Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~'7~7 4~9~
This invent.ion relates to a hand tool -Lor
connecting wires to electrical terminals of an
eleetrical connectox. ,',
There is known, a hand tool for suecessively
connecting wi.res to respective electrical terminals
arranged in a row extending along a housing of an
electrieal conneetor, the tool eomprj,siny a wire
insertion head, deEining a connec-tor guideway, a wire
insertion ram, means for driving the ram towards and
away from the guideway transversely o~' the length
thereof, and means conneeted to the ram for advancing
the conneetor step by step along the guideway to bri.nct
each ~exmlnal in turn into alignrnent wi,th the rc~m to
allow the ram to eonneet a wire to the te.rmin~1.
In tnis known tool, the connector adva;~cinct
means cornprises a wheel, the periphery,of whlch engaqes'
the connec:to~ and whieh is driven by the r~n t:hrough a
lin~ extendin~ beneath the guide~ay~
The inventi,on is intended to provide a hand lool,
in whi.ch. the ~ctuati.on of the eonnector advanc,ing
means ean be more positively felt b~v th~ operator than
is the case with the known tool, which is of more
cc7rnpclct eonstruction than the known too'l., an~ whlch
can ~eadil~ be provided with nleans for ad~ust:ins ~he
eonnecto. ~dv~ncing means to ec~mply with the spac~ t
between the terminals of the ro~.
AccordJ.ng to.the inventi,on~ i.n a hand tool .lS
~, - 2
~7~ 4~98
defined in the second paragraph of his specification r
the connector advancing rneans comprises a cam plate
~ormed with a cam slot extending transversel~ of the
path of movement of the ram and receiving a cammlng
pin which is fixed with respect to the ram, the cam
plate carrying a connector advancing pawl arxanged to
be spring hiased into engagement with the connector,
the cam plat-e being drivable by the ram transversely
of the path of movement thereof.
The pawl can be arranged to engage teeth on the
connector with a snap action during the o~eration of
the connector advancing means, so that the operator
is lmmediately aware that the tool is ready f~r furt.her
operation after a wire has been connected to a terminal
of the connector.
For a better understanding of the invention
reference w:ill now be made by way of e~ample to the
accompanying drawings, in which.-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hand tool,
according to a first embodiment of the invention,for use ill sllccessively connecting wires to respective
electrical terminals arranged in a row extending
along a housing of an electrical connector;
FiguL-e 2 is a fragmentaxy section taken on
the lines Il ~ II of Figure 1 sho~ing part of the tool
in a first position;
Figure ~ is a view s:imilar to ~llat of Figure
~ 3 .
~7~
2 but showing the parts in a second and subsequent positi.on;
Figure 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the lines IV - IV
of Figure 1 showing the tool when adjusted for use where the ~erminals
of the row have a first centre-to-centre spacing;
Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 4 but showing
the tool when adjusted for use where the terminals have a second
centre-to-centre spacing;
Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of an adjustment
mechanism of the tool;
Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a
modification of the tool by means of an insert;
Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a hand tool
according to a second embodiment of the invention, for use in succes-
sively connecting wires to respective electrical terminals arranged in
a row along a housing of an electrical connector; and
Figure 9 is a plan view of the tool of Figure 8 partly sec-
tioned along line IX - IX in Figure 8.
As shown in Figure 1, the tool 10 according to the first
embodiment comprises hand grip 12 having an actuating level 14, a full
ZO stroke ratchet mechanism constructed according to the teaching of US-A-
-3,039,337, spanning the free ends of the hand grip 12 and the lever
14.
~S98
As il,s forward end, the tool 10 has an insertion
head 18 haviI~g a tubular portion 20 ~Figures 4 and
5) recei-~e~ in an aY~ial bore 22 of a tool barrel 23 on
the }-~and g,^lp 1~. The porti.on 20 has an axial bore 24
rece~vinc,~ an ac~uation rod 26. The rod 26 is blased
by a compression spring 2~ and is driven hy the lever
14 ac~cording to the teaching of US-A-3,742,571.
. ~he heacl 18 has a transverse groove 30, as
he.st seen :in Figures 4 and 5, 1o receive an elect.rical
10 connectox 78 of the ];ind disclosed in US--A~4,243,288.
