IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING HELICAL SPRINGS to be as follows, that is to say
Year: 1885

page_text: I, LOUIS STERNE, of The Crown Iron Works, Glasgow, in the County of Lanark
North Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING HELICAL SPRINGS
to be as
follows, that is to say :-
"
My said Invention has for its object the economical and rapid manufacture of
helical springs by coiling bars of steel or other suitable metal of a section which
may be described as having a square part for the inner part connected by a web to
an outer square part or bead which last is smaller than the inner part whilst the
connecting web is thinner than the outer bead. In forming a spring a bar of the
section described is coiled so that the web assumes a conical or inclined form and
so that when completely compressed the inner square parts of adjacent convolutions
come into contact with each other whilst the other parts remain slightly apart.
According to one modification the coiling is effected at two operations the
straight bar (in a suitably heated state) being first coiled so as to form coin-
paratively large coils with the web nearly at right angles to the axis. At the
second operation the coiled bar is recoiled into the intended finished form, the
steel or other metal being heated between the two operations if required.
The first coiling operation is effected by means of a mandril formed with a
helical flange, between the convolutions of which the bar is coiled by turning the
mandril, the starting end of the bar being secured to the mandril by being entered
into a socket formed for it in the mandril, whilst a disk which rotates on and can
move along a parallel shaft and which projects in between the helical flanges of
the mandril rolls and bends the spring bar down into the spaces between the
helical flanges. The coiled bar is got off the mandril by holding it whilst the
mandril is turned so as to unscrew itself out of the coils.
The machinery used in the second operation comprises a mandril upon which
the coiled bar is recoiled, and a counterpart helical roller. The helical surfaces of
the mandril are made of a shape fitting the inner surfaces of the spring as finished
and the surfaces of the helical roller are shaped so as to be counterparts of the
outer surfaces of the spring as finished. The mandril and helical roller are
supported by means of three headstocks, and the shaft of the mandril is made
capable of longitudinal movement through the boss of its driving wheel to admit
of the mandril being unscrewed out of the coiled spring. When the mandril is in

page_text: position for coiling a fresh spring, its end engages in a socket in a boss or
short shaft carried in the outermost headstock and this boss or short shaft drives
the helical roller by means of a pair of pinions. The boss or short shaft is also
fitted with a lever jaw or dog and with a handwheel on a screw spindle and a
wedge for acting on the lever jaw, this lever jaw being used for gripping the
starting end of the coil which is to be formed into a spring. The end of the coil
being gripped the parts are set in motion and the coiling takes place the belical
roller bending and rolling the coil closely down into the helical grooves of the
mandril. The coiling action is further assisted and the coil properly guided in
being drawn in between the mandril and roller by a travelling block fitted partly
on a roller and on the mandril and which is moved along by their screwing action
as the coiling proceeds. For removing the coiled spring the mandril is disconnected
from the boss or short shaft in the outermost headstock and is then turned to
unscrew itself, the helical roller being then stationary. The guide block is also
stationary and causes the mandril to move back by its screwing action, the spring
becoming free to drop out or to be removed.
Instead of the first stage of the coiling operation being effected by means of a
separate machine, the second machine may have fitted upon the travelling guide
block a pair of small rollers specially adapted to the form of the uncoiled bar, for
guiding the bar in between the helical mandril and the helical roller. These small
rollers act upon and guide the bar in such a way that a straight bar may be
entered between them and be coiled into the finished form at one operation.
Dated th 1. ST. 100
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent.
2

