Patent ID: 6880378

Claim:
An apparatus for automatically shearing and bending a chain link, the chain link having a selected thickness, the apparatus comprising: a first shearing member, the first shearing member having a shearing surface defining a shearing plane and terminating in a first shearing edge, the first shearing member including a jaw, the jaw having a primary bearing surface to exert shearing and bending forces upon the chain link, the jaw defining an opening, the opening configured to accommodate the thickness of the chain link; a second shearing member, the second shearing member having a shearing surface disposed substantially parallel to the shearing plane and terminating in a second shearing edge, the second shearing member including a primary bearing surface to exert shearing and bending forces upon the chain link, the second shearing member arranged with the first shearing member for relative shearing action along the shearing plane between the shearing edges and the primary bearing surfaces; and an electro-hydraulic actuator system cooperating with the second shearing member, the actuator system selectively operable to move automatically the second shearing member relative to the first shearing member such that the primary bearing surface and the second shearing edge of the second shearing member move toward and beyond the primary bearing surface and the first shearing edge of the first shearing member to shear the chain link along the shearing plane, thereby defining a pair of severed ends in the chain link, and to bend the severed ends apart, thereby defining an opening between the severed ends of the chain link greater than the thickness of the chain link; wherein the first and second shearing members comprise S-7 tool steel which has been hardened to greater than 59 Rc.