US 12,655,887 B2Granted

Chain

AssigneeJ.D. Theile GmbH & Co. KG

InventorsJörg Wirtz, Bernd Müer

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Abstract

A chain having a horizontal chain link and a vertical chain link linked in the horizontal chain link. The chain links each having two legs and two opposite bows connecting the legs to one another, such that the links each form self-contained courses. The horizontal link has a functional section on at least one bow designed, on the one hand, in a blocking plane such that the functional section cannot plunge through the vertical link arranged in a first orientation relative to the horizontal link, and, on the other hand, with a width that is narrower than the inner width of the vertical link such that that functional section can plunge through the vertical link arranged in a second orientation relative to the horizontal link. The horizontal link has an inner support section in the inward-facing apex bow region and, on the functional section, provides an outer support path leading around the course of the horizontal link for supporting the vertical link.

A chain comprising:

a horizontal chain link and a vertical chain link linked in the horizontal chain link, the chain links each having two legs and two opposite bows connecting the legs to one another, such that the chain links each form self-contained courses, wherein the horizontal chain link has a functional section on at least one bow, wherein the functional section is configured in a blocking plane such that the functional section cannot plunge through the vertical chain link in a kink arrangement arranged in a first orientation relative to the horizontal chain link, and wherein the functional section has a width that is narrower than an inner width of the vertical chain link such that that functional section can plunge through the vertical chain link arranged in a second orientation relative to the horizontal chain link into a pulling arrangement,
wherein the horizontal chain link has an inner support section in an inward-facing apex region of each bow and, on the functional section, the horizontal chain link provides an outer support path leading around the course of the horizontal chain link for supporting the vertical chain link, along which support path the vertical chain link can slide at least in sections from the kink arrangement by rotating around the course of the horizontal chain link into the pulling arrangement, and which support path is inclined in a support path direction by at least 90°+arctan (μ) in relation to a leg longitudinal extension direction starting from the functional section, where μ is the coefficient of friction of the two chain links in an area of the support path, such that the vertical chain link independently rotates away from the kink arrangement around the horizontal chain link so that the vertical chain link aligns with a direction of the inner width of the vertical chain link parallel to a direction of the width of the functional section, whereby the functional section plunges through the vertical chain link and the vertical chain link reaches the pulling arrangement.

Abstract

Claims13