Improvements in Chains.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Apr., 1894--Accepted, 19th May, 1894
Improvements in Chains.
I, RICHARD ALVIN BREUL, of 55 Beach Street, Bridgeport, in the County of
Fairfield, and State of Connecticut, United States of America, Manufacturer
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:―
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a piece of my improved chain ;
Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the links of said chain;
Figure 3 is a front, and
Figure 4 is a side view of the same link ;
Figure 5 is a detail view illustrating the manner of bending and interlocking the
ends of the wire to form the link ;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of a slightly modified construction of the chain;
Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of one of these links of modified
construction; and
Figure 8 is a detail view, illustrating the manner of bending and twisting the
ends of the wire to form the modified link.
Like letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.
My invention relates to chains composed of links made of wire and adapted for
general purposes where a light, yet strong and durable chain is required; and it
consists in the novel and peculiar construction of the individual wire links as will
be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.
On the accompanying drawing, the reference letter A denotes a piece of any suitable
wire which is bent by suitable machinery designed for the purpose, so as to form two
loops, B and C, in alignment with each other and in the same plane. In forming
these loops, starting from that end of the piece of wire which is marked by the
letter
on Figure 5 an offset is first formed (see Figure 5), and the wire is then
bent or doubled upon itself to form the upper loop B, until a point, c, is reached,
opposite to the offset b. At this point the wire is bent inwardly, in the same plane
with loop B, so as to form a narrow neck D connecting the two loops B and C.
Below this neck the wire is again bent laterally or outwardly, and then in a
downward direction, doubled upon itself, to form the lower loop C. The left
limb C, of this loop passes behind or back of, the offset b, being bent inwardly at
the contracted part of neck D, just opposite to the point c on the other side of the
link, thus forming the narrow part or neck D; and from this point the wire is
continued upwardly, back of and adjacent to the first loop B, so as to form a second
loop B until the contracted middle part D is again reached. At this point the
link is completed or closed by forming eyes, d and e, on the projecting terminals
of the wire, which enclose the offsets or shoulders b and c on opposite sides of the
Deck D.
In this manner 1 form a double looped link, one of the loops (B B¹) of which
comprises a double thickness of wire. The chain is built up by connecting, during
the process of their construction, a suitable number of these links to form a chain
of any required length.
If desired, the link may be closed by the turning of the eyes d and e of the wire
in a different direction, and thus enclosing the narrowest part of the neck D from
opposite directions, instead of enclosing each shoulder b and c separately. This
modified construction I have illustrated in Figures 6, 7, and 8, from which it will
be observed that the projecting ends d and e, after the two loops B B and C have
been formed in the manner described, are twisted around the contracted part of

page_text: the link between the loops. By this modification, the two loops are separated
from each other by closing the neck D, by twisting the two ends of the wire
around it; while the other way of closing and finishing the link does not tightly
close and separate the two loops, which are (in that case) closed partially only by
bringing the opposite links or sides of the neck close together. In some cases one
form may be found desirable, and in other cases the other (modified) form may be
found preferable. The construction of the link is identical in both cases, the only
difference being the way of closing the link, viz., by engaging the eyes or hooks
formed at the terminals of the wire either around or close to the contracted part
of the link, between the two loops.
No
This forms a very strong, light, and durable chain, which can be manufactured
at small expense by the use of special machinery constructed for the purpose.
amount of strain or tension can sever the chain by unhooking or untwisting the
ends of the wire, and the chain can only be broken by rupture of the wire.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
-consider novel and desire to claim is :-
1. As an improved article of manufacture, a chain of wire links, each link
comprising a loop B B of two contiguous thicknesses of wire passing each other
in opposite directions, and a loop CC in the same plane, of a single thickness;
.said loops consisting of a single continuous piece of wire bent to form the shoulders b
and c and neck D between and connecting the loops; substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
2. As an improved article of manufacture, a chain of wire links, each link
comprising a loop B B' of two contiguous thicknesses of wire passing each other
through in opposite directions, and a loop C C₁ in the same plane, of a single
thickness; said loops consisting of a single continuous piece of wire bent to form
the shoulders b and c and neck D between and connecting the loops; the free
ends d and e of the wire being secured to the contracted part of the link between
its two separate loops; substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. As an improved article of manufacture, a chain of wire links, each link
comprising a loop B B¹ of two contiguous thicknesses of wire passing each other
in opposite directions, and a loop C C¹ in the same plane, of a single thickness;
.said loops consisting of a single continuous piece of wire bent to form the shoulders b
and c and a contracted part or neck, D, between and connecting the loops; the
free ends of the wire, after forming said loops, being bent in opposite directions in
the plane of the loops outside of the contracted part between them, and then
bent around the opposite shoulders and c; substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
Dated this 16th day of Anvil 1801
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.