電動(dòng)汽車 (EV) 電纜線束是當(dāng)今電線加工領(lǐng)域最熱門的話題之一。這是一個(gè)非常新且令人興奮的市場(chǎng)，隨著新技術(shù)的出現(xiàn)，它正在迅速變化。對(duì)于那些希望擴(kuò)展到這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的人來(lái)說(shuō)，了解有效自動(dòng)化高壓 (HV) 電纜連接器組件的過(guò)程非常重要。
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EV 應(yīng)用中使用的高壓連接器有許多組件，因此必須按特定順序執(zhí)行多個(gè)工藝步驟。雖然大多數(shù)客戶希望自動(dòng)化每個(gè)流程步驟，但往往無(wú)法證明全自動(dòng)系統(tǒng)的成本是合理的。
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一些工藝步驟更具挑戰(zhàn)性，需要更高的精度。例如，去除箔層或切割屏蔽層更為關(guān)鍵，因?yàn)檫B接器的性能或安全性可能會(huì)受到顯著影響。此外，幾乎所有連接器和電纜類型都需要一些工藝步驟，僅某些特定的連接器需要其他工藝步驟。根據(jù)特定連接器系列的數(shù)量，僅關(guān)鍵或常見(jiàn)步驟與通過(guò)人工操作繼續(xù)執(zhí)行更簡(jiǎn)單或不常見(jiàn)的步驟，自動(dòng)化可能更有意義。但是，如果數(shù)量證明它是合理的，它都可以自動(dòng)化。
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目前，超過(guò) 97% 的高壓應(yīng)用需要屏蔽電纜，無(wú)論是多芯電纜還是同軸電纜。HV 應(yīng)用范圍從 3mm2到 120mm2的單芯（同軸）或 2×2.5mm2到 5×6.0mm2的多芯電纜，用于種類繁多的單電纜和多電纜連接器。因此，認(rèn)真考慮將其產(chǎn)品擴(kuò)展到 HV 電纜組件的客戶必須著眼于不僅提供高精度而且具有完全靈活性的自動(dòng)化解決方案，以便在知道未來(lái)處理要求可能會(huì)發(fā)生變化的情況下保護(hù)任何投資。重要的是，系統(tǒng)可以在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)擴(kuò)展，以便它們可以隨著您的業(yè)務(wù)發(fā)展和適應(yīng)。
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由于其不同的功能和/或結(jié)構(gòu)，不同的連接器通常具有非常不同的單獨(dú)工藝步驟。但是，有一些基本步驟適用于幾乎所有這些步驟，這些步驟與正確剝開(kāi)電纜和加載套圈有關(guān)。
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1) 去除外套和箔
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屏蔽層周圍沒(méi)有箔層的電纜自然更容易和更快地剝離。這些電纜可以使用圓角固定刀片、旋轉(zhuǎn)剝線刀片或激光剝線器進(jìn)行剝線。
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Radius 固定刀片可能是最快的，但可能不是最安全的質(zhì)量。如果一個(gè)刀片比另一個(gè)更鋒利，刀片將無(wú)法均勻地穿透絕緣層，并可能損壞屏蔽層。如果電纜不是很同心，幾乎不可能不損壞屏蔽層。最后，更改為不同的電纜尺寸也需要更改刀片尺寸。
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激光剝離很受歡迎，因?yàn)榧す馐鴷?huì)從護(hù)罩反射出來(lái)，因此無(wú)法損壞護(hù)罩。但是，如果屏蔽層編織不嚴(yán)密，激光可以穿透屏蔽層并損壞內(nèi)層。激光剝離器需要抽煙，因?yàn)橛行熿F是有毒的。與其他剝離方法相比，它們也是最昂貴的。
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旋轉(zhuǎn)剝離將使用刀片和導(dǎo)體檢測(cè)系統(tǒng)提供最干凈的切割，可防止損壞屏蔽層。非同心電纜可采用特殊工藝。
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當(dāng)外護(hù)套模制到護(hù)罩中時(shí)，更難在不干擾護(hù)罩的情況下移除護(hù)套。在這些情況下，在將嵌塊拉離電纜的同時(shí)沿特定方向操作嵌塊有助于嵌塊脫離屏蔽層。
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加工高壓電纜如果電纜有箔層，則必須將其剝離干凈，與外護(hù)套齊平，不得留下任何標(biāo)志。這對(duì)于固定刀片幾乎是不可能的。除非將箔片粘合到外護(hù)套上，否則使用激光系統(tǒng)當(dāng)然是可能的。激光系統(tǒng)需要空間讓激光到達(dá)箔片。但是，如果將箔片粘合到外護(hù)套上，則任何拉動(dòng)小塊都可能導(dǎo)致箔片撕裂不均勻。此外，激光不會(huì)切割箔重疊的地方。
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使用旋轉(zhuǎn)剝離刀片，可以在不拉動(dòng)塊的情況下對(duì)箔進(jìn)行刻劃?？梢酝ㄟ^(guò)操縱電纜并在移除時(shí)扭動(dòng)護(hù)套塊來(lái)同時(shí)移除護(hù)套塊和箔。結(jié)果是干凈的鋁箔切割與外護(hù)套齊平。
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2) 組裝內(nèi)套圈
將套圈加載到電纜上很關(guān)鍵，但如果手動(dòng)完成，則不會(huì)太具有挑戰(zhàn)性。然而，如前所述，不同的連接器使用不同的套圈。因此，應(yīng)該可以使用一些特定于電纜和套圈的部件更換不同的套圈。系統(tǒng)還應(yīng)該能夠檢測(cè)套圈是否正確類型以及它是否在電纜上正確定向。
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將套圈安裝到電纜上是一個(gè)可以手動(dòng)完成的步驟，以節(jié)省成本，因?yàn)樽詣?dòng)加載系統(tǒng)非常昂貴。
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3) 切割/移除屏蔽
屏蔽高壓電纜對(duì)于高壓電纜，使用傳統(tǒng)的旋轉(zhuǎn)剝線裝置正確切割屏蔽層非常具有挑戰(zhàn)性，特別是如果電纜具有非同心層或不圓的情況。電介質(zhì)和填料的完整性對(duì)于電纜的正常性能至關(guān)重要，傳統(tǒng)的旋轉(zhuǎn)剝線機(jī)有損壞內(nèi)層的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。鐵砧和沖壓系統(tǒng)可確保內(nèi)層不會(huì)損壞，并圍繞電纜 360° 清潔、均勻地切割屏蔽層。
