Improvements in the Manufacture of Weldless Chains.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 25'h Mar., 1995
Complete Specification Left. 27th Dec. 1895-Accepted, 1st Feb., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Weldless Chains.
We, JOSEPH GIRLOT and CHARLES CASTIN, Chain Manufacturers, of Jumet
in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
When a chain is laid upon a flat surface its links take such a position that each
pair of them in end view would appear as a St. Andrew's cross. This invention
relates to the manufacture of a chain without welds by forming, by rolling pressing,.
or casting in a mould, in one piece a series of successive links lying in the form.
above mentioned, connected by thin metal which is afterwards cut out leaving the
links free. When the bar of metal is operated on by pressure of dies, each portion,.
as it is formed between a pair of forging dies, by the advance of the bar brought
between a pair of holding dies, which keep it from being deformed while the portion
behind is being forged to shape.
The bar rolled, pressed or moulded so as to present a number of blank links is
clamped between jaws and acted on by slotting or revolving cutters by which the
metal beyond the various parts of the links are removed, and by punches which
remove the thin fins of metal. The links may be circular or elongated and may
be formed with cross stays. The lengths of chain manufactured as described may
be connected together by suitable links. Or, when a number of links have been.
formed on a bar, the end of the bar may have another bar welded to it, and the
links may be formed continuously.
Tind this 5th dow of Mach 180
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants..
Improvements in the Manufacture of Weldless Chains.
We, JOSEPH GIRLOT and CHARLES CASTIN, Chain Manufacturers, of Jumet
in the Kingdom of Belgium, 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 :-—
When a chain is laid upon a flat surface its links take such a position that each
pair of them in end view would appear as a St. Andrew's cross. This invention
relates to the manufacture of a chain without welds by forming, by rolling, pressing,
or casting in a mould, in one piece a series of successive links lying in the form
above mentioned, connected by thin metal which is afterwards cut out leaving the
links free. When the bar of metal is operated on by pressure of dies, each portion,.
as it is formed between a pair of forging dies, is by the advance of the bar brought
between a pair of holding dies, which keep it from being deformed while the
portion behind is being forged to shape.
The bar rolled, pressed or moulded so as to present a number of blank links is
clamped between jaws and acted on by slotting or revolving cutters by which the
pieces of metal beyond the various parts of the links are removed, and by punches
which remove the thin fins of metal. The links may be circular or elongated and
may be formed with cross stays. The lengths of chain manufactured as described

page_text: may be connected together by suitable links. Or, when a number of links have
been formed on a bar, the end of the bar may have another bar welded to it, and
the links may be formed continuously.
The accompanying drawings shew how the invention is carried out in practice.
Fig. 1 shews a certain form of link; Fig. 2 a transverse section through one of
a pair engaged with each other; when loosely engaged as shewn in Fig. 3 they
bave a curvilinear space F between them.
Fig. 4 is a plan and Figs. 5, 6, 7 are sections on the lines abed and ef
respectively of the continuous forged or cast bar which the links are formed.
Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively a vertical section and a plan of the tool by which
the successive parts of the bar are forged to shape without deforming the part
already shaped.
In an anvil block C is fixed the bolster D it may be by screws L with lock
nuts N and by a taper key J, or in any other suitable manner. Another
sliding bolster É is urged upwards by a spring G (or it might be by a weight or by
fluid pressure) as far as permitted by stop screws H the ends of which enter slots I.
The hammer or press head C' carries dies D' and E' similar to the bolsters D
and E, the die E being stopped from descending too far by stop screws O similar
to H. The part P of the bar which had been forged or pressed between the
die D' and bolster D is laid on the bolster E while a fresh part Q of the bar is
operated on by the hammer or press, the die E' and bolster E yielding while they
hold the part P between them, and prevent it from being deformed during the
action on Q. In order to reduce the force necessary for forging the bar, and at
the same time to render the tools employed more durable, the forging may be effected
in successive stages by using dies and bolsters suited to effect partial shaping of the
bar as shewn in Figs. 12, 13 and 14. When the links are of forms different from
that shewn in Fig. 1, the bolsters and dies have obviously to be suited to these
forms. The links, for example, might be circular, in which case the bar would be
shaped as shewn in Fig. 11. The links are separated and have their shapes
completed by removing the fins and connecting pieces of metal while the links are
held in a suitable vice such as that shewn in Fig. 10 between the fixed jaw R and
the movable jaw S advanced to clamp the links by the screw V. While the links
are thus held the parts M and fins B (Figs. 2, 5, 6 and 7) can be removed by a
planing or milling tool. Then, by means of punches the fins of metal T U (Fig. 4)
and, finally, the metal at YZ (Fig. 2) being removed, the links are separated and
can be dressed to finished form.
Where the bar is rolled to shape instead of being pressed or hammered, a holding
bolster and die such as E E¹ are inapplicable, so it is better not to roll to the final
form of the bar as shewn in Figs. 4 and 11, but to roll only to a rough form to be
finished by the press or hammer.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. The manufacture of a weldless chain by casting or forging a bar to such a
shape as to give the contour of the links when the chain is so placed that each pair
of links seen in end view would appear as a St. Andrew's cross, and then removing
the superfluous metal so as to separate and shape the links, substantially as
described.
2. In combination with a bolster and die for forging the bar, a yielding bolster
and die for holding the already forged part of the bar, substantially as described
with reference to Figs. 8 and 9, for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 27th day of December 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for Applicants.