Coil spring assembly machine

A workholder of a coil spring assembly machine that assembles successive groups of coil springs into a matrix of coil springs, each of the coil springs having a centerline and end bottom turns substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, the workholder comprising:

• a base plate;
• a gripper mounted on the base plate;
• and
• a compression plate interposed between the base plate and the gripper, the compression plate being resiliently mounted relative to the base plate and adapted to receive a turn of a coil spring between the gripper and the compression plate.

An apparatus for assembling coil springs together into a matrix of coil springs, each of the coil springs having a centerline and a pair of end turns substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, the apparatus comprising:

• a stationary die adapted to receive an end turn of a first coil spring, the stationary die having a planar die face substantially perpendicular to the centerline of the first coil spring;
• a movable die adapted to receive an end turn of a second coil spring, the movable die having a planar die face substantially parallel to the planar die face of the stationary die;
• a drive;
• and
• linkage connected between the movable die and the drive and operable to move the movable die through a motion that maintains the planar die face of the movable die substantially parallel to the planar die face of the stationary die.

An apparatus for assembling coil springs together into a matrix of coil springs, each of the coil springs having a centerline and a pair of end turns substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, the apparatus comprising:

• a stationary die adapted to receive a turn of a first coil spring;
• a movable die adapted to receive a turn of a second coil spring;
• a pair of parallel guide links having first ends adapted to be pivotally connected to the machine and second ends pivotally connected to the movable die;
• a toggle having
• a first toggle link having one end pivotally connected to a second end of one of the guide links, and
• a second toggle link having one end pivotally connected to an opposite end of the first toggle link, the second toggle link having an opposite end adapted to be pivotally connected to the machine;
• a drive link having one end pivotally connected to the toggle;
• and
• a drive operable to move an opposite end of the drive link through
• a first motion that moves the movable die to an open position at which the moving die is separated from the stationary die, and
• a second motion that moves the movable die to a closed position at which the movable die is in juxtaposition with the stationary die.

An apparatus for assembling coil springs together into a matrix of coil springs, each of the coil springs having a centerline and a pair of end turns substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, the apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of die sets, each die set having a stationary die and a movable die;
• a loader adapted to locate the coil springs adjacent each of the die sets;
• and
• a plurality of sliders, each slider being located upstream of a respective die set and being movable along a linear path toward and away from the respective die set, the plurality of sliders being simultaneously operable to position coil springs at desired locations with respect to the stationary and movable dies.

An apparatus for assembling coil springs together into a matrix of coil springs, each of the coil springs having a centerline and a pair of end turns substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, the apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of upper and lower die sets, each die set having a stationary forward die and a movable rear die;
• a plurality of pairs of upper and lower sliders, each pair of upper and lower sliders being located upstream of the respective pair of upper and lower die sets and being movable along respective linear paths toward and away from the respective pair of upper and lower die sets, the plurality of pairs of sliders being operable to successively position first and second rows of coil springs immediately adjacent each other to form a row of coaxial coil springs;
• and
• a loader adapted to successively locate the first and second rows of coil springs downstream of the plurality of pairs of upper and lower sliders and upstream of the plurality of pairs of upper and lower die sets.

An apparatus for assembling rows of coils together into a matrix of coil springs, each of the coil springs having a centerline and a pair of end turns substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, the coil springs being supplied by a conveyor and the apparatus comprising:

• a preloader adapted to transfer a first row of coil springs from the conveyor to the apparatus;
• a plurality of pairs of upper and lower die sets;
• a plurality of pairs of upper and lower sliders, each pair of upper and lower sliders being located upstream of a different one of the upper and lower die sets;
• a transfer device moving along a linear path and adapted to push the first row of coils from the preloader to a location downstream of the plurality of sliders and upstream of the plurality of die sets, the plurality of sliders being operable to move the first row of coils into the plurality of die sets.

A method of positioning coil springs with respect to a die set on a coil spring assembly machine, each of the coil springs having a centerline and end turns that are substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, and each of the end turns having one short leg and an opposed lacing leg, the coil springs being supplied by a conveyor, the method comprising:

• securing an end turn of a coil spring on the conveyor with a gripper;
• transferring the coil spring with the end turn from the conveyor to the apparatus;
• and
• transferring the coil spring from the gripper to a location adjacent the die set.

A method of positioning coil springs with respect to a die set on a coil spring assembly machine, each of the coil springs having a centerline and end turns that are substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, and each of the end turns having one short leg and an opposed lacing leg, the method comprising:

• automatically moving a first coil spring to a location where a lacing leg of an end turn of the first coil spring is located in the die set;
• automatically moving a second coil spring toward the first coil spring;
• and
• automatically locating one leg of an end turn of the second coil spring beneath a leg of an end turn of the first coil spring to provide coaxial coil springs from the first and second coil springs.

A method of positioning rows of coil springs on a coil assembly machine, each of the coil springs having a centerline and end turns that are substantially perpendicular to the centerline, the end turns being interconnected by at least one intermediate turn, and each of the end turns having one short leg and an opposed lacing leg, the method comprising:

• automatically moving a first row of coil springs to a location where upstream lacing legs of first coils of the first row of coil springs are located between a fixed die and a movable die;
• automatically moving a second row of coil springs to a location where downstream lacing legs of first coil springs in the second row of coil springs are located between the fixed die and the movable die;
• and
• automatically moving a third row of coil springs to a location where downstream lacing legs of first coils in the third row of coils are located between the fixed die and the movable die and upstream short legs of the first coils of the third row of coils are located below upstream short legs of the first coils of the second row of coils, the second and third rows of coils forming a coaxial row of coils.