Manufacturing method for wires with terminals

Abstract

To perform positioning when inserting an inner housing into an outer terminal without using a special positioning mechanism.SOLUTION: First, an outer terminal 20 is placed between a crimper and an anvil. Next, the crimper and anvil are closed halfway to deform a wire barrel 22 inward, thereby forming an insertion guide G of an inner housing 11 with the wire barrel. Next, the inner housing 11 is inserted into a tip cylindrical portion 21 of the outer terminal 20 to a predetermined position along the insertion guide G formed by the wire barrel 22. Next, the crimper and the anvil are further closed and the wire barrel 22 is crimped onto an electric wire W.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electric wire with a terminal, in which a terminal for a shielded electric wire having an inner housing and an outer terminal is attached to an end of a shielded electric wire such as a high-frequency cable, a multi-core cable, or a coaxial electric wire.

Background Art

[0002] A shielded electric wire is known in which a wire core including a conductor for signal transmission is covered with a shield conductor such as a braid, and the outer side thereof is covered with a sheath. A terminal attached to an end of this type of shielded electric wire generally includes an inner housing and an outer terminal disposed on an outer periphery of the inner housing. The inner housing is a component that accommodates an inner terminal conductively connected to the conductor of the wire core, and the outer terminal disposed on the outer side of the inner housing is a component conductively connected to the shield conductor.

[0003] The inner housing that internally houses the inner terminal is inserted from the rear into the distal cylindrical body of the outer terminal during assembly, and is attached to the end of the electric wire in advance. In the end treatment of the electric wire, the conductor of the wire core exposed by removing the sheath is conductively connected to the inner terminal inside the inner housing. Further, the shield conductor exposed at the end of the peeled sheath is conductively connected to the outer terminal by crimping the wire barrel of the outer terminal after inserting the inner housing.

[0004] When a terminal having this type of inner housing and outer terminal is attached to an end of an electric wire using an automatic machine, a step of inserting the inner housing attached to the end of the electric wire from the rear into the distal cylindrical portion of the outer terminal is included in a series of steps.

[0005] By the way, when attempting to insert an inner housing, which has been attached to the end of the electric wire in advance by an automated machine, into the outer terminal, if it is not positioned with considerable precision, the tip of the inner housing may hit the entrance of the cylindrical tip of the outer terminal, making it impossible to insert the inner housing into the outer terminal, and raising concerns that the electric wire may buckle.

[0006] Therefore, it is conceivable to insert the inner housing into the outer terminal while precisely positioning it using a positioning mechanism. However, with the miniaturization of terminals, the positioning mechanism also needs to be miniaturized, making it difficult to incorporate a positioning mechanism due to the increased complexity of the device. Furthermore, incorporating a positioning mechanism can lead to problems such as increased operating time for positioning, which lengthens the cycle time of the terminal mounting process.

[0007] Patent Document 1 describes a similar example of an automatic assembly device for terminals of this type for shielded wires. Patent Document 1 describes an example in which an insulating component (spacer) corresponding to an inner housing is inserted from the front of the outer terminal, and an inner terminal attached to the end of the electric wire is inserted from the rear of the outer terminal. However, both the insertion of the inner housing and the insertion of the inner terminal require precise positioning relative to the outer terminal, and this becomes difficult to achieve as the terminals become smaller. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3456422 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0009] As mentioned above, conventionally, a separate positioning mechanism was required to insert the inner component into the outer terminal, but as terminals became smaller, it became difficult to implement with the same mechanism.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a method for manufacturing a wire with a terminal that can be easily implemented even when the terminal is miniaturized, by enabling the positioning of the inner housing when inserting it into the outer terminal without using a special positioning mechanism. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the method for manufacturing a wire with terminals according to the present invention is characterized by the following:

