A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THOSE KINDS OF ORNAMENTAL METALLIC CHAINS KNOWN AS 'BRAZILIAN' OR 'SNAKE' AND OTHER LIKE PATTERNS, AND IN MACHINERY OR. APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Jenks, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Jeweller, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD
OF MANUFACTURING THOSE KINDS OF ORNAMENTAL METALLIC CHAINS KNOWN AS
'BRAZILIAN' OR 'SNAKE' AND OTHER LIKE PATTERNS, AND IN MACHINERY OR.
APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Sealed the 27th July 1866, and dated the 1st February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Jenks at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st February 1866.
I, THOMAS JENKS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Jeweller,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THOSE KINDS OF ORNAMENTAL METALLIC CHAINS KNOWN
AB BRAZILIAN' OR 'SNAKE' AND OTHER LIKE PATTERNS, AND IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREPOR," to be as follows:-
This Invention has especial reference to the manufacture of "Brazilian "
chains. According to the present method of manufacture they are formed
of links consisting of separate rings of metal, which are soldered together,
the outer parts being afterwards filed into the desired flat shape. In this
manner there is great waste of metal, and the manufacture is a long and
tedious one, besides which the intrinsic value of the chain is materially
reduced by the use of the solder, and which forming a component part of
the chain causes it after exposure to lose its colour. Now the object of
this Invention is by the employment of suitable means to manufacture

page_text: Brazilian or other like cylindrical chains from links cut from flat metal,
and afterwards caused to assume a cylindrical or tubular form; the precise
pattern of the chain to be made being determined in each case by the
particular pattern or shape of the metal blank employed.
Another important feature in my Invention is that the arms of each
link in the chain, and by which the several links are secured together, are
inside the body of the links, instead, as is the case with other chains now
made from flat metal, being outside and then turned over, in which manner
they in fact form the exterior of the chain itself. A strip of metal of
suitable thickness being provided, it is fed by an intermittent action under
a press by which the form of the blank, is determined. It is then forced
into a short tube where the blanks become stacked in readiness for the
next part of the process. The said tube is open at the bottom and is
placed in such manner over a horizontal grooved surface that there is only.
just sufficient space underneath the bottom of the tube for the bottom
blank to be pushed away by a feeder actuated by a lever arm, which said
arm may be moved by a cam. The bottom blank is now forced along the
groove until it arrives at a bed or rest which is formed in and is part of an
oscillating or moveable die. The bed or rest of this said oscillating or
moveable die has in its centre an aperture formed to correspond exactly
with the diameter of the chain to be made. A punch of a compound
nature (by which I mean that it has a second punch within it) now falls
and dishes the blank; the second or inside punch is now urged forward
and cuts out a certain part of the middle of the blank; a movement of
the said die then brings the blank (which may be better described in its
present state as the half formed link) and which is still held in the aperture
formed in the centre of the said moveable die over a deeper aperture or
chamber circular in shape. Here a punch of corresponding shape and
size comes down and completes the outside of the link by forcing down-
wards four other projecting parts in the blank caused by the punching out
of a certain part of the middle of the blank as herein-before described.
The link is now tubular in form. The movement just described carries
the link into a chamber below the oscillating die, and in the sides of this
chamber are four closing fingers which are so actuated that two of them
close into the inside of the link (downwards), and the other two are
employed as herein-after explained. A second fall of the punch turns, the
two long arms of the blank downwards into the centre of the tubular or
cylindrical link, and by the same action forces the link itself into a spring
holder, which is at the end of an arm working in a groove below the last