page_text: Improvements in Machinery for Making Helical Springs.
I, LOUIS STERNE, of The Crown Iron Works, Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, 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, that is to say:
:-
My said Invention has for its object the economical and rapid manufacture of
helical springs by coiling bars of steel or other suitable metal of a section which
may be described as having a square part for the inner part connected by a web
to an outer square part or bead which last is smaller than the inner part whilst the
connecting web is thinner than the outer bead. In forming a spring a bar of the
section described is coiled so that the web assumes a conical or inclined form and
so that when completely compressed the inner square parts of adjacent convolu-
tions come into contact with each other whilst the other parts remain slightly
apart.
According to one modification the coiling is effected at two operations, the
straight bar (in a suitably heated state) being first coiled so as to form com-
paratively large coils with the web nearly at right angles to the axis. At the
second operation the coiled bar is recoiled into the intended finished form, the steel
or other metal being heated between the two operations if required.
Instead of the first stage of the coiling operation being effected by means of a
separate machine, the second machine may be provided with a pair of small rollers
specially adapted to the form of the uncoiled bar for guiding the bar into the
machine, these small rollers acting upon and guiding the bar in such a way that
a straight bar may be entered between them and be coiled into the finished form
at one operation.
My improved machinery is delineated upon three accompanying sheets of
explanatory drawings, figure, 1, on sheet, 1, being a side elevation and figure, 2,
an end elevation of the machine used for the first coiling stage when the coiling is
effected at two operations. Figure, 3, is an elevation of one end of the machine
for effecting the second stage of the operation, figure, 4, being a transverse vertical
section, and figure, 5, an elevation of the other end, whilst figure, 6, is a transverse
vertical section of details. Figure, 7, on sheet, 2, is a sectional side elevation and
figure, 8, is a plan of the second-stage machine. Figure, 9, on sheet, 3, is an
enlarged section of the coiling mandril and helical roller of the second-stage
machine and also showing a section of the bar which is to be coiled. Figures, 10,
and 11, on sheet, 3, are enlarged vertical sections as at right angles to each other
showing the application of the small rollers for enabling the entire coiling operation
to be effected in one machine. In these drawings the same reference numerals are
used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
In the machine shown in figures 1, and 2, the first coiling operation is effected
by means of a mandril, 12, formed with a helical flange, 13, between the convolu-
tions of which the bar is coiled by turning the mandril, the starting end of the
bar being secured to the mandril by being entered into a socket or under a

page_text: clamp, 14, fixed on the mandril, whilst a disk, 15, which rotates on and can move
along a shaft, 16, parallel to the mandril, and which disk projects in between the
helical flanges, 13, of the mandril and bends the spring bar down into the spaces
between the helical flanges. The disk, 15, is delineated in section in figure, 1, in
order the better to show its shape. The coiled bar is got off the mandril by
holding it whilst the mandril is turned so as to unscrew itself out of the coils.
The gearing for driving the mandril, 12, is not shown but may be similar to that
for driving the mandril on which the spring bar is coiled in the second-stage
machine. The mandril, 12, is supported by rollers, 17, so as to withstand the
downward strain due to the bending of the spring bar in between the flanges, 13,
of the mandril and the upper disk, 15.
The machine used in the second operation, and shown in figures, 3, to 9, comprises
a mandril, 18, upon which the coiled bar is recoiled, and a counterpart helical
roller, 19. The helical surfaces of the mandril, 18, are made of a shape fitting the
inner surfaces of the spring as finished; and the surfaces of the helical roller, 19,
are shaped so as to be counterparts or nearly so of the outer surfaces of the spring
as finished, as shown in figure, 9. The mandril, 18, with a shaft, 20, which is a
and
continuation of it, is supported by means of four headstocks, 21, 22, 23, 24;
two of these, 21, 22, also carry the helical roller, 19, the whole four being bolted
down to a horizontal bed frame, 25. The driving wheel, 26, of the mandril, 18, is
made with or fixed on a long tubular boss, 27, carried in bearings in two, 23, 24,
of the headstocks, and the mandril shaft, 20, is capable of longitudinal movement
through the boss, 27, to admit of the mandril, 18, being unscrewed out of the coiled
spring. In figures, 7, and 8, the mandril is shown as in the position for coiling
a fresh spring and when in this position its squared end engages in a central
socket in the inner end of a boss or short shaft, 28, carried in the outermost
headstock, 21, and this boss or short shaft, 28, drives the helical roller, 19, by
means of a pair of pinions, 29. The boss or short shaft, 28, is also fitted with a
lever jaw or dog, 30, and with a handwheel, 31, on a screw spindle, 32, formed
with a wedge or cone, 33, for acting on the lever jaw, 30, this lever jaw being used
for gripping the starting end of the coil which is to be formed into a spring. The
end of the coil having been gripped, the parts are set in motion, and the coiling
takes place, the helical roller, 19, bending and rolling the coil (34 figure, 9) closely
down into the helical groove of the mandril, 18. The coiling action is further
assisted, and the coil properly guided in being drawn in between the mandril, 18,
and roller, 19, by a travelling block, 35, fitted partly on the roller, 19, and con-
nected to the mandril, 18, and which is moved along by their screwing action as
the coiling proceeds.
The spurwheel, 26, hereinbefore referred to as on a tubular boss, 27, through
which the mandril shaft, 20, passes, is in gear with a pinion, 36, on a counter
shaft, 37, which has also on it two other pinions, 38, 39, geared to spurwheels, 40,
41, on the first-motion shaft, 42, (driven by means of pulleys and a belt not shown)
One, 40, of the spurwheels on the first-motion shaft, 42, is geared through an
intermediate pinion, 43, on a stud, to the wheel, 38, on the countershaft, 37, so as
to give a motion in the opposite direction to that given through the wheels, 41,
and 39; and the wheels, 40, and 41, are loose on their shaft, one or other being
put into gear as required by means of a clutch, 44, moved by a lever, 45, The
clutch lever, 45, is connected by a link, 46, to a lever on a rocking shaft, 47, which
has hand levers, 4S, fixed on it at each side of the machine. On the same rocking
shaft, 47, there is fixed a stop lever, 49, indicated by dotted lines in figures, 7,
and 8; and this stop lever, 49, is moved so as to stop the coiling action at the
proper time, by a bar, 50, having an adjustable screw end, and which is itself
pushed forward by means of an arm, 51, on its other end. When a spring is being
coiled the arm, 51, stands out horizontally and is encountered by a vertical bar, 52,
fixed to the travelling block, 35, when this block approaches the intended end of
its traverse. As soon as a spring has been coiled on the mandril, 18, a bar, 53,
jointed on a pin on the inuer face of the headstock, 22, is turned up so as to allow

