US1313949A - Clarence e - Google Patents

Description

C. E. MOUNTFORD.

SEAMLESS CHAIN AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.2 1911. RENEWED NOV. 22. 1919.

1,313,949. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

ATTORNEYS I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE E. MOUNTFOBD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR O]? ONE-HALF '10 LOUIS MAISHEB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

snmmss mm AND METHOD or consraucme 'rnn sum.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2 1919.

application filed December 21, 1917, Serial No. 208,239. Renewed November 22, 1918. Serial No. 283,778.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CLARENCE E. MOUNT- ronn, a subject of Great Britain, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seamless Chains and Methods of Constructing the Same, of which the followin is a specification.

My invention re ates to a seamless, sol- 10 derless chain and especially to the kind of chain which is used in jewelry and for other ornamental and useful work.

Chains have been used in jewelry for a reat many years. They have been manuactured of links whose ends were fastened together by means of solder. The customary method of making these chains by automatic machine or b hand, was to form them of a suitable wire having a core of solder.

When the links had been formed and their ends pressed together, these ends would be heated so that the solder would unite and thus complete the link. This soldering operation and the special construction of the wire before mentioned, made the soldered chain quite expensive, and besides, chains of this kind were always weak at the soldered portion so that the links would give way at this point and require troublesome and expensive repairs. The chain was further weakened because of the solder core, and the heat re uired for the manufacture.

Theo ject of my invention is to rovide a new and improved seamless chain for jewelry and other fine work, as well as a heavy duty chain, which shall be seamless, present a very fine and neat appearance, and which cannot be ruptured .or broken without breaking the material itself, which'will not break, even though one link be ruptured.

Another object of my invention is to provide the chain which can be constructed of round wire. I also provide a new and improved method for constructing the improved chain before mentioned.

Other objects of my invention shall be set forth in the following descri tion and drawings, which illustrate one em odiment of my improved chain, and also set forth a method 60 of constructing it.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the blank from which a link is formed.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the blank after the first operation has been erformed.

55 Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 2.

.of round wire 1 is taken. The ends 0 this round wire 1 are flattened or stamped out by means of suitable dies, and these flattened' ends are'simultaneousl perforated so as to produce a shank 2 and e es 3 and 4, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. ese eyes 3 and are of half the thickness of the shank 2 which is of the same thickness as the original w re 1, leaving rounded shoulders 5 and 76 6 which are curved and inclined in opposlte directions from their respective eyes. The face of each eye adjacent lts respective shoulder is stamped flat and the other face is stamped round, the contour being such 80 that when the eyes 3 and 4 are superposed as shown in Fig. 4, and the flat face of eye 3 is adjacent and touches the flat face of the eye 4, the combined contour of the eyes 3 and 4 shall be of continuous curvature and be of substantially the same curvature as the shank 2. When the eyes 3 and 4 are superposed, the shoulders 5 and 6 also fit snugly against each other so as to give a neat and finished effect. To form the link in this embodiment, the shank 2 is bent in a plane parallel to the flat faces of eyes 3 and 4, until the eye 3 registers with the eye .4, thus forming the link shown in Fig. 4.

As seen in Fig. 5, the perforations of the 96 eyes 3 and 4 are of substantially the same diameter as that of the wire 1, which is, of course, the same as that of the shank 2.

To form the next link, a new blank 1 is thrust through the superposed eyes 3 and 4 100 of thefirst link formed, and then new eyes 3 and 4 of exactly the same contour as those made of the'first link, are stamped out in exactly the same manner.

The second link is then formed b bending the shank 2 in the manner be ore described, and as this method is continued, a chain of any number of links can be formed.

The eyes 3 and 4 are of greater diameter than the openings therein, so that, as seen in Fig. 6, it is impossible to pull any link out of the preceding ones without rupturing the material in at least two of the weakest places.

While I have shown in the drawmg a certain proportion or relative slze of the bent shanks 2 and the eyes 3 and 4, it is obvious that these relative sizes may be varied according to taste. Thus, for example, the length of the bent shank 2 may be made exactly the same as the length or diameter of the eyes 3, so as to produce an effect ofuniform size. Any other ornamental shape, such as oval or diamond, can be used.

The chain as above described, when made in small sizes, presents a very neat and ornamental appearance, and it is impossible to determine the construction or to perceive any lines ofjoining by the naked eye. It can be made quickly and cheaply in an automatic manner and by automatic machinery of various kinds, and is far superior in strength toany of the soldered chains before made, as Well as being much cheaper. This is because it is made of a solid material instead of being filled with soft solder-core, and it does not become annealed or softened, since the soldering is eliminated, and the swaging hardens and strengthens the metal. No special blanks need be stamped out as the construction is based solely upon the use of the round wire which is well-known to the trade. The words wire and blanks, as used throughout this specification, have the same significance.

I have not illustrated the dies which are used for stamping out and perforating the eyes, as these are well known, and considered as separate elements, form no part of my invention, but are Within the comprehension of any person skilled in the art.

I have shown one method of forming the chains and one structure thereof, but I do not desire to be limited thereto, as changes and omissions can be made witnout departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: V

1. A method of forming a link of a chain which consists in stamping eyes at the ends of a blank, the said eyes being flattened to substantially half the thickness of the shank left between them so as to form shoulders of substantially half the thickness of the said shank, the said shoulders being of like contour and located on opposite sides of the said shank, and then bending the said shank in a plane parallel to the said eyes until the said eyes are superposed.

2. A method of forming and joining a am le plurality of links on a chain which consists in stamping eyes at the ends of a blank,

the said eyes being flattened to substantially half the thickness of the shank left between them so as to form shoulders of substantially half the thickness of the said shank, and said shoulders bein of like contour and located on opposite si es of the said shank, and then bending the said shank in a plane parallel to the said eyes until the said eyes are superposed, then pushing a second piece of wire through the perforations of the said eyes and then forming a second link out of the second mentioned piece of wire in a manner identical with used for forming the first mentioned 1n 3. A method of forming the link of a chain which consists in stamping eyes at the ends of a blank, the said eyes'being of substantially half the thickness of the shank formed between them, so that shoulders of substantially half the thickness of said shank are formed, the said shoulders being adjacent opposite sides of the said shank, the faces of said eyes adjacent said shoulders being fiat and the opposite faces of said eyes having a curvature identical with that of the shank, and bending the same shank in a plane parallel to the before mentioned flat faces until the said eyes are superposed.

4. A chain link comprising a bent shank having an eye at each end, said eyes being superposed, the said eyes being of substantially half the thickness of said shank and being located at opposite sides of the said shank.

5. A chain link consisting of a bent shank having eyes at each end thereof, the said eyes being superposed and being of substantially half the thickness of the said shank so as to leave shoulders of substantially the same thickness, the said eyes be ing adjacent opposite sides of the said shank, the adjacent faces of the said eyes being flat and their opposite faces having the same curvature as the said shank.

6. A chain link comprising a bent shank having an eye at each end, said eyes being superposed, the combined thickness of the said superposed eyes being substantially equal to that of the shank, and the combined curvature of the superposed eyes being substantially the same as the curvature of the said shank.

In testimony signature.

whereof I hereunto aflix my

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