page_text: described chamber. The second pair of fingers (herein-before described)
then cause two square pierced arms of the link (which are opposite each
other and are part of the blank as first cut out) to assume a horizontal
position across the top of the link. The, arm then actuated by a cam is
forced forward in the groove to a sufficient distance to allow the spring
holder carrying the link to become free from the chamber, when by the
downward action of a piston rod (or other equivalent mechanical means).
the arm is caused to make a half circular movement and to deposit the
link in an inverted. position upon the last preceding link of the chain,
where it is held whilst a tube which holds the completed part of the chain
is moved upwards, by which action the two long arms of the preceding
link are forced through two holes of corresponding shape and size which
have been previously pierced in the square arms of the new link. The
spring holder then returns to its former position, and a plunger then comes
down and completes the new link by turning the ends of the long arms
downwards into the centre of the chain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Jenks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JENKS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Jeweller, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Jenks, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Jenks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Jenks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A
NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THOSE KINDS OF ORNAMENTAL
METALLIC CHAINS KNOWN AS 'BRAZILIAN' OR 'SNAKE' AND OTHER LIKE PATTERNS,
AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREFOR," upon the com

page_text: dition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Jenks, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Jenks, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
This Invention has especial reference to the manufacture of "Brazilian "
chains. According to the present method of manufacture they are formed
of links consisting of separate rings of metal which are soldered together,
the outer parts being afterwards filed into the desired flat shape. In this
manner there is great waste of metal and the manufacture is a long and
tedious one; besides which, the intrinsic value of the chain is materially.
reduced by the use of the solder, which forming a component part of the
chain causes it after exposure to lose its colour. Now the object of
this Invention is by the employment of suitable means to manufacture
"Brazilian" or other like cylindrical chains from links cut from flat metal,
and afterwards caused to assume a cylindrical or tubular form; the precise
pattern of the chain to be made being determined in each case by the
particular pattern or shape of the metal blank employed.
Another important feature in my Invention is that the arms of each
link in the chain, and by which the several links are secured together, are
inside the body of the links (instead, as is the case with other chains now
made from flat metal, being outside and then turned over), in which
manner they in fact form the exterior of the chain itself.
The following will describe in general terms the kind of machinery
which may be employed for the manufacture of my improved chain (where
machinery is employed for that purpose). I have not thought it necessary.
to enter further into detail respecting it, as the kind of machinery to
which reference is made is well known and easily understood, and because
I do not intend to make any specific claim for the machinery employed;
but to confine my claim as herein-after appears. A strip of metal of
suitable thickness being provided it is fed by an intermittent action under
a press by which the form of the blank is determined. It is then forced
into a short tube where the blanks become stacked in readiness for the

page_text: next part of the process. The said tube is open at the bottom and is
placed in such manner over a horizontal grooved surface that there is only
just sufficient space underneath the bottom of the tube for the bottom
blank to be pushed away by a feeder actuated by a lever arm, which said
arm may be moved by a cam. The bottom blank is now forced along the
groove until it arrives at a bed or rest, which is formed in and is part of an
oscillating or moveable die. The bed or rest of this said oscillating or
moveable die has in its centre an aperture formed to correspond exactly
with the diameter of the chain to be made. A punch of a compound
nature (by which I mean that it has a second punch within it) now falls
and dishes the blank. The second or inside punch is now urged forward
and cuts out a certain part of the middle of the blank. A movement of the
said die then brings the blank (which may be better described in its
present state as the half formed link) and which is still held in the aperture
formed in the centre of the said moveable die over a deeper aperture or
chamber circular in shape. Here a punch of corresponding shape and
size comes down and completes the outside of the link by forcing down-
wards four other projecting parts in the blank caused by the punching out
of a certain part of the middle of the blank as herein-before described.
The link is now tubular in form. The movement first described carries
the link into a chamber below the oscillating die, and in the sides of this
chamber are four closing fingers which are so actuated that two of them
close into the inside of the link (downwards), and the other two are
employed as herein-after explained. A second fall of the punch turns the
two long arms of the blank downwards into the centre of the tubular or
cylindrical link, and by the same action forces the link itself into a spring
holder which is at the end of an arm working in a groove below the last-
mentioned chamber. The second pair of fingers (herein-before described)
then cause two square pierced arms of the link (which are opposite each
other, and are part of the blank as first cut out) to assume a horizontal posi-
tion across the top of the link. The arm then actuated by a cam is forced
forward in the groove to a sufficient distance to allow the spring holder
carrying the link to become free from the chamber, when by the down-
ward action of a piston rod (or other mechanical means) the arm is caused
to make a half circular movement and to deposit the link in an inverted
position upon the last preceding link of the chain, where it is held whilst
a tube which holds the completed part of the chain is moved upwards, by
which action the two long arms of the preceding link are forced through
two holes of corresponding shape and size' which have been previously

