SYNTHESIS REPORT

INON-CONFIDENTIAL
CONTRACT N:

BRE2-CT93.890

PROJECT N*:

CR-1247-91

TITLE:

Flexible Manufacturing Technology For Coil And Helical Spring

Products

PROJECT
COORDINATOR: Pera

PARTNERS:

Siddall & Hilton (Springs) Ltd

Bevans Holdings (Leicester) Ltd
TRW United - Carr Ltd
Tempered Spring Company Ltd
TC. HP Herckelbout
Spring Steel (Productions) Ltd
Schenker Maschinen AG
SRAMA
IPA Fraunhofer

REFERENCE PERIOD FROM 1 JAN 1994 TO 30 JUN ?996

STARTING DATE: 1 JAN 1994

* * *
*
**
*
**
* * *
E

DURATION:

21C] MONTHS

PROJECT FUNDED BY THE ELJROPEAN

COMMUNITY UNDER THE B!? ITEIEURAM
PROGRAMME

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

Flexible Manufacturing Technology

For Coil and Helical Spring Products
R I Wrigley, BSC, CEng, S W J Fawcett, BSC, CEng and T J Brown, BEng
Pera, Technology Centre, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England, LE13 OPB

ABSTRACT

Coiled and helical springs are the most commonly used type of springs, however the manufacturing
process whereby they are coiled has not been fully investigated until now. Within this two year
collaborative research project a novel automated coiling head assembly has been developed and
demonstrated. This assembly controls all the spring machines coiling tip movements wiih very high
levels of accuracy and repeatability. The developed system has been demonstrated in Industry to w=rk
equally well with the machine working on and off line. A camera vision parametric measurement system
for springs, that has also been developed within the project, which when !inked to the cmtrol system
provides for the first time closed loop control of the spring coiljng process. Within the framework of the
project the wire raw material parameters that affect wire boilability have also been investigated and
optimised by using Taguchi experimentation techniques thereby yielding a more robust industrial
process.
The processs finishing operations are generz!!y
well understood and controlled within the spring
making industry. However the c=iling process lS
not, Indeed setting a machine to nake springs of
a certain design can take a skill.?d Coiler a
significant time, anywhere from a few hours to a
few days. The spring manufacture=. conside: the
coiling process to be the cause of the majori> of
manufacturing problems. Furthermore, we
understand that the coiling tip a:ez is the one area
of the production coiling machine that is not
currently commercially available as an autormded
movement in the latest CNC ceiling machines.

INTRODUCTION
Coiled and helical springs are the most commonly
used type of springs in industry today. The
manufacturing process has not changed
significantly in the last fifty years or so. Coiled
springs are most commonly produced from wire
of a circular cross section by the following
continuous process.

The raw material wire is placed on a rotating

holding reel, called a swift, from which the wire
is unreeled by the drive roller(s) of the coiling
machine. The wire can be cleaned or lubricated
and straightened after unreeling prior to entry into
the coiling machines drive roller(s). The driven
wire leaves the roller(s) and is then deformed
against two fixed coiling tip tools which are
positioned so to helix the deformed wire into a
coil. After the second coiling tip is located a pitch
tool which introduces the spring pitch and shape
into the coiled wire helix. A moving cutting tool
and fixed mandrel are also located after the
second coiling tip to cut the coiled wire to length
as the springs are produced, The springs then fall
into storage bins or onto conveyors for further
finishing operations, These further finishing
operations include; stress relieving, end grinding,
shotpeening, hotpressing, heat treatment and
final inspection.

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

The specific industrial objective of the project was

to produce an innovative, highly Integrated,
flexible manufacturing technology for coil and
helical spring products. The pr~jects industrki
consortium had determined that their industry
would not be able to meet the demands of
customers, in terms of variety, cM, and resp~rise
time for their spring products with the curren:
aging manufacturing technolo~y.
The key aspect of the spring manufacturing
process is the lengthy and specialised coiling
point set-up and its maintenance during the
coiling process. Other key proc~ss aspects
related to reducing the operatin~ ccsts of the
process and the addition of on-line monitoring of

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NON-CONFIDENTIAL
Automated Coiling Head

product quality and machine performance. As a

result of investigations and discussions with
indust~, the following aspects of the spring
making process were selected as the backbone
of the programme of work for this research
project :-

The key element of a spring coiling machine is the

coiling head function, which requires the
incoming wire material to deform qgairtst one cr
two coiling tip tools. The position of these coiling
tips is critical to the forming actiari and can require
a considerable time to set up.

the design and development of actuated

coiling head prototypes to demonstrate
robustness and to gain detailed
information about the relationship
between the position of the coiling tips
and the springs produced

The essence of the problem is thzrt the coiling tips

do not have the ability to automatically move in
three dimensions, and this limitation means that it
is not possible to take account of material
variations, wear in tooling, drift in machine set%g,
and the provision of automatic A up.

parametric measurement of the spring

during manufacture

Problems of tool setup and cons%tent qualik; of

spring production is further complicated by th=
introduction of a further variable, the pitch tool.
Pitch toolmotion is critical as slight changes i.-.
pitch tool position are translated iG rmeasurahie
changes in spring specification.

control systems for the manipulation of

the parametric measurement and coiling
head positional data to provide feedback
to move the coiling tips in real time
analysis of spring machine operation
using Taguchi methods to achieve a
more robust manufacturing process

The project objective was to desig~ a coiling head

which aHowed three dirnensionzl movement of
the two coiling tips incorporating the functions!!ky
of the pitch tool.

