Plug application requires precision bending
A
William Hughes product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jan 15, 2008
William Hughes' applies two high-accuracy bends to each pin to ensure that the tails of the pins are perfectly aligned when they are inserted in the moulding.
When a supplier of moulded electrical components for diesel engines needed to manufacture a precision plug assembly using wire pins, it turned to the design and application engineers at William Hughes to provide an accurate and cost-effective solution.
The special plug is used in the engine management system and the components needed to be resistant to vibration and high-temperatures, whilst providing a reliable electrical contact.
The design of the plug is based on four 75mm long nickel silver pins, which need to be positioned very accurately in the moulding.
Each of the four pins is supplied to William Hughes as a straight turned part and it is William Hughes' role to apply two high-accuracy bends to each pin to ensure that the tails of the pins are perfectly aligned when they are inserted in the moulding.
The plug manufacturer had tried various methods of bending the pins but none were giving reliable and accurate results.
Variations in the pin material and the bending process itself meant that, instead of the pin tails being parallel, they were out of alignment by several degrees, making them unusable.
To achieve the desired result, each of the four pins, left, right, upper and lower, have to be bent in a different way.
Slight variations in the material used to make up the different batches of pins require the bending process to be easily adjustable to accommodate different 'springback' characteristics.
The design and application engineers at William Hughes used their knowledge of spring materials and production processes to provide an adaptable and accurate solution.
This involved the design of a special machine that can work with the wire pins allowing adjustments to cater for the varying characteristics.
Four interlinked machines are used to produce the pins in sets.
The machine designed by William Hughes ensures that each pin is positioned correctly before it is bent.
As a further check for quality each movement of the four pins is checked electronically to ensure accuracy and consistency.
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