Taper roll machine and method

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR ROLL TAPERING A BLANK TO FORM A SPRING LEAF OF DESIRED LONGITUDINAL CONTOUR COMPRISING MEANS FOR SUPPORTING AND POSITIVELY HORIZONTALLY MOVING A METAL BLANK TO BE ROLLED, A FORMING ROLL POSITIVELY DRIVEN ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS OF ROTATION THAT EXTENDS AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID BLANK, MEANS MOUNTING SAID FORMING ROLL FOR VERTICAL DISPLACEMENT DURING THE ROLL TAPERING OPERATION, MEANS FOR CONSTANTLY URGING SAID FORMING ROLL UNDER PRESSURE DOWNWARD AGAINST SAID BLANK, AND MEANS INCLUDING SAID LAST NAMED MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLABLY CHANGING THE VERTICAL POSITION OF SAID FORMING ROLL WHILE MAINTAINING SAID PRESSURE SUFFICIENT AS THE BLANK MOVES IN ROLLING CONTACT WITH SAID FORMING ROLLER TO FORM SAID BLANK TO SAID DESIRED CONTOUR COMPRISING CAM MEANS OF PREDETERMINED TAPER POSITIONED TO OPPOSE DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID FORMING ROLL.