Thus the project activities were structured

as indicated by the project flowchart
below :-

Movement required is typically Al 0 deg tilt in al!

axes, and *I5 deg rotation. lfthis m~tion is
available in real time whilst coilin:g a product, and
the physical characteristics of the product cou!d
be measured, then the potentiai for a self
compensating machine having the ability of r+d
repeatable set up could be realised.

Undemlandlng
+
I&tint
Require.ments

A number of coiling head design concept op~~=ns

were considered prior to the design and
manufacture of the first prototype coiling he.as:
This coiling head was fitted as = direct
replacement to a fixed coiling tip bolder to a
mechanical Cam Coiler host machine. The
combination was extensively tesmd during
October 1995 to prove its robustness and
technical suitability, and a series of experiments
were undertaken to establish a ccmtrol algorithm
for the spring coiling process.

:101 ;11;1

Coikng Point
Corwpk

Parametric
Meawmment
of Spmg

Conko[ S&km

Taguchl

Co flc2pk

Exp@timenk

,_*_,

L.-J
?.wnd

Pmlotyp d

on
Cam Cok9r

u
Devebp Robust
Manuf. Prams

As a result of these tests it was needed to develop

the basic design to enable both crciling tips to be
actuated. This redesign generated the second
prototype coiling head which was fitted to the host
machine and tested during Februay 1996.
Subsequent analysis of the res~lts of these iests

Figure 1- Project Activity Structure

and Flowchart

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

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August f 996

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

most importantly, be able to work on-line.

has generated a control algorithm which can be

used to provide the necessary negative feedback
control to the coiling tip control system.

A CCD camera system was chosen at an early

stage as the most suitable sensor device for this
project brief. lPA Fraunhofer utilised their
experience in this field to specify and develop a
camera system capable of meeting the projed
requirements. The I PA system was bench tes%d
in Germany which generated excelent accura:=y
of measurements but slow processing times,
Considerable time and effort was s~ent in
developing a faster system whilst remaining wi%in
the required unit cost of around S1 0,000.

Spring coiling closed loop control systems

The definition of a closed-loop control system is

one in which the control action is somehow
dependent on the actual response obtained from
the system. Feedback is the property of a closedIoop system which permits the control output to
be compared with the input to the system so that
the appropriate control action may be formed as
some function of the output and input.

The IPA development work concluded that the

technology to speed up the response times was
available now but a! a greater cost than the
El 0,000 target price. However, =S the overall
spring coiling process system is to correct age%t
gradual drifts rather than to correct on a spring by
spring basis, it is felt that the slower processing
times are acceptable for the vast majority of likely
applications in the spring manufi~c;iuring industr>.
[f these few exceptions warrant We further
investment then the basic system developed
within this project can be suitably upgraded.

In the case of the fixed coiling tip spring coiling

process the control system input would be the
movement of the actualcoiling tips and the output
being the size and form of the actual spring
produced. This current control is an example of
an open loop control system.
For the actuated spring coiling process to be a
closed loop control system the control input would
be the control voltage applied to the coiling head
assemblies and the output would be the size and
form of the actual spring produced. The control
feedback would be provided by the on-line
camera system which would supply actual spring
parameter measurements to the actuated coiling
head assemblys control system which would
establish and supply, with the help of a control
algorithm, the required corrective (or othen.vise)
control input to the coiling head.

Connection of the camera control system to

Peras coiling head control system as an acti~!ty
does not require the development of any new
technology, merely that suitable software drivsr
interfaces need to be written, which is outside ;:e
scope of this project and a matter for
incorporation into a final engineered solution on,ce
the eventual type of PC or industrial compute;
and software language have bee.1 decided upon.

Within the project a closed loop control system

has been developed and demonstrated, This
system can now be incorporated into current CNC
machine controllers or developed for use as a
dedicated retrofitable actuated coiling head kit
and PC driven control system to upgrade ageing
mechanical cam toilers.

Spring manufacturing process experimen*-

The early part of the project dealt in consider-.%e

detail with the actual state of the ati for sprin~
manufacture, the understanding of the
manufacturing process. Subsequently a
considerable amount of analysis work was
undertaken to attempt to optimiss these
processes theoretically. [t was determined thzt an
experimental approach was requled to
understand the effect of the different parts of the
process on the quality of the spfing produced.
The analysis technique chosen was Taguchi,
which is an analysis method involving the des;gn
of experiments that are technological rather than
theoretical, concerned with proclulctivity and csst
effectiveness rather than statistic=! rigour.

Parametric on-line measurement of springs by

cameras

During the project a number of different

measurement techniques were evaluated for
possible use as the means to provide the control
feedback signal that would be required to realise
a self-compensating spring coiling process. The
measurement device or technique had to be
compact, robust, durable, reliable, accurate, fast,
cheap, have a wide measurement range and

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

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NON-CONFIDENTIAL

One of the projects members, had already

undertaken some Taguchi analysis of its own
processes, and therefore provided the project with
a good input in the necessary approach to adopt.
Together with SRAMA, the objective was to
develop the necessary experiments based on the
perceived most critical aspects of the spring
manufacturing process. These experiments would
be used to optimise the generic coiling process.

*
*

The design uses a pivot axis onto which is

mounted the coiling tip tool holde~. This holder is
able to provide in-line rotation for the tool itself,
and two further perpendicular planes of
movement. A photographic plate ( plate 1 )of iii~
first development prototype is included at the rear
of this report,

Pera developed an experiment to measure the

wire diameter and ovality on-line to see if any
correlation between varying wire parameters and
machine stoppages could be established.