Tlle insulating housing of the _onnector 78 has on each
sic~e thereof a XOW of pockets 79 (Figure 1) each
containiny a wire-receiving port.ion of an electrical
~erminal (not shown!, each wire receiving portic,n
h~avi.ng a wire-recei~ing slot. The housing of the
colmector '78 also llas on each side thereof a row
of inclexlncJ slots 77 each oE which i.s aligned w~.th
one oE the pockets 79, the slots 77 being defined b~
barriers 77' (Figures 2 and 3) ~ormed on the connector
: 20 housing. Openi-ng into one wall of the groove 30 is
a sprillcS loaded ratchet stop comprisil;g a pawl 32.,
a loading spring 34, and a scxew threaded p].~g 36.
In the opposi-te wall of the groove 30 is a horizontal
slot 38 xcce:iv.ing a c~l plate 40 having an o~lique
slot 4~ ~herei.n. The forwaxd part. of the plate 40
has a ~~eeess 4~1 containing a drivi.ncJ pawl 46 ha~inc~
a oonnect:o:r encJac31rg 1:oor.h ~8 and bej.ng loacled ~y a
4~98
compress.ion spring 50, the pawl 46 be.ing parallel
with ~he p~ate 40.
The rod 26 has at its forward end, a yoke
member 52 (Figures 4 to 6) with an axial threaded bore
54 recei~Ti.ng a screw threaded end portion of the rod
26. The ~oke menlber 52 has a longitudinally extending
c:hannel 56 ~l~igul^e 6) with which communicate a irst
pair of horizontal lateral bores 5-8 and a second pair
of horizontal latexal bores 60 (one shown), and a
vertica.l bore 62 in the base of the cham~el 56. A
w~re insertion ram 6~ received in the slot 56, is
joined to the yoke member 52 by means of a removable
pin 66 which can be p~ssed through either of the bores
58 or G0 and through the appropri.ate ~ore 68 or 70
in the rarn 64. The bottom of the ram 64 is formed
with a recess 72, the leading end 74 of the r~n 6
being shaped ~or engaging a wire to clrive it into
the wire-recei.ving slot of a t-erminal of the connector
78. r~he yoke member 52 also has a pin 76 whi.ch
depends through the bore 62 into the slot 42 of the
plate 40. A ram and wire guide plate 81 secured
t:o the head 18 is provi.ded wlth a vert~cal wire slot
82 at its forward end.
In operation, a connector -/8 is inserted into
the slot 30, as shown in Fi~ure 1, so that the tooth
48 of the pawl 45 enga~es in a desired one of l:he
s1-.ts 77 i:~ the housing of the connecto.r 73, and a
. ~; ~
~'7~ 7
~8~$
wixe ~0 is lnserted into the slot S2. The actuating
leve.r 14 is squcezed aya:i.nst the hand grip 12
driving the actuation rod 26 ~orward against the
restraining action ol the spring 28, whereby, the
yoke member 52 moves forwardly so that ~he leading end
74 of the insertion rarn 64 engages the wire 80 and
dri.ves it into the wire~receiviny slot of the terminal
of the connector 78, which slot has been aligned with
the ram 64, .by virtue of the engagement of the paw:~ 46
in the slot 77~ At the same time the forward
movement of the yoXe member 52 causes a lateral
movement o~ the plate 40 (downward as seen in Figures
2 and 3) by virtue oE the en~agement of the pin 76
in bore 62 and in the oblique slot 42. ~t the end
cf the forward motion of the yoke member 52, the tooth
48 of the pawl 46 slides over the next adjacent
barrier 77 on the connector housiny (as sho~n in
Figure 3) and engayes in the next successive slot 77
ith a snap action to index the connector thro~yh
~,o the tool (upwards as seen in Fi~ures 2 and 3) by one
step. lhe pawl 32 secures the connector 7$ against
i return movement. Repeated actuation of the lever 14
causes the connector to be indexed step-~by-step
hrough the tcol so that wires inserted sequentially
into the slot 82 can each be connected to one of the
termlnals Vll that side of thc connector ~hich faces
the ram G4.
