The feed of a crimp applicator that brings each strip terminal over the anvil · ram cam or air cylinder, feed on the up or down stroke for 41.28 or 28.58 mm press strokes, separate stroke and end-point adjustment, and a ±0.02 mm pneumatic side-feed applicator on a 135.8 mm shut height
Reeled terminals arrive on a carrier strip, and every press stroke must push the strip forward by exactly one terminal so that the next one lands over the anvil, then be cut from the strip during the crimp. That feed is built into the applicator: a feed finger engages the strip and is driven either by the applicator ram through a cam or by its own air cylinder. This page covers how the feed is timed to the press stroke, how stroke length and end point are set and held, and what one pneumatic side-feed applicator publishes.
Terminal feed mechanisms of crimp applicators for reeled (strip) terminals: feed fingers and their mounts, ram-driven cams and push rods, air-cylinder feeds, side-feed and end-feed arrangements, feed timing and adjustment. Loose-piece terminals fed from vibratory bowls to a crimp head are covered on the Loose-piece terminal feeding system page; reel stands, dereelers and strip feed into terminal insertion heads on the Vibratory bowl feeder and reel stand for terminal insertion page; complete cut-strip-crimp machines on the Automated wire harness crimping machine page. Crimp height tooling and crimp force monitoring are outside this page.
01
Molex's FineAdjust applicator, made for side-feed terminals on pre-stripped wire, drives its feed finger from a cam mounted on the applicator ram. Two cams come with it, because the feed stroke follows the press stroke. [1]
Molex warns that running the standard cam in a short-stroke press may give insufficient feed stroke or wrong feed timing. It associates down-stroke timing with applicators mounted in wire processing machines and up-stroke timing with bench applications. Terminals are separated from the carrier strip automatically during crimping. [1]
TE's patent US8578597B2 (Tyco Electronics) lists mechanical, air and servo feed styles and describes the mechanical one: a cam with a lift profile moves a push rod through a cam follower, and the push rod drives the feed finger along its stroke into the crimping zone. [2] Its sister patents (Whitaker) contrast the two older options: an air-cylinder feed is simple and effective, but Whitaker gives the cost of the cylinder and the need for a compressed-air supply as its reasons for coupling the feed to the ram. [2]
Editorial calculation: the short-stroke press moves 28.58 mm against 41.28 mm, 69% of the standard stroke, so a cam profile laid out for the longer stroke delivers only part of its feed on the shorter one; this is why the cam has to match the press.
| FineAdjust feed item | Published value |
|---|---|
| Press strokes the applicator suits | 41.28 mm (1 5/8 in) and 28.58 mm (1 1/8 in) [1] |
| Feed cams supplied | Standard cam installed; spare short feed cam 11-18-4238 for short-stroke presses, for example 28 mm [1] |
| Up-stroke feed timing | A terminal is over the anvil while the press is idle in the up position [1] |
| Down-stroke feed timing | No terminal is over the anvil while the press is idle [1] |
Give the press make and stroke, whether the applicator runs on a bench press or in a wire processing machine, and the terminal's part number and carrier strip pitch.
02
Two adjustments decide whether the terminal lands centred on the anvil: how far the finger travels, and where its travel ends. [2] [1]
On the FineAdjust applicator the forward-feed adjusting knob sets where the terminal being crimped stops, exactly over the anvils, and a back-stroke knob sets the return; the feed finger can be slid on its mount, moved to another tapped hole in the feed finger lever, or reversed together with the mount for more range. After a forward-feed change the strip may need pulling back against the finger. Molex specifies hand-cycling the press so the finger transfers the next terminal to a centred position over the anvil before running under power. [1]
Whitaker's US5666719A criticises feed mechanisms whose stroke-length and end-point adjustments interact, so that changing one disturbs the other, and that are hard to convert between side feed and end feed. Its design uses three pivoting links, two coupled by gear teeth, with a slide whose position on the third link sets the stroke length, while a separate adjustment sets the end point; the parts can be changed over between side and end feed in the field. [2]
Whitaker's US5887340A addresses the lock. The feed finger end point is set by sliding the finger or its arm and then locking it, and a set screw that only grips by friction can be loosened by vibration so that the finger drifts and terminals misfeed. Its locking member both binds the threads of the adjusting screw and clamps the slide, so the setting cannot creep. [2]
Editorial note: on any applicator, ask how the end point is locked and whether stroke and end point can be changed independently; both decide how quickly the feed can be reset after a terminal change and whether it stays set during a run.
Ask which adjustments can be made with the applicator in the press, the adjustment range and increment of feed stroke and end point, and how each is locked.
03
Jingwei's NA-20S is a side-feed applicator with its own pneumatic feed, sold for use in semi- and fully automatic crimping machines. [3]
Jingwei states that the NA-20S fits presses from Komax, Tyco, AMP, Mecal, Schäfer, Etco, Schleuniger, Molex, JST and others. [3] Molex designs the FineAdjust to the same industry-standard mounting and 135.80 mm shut height, weighing 4.1 kg at 132 × 101 × 152 mm, and states compatibility with Artos, Mecal, Komax, Megomat and Toyojamco presses. [1]
Editorial note: a shared 135.8 mm shut height is what lets applicators from different makers fit the same press; the feed drive still has to match the press, a cam to its stroke or an air feed to its valve and signal. The listed wire range of 0.8–6 mm² does not correspond to AWG 9–30 as printed (AWG 30 is far below 0.8 mm²); ask the seller which range applies.
| NA-20S parameter | Published value |
|---|---|
| Feed | Pneumatic, side feed [3] |
| Press stroke | 40 mm [3] |
| Shut height | 135.8 mm [3] |
| Wire size | 0.8–6 mm² (AWG 9–30 as listed) [3] |
| Terminal thickness | 1.5 mm [3] |
| Adjustment accuracy and range | ±0.02 mm; up to 3 mm [3] |
| Weight and size | 4.5 kg; 160 × 155 × 110 mm [3] |
State the press shut height and stroke, whether it supplies an air feed valve and signal, and the wire range to be crimped.
04
Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.
Terminal: [part number; reel; carrier strip pitch; side or end feed] Wire: [cross-section range] Press: [make; stroke; shut height; air feed signal] Feed: [cam or air; up- or down-stroke timing] Adjustment: [stroke and end point; range; lock] Use: [bench press or wire processing machine]
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TE's US8578597B2 lists mechanical, air and servo feed styles; in the mechanical style a cam on the applicator ram moves a push rod that drives the feed finger. Molex's FineAdjust uses such a ram cam. [2] [1]
Molex associates down-stroke feed with wire processing machines (no terminal over the anvil at rest) and up-stroke feed with bench use (a terminal waits over the anvil), and supplies a short cam for short-stroke presses. [1]
Whitaker's US5887340A explains that a friction set-screw lock can loosen under vibration, letting the finger drift and terminals misfeed; it binds the adjusting screw threads and the slide instead. [2]
Sources checked 2026-10-13. Cam timing, press strokes, adjustments and dimensions come from Molex's FineAdjust applicator operation manual (TM-638004900); feed styles, the cam and push rod, independent stroke and end-point adjustment and finger locking from TE's patents US8578597B2 (Tyco Electronics), US5666719A and US5887340A (Whitaker); pneumatic side-feed applicator data from Jingwei's NA-20S product page.
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