This solution uses three identical hydraulic

cylinders mounted in a rigid assembly capable of
being retrofitted onto existing Cam Coi!er
machines. The purpose of using an existing
mechanical machine is to develop the
understanding of the actual movements requird
to achieve the correct coiling and sexmdly te
establish a basis whereby the dwdoped
technology could in part be retrofitted mto
existing non-CNC machines. Only one of the
coiling tips was automated as this would show
whether the design principle would work.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
Development of the First prototype design of
coiling head ( see plate 1 )

Several concepts were theoretically evaluated to

determine their suitability for providing the
necessary positional movement and accuracy and
the force required to bend the wire into a helix.
The project had already determined that the
demonstrator should be capable of coiling wire up
to 2mm in diameter. Theoretical calculation
showed that the approximate force required to
bend this wire would be 800N. This was
confirmed when a simple experiment on a sample
of wire was made using a three point bending
arrangement, yielding a figure of between 800
and 900N.

This prototype coiling head and tip assembly was

designed to replace the first coiiin~ tip on a
conventions! cam toiler in order to gain
information about the relationship between the
coiling tip movement and the ccwesponding effect
on the coiled spring that is produosd as a re@ of
this motion. Once this relationship had been
defined, the closed loop control of the coiling iip
and springs produced could be made possibie.
Technical irrnoviation of the firs; ,o.mtofype cdrrg
head assemb/y

A number of design concepts were considered,

namely :*
Hexapod - comprising of six linear

The main technological advancement of the

design is the incorporation of miniature hydr=tilic
cylinders and positional measu%ment contr:l via
LVDT% ( iinear variable displac.e,nent

actuator legs which are servo driven with

the coiling tip sitting centrally on a
platform supported by these legs.
Tripod - comprising of three linear

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93,890

one rotating within the other.

Manual - comprising of the replacement
of the normal grub screw adjustment with
a precision vernier adjustment, wher~ %e
positional readings are noted in order aid
set up.

The concepts all provided a bask for develo~i:g

a working design, However analysis of existing
coiling tip adjustments using traditiana!
mechanical adjustment led to the f%t prototype
design which aimed to provide the replication of
this existing movement.

Within the project a number of industrial members

felt that wire quality was one of the main causes
of coiling related failures of spring coiling
machines. Variations in the wire dramatically
affect bed spring coiling for example. It was
thought that varying wire diameter and ovality may
be one of the principal causes, and should be
measurable with the machine being on line.

A laser measurement gauge was used to

measure the wire just prior to coiling. These tests
were performed during September 1995.

actuator [egs, servo or hydraulic drive=.

Gimbal - where there aie two ptatfomis,

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NON-CONFIDENTIAL
transducers).

Second prototype coiling head ( see plate 2>

Hydraulic cylinders were used to provide the

necessary high forces and stability for coiling,
however due to the size constraint, there were no
standard cylinders available on the market, and
therefore a specific design was developed for this
exercise by a specialist hydraulic manufacturer.

It was established as a result of the first prototype

coiling head tests (which are disc~ssed later),
that further detailed tests and analysis would be
required with both coiling tips replaced by
actuated coiling heads of a revised design be%re
the relationship between the coihng tips motic=
and the actual springs produced rc=n be
established (ie the coiling contrcd algorithm}. This
requirement lead to the developr?ient of a semnd
prototype coiling head assembly.

The design of the cylinders and associated

hydraulic system proved difficult as the small
physical size of the cylinder blocks dictated that
all the associated hydraulic system components
were similarly size matched.

The second prototype coiling head is very much a

development of the basic mechanism of the first
prototype. It utilised the three cyiiriders and
LVDTS that were fitted to the first prototype tc
reduce the cost to the project of ik development.
However an additional three cylinders and
associated hydraulic and electronic components
were needed as there are two actuated
assemblies, one for Coiling Tip 1 .md the other for
Tip 2.

The systems hydraulic control schematic is given

in figure 2. The main components required being:-

Semo Actuator
Linear Variable Displacement Transducer
Servo Valve
Servo Valve Controller Card
Position Conditioning Card
Electronic Rack
Hydraulic power pack
Distribution manifold and hoses

l=
-

Considerable effort was required t~ ensure that

the hydraulic cylinder inlet and outlet ports wiiere
suitably positioned so as again, n & to foul with
the cam toilers rotating cam acd cutter. It w=:
decided in order to save space the final run of
hydraulic hose to each oil port in tie cylinders
would be hard piped using smail be-e stainless
steel tubing and double ferrule compression
fittings. This arrangement worked very well =Hd
helped reduce the require space envelope on the
host machine.

1-

- Hydraulic
servo

Fluid
reserfoir

The second design had to be a rrwre compact

one, in that it occupies a small Ycdprint on ~fi=
machine base plate. One of the actuators location
and mechanism had to be moved from protruding
out the side of the unit, to being siacked at tine
bottom of another actuator, in order for the cci!ing
heads to not foul the cam toiler rotating cams.
and cam follower mechanisms.

Electrical connection

Hydraulic connection

Spring Coiling Control System

Figure 2- Hydraulic Control Schematic
The definition of a closed-loop control syster is
one in which the control action is somehow
dependent on the actual response obtained frcm
the system. Feedback is the prspa~ of a clnsedIoop system which permits the control output to
be compared with the input to the system so that
the appropriate control action may be forme? as

Fortunately the aerospace industry had a

specialised semovalve which was suitable to
control the cylinders which the system was
developed around, all other iterns ( except the
hydraulic power pack ) were specially designed
equipment, including the hydraulic fittings.

SYNTI+ESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

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NON-CONFIDENTIAL

PC (Personal Computer, IBM clorm) provided the

starting point for this.

some function of the output and input.