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最終的屏蔽長(zhǎng)度將取決于所使用的套圈，因?yàn)樗鼤?huì)纏繞在套圈上。切割必須干凈且一致，否則長(zhǎng)線可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致其他組件短路，而短線可能會(huì)降低套圈壓接的完整性。
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有時(shí)屏蔽長(zhǎng)度比電介質(zhì)的長(zhǎng)度長(zhǎng)。這些應(yīng)用要求屏蔽在修剪后打開(kāi)并折回，以便剝離內(nèi)層。
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4) 折疊屏蔽
防護(hù)罩會(huì)折回到套圈上，但在某些情況下，不會(huì)完全折回。不同的連接器需要不同的折疊角度以確保連接器正確裝配在一起。折疊角度可以在 90° 到 180° 之間，但折疊必須均勻，圍繞套圈 360°。屏蔽絞線末端必須在規(guī)定的公差范圍內(nèi)，以確保適當(dāng)?shù)男阅堋Ｌ值墓删€可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致短路，而當(dāng)外部套圈卷曲時(shí)，短股線可能無(wú)法正確固定屏蔽。
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5) 去除電介質(zhì)/填料
電介質(zhì)或填料可以以與外護(hù)套相同的方式去除。多芯電纜不允許對(duì)導(dǎo)體絕緣有任何損壞。
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對(duì)于同軸電纜，導(dǎo)體檢測(cè)可以起到很大的作用，以確保中心導(dǎo)體不會(huì)被剝線刀片損壞。與外護(hù)套一樣，系統(tǒng)必須能夠容納非同心電纜，以提供最大的靈活性。
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6) 多導(dǎo)體定向和剝離
在端接多芯電纜之前，必須正確定向電纜，以便在將導(dǎo)體插入連接器時(shí)極性正確。復(fù)雜的系統(tǒng)必須能夠識(shí)別電線顏色，然后相應(yīng)地旋轉(zhuǎn)電纜而不會(huì)丟失電纜位置。
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一旦正確定向，就可以根據(jù)連接器腔間距形成導(dǎo)體以實(shí)現(xiàn)端接。正確形成導(dǎo)體后，應(yīng)在具有導(dǎo)體檢測(cè)功能的設(shè)備上剝?nèi)ツ┒耍源_保線股不受損壞。
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7) 終止
內(nèi)導(dǎo)體壓接或超聲波焊接到端子上。自動(dòng)化系統(tǒng)可以將合適的壓接機(jī)與壓接力監(jiān)控系統(tǒng)集成在一起。超聲波焊接系統(tǒng)通常具有集成監(jiān)控功能，以確保正確焊接。
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可以集成3個(gè)自動(dòng)化系統(tǒng)研發(fā)方系統(tǒng)是非常方便的。這些系統(tǒng)可以最大限度地減少已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷過(guò)冗長(zhǎng)批準(zhǔn)過(guò)程的壓力機(jī)和焊接系統(tǒng)的驗(yàn)證過(guò)程。
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8) 多導(dǎo)體連接器加載
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對(duì)于將要端接并裝入連接器的多芯電纜，電線末端和端子位置必須非常一致，這一點(diǎn)至關(guān)重要。這將確保端子將正確加載并鎖定到連接器中。
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如果體積合適，后續(xù)的外殼或組件可以自動(dòng)應(yīng)用并鎖定到位。但是，上面列出的步驟 1 到 4 和 6 是最廣泛應(yīng)用的最常見(jiàn)的工藝步驟。自動(dòng)化這些流程步驟可能會(huì)給您帶來(lái)最好的投資回報(bào)，因?yàn)樗鼈兪亲畛Ｓ玫?。這些步驟對(duì)于確保適當(dāng)?shù)倪B接器性能也是最關(guān)鍵的。
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新的視覺(jué)檢測(cè)系統(tǒng)可以 360° 檢測(cè)電纜周圍。人工智能用于識(shí)別電纜組件的不同層以進(jìn)行徹底分析?？梢詾槊總€(gè)組件編程許多質(zhì)量特性。
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在詢問(wèn)自動(dòng)高壓電纜連接系統(tǒng)時(shí)，請(qǐng)準(zhǔn)備好以下有關(guān)您要運(yùn)行的所有應(yīng)用程序的信息：
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有了這些信息，自動(dòng)化供應(yīng)商將能夠?yàn)槟纳a(chǎn)要求以及預(yù)期性能提供最具成本效益的系統(tǒng)的建議，無(wú)論是半自動(dòng)還是全自動(dòng)系統(tǒng)。
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考慮到 EV 技術(shù)的發(fā)展速度，自動(dòng)化系統(tǒng)應(yīng)該在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)、在您的設(shè)施中具有靈活性和適應(yīng)性，而不會(huì)造成生產(chǎn)的重大中斷。例如，應(yīng)該可以將半自動(dòng)站移動(dòng)到全自動(dòng)平臺(tái)上。同樣，隨著時(shí)間的推移，隨著交易量的增加，全自動(dòng)平臺(tái)應(yīng)該是可擴(kuò)展的。此功能將為您提供最大的靈活性，并使您能夠繼續(xù)利用您的投資。
英文版如下：
Electric Vehicle (EV) cable harnesses is one of the hottest topics in the world of wire processing today. It’s a very new and exciting market that is changing rapidly as new techologies emerge. For those looking to expand into this market, it is important to understand the process of effectively automating high voltage (HV) cable connector assemblies.
