Smart Crimp Tool System For Electrical Contacts And Terminals Which Are Controlled And Monitored By A Central Database Manager

Abstract

A self-inspecting crimp tool for crimping contacts onto wire cable ends includes an indentor mechanism having a plurality of moveable indentors, each of the indentors having an end adapted for depressing and deforming a portion of a contact inserted into the mechanism, and at least one of the indentors having a pressure responsive element associated therewith for providing a signal indicative of the pressure exerted on the contact by the indentor. A memory storage device is operatively coupled to the pressure responsive element for recording pressure data and transferring such data to an electronic control unit of the tool for determining operation of the indentor mechanism. An automated inspection system a crimping tool uses light projector and a light sensor adapted for detecting a precise pattern of light projected through a crimping die and for providing precise measure of dimensions and configurations of the crimping die. The system uses a computer database for storing data representative of desired measurements of the crimping die and compares actual measurements to desired measurements. A set of fixtures are used for positioning the crimping die in the inspection system.

1 . A crimp tool for crimping contacts onto wire cable ends comprising:
 an indentor mechanism having a plurality of moveable indentors, each of the indentors having an end adapted for depressing and deforming a portion of a contact inserted into the mechanism, at least one of the indentors having a pressure responsive element associated therewith for providing a signal indicative of the pressure exerted on the contact by the indentor; and   a memory storage device operatively coupled to the pressure responsive element for recording the signal and for transferring data to an electronic control unit of the tool for determining operation of the indentor mechanism.   
     
     
         2 . The crimp tool of  claim 1  wherein the electronic control unit includes means for comparing the pressure indicated by the signal to a predetermined pressure value and for providing an alarm signal if the indicated pressure deviates from the predetermined pressure by a selected value. 
     
     
         3 . The crimp tool of  claim 2  wherein the electronic control unit includes a microprocessor. 
     
     
         4 . The crimp tool of  claim 3  wherein the control unit monitors the pressure signal for adjusting cycling of the crimp tool to maintain full closure of the tool on each tool cycle. 
     
     
         5 . The crimp tool of  claim 2  wherein the pressure signal is generated by an ultrasound transmitter and received by a plurality of ultrasound transducers mounted in the indentor mechanism. 
     
     
         6 . The crimp tool of  claim 5  wherein the ultrasonic transducer provides the pressure signal as a function of the compaction of the crimp joint formed between the contact and a wire inserted into the contact. 
     
     
         7 . The crimp tool of  claim 1  wherein the alarm signal inhibits operation of the tool. 
     
     
         8 . The crimp tool of  claim 1  and including a contact positioner seated in a crimping die assembly and a wire guide positioned in alignment with the contact positioner for guiding a wire into the contact. 
     
     
         9 . The crimp tool of  claim 8  and wherein the contact positioner includes a magazine for holding a plurality of contacts operatively coupled to a mechanism for advancing a contact into the crimping die assembly with each operating cycle of the crimp tool. 
     
     
         10 . The crimp tool of  claim 9  and including an electronic module mounted in the contact positioner and electronically coupled to the crimp tool for identifying the contacts being inserted into the crimping die assembly. 
     
     
         11 . The crimp tool of  claim 10  wherein the electronic control unit communicates with the electronic module in the contact positioner to inhibit crimp tool operation when the contacts are not matched to the crimping die assembly. 
     
     
         12 . The crimp tool of  claim 11  wherein the wire guide comprises an electrically controlled pair of sliding gates that form a conical opening when in a closed position for acting as a funnel to guide the wire into the contact. 
     
     
         13 . The crimp tool of  claim 12  wherein the sliding gates of the wire guide open when the contact is crimped onto the wire such that the wire with contact can be removed from the crimp tool. 
     
     
         14 . The crimp tool of  claim 8  wherein the wire guide comprises an electrically operated iris type of guide that can be adjusted to different wire sizes and can be closed on a stranded wire as the wire is inserted toward the contact to compress the wire strands such that all strands of the wire are inserted into the contact. 
     
     
         15 . The crimp tool of  claim 1  wherein the electronic control unit includes a data transmission system for communicating externally of the tool for allowing remote monitoring of tool operation and external storage of all data related to tool operation. 
     
     
         16 . The crimp tool of  claim 15  and including an electronic data storage unit physically attached to the indentor mechanism and having a communication port for communicating identifying data from the mechanism to the crimp tool electronic control unit. 
     
     
         17 . The crimp tool of  claim 16  and including a contact positioner having a magazine for holding a plurality of contacts operatively coupled to a mechanism for advancing a contact into the crimping die assembly with each operating cycle of the crimp tool, the contact positioner having an electronic module mounted therein and electronically coupled to the crimp tool for identifying the contacts being inserted into the crimping die assembly. 
     
     
         18 . The crimp tool of  claim 17  wherein the electronic control unit compares data from the indentor mechanism and contact positioner to stored data in the electronic control unit to verify correct selection of the indentor mechanism and the contact positioner. 
     
     
         19 . A crimping tool for compressively attaching a pin or socket contact to an electrical signal carrying wire comprising:
 a microprocessor based control unit coupled to the crimping tool, the control unit having data storage memory for storing tool identifying data, tool cycle times, data associating wire size with contact size and compaction force for each wire and contact size:   an indentor assembly having a plurality of contact indentors arranged to be concurrently advanced toward a contact positioned in an axial center of the indentor assembly, the indentor assembly including a plurality of sensors for measuring the degree of compaction between the contact and a wire inserted into the contact, each sensor being operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of indentors, the indentor assembly further including electronic apparatus for transmitting data from the sensors to the crimping tool control unit for comparison to acceptable compaction force; and   a contact teed mechanism for inserting contacts on demand into the indentor assembly, the contact feed mechanism having an electronically readable identifier and the crimping tool having a mating identifier reading apparatus adapted to transmit contact identification to the crimping tool control unit for comparison to acceptable contact data stored in the data storage memory.   
     
     
         20 . The crimping tool of  claim 19  and including an electronically controlled wire size apparatus coupled to the crimping tool in alignment with the indentor assembly and operative to radially compress an end of the wire for guiding the wire into the contact the wire size apparatus including means for sensing wire diameter and for providing data to the tool control unit representative of wire size.