In the case of the fixed coiling tip spring coiling
process the control system input would be the
movement of the actual coiling tips and the output
would be the size and form of the actual spring
produced.

The camera system used a PC based image

processing system. The other aspects require+
were:outputs to control the manipulation of the
coiling points
links to the existing CNC cccmtml systems
interpretation of measurement data

For the actuated coiling head assembly the units

control is a closed loop system with a control input
from the control voltage to the hydraulic
servovalve (see figure 2) and the output is the
actual movement of the hydraulic cylinder and
hence coiling tip via the coiling head mechanism.
The control feedback is provided by the LVDT
which yields the actual position the cylinder has
moved to.
e

user interface

The chosen route within this project was to us= a

top level PC based programme called LabVi==.:+
from National Instruments. This is capable of
providing the external links, graphical interfac=
and data processing.

For the actuated spring coiling process to be a

closed loop control system the control input would
be the coiling head assemblies control voltage
and the output would be the size and form of the
actual spring produced. The control feedback
would be provided by the on-line camera system
which would supply actual spring parameter
measurements to the actuated coiling head
assemblies control system which would establish
and supply, with the help of a control algorithm,
the required corrective (or otherwise) control input
to the coiling head assemblies.

Image
Processing

II
\

Data
Manipulation 1

m c COMOI
1
,

!1

Col[ ng

Figure 3- Control sys%am linking

Corftroi System Overview
CNC spring machine control

The control system has to fulfill the following

criteria:-

The final technology demonstr=to has

implemented the technology on an existing cam
toiler machine. As the control of 7WO of the
spring coiling machines functiors are already
present in state of the art CNC machines, th~
project has not replicated this. It is anticipated ?hat
the CNC aspect will be mainly used as part nflhe
coarse set up of the machine. The opi?rator vA! as
normal enter the parameters of the spring, E=: via
the PC interface. The appropriate links into tiw
CNC control will need to addressed in the fuiiy
engineered solution by the machine builders
within the consortium.

generate the machine coiling tip set up

positions
modify the coiling tip set up in real time
based on feedback from the spring
measurement
provide graphical/numerical instructions
for set up
The projects hard deliverable was a technology
demonstrator unit showing that automatic set up
and real time adjustment can be achieved. From
this base, the spring industry will be able to
quickly and easily move to a fully engineered and
integrated solution. As is common with many of
todays industrial control applications the use of a

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93,890

Camera image Processing

This aspect is straight forward frwn a contro! pint

of view as the image processing is conductec! by
an embedded card within the PC. This card

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NON-CONFIDENTIAL

to provide adjustment to compensate for proc~=s

changes that are causing the ma ~ufactured
springs to drift out of the required manufacturing
tolerance. However, the coiling tips actually
developed have enough movement to be use< to
affect the shape of the spring requked. This
adjustment is then fulfilling two furrctions, firstiy to
generate the spring shape, and secondly to
compensate for material or process variations.

passes the necessary information to the main

programme to act on. Data on the spring
parameters can be input via the user interface
and downloaded to the image processor. It is
anticipated that this data will be spring freelength,
outside diameter and pitch, or the camera system
could record a perfect spring for comparison
against the subsequently manufactured springs.
Camera Data Manipulation

Possibly the most important benefii that the

control system imparts on the entire machine is
the ability of the coiling tips to repeatedly and
accurately return to a given set-up position.
Hence, a database of spring design set-up
parameters can be stored on the PC and on
discs, This will enable the actuaied coiling tips to
be almost instantaneously driven to the requ[--d
set-up positions for a given spring design. To
facilitate this, the actual coiling tip tools used
have to be modified to be positively located within
the tool holder by for example, bayonet fitting m
dowelling against a register slot%ace etc. This
small modification does not represent any
technical or economic disadvankge, and a fuiiy
engineered solution could easily ~ncktde this in its
design.

The data received from the camera needs to be

acted upon to maintain the spring within
tolerance. The action may simply be recording of
the data and the update of an SPC chart, but the
main issue is for the real time control of the coiling
tips in reaction to the spring going out of
tolerance. The developed control algorithm
enables this function to be realised. This
algorithm yields the firm control rules for the
spring coiling process. Alternatively a learning
approach may be adopted in a fully engineered
solution.
Work has been carried out by MIT GmbH into the
integration of Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks in
LabView ( ref 1 ). This work provided an
opportunity to integrate the Neural Network
approach into the developed LabView application.
Neural Networks are able to learn, adapt to
changes, and can mimic human thought process
with little human intervention, They were defined
by Kohonen ( ref 2 ) as massively parallel
interconnected networks of simple (usually
adaptive) elements and their hierarchical
organisations which are intended to interact with
objects of the real world in the same way as
biological nervous systems do. However as result
of the prototype coiling head trials, the spring
coiling process was demonstrated to be a much
more predictable process than was first
envisaged, which negated the need to use Neural
Networks for the control of the process.

Parametric Measurement Of Spring and

Camera System Development

The listings below present an ovewiew of the

potential sensing techniques ava lzbie :Sensor
Principle

Parameter
(Resolution)

CCD Camera
diameter, length, sh=~e, quality
(5vm, cycle time 75ms)
Laser scanner

diameter, bending of wire

Inductive sensor

diameter (0,0 - 0.6mm)

Light Barrier

diameter {Up to 0.1 mm]

Coiling Tip Manipulation

Laser displacement diameter (1 O~m, range 60- 140mni)

This is a relatively straight forward operation, as

the hydraulics have positional control electronics
as part of the system. The overall control system
programme determines the new position that the
coiling points are required to be at, and then from
the developed control algorithm a control voltage
is output to the positional controller which then
moves the hydraulic cylinder accordingly via the
servovalve.

