IMPROVEMENTS IN ENDLESS CHAIN HORSE POWERS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 12, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ENDLESS CHAIN HORSE POWERS."-A communication from abroad by
Stuart Perry, of Newport, County of Herkimer, State of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 12th February 1864, and dated the 11th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Haseltine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th November 1863.
I, GEORGE HASELTINE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 12,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ENDLESS CHAIN HORSE POWERS," a communication, to be as follows:-
A
These improvements relate to that class of horse powers in which force for
moving machinery is communicated from the team by means of an endless
chain acting upon a drum from which it is conveyed to a driving shaft, the
chain moving around with the arms or spokes of the chain wheel.
stationary upright shaft is firmly secured to the bed plate or frame of the
machine. A hub is placed on or near either end of this shaft. The hubs
may be connected by means of suitable rods, and each of them is provided
with a disc flanged on its upper surface near its periphery. These hubs

page_text: which form a part of the chain wheel, turn on the shaft and may be kept in
position by any suitable means. The inner ends of the arms or spokes of the
chain wheel rest upon these flanges and are kept from slipping by notches of
sufficient size to admit said flanges cut in the under side of the arms. Each
spoke resting on the upper flange has a corresponding one in range resting
upon the lower flange. The two corresponding spokes meet at their outer
ends which are united by means of a forked socket. There is also a plain
dise fixed upon the upper part of each hub which firmly secures the inner
ends of the arms in position. The pairs of spokes may be connected with
rods, one or more of which may be made adjustable by means of a screw
buckle. This mode of construction gives strength to the chain wheel
without the use of pins or bolts, and the parts may be readily united or sepa-
rated for purpose of storage or transportation. The chain wheel is rotated by
applying power to a sweep attached thereto and extending beyond the arms or
spokes, or to drag rods, in which case the team travels between the said arms.
The endless chain is caught and carried around by forks on the ends of the
arms until the wheel makes about three-fourths of a revolution when the chain
leaves the forks and passes partially around a friction wheel or roller which is
hung upon a hinged arm, the latter being regulated by a spring whereby any
slack in the chain is avoided. From this friction wheel the chain passes
between two guiding pulleys to and partially around the chain drum, and from
the latter it passes again to the said forks and revolves with the chain wheel.
These guiding pulleys prevent any twists or kinks forming in the chain and
give it a firmer bight upon the chain pulley. Two small pulleys may also
be advantageously employed for guiding the chain around the chain drum.
This drum is fixed on a vertical shaft upon the lower end of which is secured
a cog wheel acting upon a bevel pinion on the end of a horizontal driving
shaft. In place of the said chain pulley for receiving and conveying force
two horizontal drums or shafts may be employed. Two or more spiral coils
of the chain encircle both drums, the coils passing around them in suitable
grooves, a similar regulating friction wheel and guiding pulleys as before
described being employed. The force conveyed to these drums by the chain
is conveyed to an intermediate drum fixed on a horizontal shaft. The three
drums have friction collars at either end or cogs may be used for trans-
mitting force from the exterior to the intermediate drum. The journals of
the exterior drums are supported on adjustable bearings and besides the
journals have sufficient play to allow the friction collars to be drawn
together by the chain without injury to the said journals. Wheels may
be substituted in whole or in part for the said drums. To ensure dura-

