Improvements in Machines for Dending of o
Year: 1888

page_text: Improvements in Machines for Dending of o
I, LOUIS GATHMANN, of Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, Manu-
facturer, 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 :—
This invention relates to machines for bending flat bars of iron or steel edgewise,
as in forming spiral coils, such, for example, as may be employed for continuous
conveyor flights, in which the layers of the coil are spread apart, or in making
strong tubes, cannon, car wheel tires etc. in which the layers of the coil are to be welded
together.
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It is an object of the invention to provide a machine in which the coils formed
thereby from a flat bar of metal will be firmly compressed against each other in the
act of coiling between supporting parts which shall recede from each other at a rate
of speed substantially equal to that at which the coil increases in thickness so that
the bar is continually held firmly upon its side in the act of being coiled and thus
prevented from buckling. To this and other ends had in view the invention
consists in the novel devices and combinations bereinafter described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawing, which will illustrate one embodiment of my
invention,
Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the machine taken in the axis of the coiling
shaft and looking downward.
Figure 2 is a vertical section through the axis of the coiling shaft, looking towards
the top of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the machine in the line w―w of
Figures 1 and 2, looking towards the left.
Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section in the line x-x of Figure 1, looking to
the right.
Figure 5 is a transverse vertical section through the line y-y of Figure 1, looking
to the right.

page_text: Figure 6 is a fragmentary top view of the parts immediately concerned in coiling
the bar, on the same scale as the preceding figures.
Figure 7 is a full face view of the coiling disc on the main shaft or mandrel, on a
reduced scale.
Figure S is a side elevation of the same disc shown in Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a top view of the disc shown in Figures 7 and 8.
Figure 10 is a full face view of the opposing disc of the coiling mechanism with a
bar-guiding device thereon.
Figure 11 is a side elevation of the disc and guide shown in Figure 10.
Figure 12 illustrates a coil partially formed.
Figure 13 illustrates the coil formed by the machine having its layers or leaves
spread apart.
Figures 7 to 12 inclusive are drawn on a scale one-half the size of that of the
preceding figures.
A represents the frame of the machine, which is oblong and rectangular in form
and provided with a cross beam a near one end. B is a shaft or mandrel mounted in
bearings at and . C is a heavy disc rigidly secured to the shaft B and provided
with a hube which rests and rotates in the bearing band is provided with shoulders c¹ c²
on opposite sides of said bearing.
D is a spur gear wheel secured to the shaft B between the cross beams a and a¹
of the frame and meshing with a pinion E on a countershaft E' which also has its
bearings on the cross beams a al and is provided with a belt pulley F2. F is a
heavy disc secured or formed upon a cross-head "the ends of which are constructed
to slide on the parallel guide flanges a² of the main frame. The cross-head F and
disc F have a central opening through it for the mandrel B and the cross-head at
the side opposite the disc F has a hub with an end face f¹ in a plane at right angles
to the axis of the shaft. G is a screw provided with a squared prolongation at one
end which enters a correspondingly shaped socket 62 in the end of the mandrel. The
threads upon the screw G correspond in thickness with the thickness of the bar to
be coiled. His a heavy nut fitted to the screw G and provided with several radial
and oppositely arranged holes h in its enlarged periphery. H'H' are two arms which
are fitted to screw into the holes h of the nut H and which, when inserted into hori-
zontally opposite holes of the nut, extend at their opposite ends over the side beams
of the main frame. The arms H H are provided at their outer ends with vertical
holes into which are screwed adjusting bolts 2. I is an adjusting screw arranged
to bear against the outer end of the feed screw G and threaded through a cross bar J
near the end of the machine. At its outer end is shown a hand-wheel I'. This cross-
bar J is at one end pivoted to the machine frame upon a vertical pin j and is held
movably in its place at the other end by a removable locking-pin J
Returning to the coiling discs C and F, the former has on its circular face an
angular projection (Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9) bounded by edges which are tangential
to the periphery of said disc. This face of the disc presents a spirally inclined
surface having a pitch equal to the thickness of the bar to be coiled. The more
depressed or retreating portion of this inclined face is at the projection and the
more elevated or prominent portion is at c', which is an offset or shoulder tangential
to the shaft B and parallel with the boundary of the projection e³, said shoulder
being equal in projection to the thickness of the bar to be coiled, as plaiuly shown
in Figures 6, 8 and 9. The opposing face of the disc F also presents an annular
incline of the same pitch but inclined in the opposite direction, the shoulder fat
the prominent end being placed in a horizontal position, as seen in Figure 10. F2 is
a projection provided on the disc F and having a laterally open recess f³ to form a
guide for the insertion of the bar to be edgewise coiled. The bottom wall of this
recess is a prolongation of the shoulder and the upper wall thereof may be a
fixed, overhanging projection f* but preferably comprises, in addition to said over-
hanging projection, a gab f and adjusting screws to regulate the vertical height
of the recess to differing widths of bars to be coiled. Directly over the mandrel B
the disc F is shown provided with a conical recess in which rests a conical roller F³,