Trials were undertaken using these techniques.

The results from the laser sensors were poor due
to the following problems;
fluctuations in measurerm?nt due to the
varying position of the spring
difficulty of focusing on the correct p=int
of the saddle of the spring form
difficulty differentiating between coil
surface and free space between coils

The primary purpose of the real time movement is

The results from the inductive gauging trials %:ere

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Contrast requirements between the spring and

the image background were investigated, a lighter
background helping the imaging process. [t was
realised that in practise a light background wouicd
not easily be maintained in the generaJiy dirty
coiling tip area, as debris for the ra$+ material wire
and its coatings generally blackened most
surfaces. IPA Fraunhofer therefcre used wide=
images from a spring CNC toiler io analyse mm;e
industrially realistic spring images.

also not satisfactory for the required use. The

inductive sensor would produce unstable readings
when the spring was rotated. This is a problem of
focusing where the sensor detects different parts
of the spring surface. An additional problem with
the inductive sensor is that for accurate linear
measurement the detection area must be entirely
covered by the target. This would present
difficulties when there is a large variation in the
size of spring manufactured, and also the
smallest diameter sensor is 8 mm and this would
be unsuitable for wire diameters of 2mm,

Another question raised by the consortium related

to debris present in the coiling process. A
provisional suggestion has been ta provide a
compressed air curtain across tbe lens. How=;ar
IPA Fraunhofer do not believe that this will be
necessary based on their previous experienc~,
and that simple maintenance procedures for
cleaning, perhaps only once per week, will prow
sufficient.

The final measurement system was therefore

selected as the CCD Camera system.
CCD Camera

e
I

Development

The potential for the use of a CCD (Charge

Coupled Device) solid state integrated circuit
camera is significant in that it potentially provides
a low cost front end unit capable of recording a
large variety of shapes and therefore covering all
types of springs. This coupled with the ability to
measure at high speed provides a system
potentially small enough to be mounted near the
coiling area, and of sufficient speed to measure
each spring as it is being manufactured. The CCD
camera system relies heavily on the processing
power that will interpret the image and therefore a
cost effective solution needed to be determined
for this part of the system.

This system total price of f6500 was w+e!l within

the budget set ( <El 0,000) and ha been
demonstrated by iPA to give the fo!lowing
performance:* Speed of Measurement:
* Accuracy on Freelength:
Accuracy on Outside Dia:
Accuracy on Pitch:

[n terms of robustness, the camera housing can

be made sufficiently strong to withstand the
normal manufacturing requirement. The
protection of the Iens could be provided by tb use of a toughened glass window, which could
easily be replaced if damage occurred.

The potential disadvantages of the camera

system are the influence of debris generated by
the coiling process interfering with the image, and
with the limited amount of space available, the
ability of the camera to clearly see the spring.

If the speed of spring measuremerrt of the abcve

camera system is insufficient for a particular
application then the processing power needs %
be upgraded.

The chosen solution, which fits the actual

situation, is where one point is fixed, and that is at
the point where the spring is cut off, From that
datum point, the image can be analysed to
determine where the rest of the spring is located.
The image can then be compared against the
stored ideal, or actual measurements made of
diameter length and pitch and these compared
against the table of requirements. As the analysis
develops, and depending on the spring shape
being manufactured, it maybe possible to
analyse only a small section of the spring as this
will provide sufficient information to understand
whether the spring is within tolerance. For
example, by measuring the first couple of turns,
and the overall length and diameter could be
confirmed, and the pitch is inferred to be correct.
This reduces the image processing required and
therefore speeds up the rate at which springs can
be measured.

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

1.8 seconds
<3.5 mm
et~,~ mm
<0.5 mm

The two hardware solutions are PC based

systems capable of being instatieci in standard
units with the necessa~ spare expansion slots. As
part of the post project development the sofi;;=re
would probably need to be written in C based
code, and the necessary compiler and library
routines adds approximately E4,UQ0.
Coiling Process Optimisation
Wire Measurement Experimes@

The spring industry felt that wire qtiality was one

of the main causes of coiling related failures =f
spring coiling machines. For example, variations
in the wire dramatically affect bed spring m=z?rine

Issue: 1

August 1996

NON-CONFIDENTIAL
approximately 0.01 mm on diameter.

production. It was felt that varying wire diameter

and ovality may be one of the principal causes,
and should be measurable with the machine
being on line.

Pera analysed the logged laser gauge readings

using QuattroPro for Windows spreadsheets to
graphically plot the readings. A graph was
produced for each file (15 minutes of captured
data) and the machine runningktcw~ed reading
was modified to plot a binary on;cff signal, ie =
blip indicates that the host machine had
stopped.

Pera developed an experiment to measure the

wire diameter and ovality on-line to see if any
correlation between varying wire parameters and
machine stoppages could be established.

The test equipment consisted of the following

items:Laser gauge and height stand
Mounting bracket for the Laser gauge
Computer and monitor to run the data
capture software
LabView data capture software
D to A and A to D cards
Light sensor assernbiy
Various leads/cables and connectors

Inspection of the graphs has not yidded any

predictable correlation between the results and
the host machine stoppages. However, there
appears to be one irend that may be identifiable
with machine stoppages, but confirmation woti!d
be required by further tests. This trend is that
there are a number of host machine failures that
occur after the wire diameter has been creeping:
up or down.
No creeping up or down trends are observed
during periods of satisfactory host machine
operation.