page_text: the enlarged part of the mandril shaft, 20, and the mandril, 18, itself fixed to that
part, to move through the headstock when being unscrewed out of the coiled spring.
At the same time a link, 54, connecting the bar, 53, to a lever, 55, turns the
bar, 50, so as to move its arm, 51, out of the way of the vertical bar, 52. The
clutch, 44, next put into gear so as to give the reversed motion, which causes the
mandril, 18, to be unscrewed and withdrawn out of the coiled spring towards
the driving end of the machine. The coiled spring having been set free in this way
is removed; and afterwards the mandril shaft, 20, with the mandril, 18, is noved
back to the position for acting on a fresh spring by means of a lever, 56, jointed to
a ring on the mandril shaft and connected by a link, 57, to the framing, whilst
arms, 58, on the mandril shaft serve for adjusting the mandril, 18, into its proper
position relatively to the helical roller, 19. The travelling block, 35, is steadied
and guided by means of a bar, 59, fixed to the top of it and working through a
guide, 60, fixed to the top of one, 21, of the headstocks; and there is jointed to the
travelling block, 35, a hand lever, 61, with a claw-like inner end, 62, for holding
and guiding the spring bar as it is being drawn in between the mandril, 18, and
helical roller, 19. When the clutch, 44, is being moved automatically as herein-
before described for stopping the coiling action, it is prevented from being moved
too far by a bolt, 63, which is in the way of one of the hand levers, 48, and which
is shifted by hand at the proper time to allow the lever to be moved over.
The modified arrangement designed with the view of dispensing with the use of
the first-stage machine shown in figures, 1, and 2, will be understood from
figures, 10, and 11, which figures will also serve for the better explanation of the
construction of the travelling block, 35. This block, 35, consists essentially of
upper and lower parts 35, 64, which are bolted together and which are made with
parts shaped to fit like parts of nut threads in between the convolutions of the
helical roller, 19, and mandril, 18, The small rollers, 65, 66, for guiding in the bar
to be coiled are fitted in a casting, 67, which is bolted in between the upper and
lower parts 35, 64, of the travelling block at one side; and they are placed so that
as the bar is drawn in between them it will receive a primary bending which will
enable it to enter between the mandril, 18, and helical roller, 19, in a manner to
insure its being properly coiled.
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
The combination of parts constituting the improved spring coiling machine
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures, 3, to 9, of the
accompanying drawings, whether the same be used in connection with a primary
coiling machine such as is herein before described with reference to figures, 1, and 2,
of the accompanying drawings or without such primary machine.
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent.