FEED MECHANISM FOR A TERMINAL CRIMPING MACHINE

A feed mechanism is provided for a terminal crimping machine that crimps a terminal to a wire. The terminal crimping machine has a crimping zone. The feed mechanism includes a feed finger configured to move along a feed stroke. The feed finger is configured to move along the feed stroke in a feed direction to feed the terminal into the crimping zone. The feed mechanism also includes a cam having a lift profile, and a push rod that includes a cam follower engaged with the cam. The cam follower is configured to travel along the lift profile of the cam such that the push rod moves in a lift direction. The push rod is mechanically connected to the feed finger and is configured to move the feed finger along the feed stroke in the feed direction when the push rod moves in the lift direction. A biasing mechanism is operatively connected to the push rod to exert a biasing force on the push rod that biases the cam follower of the push rod into engagement with the cam.