Patent ID: 7343730

Claim:
An investment cast, stainless steel chain link for chains such as used in water and wastewater treatment, the chain link comprising: a pair of spaced apart, elongated sidebars having forward ends and rearward ends, the forward ends being spaced apart and being provided with outwardly and latraily extending bosses of constant diameter having transverse boss pin bores codxially aligned with each other, the rearward ends being interconnected by a cylindrical barrel having a barrel pin bore extending through each of the sidebars, each of the boss and barrel pin bores having opposite ends, the sidebars also having upper and lower straight linear edges which are parallel to each other; the sidebars being formed with outwardly and laterally projecting reinforcing ribs extending between the bosses and the barrels running along a substantially full length of the sidebars, the ribs having forward ends extending directly from the bosses, and rearward ends tapering inwardly and interconnecting the outer surfaces of the sidebars and the barrels; the reinforcing ribs having longitudinal axes bisecting the sidebars and running parallel to the upper and lower linear edges of the sidebars, the sidebars and the ribs forming T-shaped cross sections, the ribs having a substantially constant thickness along lengths thereof, the interconnected rearward ends of a first pair of sidebars being disposed between the separated forward ends of a second pair of sidebars such that the barrel pin bore is coaxially aligned with the boss pin bores; a chain pin insertable through the aligned boss and barrel pin bores from either end thereof and without application of mechanical force for interconnecting the first and second pairs of sidebars, the chain pin being freely rotatable relative to the sidebars; and means preventing the lateral dislodgement of the chain pin from the sidebars.