Improvements in and relating to the Manufacture of Spiral Springs for Pistons and Air Pump Buckets, and in the Machinery and Appliances employed in such Manufacture.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd May, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Feb., 1892-Accepted, 5th Mar., 1892
IONAL DI MUIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Manufacture of Spiral Springs
for Pistons and Air Pump Buckets, and in the Machinery and
Appliances employed in such Manufacture.
I, REUBEN LOWE BARKER, of Cheetham Hill Road, Dukinfield, in the County
of Chester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates principally to improvements in the manufacture of the
particular form of spiral springs for pistons and air pump buckets for which I
obtained Letters Patent numbered 1893 and dated May 8th 1880, and my
improvements consist chiefly in the arrangement use and application of improved
machinery and appliances whereby such manufacture is simplified and facilitated.
In constructing a spiral spring of the type specified according to my present
improvements I take a rod or bar of steel or other suitable metal and of any
suitable section, and I crank this bar once or several times at suitable intervals
according to the number of coils to be made.
A convenient machine for effecting this consists of a press with suitable dies
and actuated by screws taper cotters or hydraulic or other power.
The rod or bar after having been cranked is then coiled into the form of a
spring by any well known means; but I prefer to coil the cranked rod or bar
by means of a machine having a pair of revolving rollers which are geared
together and driven positively and are adjustable to or from one another. On
either side of these driven rollers is an adjustable guide roller which can be
moved up or down and towards or from the nip of the driven rollers as required
and according to the diameter of the spring to be formed. In operation the
cranked rod or bar is fed into the nip of the pair of driven rollers and is then
bent into a curve by means of the adjustable guide rollers and as the driven
rollers revolve it is coiled into a spring of the required diameter.
The coiled spring is then put into a furnace and when at the proper heat is put
into a pair of circular dies bored and turned for the purpose and by these dies is
pressed into a true circular form.
The spring is then put upon a frame having a series of radially adjustable guide
plates by means of which the coils of the spring are kept the proper distance apart
while at the same time the spring is free to expand and contract in diameter;
while the spring is on this frame it is put into the furnace again and heated to
the desired heat and then taken out and hardened and tempered.
For convenience in handling the frame with the spring thereon I have a pair of
beams or rails upon which the frame is traversed into the furnace through a door on
one side; then by worm gearing or other suitable mechanism the rails are lowered
through spaces formed for the purpose in the furnace floor until the frame rests on
the brickwork. After the spring has been sufficiently heated the rails are again
raised and the frame with the spring is traversed on the rails out of the furnace
through a door on the opposite side and is then lowered into the oil or other liquid
employed to harden and temper the spring.
To confine the spring within certain limits and so prevent it from forcing too far
apart the ordinary split rings between which it is placed when fitting the rings to a
piston block in the usual way propose to connect the two rings together by spring
clips or equivalent connections which will at all times and in all positions allow the
two rings to be forced towards one another and also allow them to expand or
contract laterally but at the same time will prevent them from being forced apart
rn
17

page_text: beyond the fixed limit. To facilitate the operation of putting the combined rings
and spring into the cylinder I employ an improved construction of cramp which is
put on after the ends of the split rings have been drawn close together by means
of a screw compressing a belt of hoop iron or other suitable material. This cramp
is formed of a piece of metal of channel section between the projecting ends of
which is fitted a movable clamping plate acted upon by two or more screws passing
through one of the ends of the cramp. The clamping plate has fixed upon it a
stud which passes through the end of the cramp and a spring coiled under the head
of the stud holds the two parts together. A sufficient number of these cramps are
put on inside the rings and by screwing up their movable plates the rings and spring
are completely locked so that after the circumferential binding hoop has been taken
off the piston rings and spring can be readily put into the cylinder and when this
has been done the cramps are removed.
Dated this 1st day of Max 1891
H. B. BARLOW,
Agent for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Manufacture of Spiral Springs
for Pistons and Air Pump Buckets, and in the Machinery and
Appliances employed in such Manufacture.
