US2109038A - Cross chain - Google Patents

Description

109mg A H. ST. PIERRE CROS S CHAIN Filed May 8, 1936 effe Patented Feb. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES 10ans ATENT FFICE 4 Claims.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a cross chain with an extra amount of surface on the ground contacting side thereof and with cups on said side for providing a better grip on the ground and in some cases suction resistance; to provide flattened surfaces on the rear which prevent the digging of the chain into the tire and reduce the depth of the chain; to provide the case hardening on a surface of such a nature that the chain will wear very much longer than has been the case heretofore before the part that is case hardened is worn away, and to provide a chain which will have all these properties and yet will be easy to manufacture and involve no increase in expense corresponding to the advantages obtained.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying zo drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan of a cross chain constructed in accordance with this invention, with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side view or edge view of the same;

l5 Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 on enlarged scale, and

Fig. 5 is a plan like Fig. 1 of a modified con- 30 struction.

It has been the practice heretofore to make chains of wire and case-harden them, which results in a case-hardened section on the outside surfaces which, when worn through, leaves the 35 chain with no hardened material that very effectively avoids wear. Various shapes of chains have been made with the links formed of a piece of Wire welded together and they have all been subjected to the above difficulty.

40 In the form shown in Figs. l, 2, 3 and 4 each link Il] of the chain, which is the subject of this invention, is formed of a peculiar shape in which on both sides is a cup ll, which are shown as oblong and which, in Fig. 5, are shown at l2 as i5 circular. Their cuter surfaces are in the same plane and two of them are located on each link at opposite sides and opposite ends.

From an inspection of Figs. 3 and 4 it will be seen that the area I3 which is case-hardened has 50 two thicknesses of case-hardening at Hl and l5 on each side and each end of the elongated cup Il so that the wear will be more slow than in the case of a single layer of case-hardening. Until the chain is worn down to the bottom I6 of 55 the cup there are always transverse case-hardening surfaces on the chain to bear on the ground and retard wear. When the wear gets down to the bottom of the cup there will still be a flat wide horizontal surface i6 for it to wear through before the soft inside part of the link is brought 5 into contact with the ground.

This situation applies to Fig. 5 in the same way and the details thereof need not be explained therefore. Of course, the case-hardening extends throughout the surface of the link. The 10 bottom of the link is flattened out at I1 so that fiat surfaces ll only bear on the tire and therefore cannot dig into the tire and injure it, at least until after a very long amount of wear. Infact, no wear appears on the tire until after many of 15 these chains have been used and discarded. 'Ihen it is not likely to take place at the same places so that it can almost be disregarded.

The shape of each link involves the cups ll or l2 on the opposite sides of the wearing surface 20 and arms I8 extending in opposite directions from these cups fiat on the tire. Each of these arms IB is connected with the next cut Il or I2 by a slanting arm i9. These links are made in quantities all alike and every alternate one is made open and then Welded. Half of them do not have to be welded.

It will be seen that the outer wearing surface is almost fiat but interrupted while the inner wearing surfaces are almost flat and almost continuous. This constitutes a very strong chain and a long wearing one which adds very materially to its utility in practice and to the life of the tire. It does not involve much additional expense and not any in proportion to its additional durability.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim isz- .1.. A cross chain link comprising a pair of cups on the ground engaging surface of the link, an arm extending in opposite slanting directions from each cup and constituting the tire engaging surface, said arms being flattened to prevent wear on the tire, and arms connecting the rst named arms to the opposite cup.

2. As an article of manufacture, a chain link having a flat outer surface provided with two parallel elongated depressed cups on opposite sides and at opposite ends of said surface, said surface being in the general shape of a parallelogram with said cups at the obtuse angles thereof.

3. As an article of manufacture, a chain link having a generally flat outer surface provided with two parallel depressed cups on opposite sides and at opposite ends of said surface, said surface being in the general shape of a parallelogram with said cups at the obtuse angles thereof, and the link projecting inwardly from said surface toward the tire and having a generally convex rear surface, flattened at the rear of the acute angles of said parallelogram.

4. As an article of manufacture, a cross chain formed of links, each link having integral cups, the edges thereof constituting a ground engaging surface, said cups having their external surface longer on the ground engaging half of the link than on the other half.

HENRY ST. PIERRE.

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