Hand crimp tool having wire inserter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11296472-B2
Application number	US-201816157197-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2018
Priority date	Oct 11, 2018
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

A hand crimp tool includes a handle having upper and lower handles having upper and lower handgrips hand squeezed to close the hand crimp tool. The hand crimp tool includes a head having upper and lower jaws defining a crimp zone therebetween. The lower jaw includes an anvil holding a terminal and the upper jaw includes a crimper crimping the terminal. The hand crimp tool includes a wire inserter coupled to the head having a carriage movable between an advanced position and a retracted position. The wire inserter has a wire clamp holding a wire in the carriage and the wire inserter moves the wire relative to the head to position and hold the wire in the terminal during crimping of the terminal between the anvil and the crimper.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hand crimp tool comprising:
a handle including an upper handle and a lower handle movable relative to each other to open and close the hand crimp tool, the upper handle including an upper handgrip, the lower handle including a lower handgrip, the upper handgrip and the lower handgrip configured to be hand squeezed to close the hand crimp tool;
a head having an upper jaw operably coupled to the upper handle and a lower jaw operably coupled to the lower handle, the head including a crimp zone between the upper jaw and the lower jaw, the lower jaw including an anvil configured to hold a terminal, the upper jaw including a crimper configured to crimp the terminal between the anvil and the crimper when the hand crimp tool is closed; and
a wire inserter coupled to the head, the wire inserter including a carriage movable between an advanced position and a retracted position, the wire inserter having a wire clamp holding a wire in the carriage, the wire inserter moving the wire relative to the head to position and hold the wire in the terminal during crimping of the terminal between the anvil and the crimper, wherein the wire inserter includes a carriage lock operably coupled to the carriage, the carriage lock locking the carriage in the retracted position, the carriage lock being released to move the carriage to the advanced position.

2. The hand crimp tool of claim 1 , wherein the wire inserter includes a biasing mechanism coupled to the carriage, the biasing mechanism biasing the carriage toward the advanced position to load the wire into the terminal.

3. The hand crimp tool of claim 2 , wherein the biasing mechanism applies a biasing force on the carriage to spring load the wire in the terminal at a predetermined loading force during crimping of the terminal.

4. The hand crimp tool of claim 3 , wherein the wire inserter includes a force adjustment mechanism operable to adjust the loading force.

5. The hand crimp tool of claim 2 , wherein the wire inserter includes an end piece coupled to the head by guide rails, the carriage positioned between the end piece and the head on the guide rails and sliding on the guide rails between the retracted position and the advanced position, the biasing mechanism being positioned between the end piece and the carriage.

6. The hand crimp tool of claim 5 , wherein the guide rails control a direction of movement of the carriage in an advancing direction during positioning of the wire by the wire inserter, and wherein the biasing mechanism controls a depth of movement of the carriage in the advancing direction during positioning of the wire by the wire inserter.

7. The hand crimp tool of claim 1 , further comprising a terminal locator coupled to the head proximate to the anvil, the terminal locator having a terminal channel configured to receive the terminal oriented relative to the anvil, the terminal locator having a terminal lock configured to lock the terminal in the terminal channel.

8. The hand crimp tool of claim 7 , wherein the terminal locator includes a locating feature configured to engage the terminal to locate the terminal in the terminal channel relative to the anvil.

9. The hand crimp tool of claim 1 , wherein the wire clamp includes a clamping finger configured to engage the wire and hold the wire in the carriage, the wire clamp having a clamp lever operable to move the wire clamp between a clamped position and a released position.

10. A hand crimp tool comprising:
a handle including an upper handle and a lower handle movable relative to each other to open and close the hand crimp tool, the upper handle including an upper handgrip, the lower handle including a lower handgrip, the upper handgrip and the lower handgrip configured to be hand squeezed to close the hand crimp tool;
a head having an upper jaw operably coupled to the upper handle and a lower jaw operably coupled to the lower handle, the head including a crimp zone between the upper jaw and the lower jaw, the lower jaw including an anvil configured to hold a terminal, the upper jaw including a crimper configured to crimp the terminal between the anvil and the crimper when the hand crimp tool is closed; and
a wire inserter coupled to the head, the wire inserter including a carriage movable between an advanced position and a retracted position, the wire inserter having a wire clamp holding a wire in the carriage, the wire inserter moving the wire relative to the head to position and hold the wire in the terminal during crimping of the terminal between the anvil and the crimper, the wire inserter including a biasing mechanism coupled to the carriage, the wire inserter including an end piece coupled to the head by guide rails, the carriage positioned between the end piece and the head on the guide rails and sliding on the guide rails between the retracted position and the advanced position, the biasing mechanism being positioned between the end piece and the carriage, the biasing mechanism biasing the carriage toward the advanced position to load the wire into the terminal.

11. The hand crimp tool of claim 10 , wherein the biasing mechanism applies a biasing force on the carriage to spring load the wire in the terminal at a predetermined loading force during crimping of the terminal, the wire inserter including a force adjustment mechanism operable to adjust the loading force.

12. The hand crimp tool of claim 10 , wherein the guide rails control a direction of movement of the carriage in an advancing direction during positioning of the wire by the wire inserter, and wherein the biasing mechanism controls a depth of movement of the carriage in the advancing direction during positioning of the wire by the wire inserter.

13. The hand crimp tool of claim 10 , wherein the wire inserter includes a carriage lock operably coupled to the carriage, the carriage lock locking the carriage in the retracted position, the carriage lock being released to move the carriage to the advanced position.

14. The hand crimp tool of claim 10 , further comprising a terminal locator coupled to the head proximate to the anvil, the terminal locator having a terminal channel configured to receive the terminal oriented relative to the anvil, the terminal locator having a terminal lock configured to lock the terminal in the terminal channel, the terminal locator including a locating feature configured to engage the terminal to locate the terminal in the terminal channel relative to the anvil.

15. The hand crimp tool of claim 10 , wherein the wire clamp includes a clamping finger configured to engage the wire and hold the wire in the carriage, the wire clamp having a clamp lever operable to move the wire clamp between a clamped position and a released position.

16. A hand crimp tool comprising:
a handle including an upper handle and a lower handle movable relative to each other to open and close the hand crimp tool, the upper handle including an upper handgrip, the lower handle including a lower handgrip, the upper handgrip and the lower handgrip configured to be hand squeezed to close the hand crimp tool;
a head having an upper jaw operably coupled to the upper handle and a lower jaw operably coupled to the lower handle, the head including a crimp zone between the upper jaw and the lower jaw, the lower jaw including an anvil configured to hold a terminal, the upper jaw including a crimper configured to crimp the terminal between the anvil and the crimper when the hand crimp tool is closed;
a terminal locator coupled to the head proximate to the anvil, the terminal locator having a terminal channel configured to receive

Assignees

• Te Connectivity Corp
• TE Connectivity Services Gmbh

Inventors

• Kerstetter Chadwick Alan
• Moyer Caleb Andrew

Classifications

• H01R43/0421

  combined with other functions, e.g. cutting · CPC title

• Y10T29/53235

  Means to fasten by deformation · CPC title

• H01R43/045 Primary

  with contact member feeding mechanism · CPC title

• Y10T29/53257

  Means comprising hand-manipulatable implement · CPC title

• Y10T29/53226

  Fastening by deformation · CPC title