US425868A - John- duff - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. DUFF. I TRACE PASTENER.

No. 425,868. Patented Apr. 15, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOHN DUFF, OF GREENBUSH, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWARD F. WRIGHT, OF SAME PLACE.

TRACE-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 425,868, dated April 15, 1890. Application filed September 26, 1888. Serial No. 286,896. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN DUFF, of Greenbush, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inWhiffletree-Trace Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fastening devices for securing harness-traces to the whiffietrees of vehicles in such manner that the traces cannot become accidentally released from the whifiietrees; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and effective device for serving the above-named purpose. This object I attain by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are herein referred to and form part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end of a whiftletree provided with my fastener. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, on a reduced scale, of a whiffletree provided with my fasteners, with traces (shown in vertical section) attached thereto. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same; and Fig. I is an enlarged transverse section of a whiffletree provided with my fastener and having part of a trace attached thereto, the sectional line being taken through the opening in the whi'ffietree for receiving the tongue of the fastener.

One of the most frequent accidents incident to the driving of horses proceeds from a 1iability of the traces to become accidentally separated or released from the whiffletrees. This source of danger is well known and many devices have been produced to remedy this trouble, but, as I believe, none of them have been so simple as the one herein shown and described.

As represented in the drawings, A designates awhiffletree, which may be of the form shown in the drawings or of any other form that may be preferred. Said whiffletree has, near each end, a small vertical opening 1, which may be formed directly in the material of which said whiffletree is composed; or it may be formed in a metallic attachment that will be secured to the ends of said whi'ffletree.

B is my trace-fastener, which is formed of sheet spring metal, but may be made of any suitable material. Said fastener consists of a spring 2, which is made of a single piece of metal, and is secured at one end to the whiffietree. Said spring has its opposite end bent to form an offset or loop 3, which spans over the rearward portion of the trace 0. The

outer pendent portion of said loop forms a tongue ehwhich passes through the corresponding opening 1 in the whiftletree and forms a preventer, which keeps the trace from sliding sidewise from its engagement on said whiffletree. Said tongue is preferably made narrower than the body of the loop 3, and thereby shoulders 5 are formed to bear upon the upper face of the whiffletree to retain said loop at a proper height to keep it from bearing upon and chafing the upper edge of the trace.

The trace O is of an ordinary and wellknown construction, and is provided with an opening 6, which is adapted to engage on the end of the whiffletree. Said trace, separately considered, forms no part of my invention.

To engage the trace 0 on the whiffletree A, the outer end of the fastener B is raised, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, until the upper edge of the trace will be free to pass under the tongue l. Then, after said trace is fixed on the whiffietree, the resilience of the spring 2 will return the fastener to its normal shape, wherein the tongue t will pass through the opening 1 to prevent the trace from disengaging from said whiffletree. The releasement of the trace is effected by first raising the outer end of the fastener B, as above de scribed, and then slipping the trace from the whiffletree, after which the fastener will resume its normal position.

I am aware that trace-fastcners consisting of a single spring have heretofore been made with a loop having an upwardly-inclined outer end which served as a handle for raising the loop, but that construction is open to the objection that the hairs of a horses tail are liable to become switched under said inclined outer end, thereby producing fractiousness in the animal. I am also aware that trace-fasteners have heretofore been made to comprise a spring actuated loop or hook which was hinged to the whiffletree, said spring and loop being composed of separate pieces, which is both complicated and. expensive. I do not broadly claim a spring tracefastener; but

I claim as my inv'ention The combination of a whiflietree provided 5 with a vertical mortise at each end and a trace-fastener composed of a single spring bent to form a loop which will span over a trace attached to said whiffietree, the outer pendent member of said loop being provided [0 with shoulders which are fitted to bear upon the upper face of the whiflietree, and having a pendent tongue fitted to enterthe mortise in said whiflietree, so as to form a preventer against an accidental disengagement of the trace from the whiffietree, as herein specified. I 5

JOHN DUFF. Witnesses:

WM. H. Low, S. B. BREWER.

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