US2183665A

US2183665A - Peepers

Info

Publication number: US2183665A
Application number: US262035A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas D Blue
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1939-03-15
Filing date: 1939-03-15
Publication date: 1939-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 1956-12-19

Description

Dec. 19, 1939. T. D. BLUE 2,183,655

PEEPER Filed Mardh 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' LINEOF 51cm" Dec. 19, 1939. 11 E 2,183,665

PEEPER Filed March 15, 19:59 Z SheetS-Sheet 2 Fl c1. 7.

lnven for Patented Dec. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PEEPERS Thomas D. Blue, Charlottesville, Va.

Application March 15, 1939, Serial No. 262,035

17 Claims.

My invention relates to the art of handling race horses at the rack track, and has among its objects and advantages the provision of improved peepers.

An object of my invention is to provide peepers designedto eifectively control the vision of race horses while going to the barrier and preparatory to starting in the race in which novel means are incorporated to facilitate removal of the peepers at the will of the rider in addition tobeing controllable by the rider to vary the amount of vision of one or both eyes of the horse.

More specifically, my peepers are in the nature of two conically shaped members slabbed off 7 obliquely at their apexes to provide sight openings. The bases of the conically shaped members are of sufficient diameters to fit comfortably over the eyes of the horse, and the bases terminate in flanges which lie underneath a hood strapped to the horses head with the members extending through openings in the hood to be supported thereby. I prefer to make the conically shaped members of flexible material such as rubber, and the tips of the members are connected with draw strings which permit the tips to be drawn partly or completely across the sight openings for controlling the vision of the horse. The flanges may be formed integrally with the conically shaped members so as to be yieldable when jerked by the pull strings to facilitate removal of the peepers for running purposes.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the peeper unit for association with the left eye of the horse, showing the peeper fully opened;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the peeper unit for association with the right eye, illustrating the manner in which the sight opening may be partly closed;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but illustrating the sight opening completely closed;

Figure 4 is a view taken from the position indicated by line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a face view of the horse illustrating the peepers in applied positions;

Figure 6 is a side view;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 with the peepers removed; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of thepeepers jerked away from the mounting hood of Figure 7.

In the embodiment selected to illustrate my invention, I make use of peeper units I and I2 which are identical in construction and operation with the exception that unit I0 is designed for association with the left eye and unit I2 is designed for the right eye. Each unit comprises a conically shaped body M of hollow formation and cut off angularly at I6 to provide a sight opening I8. The line of vision is indicated by the line and the bases of the members terminate in enlargements 22 flanged at 24, with the flanges arranged at an angle to the line of vision. Enlargements 22 and the flanges 24 are of such diameters as to fit comfortably over the eyes of the horse, with the members I4 projecting forwardly, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Referring to Figures 5, 6 and '7, I provide a hood 26 which is provided with relatively large openings 28 for the eyes 30 of the horse. The hood may be provided with straps 32 for connecting the ends of the hood upon the head 34 of the horse. The hood may be arranged underneath the bridle 36. Openings 28 are of such diameters as to fit snugly about the enlargements 22 adjacent the flanges 24, with the flanges positioned underneath the hood, as at 38 in Figures 5 and 6. Thus the units It] and I2 are effectively restrained from lateral displacement and the flanges 24 are pulled snugly against the corresponding face margins of the horse. Bodies l4 and their associated flanges 24 are sufficiently rigid to maintain proper form but the enlargements 22 and their flanges 24 will yield so as to conform to the contour of the horses head when drawn thereagainst through the medium of the hood 26. I

Tothe tips 40 of the members I4 I connect pull strings 42 which are connected with loops 44 fashioned at the ends of the pull strap 46 which is of such length as to permit the rider to grasp the same, as illustrated in Figure 6. Enlargements 22 are provided with bars 48 extending to their respective loops 44. Bars 48 may comprise rubber vulcanized or otherwise attached to the enlargements 22. Figure 1 illustrates the tip 40 fully opened at which time the string 42 connected therewith is under slight tension with one end of the loop 44 pulled against the bar 48. Figure 3 illustrates the tip 40 folded back for completely closing the sight opening I8, at which time the other end of the loop is in engagement with the bar 48. Thus the bars 48 function to determine the extreme limits in both directions to which the tips or flaps 40 may be positioned. Intermediate positions are-determined entirely by the will of the rider. Strings 42 are of relatively small diameters so as not to impair the vision.

