Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 5th Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted, 10th Feb., 1888
We WILLIAM JAMES of Alexander Stamping Works Monmore Lane Willenhall in
the County of Stafford Manufacturer and SILAB DUFFIELD of Alexander Stamping
Works aforesaid Stamper do hereby declare the nature of the Invention to be as
follows:
-
The said invention relates to elliptic or semi-elliptic carriage springs and carriage
springs of a similar type and consists of the improvements hereinafter described in
making the parts of the said springs called the heads and also in connecting the said
heads to the ends of the springs. The said heads are ordinarily made of wrought
iron and are connected to the ends of the steel spring by welding. The said heads
are of various forms according to the particular kind of spring to which they are to
be connected. We will describe the said invention in connection with the common
form of head called a lug head.
In order to form the said head we take a bar of iron of a length suitable to form
the shank of the head. We also take another bar of iron of a suitable length to form
the lugs or side parts of the head. We raise the said bars to a welding heat and lay
the last named ɓar across the end of the first named bar on the bed of a stamp of the
kind hereinafter described and let fall the hammer or plunger of the said stamp on
the heated bars. By the percussive action of the said hammer or plunger combined
with the shape of the bed and the acting face of the tool of the said hammer or
plunger of the stamp the cross bar is welded to the end of the other bar the ends of
the cross bar at the same time being turned up to form the lugs of the head and cut
or fashioned to the required shape. Impressions are at the same time formed for the
holes which have to be made in the lugs for the pin which connects the spring to the
Carriage

page_text: The lugs are not brought into their finished shape by the stamping process but their
upper ends are turned outwards so as to be in the same or nearly the same plane.
This turning out of the upper ends of the lugs is necessary in order to permit of the
shaping of the said ends and the making of the impressions for the holes by the
stamping process. Instead however of turning outwards only the upper ends of
the lugs the whole of each lug may be turned outwards at an angle of about
forty five degrees. In this case the end of the bar to which the lugs are affixed is
slightly arched in the stamping process. The completion of the holes in the lugs and
the bringing of the lugs parallel as well as the flattening of the arched end of the bar
are effected by hand processes.
In addition to the making of the heads of the springs by the stamping process as
described the welding of the head to the spring may be effected by the stamping
process at the same time as the lugs are formed.
The stamp we employ is of the ordinary kind the acting parts of the dies or tools
of the stamp having the required shapes to effect the welding described as well as to
shape bend and impress the parts to be made into the lugs.
Although we have described the making of the heads of wrought iron the said
heads may be made of steel. In this case the shank of the head may be made from
the end of the spring.
The application of the said improvements to the manufacture of carriage springs
of kinds other than lug head springs differs in no essential respect from their application
to the manufacture of lug head springs as hereinbefore described.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Carriage Springs.
We WILLIAM JAMES of Alexander Stamping Works, Monmore Lane, Willenhall
in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer and SILAS DUFFIELD of Alexander Stamping
Works aforesaid, Stamper, 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:-
The said invention relates to elliptic or semi elliptic carriage springs and carriage
springs of a similar type and consist of the improvements hereinafter described in
making the parts of the said springs called the heads and also in connecting the said
heads to the ends of the springs. The said heads are ordinarily made of wrought
iron and are connected to the ends of the steel springs or to the scrolls or fixing
plates or bars by welding. The said heads are of various forms according to the
particular kind of spring to which they are to be connected.
We will describe the said invention in connection with the common form of head
called a lug head.
In order to form the said head we take a bar of iron of a length suitable to form
the shank of the head. We also tako another har of iron of suitable length to
form the lugs or side parts of the head. We raise the said bars to a welding heat
and lay the last named bar across the end of the first named bar on the bed of a stamp
of the kind hereinafter described and let fall the hammer or plunger of the said
stamp on the heated bars. By the percussive action of the said hammer or plunger
combined with the shape of the bed and the acting face of the tool of the said hammer
or plunger of the stamp the cross bar is welded to the end of the other bar, the ends
of the cross bar at the same time being turned up to form the lugs of the head and
cut or fashioned to the required shape. Impressions are at the same time formed for
the holes which have to be made in the lugs for the pin which connects the spring to
the carriage.
The lugs are not brought into their finished shape by the stamping process but their
upper ends are turned outwards so as to be in the same or nearly the same plane.
This turning out of the upper ends of the lugs is necessary in order to permit of the
shaping of the said ends and the making of the impressions for the holes by the
stamping process.
The completion of the holes in the lugs and the bringing of the lugs parallel are
effected by hand processes.
In addition to the making of the heads of the springs by the stamping process as
described the welding of the head to the spring may be effected by the stamping
process at the same time as the lugs are formed.
The stamp we employ is of the ordinary kind the acting parts of the dies or tools

