IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPRINGS, AND IN THE APPLI- CATION OF SPRINGS TO CARRIAGES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughboro' Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for. the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPRINGS, AND IN THE APPLI-
CATION OF SPRINGS TO CARRIAGES."-A communication.
Sealed the 21st May 1858, and dated the 21st December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of, the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st December 1857.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughboro' Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPRINGS, AND IN
THE APPLICATION OF SPRINGS TO CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
Volute springs have hitherto been formed of a flat strip of metal coiled into
a spiral form, so as to form a single volute more or less conical according to
the design of the constructor. Such springs are deficient, as they do not
afford sufficient play or movement in the direction in which the weight rests
upon them, hence two or more springs of this description have been placed
one above the other, so that the amount of play or movement obtained is
equal to the sum of the movements of the separate springs. This mode of
combining several springs together is objectionable, on account of the difficulty
or cost of securing a series of separate springs in such manner that they shall
be sufficiently rigid in a transverse direction to sustain lateral strains.
The object of the first part of the Invention is to obtain in a volute spring
the requisite amount of play in the direction of the endwise strain, with
sufficient rigidity to sustain strains transverse thereto, and it consists in a'

page_text: double volute spring, which has the form of two volutes adjoining each other
at the smaller ends, and is constructed of a strip of metal coiled spirally, so
that the rings of the spirals overlap each other, and form ends or bases which
arc symetrical.
The purpose of the second part of the Invention is the formation of volute
springs of sheet steel plates, by coiling the same upon a mandril of suitable
form, and the machinery I am about to describe, and in which the Invention
is embodied, is specially adapted to the manufacture of the double volute
spring, which constitutes the first part of the Invention. The principle
operating parts of the machine are a former or mandril upon which the spring
is coiled, and conical rollers, by means of which the metal of the spring is
borne against and coiled upon the mandril. The mandril or former upon
which the spring is to be coiled is composed of two conical parts with their
smaller ends towards each other, and so that the two parts may be withdrawn
endwise in opposite directions from the coiled spring when made thereon.
One of these parts is perforated to fit upon a spindle secured to the other part.
The extremities of the mandril or former fit into sockets formed in the centres
of two head blocks, which are secured to the overhanging extremities of two
shafts, and those shafts are supported in line with each other, and with the
mandril or former between them. One of these shafts is prevented from
moving endwise by a collar at each side of its journals; the collars of the
other shaft are far enough apart to permit the shaft to be moved endwise a
sufficient distance to detach the mandril from the sockets in the head blocks,
and this endwise movement is imparted when necessary by means of a shifting
lever of the ordinary construction. Each head block has a conical roller
secured to it to act upon the plate or suitable strip of steel. The exterior
surface of these rollers have the forms of volutes coiled in directions opposite
to those of the volutes of the springs to be made. Each roller is secured to
a spindle, so that it can turn to apply itself to the spring plate. Beneath the
mandril or former there is a support which approaches it, the space between
the two being sufficient to admit the plate to be formed into a spring; and
this support has a lever pivotted to it, one of whose ends can be made to
bear upon the centre of the mandril or former, so as to prevent it from
springing. Each of the shafts is fitted with a cog wheel, whose teeth engage
in those of a corresponding pinion secured to a counter shaft, and each counter-
shaft is fitted with a belt pulley, to which a belt may be applied to drive the
machine. The two belts may both proceed from driving pulleys secured to
one driving shaft, but, as in manufacturing a double volute spring of the form
above mentioned, the conical rollers are necessarily turned in opposite directions,

page_text: one of the belts must be crossed. The driving shaft should be driven by means
of a belt that can be shifted when desired from a fast to a loose pulley, or by
some other means that will enable the operators to stop the machine or put it
in operation with facility. In coiling double volute springs it will be observed
that the rollers turn in opposite directions around the mandril; therefore the
tendency of the plate being coiled to move in one direction under the operation
of one roller is counteracted by an equal and opposite effect produced by the
other roller. This peculiarity in the machine renders it unnecessary to nick
the steel plates, so as to prevent them from turning upon the mandril, and
thus saves the time and labour consumed in performing that operation. The
part of the Invention thus described is not limited to the manufacture of
double volute springs, but may be adapted to the manufacture of single volute
springs; in this case but one conical roller is required, and the mandril has
the form of a single cone, and means are employed to prevent the spring plate
from turning upon the mandril while it is being coiled. The machine I have
thus described may be modified without affecting the principle of the Invention,
and I propose to modify it as circumstances may require. Thus, for example,
when the Invention is adapted to the manufacture of a single volute spring,
the mandril may be made to revolve, and the conical roller, although turning
upon its axis, to retain its position, or both may be made to revolve. The
mechanism by which motion is imparted to the rollers may also be varied.
The third part of the Invention has reference to the application of springs
to carriages. In the movement of carriages over roads it frequently happens
when a wheel descends into a rut or other depression in the surface of the
road that a much greater strain is brought upon the spring nearest this
wheel from the surging of the load than it is required to bear at other times,
and this extraordinary strain frequently causes the breaking of the spring.
In order to guard against such accidents it is customary to make the springs
of much greater strength than is necessary to enable them to sustain the load.
The employment of such springs, however, not only increases the first cost of
the carriage, but renders it much more rigid or less elastic than it is advisable
it should be in order to carry the load with ease. The object of the Invention
is to diminish the danger resulting from such strains by equalizing the strain
upon the springs or by propagating a portion of the strain from the spring at
one side of the carriage to the corresponding one at the other side thereof, so
that when from any reason one spring is subjected to an undue strain a portion
of this strain is imparted to the other spring. This part of the Invention is
peculiarly adapted to the employment of volute springs, for which purpose
two volute springs are secured by their bases to plates attached to the under