I, REUBEN LOWE BARKER, of Cheetham Hill Road, Dukinfield, in the County
of Chester, 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 :-
My invention relates principally to improvements in the manufacture of the
particular form of spiral springs for pistons and air pump buckets for which I
obtained Letters Patent numbered 1893 and dated May 8th 1880, and my improve-
ments consist chiefly in the arrangement use and application of improved machinery
and appliances whereby such manufacture is simplified and facilitated.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect I will describe the accompanying six sheets of drawings reference being had
to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figures 1 and 2 are sectional elevations of a machine consisting of a press with
suitable dies for cranking a metal rod or bar from which my improved spiral spring
is to be formed.
Figure 3 is an end elevation Fig. 4 a plan and Fig. 5 a front elevation of a
suitable rolling machine by means of which the cranked rods are coiled into spiral
springs.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are views of the furnace into which the coiled spring is put to
be heated when required.
Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation and Fig. 10 a plan of an arrangement of dies for
pressing the spring into its true circular form.
Figs. 11, 12 and 124 are views of one of my improved cramps, any convenient
number of which are employed to lock the combined piston rings and spring during
the operation of placing the same into the cylinder.
Figs. 13 and 14 are two views of a pair of dies which might be placed under a
steam hammer or press and employed for cranking the metal rod or bar instead of
the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
Fig. 15 is a view of the finished spring and piston rings.
In constructing a spiral spring of the type specified according to my present
improvements I take a rod or bar a of steel or other suitable metal, and of
rectangular, oval, D, or any other suitable section and I crank this bar a when
heated, once or several times at suitable intervals according to the number of coils
to be made.

page_text: A convenient machine for effecting this operation is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and
consists of a press with a pair of dies b, c, actuated by the screws d and hand
wheel d' the screws d being actuated simultaneously by means of the gears e; but,
instead, the dies b, c, might be actuated by taper cotters, or hydraulic or other
power.
In Figs. 13 and 14 are shown a pair of dies b, c, of alternative form but for
the same purpose and which could be placed under a steam hammer or be otherwise
actuated.
The rod or bar a having been cranked is then coiled into the form of a spring by
any well known means; but I prefer to coil the cranked rod or bar by means of the
machine shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.
This machine consists of a pair of rollers f, g, of which the roller f is carried in
a pair of slide blocks h and is adjustable to or from the roller g, according to the
thickness of the metal rod or bar a, by means of the hand wheel on the shaft i on
which are two worms gearing into worm wheels j fixed on screws j¹ which actuate
the slide blocks h.
In addition to the rollers f, g, there is a pair of adjustable guide rollers k, l
carried one on each side of the nip of the rollers f, g, in arms m which are fitted in
slideways m' in the main frame of the machine and are moved forward or backward
as required by turning the hand wheel n and so through the pairs of bevel
gears n' n², and n³ n' actuating a worm shaft o. On the shaft o are worms which
turn worm wheels p' fixed on screws p which actuate the arms m and so regulate
the position of the guide rollers k, l, as required and according to the diameter
of the spring to be formed. The roller g is driven by the gears q q¹ from the
driving shaft q2 and I prefer to let the other rollers run by frictional contact
with the rod or bar only; but they might be geared and driven positively if
necessary.
In operation the cranked metal rod or bar a is fed into the nip of the rollers f, g,
and is then bent into a curve by means of the guide rollers k, l; after its first
rolling the curved cranked rod a is then fed back again by reversing the direction
of the driven roller g and the guide rollers k, l, are moved forward by actuating
the hand wheel n and gearing so that at the second passage through the rollers f, g,
the rod a is further curved and by repeating this process as often as required it is
coiled into a spring of the diameter desired.
For convenience I prefer to extend the rollers f, g, to f, g, beyond the standards
of the machine as shown in Fig. 4 and employ a pair of separately adjustable guide
rollers k, l, corresponding to the guide rollers k, 1; this arrangement enables me
to enlarge the diameter of the spring in cases where it has been too closely coiled
by the main rollers, g, and k, l.
The cranked metal rod now coiled into a spring is next put into a furnace
illustrated by the drawings Figs. 6, 7 and 8 and when at the proper heat is put into
a pair of circular dies, see Figs. 9 and 10, bored and turned for the purpose and
by these dies is pressed into a true circular form.
