US565431A - Curb-bit - Google Patents

Description

(No .l lodel.)

E. A. CLARK.

CURB BIT.

No. 565,431. Patented Aug. 11, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT omen FREDERIC A. CLARK, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

CURB-BIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,431, dated August 11, 1896.

Application filed December 23, 1895. Serial No. 573,014. [No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, FREDERIG A. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Curb-Bits and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improved construction of that class of bridle-bits consistin g of curved cheek-pieces united by a mouthpiece having a forward-projecting tongue or loop in the center thereof. The upper ends of the cheek-pieces are united by a strap which passes over the nose of the horse and the lower ends are connected with the overdraw-check, and a pull on the check turns the mouthpiece in the mouthand forces the tongue or loop up against the roof of the mouth, Where the nerve of control is said to be located. As these bits have heretofore been constructed the tongue or loop has been of uniform size in all bits, and as there is a considerable variation in the roof of the mouth in different horses this variety of bit could not be used on all horses because the end of the tongue would not always reach the roof of the mouth or exert on it the proper pressure. Again, the hard-metal tongue pressing against the roof of the mouth was liable to injure a horse who had an obstinate and determined temper if he did not succumb when he felt the pressure of the bit.

The object of my invention is to apply a removable pad at the end of the tongue or loop, which can be shaped to conformto the roof of the mouth and which will give a less harsh bearing, and I accomplish this object by connecting the cheek-pieces by a crosspiece forward of the mouthpiece, having a central loop which passes up through the loop of the mouthpiece and holds in place a pad. The surface of the tongue or loop of the mouthpiece is covered with some suitable material to form a bearing for the pad to rest on.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents my improved bit in place, the horses head' being shown in dotted lines; and Fig. 2 is a central section through the bit.

0 O are the curved cheek-pieces of the bit, having at each end the rings 0., The cheekpieces are connected by means of a mouthpiece having a forward-projecting loop D. The upper ends of the cheek-pieces are connected by a nose-strap F and their lower ends are secured to the check-straps B, these in turn being connected to the overdraw-checl: A. These parts are all of ordinary and wellknown construction and need no further explanation.

According to my improvement, the forward end of the loop D is covered with gutta-percha or some other suitable material (indicated at I) to form a bearing for the pad E, which rests on it and projects forward of the loop D. The pad is held in place by means of the cross-bar G, which connects the cheek-pieces forward of the mouthpiece and beneath the loop D, and the cross-bar is provided with a central loop g, which projects up through the loop D and through the covering thereof and passes over the top of the pad.

The forward end of the pad may be of any desired size and shape to fit the roof of the mouth, according as the arch of the mouth is high or low, and if it is desired to change the pad it can be pulled out and another substituted. Thus various pads may be tested on the same horse until one is found which fits exactly.

A bit constructed as I have described is a more humane bit than the old form because it provides an easierbearing and by its use the curb can be exactly fitted to any horse.

The cross-bar G, in addition to holding the pad E in place, stiffens and strengthens the bit.

I claim- The herein-described curb-bit consisting of curved cheek-pieces connected by a mouthpiece having a forward-projecting loop D in the center thereof, a covering for said loop composed of gutta-percha or other suitable material, a cross-bar connecting said cheekpieces in front of said mouthpiece and having a loop g projecting up through said loop D and a pad held in place by said loop 9.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

FREDERIO A. CLARK.

WVitnesses:

S. W. BATES, E. DUDLEY FREEMAN.

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