IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR COILING WIRE
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Harris Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
& Co Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London for an invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR COILING WIRE" Communicated to him
from abroad by George Gale, of Waterville, Canada, Manufacturer,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Harris Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd May 1882.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings London "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR COILING
WIRE" [Communicated to him from abroad by George Gale, of Waterville,
Canada, Manufacturer],
The objects of this invention is to provide improved machinery for coiling
annealed and unannealed steel and iron, or other wire, for springs, flexible shafting,
and for other purposes to which such coils may be applied. According to my
invention the parts may be so adjusted as to produce open or closed coils; I may
increase or diminish the size of the coils; the coiling devices may be attached to an
ordinary lathe; and when necessary, new parts may be easily substituted for those
subjected to much wear.
In carrying the said invention into practice I provide a base surmounted by two
vertical standards in the tops of which a shaft has its bearings. One end of this
shaft carries a crank or handle and the other is provided with a coupling which
serves to couple a spindle thereto, the said spindle and shaft being held therein by
set-screws. The said spindle has a reduced cone-shaped portion and receives a die
which projects into, and is secured to, a tool-carrier by a set-screw. The die is
provided with a spiral face, and its central cavity or eye is enlarged toward the
opposite face, the purpose of which will be presently explained. The eye of the
die is of a diameter sufficient to permit the free end of the spindle to be passed
through it.

page_text: The tool-carrier is held in a slot in a post by means of a set-screw and is capable
of adjustment therein. The said post has a lateral adjustment in the base. The
tool-carrier is provided with a bevelled plate capable of lateral movement crosswise
of the tool-carrier in a dove-tail slot made in the said tool-carrier. The bevelled
plate has a depending slotted arm which fits an adjusting screw between two collars
formed thereon, the said screw entering the tool-carrier below the bevelled plate.
A screw-rod is screwed in, and held with a nut, to the opposite end of the bevelled
plate and projects vertically therefrom, and is provided with a grooved-pulley.
This pulley can be moved in a vertical or horizontal plane by means of the screw-
rod and its nut. A washer may be placed on the spindle between the coupling and
tool-carrier to reduce the wear of said parts at that point.
One end of the wire to be coiled is conducted from a suitable reel to, and under,
the grooved pulley and over the cone-shaped portion of the spindle and then wound
several turns on said spindle, the shaft is caused to revolve in the direction in which
the wire is wound on the spindle, when motion is thereby communicated by means
of the coupling to the spindle which freely revolves within the die, while the latter
is held in a fixed position in the tool-carrier by the set-screw.
•
With the revolution of the shaft, wire is continuously coiled on the spindle, but
is as rapidly forced off by the spiral face of the die.
This result could not be accomplished if the spindle were not cone-shaped, as
described, because of the "spring" of the wire tending to increase the diameter of
the coil. Slightly increasing the diameter of the spindle at the end opposite to its
shank, compensates for this increase of diameter of the coil, whereby sufficient
friction is obtained to cause the wire to be continuously coiled.
When it is desired to manufacture close coils, the adjustable bevelled plate is
moved outwardly away from the shaft so that the pulley will conduct the wire on
to the spindle more nearly in line with the point at which the wire is forced off by
the spiral face.
If open coils are desired, the said plate is moved in an opposite direction, and
the pulley slightly turned in a horizontal plane, so that the wire will be fed on to
the spindle, at an oblique angle against the spiral face.
In coiling wires of varying sizes the pulley is moved up or down, as may be
required, to keep the wire in its grooved surface.
Again, by moving the post made adjustable as hereinbefore stated, to the left, yet
keeping the tool-carrier in contact with the washer, and this in contact with the
coupling, the conical eye of the die permitting such adjustment, the angle of the
spiral face of the die with the face of the spindle will be increasing, thus causing
the wire to be coiled more open. By this adjustment, I effect that which would
be accomplished by increasing the pitch of the spiral face.
To increase or diminish the diameter of the coils, larger or smaller dies and
· spindles are used. As the spindles are increased in diameter to make larger coils,
the eye in the dies must be of increased size to permit the spindle to be inserted
therein; in which case the same tool-carrier may, to a certain extent, be used with
dies having eyes of different sizes by preserving the same outer diameter of said
dies and increasing or diminishing the thickness of the shell, to vary the size of
the central opening thereof.
When used as a lathe-attachment the spindle or mandrel, is secured in the
arbor of the lathe, the tool-carrier or arm being secured to the tool-post of the saine
in like manner as the common lathe cutting tools are attached.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Harris Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd November 1882.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, * IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR COILING
WIRE A communication to me from abroad by George Gale, of Waterville,
Canada, Manufacturer
»
The object of this invention is to provide an improved machine for coiling
annealed and unannealed steel, iron or other wire to form springs or flexible
shafting, or for other purposes to which such coiled wire may be applied.