High voltage connectors used in EV applications have many components, therefore there are several process steps that must be performed in a specific sequence. While most customers want to automate every process step, often times the cost of a fully automatic system cannot be justified.
Some process steps are more challenging and require more precision. For instance, removing the foil layer or cutting the shield is more critical because connector performance or safety may be affected significantly. Furthermore, some process steps are required for almost all connectors and cable types whereas other process steps are required only for certain connectors. Depending on the volume of a particular connector series, it might make more sense to automate only the critical or common steps and continue the simpler or uncommon steps with manual processes. However, it can all be automated if the volumes justify it.
Currently more than 97% of HV applications require shielded cables, whether they be multi-conductor or coaxial cables. HV applications range from 3mm2?up to 120mm2?in single-conductor (coaxial) or 2×2.5mm2?up to 5×6.0 mm2?in multi-conductor cables for a tremendous variety of single- and multi-cable connectors. Therefore, customers who are serious about expanding their offering into HV cable assemblies must look at automation solutions that provide not only high precision but complete flexibility so that any investments are protected knowing that processing requirements can change in the future. It is important that systems can be expanded in the field so they can grow and adapt with your business.
Different connectors often have very different individual process steps because of their different functions and/or constructions. However, there are some basic steps that apply to almost all of them and these steps pertain to properly stripping the cable and loading the ferrules.
1) Remove outer jacket & foil
Cables without a foil layer around the shield are naturally easier and faster to strip. These cables can be stripped with radiused fixed blades, rotary stripping blades, or a laser stripper.
Radiused fixed blades will likely be the fastest but perhaps not the safest for quality. If one blade is sharper than the other, the blades will not penetrate the insulation evenly and may damage the shield. If the cable is not very concentric, it is nearly impossible not to damage the shield. Finally, changing to a different cable size requires a blade size change as well.
Laser stripping is popular since there is no way to damage the shield because the laser beam is reflected off of the shield. However, if the shield is not woven tightly, the laser can penetrate the shield and damage the inner layers. Laser strippers require fume extraction since some fumes are toxic. They are also the most expensive, compared to other stripping methods.
Rotary stripping will provide the cleanest cut using blades and conductor detection systems that can prevent damage to the shield. Special processes can be used for non-concentric cables.
When the outer jacket is molded into the shield, it makes it more difficult to remove the jacket without disturbing the shield. For these cases, manipulating the slug in certain directions while pulling it off of the cable helps the slug break away from the shield.
