Improvements in and relating to Machines for Manufacturing Sheet Metal Chains.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Feb., 1892-Accepted, 9th Apr., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Machines for Manufacturing Sheet
Metal Chains.
A communication from abroad by THE SMITH & EGGE MANUFACTURING
COMPANY, of No. 188, Lafayette Street, Bridgeport, in the County of
Fairfield and State of Connecticut, one of the United States of America,
Manufacturers.
1, PETER JENSEN, of 77 Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of
the Institute of Chartered Patent Agents 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 :-
My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in machines for
manufacturing sheet metal chain, and has for its object to produce such chain with
great rapidity and at a minimum cost.
In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this application-
Figure is a plan of my machine ;
Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, are sections at the lines a, b, c, d, e, f, respectively on
Figure 1 and Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11 are detail broken plan views illustrating
the successive operations of the devices for bending and shaping the blanks into the
form of completed links.
Similar numbers of reference denote like parts in the several figures of the
drawing.
1, is the bed of the machine having at the rear a shaft, 2, journaled in boxes, 3,
on which shaft is mounted the power pulley, 4.
5, is a compound cam mounted on the shaft, 2. 6, is a carriage supported on the
bed and capable of a free to and fro sliding movement in a way, 8. 7, is a pin
which depends from the carriage, and, 9, is a coil spring whose ends are secured to
said pin and bed respectively, whereby the rear of the carriage is normally retracted
against the face of the cam, 5, as shown at Figure 2.
10 are the clamping and forming jaws pivoted by a pin, 11, on the carriage so as
to be carried thereby and capable of being opened and closed.
12, is a spring secured to the jaws in such manner as to keep the forward ends
thereof normally distended. 13, are studs which extend inwardly from the heel
ends of the jaws against the opposite sides of the cam, 5, the spring, 12, also serving
to keep these studs against the cam.
14, is a cam on the shaft, 2, and 15, is a bell-crank, one end whereof bears against
said cam while the other end is loosely connected at, 16, to a collar, 17, which latter
is secured around a pin, 18, which has a free vertical play through the bed. The
bell-crank is pivoted at 19, to the bed, and a spring, 20, whose ends are secured to
the bed and the forward leg of the bell-crank, keeps the rear end of the latter
normally against the cam, 14.
As the cam, 14, revolves, the bell-crank will be rocked on its pivotal point,
thereby alternately projecting the pin, 18, above the level of the bed and then
withdrawing it below such level.
Supposing, therefore, a blank, 21, to be in position athwart the front ends of the
jaws, 10, and the pin, 18, to be projected above the bed, as shown in detail at
Figures 3 and 8, the action of the cams, 5, 14, will cause the jaws to advance,
thereby bending the blank into U-shape around the pin, as shown in Figures 9
and 10; the jaws will then close around the bent link, thus shaping the link around
the pin, as shown at Figure 11; the pin will then be withdrawn, and the jaws
carrying the finished link will be retracted to normal position. The jaws are

page_text: interiorly shaped to conform to a finished link, and when the latter is held by the
jaws, the ends of such link will project beyond the jaws, and such ends being
provided with eyes, 22, it will be readily seen that a succeeding blank may be
threaded through said eyes preparatory to being bent and formed after the manner
of the first mentioned link.
I will now describe the means whereby the blanks are fed successively and
interlooped with the previously bent and formed links.
23, is a block secured on the bed, and having a guide-way, 24, within which the
blanks are deposited one by one. 25, is a block properly guided and capable of a
to and fro movement. This block carries a push-finger, 26, which fits closely
within the way, 24.
As the finger is thrown inward it will force a blank out of
the way, 24, through the eyes of a previously bent and formed link, the latter being
held by the jaws as previously set forth.
Mounted directly over the way, 24, is a well, 27, within which the flat blanks
may be piled by hand one on top of the other, or said well may communicate with
the dies of any ordinary blanking press, so that as fast as such blanks are blanked
out they will drop into the well. When the finger, 26, is retracted a blank will
drop into the way, 24, in position to be forced out by the next forward movement
of said finger.
The block, 25, is guided in ways, 28, and a lever, 29, pivoted to the bed at, 30,
is loosely connected at 31, to said block, the rear end of said lever being held in
normal contact with the side of a cam, 32, carried by the shaft, 2, by means of a coil
spring, 33, whose ends are secured respectively to said lever and the bed.