page_text: pierced in the square arms of the new link. The spring holder then
returns to its former position and a plunger then comes down and com-
pletes the new link by turning the ends of the long arms downwards into
the centre of the chain.
That my Invention may be better understood I have annexed Drawings
shewing the various stages of operation through which a blank
passes in
order to form part of a chain constructed after my improved method.
The blank is drawn much larger than the actual size for the sake of
enabling the Drawing to be more readily understood.
Fig. 1 is a plan of the flat blank after it has been cut out from a strip or
sheet of metal, and after the holes a, a, have been punched through the
short arms b, b; c, c, are the long arms which may be formed of a pear
shape at their ends d, d, and of such a width at the part d as to pass with
ease through the holes a, a, of the neighbouring link.
In Fig. 2 (which shews a side elevation and plan of the next stage) the
blank has been dished by a circular punch descending into a circular die,
so that the long arms c, c, assume a vertical position, and the projecting
corners marked e, e, (also in Fig. 1) together with the short arms b, like
wise assume an upward direction; the blank is now in the form of a
tube of the same diameter as the intended chain, having a closed bottom,
and having the upper edge of the said tube of the irregular shape pro-
duced by the original form of the blank. The second internal punch
now descends, and forms an aperture of the shape shewn in plan in Fig. 2,
where ffff, are four projecting portions of the blank left after the said
aperture has been formed; another descent of a circular punch into a
deep circular die now causes the partially formed link to assume the form
shewn in Fig. 3, where the projections (Fig. 2) have been forced down-
wards to the position f1 (Fig. 3), thereby being in the same plane as and
forming part of the sides of the aforesaid tube..
. The next operation is performed by the two fingers, which are caused to
pass downwards into the die; these fingers, fold over the two long arms
,, into the position shewn in Fig. 4 and marked c, c. The two hori-
zontal fingers, then cause the short arms b, b, to assume the horizontal
position shewn in Fig. 5, and the link is thus completed and ready to be
added to the previously formed length of chain.
.
Fig. 7 shews a section of a chain composed of the aforesaid links, the
long arms of which, after being passed through the eyes of the previous
link, are turned downwards by a suitable punch, and are made to assume
either the position marked g (Fig. 6) or that marked h.
2 ..

page_text: Fig. 6 shews another method of punching the blank in the first instance
so that the short arms b, b, are left already projecting towards the centre
of the blank instead of being afterwards bent inwards by the horizontal
fingers.
Instead of the machinery a modification thereof, or of any part thereof,
may be employed. Or if preferred the chains may be made by hand
labour.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention it will be evident
that the means herein-before described for carrying the same into effect
may be modified or varied to any necessary extent without departing from
the nature of my said Invention, and I desire it therefore to be understood
that I do not make any specific claim for the machinery or apparatus to
be employed therefor and herein-before referred to (although the contrary
might be inferred from the title of this my said Invention); but I desire
to claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, the exclusive right of manufacturing "Brazilian" or
other like cylindrical chains from links cut from flat metal, and afterwards
caused to assume a cylindrical or tubular form, the precise pattern of the
chain to be made being determined in each case by the particular pattern
or shape of the metal blank employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Jenks, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
25 Witness,
G. R. HOLLAND,
Patent Office,
Birmingham.
THOS. JENKS. (L.S.)