The laser gauge was located prior to the host

machines coiling head on the mounting bracket.
The wire to be coiled into bed springs passes
freely through the centre of the gauge. The Beta
gauge was connected to a computer which
provides the means of capturing the gauges
outputted X-axis and Y-axis diameter with time.
On the PC, a LabView software programme
provided the means of controlling the data from
the gauge to be logged. The logged data was
stored on the computers hard disk. The logged
data was formatted and analysed by Pera at
Melton at a later date.

The conclusions that can be made from this

experiment are that wire for the host machine
should coil well if the ovality varies by about
0.01 mm on diameter, and if the diameter varies
between +/- O,Olmm based on a reference der
diameter of 2.20mrn.
W4ire that exhibits trends of increasing or
decreasing wire diameter may present coiling
difficulties.

[n order to record when the host machine had

stopped, a light sensor was attached to the
machines warning light. The sensor provided a
simple O or 1 reading (O-machine running, 1machine stopped) which could be logged for the
captured readings.

The wire used for the majority d these tests was

supplied to the user outside their mder
specification, which is significant as it equates to a
loss in their production yield of about 4%. Wke is
purchased by weig ht but prod ucticm yield is based
on the length for a given reel weight. A 40,4 lass of
yield has a large effect on the rmrgins that this
sector of the spring industry operaie under.

The data capture programme was set to log two

sets of readings from the laser gauge every
second. As the host machine was producing 75
springs a minute (of wire length 41 inches) or 1.3
metres/second, at least two readings per spring
produced were logged.

Taguchi

The early part of the project dealt in considerable

detail with the actual state of the art for spring
manufacture, the understanding of the
manufacturing process and subsequently a
considerable amount of analysis work was
undertaken to attempt to optimise these
processes theoretically. H was determined that an
experimental approach was required to
understand the effect of the different parts of the
process on the quality of the spring produced.

The machine was coiling 2.20mm diameter,

phosphate coated steel wire, tensile range 15501700 N/sq.mm, BS 4637:1970, with a tolerance on
the diameter of +0.00 mm/-O. O3mm.
On first setting the laser gauge, the x-diameter
was measured to be 2,19mm and the y-diameter
to be 2.18mm, ie the wire had an ovality of

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

Experiments

Issue: 1

August f W6

NON-CONFIDENTIAL
accomplished is to determine the effect each
factor has on the overall outcome Gf each
experiment. This is known as the Signal to Nciss
Ratio (S/N ratio dB). As the signal strength rises
compared to the noise strength the variability of
the process is reduced thus allowing greater
quality levels to be achieved.

The analysis technique chosen was Taguchi,

which is an analysis method involving the design
of experiments that are technological rather than
theoretical, concerned with productivity and cost
effectiveness rather than statistical rigour. The
following list of variables were determined as
being the most critical, and the different values
that were used to evaluate their significance on
the process:*
*
*
*
e

Once the results have been analysed a predicticm

has to be made and confirmatory tests
undertaken to show that the mathematical
prediction is valid. This is importarit as this can he
used to predict the best and worst cases with the
given parameters or factors.

Factor 1- Material Orientation - Four

levels changing every 90 degrees
Factor 2- Cleanliness - either as
purchased or de-greased
Factor 3- Number of straightener rollers 5or7
Factor 4- Roller height - providing either
guidance or deformation
Factor 5- Pay off - This is to be powered
or unpowered

The results show that the critical or major fackrs

are Number of rollers and Pay off method as they
have the largest SIN ratio variations.The resuits
also show that the Orientation, Cleanliness, and
Roller height factors are considered to be non
major influences in variances.
The Taguchi mode! predicted tkzt a WN ratic ef
20.29 +/-7.9 dB was possible from the given
factors. The confirmation prediction tried to
optimise the process to the optimum of 28.1 Q2S.

A noise factor was generated by the use of two

different material batches.
Some 16 separate experiments were designed
and performed by SRAMA instead of the 120 that
would have been required for a full factorial set of
experiments to cover the 5 factors. Furthermore
the Taguchi approach means that the effect of a
6th factor namely the noise factor (two wire
batches) can also be considered.

After the confirmatory tests the results were

analysed and yielded a value of 26,3 cB. hence
the process had been optimised from 19.7 to
26.3dB a reduction in variability of 75%.
conclusions

The key to a successful Taguchi analysis is the

selection of the quality parameter that is to be a
measure of the output of the experiment. The
quality parameter should ideally be the property
that is to be optimised but it should also be easily
measurable. If this can not be measured in
practise then another quality factor should be
selected.

These experiments have identified several fa.ctms

that influence the robustness of the coiling
process. it is now possible to use these to reduce
the influence that the wire/matetiai variations %ve
on the spring coiling process.
RESULTS

Firstprototype Coiling Head Test Results

In the case of this Taguchi experiment the

consortium wished to optimise the boilability of the
process. A year ago it would not have been
possible to use this as the quality measure as until
now there has been no accurate means of
measuring wire boilability. Fortunately for the
project SRAMA have separately developed a
coiling test which combines coil measuring and
CHAOS techniques to accurately identify the
material under tests potential coiling
performance. This test equipment was hence
used as the quality measure for these tests.