page_text: side of the bolster, so that their smaller ends project downwards, and bear
upon corresponding plates secured to the upper side of the axletree. The
plates upon the axletree have guide spindles secured to them, which project
upwards within the springs, and retain their lower ends in their proper
positions. The plate at each end of the axletree is connected with the
corresponding plate on the bolster above by a pair of toggle-jointed bars;
and the toggle joint of each pair of bars is connected by a rod with one
extremity of an equalizing lover, which is pivotted to a plate or bracket that
is secured to the centre of the axletree. As the toggle joints are arranged so
as to bend towards each other, and as the rods from the two toggle joints are
connected with the opposite ends of the equalizing lever, it follows that when
one toggle joint is acted on its movement Interally is propagated through the
connecting rods and equalizing lever to the other toggle joint, which is acted
on to a corresponding degree; hence when a strain is experienced sufficient to
bend one of the springs at one end of the axletree, the toggle joint thereat
will transmit a portion of this strain to the other toggle joint, and thence to
the other spring at the other end of the axletree. This equalizing apparatus
also acts as a stay to prevent excessive surging in a Interal direction, and thus
diminishes the chance of breaking the springs by such movement. It is
evident that the known mechanical equivalents of the members of the
equalizing apparatus above described may be substituted for them without
affecting the principle of the Invention. The construction and arrangement
of the parts may also be modified as circumstances may require.
The spring which constitutes the first part of the Invention is a double
volute, symmetrical in opposite directions from the centre, or may be con-
sidered as composed of two volutes joined at their apices by the rigid
connection of the plate of one volute with the plate of the other volute; it,
therefore, has an amount of play or movement in an endwise direction equal
to the sum of the movements of the two volutes, while it is sufficiently rigid
in a transverse direction to withstand transverse strains.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughboro' Park, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, 3
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the
said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SPRINGS, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF SPRINGS TO CARRIAGES,"
a communication, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 thereof, that is to say:
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the improved double volute spring;
Figure 2 is a plan of a plate of steel suitable for the manufacture of such
a spring; Figure 3 is a front elevation of a machine adapted to the manu-
facture of the said spring; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the same; Figure 5
is a plan of the same; Figure 6 is a vertical section of the samne at the line
Xx of Figuro 5; Figure 7 is a front elevation of the equalizing apparatus
for volute or other springs applied to the axletree of a wagon; Figure 8 is a
plan of the same with the bolster removed; and Figure 9 is a cross section
thereof at the line x x of Figure 7.
Volute springs have hitherto been formed of a flat strip of metal coiled into
a spiral form, so as to form a single volute more or less conical, according to
the design of the constructor; such springs are deficient, as they do not
afford sufficient play or movement in the direction in which the weight rests
upon them, hence two or more springs of this description have been placed
one above the other, so that the amount of play or movement obtained is-

