is, for example, crimping or ultrasonic welding and is carried out using a device appropriate to the method.

[0014] In one embodiment of the invention, the handling device is a multi-axis robot. It is further advantageous if the multi-axis robot has six or seven axes.

[0015] In an advantageous embodiment, it is provided that the gripping of the multi-core cable is carried out by means of a cable gripper of the handling device.

[0016] Furthermore, an embodiment is advantageous in which the cable gripper includes a force-torque sensor and determines the force and / or torque acting on the cable and / or the individual conductors when gripping the multi-core cable. Automation significantly reduces the torsional load on the cable, eliminating twisting or over-twisting as is common in manual processes.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the method, the joining tool is a crimping tool when positioning the single wire of the at least two single wires, and the contact is a crimp contact when joining the single wire using the joining tool.

[0018] Furthermore, in an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, after the individual conductors have been returned from the assembly position to a pre-assembly position in front of a connector housing by means of the handling device, the multi-core cable is gripped by the handling device and then the contacts of the multi-core cable are inserted into the connector housing by means of the handling device. It is advantageous that there is a reduced risk of abrasion of the plastic housing of the connector housing, since the contacts are not inserted under tension.

[0019] Furthermore, in one embodiment of the invention, the crimping press is provided to have a crimp force monitoring system and to monitor the crimp force during crimping. In this way, damage to the individual wires or the corresponding crimp contacts is prevented or reduced.

[0020] For the crimp force monitoring and the force-torque sensor of the cable gripper, data and / or limit values ​​are stored in a data storage device and / or control unit, and if a predetermined value is exceeded, a warning is issued or the process is stopped.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment, the crimping tool is a crimping press with two press halves which close simultaneously when crimping the individual wire, such that the individual wire is crimped centrally to a gripping axis of the multi-axis robot. In this way, no tensile load is exerted on the gripped wire.

[0022] Furthermore, an embodiment is advantageous in which the respective crimp contact has a coding lug and, when crimping the corresponding individual conductor to the crimp contact, the corresponding coding lug has a predetermined orientation. This enables an orientation of the crimp contacts or the coding lugs that was previously not possible to produce automatically. For example, the coding lugs can be oriented inwards towards each other in an axial plane of the conductor. However, other combinations regarding the arrangement of the coding lugs are also possible, such as upwards, downwards, or outwards. Furthermore, these orientations of the coding lugs of the individual conductors of a conductor can be combined and varied as desired.

[0023] In a further advantageous embodiment, the invention provides that, during predetermined actuation, the individual conductors are positioned such that adjacent individual conductors are arranged at an angle of up to 90° to each other. This is done automatically by the handling device. Since the individual conductors are spaced apart by up to 90°, the contact can be oriented upwards, downwards, or laterally outwards or inwards, as the second (and all subsequent) individual conductor(s) are each parallel to the front of the joining tool. For example, in a four-core cable, the strands would then be spread out in space like the edges of a pyramid. By spreading them out, further individual conductors are thus arranged in front of the joining tool during joining. This is advantageous because it enables processing with short stripping or untwisting lengths for multi-core cables.

[0024] In an advantageous embodiment, the individual wires are aligned when returned to their initial position such that the respective coding lug is aligned with a contact chamber formed in the connector housing. This optimizes the insertion of the crimp contacts of the multi-core cable into the connector housing, and the insertion forces into the contact chamber are significantly reduced due to the orientation.

[0025] In one embodiment of the invention, it is provided that after the individual wires have been returned to their respective starting positions or after the multi-core cable has been gripped, the exact position of the individual wires is determined by means of an optical detection device. The advantage of this is that the orientation or alignment of the crimp contacts or the coding lugs is checked before joining.

[0026] According to the invention, a device for joining a multi-core cable with at least two single conductors is further proposed according to a method according to the preceding disclosure, comprising a handling device for gripping, positioning and joining the multi-core cable, and a joining tool for joining a contact to at least one single conductor.

[0027] The features disclosed above can be combined in any way, provided this is technically possible and they do not contradict each other. Other advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in the dependent claims or are described in more detail below together with the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the figures. Figure 1 shows a device for joining a multi-core cable with at least two individual cores.

[0028] The figures are schematic examples. Identical reference symbols in the figures indicate identical functional and / or structural features.

[0029] Figure 1 shows a device 1 for joining a multi-core cable 2 with four individual cores 3, comprising a handling device 4 for gripping, positioning, and joining the multi-core cable 2 and a crimping tool 6 for crimping a crimp contact 7 onto at least one individual core 3. The respective crimp contact 7 has a coding nose 71. The handling device 4 is a multi-axis robot having seven axes. Furthermore, the handling device 4 includes a cable gripper 41 for gripping the multi-core cable 2.

