IMPROVEMENTS IN BELTS OR BANDS FOR DRIVING MACHINERY
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1887
Complete Left, 2nd Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted, 13th Jan., 1888
1. MAURICE GANDY, of 5 Ansdell Street Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BELTS OR BANDS
FOR DRIVING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
I form belts of links of paper or other suitable material, rivetted together, and then
place two or more of these side by side, and join them together by strips, rods, links,
or cloth placed on their top sides, thus forming one wide belt.
In forming link belts of paper, leather, or other suitable material, I use a rivet
composed of a plurality of wires, so that the rivets when in the belt, are flexible, and
thus allow the belt to adjust itself to the crown of the pulley, and grip equally well
across its whole surface. The form I prefer to use, is that of a strand of small wire
rope drawn down until its surface is cylindrical and smooth, as though it were a wire
rod of a like size, or by wrapping one wire round another, in the form of a spiral
spring to obtain the desired size.
I thus produce belts of great utility.
MAURICE GANDI.

page_text: 1, MAURICE GANDY, Belt Manufacturer, of 5 Ansdell Street, Liverpool, 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 :-
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of annexed
Drawing.
My Invention relates to that variety of belts, known as "link belts" and has for its
object the production of a better link belt than there is now in existence. Reference
being had to the Drawing:
Figure 1 is a top view of a portion of link belting made upon the plan of my Inven-
tion. Figure 2 is an edge view of the same shown partly in section. Figure 3 is also
an edge view of the same shown in section and showing a modified form of the links
composing the main body of the belt. Figure 4 is a plan of rivet, used by me in
uniting the several links forming the belt. Figure 5 is a cross section of the belt,
showing its application to the crown of a pulley, and showing also a modified form of
rivet. Figure 6 is a plan of two longitudinal sections of belting tied together side by
side and showing how a wide belt may be made of two or more narrow ones, and
Fig. 7 is a longitudinal vertical section through said united belts, showing methods of
uniting them, for the purpose above suggested.
Link belts have heretofore been made of leather, but such belts are objectionable
because they are expensive and because they are elastic. After they are made and
put in service they stretch continually and have to be taken off the pulleys and "taken
up."
That is to say, a section has to be cut out of them, to insure their tensile strain
and grip upon the pulley. And another objection to such belts as heretofore made is
found in the fact that the rivets used in uniting the links are composed of solid
sections of wire rods, which prevent the belt from hugging the curved crown of the
pulleys.
My invention broadly considered consists of a non-elastic link belt preferably
composed of paper, having its links united by flexible rivets; and also of making one
wide belt by uniting together two or more narrow ones by means of separate
fastenings applied to the top-side of the belt.
In the practice of my invention I begin by first making a paper board composed of
several thicknesses of paper, duly pasted, or glued, and pressed together, said paper
board being made of the desired thickness, say from one eighth of an inch, to one
fourth of an inch thick, or thicker, in case it be desirable; after the ordinary manner of
working such paper board. Any other suitable method of making said board or
papier maché, may be employed if preferred.
In the preparation of the paper board of which the belt is to be made, a water
proof cement or paste may advantageously be used, to render the belt proof against wet
or dampness, or the board after being made, either before or after the links are cut,
may be wet on its exterior surface with a solution composed of about one pound of
soap, to one gallon of water, and then passed through a solution composed of about
two pounds of alumina sulphate to one gallon of water, or some other suitable re-agent
by which the links of the belt are made proof against dampness.
The board being made of the desired thickness and density, I proceed by cutting it

page_text: up into links of the desired length and breadth, as shown in the drawings, by A. A.,
the edges of these links being cut straight, as shown by Figure 2, or curved to suit
the circumference of the pulley, as shown by D. Figure 3. In cutting out these links,
holes should also be punched or cut in their respective ends to secure the uniting
rivets B. B. B. by which the several links are united to form the belt. These holes,
may, of course, be punched after the links are cut, but it is more expeditious to cut
the holes as part of the operation of cutting out the links. The links being cut and
punched, as above described, they are strung together side by side upon the rivet until
a belt is formed of the desired length and width. The rivets may of course, be made
of a solid section of wire, that being the old way of making them in the formation of
leather link belts, and it is possible to use them in the manufacture of my paper link
belt, but the result is not so satisfactory as when the links are united with a flexible
rivet. Such a rivet is shown by Figure 4. It consists of three wires drawn together,
somewhat in the form of a helix, having a cylindrical exterior and a triangular
interior, as shown by C. Fig 2, the ends being parted and clinched over on the links,
as shown by (, in the same figure. The flexible rivet may also be made by simply
twisting three or four wires together in the form of a rope, or by wrapping a wire
around a small mandrel in the form of a spiral spring, as illustrated by A B Figure 5.
But I prefer to make them as I have described in the first instance, either with or
without the helical form.
A belt of the desired width having been formed as above described its width may bo
increased to any desired extent, by uniting to either edge thereof similar belts of the
desired width. This is done by tying the several widths together by means of strips
or links of metal applied to their top-sides as illustrated by IJ, or by canvas similarly
applied, as shown at H, Fig. 6, the links or strips being duly secured to the links of
the several widths of belting either by riveting, as shown in Fig. 7, or by any other
effectual means now known to those skilled in the arts to which the invention
appertains. The two belts combined and tied together are shown by G G Fig. 6, in
brackets.
In the foregoing description I have referred to paper only as the material of which
the links are to be made but any other known non-elastic substance made of fibrous
material and having the quality of paper for this purpose may be used as a substitute
for the paper in making the links, and is intended to be included within the scope of
the invention.
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. The combination of two or more link belts, each composed of a series of links
united by rivets, said rivets consisting of a plurality of wires arranged substantially as
described, said belts being joined together by means of strips, rods or links applied to
their top sides, substantially as set forth.
2. A link belt composed of a series of links united by rivets consisting of a plurality
of wires combined substantially as described.
3. A link belt consisting of the combination of two or more link belts joined
together by means of strips, rods or links applied to their top sides, substantially as
described.
4. A rivet for link belts consisting of a plurality of wires combined substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
Datad this 1st day af Deanmhan 1007