page_text: equal to the sum of the movements of the separate springs. This mode of
combining several springs together is objectionable on account of the difficulty
or cost of securing a series of separate springs in such manner that they shall
be sufficiently rigid in a transverse direction to sustain lateral strains. The
object of the first part of the Invention is to obtain in a voluto spring the
requisite amount of play in the direction of the endwise strain with sufficient
rigidity to sustain strains transverse thereto, and it consists in a double voluto
spring which bas the form of two volutes adjoining .each other, and is con-
structed of a strip of metal coiled spirally, so that the rings of the spirals
overlap each other, and form ends or bases which are symetrical.
The purpose of the second part of the Invention is the formation of voluto
springs of sheet steel plates by coiling the same upon a mandril of suitable
formi, and the machinery I am about to describe, and in which the Invention
is embodied, is specially adapted to the manufacture of the double volute
spring which constitutes the first part of the Invention. The principal
operating parts of the machine are a former or mandril, upon which the
spring is coiled, and conical rollers, by means of which the spring is borne
against and coiled upon the mandril.
In the accompanying Drawings the various moving parts of the machine
are represented as secured to a strong frame A, A. The mandril B upon
which the spring is to be coiled is in this instance composed of two parts c
and d dividing at the centre, so that the two parts may be withdrawn endwise
in opposite directions from the coiled spring. One of these parts c is per-
forated to fit upon a spindle secured to the other part. The extremities of
the mandril fit into sockets formed in the centres of two head blocks Ę and
E', which are secured to the overhanging extremities of two shafts F and F¹,
and these shafts are supported in line with each other and with the mandril
between them in suitable pillow blocks h, h, upon the upper bars of the framo
of the machine. One of these shafts F is prevented from moving endwise by
the collars at each side of its journals; the collars of the other shaft are far
enough apart to permit tho shaft to be moved ondwise a sufficient distance to
detach the mandril from the sockets in the head blocks, and this endwise.
movement is imparted when necessary by means of a shifting lever G of the
ordinary construction. Each head block has a conical roller II secured to it
to act upon the plate of steel. The exterior surface of theso rollers have the
forms of volutes coiled in directions opposite to those of the volutes of the
springs to be made. Each roller is secured to a spindle, so that it can turn
to apply itself to the spring plate. Beneath the mandril B there is a support
1 which approaches it, the space between the two being sufficient to admit

page_text: the plate to be formed into a spring, and this support has a lever J pivotted
to it, one of whose ends can be made to bear upon the centre of the mandril,
so as to prevent it from springing upwards under the strain. Each of the
shafts F, F, is fitted with a cog wheel K and K, whose teeth engage in
those of a corresponding pinion secured to a countershaft L, and each
countershaft is fitted with a belt pulley M, to which a belt may be applied
to drive the machine. The two belts may both proceed from driving pulleys
secured to one driving shaft; but as in manufacturing a double volute spring
of the form shewn at Figure 1 the conical rollers are necessarily turned in
opposite directions, one of the belts must be crossed. The driving shaft N
should be driven by means of a belt that can be shifted when desired from
a fast to a loose pulley, or by some other means that will enable the operators
to stop the machine or put it in operation with facility. In forming double
volute springs with this machine plates of sheet steel of the form represented
at Figure 2 are employed. These are heated in a suitable furnace, and are
then introduced endwise one at a time beneath the mandril B upon the
support I until the central part of the plate is beneath the mandril. Before
each plate is introduced the conical rollers are turned until both are directly
beneath the mandril, and after the plate is introduced the conical rollers are
put in motion by throwing the driving shaft into gear, and as they revolve
they bear against the exterior face of the plate and roll it down in spiral coils
upon the mandril. In effecting this operation the edges of the two volutes
of the rollers bear against the edges of the spring plate, and thus direct it in.
coiling, so that it assumes the proper conical or volute form. When the
operation is completed the machine is stopped, the shaft F¹ is moved endwise
to free the mandril, the lever J is raised, and the mandril with the spring
upon it is removed from the machine. The two parts of the mandril are
withdrawn endwise from the spring, and the latter is tempered and polished
necessary in any suitable manner.
if
In operating with this machine the mandril and conical rollers should be
of suitable size and form relatively to the thickness of the steel, and the form
of spring to be produced. And in using the machine it will be found
advisable in order to save time to have a number of mandrils, so that while
one is being withdrawn from a spring another may have a spring coiled upon
it in the machine.
In commencing work it will be found that the coldness of the metal will
chill thin steel, therefore part of machine may be heated up before putting it
in operation, by laying hot plates of iron upon the mandril rollers and head