From the foregoing it will be readily understood that the combined action of the
cam, 32, and spring, 33, will cause the lever, 29, to be swung to and fro when the
shaft, 2, is revolved, whereby the finger, 26, is reciprocated to thread successive
blanks through the eyes of links that have been previously bent and shaped.
After a blank has been threaded through the eyes of a previously bent and
shaped link, it becomes necessary to turn said blank from a horizontal to a vertical
position so that it will lie with its flat side athwart the ends of the jaws in position
for bending.
This may be accomplished in various ways, either by active or passive instru-
mentalities, but I prefer to effect the same by positive means, and I have therefore
shown, and will now describe such means.
34, is a rock shaft journaled in bearings, 35, rising from the bed, and having at
its inner end a notch, 36. This notch is formed by securing an overhanging
plate, 37, to the shaft, 34, although such notch might be cut in the shaft itself.
38, is a countersunk annular recess in the shaft, 34, and 39, is a shoe fitting
therein. 40, is a lever pivoted at, 41, to the bed, the heel of said lever being
within the groove of a cam, 42, while the front end of such lever is loosely con-
nected at 43, to the shoe, 39. A coil spring, 44, secured to.a post, 45, rising from
the bed, and to the lever, 40. preserves the normal or inwardly projected position
of the front end of the lever, while the cam by its action throws said end backward
against the resiliency of said spring. Thus it will be seen that the shaft, 34, is
projected and retracted by the combined action of the cam, 42, and spring, 44.
Splined on the shaft, 34, so as to have a free sliding movement thereon is a
crank, 46.
47, is a connecting arm whose rear end is guided around the shaft, 2, so as to
have a free forward and backward movement, and whose front end is pivoted to
the crank, 46, at 48.
49 is a cam carried by the shaft, 2, and having an effective bearing against a
roll, 50, carried by the arın, 47, the office of said cam being to throw said arm
forward.
51, is a coil spring whose ends are secured to the arm, 47, and to the bed, and by
means of which said arm is retracted.
It will thus be clear that the spring, 51, and cam, 49, will cause the shaft, 34, to
be rocked back and forth for the purpose presently explained.

page_text: When a blank is forced by the push-finger through the eyes of a previously bent
link, said blank will enter and abut within the notch, 36, in the rock-shaft, 34.
The action of the spring, 51, will rock said shaft, thereby bringing the blank into
a vertical position preparatory to bending; the action of the cam, 42, will retract
said shaft, and the action of the cam, 49, will cause said shaft to be rocked into
normal position.
The hereinbefore described bending of the blank occurs just after the retraction
of the shaft, 34, while the actions of the spring, 44, and the cam, 49, to bring said
shaft into normal position occur after the jaws, 10, have been operated to bend and
shape the link.
An adjustable stop, 52, on the bed may be employed, against which the ends of
the bent link are abutted by the action of the jaws, in order to insure the proper
alignment of such ends.
The operation of my improvement organized as herein before described is as
follows
A blank is fed forward by the push-finger through the eyes of a previously bent
link within the notch in the rock-shaft; the latter is rocked to bring the blank in
a vertical plane athwart the ends of the jaws; the rock-shaft is retracted, and the
jaws in distended position are forced against the blank thereby bending and
inclosing the latter around the bending pin which has been previously projected
above the bed the jaws are now closed against the blank, thereby shaping the
latter around said pin, the latter is then withdrawn, the jaws are retracted with
the link clamped thereby, the shaft is projected and rocked to normal position, a
succeeding blank is fed by the push-finger through the eyes of the link last bent
and shaped, the contour of the cam, 5, being such that the jaws are then distended
at their front ends by the action of the spring, 12, and the above described
operations are repeated to form succeeding links.
As fast as the chain is made in completed form it drops through the slot, 8, into
any suitable receptacle, the weight of the chain being sufficient to drag the
completed links from the jaws, so that no clogging can occur.
In making a continuous length of chain, the jaws always maintain their grasp on
a previously bent and shaped link until a succeeding blank has been threaded
through the eyes of said link, but it sometimes becomes desirable to make separate
chains of predetermined lengths, and in such instance it would be necessary to
release the link last completed before a succeeding blank has been threaded through
the eyes of such link. I have therefore provided means whereby I can, if desired,
interrupt the feeding of a predetermined blank at a predetermined time, so that
when the jaws are opened preparatory to their forward movement there will be no
blank in the eyes of the previously bent and shaped link to confine the chain, and
the latter will drop free from the machine.
