Improvements in Travelling Chains Carrying Loads, and Machinery for Working them.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 26th Mar., 1891-Accepted, 2nd May, 1891.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Travelling Chains Carrying Loads, and Machinery
for Working them.
I, ARTHUR LOCK RADFORD of No. 58 Leadenhall Street in the City of
London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
It is often convenient to carry loads by means of chains travelling from one place
to another over guide pullies. My invention relates to the construction and
arrangement of such chains and machinery for working them. I make the chain
generally with links of the usual elongated form, but at whatever part of the chain
I desire to attach a load I introduce a circular link forming the upper end of, and
made in one piece with, the suspension rod for carrying the load. The guide pullies
over which the chain travels are made in pairs mounted face to face sufficiently far
apart to allow the suspension rods to pass between them, only those links of the
chain which are in a horizontal attitude resting on the circumferences of the pullies,
the intermediate upright links finding their way between the pullies. Some of the
pullies are arranged for driving the chain. In the peripheries of these I form
hollows or indentations corresponding in form to the horizontal links, and over
these pullies I mount two or more guide rollers which nearly bear upon the hori-
zontal links and prevent them from rising out of the indentations, thus ensuring that
the chain is driven. In some cases the chain is made to travel to and fro
alternately. In other cases the chain is endless and travels continuously along one
In order to
set of guide pullies in the one direction returning along another set.
drive both parts of such a chain in opposite directions, I provide a framing at a
terminus or place where the chain makes its return, and on this framing I mount
two sets of the driving pullies geared together to turn in opposite directions, so as
to give corresponding motions to the two parts of the chain.
When the loads have to be carried from one station to another, as for instance
across a river, having no intermediate guide or supporting pullies, I mount the
pullies at the two terminal stations at some height and allow bights of the chain to
hang down from them, so that the loads can be attached to or detached from parts
of the chain within easy reach. The chain, in passing from the vertical pullies by
which it comes to a terminus to the vertical pullies by which it. goes from the
terminus, has to pass round a horizontal pulley. In the lower flange of this pulley
under every vertical link I make a notch so as to allow suspending rods as they
pass to enter those notches and so to remain hanging vertically. This horizontal
pulley may be used for driving the chain, pressing rollers being, if necessary,
applied at its periphery to keep the links engaged in the indentations of the
pulley.
Dated this 25th day of October 1890.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: S
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Travelling Chains Carrying Loads, and Machinery
for Working them.
I, ARTHUR LOCK RADFORD of No. 58 Leadenhall Street in the City of
London, Merchant, 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 :-
It is often convenient to carry loads by means of chains travelling from one place
to another over guide pullies. My invention relates to the construction and
arrangement of such chains and machinery for working them. I make the chain
generally with links of the usual elongated form, but, at whatever part of the chain
I desire to attach a load, I introduce a circular link forming the upper end of, and
made in one piece with, the suspension rod for carrying the load. The guide pullies
over which the chain travels are made in pairs mounted face to face sufficiently far
apart to allow the suspension rods to pass between them, only those links of the
chain which are in a horizontal attitude resting on the circumferences of the pullies,
the intermediate upright links finding their way between the pullies. Some of the
pullies are arranged for driving the chain. In the peripheries of these I form
hollows or indentations corresponding in form to the horizontal links, and over
these pullies I mount two or more guide rollers which nearly bear upon the hori-
zontal links and prevent them from rising out of the indentations, thus ensuring
that the chain is driven. In some cases the chain is made to travel to and fro
alternately. In other cases the chain is endless and travels continuously along one
set of guide pullies in the one direction returning along another set. In order to
drive both parts of such a chain in opposite directions, I provide a framing at a
terminus or place where the chain makes its return, and on this framing I mount
two sets of the driving pullies geared together to turn in opposite directions, so as
to give corresponding motions to the two parts of the chain.
When the loads have to be carried from one station to another as for instance
across a river, having no intermediate guide or supporting pullies, I mount the
pullies at the two terminal stations at some height and allow bights of the chain to
hang down from them, so that the loads can be attached to or detached from parts
of the chain within easy reach. The chain, in passing from the vertical pullies by
which it comes to a terminus to the vertical pullies by which it goes from the
terminus, has sometimes to pass round a horizontal pulley. In the lower flange of
this pulley under every vertical link I make a notch so as to allow suspending rods
as they pass to enter those notches and so to remain hanging vertically. This
horizontal pulley may be used for driving the chain, pressing rollers being, if
necessary, applied at its periphery to keep the links engaged in the indentations of
the pulley.
may be
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a diagram shewing how loads
carried from one post to another P₁, it may be, for instance, across a river.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section and Fig. 3 is a plan shewing the two sets of pullies
and then gearing at each terminal post P P¹. The chain which I employ is made
with the ordinary elongated links L except where a load has to be hung from it, in
which case the link is a circularly shaped eye of the rod R which carries the load,
the circular form of this link giving the rod freedom to swing so that the load can
always hang vertically from it or nearly so. On the post P or P¹ is fixed a strong
framing F with five brackets B in which are bearings for the shafts of two pairs of
chain pullies, C¹ C² forming one pair facing each other with room between them
for passage of the suspending rods R, and C3 C4 forming another pair similarly
situated. The outer parts of the pullies C¹ C² are toothed and gear with a pair of
pinions on one shaft S¹ and the pullies C3 C4 are similarly toothed, gearing
with a pair of pinions s² s² on the shaft S2. The two shafts S¹ S³ carry pinions S³

page_text: gearing with one another, so that the shafts S¹ S² turn in opposite directions and
consequently the pair of pullies C' C² turn opposite to the other pair C³ C. The
inner faces of the pullies are made with recesses W to receive the sides of the
alternate chain links L which bridge across the space between the pullies, and, in
order to prevent these links from rising out of the recesses W, grooved rollers A are
mounted in bearings in the brackets B, so that their peripheries nearly bear on the
links of the chain and prevent them from rising out of the recesses of the pullies C.
A winch handle may be applied at H to turn the shaft S, or other power may be.
applied to turn either of the shafts S¹ S2, thereby causing the chain to travel from
the one post P to the other P', over the one pair of pullies say C¹ C² at P' and
down and up in a bight in front of the post, over the other pair of pullies C³ C+
at P, then back to the one pair of pullies C¹ C² on the post P, down and up in a
bight to the other pair of pullies C3 C on the post P, and so on in its continued
course, carrying a series of loads suspended from the chain by the rods R. The
bights of the chain descending from the one pair of pullies and ascending to the other
pair in front of each post afford convenience for hooking loads on the rods R or
unhooking them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In combination with a continuously travelling chain carrying loads, two sets
of terminal apparatus each consisting of two pairs of chain pullies geared so that
the one pair revolves opposite to the other, the two pullies of each pair being
mounted face to face with a gap between for passage of the rods carrying the loads,
substantially as described.
2. In a travelling chain for carrying loads, constructing each suspending rod
with a circular eye, taking the place of a link of the chain, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
3. For ensuring the travel of the chain, in combination with the chain pullies
recessed to receive the chain links, rollers nearly bearing on the links, substantially
as described.
.
Dated this 26th day of March 1891.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.