[0012] In a method for manufacturing a wire with terminals, in which outer terminals are attached to the outer circumference of an inner housing, The first step is to place the outer terminal between a crimper and an anvil, which are provided at the rear end of the outer terminal for crimping a wire barrel. A second step involves closing the crimper and anvil to the first stage and deforming the wire barrel inward, thereby forming an insertion guide for the inner housing with the wire barrel. A third step involves inserting the inner housing, which is attached to the end of the electric wire, along the insertion guide formed by the wire barrel, to a predetermined position inside the cylindrical tip of the outer terminal. After inserting the inner housing to the predetermined position, the fourth step is to further close the crimper and anvil to crimp the wire barrel onto the electric wire extending rearward from the inner housing, Equipped with, Manufacturing method for wires with terminals, [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention, the crimping operation of the wire barrel of the outer terminal by the crimper and anvil is temporarily stopped midway, thereby forming the wire barrel as an insertion guide. This allows the inner housing to be smoothly inserted into the outer terminal along the insertion guide provided by the wire barrel without the need for a separate positioning mechanism. Therefore, in addition to the crimper and anvil required for crimping the wire barrel, another guide mechanism can be omitted, which is an advantage. In other words, since another guide mechanism is not required, the device does not become complicated, costs do not increase, and the assembly of the inner housing to the outer terminal can be easily performed without requiring extra operating time.

[0014] The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by referring to the attached drawings and reading through the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments"). [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the process of a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A1-A1 in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the next step in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A2-A2 in Figure 3. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the next step in Figure 2. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A3-A3 in Figure 5. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a schematic side view illustrating the operation of the assembly mechanism during the process shown in Figures 1 and 2. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a schematic side view illustrating the operation of the assembly mechanism during the process shown in Figures 3 and 4. [Figure 9]FIG. 9 is a schematic side view for explaining the operation of an assembling mechanism when the steps of FIGS. 5 and 6 are performed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Specific embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the respective drawings.

[0017] FIGS. 1 to 6 are step explanatory diagrams of the manufacturing method according to the embodiment, and FIGS. 7 to 9 are schematic side views for explaining the operation of an assembling mechanism when each step is performed.

[0018] In the method of manufacturing an electric wire with a terminal according to the present embodiment, assembly is started when the inner housing 11 and the outer terminal 20 are supplied to an assembling apparatus (also referred to as a processing apparatus) described later in the form shown in FIG. 1. That is, the inner housing 11 is attached in advance to an end portion of the electric wire W in a previous step, and is then supplied to the assembling apparatus in the form of the electric wire 10 with the inner housing.

[0019] In this case, the electric wire W has a sheath W1 as an outermost layer, a braid W2 as a shield conductor inside the sheath W1, and a wire core (not shown) inside the braid W2. In the end treatment of the previous step of this electric wire W, the conductor of the wire core exposed by removing the sheath W1 is conductively connected to an inner terminal (not shown) inside the inner housing 11. Further, the braid W2 exposed by peeling the sheath W1 is trimmed, and then folded back and overlapped on the outer circumference of the sleeve 30 fitted to the outer circumference of the end portion of the sheath W1. Thereby, the electric wire 10 with the inner housing is prepared in advance in the previous step. Note that an impedance matching component (not shown) may be assembled together with the inner housing 11 to the end of the electric wire W in some cases.

[0020] Furthermore, the outer terminal 20 is press-formed to have a cylindrical portion (tip cylindrical portion) 21 at the front end and a wire barrel 22 at the rear end that is crimped to the electric wire W, and is connected in a chain-like manner to a carrier (not shown). The wire barrel 22 consists of a front barrel 23 and a rear barrel 24. The front barrel 23 is the portion that is crimped to the rear shield conductor portion of the inner housing 11 (the portion where the folded braided W2 is superimposed on the outer circumference of the sleeve 30), and has a pair of crimping pieces 23a, 23a that extend diagonally upward and outward from the left and right side edges of the base plate portion 25 that extends rearward from the cylindrical portion 21. The rear barrel 24 is the portion that is crimped to the location of the sheath W1 at the rear of the shield conductor portion, and similar to the front barrel 23, has a pair of crimping pieces 24a, 24a that extend diagonally upward and outward from the left and right side edges of the base plate portion 25.

