IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGE SPRINGS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Mitchell, of Sheffield, in the County of
York, Engineer, and William Edward Newton, of Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY AND
OTHER CARRIAGE SPRINGS.”
Sealed the 14th March 1873, and dated the 18th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Mitchell and
William Edward Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th September 1872.
'We, JOSEPH MITCHELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Engineer,
and WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF.
BAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGE SPRINGS," to be as follows:-
The object of our Invention is to bend the steel plates (of which
springs are composed) to the proper curves so as to make them fit one
on the other and thus form a spring of any desired strength, and con-
sisting of any suitable number of plates.

page_text: Bending the steel plates of which springs are composed has heretofore
been usually done by hand, and is a laborious and costly operation
requiring highly paid skilled labour, as each of the plates is bent
separately and then they are made to fit closely one on the other. By
means of our Invention this skilled labour may be dispensed with as
the bending operation is effected by mechanical means, and as all the
plates are bent at one time a considerable saving of time is effected.
In carrying out our Invention the plates of steel are first heated in
the ordinary manner and in this state are placed in the bending machine,
which consists of a strong foundation plate on which is bolted a die or
block, the face of which is curved or made to the form of the concave
of the spring to be produced. The heated steel plates are placed on
edge against this curved block and having been arranged in proper order
according to their length are clamped against the curved fixed block by
means of a short adjustable clamped block, which is forced up against
the top spring plate by means of a screw and hand wheel. To each end
of this adjustable block is jointed a rigid bar, and to the outer ends of
these bars are jointed toothed racks, which take into the teeth of a pair
of toothed wheels mounted on studs fixed in the foundation plate. A
hand lever is fixed on one of these toothed wheels for the purpose of
turning the same on their axles. When this is donc the toothed racks
are drawn down and by pulling down the rigid bars which are jointed
to the adjustable centre blocks the ends of the spring plates will be
bent back on to the fixed block and thus be formed into a spring, the
separate plates of which when taken out of the machine may be
hardened and tempered in the usual manner.
In order that the extreme ends of each plate may be properly bent
down and brought into close contact with the plate immediately below,
shiftable packing plates may be adapted to the rigid bending bars and
held in place by clamping screws, or if preferred the packing plates may
be dispensed with and in place thereof adjustable pressing blocks may
be adopted to the face of the bending bars, and made to bear against
the ends of the plates and press them down into their places.
As a modification of the above (in place of the rigid bending bars and
shiftable packing plates) we sometimes use a strong spring plate. The
outer ends of this plate are connected by means of a jointed rod to two
draw chains which are attached to chain pullies, the inner edges of which

page_text: are toothed and are geared together, so that when by means of a hand
lever attached to one of these pullies the latter are rotated they will
draw down the chains and causo the spring plate to bend the steel plates
into the proper form, as in the former instance.
As a further modification we sometimes use a chain or chain bar in
combination with a strong spring plate, the ends of which will then be
left free. The outer ends of this chain or chain bar are connected by
jointed rods to the ends of the draw chains, which are worked in the
same manner as when the spring plate alone is employed. In both or
either of these cases the spring plate may have a number of holes tapped
in it at different points throughout its length for the purpose of receiving
blocks, which will be made to. bear against and depress the ends of the
heated steel plates. Or in place of fixing these blocks in holes tapped
in the strong spring. plate they may be adapted thereto by means of
spring clamps, so that they may be slidden along the length of the
plate and fixed at any point according to the nature of the spring.
"
.
.SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Mitchell and William Edward Newton in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th March 1878.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
MITCHELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Engineer, and WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of Ohancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
i
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two,
in the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her. leirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Mitchell and
William Edward Newton, Her special licence that we, the said Joseph
Mitchell and William Edward Newton, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Mitchell and William
Edward Newton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during tho-term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great

page_text: '
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUfacture of RaiLWAY
AND OTHER CARRIAGE SPRINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that,
we, the said Joseph Mitchell and William Edward Newton, our exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or 5
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of tho said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
1
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, on behalf
of myself and of the said Joseph Mitchell, do hereby declare the nature
of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed and 1
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
'
The object of our Invention is to bend the steel plates (of which
springs are composed) to the proper curves, so as to make them fit one on
the other, and thus form a spring of any desired strength, and consisting
of any suitable number of plates.
2
Bending the steel plates of which springs are composed has heretofore
been usually done by hand, and is a laborious and costly operation,
requiring highly paid skilled labour, as each of the plates is bent sepa-
rately and then they are made to fit closely one on the other. By means
of our Invention this skilled labour may be dispensed with as the 2
bending operation is effected by mechanical means, and as all the plates
are bent at one time a considerable saving of time is effected in making.
the springs.
.
In carrying out our Invention the plates of steel are first heated in
the ordinary manner, and in this state a suitable number of them to a
form a spring are placed in the bending machine, which forms the
subject of our Invention.
In the accompanying Drawings we have shown plan views of two
machines, which although differing somewhat in the construction and
operation of some of the parts are based upon the same principle.
Fig. 1 is a plan view of one machine shewing the heated steel plates
in the machine ready for bending; Fig. 2 is another plan view of the