page_text: of the stamp having the required shapes to effect the welding described as well as to
shape bend and impress the parts to be made into the lugs.
Although we have described the making of the heads of wrought iron the said heads
may be made of steel. In this case the shank of the head may be made from the ond
of the spring.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in side elevation; Figure 2 in
plan and Figure 3 in cross section, through the lugs, a partly made lug head of a
carriage spring and Figure 4 represents in side elevation Figure 5 in plan and
Figure 6 in cross section, through the lugs, a nearly finished lug head made according
to this invention. In the said Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, a is the shank of the head
made from a cylindrical bar of wrought iron or steel, say, of about one inch and a
quarter diameter and b, 6 are the side lugs made from a second cylindrical bar of
wrought iron or steel, say, of about seven eighths of an inch in diameter, the last
named bar being made to cross the end of the first named bar. The bed or lower
tool of the stamp and the upper tool carried by the hammer or plunger of the stamp
which we use have such a figure that they enclose when brought together a space
having the configuration of the partly made lug head Figures 1, 2 and 3.
In making the said partly mado lug head a sufficient length of the ends of the
cylindrical bars described are heated to a welding heat to form the shank a and lugs b, b
and the heated end of the larger bar is placed by the workman on the bed or lower
tool of the stamp in the direction of its length and the heated end of the smaller bar
is placed by a second workman across the end of the larger bar. By a series of three
or more blows given by the hammer of the stamp the heated pieces are cut from the
ends of the two bars the cut off crossing bar is welded to the cut off bar beneath it
and the shank a and lugs b, b Figures 1, 2 and 3 are fashioned from the heated onds
of the two bars by the action of the bed or lower tool and upper tool of the stamp.
It will be seen by an examination of the drawing that the partly formed lugs b, b
Figures 1, 2 and 3 are turned up and their upper ends turned outwards so as to bring
them into the same or nearly the same plane. By the stamping process, impressions or.
partly perforated parts at c, c are made at opposite sides of the partly made lags b, b
at which impressions the holes are formed for the passage of the shackle pin by which
the head of the spring is connected to another spring or to the carriage. After the
partly made lug head Figures 1, 2 and 3 has been formed and while it is still hot its
edges are cleared from frase or fins by subjecting it to the action of a pair of clearing
tools and while still hot a block or support is placed in the trough of the partly made
lug head and by a hand hammering process the two lugs 6, 6 are raised against the
said block and brought parallel to one another as represented in Figures 4, 5 and 6.
The connecting webs between the impressions c, e in the lugs are next pierced out or
removed by a hand piercing process in order to form the bolt holes as before described.
The lug head is thereby finished and is connected to the end of the top plate of the
carriage spring by welding the end of the shank a to the end of the said top plate.
Instead of turning outwards only the upper ends of the lugs b, b, Figures 1, 2
and 3, the whole of each lug may be turned outwards at an angle of about forty five
degrees. In this case the end of the bar or shank a to which the lugs are affixed is
slightly arched in the stamping process the arch shaped end of the bar or shank a
being flattened by the subsequent process by which the lugs are brought parallel as
before described. The holes in the lugs for the bolts to pass through are in this case
made in the said lugs after they have been brought parallel as represented in
Figures 4, 5 and 6.
In making by our improved process the lug head directly on the end of the carriage
spring the end of the top plate of the spring is upset so as to thicken it to the required.
extent and on the said thickened end, placed on the bed of the stamp, we weld a cross
bar and fashion from the said cross bar the lugs of the spring head in the manner
hereinbefore described.
The application of the said improvements to the manufacture of carriage springs of
all kinds other than lug head springs and to the heads of scrolls or fixing plates or
bars to which the ends of carriage springs are connected differs in no essential respect

page_text: from their application to the manufacture of lug head springs as herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we claim
as the said invention of "Improvements in the manufacture of carriage springs
"
Making the heads of carriage springs and the heads of the scrolls or fixing bars or
plates to which the ends of carriage springs are connected by a stamping process
conducted as herein before described and finishing the lugs of the said heads by hand
processes substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing; also connecting the head directly to the end of the carriage spring and at
the same time forming and fashioning the lugs of the head by the stamping process
as herein before described.
DL: ML: 11
C T 1000
WILLIAM JAMES.
SILAS DUFFIELD.