Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
105~2~9
This invention relates to a contact pin feeding
and orienting apparatus, and is particularly concerned with an
apparatus for non-symmetrical pins having a top end and a bottom
end, to ensure that the pins are finally oriented with the same
ends extending in the same direction.
In many electrical and electronic systems, for
example telecommunications systems and the like, contact pins are
inserted, in large numbers, in printed circuit boards and other
members. ~hile insertion can be by hand, this is costly and time
10 consuming. It has been proposed, as described in co-pending
B application no. 3 0 6~ 3 J,filed ~Tvne ~ 9~, to preload pins
into a loading fixture which is then positioned in a press and a
multiplicity of pins inserted at one stroke of the press. However,
the pins are manufactured from coils of wire, and are swaged, or
deformed, at a position intermediate their ends, to provide a
portion having an enlarged dimension which will bea force fit in
the board or other member. Some pins are symmetrical about the swage
and therefore it is not important which way they are fed to the
loading machine for insertion into the loading fixture. However
20 some pins are swaged closer to one end and it is then important
that the pins are fed with the correct orientation. The present
invention is concerned with an apparatus which will finally feed
the pins to a magazine or storage member in the same orientation,
independently of the direction in which the pins originally feed to
the feed apparatus. The pins are supplied to the machine in bulk
in haphazzard arrangement and fed from a hopper by means of a rotary
vibrator feeder or similar.
In the apparatus of the invention, pins having a
square cross-section and a swaged portion towards a top end, the
30 swaged portion creating protruberances extending from the sides of
99
the pin, are fed along channel shaped grooves at the delivery end
of a feed member. Slots extend down through the feed member from the
grooves, a slot to each groove. Each slot has a first, narrow, portion
extending from the end face and a wider second portion, the length
of the wider portion shorter than the length of the swaged portion
of a pin. A support edge is positioned a short distance from the
end surface of the feed member, this distance less than that from
the end surface of the pin at the one end to the end of the swaged
portion remote from the top end. A pin fed top end first continues
over the wide portion of the slot until the top end rests on the
support edge, when the other end of the pin falls down through the
slot, the pin falling with the top end uppermost. A pin fed top end
last tilts down through the slot, the swaged portion falling through
the wider portion of the slot, the top end again uppermost.
The invention will be readily understood by the
following description of one embodiment, by way of example, in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figures 1 and 2 are side view and end views of
a pin;
Figure 3 is a plan view of an apparatus for feeding
and orienting pins;
Figure 4 is a side view of the apparatus for
Figure 3;
Figures 5 and 6 are sectioned views on lines V-V
and VI-VI of Figure 4;
Figure 7 is a top view of part of the end of the
feed members in Figure 4;
Figure 8 is a cross-section on the line VIII-VIII
of Figure 4.
One form of pin is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, to
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an enlarged scale. In a particular example a pin 10 is about .8" in
length, is of square cross-section wire .026" x .026" and is swaged
near one end, conveniently considered as a top end at 11, to give a
dimension of .031" x .031" across swages 12. That is, in the
particular example, the pin is .005" larger across the swages than
at the unswaged portion. It is this difference in dimension which
is used to orient the pins.
It should be appreciated that the centre of gravity
of the pin is exactly mid-way along its length, as the swaging does
not remove or add material, just displaces it laterally, i.e. normal
to the pin axis. Thus the centre of gravity is not affected.
Therefore many of the more conventional orienting methods cannot be
used as these rely on the non-symmetry of the item about the centre
of gravity to either sort, or orientate.
Illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 is one form of
apparatus, in which pins, supplied in bulk, are fed to slides down
which they move and from which they fall, the pins being arranged to
fall at all times with the swaged end to what can be considered to
be the rear. If the pins feed with the swage towards the rear, then
the pins fall through into a magazine directly. If fed with the
swage toward the front, the pins travel a short distance further,
supported by the swages and then the pin falls so as to turn over,
to position the swage towards the rear.
In the apparatus as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4,
the pins, supplied in bulk, are deposited into the hoppers of two
vibrator feeders 15, of known type. The vibrators have a rotary
vibration and the pins travel up inclined ramps 16 and on to grooved
transfer members 17. From transfer members 17 the pins proceed down
grooved ramps 18 and drop onto the input end of a grooved feed member
19. The grooved feed member 19 is vibrated linearly, as indicated by
11359~99
arrow A.
The grooves 20 in the transfer members 17, ramps 18
and feed member 19 are Vee shaped grooves having an angle at the
base of the grooves of 90, with the sides of the grooves at 45 to
a plane normal to the feeder surface, that is the grooves are
symmetrical about a vertical axis. This provides easier feeding.
If grooves having a flat base and vertical sides were used it would
be more difficult to move the pins, particularly as they would be
in contact with the grooves on the base surface and on the side
10 surfaces.
The grooves 20 in the feed member 17 continue at the
45 orientation for the major part of the length of the member 19,
from the input end in the present instance for the length of the
member 19 for which it extends substantially horizontally. The
output end of member 19 is sloped downward, at 21. At the transition
point 22, from horizontal to sloped or inclined condition, the
grooves 20 also change, being channel shaped with flat bottom surfaces
and vertical sides. Also, the part 21 is slotted from the end surface
23 towards the transition point 22, a slot 24 in each groove. The
20 slots are each of a predetermined width for the first section, from
the end surface 23 up to a widened portion 25 at the end of each
slot. The form of the grooves 20, slots 22 and widened portions 25
is seen more readily in Figures 5, 6 and 7, figures 5 and 6 being
cross-sections at two different positions along the grooves 20, and
Figure 7 being a top view of part of the end part 21, all to a
larger scale for clarity. Positioned a short distance from the end
surface 23 is a support edge member 26, also illustrated in Figure 7.
