An Improved Machine for the Production of Unjoined or Split Rings of Metal and the like.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Sept., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 1st June, 1900-Accepted, 28th July, 1900
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for the Production of Unjoined or Split Rings
of Metal and the like.
I, FREDERICK HENRY WILLIAM BREININGER, Departmental Manager, of Long-
Bridge Works, Northfield, in the County of Worcester, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved machine for the production of unjoined
or split rings of metal or the like, having for its object a machine which will pro-
duce unjoined metal rings or the like of any desired shape (circular, D-shaped,
or oval) in a cheap and expeditious manner.
A machine according to this invention consists essentially of a rotating hori-
zontally-disposed spindle mounted in suitable bearings, the latter being sup-
ported on a pedestal or carrier of convenient size and shape. Encircling this
rotating spindle and keyed on to the same so as to rotate with it is a metal
sleeve, whose middle part is channeled out, and whose ends are formed up
respectively into a suitable head and a collar or disc. Taking upon the one end
of the body part of this sleeve and against its collar or disc, as aforesaid, is a
U-shaped reel or drum. This reel or drum is so mounted upon the sleeve that
it can rotate with it in the working of the machine, but that its rotation can
be retarded to any extent for obtaining a tensioning of the wire fed from it,
that is to say, it is mounted free to rotate upon its sleeve against the action
of a brake as will be hereinafter described.
Situated upon the one end of the spindle next to the reel and preferably formed
in one with it is a former or mandrel of the shape from which the rings are
to be formed, the said mandrel having on its inner end an inclined face or conical
part on which the wire winds, the said inclined face giving the wire a horizontal
travel or impulse along the mandrel or former. Working transversely in a cut
in this mandrel is a small circular saw driven from a pulley, the wire as it
travels horizontally along the former being cut by the saw, the formed split
rings or the like dropping into a suitable receiver.
Situated between a projection or flange formed on the outer side of the reel
or drum is a suitable fixed disc or wheel provided with a split or extensible
band faced with leather. A small screwed fly nut on the machine's framing
working vertically in a small horizontally-disposed lever causes the latter, by an
upward movement, to push a conical-shaped wedge in the split opening of this
extensible band, causing the latter to bind against the under surface of the flange
of the drum and so stop its rotation: the brake being applied to the required
degree by screwing the fly nut in a downward direction.
Assuming the reel to be full of wire, the free end of the latter is carried
through a guide roller or slot on the rotating disc and coiled round the mandrel
or former and fixed there. The machine is now set in motion, the rotating disc
taking the wire off the reel or drum and supplying it to the mandrel or former.
The pull on the wire causes the reel, being free to move, to rotate with the said
disc and on its sleeve, and allows the wire to have the necessary play. Should

page_text: however the wire become slack the fly nut is rotated and the necessary brake
put upon the reel, thus increasing the tension of the wire, which can be adjusted
to any required degree. The wire is fed onto the inclined face of the mandrel
which pushes it forward to the small rotating circular saw where it is cut.
The wire is supplied to the drum in the first instance by coupling the drum
and disc together and driving them as one, the wire being wound onto the drum
by a reverse driving of the machine.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Machine for the Froduction of Unjoined or Split Rings
of Metal and the like.
J, FREDERICK HENRY WILLIAM BREININGER, Departmental Manager, of Long-
Bridge Works, Northfield, in the County of Worcester, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention consists of an improved machine for the production, in an
inexpensive and expeditious manner, of unjoined or split wire rings. In such
machine the wire to form the rings, which may be of any desired cross section,
is supplied from a bundle off a reel and is fed into the machine and wound in
a spiral form upon a former or mandrel of the shape of the rings desired, each
convolution of the said spiral being saw-cut or otherwise divided as it is fed
forward along the said former or mandrel.
The machine according to this invention is an automatic one, it being only
necessary to supply the reel with wire and adjust the necessary tension of the
wire in coiling.
The essential features of the machine as aforesaid are a former or mandrel
with an inclined face, a saw working adjacent thereto, a rotating hollow shaft
having upon it a disc or carrier which moves concentric with the said shaft and
former, and to which the winding end of the wire is connected, a reel or drum
loosely mounted upon said hollow shaft adjacent to the said disc or carrier arm
and onto which the wire is fed and wound, a brake mechanism for retarding the
rotary movement of the said reel or drum at will, and a suitable gear for driving
the said hollow shaft and saw; the whole constructed and arranged in the manner
substantially as hereinafter set forth.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings a machine constructed according to
this invention for the formation of D-shaped unjoined wire rings is shown partly
in side elevation and side section in Fig. 1, and in end elevation in Fig. 2;
details of the former or mandrel and of the brake mechanism for retarding the
reel or drum being shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In these figs. a rotatable hollow
shaft or sleeve c, having fast upon it a disc or wheel and a worm wheel c³,
is loosely mounted upon a cylindrical carrier bar d supported from upright
bracket arms a³, a³, of a pedestal framing a.
This hollow shaft is rotated upon
the carrier bar d as a bearing, and is driven from a worm (which in turn
is rotated by a suitable belt through a pulley on the worm's shaft ) through
the worm wheel c³, the rotation of the said shaft being a regular one in the
direction of the arrow Fig. 2. Upon the disc or wheel, eo as to have a throw
some distance from the centre of rotation of the shaft c, is disposed a guide
roller e over which the wire used in the formation of the rings passes prior to