The means for accomplishing this result are very simple and will be obvious
from the following description:-
:-
53, is a lead worm secured on the shaft, 2, and leading at its outer end into the
groove, 54, of a cam, 55, which groove terminates flush with the face of said cam.
The cam may be secured to the shaft independently or may be integral with the
worm.
56, is a swivel in the bed, 1, and, 57, is a lead finger pivoted to said swivel
at 58, so as to have a vertical rocking movement, and having depending from its
rear end a stud, 59.
A coil spring, 60, secured to the bed and to a crank, 61, extending from the
swivel, keeps the finger, 57, in its retracted or normal position.
62, is a trip lever pivoted to the bed so as to have a vertical rocking movement,
the rear part of said lever extending beneath the front end of the finger, 57.
63, is a spring which serves to normally elevate the rear part of this lever, 62,
against the front end of said finger, so as to raise the latter, whereby the stud, 59,
is nornally depressed within the worm, 53, so that when the latter is revolved the

page_text: rear end of the finger will be fed by the screw action of the worm toward the
cam, 55.
As the stud enters the cam-groove, 54, the latter, whose eccentricity from its
junction with the worm is formed by increasing radii, will gradually raise the
stud, thereby depressing the forward end of the finger against the resilient
lever, 62, whereby the outer end of the latter will be elevated, as clearly shown at
Figure 5.
The inner edge of the lever, 29, is notched, as seen at, 64, and the outer
end of the lever, 62, is so shaped as to readily enter said notch and fit snugly
therein.
Immediately before the stud is raised entirely out of the cam groove to a point
flush with the face of the cam, the cam, 32, will have ceased its effective action
against the lever, 29, and the spring 33, will have initially drawn said lever inward
so that the trip lever, 62, will engage within the notch, 64, in the lever, 29, thereby
arresting the movement of the lever, 29, necessary to feed a blank through the eyes
of a previously bent and shaped link, and also locking the lever, 62, with its inner
end depressed against the resiliency of the spring, 63.
While the levers 29 and 62 are thus interlocked, the continued revolution of the
shaft, 2, will carry the cam groove, 54, clear of the stud, and the latter being thus
free from lateral restraint the finger, 57, will be thrown back to normal position by
the action of the spring, 60.
An adjustable stop, 65, is secured on the bed against which stop the finger abuts
in the normal or retracted position. It will thus be seen, that, to make a chain of
a predetermined longer length, it is merely necessary to adjust the stop, 65, so that
the normal position of the stud will be further inward on the worm, because the
greater the time consumed before the stud reaches the outer end of the worm, the
greater will be the number of links in the chain.
After the finger has been retracted by the spring, 60, as above set forth, the
continued revolution of the shaft, 2, will cause the jaws, 10, to open and release
the chain, and will cause the cam, 32, to retract the lever, 29, thereby releasing
the trip lever, 62, and allowing the spring, 63, to depress the stud within the
worm, the parts being then in proper relative position necessary for the feeding,
bending, and shaping of succeeding blanks to form the predetermined length of
chain.
This attachment for making chains of given lengths may be readily unshipped at
any time by simply removing the lead finger.
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 a machine for making sheet metal chain, the combination of means for
feeding a blank through the eyes of a previously formed link, means for turning
said blank to a position at right angles to that in which it entered said eyes, a
bending pin, and means for interposing the same beyond the ends of said Jink,
means for bending and shaping said blank around said pin, means for withdrawing
said pin, and means for bringing the blank so bent and shaped into position for the
threading of a succeeding blank.
2. In a machine for making sheet metal chain, the combination with a bending
pin, of the pivoted reciprocating jaws whereby the blanks are bent and shaped
around said pin.
3. In a machine for making sheet metal chain, the combination with the instru-
mentalities for making such chain, of means for controlling said instrumentalities so
that they will produce predetermined lengths of chain.
4. In a machine for making sheet metal chain, the combination with the
feeding, bending, and shaping mechanisms, of means for interrupting the continuity
of the chain at predetermined times, whereby given lengths of chain are produced.

