562 



CABLE 



jaws, o, arc of steel pieces made fast by bolts, and may be changed at pleasure, p is 

 a stop which determines the equal lengths of the pieces cut off, and can be shifted to 

 suit different lengths : a piece of iron is shown as being cut off between the upright 

 stop and the shears. 



The following figures represent the plan and elevation of a machine for bending 

 links into an elliptic form, superseded by the machine hereafter to be described. It is 

 represented at the moment when a link is getting bent upon it. 



316 



A is an elliptic mandrel of cast iron ; it is fixed upon the top of a wooden pillar B, 

 solidly supported in the ground, c is the jaw of the vice, pressed by a square-headed 

 screw against the mandrel A. 



D, part of the mandrel comprehended between x and T, formed as an inclined plane, 

 so as to preserve an interval equal to the diameter of the rod between the two surfaces 

 that are to be welded together. 



B, rectangular slots (shears) passing through the centre of the nut of the mandrel, in 

 which each of the pins F may be freely slidden. 



_ Q, horizontal lever of wrought iron six feet long. It carries at H a pulley or fric- 

 tion-roller of steel, whose position may be altered according to the diameter of the 

 links. It is obvious that as many mandrels are required as there are sizes and shapes 

 of links. 



The piece of iron intended to form a link being cut, is carried, while red hot, to 

 the bending machine, where it is seized with the jaw of the vice c, by one of its ends, 

 the slant of the cut being turned upwards ; this piece of iron has now the horizontal 

 direction m n ; on pushing the lever o in the line of the arrow, the roller H will force m n 

 to be applied successively in the elliptic groove of the mandrel ; thus, finally, the two 

 faces that are to be w^ided together will be placed right opposite each other. 



The length of the small diameter of the ellipse ought to exceed by a little the length 

 of the stay-piece, to allow of this being readily introduced. The difference between 

 the points F B is equal to the difference of the radii vectores of the ellipse. Hence it 

 will be always easy to find the excentricity of the ellipse. 



Mg. 319 is a lever press for squeezing the old form of links upon their stays 



after the links are welded. This machine was contrived for the purpose of superseding 

 manual labour, but the skill and dexterity of the workmen have quite superseded this 

 machinery ; however completely this and other machines may do the work, hand 

 labour does the work quicker and bettor, almost beyond comparison. The hand 

 practice is as follows : 

 The links bent are carried to the forgo hearth to be welded, and to receive their 