According to the said invention the parts of the machine can be adjusted to
produce open or closed coils, that is to say, coils in which the adjacent turns are
in contact, or coils in which there is a greater or less space between the adjacent
turns; the size of the coils can be increased or diminished as desired; the coiling
machine can be attached to an ordinary lathe or can be arranged to be operated
by hand; and those parts which are subjected to much wear can easily be
renewed.
In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated a convenient and advantageous
mode of carrying the said invention into practice.
Figure 1 represents a plan or top view of a machine for coiling wire, constructed
in accordance with the said invention.
Figure 2. represents a front elevation, and
Figure 3 a side elevation of the same.
Figure 4 represents a central section of the thimble or spiral-faced tube and,
Figure 5 represents a modified form of the said tube (drawn to an enlarged
scale) in which the said spiral face is extended.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
a represents a spindle or mandril which has a conical or taper portion a', and
one end of which is inserted in the flanged piece b and is secured therein by means
of the set-screw c. The thimble or tube d is fitted in the tool holder or carrier e
and is secured therein by means of the set-screw f. The said tube is provided
with a spiral face and its internal diameter is sufficient to permit the free or outer
end of the spindle a to be passed through it.
When the improved machine is to be operated by an ordinary lathe, the tool-
holder e is secured in the slide-rest and the flanged piece b is attached to the
chuck or to the face-plate of the said lathe. The said tool-bolder is made with a
dovetail or other suitable slot to receive the adjustable bracket g which is capable
of to-and-fro movement therein. This bracket g has a forked or slotted arın h
which fits over the adjusting screw i between the two collars k, k¹, formed thereon.
The screw i passes through the tool-holder e below the adjustable bracket "g, as
shown in Figure 3. The bracket or standard has a screw-rod which is screwed
into the adjustable bracket g and is held by means of a lock-nut m. The standard
projects vertically from the adjustable bracket g and has the pin n suitably fitted
in it; this pin carries the grooved pulley o. It will therefore be seen that the
pulley o can be set so as to form any desired angle with the spindle a and can be
adjusted either vertically or horizontally by means of the said screw-rod and
lock-nut m, and the screw i.
The improved machine is operated as follows, that is to say;-One end of the
wire to be coiled is conducted from a suitable reel to, and under, the grooved
pulley o and over the conical or taper portion a' of the spindle a; it is then
wound around the said spindle until sufficient friction is produced to cause the

page_text: wire to be rotated with the spindle. The said spindle is then caused to rotate
within the thimble or tube d in the direction in which the wire is wound, the said
thimble or tube being held securely in position in the tool-holder e by the set-
screw f. The rotation of the spindle a causes the wire to be continuously coiled
upon it but the said wire is as rapidly forced off the said spindle by the spiral
face of the thimble or tube d. This result could not be obtained if the spindle a
were not made with a conical or taper portion as above described, because the
elasticity of the wire would tend to increase the diameter of the coil and thus
prevent any friction between it and the spindle; but by gradually increasing the
diameter of the spindle a towards its free or outer end I compensate for this
increase in the diameter of the coil and thus obtain sufficient friction to cause the
wire to be continuously coiled. By these means long pieces of coiled wire can be
rapidly and easily produced.
When it is desired to manufacture close coils, the adjustable bracket g is moved
outwardly so that the pulley o will conduct the wire on to the spindle a more
nearly in line with the point at which the wire is forced off by the spiral face of
the thimble or tube d. If open coils are desired, the bracket g is moved in the
opposite direction, and the pulley is slightly turned in a horizontal plane, so that
the wire will be conducted onto the spindle at an acute angle thereto, and against
the spiral face of the said thimble or tube.
In the modification shewn in Figure 5 the spiral face of the thimble or tube d
is extended so that it will act upon a number of turns of the coil simultaneously;
this arrangement is especially adapted for forming open coils.
To increase or diminish the diameter of the coils, larger or smaller thimbles or
tubes d are employed. When spindles of greater diameter are employed to make
larger coils, the internal diameter of the thimbles or tubes must be greater to
permit the spindle to be inserted therein and vice versa, but the same tool-holder
may, to a certain extent, be used with thimbles or tubes having different internal
diameters by making the said thimbles or tubes of the same external diameter.
If desired, the said coiling machine may be arranged in any suitable manner to
be operated by hand, or it can be fixed to any machine suitable for operating it by
steam or other power
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I do not confine myself to any particular form or size of the said machine as
the same may be varied in many ways without departing from the nature of the
said invention, and I claim, in a machine for coiling wire ;-
First. A spindle having a conical or taper portion and adapted to be rotated
within a thimble or tube having a spiral face, in such a manner that as the wire
is coiled upon the spindle it is pressed outward by the said spiral face to enable
a continuous coil to be formed upon the said spindle.
Second. The standard secured to, and adjustable in, the tool-holder and carrying
the grooved pulley for guiding the wire to be coiled, substantially as set forth.
Third. The bracket g adapted to slide in a slot in the tool-holder and capable of
adjustment therein by means of the screw i, substantially as, and for the purpose,
set forth,
In witness whereof I the said Henry Harris Lake, have hereunto set my
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