US820658A - Bridle attachment. - Google Patents

Description

No. 820,658. PATENTED MAY 15, 1906.

l E. B. MERRIMAN.

BRIDLE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION TILED MAB..27, 1905.

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"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD B. MERRIMAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BRIDLE ATTACHMENTl Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1906.

Appliation filed March 27, 1905. Serial No. 252,130.

vices commonly called bridles or spans which are used on yachts for the purpose of detachably connecting a block or the like to a piece of rope secured at both ends to thev boom or gaff of a sail and forming the bridle proper. Such devices are in common use for connecting the peak-halyard block to the gaff, for example', the connection being detachable in order that when the sail is furled the sail-cover may be applied without being interfered with by the presence of the peakhalyard.

The bridle attachments usually employed heretofore have been found to be unsatisfactory for one reason or another, being difficult to open and close in cold weather or in the dark, as well as liable to open accidentally, and my invention is accordingly intended to provide a strong and durable device of this character which may be quickly and easily applied to or detached from a bridle or the like at any time and under any conditions of weather and which when attached will have its parts so held in the closed position that there will be no danger of accidental disengagement of the device.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a yacht-block of a wellknown type, combined with mybridle attachment in its preferred form. Fi 2 is an edge view, partly in section, of tie parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing my attachment as applied to an eye instead of a block.

2 indicates a metallic shell containing the usual sheave 3' and provided at itsupper end with a lug 4. This lug carries a twopart -U- shaped member, one of the parts of which is herein represented as a saddle or hook-shaped member 5, the upper portion of which has the usual form and contour to receive the bridle or rope. One side 5aL .of this saddle member is made longer than the other and is mounted at its lower end on a pivot 6, which preferably passes through the lug 4 and projects from the opposite side of the samekas shown at 7, for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

8 represents a cover which is hinged to one side of the member 5, as at 9, in such manner as to be capable of swinging outward into-the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, thus o ening a side entrance to the space beneath t e saddle, which receives the rope or bridle.

.When the cover 8 is swung downward into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, it abuts against the lug 4 and closes said entrance, and suitable means are employed for holding the cover in this closed or normal position. