Improvements in or relating to the Manufacture of Chains.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 4th Apr., 1896
Improvements in or relating to the Manufacture of Chains.
A communication from the Firm of KRAFFT & SCHÜLL, Chain Manufacturers, of
Duren, Rhineland, Empire of Germany.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn 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 present invention has for its object a machine for making that kind of chain
in which the links pass one through another and form a continuous chain with
folded links. The chain is so made that separate links are first stamped out of
flat wire or out of a strip of metal and then linked together by a special mechanism
so as to form a continuous chain.
The machine is shown in the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a plan.
Figure 2 is an elevation of the stamping part.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the machine.
Figure 4 shows forms of chain links, made by the machine.
The flat wire or metal strip coming off the reel h (Figure 3) at each revolution
of the machine is moved forward the length of one link through pincers a (Figures 1
and 3) and comes first under the punch 6 (Figures 1 and 2) theu enters at c into
the preceding link the new link being then cut off at d (Figure 1). The link is
then taken hold off by a rotating vice e turned through an angle of 90° then bent
by a sliding bolt and finally pressed round a vertically movable core i by two
sliding bars g¹ and 9² the chain leaving the machine at the reciprocating piece k
ready for use in a finished state.
The pincers a, the punch b, the dies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (the number of which varies
according to the shape of the flat wire or the metal strips and the shape of the
chain-links to be made) and the two punches for the holes 6, 7, the slide-bar g' and
the core i are worked by eccentrics on the shaft 1 (Figures 2 and 3) while the
sliding bolt the slide bar g' and the piece k are worked by means of different
pushing and pulling parts, which are fixed to a side disc m and to a toothed
wheel n; the rotating vice e is worked by a cam o which turns a pinion q through
a rack p.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A process for making chains of different shapes out of flat wire or metal.
strips the links of which catching one in another form a continuous chain with
folded links the metal strip being by means of pincers continually drawn the length
of one chain link into the machine the desired shape being given to the separate
chain links by means of a punch with different dies after which the stamped-out
link is passed through the eye of the preceding bent link and cut off from the metal
strip then turned through an angle of 90° by means of a rotating vice, bent in the
middle by means of a slide bolt and finally pressed round a core substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. A machine for the manufacture of chains out of flat wire or metal strips in
which the metal strip receives the desired shape in a punch such as 6 supplied with

page_text: stamps such as 1, 2, 3, 4, to suit the shape of the chain links to be made and with
dies such as 6.7 and a punch such as 5 to separate the links one from the other the
strip being then moved forward the length of one chain link by means of pincers
such as (a) at each cycle of the machine when the front link is passed through the
eye of the preceding one and caught by a rotating vice such as (e) which turns the
link after it has been cut off through an angle of 90° in order to be finally bent in
the middle by a sliding bolt such as (f) and to be transferred to two slide
bars (9' and 92) which press the bent part from both slides round a core (1)
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 7th day of December 1895.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.