IMPROVEMENTS IN HELICAL OR SPIRAL SPRINGS FOR UPHOL- STERY AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HELICAL OR SPIRAL SPRINGS FOR UPHOL-
STERY AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE
SAME." A communication from abroad by Frederick Chesbrow Payne
and John Spencer Giles, of the City of New York, in the United States
of America.
-
Sealed the 17th April 1866, and dated the 24th November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th November 1865.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66; Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature'
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HELICAL OR SPIRAL SPRINGS FOR
UPHOLSTERY AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the manufacture of spiral or helical springs of
wire having a twist in a direction the reverse of the spiral or helical coil,
whereby greater stiffness and elasticity are obtained, and springs of a quality.
equal to those made of the best quality of iron or other wire in the ordinary
way can be made of wire of an inferior quality.
In the manufacture of these springs the wire is twisted while on its way to

page_text: the rotating mould or form on which it is coiled, and to this end the Invention
further consists in the combination with such rotating mould or form of a
revolving flyer, by which the twisting of a portion of the wire of which the
springs are made is effected while another portion is being coiled into the
desired spiral or helical form.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN HELICAL OR SPIRAL SPRINGS FOR UPHOLSTERY AND OTHER PURPOSES,
AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: This Invention consists in the manufacture of spiral or helical springs of
wire having a twist in a direction the reverse of the spiral.or helical coil,
whereby greater stiffness and elasticity are obtained, and springs of a quality
equal to those made of the best quality of iron or other wire in the ordinary
way can be made of wire of an inferior quality.
In the manufacture of these springs the wire is twisted while on its way to
the rotating mould or form on which it is coiled, and to this end the Invention
further consists. in the combination with such rotating mould or form of a
revolving flyer, by which the twisting of a portion of the wire of which the
springs are made is. effected while another portion is being coiled into the
desired spiral or helical form. :
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation of an improved. spring,
and Fig. 2 is a plan of the machinery employed in its manufacture.
The twist of the wire is indicated in Fig. 1 by faint lines representing the
fibres of the iron or other metal. This twist in some degree resembles the
twist of the fibres in the strand of a cord or rope, and gives the coiled wire
a highly elastic property, besides giving the spring a greater resistance to
pressure in lines parallel with its axis. Any pressure applied to the spring in
this direction has a tendency to still further twist the wire, and this tendency
acting against the counteracting tendency to untwist greatly increases its
elastic property.
The twisted wire spring may be made in various ways, but all things
considered, the way which seems to be the easiest and best is to twist the
wire while on its way to the coiling device by means of a machine such as
that represented in Fig. 2, and the construction and operation of which are as
follows: In a suitable frame B there rotates a flyer C, containing a bobbin
or reel D, on which is wound the wire represented in red color. This flyer is
set in motion by suitable gearing and pulleys, and has at one end a hollow
journal c, through which the wire passes from the bobbin or reel D to the
rotating mould or form F, which is of the usual construction, and the spindle f
of which may be diven by a belt e running on its pulley b, or by any other
convenient or suitable means. The flyer and the mould or form may be driven
at such relative velocities that the flyer makes three revolutions for one of the
mould or form. The end of the wire is secured to the mould or form in the
usual manner, and the rotary motion of the mould or form draws the wire
from the flyer and coils it up, the wire being directed on to the mould or form
by the hand of an attendant, or by suitable mechanical means, and being
twisted by the rotation of the flyer on its way from the latter. When a
suitable length of wire has been coiled the machinery is stopped and the wire

page_text: cut off, and the coil which constitutes the spring is then removed from the
mould or form in the usual manner. The ends of the coil or spring may be
left free or coiled around another portion of the coil or spring, as shown at h, h,
in Fig. 1.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid,-
First, constructing spiral or helical springs of wire having a twist as herein
specified.
Second, the employment of the rotating flyer C, operating in combination
with the rotating mould or form F, as and for the purpose herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,"
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)