In Figs. 9 and 10 three separate pairs, 1, 2, 3, of dies are shown, a spring a
being pressed in each by means of the taper cotters or wedges r; each heated
spring a is placed inside an outer dies then the segmental filling up pieces t
are inserted between it and the central die or block u and then the spring is
pressed into its true form by driving the wedges or taper cotters r into the recesses
between the block u and the filling up pieces t.
The spring a is next put upon the frame v shown in Fig. 7 having a series of
radially adjustable guide plates by means of which the coils of the spring are kept
the proper distance apart, while at the same time the spring is free to expand and
contract in diameter; while the spring is on this frame v it is again put into the
furnace illustrated by Figs. 6, 7 and 8 and heated to the desired heat and then
taken out and hardened and tempered.
For convenience in handling the frame v with the spring thereon I have a pair

page_text: of beams or rails w upon which the frame v is traversed into the furnace through a
door y on one side, which door is preferably arranged to slide vertically and is
balanced by counterweights and chains passing over pulleys 22.
After the
frame and the spring a has been traversed on the rails ic into the furnace the
latter by worm gearing or other suitable mechanism are lowered through spaces
formed for the purpose in the furnace floor and the frame v is allowed to rest on the
brickwork. When required the frame can be raised by suitable lifting tackle x,
see Fig. 8, and turned so as to equalize the heat on the spring a.
After the spring has been sufficiently heated the rails to are again raised and the
frame with the spring placed thereon, traversed on the rails out of the furnace
preferably through a door on the opposite side and is then lowered into the oil or
other liquid employed to harden and temper the spring.
To confine the spring within certain limits and so prevent it from forcing too far
apart the ordinary split rings 4, see Fig. 15, between which it is placed when fitting
the rings to a piston block in the usual way I propose to connect the two rings 4
together by spring clips or equivalent connections which will at all times and in
all positions allow the rings 4 to be forced towards one another and also allow them
to expand or contract laterally; but at the same time will prevent them from being
.forced apart beyond the fixed limit.
To facilitate the operation of putting the combined rings 4 and spring a into the
cylinder I employ an improved construction of cramp which is put on after the
ends of the split rings 4 have been drawn close together by means of a screw
compressing a belt of hoop iron or other suitable material. This cramp, see
Figs. 11, 12, and 124, is formed of a piece of metal 6 of channel section between
the projecting ends of which is fitted a movable clamping plate 7 acted upon by
two or more screws 8 passing through one of the ends of the cramp.
The clamping plate 7 has fixed upon it a stud 9 which passes through the end of
the cramp 6, and a spring 10 coiled under the head of the stud 9 holds the two
parts 6 and 7 together.
A sufficient number of these cramps are put on inside the rings and by screwing
up their movable plates the rings and spring are completely locked so that after
the circumferential binding hoop has been taken off the piston rings and spring
can be readily put into the cylinder and when this has been done the cramps are
removed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The arrangement use and application of a press with suitable dies for cranking
the metal rod or bar prior to coiling it into a spring substantially as herein set
forth.
2. The arrangement use and application of the rolling machine substantially as
described and illustrated by Figs. 3, 4 and 5 for coiling a rod or bar into a spiral
spring in the manner indicated.
3. The arrangement use and application of specially prepared dies for the purpose
of pressing a coiled spring into a true circular form substantially as herein described
and as illustrated by Figs. 9 and 10.
4. The combination with the furnace, of the beams or rails by means of which
the frame with the coiled spring thereon can be traversed into and out of the furnace
said rails being lowered through the furnace floor by worm gearing or other means
and raised again as required substantially as herein described with reference to
Figs. 6, 7 and 8.
5. The combination with the ordinary split rings between which the coiled
spring is placed, of spring clips or equivalent connections whereby the split
rings are connected together in such a manner that the rings can be forced
towards one another and can expand or contract laterally, but cannot be forced

page_text: apart beyond the fixed limit substantially as herein described with reference to
Fig. 15.
.
6. The improved construction of cramp substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and as illustrated by Figs. 11, 12, and 12ª.
Dated this First day of February 1892.
H. B. BARLOW,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agent for Applicant.