CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRINGS FOR SUPPORTING HEAVY BODIES, AND RESISTING SUDDEN AND CONTINUOUS PRESSURE
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WOODS, of Bucklersbury, in the City of London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twentieth day of April, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Woods, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority,
that I, the said Joseph Woods, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Joseph Woods, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Ber-
wick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRINGS FOR SUPPORTING HEAVY BODIES, AND
RESISTING SUDDEN AND CONTINUOUS PRESSURE," being a communication from a
foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said Joseph Woods, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
samo to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part

page_text: recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Woods, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
:-
This Invention of improvements in springs for supporting heavy bodies, and
resisting sudden and continuous pressure, consists in forming springs of flat
plates of steel, of equal breadth and thickness throughout, except at the two
ends, and arranging the same in such manner that the motion caused by
pressure shall tend to deflect the plate in reference to its breadth instead of
its thickness as hitherto; to effect which purpose I employ a plate of steel
wound round a cylindrical, square, or other shaped bar in a spiral or volute
form, after which it is hardened and tempered by the ordinary process
employed in the making of springs. When the spiral form is adopted the
apex and base of the spiral approximate or approach each other by the addition
of pressure, and when loaded with as much as the elasticity of the steel will
allow it to resist, the spring will assume the form of a volute curve. When
the volute form of spring is employed the addition of pressure will extend the
interior coils so as to cause the spring to assume a spiral form of increasing
height as the pressure is increased. To form these spiral springs a cast-iron
or other mandril, of exactly the same form and dimensions as the inside of
the spring to be made, is employed; this mandril is furnished with a wrought-
iron stem or collar and a cotter; and the plate, having its end turned or forged
so as to fit the said stem, is tightly fixed by the key and collar, and the plate
of steel is hammered or rolled round the mandril while hot; it is then removed,
and hardened and tempered in the usual manner. In making a volute spring
the plate is hammered or rolled round a mandril so that the edges remain
in the same plane. In making a spiral spring a, cut away a portion of each
end of the plate to provide a base and apex at right angles to the force
applied. Figures 1 and 4 represent side views, and Figs. 2 and 5 plan views,
of spiral springs of the improved kind. Figures 6 and 7 shew the mode
of applying the improved spiral springs to support the weight of a railway
carriage. Fig. 8 represents two of these springs combined to support a
carriage. Fig. 3 represents the mode of applying them as buffer and draw
springs. Figures 9 and 10 represent the mode of applying the volute form
of springs for buffing and drawing. The carriage springs a, a, a, a, are placed

page_text: between the bearing plates b, b, and rest upon a flat plate c, immediately
above the axle. An upper plate d, bolted to the bearing plates b, b, rests
upon the springs a, a, from which a pin or stud e (projecting from the plate d)
passes, as shewn by dots in the Figures. It will be seen in Figs. 8 and 9
that the draw and buffer rods f and 9, 9, pass through the middle of the
spring, and draw and push against the centre part. To obtain springs of
different strengths I vary the proportions of breadths and thickness, and also
the pitch of the curve, so as to form a higher or lower spiral from the same
plate, as the case may require. These springs are applicable to many purposes,
and are interposed between a resistance acting on the inner or smallest part of
the curve in a direction opposite to one acting on the outer or largest part
of the curve, in various manners as to details of support and frame, to suit
particular cases.
Having now described the improvements that have been communicated to
me as aforesaid, and also the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim
as the Invention sécured to me under the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, constructing springs for supporting heavy bodies, or resisting sudden
or continuous pressure, of plates of steel rolled or otherwise formed into volutes
or spirals, and arranged in such a manner that when pressure is applied the
plate of the spring may be deflected edgewise, or in reference to its breadth,
instead of its thickness as heretofore.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Woods, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven
JOSEPH (L.S.) WOODS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twelfth day of October,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Joseph Woods came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.