JP2679461B2 - Cable aligner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cable aligning machine, which converts a conduction signal S, which is sequentially input corresponding to n cables, into an m-bit binary code by an encoder, and greatly determines a cable discriminating circuit. The present invention relates to a reduced cable alignment machine.

In recent years, as the functions of various electronic devices have increased, the number of connecting cables has tended to increase not only in connecting printed boards mounted in devices but also in connecting devices.

By the way, connectors are generally used for connecting cables or between devices, and as the number of connecting cables increases, the number of cores of the connectors also increases. However, conventionally, the interval between the contacts that are fitted and electrically conducted when the male connector and the female connector are fitted to each other, that is, a so-called contact pitch, is dominated by 2.54 mm.

However, in recent years, as the demand for lighter, thinner, shorter, and smaller devices has become stronger, the conventional contact pitch is 2.54.
In the case of a connector having an interval of mm, there is a problem that the shape of the connector is too large, together with the problem of the thickness of the cable bundle wire accompanying the increase in the number of connecting cables. Therefore, thinning of wires and miniaturization of connectors have been promoted.

By the way, it has become difficult to manually connect a large number of thin wires to the contacts of a connector having a narrow pitch, and a connecting tool called a cable aligner is indispensable. Therefore, an important issue is how to use a cable aligner to make sure that the cables are connected efficiently.

[0006]

[Prior Art] The contact pitch of the connector is 2.
When the thickness is 54 mm, it is displayed according to the AWG (American Wire Gauge) standard which is often used for displaying the thickness of the wire, and for example, a cable having a wire diameter of AWG # 28 is often used.

However, in response to the miniaturization of the device, for example, a so-called half-pitch connector in which a thin cable whose wire is AWG # 32 is used and the contact pitch of the connector is narrowed to 1.27 mm interval which is half of the conventional one,
In the case of a small-sized connector with a narrow pitch, it has become unwieldy unless a wire arranging work is performed using a cable aligning machine.

[0008] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a main part of an example of a conventional cable line machine, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main portion of the controller of FIG. In the figure, 1 is a cable, 1a is a cable to be identified,
2 is a first connector, 3 is a second connector, 3a is a cable temporary fixing groove, 3b is a connector cover, 5 is a discrimination circuit, 7 is a buffer, 10 is a cable aligner, 11 is a cable temporary fixing portion, and 11a is A mounting table, 11b is a housing, 11c is a V groove, 11d is a conductive cutter, 11e is a cable guide groove, 11f is an indicator lamp, 12 is a control unit, 12a is a cable connector, and 12b is a signal cable.

The cable aligner 10 has at least several tens,
In many cases, when the connectors are connected to both ends of the disjointed cables 1 from 100, the cables 1 are arranged so that the terminal numbers of the respective connectors correspond to each other.

That is, one end of a plurality of cables 1 is arbitrarily connected to the first connector 2, and the second connector 3 is connected to the other end of the cable 1 so as to correspond to the connected terminal number. This is a device for arranging the cables 1 one by one in the temporary fixing groove 3a.

In FIG. 2 , the cable arranging machine 10 includes a cable temporary fixing portion 11 for temporarily fixing the selected cable 1a to be identified by inserting it into a predetermined temporary fixing groove 3a of the second connector 3 and the cable to be identified. The first connector 1a is composed of a control unit 12 which controls the second connector 3 to be temporarily fixed to a predetermined cable temporary fixing groove 3a.

In a connector having a narrow contact pitch and a large number of cores, the connector cover 3b made of an insulator holding the contacts is often divided into two parts. When this connector cover 3b is opened, each connector cover 3b is provided with a cable temporary fixing groove 3a which is temporarily fixed when one cable 1 is inserted, and a predetermined cable temporary fixing of each connector cover 3b is provided. Groove 3a
It is designed to temporarily fix the cable 1.

In this way, the connector cover 3b to which all the cables 1 are temporarily fixed is press-fitted with the cable 1 which is temporarily fixed by a separately prepared pressure welding tool or the like, and the coating of the cable 1 is broken and contacts (not shown) are formed. The wire is pushed in and a so-called crimp connection is made. After that, when the two connector covers 3b are fitted to each other, the cable-connected connector is finished.

By the way, the cable temporary fixing portion 11 is provided with a mounting table 11a called an applicator which is fixed in parallel with the two connector covers 3b and which freely moves forward and backward.

In order to align the cables 1, first, one of the individual cables 1 is also called a loose wire in which the other end of the cable 1 having the first connector 2 already connected to one end is disassembled into pieces. The cable 1a to be discriminated is selected.