page_text: blocks, or in any other suitable manner. It may even be found necessary to
apply heat to these parts of the machine during the operation, which may bo
done by means of a suitable furnace placed beneath them, or in any other
manner that will produce the required results.
In coiling double volute springs, it will be observed that the rollers turn
in opposite directions around the mandril; therefore the tendency of the plato
being coiled to move in one direction under the operation of one roller, is
counteracted by an equal and opposite effect produced by the other roller.
This peculiarity in the machine renders it unnecessary to nick the steel plates,
so as to prevent them from turning upon the mandril, and thus saves the time
and labor consumed in performing that operation. The part of the Invention
thus described is not limited to the manufacture of double volute springs, but
may be adapted to the manufacture of single volute springs; in this case but
one conical roller is required, and the mandril has the form of a single cone;
some means must, however, in this case be employed to prevent the spring
plate from turning upon the mandril while it is being coiled. The machine I
have thus described may be modified without affecting the principle of the
Invention, and I propose to modify it as circumstances may require; thus for
example, when the Invention is adapted to the manufacture of a single volute
spring, the mandril may be made to revolve, and the conical roller although
turning upon its axis to retain its position, or both may be made to revolve in
opposite directions. The mechanism by which motion is imparted to the
rollers may also be varied.
The third part of the Invention has reference to the application of springs
to carriages of all descriptions in which springs are used. In the movement
of carriages over roads, it frequently happens when a wheel descends into a
rut or other depression in the surface of the road, that a much greater strain is
brought upon the spring nearest this wheel from the surging of the load, than
it is required to bear at other times, and this extraordinary strain frequently
causes the breaking of the spring. In order to guard against such accidents
it is customary to make the springs of much greater strength than is necessary
to enable them to sustain the load; the employment of such springs, however,
not only increases the first cost of the carriage, but renders it much more
rigid or less elastic than it is advisable it should be, in order to carry tho load
with ease.
The object of the Invention is to diminish the danger resulting from such
strains, by equalizing the strain upon the springs, or by propagating a portion
of the strain from the spring at one side of the carriage, to the corresponding

page_text: one at the other side thereof, so that when from any reason one spring is
subjected to an undue strain a portion of this strain is imparted to the other
spring.
This part of the Invention is peculiarly adapted to the employment of volute
springs, and is represented, as usual, in connection with such springs in the
accompanying Drawing, in which the volute springs P, P, are secured by
their bases to plates e, e, attached to the under side of the bolster R, so that
their ends project downwards, and bear upon corresponding plates u, u, secured
to the upper side of the axletree. The plates upon the axletree have guide
spindles secured to them, shewn in dotted lines in Figure 7, which project
upwards within the springs, and retain their lower ends in their proper
positions. The plate at each end of the axletree is connected with the corre-
sponding plate on the bolster above by a pair of toggle jointed bars n, n, and
tho toggle joint of each pair of bars is connected by a rod 7, with ono
extremity of an equalizing lever s, which is pivotted to a plate or bracket t
that is secured to the centre of the axletree. As the toggle joints are arranged
so as to bend towards each other, and as the rods from the two toggle joints
are connected with the opposite ends of the equalizing lever, it follows, that
when one toggle joint is flexed, its movement laterally is propagated through
the connecting rods and equalizing lever to the other toggle joint, which is
flexed in a corresponding degree, hence, when a strain is experienced
sufficient to bend one of the springs at one side of the axletree and flex tho
toggle joint thereat, a portion of this strain is propagated through the
connecting rods, equalizing lever, and other toggal joints, to the spring at the
other end of the axletree, which is also caused to bend, so that the strain
instead of being borne wholly by one spring, is divided between the two. This
equalizing apparatus also acts as a stay to prevent excessive surging in a
lateral direction, and thus diminishes the chance of breaking the springs by
such movement.
It is evident that the known mechanical equivalents of the members of the
equalizing apparatus, above described, may be substituted for them without
affecting the principle of the Invention; the construction and arrangements of
the parts may also be modified as circumstances may require.
I do not,
therefore, limit this part of the Invention to the precise arrangement and
construction herein set forth.
The spring, which constitutes the first part of the Invention, is a double
volute symetrical in opposite directions from the centre, or may be considered
as composed of two volutes, joined at their apices by the rigid connection of
the plate of one volute, with the plate of the other volute. It therefore has

page_text: an amount of play or movement in an endwise direction, equal. to the sum of
the movements of the two volutes while it is sufliciently rigid in a transverse
direction to withstand transverse strains.
Having thus described the Invention, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine the first portion of the Invention to the peculiar manner in which
the double volute spring is made, or to the peculiar machinery which I have
herein described for making it, as these may be varied without affecting tho
principle of this part of the Invention; but what I claim as the Invention,
and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the combining machinery for the
manufacture of a double voluto spring, constructed substantially as herein
described, having the form of two volutes rigidly connected.
I also claim the combination of a conical roller, with a mandril, so as to
coil a volute spring, substantially as herein set forth.
I also claim the combination of two conical rollers, moving in opposite
directions, with a double conical mandril, so as to coil a double volute spring
at ono operation.
I also claim the method of directing the coiling of the plato into a volute
spring, by means of the volute upon the conical roller turned in a direction the
reverse of that in the spring to be formed.
I also claim the equalizing apparatus for equalizing the strain upon the
springs of carriages, consisting of togglo joints, connecting rods, and equalizing
lover, or their equivalents, constructed and operating substantially as herein
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
R. BROWNING,
New Court, St. Swithin's Lane.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.s.)