Crimping device with seal depressor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9800009-B2
Application number	US-201514610151-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2015
Priority date	Jan 30, 2015
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A terminal crimping device includes crimp tooling and a seal depressor fixed to the crimp tooling. The crimp tooling and the seal depressor move with a movable ram along a crimp stroke towards and away from a base that receives a wire assembly and a terminal thereon. The crimp tooling crimps the terminal to both a wire and a compression seal of the wire assembly during the crimp stroke. The seal depressor has a contact tab that engages and at least partially depresses the compression seal of the wire assembly during the crimp stroke to hold the compression seal in place as the crimp tooling crimps the terminal to the wire assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A terminal crimping device that crimps a terminal to a wire assembly, the wire assembly including a wire and a compression seal on the wire, the terminal crimping device comprising:
crimp tooling on a movable ram, the crimp tooling moving with the movable ram along a crimp stroke towards and away from a base that receives the wire assembly thereon, the crimp tooling crimping the terminal to both the wire and the compression seal of the wire assembly during the crimp stroke; and
a seal depressor adjustably fixed to the crimp tooling by a releasable locking fastener that is selectively operable between a locked state and an adjustable state, the locking fastener in the locked state fixing the seal depressor in place relative to the crimp tooling such that the seal depressor moves with the crimp tooling along the crimp stroke and does not move relative to the crimp tooling, the seal depressor having a contact tab that engages and at least partially depresses the compression seal of the wire assembly during the crimp stroke when the locking fastener is in the locked state to hold the compression seal in place as the crimp tooling crimps the terminal to the wire assembly,
wherein the locking fastener in the adjustable state allows the seal depressor to move from a first operative position relative to the crimp tooling to a second operative position relative to the crimp tooling to adjust a bottom dead center position of the seal depressor, according to the size of the wire assembly, including the compression seal on the wire, as the crimp tooling moves along the crimp stroke.

2. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the contact tab of the seal depressor is flat.

3. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the contact tab of the seal depressor has a concave curve relative to the base.

4. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the seal depressor has a planar body having a front face and a rear face, the rear face facing the crimp tooling, the contact tab extending rearward from a bottom edge of the body towards the crimp tooling.

5. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the contact tab has a surface area greater than a depressed contact surface of the compression seal such that edges of the contact tab do not contact the compression seal as the contact tab engages and at least partially depresses the compression seal.

6. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the crimp tooling moves with the ram along a ram axis during the crimp stroke, the crimp tooling having first and second side rails extending parallel to the ram axis and defining a track between the first and second side rails, the seal depressor held between the first and second side rails in the track.

7. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the crimp tooling moves with the ram along a ram axis during the crimp stroke, the seal depressor defining an elongated slot that extends parallel to the ram axis, the locking fastener extending through the slot into the crimp tooling, the locking fastener being fixed in place relative to the crimp tooling, the seal depressor being movable relative to the locking fastener along the slot when the locking fastener is in the adjustable state.

8. The terminal crimping device of claim 7 , wherein the seal depressor includes markings adjacent to the elongated slot that indicate pre-defined operative positions of the seal depressor for different wire assemblies.

9. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the crimp tooling includes a wire crimp tool, a seal crimp tool, and a shear depressor, the wire crimp tool crimping a wire barrel of the terminal to the wire, the seal crimp tool crimping a seal barrel of the terminal to the seal, the shear depressor separating the terminal from a carrier strip.

10. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the base has a wire support surface and a seal support surface, the wire support surface receiving a distal portion of the wire thereon, the seal support surface receiving the compression seal thereon, the wire support surface being non-coplanar with the seal support surface, the wire support surface disposed vertically more proximate to the crimp tooling than the seal support surface.

11. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the base includes an anvil and a shear, the anvil defining a wire support surface that receives a distal portion of the wire thereon, the shear defining a seal support surface that receives the compression seal thereon, wherein the seal depressor moves towards and away from the shear during the crimp stroke, the compression seal being captured between the contact tab of the seal depressor and the seal support surface during a crimp forming stage of the crimp stroke.

12. The terminal crimping device of claim 1 , wherein the contact tab of the seal depressor engages a plug segment of the compression seal, the crimp tooling forming the terminal around a crimp segment of the compression seal, the crimp segment being proximate to a distal end of the wire, the plug segment having a greater diameter than the crimp segment.

13. A crimping system comprising:
a wire assembly that includes a wire and a compression seal on the wire; and
a terminal crimping device that crimps a terminal to the wire assembly, the terminal crimping device comprising:
a base that receives the wire assembly thereon such that the wire assembly is oriented along a wire axis, the base having a seal support surface that receives the compression seal of the wire assembly thereon, the seal support surface having a concave curve relative to the wire assembly, the concave curve elongated along a longitudinal axis parallel to the wire axis to prohibit the compression seal from moving laterally from a center position on the seal support surface;
crimp tooling on a movable ram, the crimp tooling moving with the movable ram along a crimp stroke towards and away from the base, the crimp tooling forming the terminal around both the wire and the compression seal of the wire assembly during the crimp stroke; and
a seal depressor adjustably fixed to the crimp tooling by a releasable locking fastener, the releasable locking fastener selectively allowing the seal depressor to move with the crimp tooling along the crimp stroke and not move relative to the crimp tooling, the seal depressor having a contact tab that engages and at least partially depresses the compression seal of the wire assembly against the seal support surface of the base during the crimp stroke to hold the compression seal in place as the crimp tooling forms the terminal around the wire assembly.

14. The crimping system of claim 13 , wherein the crimp tooling includes a wire crimp tool and a seal crimp tool, the wire crimp tool forming the terminal around the wire, the seal crimp tool forming the terminal around the compression seal.

15. The crimping system of claim 13 , wherein the contact tab of the seal depressor also has a concave curve relative to the wire assembly on the base, the concave curve of the contact tab mirroring the concave curve of the seal support surface to accommodate a curved outer perimeter of the compression seal.

16. The crimping system of claim 15 , wherein the releasable locking fastener fixes the seal depressor in place relative to the crimp tooling when the locking fastener is in a locked state such that the seal depressor moves with the crimp tooling along the crimp stroke and does not move relative to the crimp tooling, the locking fastener in an adjustable state allowing the seal depressor to slide lin

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics Corp
• Tyco Electronics Ltd Uk
• Tyco Electronics Amp Gmbh
• Te Connectivity Corp
• Te Connectivity Germany Gmbh

Inventors

• Stull David Michael
• Clifford Matt J
• Sowa Guenter

Classifications

• H01R43/048 Primary

  Crimping apparatus or processes (H01R43/042 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01R43/0488 Primary

  with crimp height adjusting means · CPC title