IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIN BANDS AND THE MACHINERY APPLICABLE THERETO
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lancelott, of Regent Parade, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Jeweler, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIN BANDS AND THE MACHINERY APPLICABLE
THERETO."
Sealed the 13th December 1864, and dated the 15th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION (left by the said James Lancelott at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th June 1864.
I, JAMES LANCELOTT, of Regent Parade, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Jeweler, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIN BANDS AND THE MACHINERY
APPLICABLE THERETO," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to manufacture by machinery chain bands
formed of a series of open spiral or corkscrew wires coiling the one within
the other until a continuous band is produced, the width of the band
depending upon the number of coils or spirals in each link; the number
which I have hitherto used being about twenty-five to the inch, said link
being the equivalent, so to speak, of one of the threads of a two-thread screw
[Prios 8d.]

page_text: of the pitch of twenty-five to the inch, such chain bands being now made by
hand. The functions of my machinery are to wind and form plain wire into
chain band, and I will first describe the winding. The wire is wound from a
reel at each end of the machine over a stationary spit or arbor,said spit being
mounted over a series of ways like those of a rack, of a suitable number to
the inch to produce the aforesaid open thread or coil, the coiling of the wire
round the spit and between said ways giving it the required pitch. This
coiling is effected simply by driving a bar over said coils, said bar being
pressed upon the wire by a spring,and being roughed on its under side like a
file, the bar passing over the spit at an angle coincident with the pitch of the
coil on said spit. Two such arrangements are used in my machine, one on
each side, and between them are situated the tools in which the chain band is
formed, and by which the successive links are cut off. The inner extremity
of each spit pass into guides, the function of which is to keep the coils in
such position that they may be successively screwed into band, the same
action which winds the coils screwing them one in to the other. Two chis Is
are used, one on either side, to cut off the successively formed links. The
band while being formed is retained by a holder, which also keeps the suc-
cessive coils in position while winding in, and which I make in preference of
two plates, through which the chain band is passed as formed by a blade,
stationary or as a plunger, which enters the mouth of said holder, said blades
aiding in conducting or threading the links or coils the one into the other by
means of suitable notches or guides made in it. In lieu of a parallel feed bar,
a wheel might be used having a roughened surface like that of the bar.
I will now describe the operation of my machine. A piece of chain band
being placed in the holder, and the coils entered on the stationary spits, a
carriage sliding on the bed of the machine is made to travel along the table,
the said carriage carrying with it the driving or feed bars, one of which is
pressed by a spring or weight upon the right-hand coil, and by its action winds
up one link, and consequently screws that length of coil which was on said
spit into the band. When the carriage has reached the end of its journey
the plunger advances and presses in the last wound link in position to receive
the left-hand coil from the guide, through which said coil passes. The right-
hand bar is now freed from pressure, a spring or weight is brought to bear
upon the left-hand bar, and the carriage commences its return journey and
the winding of the left-hand coil, the plunger previous to retiring assisting
in threading the entering of the coil. The carriage having completed its
journey, a chisel or cutter descends and cuts off the right-hand coil; the
blade advances again, the carriage repeats its journey; the left-hand cutter

page_text: which descended before, but had no wire to operate upon, now cuts in its
turn, and so on continuously.
Although my machine is more especially intended to manufacture the
chain band above described, I also modify it to produce a chain made of
alternate right and left threaded coils, which do not thread or wind the one
within the other, but are placed one on each other, and pinned through like a
succession of hinges. For this purpose I propose to wind right-handed coils
on one side of the machine, and left-handed coils on the other; in this case
the ba s will be simultaneously pressed and released, the cutters will work
together, the guides will be so placed that the coils, instead of winding into
each other, will be placed one before the other, and in lieu of the holder
described I purpose substituting a tube, say, a foot in length, which when
filled may be removed and replaced by another side of said tube being
movable, that the pins may be placed in said coils to connect them before
removal from the tube.
In the machine above described, the chisels and springs or weights, and also
the blade, when moveable, is are worked by levers actuated by cams on the
main shaft, which also carries a crank to drive the carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Lancelott in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LANCELOTT, of Regent Parade, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Jeweler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Lancelott, Her special licence that I, the said James
Lancelott, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Lancelott, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIN BANDS AND THE MACHINERY