Next, the cable 1a to be discriminated is made to correspond to the terminal number of the first connector 2, and either the left or right connector cover 3b of the second connector 3 fixed to the mounting table 11a.
Which of the cable temporary fixing grooves 3a should be inserted, that is, the cable number of the cable 1a to be discriminated is determined, and the terminal number of the first connector 2 is made to correspond to the terminal number of the second connector 3.

Therefore, the housing 11b above the mounting table 11a is provided.
A V-shaped groove 11c and a conduction cutter 11d are provided in the.
Then, when the cable 1a to be discriminated is inserted into the V groove 11c, the coating is broken to establish continuity, and the continuity signal S is emitted.

Next, the cable 1a to be discriminated is inserted into either the left or right predetermined cable temporary fixing groove 3a. for that reason,
Below the V-shaped groove 11c, a cable guide groove 11e for arranging the discriminated cable 1a into right and left is provided. Then, the indicator lamps 11f designating the respective cable guide grooves 11e corresponding to the cable numbers of the cables to be judged 1a are turned on.

On the other hand, the control unit 12 has a cable connecting connector 12a to which the first connector 2 connected to one end of the cable 1 in which a plurality of wires has already been bundled is connected,
Continuity signal S from the continuity cutter 11d of the cable temporary fixing portion 11
Also, a signal cable 12b to which an output signal for driving the mounting table 11a and the like are connected is provided. In addition, a circuit or the like for controlling the cable temporary fixing portion 11 by discriminating the cable number of the cable 1a to be discriminated which is selected to be temporarily fixed in the cable temporary fixing groove 3a of the second connector 3 is incorporated.

The procedure control unit 12 controls the plurality of cable 1 through the cable connector 12a has the discrimination circuit 5 consisting of a via a buffer 7 for example, a microprocessor or sequencer, as shown in FIG. 3 They are connected to each other, and first, one selected cable to be judged 1a
Is conducted by the conduction cutter 11d and the conduction signal S is inputted, the cable number of the cable 1a to be discriminated is discriminated.

Then, it is determined from the cable number which cable 1a to be discriminated is to be inserted into the cable temporary fixing groove 3a at which position of the connector cover 3b on the right or left side of the second connector 3, and the signal cable 12b is used. The motor (not shown) for moving the mounting table 11a forward and backward in the direction of arrow A is operated, and either the left or right display lamp 11f is turned on.

Thus, the first connector 2 is already attached to one end.
The other end of the cable 1 connected with is unraveled and separated, and the selected arbitrary cable to be discriminated 1a is pinched to form the V groove 11c.
After inserting the cable into the cable guide groove 11e on the illuminated side of the indicator lamp 11f in the direction of the arrow B, a pressing member (not shown) pushes down the cable 1a to be temporarily fixed. Temporarily fixed to the groove 3a.

By repeating this operation in sequence, another second connector 3 is connected to the other end while corresponding to the terminal position of the first connector 2 already connected to one end of the cable 1. can do.

[0024]

By the way, since the cable aligner can be used universally for various numbers of cables, the maximum number of cables 1
Although it is not possible to determine whether or not it will be compatible with the above, from the viewpoint of the number of connector terminals, many cables, such as 100 cores, will be handled.

However, in the conventional control section 12, one discrimination circuit is provided corresponding to each individual cable. Therefore, for example, a cable aligner that can handle connectors of up to 100 cores has 100 discriminating circuits for 100 cable inputs, and the control unit becomes large and the entire device becomes large. There was a drawback that became.

The operation of pinching the cables to bring them into conduction with the conducting cutter is performed manually. However, since the cables themselves are thin, if two or more cables are pinched and selected at the same time by mistake, the cable number can be determined. Occasionally, I accidentally made a wrong connection.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the continuity signal S corresponding to the n cables is sequentially binarized by the encoder to be converted into an m-bit code, and the cable discriminating circuit is significantly reduced. Is intended to provide.

[0028]

[Means for Solving the Problems]
The cable number corresponding to the terminal number of the first connector connected to one end of the (n ≧ 2) cables is determined,
A cable aligner that inserts the other end of the cable into a temporary fixing groove of a second connector that is connected to the other end of the cable, and temporarily fixes and aligns the cable. However, the encoder, when one of the other ends of the cables is selected as the cable to be discriminated, converts it into an m-bit code that satisfies n ≦ 2 ^m corresponding to the cable to be discriminated. The circuit is solved by a cable aligner arranged after the encoder and configured to associate the m-bit code of the cable to be identified with the terminal number of the first connector. .

