Improvements in or relating to Chain Making Machines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Oct., 1899-Accepted, 3rd Feb., 1900
Improvements in or relating to Chain Making Machines.
A communication from DAVID ROCHE, of 45, Harper Street, Cleveland, in the
County of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, United States of America, Black-
smith.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of the invention is to provide a machine adapted to perform the
operations of making a chain from stock fed into the machine.
The machine includes means for cutting off a bar of metal, for bending it into
a loop through a previous link, for heating the ends of this loop and welding
them into a link, and for turning the link into proper position to receive the
rod for the next link.
The invention consists in the combinations of the means employed for perform-
ing these functions or material parts of them, as hereinafter explained and
definitely pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings, which clearly disclose the invention, Figure 1 is a plan;
Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a vertical
section on an enlarged scale through the center of the chain trough; Figure 4
is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; Figures 5 and 6 are details
in plan of the reciprocating slide and chain trough, respectively. Figure 7 is a
vertical section on the line 7-7 of Figure 3; Figure 8 is a vertical section through
the shears, feed wire and wire guide. Figure 8 is an enlarged plan of the forward
end of the chain trough and one of the formers, and Figure 10 is a vertical section
on the line 10-10 of Figure 9. Figure 11 is an end elevation. The same letters
of reference designate the same parts in each figure.
Referring to the parts by letters, A represents the bed of the machine. A trough B
adapted to carry the chain being formed is pivoted to this bed by means of a
pin, extending through ears on the underside of the trough, and an ear a
extending upward from the frame. The chain, which is designated C, is formed
in this trough, and extends downward through an opening 2 in the base thereof
and takes into pockets in a wheel 1), which, being rotated by an intermittent
movement as hereinafter explained, draws the chain along.
Sliding between guides a a', on the upper side of the bed is the bifurcated
slide E which takes around the trough B. At its forward end, this slide carries
a pair of formers e and e¹, the former e being adapted to co-operate and form a
bevel shear with a stationary block F. G represents the rod of stock from which
the chain is made. It lies in contact with the negative rod N and the positive
liquid of a liquid electric forge and is heated: and it is then fed forward
into the machine, as 'hereinafter described, passing through a suitable guide H
and between the shear blades F and e. and abuts against the toe e² on the forward
end of the former el, resting at this free end on the web e The last link com-

page_text: pleted in the chain is held in an approximately vertical position by the bevelled
block which chokes the chain trough, and thus when the stock is fed forward,
it passes through the last link.
On the rear end of the slide E is a roller c. This is engaged by a cam carried
on the main shaft J. As this shaft revolves, the cam forces the slide forward, the
first effect of which is to shear off from the stock, on a bevel, material for the
new link. By the continued forward movement of the slide the formers bend the
stock forward and slide along in contact with it forming it into a U-shape or
loop around the inside former which is the nose ¹ of a pivoted lever I: as soon
as this takes place, another cam engages with the roller k of a bell crank
lever K, the other end of which is connected with the slide and draws the slide
backward from the new loop, which is held by the forward end of a spring
carried by the trough.
Now, two lateral formers P are forced inward against the ends of the link by
reason of the cams m on the shaft M (driven through a sprocket chain M' from
the shaft J), engaging with the rollers 9 on the pivoted arms Q. the forward
ends of which are socketed in the formers P. This bends in the ends of the loop
into the shape of a link, one bevelled end lying above the other, and the nose i¹
of the lever I filling the space within the link and causing the proper formation
thereof. As soon as the cams m pass off of the rollers (which latter roll on the
top of the bed plate) the formers P are released, and they are drawn away from the
link under the influence of the springs R.
A cam on the main shaft now acts on the roller 7 of a bell crank lever L,
and moves the other arm of that lever forward. This arm carries a roller which
normally engages with the upper edges of the trough B and holds it in a horizontal
position. As soon as this roller has passed off from the trough however, the latter
swings down by gravity into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. In
this position, the trough contacts with the rod N¹, which is the negative pole
of a second and more intense liquid electric forge, the positive of which is saline
water in a tank 02: this heats the ends of the link to a welding heat, and
by the time this temperature is reached, the cam on the main shaft engages
with the roller and brings the roller 71 back onto the trough, swinging it up into
the horizontal position. This swinging of the trough away from active position
enables the link to be heated very hot without injuring the forming or welding
tools, as would be liable to result if the link were heated at the operative position.
The cam roller m¹ on the disk m³ on the shaft M now engages with the projec-
tion S, extending from the jaw S¹ and forces that jaw, together with the jaw S
pivoted to it, forward. The pivot S of these jaws terminates in bosses S³ which
carry slides S taking into grooves in the block S. The lower jaw is guided by
the tongue S taking into a second groove Si in one of the guides S³.
The jaws being held open by the spring $8 as they come forward, take above
and below the overlapping ends of the link being formed. At the same time the
front corner of the upper jaw S2 strikes the inclined projection on the lever I
and raises said lever and also moves it to the rear out of the war-the lever
being slotted at its pivot at 22 to allow such movement, and the bridge on the
slide E being out of the way when the latter is in its rear position.
As soon as the jaws S1 S2 have come into position above and below the new link,
the roller m2 on the disk m³ engages with the tappet S2 which is pivoted to the
lower jaw S1 and has an upwardly extending bell crank wiper arm S. This wiper
arm engages with the rear end of the upper jaw and brings the noses of the
jaws together, squeezing the link between them and making a perfect weld.
When the jaws release the complete link by reason of the wiper arm swinging
backward, a cam on the main shaft engages the roller on the rocker arm 1
from which extends the tappet arm ¹ (Figs. 3 & 4). This arm is thus depressed
onto the roller carried by the lever V which carries a pawl r adapted to engage
with pins projecting from the side of the wheel D, into the pockets of which
the chain takes. The newly completed link is thus drawn into the trough and in