The orientation of the grooves 20, and the cross-
section, for the major part of the feed member 19 is seen in Figure
30 5, that is up to the transition position 22. The orientation of the
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grooves for the end part 21, and the s10ts 24, is seen in Figure 5.
The slots 24 are slightly narrower than the grooves 20 and a narrow
ledge 27 is left on each side of each slot 24, at the bottom of
each groove 20. This is also illustrated in Figure 7, the transition
of the grooves 20 from a Vee form to a channel form seen at 22 and
the slots 24 with widened portions 25, and also the ledges 27. The
length of the wide portions 25 is less than the length of the
swaged portions 11 of the pins. The distance from the end surface 23
to the support edge of the members 26 is less than the distance from
the end of the pins adjacent to the swage, to the end of the swaged
portion remote from the pin end surfaces.
In operation, the pins are loaded in bulk into the
vibrator feeders 15 where the pins move up the ramps 16 and move onto
the transfer members 17. The pins then move down the ramps 18 and
fall onto the feed members 19. A transverse member, indicated in
dotted outline at 30, can be provided, extending over the feed member
l9 adjacent to the end of the ramps 18 to ensure that only a single
pin at a time passes along each groove 20 and that one pin doesn't
ride on top of another. The pins move along the grooves 20 in the feed
member 19 under the vibrating action of a vibrator 31 on which the
feed member 19 is mounted. At this time the pins are in the Vee form
sections of the grooves 20. At the transition position 22 the pins
rotate through 45 and travel in the channel form section of the
grooves 20.
On rotation of the pins, the swages 12 rest on and
slide on, the ledges 27. If a pin is so positioned on a groove that
the swaged end that is the top end, is forward, then as the pin
moves along the groove 20 in the part 19, the swages 12 will bridge
the widened portion 25 as the length of this portion 25 is less than
the length of the swaged portion 11 on the pins. The pin is thus
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carried over the portion 25 and continues down the grooves 20. The
top end of the pin moves over the end surface 23 and on to the edge
26. As soon as the swaged portion of the pin moves off the part
21 on to the edge, the pin rotates with the end of the pin falling
down through the slots 24 and the swaged portion eventually passing
down between the end surface 23 and the edge 2h. The pin falls
down to an inclined member 35 which has a grooved top surface
similar to the main part of the feed member 19, that is with grooves
of a Vee formation. In this rotating and dropping the pin has been
turned end-to-end and the swaged portion 11 is now to the rear. The
pin proceeds down the member 35 and falls into one of the compartments
of a magazine 36. The member 35 is also vibrated by the action of the
vibrator 31, as is the magazine 36.
If however a pin is so positioned on a groove 20
that the swaged portion 11 is at the rear, then as the pin rotates
at the transition section 22, while the swage 12 will again engage
with the ledges 27, as the pin passes over the widened portion 25, the
forward end will start to tilt and fall down through the slot 24 as
the swaged portion moves over the widened portion 25. The swaged
portion of the pin falls down through the widened portion 25 of the
slot 24 and falls on to the member 35. In this instance however
the pin is not turned end-to-end and is still with the swaged portion
to the rear.
The magazine 36 is seen end-on in Figure 4 and in
longitudinal cross-section in Figure 8. Generally, the magazine
comprises back and front members 37 and 38, and end members 39.
Extending between the back and front are partitions 40, the
partitions extending down from near the top to a position spaced
from the bottom of the magazine. Extending between the front and
back, and longitudinally slidably supported in grooves 41 in the front
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and back, is a base member 42. Base member 42 extends through
slots 43 in the end members 39, and has upturned ends 44. The base
member is in contact with the bottom surfaces of the partitions 40
and has transverse apertures 45. The width and spacing of the
apertures 45 is such that in one longitudinal position of the base
member the apertures are covered by the bottom of the portions,
while in the other longitudinal position of the base member the
apertures are aligned with the spaces 46 between the partitions.
Screws 47 and 48 are provided in the ends 44 to provide for
lO positional control of the sliding of the base member 42, one screw
47 being threaded into an end 44, the other screw, 48, passing
through a clearance hole in the other end 44 and screwing into an
end member 39. A compression spring 49 is positioned on screw 48,
between the head of the screw and the related end 44 to urge the
base member to a position where the apertures 45 are beneath the
partitions 40. When the magazine 36 is full of pins it can be
removed and positioned over a further apparatus, for examp1e a
loading fixture apparatus, and pressure on the end of the end of
the base member remote from the spring 49, will cause the base member
20 to slide longitudinally, moving the apertures 45 into alignment with
spaces 46 and allowing the pins to fall, for example into a magazine
or hopper on the other apparatus.
As an example only, various dimensions of the slots 24,
widened portions 25 and other related details are as follows, for a
pin of .025" square wire. The dimension over the swages 12 is .032",
the width of the slots 24 is .027" and the width of the grooves,
between side walls, for the channel shaped portions of the grooves in
part 21 is .032". The widened parts 25, of the slots 24, are .0325"
wide and these widened parts are approximately 1/8" long, with the
30 swages 12 extending for somewhat more than this. The angle of the end
surfaces 50 of the widened portions 25 is relatively important and is
of the order of 30 - 40, 40 being preferred.