page_text: bility the iron chain is case-hardened or subjected to a process of cementation.
To increase the durability of the chain drums they may be provided with steel
or case-hardened teeth ribs or grooves. The same object may however be
attained and the friction lessened by so applying to the chain drums a series
of steel or case-hardened iron wheels as to take the bearings of the chain, the
said wheels being slightly turned by the chain at each revolution of the drum.
These wheels may be readily replaced by others when they become worn.
Two of these wheels may also be advantageously applied to each fork of the
chain wheel for lessening the wear and keeping the chain from binding or
hanging in the said forks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Haseltine in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HASELTINE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 12, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tho
said George Haseltine, Her special license that I, the said George Haseltine,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Haseltine, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and 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
ENDLESS CHAIN HORSE POWERS," & communication, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Haseltine, my executors or administrators,.
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand
and seal of one of them, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-.
formed, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings forming
a part of this Specification.
This Invention relates to that class of horse-powers in which the force for
moving machinery is communicated from the team by means of an endless
chain acting upon a drum from which it is conveyed to a driving shaft, the
chain moving around with the arms or spokes of the chain wheel. As
incidental to this class of horse-powers the Invention further relates to the
means employed for preventing the wear of the chain as well as the chain
drum, and the forks that receive and carry the chain, and also to the mode of
constructing the horse-power so that it may be readily set up or taken down
for convenience of storing or transportation.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan view of the horse-power; Figure 2 a longitudinal
vertical section through the same; Figure 3 represents on an enlarged scale
a case-hardened or cemented chain which I propose to use with the horse-
power; Figure 4 represents in plan and section and on an enlarged scale
the chain drum with its changing bearing surfaces; Figures 5 and 6 are
modifications of the plan shown in Figures 1 and 2, in which the driving
shaft receives its motion from the chain through two or more wheels or drums;
Figure 7 represents on an enlarged scale one of the forks that receive and
carry the chain, these having also a constantly changing surface bearing for
the chain. Like letters indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
A, B, represent the bed pieces upon which the horse-power is placed.
These pieces may be of plank for the convenience of ready transportation, or
or of any other suitably strong material; C is a stationary shaft on or against
which the two hubs a, b, of the chain wheel turn. These hubs are connected
or braced by the uprights k, and are provided with flanged discs c, d, on which
flanges the arms D, E, are held by means of notches, as clearly shown in
Figure 2.
The arms D, E, in pairs, incline towards each other at their outer
ends, and a forked socket f is driven over them, which, together with their
central and notched supports at the hubs a, b, make them rigid, while at the
same time the whole machine can be readily taken down for transportation
or for storing, and as readily set up again without pins, screw-bolts, or such
like fastenings, which are liable to be lost or mislaid. The spokes are
connected by rods m, as shown in Figures 1 and 5, and for convenience in

page_text: tightening the rods or rendering them slack, when it is desired to take the
machine down one of said rods may be provided with a screw buckle or other
similar device. The chain wheel carrying with it the chain is rotated by
applying power to the sweep I, Figure 1 The sweep I is attached to the
chain wheel by being hooked to the hub a at 8, and to one of the arms at t,
or in any convenient manner, a drag rod u running back to the next arm,
by which arrangement the team travels on the outside of the chain wheel, or
the power may be applied to drag rods u, Figure 5, in which case the team
travels between the arms D, E. The leading stick j, Figure 1, may be
employed for guiding the team when the power is applied to the sweep I.
The endless chain F is caught and carried around by the forks f, Figure 1,
on the ends of the arms D, E, until it leaves the fork f, and from this fork it
passes to and partially around a friction wheel or roller G hung upon a hinged
arm g, the latter being regulated by a spring h, whereby any slack in the
chain is avoided. From the friction wheel G the chain passes between two
guiding pulleys i, i, and partially around the chain drum H, and from the
latter it passes again to the fork f" and thence around the series of forks on
the chain wheel with which the chain moves. The guiding pulleys i, i, also
prevent any twists or kinks in the chain running past them, and gives the
chain a firmer "bight" upon the chain drum. Kinks or twists if allowed to
pass upon the drum H would bind the chain and cause it to slip or cut, as it
would not find its proper contact bearing, thereby injuring the said drum.
Two small guiding pulleys Q, Q, may also be advantageously employed for
guiding the chain truly upon the drum. The chain drum H is fixed upon a
vertical shaft J, Figure 2, upon the lower end of which is secured & cog
wheel K, acting upon a bevel pinion L, fixed on the end of a horizontal
driving shaft M. The shaft J has its lower support in the block r, and its
upper support in a plate q. In place of the chain drum H for receiving and
conveying force two horizontal drums or shafts O, P, Figure 5, may be
employed. Two or more spiral coils of the chain encircle both of these drums,
and the coils pass around them in suitable grooves to give motion to said
drums or shafts, the forks acting as above described, and the friction wheel
G and guiding pulleys i, i, being constructed and arranged in a similar
manner as when only a single chain drum H, Figure 1, is employed. The
force conveyed to the drums O, P, by the chain is transmitted to an inter-
mediate drum or driving shaft M. The drums O, P, have friction collars
w, w, and the shaft M friction collars x, x. The journals of the drums O, P,
are supported in adjustable bearings, beside which these journals have
sufficient play to allow the collars w, w, on the drums to be drawn against