page_text: same machine shewing the parts in the position they would assume
when the plates have been bent.
The machine consists of a strong foundation plate a, a, on which is
bolted a die or block b, the face of which is curved or made to the form
of the concave of the spring to be produced. The heated steel plates c, c,
are placed on edge against the curved block b, and having been arranged
in proper order according to their length are clamped against the curved
fixed block 6 by means of a short adjustable clamping block d, which is
forced up against the top spring plate c by means of a screw and hand
wheel. To each end of this adjustable block d'is jointed a rigid
bar e, e, and to the outer ends of these bars e, e, are jointed toothed
racks., f, which take into the teeth of a pair of toothed wheels g, g,
mounted on studs fixed in the foundation plate a. A hand lever'g' is
fixed on one of these toothed wheels 9 for the purpose of turning the
same on their axles or centres of motion. When this is done the toothed
racks ƒ will be drawn down, and by pulling down the rigid bars e, e,
(which are jointed to the adjustable centre block d), the ends of the
spring plates c will be bent back on to the fixed block b, and will thus
be formed into a spring, as shewn in Fig. 2. The separate plates c of the
spring (when taken out of the machine) may be hardened and tempered
in the usual manner.
h
"
In order that the extreme ends of each of the platesc may be properly
bent down (and brought into close contact with the plate immediately.
below it), shiftable packing plates h, h, may be adapted to the rigid
bending bars e, and held in place by clamping screws h³, h'; or, if pre-
ferred, the packing plates may be dispensed with, and in place thereof
adjustable pressing blocks may be adapted to the face of the bending
bars e, e, and made to bear against the ends of the heated steel plates c,
and press them down into their places. These adjustable blocks may be
secured on the inner face of the bending bars e, e, either by screws,
screw bolts, or in any other convenient manner, and as the bars e, e, are
drawn down by the racks and pinions fand g, the adjustable blocks will
be brought in succession down on to the ends of the steel plates c, and
will bend the same into the required form.
As a modification of the above (in place of the rigid bending bars and
shiftable packing plates) we sometimes use a strong spring plate... An
arrangement of this character is shewn at Figures 3 and 4 in the

page_text: Drawings, in which many of the parts are analogous to those shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, and' are therefore marked with similar letters of
reference. The spring bending plate i may either be temporarily con-
nected with the clamping block d, or it may be placed loosely against it,
and provided with adjustable pressing blocks,, which will be brought 5
in succession against the ends of the steel plates c, c, when the bar i is
bent or drawn down, as shewn at Fig. 4. The outer ends of this plato
may be connected (by means of a jointed rod) to two draw chains j,j,
which are attached to chain pullics g*, g*, the inner edges of which arc
toothed, as shewn in the Drawing, and are geared together, so that when 1
by means of the hand lever attached to one of these pullics the latter
are rotated, they will draw down the chains j, j, and cause the spring
plate i to bend the steel plates into the proper form, as in the former
instance, and as shewn in Fig. 4.
"
"
We have said that the draw chains ; may be connected directly to the 1
ends of the spring. plates by means of jointed rods, and this arrange-
ment will answer very well for light springs, but for heavy railway
carriage springs, such as those shewn in the 'Drawing, we prefer the
arrangement shewn in the Drawing at Figures 3 and 4, in which it will
be seen that we use a chain or chain bar k, k, in combination with the 2
strong spring plate i, the ends of which will then be left free. The outer
ends of this chain or chain bar & are connected by jointed rods 7, 7, to the
end of the draw chains j,j, which are worked in the same manner as
when the spring plate i alone is employed, as above explained. In both
or either of these cases the spring plate i may have a number of holes 2
tapped in it at different points throughout its length for the purpose of
receiving the blocks i, i, as shewn in the Drawing. These. blocks i¹
will be made to bear against and depress the ends of the heated steel
plates c, c, and bring them into the required form, as shewn in Fig. 4.
Or in place of fixing these blocks in holes tapped in the strong spring 3
plate they may be adapted theroto by means of spring clamps, so that
they may be slidden along the length of the plate i, and fixed at any
point according to the nature of the spring or the length of the spring
plates.
We would observe that these machines above described may be used 3
oither to produce ordinary springs, in which the several plates are held
together by means of a central bolt or pin passed through a hole made in
the centre of cach plate for the purpose, or they may be used to make

page_text: corrugated springs, such as those shewn at Figures 5.and 6. When flat
straight spring plates are used, as shewn at c, c, Fig. 1 in the Drawings,
so as to produce ordinary springs, a pin or rod m, Figures 1 and 2, must
be passed through the central hole in the spring plates in order to hold
them in position and prevent them from moving endways, but when
corrugated plates, such as those shewn at Fig. 5 are used to produce a
corrugated spring, such as that shewn at Fig. 6, the corrugations of the
plates will be found sufficient to hold the plates in position when the
latter are properly clamped between the blocks b and d.
Having now described our Invention of improvements in machinery
for the manufacture of railway and other carriage springs, and having.
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we would observe
that although the mechanical arrangements herein shewn and described
for working the rigid bending bars e, e, in Figures 1 and 2, and the strong
spring plate i in Figures 3 and 4, have been found to answer, we do not
mean or intend to confine ourselves thereto, as these bars or plates may
be worked in other ways without departing from the nature and object
of our Invention; we therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, bending the steel plates (of which the
springs are composed) by means of bars, which may be drawn down
thereon and caused to press the said plates against a fixed block or die,
as herein set forth, and shewn in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing; or by
means of a flexible spring plate or flexible chain bar, either alone or in
combination, which will press the said plate against a fixed block or die,
as herein set forth and shewn in Figures 3 and 4 of the Drawings. We.
claim these modes of forming springs, whether the bending devices be
operated in the manner herein set forth or by any other equivalent
mechanism.
.
L
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, the Eighteenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
.