US537607A

US537607A - Horse-boot

Info

Publication number: US537607A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1895-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 1912-04-16

Description

m l mem mwf, Inventor.

S. S. GREEN. HORSE BOOT.

Patented Apr. 16, 1895.

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,SWW

i By (No Model.)

Witnesses. i

STATES HORSE-BOOT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,607, dated April 163, 189 5. Application filed Tune 9.7, 1894. Serial No. 515,834. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN S. GREEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in InterferingLBoots for Trotting-Horses, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a suitable means for preventing an interfering horse from injuring itself while traveling; and the invention consists in a new and improved interfering pneumatic boot, adapted to be attached to such portions of the legs of a horse as arelikely to interfere and be hurt, as the inner side of the kneeswhile trotting or, otherwise going at a high rate of speed, and the invention will be fully and clearly hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in

. which- Figure l, represents va perspective view of a horse, showing vmy improved device as adapted for protecting the inner sides of the knees of a horse and illustrating how it is attached to a horse for that purpose. Fig. 2, represents a front view of the boot opened out. Fig. 3, is a vertical section, cutting in or about line a a, Fig. 2, showing the interior construction of the device. Figt, is an inside view, showing the position of the parts when brought together and buckled.

Referring to the drawings in detail, l represents the body of the boot. It is provided with two side extension portions or flaps, 2 and 2, One portion 2a, for instance, is provided with buckles 3, and the opposite portion is provided with a corresponding number of straps, 4, adapted to connect in the usual way with the buckles when securing the boot to a horse.

The outside of the body of the boot is preferably covered with leather (see Fig. 3,) and the inside with a thick woolen felt 6, but any suitable soft or yielding material may be used, the whole being secured together by sewing or stitching in the ordinary way.

At the lower portion of the boot is a convex pad '7, made preferably of stiff leather. On the opposite or inner side is a covering of soft iexible leather 8, secured thereto only at its edges and within or between the two is an two thicknesses of the body of the boot.

`l2, see Fig. 3, where this is shown.

india rubber bag 9, see Fig. 3, where this is shown in section. It is provided with a soft rubber tube lO, which extends up between the The objectof the tube l0, is to provide a suitable means for inating the rubber bag or pad, af-

ter which it is tied by a string or piece of tape Another object of the tube being located as it is between the cover 5 and the felt lining G, is to render that portion of 'the device still more elastic orcompressible than it would be withoutthe tube, so that a blow upon it by the foot of the animal will not be communicated to the flesh under the lining.

The rubber bag I9, is of the required form adapting it to fit nicely within its leather covering. When inflated it forms a much better pad than an ordinary cushion padbecause it adapts itself to all the inequalities of the form against which it is fitted and consequently tits more easily; furthermore a blow on any part of the stiff leather pad is equally distributed all over instead of at one point immediately below the concussion, as it would be with an ordinary cushion.

Still another advantage over the ordinary form of boot is that it avoids the objection to the ordinary boot which is occasioned by the lining of the boot becoming wet and foul as soon as it has been worn once or twice which will cause it to become as dry'and hard as the exterior and thereby render it as objectionable as would be a boot without any lining at all; but by the interposition of the pneumatic bag between the exterior and the interior, the interior can never become so dry and hard as to hurt the fiesh of the animal wearing it. It has also been found by experiment that the addition of the air-cushion renders the exterior less liable to injury by the blow and forward movement of the animals foot in traveliug, whereas, without such a cushion the exterior or cover of the pad is soon cut and torn to pieces by the blows from the hoof and the nails and iron of the shoe. The addition of the air also prevents the contact of the foot with the pad from slackening the speed of the animal as the air is compressed which permits the exterior to give to the hoof of the foot and also permits the cover to go forward with the foot to a limited extent by twisting ICO slightly around the leg which cannot be done with the ordinary pad.

As some horses travel much closer than others, it is necessary that the distance of the eX- terior or cover from the animals leg be regulated accordingly, which can be done by means of the air-cushon,but which is impossible with the ordinary pad, as all that is necessary with the air-cushion is to fill it with a greater or less amount of air, and if the amount is not graduated correctly at first it can be readily changed by intl-ating the bag or by letting out some of the air. As this change can be effected very quickly and easily by loosening the end of the tube which is used for filling the cushion, its importance becomes apparent, as it frequently happens that such a change must be made just beforethe horse entersa race, at which time everything is in ahurry and excitement and it would be impossible to stop to make elaborate preparation for the race.

At the lower end of the pad 7, is a loop 12a, through which is passed and secured in any Well knownway, a strap of some soft leather and on one end is a buckle 13 and a strap of leather 14 at the opposite end. The object` of this construction is to provide the means for fastening the device above and below the joint when used to protect the knees of a horse, asaboveset forth.

The invention is adapted to protect the portion ot' the limbs of a horse that is liable to be injured by interfering while going at a fast rate of speed.

The boot is secured to the animal, substantially as shown in Fig. l, the pad being iniiated with air, and-then applied to the parts liable to be exposed to an interference with Yeach other, and secured above and below by a suitable fastening device.

I claim as my invention- An interfering boot for horses, consisting of a body portion-provided with side-aps for securing itto the leg of the animal, a cushion upon the interior of the body, a substantially rigid convex exterior or cover secured to the lower edge of the body, a iiexible interior se cured onlyat its edges totheedgesof the ext rior, and a pneumatic bag betweenthe exterior and the interior, and a tubecommunieating therewith and extending up between the body and the cushion secured to the inside thereof, whereby the tube serves to inflate the bag and also to render the cushion and body more elastic, substantially as set forth.

STEPHEN S. GREEN.

Witnesses:

,TA-Mns `SANGSTE R, ARTHUR J. SANGSTER.