page_text: APPLICABLE THERETO," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Lancelott, 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 James Lancelott, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and bythe following
statement -
The object of my Invention is to manufacture by machinery chain bands,such
as are shewn at Figures 9 and 10 (Sheet 1) of the annexed Sheets of Drawing,
the band Figure 9 being composed of a series of open spiral or corkscrew wires
coiling the one within the other, and that Figure 10 of a series of right and
left hand coils coiling the one on the other, and afterwards pinned together
like a hinge, each pin being soldered at its ends to the spiral, such flexible
chain bands having hitherto been made by hand only; and I will first describe
the construction of the machine by which I effect my purpose, reference being
had to the accompanying Sheets of Drawing forming part of this my Specifi-
cation, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon, similar
letters being placed upon and denoting similar parts where such parts
appear or may be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) shews a plan view of my machine; Figure 2 (Sheet 2)
one side of same with fly wheel and reels and stops removed; Figure 3
(Sheet 2) opposite side of same; and Figure 4 (Sheet 1) cross section taken
at A,B, Figure 1. It is composed of a cast-iron table A with stops at each
end to arrest a carriage or slide provided with reels a, a¹, running in the
grooves b, b1, of the table. This carriage is composed of two cross pieces c, c',
connected by the rods e, e¹, and carrying the driving bars C, C¹, which rest on
the springs f, f, and are held to the cross pieces c, c¹, by pins g passing
through slots in the driving bars. The under surface of each driving bar is
roughened like a smooth file for a bar of the size shewn in the Drawing, but
for larger chain I use a rougher cut. The cross piece c¹ is connected to the
adjustable crank D by the pin h (see Figures 1 and 3. Sheets 1 and 2,)
passing through slots in the bar D and rocking piece i, pinned so as to move
freely on the bar D. The object of this rocking piece is to prevent the pin h
striking the extreme ends of the slot in the bar D. The adjustable crank is
keyed on to the shaft E which carries the fly wheel Fand the cams 1, 2, 3, 4;

page_text: the cam 1 may or may not be of one piece with the adjustable crank, as may
be most convenient. The cams 1 and 4 act on the levers i, j, turning
on the spindle k, which passes across the machine. These leversj, 71, carry the
springs 1, 1, which pass through the levers, are adjusted by a nut on their
lower ends, and held by set screws as shewn, the other ends of said springs
carrying the reels m, m¹, which are pressed on the driving bars C, C¹. On
the table or bed and beneath the drivingbars is placed a plate G, which carries
the tools necessary to the formation of the chain, namely, the coiling appa
ratus and guides (which it will be seen cross beneath the driving bars at an
angle which must be coincident with the pitch of the coils to be wound), a
stationary blade or plunger, a holder in which the chain is formed, and two
levers carrying the chisels or cutters by which the successive coils are cut off.
I will first describe the coiling apparatus, which consists of the arbors n‚n².
(one being on each side of the machine) held over and partly in a groove
(see Figure 1) on a series of ways o, o', and passing through the guides p. p¹,
(shewn separately and enlarged at Figures 5 and 6, Sheet 1). The centres
of the arbors n, n', are coincident, and they are adjusted in the plate G so as
not to be exactly following the same line of thread, and this is effected by
slightly advancing or retiring one of the pieces carrying the ways and guides
so that they will coil one within the other. The guides p,p¹, are the equivalent
of a nut, that is to say, they are threaded to admit the coil when formed, the
arbor n passing through and projecting beyond the guide P, whereas the
arbor n' does not pass quite through pl. The plunger q(shewn separately and
enlarged, Figures 5 and 6,) is mounted on a slide working in a dovetail slot
in plate G, and driven by a rod s' (shewn in red) held on the levers (also in
red) carried on the spindle (see Figures 1 and 2, Sheets 1 and 2). The
plunger has adjustable screws, which strike against the edge of the plate G,
and regulate the distance of the forward movement of. 9. The teeth of the
plunger are made, as shewn on the Drawing, for the purpose of entering the
coils. I may substitute in lieu of the plunger the stationary blade q¹(Figure7,
Sheet 1), placing it in such a position on the plate G that the coil as it leave s
the guide may enter the teeth as shewn. The holder t (Figure 1) in which
the chain is formed is shewn in section, Figures 5 and 8, Sheet 1,) and the
working portion of its bottom plate at Figure 6. This holder is formed of
two plates having three screws on either side, the two central screws drawing
them together, and the four others being for the purpose of setting them the
requisite distance apart (see Figure 8). The fore part of the inner face of
both top and bottom plate is a plane surface, these surfaces being at such
distance apart as to admit the free coiling of the wire (see Figures 5 and 6,

