Plating equipment and method of plating piston rings

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR USE IN MAKING SPLIT RESILIENT PISTON RINGS HAVING GAPS BETWEEN THE PERIPHERAL ENDS THEREOF AND COMPRISING, AXIALLY DISPOSING A PLURALITY OF SAID RINGS BETWEEN A PAIR OF END MEMBERS WITH SAID RINGS BEING FREE TO DISTORT INWARDLY THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE EXTENT OF THE INNER PERIPHERAL SURFACES THEREOF AND PROVIDING A CYLINDRICAL RING STACK, RELATIVELY MOVING A PLURALITY OF CLAMPING JAWS WITH RESPECT TO AND AGAINST THE EXTERIOR SURFACES OF SAID RINGS AND SAID STACK AND CLOSING THE GAPS IN SAID RINGS, CONTINUING THE MOVEMENT OF SAID CLAMPING JAWS UPON SAID STACK AND RADIALLY DISTORTING AND TRANSVERSELY ELONGATING SAID RINGS ON AXES EXTENDING THROUGH THE CLOSED GAPS BETWEEN SAID PERIPHERAL ENDS OF SAID RINGS, CLAMPING SAID END MEMBERS RIGIDLY TOGETHER UPON SAID STACK AND APPLYING AXIALLY DISPOSED FORCES OF SUFFICIENT MAGNITUDE TO THE ENGAGING SURFACES OF SAID RINGS TO FRICTIONALLY RETAIN SAID RINGS IN THE FORM ESTABLISHED BY DISTORTING AND ELONGATING SAID RINGS, LOOSENING SAID CLAMPING JAWS FROM SAID RINGS, AND THEREAFTER PLATING SAID RINGS IN THE FORM ESTABLISHED BY SAID CLAMPING JAWS AND RETAINED BY SAID END MEMBERS.