GB2085272A - Safety stirrup - Google Patents

Abstract

A stirrup iron comprises separable parts 13 and 14 interconnected by a pin 15 integral with part 14 and located in a bore 16 in part 13. Part 13 has the tread 11 and part 14 the stirrup eye 12. The weight of a horse-rider's foot is normally applied in the directions X and Z. If the rider falls from the horse and tends to be dragged by a foot caught in part 13 (which is of inverted U-shape) a force will be applied in the direction Y which will deform shear ring 17 enabling pin 15 to emerge from bore 16 so that parts 13 and 14 separate, the latter remaining attached to the stirrup leather but part 13 becoming free. Shear ring 17 could be replaced by a shear pin or any other suitable shear fastening. The fit of pin 15 in bore 16 and the abutting, flat faces of parts 13 and 14 prevent relative angular movement in normal conditions of use. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Safety stirrup This invention relates to a stirrup iron which has the safety feature that the two parts from which it is constructed will separate to prevent a rider who has 'fallen off a horse being dragged by a foot caught in the stirrup.

The conventional stirrup used in horse riding comprises a stirrup iron in the form of a metal arch spanned across the bottom by a tread and having at the top of the arch a stirrup eye providing a slot through which a stirrup leather can be passed to suspend the stirrup iron from a saddle at a height convenientforthe rider.

One of the major hazards in horse riding is that in falling off the horse one of the rider's feet will pass too far through a stirrup iron and the subsequent turning of the body will cause the foot to be hooked in the stirrup so that the fallen rider is dragged along the ground if the horse does not stop, tractive forces preventing disengagement of the foot from the stirrup iron.

An object of the present invention is to obviate this danger without detriment to the normal functions of the stirrup.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a stirrup iron comprising separable parts one of which comprises the tread and the other of which comprises the stirrup eye and is located in front of the part having the tread, said parts being interconnected by a shank integral with one of said parts, penetrating the other part and held in relation to the latter by a shear fastening located in engage ment means therfor in the shank.

The shank preferably extends in a direction which is inclined downwardly and rearwardlywith respect to the stirrup iron, and is preferably integral with and extends downwardly and rearwardly with respect to the part having the stirrup eye.

The shear fastening and engagement means are preferably so located that respective flat faces of the parts transverse to the shank are in abutment and the shank is preferably a sliding fit in a bore therefor in said other part, these features severally and jointly being such that relative angular movement of the parts is prevented in a plane containing the axis of the shank. However the shank and fore may be of circular section in which case relative angular move ment of the parts about the axis of the shank may be permitted. This will provide a feature not present in a conventional stirrup iron that the rider can twist his foot, together with the part having the tread, to a comfortable or convenient position without any consequent twisting of the stirrup strap.In case this feature is not desired, however, and so that the stirrup iron of the invention is in this respect similar to a conventional, single-part stirrup iron the the shank and bore may be of similar, non-circular section, e.g. square-section, so that relative angular movement of the parts in a plane transverse to the axis of the shank is prevented.

The engagement means in the shank preferably comprises at least one recess in the shank and the shear fastening preferably comprises a shear member fitting in said recess. The recess or recesses and the shear member may take a variety of forms. For example the shear member may be a shear ring of a resilient material such as natural or synthetic rubber or an elastomeric plastics material and may engage either an annular recess in the shank or one or more peripheral flats or indentations in the shank. The cross-sectional area of the shear member which, by locating in the recess or recesses, resists separation of the parts will be determined by the desired yield characteristics, which may vary with such factors as the chosen orientation of the shank, different weights of rider or different materials for the shear member.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure2 is a side elevation of a stirrup iron in accordance with the present invention.

The stirrup iron illustrated is of metal or other strong rigid material, such as a suitable plastics material, and comprises an arch 10 spanned at its bottom by a tread 11 and having at its top a stirrup eye in the form of a slot 12, elongated parallel with the tread 11,for reception of a stirrup leather (not shown) of adjustable length whereby the stirrup iron can be suspended from a saddle.

As so far described the stirrup iron is conventional, but in accordance with the present invention the stirrup iron comprises separable parts 13 and 14 of which the part 13 comprises the arch 10 and tread 11 while the part 14 is disposed in front of the part 13 and comprises the stirrup eye 12.

The two parts are interconnected buy a pin 15 integral at one end with the part 14 and received in a bore 16 formed in the top of the arch 10 of the other part 13. If it is desired that the part 13 should be rotatable relative to the part 12 about the axis 3 of the pin 15 the latter and the bore 16, in which it is a sliding fit, are of circular section. If it is desired that the part 13 should be non-rotatable relative to the part 12 the pin 15 and the bore 16, in which the pin is a sliding fit, may be of non-circular cross-section, for example of square cross-section.The pin 15 is retained in the bore 16 by a shear ring 17 seated in an annular recess 171 in the pin, the ring 17 being of rubber or other soft material and adapted to yield to a sufficient force applied to the stirrup iron 13 in the direction of the arrow Yin Figure 2 to enable the parts 13 and 14 to separate, the pin 15 emerging from the bore 16.

