IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LINKS OR SHACKLES FOR CONNECTING CHAIN CABLES AND OTHER CHAINS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaiah Riley, of 62, Grange Street, Hoxton, in'
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LINKS OR SHACKLES FOR CONNECTING CHAIN
CABLES AND OTHER CHAINS."
Scaled the 30th December 1873, and dated the 30th September 1873.

page_text: Secondly. The sides of the said connecting links or shackles are made
much stronger by being made larger and nearly square in section,
gradually diminishing in size and altering in form from the centre to
the ends which are round. A portion of one of the sides of the link is
removed leaving an opening large enough to admit the end links of the
chains to be connected.
Thirdly. At each end of the main portion of the link, and adjoining
the aforesaid opening, a projection or projections is or are formed, so
arranged as to fit into a corresponding cavity or cavities formed in the
ends of a connecting piece or pieces, which is or are dropped down over
the projecting portions, thus filling the opening and completing the
link. The aforesaid projections and cavities may be of angular, circular,
dovetailed, or other forms suited for the purpose, especially such as are
best calculated to ensure the distribution of the strain over three or
more sides or surfaces of each of the said projections or cavities.
Fourthly. Pins or screws are passed through holes formed near the
ends of the connecting pieces, and the projections before named, and the.
ends of the said pins or screws are rivetted so as to give additional
security to the link.
If preferred the projections may be formed on the ends of the con-
necting piece or pieces, and the cavities made in the ends of the main
portion of the link, all other parts being constructed in the same manner
as before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Isaiah Riley in the Great Seal Patent Office on 2
the 28th March 1874.
--
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAIAH
RILEY, of 62, Grange Street, Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 30
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three,
in the thirty-seventh year of Her reign,. did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Isaiah Riley, Her

page_text: special licence that I, the said Isaiah Riley, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isaiah Riley, 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 CONSTRUCTION OF LINKS OR SHACKLES FOR CONNECTING CHAIN CABLES AND
OTHER CHAINS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Isaiah
Riley, 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 Isaiah Riley, 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
by the following statement :-
My improvements consist,-
First. In making the connecting links or shackles so similar in form
to the links of the chains to be connected that they may pass freely
over the same pulley or through the same channel.
Secondly. The sides of the said connecting links or shackles are
rendered much stronger by being made larger and nearly square in
section at the centre of their length, gradually diminishing in size and
altering in form from the centre to the ends which are round, and of the
same sectional area as the chains to be connected. A portion of one
side of the link is removed, leaving an opening large enough to admit
the end links of the chains to be connected.
Thirdly. At each end of the main portion of the link, and adjoining
the said opening, a projection or projections is or are formed, so arranged
as to fit into a corresponding cavity or cavities formed in the ends of the
connecting piece or pieces which is or are dropped down over the projecting
portions, thus filling up the opening and completing the link. The said
projections and cavities may be of angular, circular, dovetailed, or other
form suited for the purpose, especially such as are best calculated to

page_text: ensure the distribution of the strain over three or more sides or surfaces
of each of the said projections and cavities.
.Fourthly. Pins or screws are passed through holes made near the
ends of the connecting pieces and projections before named, and the
ends of the said pins or screws are rivetted so as to give additional
security to the link.
If preferred the projections may be formed on the ends of the con-
necting piece or pieces, and the cavities made in the ends of the main
portion of the link, all other parts being constructed in the same manner
as aforesaid.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said improvements, and the manner in which the same are to be per-
formed, I wish it to be understood that what I more particularly claim
as my Invention is the enlarging and strengthening of the sides of the
connecting link or shackle, in such a manner as to receive and absorb a
great portion of the strain before it affects the connecting piece, and the
construction and fastening of the said connecting piece, in such a
manner as most effectually to distribute the remainder of the strain over
several surfaces, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaiah Riley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.