page_text: this movement is assumes an approximately vertical position by reason of the
bevelled block in the trough (which has a face something the shape of a
plow-share) and the spring which bears down on the opposite side of the link:
and the preceding link, which is approximately vertical, passes behind the bevelled
block and drops back into a horizontal position. This spring 63 (which during
the dip of the trough holds the link in place) moves down, during the withdrawal
of a new link, far enough to assist in turning but not enough to obstruct the
bevelled end of the feed wire entering for the new link. The newly formed
link thus simply tips up a little less than 90° in passing the bevelled block, and
then drops back again and the play in the chain prevents the vertical or hori-
zontal position of the link on the wheel D from interfering with the proper
position of those at the forward end of the trough. As soon as the cam passes
off of the roller, the weight ¹ on the end of the lever V returns it to its normal
position, and the pawl passes over into engagement with the next pin d.
:
Now a pawl m' on the disk m³ of the shaft M engages with the rear end of the
bell crank lever T and forces it aside, and its forward end engages the projec
tion S extending from the upper jaw S2, and this returns the parts to their
normal position.
At the beginning of the next rotation, a fall in the crown cam on the
main shaft comes opposite the roller on the lever W, and this lever is swung
on its axis by the weight e depending from it. This movement causes a
pawl 2, which engages with a ratchet y on a shaft Y to rotate that shaft a portion
of a revolution. On the forward end of this shaft is a grooved roller which,
co-operating with the pair of grooved rollers y² below it, operates to feed the rod G
into the machine. The movement of the lever W is such that just enough stock
is fed forward to make a complete link, and then the cam je gradually returns
the roller, and the ratchet mechanism remains stationary until the next
revolution.
The liquid constituting the positive pole of the forge which first heats the
rod is contained in a tank 0 which has depending from it a pipe Of which
has small orifices leading into a larger tank 0 Liquid is continuously supplied
to the tank by a spigot O from a tank 08, and this liquid passes partly over
the edge of the tank and partly down through the pipe 0+, into the tank 0.
This causes a continuous circulation of the liquid in the tank 03, keeping it
cool while the openings are small enough so that the liquid from the spigot O
will keep the tank ( continually overflowing. A pump 0 returns the liquid from
the tank 06 to the tank 08. The tank 02 of the other electric forge has its fluid
kept at the proper level by occasional additions from the supply tank 010 by the
spigot O
:
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. In a chain making machine, the combination with mechanism for bending
stock into a loop, and mechanism for welding the ends of said loop, of mechanism
for varying the distance between the loop and the welding tools, and means for
heating the ends of the loop while it is comparatively distant from the welding
tools between the bending and welding operations, substantially as described.
2. In a chain making machine, mechanism for passing a bar of metal through
a link, mechanism for bending it into a loop in this position, mechanism for
bending the ends of the loop together, mechanism for moving the loop away from
the welding mechanism, means for then heating the ends of the loop to a welding
heat, and mechanism for then bringing the heated loop to the welding mechanism,
in combination with such welding mechanism, substantially as described.
3. In a chain making machine, in combination, means for supporting a chain.
means for moving material for a new link into the last completed link, mechanism
for bending such material into a loop, mechanism for bending the ends of the

page_text: loop upon each other, mechanism for squeezing them together and means for
heating the ends of the loop during the operation just preceding their being
squeezed together, substantially as described."
4. The combination with mechanism for forming a loop of metal in the end
of a chain, mechanism for welding together the ends of said loop, a liquid electric
forge, and mechanism for dipping the ends of the loop into the liquid between the
forming and welding operations, substantially as described.
5. The combination with a liquid electric forge of a trough adapted to carry a
chain with a partly formed link, means for giving said trough a movement to and
from said forge whereby said partly formed link is heated, and means for welding
the partly formed link, substantially as described.
6. In a chain making machine, in combination, a pivoted trough, a liquid
electric forge beneath the same, said trough being adapted to carry a chain and
a new link being formed and swing it downward to said forge whereby the new
link becomes heated, substantially as described.
7. In a chain making machine, in combination, a trough adapted to carry a
portion of the chain, a bevelled block near one end thereof, and mechanism
for drawing the chain along the trough whereby the bevelled block turns the
link at that end aliout its axis, substantially as described.
8. In a chain making machine, in combination, a pivoted trough adapted to
carry a chain, a lever adapted to bear on said trough and hold it in normal posi-
tion, mechanism for actuating said lever to move it away from the trough whereby
the trough moves into another position, substantially as described.
9. In a chain making machine, the combination of a pivoted trough adapted to
carry a portion of the chain, mechanism for feeding the material for a new link
into a link in said trough, a pair of formers, means for causing said formers to
bend the new material into a loop, and heating means so located that the pivoted
trough may swing the link being formed thereto, substantially as described.
10. The combination, in a chain making machine, of two liquid electric forges,
one adapted to give more intense heat than the other, mechanism for feeding the
material heated by the less intense forge into a link of a chain, mechanism for
bending said material into a link form, mechanism for bringing it into the other
forge to heat its ends to a welding heat, and a mechanism for squeezing said ends
together to weld them, substantially as described.
11. In a chain making machine, in combination, mechanism for feeding forward
stock a rod with which said stock engages, a tank containing a liquid, said
rod and liquid forming the terminals of a liquid electrical forge whereby said
stock is heated, means for cutting off said stock, and means for forming a link
out of said cut off portion, substantially as described.
12. The machine for making chain, substantially as herein shown and described.
Dotad i 041 dave of Antalian 1800
BOULT, WADE & KILBURN,
Agents for the Applicant.