It will be seen that the direction Yin which a force must be applied to separate the parts lies on the axis B of the pin 15 and is directed downwardly and rearwardly with respect to the medium plane A of the stirrup iron. When the stirrup iron is freely suspended from a stirrup leather passed through the stirrup eye 12 this median plane will be generally vertical.

In use of the stirrup iron forces applied to it by the rider's foot when mounting and riding will usually be in the direction indicated by the arrow X coinciding with the median plane A. This will be true whether the pressure of the foot is perpendiculariy downwardly or at an angle to the perpendicular provided the stretched stirrup leather remains generally parallel with the median plane A, such as when the stirrup iron and stirrup leather are pushed slightly forwardly in the approved riding position and, exceptionally, when pushed backward during jumping.It will be seen that in all of these situations the direction of application of load (arrow X) is at an angle of more than 45" to the axis B of the pin 15, and is optimally in the region of 70" or more so that the forces are transmitted between the parts 14 and 13 primarily as reactions at right-angles to the pin 15, which is of substantial diameter, creating high frictional forces which resist the tendency of the part 13 of the iron to slide along the pin so that forces acting on the shear ring 17 are slight.

The stirrup iron is, of course, pivotable about the stirrup eye 12 relative to the stretched stirrup leather but in normal riding situations the stirrup iron will never be tilted backward but only forward, for example when cantering or preparatory to jumping.

In these circumstances the stirrup iron will be subject to a load generally in the direction indicated by the arrow Z in Figure 2, this direction Z being generally vertical while the stirrup iron is tilted forwardly. It will be seen that the direction Z is approximately at right angles to the axis B of the pin 15 so that the ring 17 is subject to virtually no shear forces.

If, however, a fallen rider's foot is caught in the stirrup iron while the horse continues to move forward the stirrup leather will be stretched rearwardly and downwardly approximately in the direction Awhile the stirrup iron is maintained in an upright attitude, i.e. at an angle to the stirrup leather, by a couple transmitted through the trapped foot of the fallen rider. In these circumstances a tractive force is applied between the parts 13 and 14 of the stirrup iron substantially wholly in the direction Y.

The shear ring 17 is gauged so that under these circumstances it will fail, allowing the pin 15 to emerge from the bore 16 and the part 13 to separate from the part 15, which latter remains connected to the saddle by the stirrup leather. The release of the part 13 thus reieases the rider from the saddle so that he is no longer dragged along the ground by the moving horse.

The annular recess 171 may be repiaced by one or more indentations in the periphery of the pin 15, for example diametrically opposite flats, to reduce the resistance to shear of the ring 17, for example if the latter is of a relatively hard material. In this case portions only of the ring, and not its whole circumference, would impede retraction of the pin 15 from the bore 16. It will be apparent that the combination of the ring 17 and recess 171 could be replaced by any other known suitable shear fastening, such as a shear pin passing transversely through the part 13 and entering either a blind or a through bore (not shown) in the pin 15 transverse to its axis B.

The features (a) that the pin 15 is a sliding fit in the bore 16 and (b) that the shear member 17 and engagement means therefor 171 in the pin 16 are so located that flat faces of the parts 13 and 14 are in abutment individually and in combination ensure that there is substantially no relative angular movement of the parts 13 and 14 in the fore-and-aft direction, i.e. in the plane of the paper in Figure 2, the stirrup iron of the invention in this respect having the characteristics of a conventional stirrup iron.

Claims (14)

1. A stirrup iron comprising separable parts one of which comprises the tread and the other of which comprises the stirrup eye and is located in front of the part having the tread, said parts being interconnected by a shank integral with one of said parts, penetrating the other part and held in relation to the latter by a shear fastening located in engagement means therefor in the shank.

2. A stirrup iron as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shank extends in a direction which is inclined downwardly and rearwardlywith respect to the stirrup iron.

3. A stirrup iron as claimed in either of the preceding claims, wherein the shank is integral with and extends downwardly and rearwardly with respectto the part having the stirrup eye.

4. A stirrup iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the shear fastening and engagement means are so located that respective flat faces of the parts transverse to the shank are in abutment.

5. A stirrup iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the shank is a sliding fit in a bore therefor in said other part, the arrangement being such that with said shank in said bore relative angular movement of the parts is prevented in a plane containing the axis of the shank.

6. A stirrup iron as claimed in claim 5, wherein the shank and bore are of circular cross section.

7. A stirrup iron as claimed in claim 6, wherein relative angular movement of the parts is permitted in a plane transverse to the axis of the shank.

8. A stirrup iron as claimed in claim 5, wherein the shank and bore are of similar, non-circular cross-section so that relative angular movement of the parts in a plane transverse to the axis of the shank is prevented.

9. A stirrup iron as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said engagement means in the shank comprises at least one recess in the shank and wherein said shear fastening comprises a shear member fitting in said recess.

10. A stirrup iron as claimed in claim 9, wherein the shear member is of resilient material.

11. A stirrup iron as claimed in claim 10, wherein the shear member is of natural or synthetic rubber or an elastomeric plastics material.

12. A stirrup iron as claimed in any one of claims 9-11,wherein the shear member is a shear ring.

13. A stirrup iron as claimed in claim 12, wherein said recess is an annular recess.

14. A stirrup iron substantially as described in the Description with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.