As previously stated the first prototype coiling

head utilises hydraulic motive power and state af
the art hydraulic servovalve control systems to
move and control a conventional coiling tip tml[.
Pera, bench tested the coiling head and
associated equipment during sephmrber 19Q5
and subsequently fitted the assembly to a
mechanical Cam Coiler host machine as a direct
replacement to the first fixed coilirig tip. A se:ss of
tests were performed which were designed to
gain suficient data to enable the relationship or
controlling algorithm between tk coiling tip
movement and springs produced to be

The object of the tests were to ascertain which

factors influence the variability of the wires
boilability, The manner in which this is

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

10

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August 59S6

NON-CONFIDENTIAL
Setthg the Cam Coiler to produce r.%kwence
springs after the coiling head instal!atirm took
approximately 1 hour. This was acbiewd by the
Coiier giving verbal instructions to t% Control
System Operator, This demonstrated that a
closed-loop control system was a very real
possibility.

established.
The specific objectives of these industrial trials
were:To demonstrate that the hydraulic
actuated coiling tip was robust enough to
withstand the forces associated with
coiling 2mm diameter wire (ie forces up
to 900N) and remain stable when in use

I
I
~

To demonstrate that the coiling tip can be

moved (and later controlled] whilst the
host machine is coiling springs

!
I

The limit of movement was established for each

motion in turn. The tips were then moved using
the control system within this range in plot the
relationship behveen the coiling tip motion and tine
actual spring produced free length and C3D.

The springs that were produced wiwe measured

the next day cold with respect to fr~e length and
outside diameter. When plotted the results
showed that the following almost [in=ar
relationship ( graph 1 ) existed between the
motion of the coiling tip and springs parameter%

To gather test data which will describe

the relationship behveen the movement
of the coiling tip and its measured effect
on the actual spring produced by the host
machine
To demonstrate that the coiling tip
positional control system can repeatedly
and accurately return the coiling tip to a
specified set-up position

The tests centred around coiling springs to a

reference design. With the Cam Coiler previously
been set up with the traditional tooiing to produce
a batch of reference springs that were used for
comparison purposes as a bench mark.

Peras bench testing activity had demonstrated

that the hydraulic cylinder and LVDT control
combination was capable of positioning the
cylinder rod end to within +/- O.Olmm ( 0.0005}
and correspondingly the coiling tip very accurately
as a function of the mechanical advantage ratios
of the coiling head mechanism.

Graph 1- First Prototype Coilng Head Test=

Variation of Extend motion plotki against
measured Spring OD

The coi[ing head hydraulic power packs initial

operating pressure was 500psi.
Initial testing of the hydraulic coiling head showed
all 3 motions to be very stable whilst coiling. The
three coiling head motions were defined as:Motion 1 Coiling Tip Extend
( varies spring diameter).
Motion 2 Coiling Tip Tilt
( varies spring pitch/shape).
Motion 3 Coiling Tip Rotate
(varies spring pitch).

;+?4

CH4 Relative ConM Vol/age [w

+ CHI-O.2V -S CH142.lV -@- C H 1 OV -+- C+1 O.l V + G+ 0.2Y + CH1 D.3V

The wire feed speed of the host cam toiler

machine was 22.2 metretimin (derived from the
spring production rate of 60/min).

Graph 2- 2nd Prototype Coiling Mead Tests

Variation of Coiling Tips l&2 Ex3end
motions plotted against measw=d Spring KN3

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

11

issue: f

Augusi 19:5

NON-CONFIDENTIAL
cylinders when under load. Under this higher
system pressure both coiling tips proved to be
very stable and rigid during coiling

These industrial trials showed that the coiling

process is more predictable than was first
envisaged with the graphs of the control voltage
against OD and Free Length showing consistent,
repeatable and linear relationships over smaller
distances.

The results of the second prototype :rials she:-.-ed

once more that the coiling process was
predictable, consistent, and rep==table havin; to
all intents and purposes linear rcl =tionships CIVET
smaller distances or movements ss can be s=sn
by graph 2.

The first prototype coiling head had excellent

repeatability, yielding batches of reference springs
as below when ever the control voltages were set
to the set-up values:-

The second prototype coiling head when trialed

demonstrated excellent repeatability, yieldin~
batches of reference springs as Mow, whenever
the control voltages were set to the set-up
values:-

Spring measured parameters - mean values

Batch ret

Free length

42,98 mm
Ref Spring
(Without coil head fitted)

First Proto

OD (mm)
22.20

+/-0,1 2mm

Spring measured parameters - mean value:

Batch refi

+/-O,O7mm

Ref Spring

For comparison purposes the appropriate British

Standard for industrial springs BS 1726: PT 1:
1987 for a spring of the reference design yields
acceptable tolerances of +/-O.9mm on spring free
length and +/- 0.3mm on spring outside diameter.

Mean
Max
Min

hk.cuils
5.80

Pitt>
(mm)
1 OF-5

44.67
45,73
42,83

22.58
22.93
22.20

5.69
580
.560

1 M<
11.5~2

10.32

Conclusions from the Coiling I-kad

Development

It was also established that to gain a better

understanding of the effect that the coiling tips
were having on spring production, more spring
parameters shouid be measured. Therefore, the
following spring parameters were measured for 4
springs out of each batch:-

First indications were that the positional accuracy

and repeatability of the hydrauli; coiling head and
control systems were very good which will
significantly reduce set-up times and flexibility cf
spring manufacture if an engineered coiling head
design was to be available for retrm-fitting to
existing cam toilers and incorpcmtion into current
state of the art CNC coiling matchines.

free length (42.97 mm)

outside diameter (22.16 mm)
effective pitch (10.56mm)
no. of coils (5.80)

The spring coiling control algorithm although

predictable, consistent, and repeatable is complex
and it would be unwise to try ar+ predict a generic
control algorithm of coiling frorm :he study of cme
reference spring design and wi, e size. What these
tests have shown is that spring coiling can be
predicted for a spring design by experiments-an
for a given coiling tip and holder geometry.
Clearly though, this is of limited commercial value
to the spring making industry.

