An Improved Manufacture of Chains and Machinery therefor.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Oct., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 27th July, 1892-Accepted, 27th Aug., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Manufacture of Chains and Machinery therefor.
I, EDWARD ALFRED COWPER, of No. 6 Great George Street, in the County
of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My improvements relate to chain cables, and chains which are formed of welded
links.
According to my invention the rolled steel or iron bars are sawn through, and by
preference in a slanting direction so that the ends may lap over each other and
form scarfs when bent round in the machine to form the link. The bar when
made red hot is inserted in the last link of the chain, in the machine, which latter
has dies or levers to bend the bar and form the link to the correct shape ready for
welding, the new link being thus connected to the last made link of the chain. The
new link is then heated by a. gas fire urged by a blast of air, water gas being
preferred for this purpose, and as soon as the parts to be welded have acquired the
requisite temperature, they are inserted in a machine, and receive a heavy squeeze
from a pair of dies actuated by hydraulic presses, or other suitable apparatus for
producing the requisite pressure, such dies having recesses in them of the form of
the finished link, and thus a perfect weid is obtained.
I prefer to arrange the above described bending machine with two pairs of
bending levers or dies; the length of metal rod cut as above described is placed on
the one side of a divided mould having the configuration of the inner periphery of
the link to be produced. The one pair of dies is then made to first press each end
of the bar round the said mould and then to press against the bent portion of the
bar with a hollowed face, so as to bring the bar correctly into shape.
The second pair of dies is then made to advance and press the two ends of the bar
so as to completely encircle the mould and so that the two sloping faces are brought
accurately one over the other, thus producing a perfectly formed link, only requiring
to be welded by heating and pressure in the manner above described.
Dated this 29th day of October 1891.
ABEL & IMKA1,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Manufacture of Chains and Machinery therefor.
1, EDWARD ALFRED COWPER of No. 6 Great George Street, in the County of
London, Engineer, 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 :-
My improvements relate to chain cables and chains which are formed of welded
links.
According to my invention, the rolled steel or iron bars are sawn through, and
by preference in a slanting direction so that the ends may lap over each other and
form scarfs when bent round in the machine to form the link. The bar when made
red hot is inserted in the last link of the chain, in the machine, which latter has dies
or levers to bend the bar and form the link to the correct shape ready for welding,
the new link being thus connected to the last made link of the chain. The new link
is then heated by a gas fire urged by a blast of air, water gas being preferred fo.
this purpose, and as soon as the parts to be welded have acquired the requisite
temperature, they are inserted in a machine, and receive a heavy squeeze from a
pair of dies actuated by hydraulic presses, or other suitable apparatus for producing
D

page_text: .
we requisite pressure, such dies having recesses in them of the form of the finished
link, and thus a perfect weld is obtained.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying.drawings is a plan and Fig. 2 is a transverse section
of a machine for bending the bars, to constitute links of a chain. Fig. 3 is a sectional
elevation and Fig. 4 is a plan of a machine for welding the links. Referring first
to Figs. 1 and 2, on a table E is fixed the lower half G of a mould made with a
quadrantal groove round its upper edge. On this half is fitted with steady pins the
upper half G' which has also a quadrantal groove round its lower edge, so that,
when the upper half is pressed on the lower half, the die presents a half round
groove. In this groove and through the last chain link is placed, red hot, the
length A A of bar which has been cut off, either by sawing or shearing, with cach
end sloped to form a scarf, and it is immediately clamped in position by a pair of
hooks which are drawn down by a treadle lever D, or it might be by a hand lever.
Another treadle lever D' draws down a pair of levers G which press down the upper
half G of the mould after the bar A has been placed in position. The mould GG¹
is made, as shewn, with a recess in front to admit part of the link previously made.
The red hot bar A A being clamped, two sliding dies F F are made to advance
obliquely by hydraulic presses or otherwise, bending the two projecting ends of the
bar partly round the mould G G¹, and then two other sliding dies H are advanced
pressing the bar A A quite round the mould G G', to the shape of a link with its
scarf ends overlapping but not yet welded. The upper half G₁ of the mould being
now raised, the shaped link removed and transferred to the machine shewn in
Figs. 3 and 4.
The unwelded link a is gripped between a stud hollowed at the top and
hooks c which are depressed by a treadle c¹ or otherwise.
the link is presented between two blow pipe gas flames proceeding from burners d
The scarf joint of
and e which are made of refractory material and are pivotted on an axis f so that
they can readily be turned aside. The flames are of a deoxidising character produced
preferably from water gas mixed with air in suitable proportions. In order to
protect the previously made link from the intense heat a piece of fire brick or
equivalent refractory material may be held in the link a while it is being heated.
When the part acted on by the flames has attained a welding heat, the burners de
are swung aside and two swages y are moved by hydraulic presses j and k, or it
might be by other suitable mechanism, to compress between them the heated part
of the link a and so weld the scarf ends together. The swages and books c being
then withdrawn the chain is removed to have other links added to it in like manner.
The bar from which the links are cut may be rolled with swells in those parts of it
which when bent form the ends of the links, those parts of the chain where the wear
is greatest being thus made thicker and stronger than the sides of the links, on
which there is comparatively little wear.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
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1. The herein described method of manufacturing a chain by cutting a suitable
length of iron or steel bar with inclined ends to form a scarf, bending it while hot 4
and engaged in the last previously made link to the shape of a link with its scarf
ends overlapping each other, heating these ends by deoxidising flames, and compressing
them so as to weld them together.
2. The machine for bending lengths of bars to link shape, constructed and
operating substantially as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
3. The machine for welding the scarf ends of a link, substantially as described
with reference to Figs. 3 and 4.
Dated this 27th day of L….l.. 1005
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