[0021] Next, I will briefly describe the configuration of the assembly device that will be put together. As shown in Figure 7, the assembly device is equipped with a wire transfer mechanism 50 that grips the wire 10 with an inner housing and moves it up and down, forward and backward, and left and right, and an applicator 80 that crimps the wire barrel 22 of the outer terminal 20. The wire transfer mechanism 50 grips the sheathed portion of the wire W with a wire transfer chuck 51 and moves it. The applicator 80 is a unit equipped with an anvil 61 and a crimper 62, which are crimping type 60. By pressing down the crimper 62 and closing the anvil 61 and crimper 62, the wire barrel 22 of the outer terminal 20 is crimped and fixed to the wire W.

[0022] The applicator 80 is equipped with a supporting stopper 70 along with a crimper 62, and the supporting stopper 70 serves to hold down the outer terminal 20 with a spring 71. The applicator 80 is equipped with a servo press mechanism (not shown) that lowers and raises the crimper 62 and the supporting stopper 70.

[0023] The manufacturing method of this embodiment involves following the following first to fourth steps in order to ultimately produce a terminal-equipped wire 1, as shown in Figure 5, in which a terminal 3 for a shielded wire is attached to the end of the wire W.

[0024] First, in the first step, as shown in Figure 7, the outer terminal 20 is placed between the crimper 62 and the anvil 61 for crimping the wire barrel 22 provided at the rear end of the outer terminal 20. Then, the electric wire W is gripped by the electric wire transfer chuck 51, and the inner housing 11 attached to the tip of the electric wire W is positioned above the rear end of the outer terminal 20 (action of arrow S1 in Figure 7). Next, at least the front end of the inner housing 11 is lowered toward the wire barrel 22 of the outer terminal 20, as shown in Figure 1 (action of arrow S2 in Figure 7). At this time, as shown in Figure 2, the wire barrel 22, which is in an outward-facing state, guides the lowering of the inner housing 11.

[0025] Next, in the second step, as shown in Figure 8, the crimper 62 and anvil 61 are closed to the first stage (arrow S5 in Figure 8 indicates the operation of partially closing the crimper 62), and as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the crimping pieces 23a and 24a of the wire barrel 22 are deformed inward, thereby forming the insertion guide G for the inner housing 11 with the wire barrel 22.

[0026] Next, in the third step, the inner housing 11 attached to the end of the electric wire W is inserted along the insertion guide G formed by the wire barrel 22 to a predetermined position inside the tip cylindrical portion 21 of the outer terminal 20 (the operation shown by arrow S3 in Figures 3 and 8).

[0027] Next, in the fourth step, after inserting the inner housing 11 to the predetermined position, the crimper 62 and anvil 61 are further closed (action of arrow S6 in Figure 9), as shown in Figure 9, and the wire barrel 22 is crimped and fixed to the electric wire W extending rearward from the inner housing 11 (final crimping), as shown in Figures 5 and 6. That is, the front barrel 23 is crimped to the rear shield conductor portion of the inner housing 11 (the portion where the folded braided W2 is superimposed on the outer circumference of the sleeve 30). The rear barrel 24 is also crimped and fixed to the location of the sheath W1 at the rear of the shield conductor portion. As a result, an electric wire 1 with an inner housing 11 and an outer terminal 20 is obtained.

[0028] During the above process, the outer terminal 20 is restricted from moving in the front-to-back direction by a carrier (not shown). The carrier is cut by a shear blade at the same time as the final crimping, separating the outer terminal 20. However, until just before crimping, the outer terminal 20 is positioned in the front-to-back direction by the carrier. However, there is no restriction in the up-and-down direction, so the cylindrical portion 21 of the outer terminal 20 may move up and down. Therefore, from after the first step until the end of the fourth step, the outer terminal 20 is pressed and held from above by a supporting stopper 70. This makes it possible to insert the inner housing 11 accurately and easily.

[0029] As described above, according to the manufacturing method of the terminal-equipped electric wire of this embodiment, the crimping of the wire barrel 22 of the outer terminal 20 by the crimper 62 and anvil 61 is stopped midway, and the inner housing 11 attached to the end of the electric wire W is inserted into the tip cylindrical portion 21 of the outer terminal 20 using the inwardly deformed wire barrel 22 as an insertion guide G. This makes it possible to smoothly insert the inner housing 11 into the outer terminal 20 without providing a separate guide mechanism for inserting the inner housing 11 into the outer terminal 20.