If the cable has a foil layer, it must be stripped cleanly, flush with the outer jacket with no flags remaining. This is nearly impossible with fixed blades. It is certainly possible with a laser system unless the foil is bonded to the outer jacket. Laser systems require space for the laser to get to the foil. However, if the foil is bonded to the outer jacket, any pulling of the slug may cause the foil to tear unevenly. Furthermore, lasers will not cut where the foil overlaps.
With rotary stripping blades, it is possible to score the foil without pulling the slug. The jacket slug and foil can be removed simultaneously by manipulating the cable and twisting the slug as it is removed. The result is a clean foil cut that is flush with the outer jacket.
2) Assembling the inner ferrule
Loading the ferrule onto the cable is critical but not overly challenging if done manually. However, as mentioned, different connectors use different ferrules. Therefore, it should be possible to change over to different ferrules with a few cable- and ferrule-specific parts. The system should also have the ability to detect if the ferrule is the correct type and if it is properly oriented on the cable.
Installing the ferrule onto the cable is a step that could be done manually to save costs since automatic loading systems are quite expensive.
3) Cutting/removal of the shield
Properly cutting the shield consistently with a traditional rotary stripping unit is very challenging for HV cables especially if the cable has nonconcentric layers or is otherwise out-of-round. The integrity of the dielectric and filler are critical for proper performance of the cable and traditional rotary stripping machines risk damaging the inner layers. An anvil and punch system guarantees the inner layers will not be damaged and cuts the shield cleanly and evenly, 360° around the cable.
The resulting shield length will depend upon the ferrule being used since it will be wrapped around it. The cut must be clean and consistent, otherwise long strands may cause shorts with other components and short strands may degrade the integrity of the ferrule crimp.
Sometimes the shield length is longer than the length of the dielectric. These applications require that the shield is opened and folded back after it is trimmed so that the inner layers can be stripped.
4) Fold shield
The shield gets folded back over the ferrule but in some cases, not completely. Different connectors require different fold angles to ensure the connector fits together properly. The fold angle may be between 90° to 180° but the fold must be even, 360° around the ferrule. The shield strand ends must fall within the specified tolerances to ensure proper performance. Strands that are too may cause shorts and short strands might not secure the shield properly when the outer ferrule is crimped.
5) Removing dielectric/filler
The dielectric or filler can be removed in the same way as the outer jacket. Multi-conductor cables are not allowed to have any damage to the conductor insulation.
For coaxial cables, conductor detection can play a big role to ensure the center conductor is not damaged by the stripping blades. As with the outer jacket, the system must be able to accommodate non-concentric cables to provide the most flexibility.
6) Multi-conductor orientation and stripping
Prior to terminating multi-conductor cables, the cable must be oriented properly so that polarity is correct when the conductors are plugged into the connector. Sophisticated systems must be able to recognize the wire colors and then rotate the cable accordingly without losing cable position.
Once oriented properly, the conductors are formed to enable termination and according to the connector cavity pitch. Once the conductors are properly formed, the ends should be stripped on a device with conductor detection to ensure the wire strands are not damaged.
7) Termination
Inner conductors are either crimped or ultrasonically welded to the terminals. Automation systems can integrate suitable crimping presses with crimp force monitoring systems. Ultrasonic welding systems typically have integrated monitoring to ensure a proper weld.
Automation systems that can integrate 3rd?party systems are very convenient. These systems can minimize the validation process for presses and welding systems that have already gone through lengthy approval processes.
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8) Multi-conductor connector loading
For multi-conductor cables that will be terminated and loaded into a connector, it is critical that the wire ends and terminal positioning are very consistent. This will ensure that the terminals will load and lock into the connectors properly.
Subsequent housings or components can be applied automatically and locked into position if volumes justify it. However, steps 1 through 4 and 6 listed above are the most common process steps for the widest variety of applications. Automating these process steps will likely give you the best return on investment since they are most commonly applied. These steps are also the most critical to ensure proper connector performance.
New visual inspection systems inspect 360° around the cable. Artificial intelligence is utilized to identify the different layers of the cable assembly to perform a thorough analysis. Numerous quality characteristics can be programmed for each assembly.
When inquiring about an automatic HV Cable Connectorization system, be prepared with the following information for all the applications you will want to run:
Cable specifications and stripping requirements
Connector specifications and the necessary process steps
Quality assurance requirements
Production requirements and/or required cycle times
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With this information, the automation supplier will be able to provide recommendations on the most cost effective system for your production requirements along with the expected performance, be it a semi-automatic or a fully automatic system.
Considering how fast EV technology is evolving, automation systems should be flexible and adaptable in the field, at your facility, without major interruptions in production. For instance, it should be possible to move semi-automatic stations onto a fully automatic platform. Similarly, the fully automatic platform should be expandable as volumes increase over time. This feature will give you the most flexibility and enable you to leverage your investment moving forward.
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