Automated Crown Spring Terminal Assembling Machine
The electric connector manufacturer required an automation solution to complete the terminal assembling processing automatically, which is to replace the expensive labour in traditional connector manufacturing. At the same time, improving the product quality of crown spring terminals—this is the core demand of most electric connector manufacturers. The automated crown spring terminal assembling machine provided by Xielitech, while designed with integrated functional test system, making it a high-performance automated machine for terminal assembly.
The automated machine is capable of seamlessly integrating with various indexing structures, and each workstation on the index table performs efficient connector assembly, detection, and precise positioning functions—realizing the core value of automation in terminal production. This highly optimized and streamlined process not only improves efficiency but also ensures the consistency of connector quality, which is a key advantage of this assembling machine compared to manual operation.
Automated Machine Solution—Full-Process Automation for Crown Spring Terminal Assembly
The machine has 12 workstations in total. The stations include loading, positioning, selecting spring direction, cutting carrier, assembling, detecting, pressing, CCD inspection, reject bad product, and outputting good finished parts—each workstation is a key link in the automated assembly of crown spring terminals, covering all steps of connector production.
The operator loads the brass barrels and springs into their respective vibratory bowls, and places a roll of ring clips onto the special loading system attached to the conveyor. This system is designed to efficiently transport the components to their next processing stage—this automated feeding design reduces manual intervention, a core feature of professional automated equipment.
The vibratory bowl loading system for springs has been upgraded with a CCD inspection system to identify and eliminate defective springs, such as those that are twisted or misaligned. This ensures that only high-quality springs are conveyed to the next workstation, and that their orientation is strictly maintained—this quality control step guarantees the stability of connector assembly. This optimization ensures smooth and efficient production processes for the automated machine.
A rotary station with correct spring orientation has been incorporated onto the conveying platform to ensure that only springs with proper orientation are conveyed to the next working station—this precise positioning function meets the strict requirements of crown spring connector assembly, avoiding assembly errors caused by incorrect orientation.
A specialized cutting station for ring clips has been designed with a custom mold, cutter, and conveying structure. This station can produce two separated clips at once, which perfectly match the carrier structure—this high-efficiency cutting design improves the throughput of the assembling machine, suitable for mass production of connectors.
Two workstations are currently listed on the index table in total. One is for detecting the clip. Once the clip is assembled onto the brass barrel, it undergoes a clip detection process using a photoelectric sensor at one of the workstations. The sensor is programmed to automatically turn off if no clip is detected on the brass barrel, and turn on when a clip is present—this automated detection function is a necessary configuration for high-quality connector assembly equipment. Another one is for detecting the spring and brass barrel. After completing the spring assembly, the CCD inspection system checks the coaxiality between the spring and brass barrel. It is crucial that the internal spring maintains full contact with the brass barrel to ensure stable current flow and guarantee the overall quality of the device. This meticulous process helps optimize the functionality and reliability of the connector product.
At the end of the automated production line, the rejection and output workstations have been integrated into a single station, resulting in significant reductions in machine size and cost. The rejection zone and finished goods zone, however, have been intentionally kept separate to ensure the highest level of product quality and to minimize the risk of contamination. This optimization strategy not only improves production efficiency of connector assembly, but also enhances product quality control and reduces overall costs for the automated equipment.
Machine features & benefits—Core Advantages of Crown Spring Terminal Automated Equipment
- Human-automation collaboration of the terminal assembling process—balancing automation efficiency and flexible operation, suitable for multi-variety connector assembly needs.
- Provide High quality components, long lifetime—the machine uses high-grade parts, ensuring stable operation for 8,000+ hours (data reference) and reducing maintenance frequency of automated equipment.
- Optimized machine design and floor-space saving—this compact assembling machine occupies 25% less space than traditional equipment (data reference), fitting small-batch connector production workshops.
- Increase productivity and consistency and reduce rework—automation improves production efficiency by 40%+ compared to manual assembly (data reference), and reduces rework rate to less than 0.4% (data reference).
- Pneumatic executive design, easy to maintained—pneumatic components are easy to purchase and replace, lowering the maintenance cost and technical threshold of the machine.
- Increase productivity and labour saving—one automated machine replaces 3-5 manual workers (data reference), cutting labor costs significantly for electric connectormanufacturers.