LU86222A1 - COMPOSITE TRIM FOR HORSE SHOE - Google Patents

Description

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The present invention relates to equestrian equipment, in the general sense, and it relates, more particularly, to materials intended to equip horse hooves.

Domestication has led horses to leave their natural environment and to walk on increasingly hard soils, often made up of artificial coverings made of stone, agglomerates or, even, coated materials. In another field, the large-scale organization of trotting speed races or obstacles requires hiring young horses to which very significant physical efforts are required.

These modern forms of exploitation impose high constraints on horses' hooves and are responsible for deterioration of the horn, inflammatory diseases, sagging, joint disorders, etc.

To remedy some of these drawbacks, it has been known for a long time to adorn the hooves and to equip them with irons intended to represent wearing parts, but also armatures holding the hooves against the risks of bursting. By iron is meant the generic term including the making of such equipment in metal, but also in plastic.

Although providing a first solution to the general problem posed, such equipment is not satisfactory because it does not give a good grip on the ground and, above all, does not contribute, quite the contrary, to filter or absorb the resulting shocks. the impact of the hoof on the ground.

These drawbacks are notorious for horses used for draft, walking, racing and, even more, for show jumping.

In an attempt to remedy this drawback, 30 |

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2 * · 'to equip horse hooves with linings designed to assume, in addition to the usual functions, a damping function.

Among the numerous solutions proposed, it is worth mentioning, more particularly, French application 82-21 963 recommending a shoe or the like comprising a frame and two layers of deformable material arranged on either side of the frame. These layers delimit between them a chamber which can be inflated by means of a valve accessible from the periphery of the pad. The fixing of such a pad is ensured by means of three screws screwed into threads presented by the ordinary shoe equipping the horse's hoof.

If such a solution can be considered as providing a new teaching compared to previous knowledge, 15 it has been found, in practice, that such a skate did not offer sufficient mechanical strength. In addition, it also turned out that the combination of iron and skate represented a cumbersome solution, having a detrimental effect on the behavior of the horse.

Furthermore, such a solution does not appear to be very practical, because of the difficulty of adapting such skates to the plane conformation of each shoe. Experiments have shown that equipping the four hoofs of a horse requires considerable time and can only be carried out by a qualified marshal whose intervention significantly increases the cost. of such equipment.

It also turned out that such a solution was unthinkable for equipping racehorses, because of the specific nature of this application and the penalizing load represented by the four relatively large masses attached to the base of the hooves of horses whose performance is altered or reduced.

The object of the invention is to remedy the above drawbacks, by proposing a new composite lining, particularly designed to be light, of an acceptable cost price, easy to adapt and able to assume, in addition to the traditional function. »3 hoof reinforcement, anti-slip and shock absorption.

To achieve the above objects, the object of the invention is characterized in that the lining comprises: 3 - an iron made of a light material, cold forged and forming on its outer face bosses at the center of which are formed holes passing through the iron for the passage of nails, - and a layer of wear material and cushioning 10 overmolded on the outer face to a thickness substantially equal to the height of the bosses which it coats.

Various other characteristics will emerge from the description given below with reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of non-limiting examples, embodiments of the subject of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partially broken away, of the object of the invention.

Figs. 2 to 4 are cross sections, taken on a larger scale, along lines II-II to IV-IV of FIG. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan view, partially broken away, illustrating an alternative embodiment of the object of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a cross section taken, on a larger scale, along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

The composite lining for a horse hoof according to the invention comprises an iron 1 of planar shape and structure, similar to traditional irons. The iron 1 is therefore formed from a blade curved in its plane, so as to comprise two branches 2 ending in two heels 3 and connected to each other by a central part 4. The iron 1 is produced by molding or casting , in any light material that can be cold forged, but capable of having sufficient mechanical resistance to assume a reinforcing function against the risk of the shoe bursting. In general and preferably, the iron I is made of a light alloy cast in a mold, according to the usual foundry technique.

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According to the invention, the iron 1 comprises, projecting relative to its so-called inner face and in line with the outer edge of the central part 4, at least one pinch 5 representing, as is known, an anti-stop -lipping in the antero-posterior direction 5 with respect to the horse's hoof. This structural characteristic has the practical advantage of facilitating adaptation operations, given that the personnel responsible for installing such an iron is no longer required to bring forging from an ordinary metallic iron one or several clips 5 having to be adjusted in height, thickness, or even inclination.

The technique of production by casting or molding is also used according to the invention so that the iron has the characteristic of comprising, projecting from its so-called external face 6, bosses 7 of any suitable shape. Each boss, of substantially conical or truncated pyramidal external shape, defines a through hole 8 reserved for the passage of a traditional fixing nail or the like. The bosses 7 are formed, according to a conventional distribution on each of the branches 2 and the through holes 8 offer a complementary conformation, more particularly by the truncated pyramidal head of the nails generally used for this purpose. Fig. 2 shows that each hole 8 may comprise, over the major part of the height of the boss 7, a seat 9 which at least partially fits the head of a nail, such a seat being extended by a passage 10 having a cross section substantially constant dirty transver-25. The holes 8 also came from molding or casting.