In operation, the peepers are applied before the horse is taken to the barrier. When applied, the peepers function to effectively control the vision so that the horse can be kept under full control. The sight openings may be varied in any desirable degree, and the peepers may be individually or simultaneously opened and closed through manipulation of the strap 46. Members l4 bring the sight openings l8 somewhat in advance of the eyes of the horse so that the animals attention is directed entirely to the sight openings. In handling extremely fractious animals, both peepers may be completely closed andthe selective closing nature of the device permits the rider to selectively close the peepers in accordance with conditions to one side or the other of the horse which should be masked from view. Both units are easily and quickly removed by a jerk on the strap 46, which jerk will buckle the flanged margins of the enlargements 22 and permit their withdrawal through the openings in the hood. When the peepers are removed, the horse is given the same chance with other horses to make an even break.

Having thus described certain embodiments of my invention in detail, it is, of course, understood that I do not desire to limit the scope thereof to the exact details set forth except insofar as those details may be defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with the eyes of the animal, and means for closing the sight tubes.

2. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with the eyes of the animal, and means for closing the sight tubes in difierent degrees.

3. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with the eyes of the animal, and means for selectively closing one or both the sight tubes.

4. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with the eyes of the animal, the outer ends of the sight tubes being provided with closure flaps, and manually controlled means connected with the flaps for closing the same.

5. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with the eyes of the animal, the sight tubes being provided with flexible closure flaps, and means for flexing the closure flaps to closed positions.

6. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned .with the eyes of the animal, the sight tubes being provided with flexible closure flaps, and means for flexing the closure flaps to closed positions, said means being operable to selectively close either or both the closure flaps in varying degrees.

'7. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, sight tubes carried by the mount axially aligned with' the eyes of the animal, the sight tubes being detachably related to said hood, to be removed by exerting a pull thereon, and a pull means connected with the sight tubes.

8. Animal blinkers comprising a mount for connection with the head of the animal, blinker elements removably related to the mount, to be removed by exerting a pull thereon, and a pull means connected with the blinker elements.

9. A blinder means for race horses comprising a head mount, blinder elements detachably connected with said head mount, to be removed by exerting a pull thereon, and a pull means connected with the blinder elements within the reach of a rider on the horse for pulling the blinder elements from the head mount.

10. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight members extending through the eye openings, and flangelike means on said members lying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with the eyes of the horse, said flange-like elements being flexible to conform to the contour of the head.

11. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight members extending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said members lying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with the eyes of the horse, said flange-like elements being flexible to conform to the contour of the head, and closure means for the tube-like sight members.

12. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight members extending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said members lying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation With the eyes of the horse, said flange-like elements being flexible to conform to the contour of the head, flexible flaps at the outer ends of the tubelike sight members for closing the latter, and means connected with the flexible flaps for closing the latter.

l3. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight members extending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said members lying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with the eyes of the horse, the tube-like sight members being flexible and having angular outer ends to provide closure flaps, and pull means connected with the flaps for flexing the latter over the outer ends of the tube-like sight members.

14. Blinkers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, tube-like sight members extending through the eye openings, flange-like means on said members lying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with the eyes of the horse, the tube-like sight members being flexible and having angular outer ends to provide closure flaps, pull means connected with the flaps for flexing the latter over the outer ends of the tube-like sight members, said flangelike means being flexible, and said pull means being within reach of a rider on the horse to permit the tube-like sight members to be pulled from their seats.

15. Peepers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, sight tubes extending through the eye openings, the sight tubes being tapered and having their bases terminating in flanges lying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with the eyes of the animal, said flanges being flexible to conform to the contour of the head, the outer ends of the sight tubes terminating in flexible flaps, and pull means for flexing the flaps across the ends of the tubes.

16. Peepers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, sight tubes extending through the eye openings, the sight tubes being tapered and having their bases terminating in flanges lying underneath the hood to be supported ,1 in sighting relation with the eyes of the animal,

means for limiting the action of the pull means.

1'7. Peepers for race horses comprising a hood for connection with the head of the horse and having eye openings, sight tubes extending through the eye openings, the sight tubes being tapered and having their bases terminating in flanges lying underneath the hood to be supported in sighting relation with the eyes of the animal, said flanges being flexible to conform to the contour of the head, the outer ends of the sight tubes terminating in flexible flaps, pull means for flexing the flaps across the ends of the tubes, means for limiting the action of the pull means, said pull means being-within reach of a rider on the horse, and said flanges being adapted to be flexed through the eye openings for removing the sight tubes by exerting a predetermined pull on said pull means.

THOMAS D. BLUE.