As a result of these tests further detailed tests and

analysis were required with both coiling tips
replaced by actuated coiling heads of a revised
design before the relationship between the coiling
tips motion and the actual springs produced can
be established ie the coiling control algorithm.
This requirement led to the development and
trialing of the second prototype coiling head
assembly.

What is more important is the fact that an

understanding of the effect of moving each of the
coiling tips in relation to each other has been
gained and can be used to generate a contmi
guideline algorithm which, in combination witin
actuated coiling tips and a negative feed-back
quality monitoring device such as an on-line
camera system, can now be used to make the

Second Prototype Coiling Head Test Results

The hydraulic system pressure had to be

increased again from 600 psig to 700 psig in order
to move both coiling heads set of three hydraulic

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

OD
(mm)
22.16

Second prototype coiling head generated

reference springs

The second fixed tip was however observed to

impart a correcting influence when moving the
first coiling tip by larger amounts.

FIL
(mm)
42.97

12

Issue: 1

August 1996

NON-CONFIDENTIAL
system including the camera imaging to be
located on a single PC, reducing Iccst and
complexity.

spring coiling process reactive and self

compensating. Furthermore, the second
prototype has demonstrated that the actuation
technology to do so is now available for
commercial exploitation.

The feedback measurement system was

determined as being a camera imeging system.
Much effort was expended to develop the ane!ysis
of the images captured to determine the three
critical parameters of a spring, these being the
free length, the outside diameter and the pitch.
This system was developed and trialled in the
laborato~ environment and also by using digital
images taken from a real coiling machine. The
final trials of the linked system to the manipulation
of the coiling tips was due to be ccxnpleted just
after the official conclusion of the project.
However the technology developed for this
measurement process is far in advance of any
existing technology and is to be taken up by one
of the machine builders in particakr.

CONCLUSIONS
The project has been successful in independently

analysing the spring coiling process to a point

where innovative technology has been developed
and demonstrated that will enable new machines
to be constructed and used within Europe, that
give a technological advantage, and produce a
better quality spring. The research has provided a
variety of other outputs that have and will
influence the spring coiling process to enhance
the quality of production.
The key elements of the technology produced
are, the automatic real-time movement of the
coiling tips, the on-line measurement of the
produced springs and the basis for the control
algorithm for the automated adjustment of the
process to maintain output within tolerance.

The Taguchi analysis of the coiling process

yielded the major factors that influence coilirtg
variability as being the amount of straightening
applied to the raw material, and the use of
powered take off decoilers/swifts, The increase in
the number of rollers indicated that straighter+g
is beneficial to the coiling process whereas CCM
work due to offset guides has a limited beneficial
effect.

The coiling tests using the new actuated coiling

tips showed that this process is more predictable
than was first envisaged. The graphs of the data
produced showed a repeatable and linear
relationship over small distances. The trials
indicated that the positional accuracy and
repeatability of the hydraulic coiling head and
control systems were very good which would help
to significantly reduce set-up times and flexibility
of spring manufacture.
*

The above factors which have been shown t~

have a beneficial effect on redut;ing coiling
variations will undoubtedly have an effect wit I
the standard spring coiling production process,
however it has not been possible to quantify :i=
exact effect,
The Taguchi experiments have identified several
factors that influence the robusmess of the c+ing
process. It is now possible to use these to reduce
the influence that the wire/mate;-ai variations have
on the spring coiling process and as a
consequence the optimum settings have be=:
determined.

On the basis of the data gathered within the

project, there is the opportunity to develop a
simple proportional control algorithm, based on a
decision matrix, which would provide a degree of
in-process control over spring free length and
outside diameter. The project has determined a
basic decision matrix where the decision about a
spring is based on the average of the spring
dimensions of a pre-set number of springs.
Further work and trials would be necessary both
to determine whether this approach can cope with
a wide range of spring sizes and wire
compositions. This much more simplified control
algorithm has removed the need for the use of
new programming techniques involving neural
networks. This provides a much more realistic
platform for the consortium to further exploit the
technology. The control system used was a PC
based Windows programme enabling the whole

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

As part of the exercise of understanding the

influencing parameters on the c.:oiling process, a
series of input wire measurement experiments
were carried out at one of the prc>ject members.
The conclusions from this determined the limits of
wire ovality that the process COU15 tolerate and the
rate of change of this parameter could provido an
indication to the operator of impending problems.
An additional fact that was apparent was that a
significant amount of wire was su @ied to the
industrial member outside of specification.

13

Issue: 1

August 1996

.
A

NON-CONFIDENTIAL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

However this fact was not able to encourage wire

suppliers to monitor their output.

The project consortium would like to thank the

CEC for the funding and generoas support that
have been given to this important research
project.

At the end of the project much work has been

undertaken and a considerable amount of data
obtained on the spring coiling process. This will
provide a sound basis for the industrial consortium
either as individuals or groups to take the
appropriate elements and enhance their own
position, and to develop a productionised system
capable of leading the world.

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.89D

REFERENCES

14

1)

Kasper,C. Lieven,K. Wek@r, Dr R .

MIT GmbH Integration of Fuzzy Logic
and Neural Networks in Lab~iew,
National Instruments European User
Symposium November 10- 1~, 1994,
Munich.

2)

Kohonen, T Self Organisation and

Associated Memory, 3rd Edition,
Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 7989

Issue: 1

August 19S%

NON<ONFIDENTIAL

. .

HA-r% 1- First Prototype coiling Head Assemkiy during Eknc?l -resm!g =$5J t%2FEi

PLATE 2- Second Prototype Coiling Head Assembly

SYNTHESIS REPORT
CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

15

Issue: 1

Augusi 7996