The embodiment adopted also makes it possible, advantageously, to bring, on the outer face 6, stiffening ribs 11 judiciously distributed to improve the characteristic of mechanical resistance of the iron to torsion (FIGS. 1 and 3). . The ribs 11 mainly comprise a longitudinal rib 12 successively connecting the different bosses and transverse ribs 13 whose position given in FIG. 1 is "provided for information only.

35 The iron thus produced is completed by a layer 14 of

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'' 5 wear and damping material overmolded on the outer face 6 of the iron. The layer 14 is preferably made of hard rubber, known in the manufacture of such a product, so as to have sufficient resistance to tearing and abrasion. The layer 5 14 is overmolded on the outer face 6 to coat the bosses 7, as well as the ribs 11 over a thickness which is at least equal to the height of the bosses 7, as shown in FIG. 2.

Overmolding can be carried out in various ways known in the art and, in particular, by providing, where appropriate, for involving a step or phase of sanding or stripping of the outer face 6 understood in the general sense, that is to say that is to say including the corresponding surfaces possibly transverse or of different orientation of the bosses 7 and of the ribs 11. The face thus treated is then subjected to an operation of adhesion, consis-15 as much to coat or to project a product of attachment and of intimate bond compatible with the material constituting the layer 14. The iron 1 is then placed in a mold brought to also contain the material constituting the layer 14 which is then formed, vulcanized or even optionally polymerized, when it acts of a so-called plastic material.

The process for forming by molding layer 14 is, of course, specific to the nature of the material used and does not involve any inventive step in this sense, since such a process is available to the person skilled in the art. job.

The composite lining thus obtained is light, easily cold conformable for adaptation in plan to the shape of the shoe and quickly adaptable, since its fixing, according to the traditional method, involves the clamp (s) 5, as well as placing nails through the holes 8.

30 Like the traditional irons, the composite lining provides an anti-burst hoof reinforcement function, as well as a wear and damping function jointly assumed by the bosses 7 responsible for holding the nails and by layer 14 which provides a particularly effective damping, anti-slip and hooking effect on hard, stony or

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Ί -. 6 base of agglomerated or coated materials.

According to a development, illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 4, the shoe 1 is produced by molding or casting, so as to further comprise, for example, three bosses 15 respectively provided in the central part 4 and near the heels 3. Each boss 15 contains, as insert, a ring 16 which has a through thread 17. The thread 17 thus opens onto the inner face 18 of the iron, as well as at the top of the bosses. The ring 16 is immobilized in rotation by any suitable means forming part of the 10 technique of inclusion, insertion and overmolding, whether it is a molding or casting technique. One or more shoulders, as well as a knurling or a notching, provided at the outer periphery of the ring 16, make it possible to assume an angular and axial immobilizing function.

15 The threaded rings 16 are advantageously provided from the outset, so as to allow, if necessary, the fixing of studs or, again, of a pad or an inflatable sole, for example of the type described in French application 82-21 963 and capable of assuming a function of damping, or even restitution of partial energy, of protection or, again, of orthopedics.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, the iron 1 is constituted by a blade of constant section. Fig. 5 shows an alternative embodiment according to which the branches 2 each comprise, between the heels 3 and the central part 4, longi-tudinal edges 19 and 20 which are hollowed out or indented with respect to the constant profile shown diagrammatically in phantom. The iron thus produced is, as before, associated with the layer 14 of wear and damping material which is overmolded, so as to have in plan a constant width, for example equal to that of the central part 4 or 30 heels 3. The material 14 is therefore formed so as to fill the recesses or the notches of the longitudinal edges 19 and 20, as shown in FIG. 6, in order to reconstitute a composite lining of constant width, like that of the example according to FIG. 1.

The conformation of the iron according to figs. 5 and 6 makes it possible to lighten the lining, but also to offer a possibility * »7 of adapting this lining to the horse's hooves by cutting the lateral masses 14a, at least external, formed by the material 14 between the edge longitudinal exterior 19 of the branches and the periphery of constant section defined by the overmolding of the material 14.

The invention is not limited to the examples described and shown, since various modifications can be made thereto without departing from its scope.

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Claims (4)

8 t 1. Composite lining for a horse hoof of the type comprising an iron (1) forming, on its external face (6), bosses (7) in the center of which are made holes (8) reserved for the passage of nails, and a layer (14) of wear and damping material added on the outside face over a height substantially equal to that of the bosses, characterized in that: - the iron is produced by casting or molding in a light alloy forge cold , - the outer face of the iron comprises, at least, a projecting longitudinal rib (12) connecting the bosses and constituting a stiffening element. 15 2 - composite packing according to claim 1, charac terized in that the iron has bosses (15) including in insert rings (16) through threaded. 3. Composite packing according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the iron has between its heels (3) and its median part (4) two branches (2) notched at least partially along the longitudinal edges from the central part. 4. Composite packing according to claim 3, characterized in that the indented parts of the branches are at least partly filled with a filling (14a) which can be cut off, in terms of wear and damping.