[0030] Therefore, in addition to the crimper 62 and anvil 61 required for crimping the wire barrel 22, there is the advantage of being able to omit another guide mechanism. In other words, another guide mechanism is unnecessary, and assembly efficiency can be improved by simply changing the process slightly while keeping the structure of the applicator used conventionally. As a result, the assembly equipment does not become complicated, and the assembly work of the inner housing 11 to the outer terminal 20 can be performed without increasing costs.

[0031] Furthermore, by using the supporting stopper 70, the inner housing 11 can be easily inserted into the outer terminal 20 while the outer terminal 20 is held in place to prevent it from moving.

[0032] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified, improved, etc., as appropriate. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, placement, etc. of each component in the embodiments described above are arbitrary and not limited, as long as they can achieve the present invention.

[0033] Herein, the features of the method for manufacturing a wire with terminals according to the embodiments of the present invention described above are briefly listed below in [1] and [2]. [1] In a method for manufacturing a terminal-equipped electric wire in which an outer terminal (20) is attached to the outer circumference of an inner housing (11), The first step is to place the outer terminal (20) between a crimper (62) and an anvil (61) for crimping a wire barrel (22) provided at the rear end of the outer terminal (20), The second step involves closing the crimper (62) and anvil (61) to the first stage and deforming the wire barrel (22) inward, thereby forming an insertion guide (G) for the inner housing (11) with the wire barrel (22), A third step involves inserting the inner housing (11), which is attached to the end of the electric wire (W), along the insertion guide (G) formed by the wire barrel (22), to a predetermined position inside the tip cylindrical portion (21) of the outer terminal (20), After inserting the inner housing (11) to the predetermined position, the crimper (62) and anvil (61) are further closed to crimp the wire barrel (22) onto the electric wire (W) extending rearward from the inner housing (11) in a fourth step. Equipped with, A method for manufacturing an electric wire with terminals (1),

[0034] According to the configuration described in [1] above, the crimping of the wire barrel (22) of the outer terminal (20) by the crimper (62) and anvil (61) is temporarily stopped midway. Then, using the inwardly deformed wire barrel (22) as an insertion guide (G), the inner housing (11) attached to the end of the electric wire (W) is inserted into the tip cylindrical part (21) of the outer terminal (20). This allows for smooth insertion of the inner housing (11) into the outer terminal (20) without the need for another guide mechanism. Therefore, in addition to the crimper (62) and anvil (61) required for crimping the wire barrel (22), there is an advantage in being able to omit another guide mechanism. In other words, since another guide mechanism is not required, the assembly device does not become complicated, and the assembly work of the inner housing (11) into the outer terminal (20) can be performed without increasing costs.

[0035] [2] From the end of the first step until the end of the fourth step, the outer terminal (20) is pressed and held by the supporting stopper (70). A method for manufacturing the terminal-equipped electric wire (1) described above [1].

[0036] According to the configuration described in [2] above, the inner housing (11) can be easily inserted into the outer terminal (20) while the outer terminal (20) is held in place to prevent it from moving. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Wire with terminals 3 terminals 11 Inner Housing 20 Outer terminals 21. Cylindrical tip 22 Wire Barrel 61 Anvil 62 Climper W electric wire G Insertion Guide

Claims

1. In a method for manufacturing a wire with terminals, in which outer terminals are attached to the outer circumference of an inner housing, The first step is to place the outer terminal between a crimper and an anvil, which are provided at the rear end of the outer terminal for crimping a wire barrel. A second step involves closing the crimper and anvil to the first stage and deforming the wire barrel inward, thereby forming an insertion guide for the inner housing with the wire barrel. A third step involves inserting the inner housing, which is attached to the end of the electric wire, along the insertion guide formed by the wire barrel, to a predetermined position inside the cylindrical tip of the outer terminal. After inserting the inner housing to the predetermined position, the fourth step is to further close the crimper and anvil to crimp the wire barrel onto the electric wire extending rearward from the inner housing, Equipped with, A method for manufacturing wires with terminals.

2. From the end of the first step until the end of the fourth step, the outer terminal is pressed and held by the supporting stopper. A method for manufacturing an electric wire with a terminal as described in claim 1.

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