Importance

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Abstract

A machine for connecting successive rows of coil springs together into a coil spring assembly. The machine, in preferred form, initially picks up a row of coil springs by inserting a pick up finger into the barrel of each coil and moving the springs onto a support platen. In the course of transporting the coils between pick up and the support platen, the pick up fingers change the spacing of the coils. The springs are then compressed against the support platen to a desired height through use of a reciprocable compression bar. Thereafter, and through use of rotatable transfer fingers on a transfer shaft, the springs are removed from under the compression bar, and are moved into clamping dies. Leading rotary transfer fingers on the transfer shaft first pull the row of springs out from under the compression bar, and trailing rotary fingers then push the springs into the downstream one of upper and lower clamping dies. If a leading row of coil springs are already present in the clamping dies, the rows of clamping dies clamp together the upper and lower end loops of the leading and trailing rows of coil springs. The rows of springs are then connected together by helical lacing wires while clamped between the clamping dies. After the rows of coil springs are connected, the clamping dies open and upper and lower indexing hooks grab the connected coils and index the connected rows of coils in the machine's downstream direction so as to permit a next trailing row of spring to be fed into the clamping dies and connected to the previously assembled row. When the desired number of rows of springs have been connected, a feed-out mechanism is cycled to draw the spring assembly away from the machine's clamping dies and indexing hook stations.

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First Claim