,
, ~89
', Si.nce the connector 78 has two opposite rows of
terminals it must be passed through the tool twice
in order to connect wires to the terminals of each row.
The tool can also be adapted for use with a
narrower connector (not shown) having only a single'
row of terminals, by placing an insert 84, Fig-ure 7,
in the groove 30 to reduce the width thereof
sufficiently to cause the narrower connector to fit
snugly in the groove 30. In this case the pawl 32 is
~,o replaced by a pawl 32' of a greater length than ~he
,' pawl 32 and which extends through an opening 85 in
the insert 84. In oxder to adjust the tool to
' accommodate an electrical connector havi.ng a different
'~ centre~to~centre spacing between the terrninals o~ the
or each row, it is only necessary to remove t~le pin
6~ and realign it with the appxopxiate hore 58 or
60 in the ~oke member 52 and the appropriate bore
1 6~ or 70 in the insertion membe.r 64.
i According to Figure 4, the pi.n 66 is positioned
in the bores 58 and 68, and according to Fi~uxe ~,
the pin 66 i5 positioned in the bores G0 and 70
whereby the travel o~ ram 64 and thus of the pin 3fi
is increased by a length L.
'~he second embodiment of the invention will
nvw~be descrlbed with reEerence to Figures 8 and 9.
The hand tool oE the second embodiment i.ncludes
; an insert:ion head 112 f.ixed at one end to a ~uhu1.ar
4~9
tool bal-rel 1:13 recei.ving a wi.re i.nsertion ram 11~.
The head 112 comp.rises a removable connectox guide
member 115.
A channel 118 formed in the head 112 receives
a connector indexing mechanism 119 comp.rising a
slidable cam plate 121 mounted on roller hearings
122 locat.ed in a trac~ 123 constituted by a recess
in the base of the channel 118, and the rotational
axes o~ which extend at right angles to the path of
movement of the ram 11~. ~ mounting plate 124 fixed
to one end of the cam plate 1%1 carries a spring
biased connector indexi.ng pawl 125. A transverse].y
incl.i.necl carn slot 126 is provided adjacent to the
other end of the cam plate 121.
lS A cover plate 127 extending across t.he channel
118 ctefines in co-operation with the ~uide member
115, a guideway lJ.6 for an elect,r:ical connector ~not
shown) of similar type to the conneotor 78 ~ut having
a row of teeth along its base. The cover plate 127
is formed with a slot 128 extendi.ng lengthwise of
the gu1deway 1.1.6 at a posi.tion remote from the ran-l
114, thxou~h which slot 128 the pawl 125 pro~rudes.. A
furtller slot 129 in the plate 127 extends tran~versely
of the slot 1~8 near thclt end of the plate 127 whi.ch
is remote f.rom the slot 128. A camming pin 131 scxew
threaded int:o the raTn 114, projects througll the slot
129 l.nto the slot 126~
~g~3t7 ~98'
'rhe rotational axes of t.he bearings 122 also
extend at riyht angles to t:he length of the guideway
The ram 114 and barrel 1]3 are respectively
connected to an actuating lever (not shown) and to
a hand grip (not shown), which may be similar to
those described above with reference to the first
embodiment .
In operation, with a connector (not shown)
received in the guicdeway 116, forward movement of
the ram 11~ upon the actuating lever being squeezed r
causes the pin 13J ;to move along .he cam slot 126
so that ~,he cam plate 121 is moved transversely ol
the direct.ion of advance of the ram 114, as indicated
by the arrow in Fi.gure 9, the pawl 125 being depressed
by a tooth on the base of the cornector against the
acti.on of t~he s~ring of the pawl 125 and subsequ~ntly
rising with a snap action. As the ram 114 returns,
the rnovement o~ the cam plate 121 is reversed so that
the pawl 12', engages the tooth, to aavance the connector
by ore step along the guideway 1:!6 to bring the next
success:ive termilla] into alignmcnt with the ram 1]4.
The plates 121 and ]27 and their associated
parts can read:ily be assembled t:o the inserti.on head
~5 prior LO the assembly of the connect,or guicle member
J.15, the ram :1]4 and the pin 131.
-- ~.0 --
