Method of and apparatus for ensuring a wire feed amount in manufacturing of wire harnesses

• US 5,913,469 A
• Filed: 11/19/1997
• Issued: 06/22/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Autonetworks Technologies, Ltd. (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Harness System Technologies Research, Ltd. (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Wiring Systems Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Toshiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): MANSEN, MICHAEL R
• Application Number:
  US08/974,283
• Time in Patent Office: 580 Days
• Field of Search: 226/110, 226/45, 226/34, 226/4, 226/187, 226/36, 226/24, 226/150, 226/43
• US Class Current: 226/36
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2701/38 Thread sheet, e.g. sheet of parallel yarns or wires
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 51/12 in spaced relation to provide a series of independent forwarding surfaces around which material is passed or wound
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 43/28 for wire processing before connecting to contact members, not provided for in groups H01R43/02 - H01R43/26

Abstract

Press rollers for being pressed respectively against wires are provided on an upper side of the wires while length-measuring rollers for respectively contacting the wires are provided on a lower side of the wires. A number of revolutions of each length-measuring roller is detected by an encoder, and an amount of actual feed of each wire is detected in accordance with its revolution number, and a pulse signal, representing its detection value, is sent to a comparison processing portion of a controller. In this comparison processing portion, the amount of actual feed of each wire, detected by the encoder, is compared with a predetermined feed amount of a feed roller beforehand given as an instruction to the processing portion, and if there is any difference between the two, an instruction is given to a servo amplifier, and the servo amplifier sends an instruction to a servo motor for driving the feed roller so as to rotate the servo motor in a normal or a reverse direction in accordance with this difference.

Claims

1. A method of ensuring a wire feed amount in a manufacturing of wire harnesses comprising:

feeding a plurality of wires a set length by driving a feed roller with a motor;

detecting an actual feed amount of each of the plurality of wires being fed by the feed roller independent of the feed roller and the motor;

comparing said actual feed amount with said set length given as an instruction to said feed roller; and

controlling a rotation of said motor so that said actual feed amount coincides with said set length, when a difference between said actual feed amount and said set length is more that a set tolerance.

2. A method of ensuring a wire feed amount in the manufacturing of wire harnesses according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of wires are arranged in a juxtaposed manner in a flush plane, and wherein feeding the plurality of wires includes selectively feeding each of the plurality of wires.

3. A method of ensuring a wire feed amount in the manufacturing of wire harnesses according to claim 2, wherein said feed roller is in contact with all said plurality of wires in a direction of juxtaposition of said wires, and the plurality of wires are disposed between said feed roller and a plurality of press rollers corresponding respectively to said wires, and wherein feeding the plurality of wires includes selectively pressing said press roller against said feed roller.

4. Apparatus for ensuring a wire feed amount in the manufacturing of wire harnesses comprising:

driving means for driving a feed roller which feeds a plurality of wires a set length given as an instruction to said feed roller;

detecting means for detecting an actual feed amount of each of the plurality of wires independent of the feed roller and the motor; and

controlling means for controlling said driving means so that the actual feed amount coincides with the set length.

5. Apparatus for ensuring a wire feed amount in the manufacturing of wire harnesses according to claim 4, wherein said control means compares said first feed amount with said second feed amount, and rotates said driving means for said feed roller when a difference between said first feed amount and said second feed amount is more than a set tolerance, to thereby perform a feedback control.

6. Apparatus for ensuring a wire feed amount in the manufacturing of wire harnesses according to claim 5, wherein said driving means comprises a servo motor having a position control amplifier, said detecting means comprises a length-measuring roller directing detecting an amount of movement of each of said fed plurality of wires and an encoder taking out a rotation of said length measuring roller as a pulse signal, and further wherein

said pulse signal taken out from said encoder is compared by said controlling means with a feed instruction pulse value given to said position control amplifier of said servo motor, and a correction instruction pulse value computed by said controlling means is fed back to said position control amplifier.

7. Apparatus for ensuring a wire feed amount in the manufacturing of wire harnesses according to claim 5, in which the plurality of wires are arranged in a juxtaposed manner in a flush plane, said feed roller is in contact with all the plurality of wires in a direction of juxtaposition of said wires, said plurality of the wire are disposed between said feed roller and a plurality of press rollers corresponding respectively to the wires, and said press roller are selectively pressed against said feed roller, thereby selectively feeding the wires;

wherein said detecting means are provided respectively for said fed wires, and a detection signal from each of said detecting means is inputted into said controlling means, thereby effecting a feedback control for each of said wires.

8. Apparatus for ensuring a wire feed amount in the manufacturing of wire harnesses according to claim 7, wherein said detecting means comprises length-measuring rollers provided respectively for the juxtaposed wires and arranged in a staggered manner in a direction of juxtaposition of said wires, and encoders detecting a number of revolutions of each of said length-measuring rollers.

9. A mechanism for detecting an amount of travel of wires traveling in a juxtaposed manner comprising;

length-measuring rollers provided respectively for the juxtaposed wires, said length-measuring rollers being arranged in a staggered manner in a direction of juxtaposition of said wires, and

an encoder that detects a number of revolutions of each of said length-measuring rollers, thereby detecting the amount of travel of each wire.