AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING METAL SPRINGS FOR LOCOMOTIVES, RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WAGGONS, AND FOR OTHER VEHICLES
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Thomas Cooke at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th September 1877.
"
WILLIAM THOMAS COOKE, of Hinghley House, Bolsover Hill, Sheffield, in the
County of York. 'AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING METAL SPRINGS FOR
LOCOMOTIVES, RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WAGGONS, AND FOR OTHER VEHICLES."
This Invention relates to a novel apparatus or machine for making metal springs
of that description which are composed of several flat bars of metal placed one upon
the other in layers, such as those used upon locomotives, railway carriages and
waggons, and other vehicles, and is designed to facilitate and cheapen the manufacture
of such springs.
The methods now in use for making these springs require that the separate bars
composing a spring should be subjected to a great many distinct operations, one
following another, for the purpose of bending, punching, shearing, tempering, and
the like, all of which take up a certain amount of time and involve a corresponding
degree of cost.
By means of my said Invention I am enabled to take the bars as they come from
the rolls, and after cutting them by any suitable means to the desired lengths, to
bend, punch, and clip or shear the same with one single operation, which operation
leaves the bar quite ready for use as one layer of a spring, excepting that it will
have to be cooled and tempered subsequently.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide upon a suitable base plate a
moveable plate or die of metal, having attached thereto projecting pieces which slide
in guideways, so that the said plate or die may be capable of moving longitudinally
upon the aforesaid base plate. The said die is curved inwards; the curve being so
calculated as to fit the outer circumference of a spring bar. Another die is bolted or
screwed or otherwise firmly attached to the base plate, and is curved outwardly in such
a manner that the curves of the two dies fit accurately together when the moveable
one is brought up to the fixed one. Above the said fixed die I provide a moveable
piece which slides vertically upon two guide pieces which pass through it, and are
united by a cross piece at the top. Through the said cross piece a screw passes
which is attached at its lower end to the said vertically moving piece, and upon the
part of the screw projecting above the cross piece is a wheel or other suitable device
by means of which the said vertically moving piece is caused to move up and down as
ID 971

page_text: required. The said piece is curved in the same manner as the fixed die, and projects
along its whole length a short distance over the said fixed die, so that when both
dies are together the part projecting fits into a corresponding recess provided along
the whole length of the moveable die. The said moveable die has in its centre a
projecting punch, which is intended to punch a hole in the spring bar when the
latter is compressed between the two dies.
I provide on the fixed die two studs at a suitable distance from the ends of the
said die which are for the purpose of producing corresponding indentations in the
spring bar when the latter is compressed between the two dies, this operation being
known in the trade as "slitting" and "studding." The said moveable plate or die
has at its ends cutting pieces which correspond with angular formations at the ends
of the fixed die, which cutting pieces slide over and under the latter in such a
manner that when a spring bar has been placed in position, and the moveable die is
brought up and compresses it, the ends of the said bar are cut on both sides and at
both ends to the desired angle.
The moveable plate or die may be operated by hand by means of suitable levers
or wheels, or both, connected therewith, or by steam or other power through the
medium of suitable gearing. The said levers or other connections I prefer to place
chiefly under the base plate, but they may be placed in any other suitable position
as may be found most convenient. I attach to the said apparatus a "bosh" or vessel
containing water in which I place a device consisting of a piece of solid metal in
which is a groove or aperture of the shape and configuration of a spring bar, and of
such dimensions as to take the said spring bar within it, and hold the same whilst
it is being cooled by the water which enters the said device through apertures
provided for that purpose. The spring bar is thus held firmly whilst it is cooling,
and the twisting and warping which takes place under the methods hitherto
employed is wholly or to a great extent prevented, and the subsequent hammering
is thus dispensed with.
I make the said dies interchangeable, so that different sized dies may be used as
required for making springs of different sizes.
The separate spring bars produced by my said apparatus are afterwards united to
form the complete spring in any of the well-known methods.