Recent improvements of the Kloften & Kloften

Strip Splicer

May 16, 1995

Issue No. 6

1. Two Step Splicing.

A two step splicing procedure has been developed which is particularly well suited for pre-stamped strips in front of the final stamping operation.

Solder in wire form is used for the side which contains the indexing holes, while a solder strip is used for the second step.

The splicing procedure is similar to that of single step splicing, except that, after completing the first step the right hand upper jaw is raised, the upper electrode (attached to this jaw) is moved forward to its second position, and the jaw again lowered to complete the second step.

The upper electrode holder will automatically return to its starting position before the next operation.

Total splicing time is only a few seconds longer than the 30 seconds it takes to complete a single step splice.

2. Splicing wide tapes in front of stamping presses.

This new procedure eliminates the buckling normally experienced when attempting to splice a wide tape in one step. This is accomplished by using a "seam-soldering" procedure. The method involves feeding a solder wire between the two tape ends, closing the gap and applying heat in the form of pulses as the upper, curved electrode is made to roll along the splice.

Most of the operations are fully automatic. The ones which are manual are quite similar to the ones performed when splicing carrier strips on the standard model, except that the tape to be spliced is placed between two guide rails, as against being placed on locator pins in the case of the standard model. As the upper jaw is lowered, an air cylinder automatically clamps the tape to the sliding bar to position the tape for trimming and splicing.

Once the two ends have been trimmed and placed in proper location for splicing, the rest of the operation is fully automatic. The solder, in the form of a 10 mil wire, is fed when the left jaw assembly is lowered. When the right upper jaw is lowered the following sequence of events is started:

o The two jaw assemblies are rotated slightly to form a small angle between the two tape ends (causing the gap between the tape ends to be wider in front than in the back).

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Recent improvements of the Kloften & Kloften

Strip Splicer.

Issue No. 6 (cont'd)

o The gap is closed (in the rear) and a short current puls is made to flow through the two electrodes and the tape ends to melt the solder wire at the contact point.

o A step-motor moves the electrode a short distance along the splice, and a new current puls is sent through the electrodes. This sequence (step motor movement and current puls) is repeated until the whole width of the tape has been spliced.

o Due to the contraction of the metal around the heated area at each heat puls, the two tape ends will gradually rotate back, until the two tape ends are again parallel when the splice is completed.

The splice may be now be removed by raising the two upper jaws, an action which automatically releases the two clamps, and also reverses the direction of the step-motor to bring the electrode back to its starting position.

The thickness-increase at the splice is less than one mil. The procedure described above avoids the buckling normally experienced when the splice is made in "one step". This is particularly important when the splice is to pass the die of a stamping press.

A Methods and Apparatus patent has been applied for to cover the above new development.