page_text: Sheet 1), the remaining portion of the inner face of each pl te being in pre-
ference grooved as shewn in section, Figure 8, taken through the line C, D,
Figure 6. Att (Figure 2, Sheet 2) the holder itself is removed in order the
better to shew the position it occupies in the plate G, where it is held by the
screw x. The chisels or cutters u, u', (Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheets 1 and 2,)
are shewn separately and enlarged at Figure 5 (Sheet 1); they are held by set
screws in a dovetail in the levers H, H', and are adjusted by screws as shewn,
Figures 1 and 2, the cutting edge of chisel u being set in parallel line with
the arbor n so as to cut the wire on the top of said arbor, while the cutting
edge of chisel ¹³ is set at an angle which will permit it to cut across and within
the wire coil on to the botton plate of the holder (see Figure 5, Sheet 1).
The levers H, H', pivot in the bearings v, vl, when their lower ends are acted
upon by the cams 2 and 3 (shewn in red). These cams 2 and 3 (which are
placed close together) as their highest point risos also alternately lift the
levers by means of the adjustable hub w (Figures 1 and 2), which being
placed immediately over their line of meeting is acted upon by both cams
alternately, and the lever s, thus (by means of the rod s¹ working in a slot)
alternately advances and retires the plunger q by means of its slide ». y is an
aperture cut in the bed for the passage of the chain, and z an aperture by
which the levers H, H' pass on to the cams, and the lever s rises.
I will now describe the working of my machine.-I take wire (which
should be hard) from one of the reels which run freely at each end of the
machine, and make a coil in the ordinary way, and pass it on to the arbor n
(which I withdraw for this purpose), passing sufficient of the coil on to the
arbor that when it is replaced the coil comes beneath the driving bar C, which
has been previously removed from its pins for the introduction of this coil. I
then in the same manner enter a coil on the arbor n¹. This being effected,
I turn the crank, and the living bar C being pressed upon the coil by the
roller m in its motion forward runs the coil out of the guide p in front of
the plunger 9; the roller m now releases the bar C, and the roller m³ presses
on the bar C¹, the carriage waiting while this operation is being performed
by reason of the slot in bar D, the carriage now returns, and bar C¹ winds up
the coil on the arbor n¹ through the guide p¹, at this time the cutter u
cuts off the coil first made; I then repeat this operation, and arrest the
machine; I now press upon the lever H¹, cut off the last formed coil, and
remove all the coil that has been cut. Previous to the foregoing operations
I have removed the holder t from the plate G (as shewn, Figure 2), and 1
now replace it, and set the machine again in motion, taking care to observe
that the first three coils are properly entered, and I prefer making the fore