page_text: being coiled upon the former or mandrel. This roller forms a means of con-
nection of the said wire to the hollow shaft, as will be hereinafter made clear.
f is a cylindrical reel or drum loosely mounted upon the shaft c near the
disc, its section being U-shaped on both sides of its open middle, with the
side abutting loosely against one of the disc's faces and the side f³, which
is formed with a cylindrical projection or ring flange f, loosely abutting against
a circular boss or collar at upon the upright bracket a³ of the machine's pedestal-
like frame a, the said reel or drum f being free to rotate upon the shaft c between
the said parts c³, at.
Surrounding the boss or collar «*, and situate between same and the ring
flange f on the reel, is a concentric spring metal band g faced with leather 93.
This band is split or divided, is normally free of, or out of contact with, the
ring flange f, but is capable of being expanded or opened out so as to make
frictional contact with the said ring-flange by a wedge piece h which comes
between the free ends g³, g, of the said band, and which is operated to separate
the said ends by a lever i and a thumb bolt 2, which are carried, by means of
a bracket, upon the summit of the upright bracket a³. The said thumb
bolt is screwed through the lever i and its end impinges against the top of
the bracket a³ as an abutment or step. The rotation of the said bolt in one
direction causes the lever to act on the wedge piece to expand the band g.
Standing out from the end of the carrier bar d adjacent to the disc c³, and
in line with the axis of the said carrier bar, is a former or mandrel m having
an inclined or cone shaped inner face m². The body ma of this mandrel or
former is of the cross-sectional shape of the rings to be produced (in this instance
D-shaped, as will be seen from Fig. 2) but the inclined or cone part m² is
cylindrical. The body part is centrally slit or gaped at m4, (see Fig. 3) and a
circular sawn, mounted to work in a bracket n standing up from the machines
bed, is arranged to work in said gap portion; it being understood that the former
or mandrel does not revolve. The saw n is rotated by a belt 3 (dotted lines
Fig. 1) through coupling pulleys c³n, the first pulley driven from the shaft c".
o is a bracket standing up from the bed of the machine to form at its top, o²,
a U-shaped guide for the rings produced.
The former or mandrel m may be detachably connected to the carrier bar d,
in view of making such former changable when producing unjoined wire rings
of different shapes and sizes.
When producing wire rings the machine before described works as follows:
The wire is supplied to the reel f on which it is wound, the said wire being
afterwards taken over the guide pulley e so that it lies in the groove thereof,
after which it is wound round the former m by hand or otherwise in order to
give it a start. The hollow shaft c is now rotated and carries the wire around
by the roller e so as to wind a convolution on the former m for each revolution
of the said shaft, the said convolutions being laid side by side along the former
and so as to climb in a slight degree the inclined face or cone shaped part m³,
the wire all the time being paid out from the reel ƒ by the said reels rotation
consequent upon the pull on it from the wire. If the tension on the wire is not
sufficient the thumb bolt 28 is screwed down to rock the lever i and operate the
wedge piece h and expand the band g, to make frictional contact with the ring
flange of the reel, and so apply a resistance to its rotation. As the wire is
coiled on the former and the cone shaped part m³, the latter causes the coils
to move, or be pushed, forward towards the sawn, the latter cutting each con-
volution as it is passed along until finally each convolution drops off the end
of the mandrel or former in the form of an unjoined ring as shown in Fig. 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
First. A machine for the production of unjoined wire rings wire coils, and

page_text: such like, comprising a former or mandrel upon which the coiling of the wire
takes place, a hollow shaft rotating concentric with said former and which is
constructed as a coiler, and which carries round the wire, a reel or drum loosely
mounted upon said hollow shaft, and which has wound upon it the wire to be
fed to the former and means for driving said shaft, substantially as described.
Second. A machine for the production of unjoined wire rings, wire coils, and
such like, comprising a former or mandrel m upon which the coiling of the wire
takes place a rotating shaft c concentrically mounted in respect of said former,
and which carries a connection such as cand e for the wire, said connection
acting as a coiler, a reel or drum f loosely mounted upon shaft c and which
carries the wire to be fed to the former or mandrel, brake mechanism for retard-
ing the rotation of the reel f, and which is carried by the machines frame, and
driving mechanism to the shaft c, substantially as described and set forth.
Third. A machine for the purposes described having in its combination a
former m formed with an inclined face or cone part m³, a saw or cutter n working
in a groove in said mandrel, a rotating shaft c mounted concentric with the
former or mandrel and to which the wire is connected by parts such as c³ and e,
a wire-carrying reel or drum f loosely mounted on shaft c and formed with a
ring flange f, an expansible band g and devices for operating same (and for
supporting it) so as to retard at times the reel f, and driving mechanism to the
shaft c and saw m, substantially as described and set forth in Figs. 1 to 4.
Fourth. A machine for the production of unjoined or split wire rings con-
structed and having its parts arranged in the manner described and set forth
in Figs. 1 to 4.
Dated this 29th day of May 1900.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
11, Burlington Chambers, New Street, Birmingham,
Also at Liverpool, London and Manchester,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.