[0030] The cable gripper 41 has a force-torque sensor for determining the force and / or torque acting on the cable 2 and / or the individual wires 3 when gripping the multi-core cable 2.

[0031] The crimping tool 6 is a crimping press with two press halves 61, 62, which can be closed simultaneously when crimping the single conductor 3a, such that the single conductor 3a can be crimped centrally to a gripping axis of the multi-axis robot 4. The crimping press also has a crimp force monitoring system for monitoring the crimping force.

[0032] The device 1 is configured to carry out the following method: a. Gripping the multi-core cable 2 with individual cores 3 arranged in a starting position by a handling device 4; b. Predetermined actuation of the individual cores 3 by means of the handling device 4 from their starting position to a mounting position, whereby during the predetermined actuation the individual cores 3 are positioned such that adjacent individual cores 3 are arranged at an angle of up to 90° to each other; c. Positioning of an individual core 3a of the at least two individual cores 3 in front of a crimping tool 6; d. Crimping of the individual core 3a to a crimp contact 7 by means of the crimping tool 6; e. Carrying out steps c and d with further or all individual cores 3a of the at least two individual cores 3; f.The individual wires 3 are returned from the assembly position to the initial position or a pre-assembly position in front of a connector housing by means of the handling device 4, wherein the individual wires 3 are aligned during the return to the initial position such that the respective coding lug 7 is aligned with a contact chamber formed in the connector housing. After the individual wires 3 have been returned to their respective initial position or after the multi-core cable 2 has been gripped, the exact position of the respective individual wires is determined by means of an optical detection device 8. g. Gripping of the multi-core cable 2 by the handling device 4 and h. Insertion of the crimp contacts 7 of the multi-core cable 2 into the connector housing by means of the handling device 4.

[0033] The invention is not limited in its implementation to the preferred embodiments specified above. Rather, a number of variants are conceivable which make use of the solution shown even in fundamentally different designs.

Claims

1. A method for joining a multi-core cable (2) with at least two individual conductors (3), comprising the steps of: a. gripping the multi-core cable (2) with individual conductors (3) arranged in a starting position by a handling device (4), b. predetermined actuation of the individual conductors (3) by means of the handling device (4) from their starting position to an assembly position, c. positioning one individual conductor (3a) of the at least two individual conductors (3) in front of an assembly tool (6), d. joining the individual conductor (3a) to a contact (7) by means of the assembly tool (6), e. performing steps c and d with further or all individual conductors (3a) of the at least two individual conductors (3), f. returning the individual conductors (3) from the assembly position to the starting position or a pre-assembly position by means of the handling device (4).

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the handling device (4) is a multi-axis robot.

3. Method according to claim 2, wherein the multi-axis robot has six or seven axes.

4. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein during predetermined actuation the individual wires (3) are positioned such that adjacent individual wires (3) are each arranged at an angle of up to 90° to each other, in particular such that adjacent individual wires (3) can each be arranged parallel to a front of the joining tool (6).

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the gripping of the multi-core cable (2) is carried out by means of a cable gripper (41) of the handling device (4).

6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the cable gripper (41) comprises a force-torque sensor and determines the force and / or torque acting on the cable (2) and / or the individual conductors (3) when gripping the multi-core cable (2).

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the joining tool (6) is a crimping tool when positioning the single wire (3a) of the at least two single wires (3) and the contact (7) is a crimp contact when joining the single wire (3a) by means of the joining tool (6).

8. A method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising the steps of: g. gripping the multi-core cable (2) by the handling device (4) and h. inserting the contacts (7) of the multi-core cable (2) into a connector housing by means of the handling device (4).

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the crimping tool (6) is a crimping press with two press halves (61, 62) which close simultaneously when crimping the single wire (3a) such that the single wire (3a) is crimped centrally to a gripping axis of the multi-axis robot (4).

10. Method according to claim 9, wherein the crimping press has a crimp force monitoring system and monitors a crimp force during crimping by means of the crimp force monitoring system.

11. Method according to any one of the preceding claims 9 to 10, wherein the respective crimp contact (7) has a coding lug (71) and when crimping the corresponding single wire (3a) to the crimp contact (7) the corresponding coding lug (71) has a predetermined orientation.

12. Method according to the preceding claim, wherein the individual wires (3) are aligned upon returning to the initial position such that the respective coding lug (71) is aligned with each contact chamber formed in the connector housing.

13. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein after returning the individual wires (3) to their respective starting positions or after gripping the multi-core cable (2) an exact position of the respective individual wires is determined by means of an optical detection device (8).

14. Device (1) for joining a multi-core cable (2) with at least two single conductors (3) according to a method according to one of the preceding claims comprising a handling device (4) for gripping, positioning and joining the multi-core cable (2), a joining tool (6) for joining a contact (7) to at least one single conductor (3).