page_text: or plane part of the top plate oft removeable in order that I may inspect the work,
clamping this moveable part on to the plate t by a button as shewn; or I
sometimes place a small piece of band in the holder before commencing.
One coil having been formed over the ways o by means of the bar C, the
plunger q advances, remaining forward while the carriage commences its
return, but as soon as the return shall have wound about three coils as shewn,
Figure 6 (Sheet 1), the plunger having entered this coil into the coil previously
made retreats, and when the carriage has arrived at the end of this journey
the second coil is completely wound into the first; the chisel u now descends
and cuts off the first formed coil; the plunger again advances, pressing for-
ward the coil already made; a third coil is now entered in the same manner,
and the cutter u¹ descends and cuts off the second made coil, and so on con-
tinuously. The peculiar formation of the plunger q (see Figure 6, Sheet 1) en-
ables its central part to keep the coil last fully formed in position to receive the
coil about to be formed, which the receding teeth at either side guide into
the last fully formed coil. The head of the plunger enters between the plates
of the holder as shewn, Figures 5 and 6 (Sheet 1), and the grooved part of the
holder (Figure 8) grips the chain during its formation, the chain passing as
it is made through the aperturey. I sometimes substitute the stationary blade
q(Figure 7) in lieu of the plunger q; in this case the feeding down of the
chain is accomplished by the form of the head of the blade, the extreme
teeth on either side being situated in a line to admit of the coils entering
them from the guides p, p₁; the depth of said teeth decreasing, it will be seen
that the coils are inclined downwards until they reach the centre of the blade,
the coils keeping on the side at which they enter in the grooves between
the teeth, but after passing the centre they then come only on to the pro-
jecting ends of the teeth as shewn, and when the second coil has reached the
centre of the blade the first coil is cut, and the second coil, continuing its
journey meets the top of the teeth on the other side, and feeds down the coil
which has been cut. It will be seen that the ways or grooves, Figures 5,6,and
8,are all of the same size and shape, but as the coils spring after being released
from their winding,I either make the ways in the plates t the exact pitch of
the coils when sprung, or I allow for springing in the winding by making the
first way over which the wire is wound of greater thickness than the suc-
ceeding ones. In making the chain shewn, Figure 10 (Sheet 1), [ time the
cams so that both cutting chisels operate, and the springs, 1, (Figures 1,
2, and 3, Sheets 1 and 2,) press on the driving bar simultaneously. In this
case both cutting chisels are alike, and I arrange the ways and guides
to wind a right-hand coil on the one side, and a left-hand coil on the

page_text: other,placing the arbors not in a line,as before described, but the one before
described, but the one before the other,so that the successive coils may pass not
the one into the other, but the one before the other, so that each advance of
the plunger places them in the position shewn,Figure 10; and in place of the
holder t, but inclined upwards to escape contact with the carriage, I substitute
a long tube, the interior of which will be of sufficient breadth and heighth to
freely receive the coils, and retain them in the position in which they have been
placed by the plunger, and one side of which will be removeable in order that
the fastening pins may be passed through them to link them together before
removal for soldering; and in order that the first coils made may not pass
too far down this tube, I place near its mouth a double spring,which is driven
through it as the chain is formed. After issuing from my machine, the edges
of the chain band first described may be trimmed and soldered in the usual
manner, or it may be pressed and drawn into tubing, as is well understood, or
be otherwise treated according to the purpose for which it is intended.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it distinctly understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise details herein-before described and illus-
trated on the annexed Sheets of Drawings, as variations may be made there-
from without departure from my Invention, as, for example, by forming and
feeding the coils from one side of the machine only, which may be done by
cutting the coils from above and below, and giving a side movement to the
holder t and plunger q, in order to alternately enter the coils the one within
the other; or a wheel might be used in lieu of and roughed like the driving
bars, or I might elect to use a revolving in lieu of a fixed arbor, in which case
the arbor will be connected to a rod or slide passing through plate G, and
swivelling in said connections will alternately advance and retire from the
guides, which must then be at least as long as a coil; neither do I confine
myself to the making of any particular size of chain band, as my machine
may be very much enlarged so as to make chain band suitable to the manu-
facture of belting sash chains,chains for suspension purposes, or other similar
strong work, and for this work I prefer to use the stationary blade; but I
declare to be of my Invention, and I clain,-
Firstly, the exclusive right of forming and feeding in the coils by one
operation.
Secondly, bringing the guides on either side into such position that the
successive coils may enter the one into the other.
Thirdly, bringing the chain into position to receive the successive coils by
means of a holder and plunger or a stationary blade.

page_text: And, lastly, the entire combination and arrangement of the parts forming
ny machine. The whole substantially as herein-before described and illus-
rated on the accompanying Sheets of Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lancelott, have horeunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JAMES LANCELOTT. (L.S.)