page_text: the outer face of which projects very slightly, throughout its length, beyond the
adjacent surface of the disc F. The recess is covered by a cap f through which
projects a trunnion F on the upper end of the conical roller F while the lower end
of the roller rests against a bearing at the bottom of the recess.
Obviously the disc F does not rotate, since it is held by the cross-head, while the
disc C does rotate by reason, in the construction shown, of its rigid connection with
the mandrel B.
The operation of the machine is as follows: The bar K to be coiled has one of its
ends bent over at a right angle so as to hook over the vertical edge of the projection c
on the disc C. The nut H being retreated on the screw Gand the disc F moved back
against said nut, a straight bar K, having its end thus hook-formed, is placed with its
under surface resting upon the shoulder c and its hook-formed end passing around the
vertical edge of the projection es. Commonly the hook on the bar will have a hole
punched in it so as to engage a pin c (Figures 6 and 8) which pin is desirably
removable from the disc. Before putting the machine in motion the disc F is brought
up closely against the bar by means of the nut H, for which purpose the arms H'
will have been removed. After the nut has been brought to this position the
arms H H are inserted in horizontally opposite holes of said nut and, the
adjusting screws are turned to elevate one of said arms and depress the other
so as to bring the disc F or its roller F³ into close bearing against the bar K.
If two holes in the nut H do not come approximately to the position desired,
a secondary adjustment of the nut H is effected by means of the screw I which
moves the nut H bodily by a longitudinal movement of the screw G. When the
disc is in this position the bar K projects through the guiding recess 3. The
machine is then set in motion, rotating the disc in the direction indicated by
the arrow in Figure 7. The engagement of the end of the bar K with the vertical
edge of the projection causes the disc to draw the bar inward and to coil it
edgewise around the mandrel B. In this operation the bar K is held in a vertical
plane by being closely embraced between the dises C and F and is thus prevented
from buckling, while the guide f³ holds down the uncoiled part of the bar.
As the number of the coils between the discs C and F increases the rotating
screw G causes the nut H to retreat and such retreating movement is practically
equal to the increase in length of the coil. If it shall turn out that the width of the
threads on the screw G are slightly greater or less than the thickness of the bar K
the proper relation of the disc F to the disc or its proper pressure upon the
coil will only be approximately maintained by the action of the screw G, and this
variation from accuracy will be compensated for by suitable adjustment of the screw I
at the hands of the watchful operator.
When the entire bar K has been drawn into the coil the operator withdraws the
pin J', swings the bar J outwardly upon its pivot and moves the screw G back from
engagement with the mandrel B, or lifts it from the machine altogether. The disc F
may then be slid along on the frame A far enough beyond the free end of the mandrel
to allow the coil to be slipped off the latter and withdrawn from the machine.
In making coils from bars of different thicknesses on the machine as shown,
different screws G and nuts H will be employed, and in making coils having axial
openings of different sizes different mandrels B will be necessary. The dises Cand F
will also require to be changed for others having different pitch of incline upon their
faces. While it is manifestly better that the shaft or mandrel B shall rotate with the
disc C it is, however, practicable to use a non-rotating mandrel and to rotate the
disc only, by connection of the spur wheel D with the hub thereof. In this case
the screw G, if employed, will require to be otherwise rotated than by connection
with the mandrel, and it is manifest that it can be so rotated by suitable gearing with
the rotating hub c or the rotating shaft E. In this case a single screw G may be
changed in its speed by change driving-gear, in a familiar manner. Or, if preferred,
the nut H instead of the screw G may be rotated with the same effect. It would
also be practicable to support the disc F and cross-head F with proper pressure
against the coil by means of a powerful spring or springs which can be themselves

page_text: supported from either a fixed rest, or from a rest, which is adjustable by means of a
screw or screws. The hub H may be fixed to or made part of the cross-head F¹ and
the support F, (herein shown in the form of a disc) may be constructed to bear
against the bar K only at the place where the latter is being bent. Other changes
in the details of the machine may also be made without departure from my
invention.
The bar used for forming the spirals may be either of uniform thickness or may be
made tapering in cross-sectional form and thicker at its edge which comes outer-
most in rolling and is reduced by elongation during the process, so that when the coil
is complete the bar will have a uniform thickness. The use of tapered bars is obviously
more necessary in rolling thin and wide bars.
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 In a machine for bending flat metal bars edgewise, the combination of a
mandrel, a rotating disc engaging the bar, and a retreating support which presses
against the face of the bar opposite to the rotating disc.
2: In a machine for bending flat metal bars edgewise into the form of connected
coils, the combination of a mandrel, a rotating disc engaged with the coil and having
a spirally inclined face, and a retreating support which bears against the opposite side
of the bar being coiled.
3: The combination, with a rotating disc engaged with the coil, of a laterally
movable, opposing support for the coil and a screw by which the movable
support is adapted to retreat at practically the same rate as the coil increases in
thickness.
4-The combination, with a rotating disc engaged with the coil, of a laterally
movable, opposing support for the coil, a main screw G and a secondary screw I for
longitudinally adjusting the main screw.
5: The combination with a rotating disc C, a laterally movable, opposing support F,
a rotating mandrel or shaft B, a screw G rotated by engagement with the shaft B and
a separate nut H on the screw bearing against the support F.
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6 The combination with a frame, a rotating disc . a laterally movable, opposing
support F and a mandrel B, of a screw G, nut H provided with holes h, and arms Hi
provided with adjustable end supports which slide on the frame.
7 The combination with the disc C, support F and the screw G, of a second
screw I and its movable support J.
8 In combination with a rotating disc engaged with the coil, of an opposing,
movable and non-rotating support provided with a guide for the entering bar which
is to be coiled.
9 In combination with a rotating disc engaged with the coil, of an opposing,
movable support provided with a conical roller which presses against the bar
being coiled.
Dated at Chicago. Illinois this 21st day of July 1888
of July 1888
LOUIS
GATHMANN.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.