DOUBLE-ENDED TERMINATION AND ROUTING ARRANGEMENT FOR AN AUTOMATED WIRING SYSTEM

摘要

A wire harness assembly arrangement acquires, prepares and routes sections of wire [Fig. 7, (WS)] using a tool [Fig. 3 (10)] attached to a robotic arm [Fig. 1, (1)]. The tool moves coincident with the arm [Fig. 1, (2)] and acquires the wire section through a front end portion [Fig. 3, (14)]. The first end of the wire section is fed into the tool and through a tail end portion [Fig. 3, (15)]. The next portion is wound around a spool member [Fig. 3 (20)] disposed within the tool and rotatable in response to a controlled motor operation. The front end portion moves relative to a wire feeding unit [Fig. 1, (8)] so that the wire section is wound in a helical manner. The wire harness assembly arrangement can also include a strip/crimp station [Fig. 1 (9)] to prepare the acquired wire section for termination. The robotic manipulator then routes the wire section along a predetermined path to form a part of the wire harness assembly.