page_text: 5. In a machine for making sheet metal chain, the combination with the feeding
mechanism whereby the blanks are successively threaded through the eyes of
previously bent links, of means for arresting said mechanism at certain intervals,
whereby predetermined lengths of chain are made.
6. The combination of the shaft carrying cam 32, and worm, 53, the lever, 29,
spring, 33, resilient lead finger, 57, having stud, 59, engaging said worm, cam, 55,
having groove, 54, into which worm leads, lever 62, and spring, 63, as set forth.
7. The combination of the cam, 5, carried by the shaft, 2, sliding carriage, 6,
normally held in contact with the face of said cam by a spring, jaws, 10, pivoted on
said carriage and normally distended by a spring and having studs, 13, which engage
the sides of said cam whereby the jaws are closed, means for feeding the blanks
and turning them to a vertical position, and a bending pin around which the blanks
are bent and shaped, substantially as set forth.
8. The combination of the jaws, the blank feeding device, the rock-shaft, and the
bending pin, substantially as shown and described.
9. The combination of the blank feeding device, the rock-shaft notched to
receive a horizontally disposed blank, and means for rocking said shaft to bring
said blank into vertical position, substantially as set forth.
10. The combination of the blank feeding device and the mechanism for bending
and shaping the links, with the shaft, 34, capable of rocking and longitudinal
movements, substantially as set forth.
11. The combination of the cam, 32, and the blank feeding devices controlled
thereby, the cam 5 and the bending and shaping mechanism actuated therefrom, the
cam, 14, and the mechanism controlled thereby for actuating the bending pin, and
the cams, 42, 49, and the blank turning devices actuated therefrom, all of said
cams being carried by a single shaft, substantially as shown and set forth.
12. The combination of the lever, 29, cam, 32, spring, 33, and feed finger carrying
block 25, as set forth.
13. The combination of the resilient lead finger, 57, and the adjustable stop, 65,
substantially as set forth.
14. The combination of the reciprocatory pivoted jaws, 10, the bending pin and
means for projecting and withdrawing the same at the proper times, and means for
feeding a blank within the eyes of a completed link while the latter is held clamped
by said jaws, substantially as set forth.
15. The combination of the bending pin, the pivoted jaws, means for feeding
a blank and turning it in a vertical position athwart the ends of said jaws,
means for advancing said jaws in distended condition to bend the blank around
said pin, means for closing the jaws upon the blank around the pin, means for
withdrawing said pin, and instrumentalities for retracting said jaws, substantially
as set forth.
16. The combination of the cam, 14, pivoted bell-crank, 15, pin, 18, capable
of a vertical play through the bed, 1, and spring, 20, substantially as set forth.
17. The combination of the cam, 14, the vertically reciprocatory pin, 18, and
the bell-crank, 15, whose upper end is held in normal contact with said cam by a
spring, while the lower end is loosely connected to the pin, substantially as set
forth.
18. The combination of the shaft, 34, journaled in bearings so as to be capable
of both rotary and longitudinal movements, the cam, 42, the pivoted lever, 40,
whose rear end is engaged by said cam and whose front extremity is operatively
connected to said shaft, and the spring, 44, substantially as set forth.
19. The combination of the shaft, 34, the crank 46, thereon, the lever, 47,
having its front end pivoted to said crank and its rear extremity so guided as
that a to and fro movement is permitted to said lever, the roll, 50, carried by said
lever, the cam, 49, adapted to act against the roll to throw the lever forward, and
the spring, 51, whereby said lever is returned backward to normal position, sub-
stantially as set forth.
20. The combination of the shaft, 34, capable of rotary and longitudinal

page_text: movements, the cams, 42, 49, mounted on a rotary shaft, a pivoted lever, 40,
operated by the cam, 42, and a spring, 44, whereby said shaft, 34 is reciprocated
lengthwise, the crank 46 splined on the shaft, 34, the lever, 47, pivoted at its
forward end to said crank and supported at its rear end in such manner as to permit
of a to and fro movement, the roll, 50, carried by the lever 47, and the spring, 51,
said cam, 49, and spring, 51, operating to throw the lever 47 forward and backward,
whereby the shaft, 34, is rocked, substantially as set forth.
21. In a machine for making sheet metal chain, the combination with the
reciprocatory bending and shaping jaws, of the stop, 52, against which the ends of
the link are abutted, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 22nd day of February 1892.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.