page_text: the collars x, x, on the intermediate drum or shaft without straining said
journals. Instead of friction collars for transmitting the force of the team to
the shaft M, cog gearing may be conveniently employed. Wheels may also
be substituted entirely or in part for the drums or shafts. To ensure
durability the iron chain is case-hardened or subjected to a process of
cementation. This greatly increases the durability without decreasing the
strength of the metal. The process of case-hardening or cementing by
animal or vegetable charcoal or by mineral substances, whereby iron is
carbonized, is well known, but has not before been applied, so far as known, to
chains. To increase the durability of the chain drum H it may be provided
with steel or case-hardened teeth, ribs, or grooves. The same object may
however be attained by the use of a device, shown in Figure 4, consisting
of a series of steel or chilled wheels v, so applied as to take the bearing of the
chain and be slightly turned around by the chain every time it comes in
contact with said wheels, by which means a constantly changing surface is
exposed to the chain. By the movement of the wheels a large proportion
of the friction, and consequently much wear, is avoided. These wheels may
Two similar wheels
easily be replaced by others when they become worn.
e, e, Figure 7, may also be advantageously applied to each of the forks f.
These wheels present a continually changing surface to the chain, thereby
preventing the rapid wearing or cutting of the forks, and also by their rotation
A washer o,
preventing the chain from hanging or binding in the forks.
Figure 2, is placed over the lower hub b, and a pin p through the shaft C to
hold said washer and the chain wheel in place. Instead of this washer and
pin a collar o¹, Figure 6, may be employed, The upper hub a may be placed
on the top of the shaft, so as to suspend the weight of the wheel on the latter
if desired. The outer end of the shaft M is provided with a band wheel N
or crank from which the power may be conveniently communicated to
machinery. To illustrate the mode of applying power a cross-cut sawing
apparatus is shown in Figure 1, but any other apparatus or machinery may
be substituted.
Having thus fully described my improvements, and shown how the same
may be conveniently carried into effect, I wish it understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details herein described and illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings, as these may be considerably modified without
departing from the spirit of my Invention, but I claim,―
First, a chain wheel composed of central flanged hubs a, b, the notched
spokes D, C, and the forks f, constructed and arranged for the purposes and
substantially in the manner described.

page_text: Second, the friction wheel or roller G in combination with the hinged arm g
for the purposes described.
Third, the guiding pulleys i, i, arranged for the purposes and substantially
in the manner described.
Fourth, the guiding pulleys Q, Q, in combination with the chain drum H
for the purposes and substantially in the manner specified.
Fifth, the encircling of two or more drums O, P, by an endless chain for
the purpose of communicating the force of the team through said chain to said
drums, substantially as specified.
Sixth, the interposition of a shaft M between drums O, P, constructed and
arranged in relation to the said drums for the purposes and substantially in the
manner specified.
Seventh, the case-hardened or cemented chain F for the purpose of
increasing the durability of said chain when used in connection with a chain
wheel or other similar device in a horse-power, substantially as herein set
forth.
Eighth, the chain drum H when provided with a changing surface,
substantially as herein set forth.
Ninth, the forked socket f when provided with friction rollers, for the
purposes and substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Haseltine, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GEORGE HASELTINE
(LL.B.)