[0029]

In the conventional cable aligning machine, a large number of discriminating circuits corresponding to the number of cables are provided. However, in the present invention, each discriminator selected sequentially from n (n ≧ 2) cables. The discriminating cable is converted by an encoder into an m-bit code satisfying n ≦ 2 ^m . Then, the m-bit code is made to correspond to the terminal number of the already connected connector.

Thus, for n cables, 1
Since it is possible to make a determination if there are individual determination circuits, the control circuit can be greatly simplified and downsized.

[0031]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG . 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure
, 1 is the cable, 1a is the cable to be discriminated, and 2 is the
One connector, 3 is the second connector, 3a is a temporary cable fixing
Female groove, 3b connector cover, 4 encoder, 5 distinguish
Circuit, 7 buffer, 10 cable aligner, 11 cable
Reference numeral 12 is a control unit.

Embodiment In FIG. 1, the cable aligner 10 is a cable aligner 10 as in the conventional case .
It is composed of a bull temporary fixing section 11 and a control section 12. Soshi
The control unit 12 is internally provided with an encoder 4 and a discrimination circuit 5.
ing.

At this end, at one end of the cable 1,
The first connector 2 is already connected, and the cable aligner 10 is used to connect the second connector 3 to the other end of the cable 1. Therefore, the cable connector 12 of the control unit 12
The first connector 2 is connected to a, and the connector cover 3b of the second connector 3 is fixed to the mounting table 11a of the temporary cable fixing portion 11.

The encoder 4 has n cables 1 to 1
The conduction signal S from the cable 1a to be discriminated for which the book is selected is set to m.
Convert to bit code. The relationship between n and m is n ≦
It satisfies 2 ^m , and although m can take an arbitrary number, it is usually a power of 2 such as 4 bits, 8 bits, or 16 bits.

Now, the terminals of the connectors 2 and 3 are, for example, 100
In case of core connector, if 7 bits, 2 ⁷ = 128
Then, it can be converted to 128 kinds of codes, but since 7 bits is not general, it is converted to 256 kinds of codes with 8 bits, that is, 2 ⁸ = 256. In this way, the maximum number of cables 1 can be 256.

In the conduction signal S of the cable 1a to be discriminated, which is one of the cables 1 selected, the cable number is confirmed in the buffer 7 and the input data to the encoder 4 is constructed.
It is converted into an 8-bit code by the encoder 4.

This 8-bit code is input to the discrimination circuit 5. The discrimination circuit 5 is composed of an 8-bit sequencer, a microprocessor, etc., and confirms the position of the cable temporary fixing groove 3a of the second connector 3 and the left or right connector cover 3b based on the input 8-bit code. Table 11
It outputs a signal to move the a forward / backward to move the cable temporary fixing groove 3a to a predetermined position, or to light either the left or right display lamp 11f to specify the connector cover 3b.

As described above, in the present invention, the cable 1a to be discriminated selected from the n cables 1 is once converted into an m-bit code, so that one discriminating circuit 5 performs the subsequent processing. You can

[0039]

[0040]

[0041]

Here, the connector having a structure in which the connector cover is divided into two parts is exemplified, but the present invention can be applied to various types of connectors. In addition, since the maximum number of multi-core connectors using thin-wire cables is about 100 cores, all cables can be included by converting them into 8-bit codes, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the number of cables is increased from n.
One cable to be discriminated selected next to the encoder
Therefore, to convert to m-bit code with n ≦ 2 ^m
Therefore, the control unit of the cable aligner can be downsized.

Therefore, the present invention largely contributes to the streamlining of the connector wiring work as the cable becomes thinner and the number of cores increases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of an example of a conventional cable aligner.
It is.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part of a control unit in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cable 1a Cable to be discriminated 2 First connector 3 Second connector 3a Cable temporary fixing groove 3b
Connector cover 4 Encoder 5 Discrimination circuit 7 Buffer 10 Cable aligner 11 Temporary cable fixing section 12 Control section

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A second wire connected to the other end of the cables by determining a cable number corresponding to a terminal number of a first connector wire connected to one end of the n (n ≧ 2) cables .
Is a cable aligner that inserts the other end of the cable into a cable temporary fixing groove of the connector , and temporarily aligns the cable, and has an encoder and a determination circuit , wherein the encoder is the other end of the cable . One of the parts is judged
When it is selected as a separate cable, which is converted into the code of m bits to be n ≦ 2 ^m corresponding to the object determination cable, the determination circuit is one which is downstream of the said encoder, and A cable aligner in which an m-bit code of the cable to be identified is associated with a terminal number of the first connector .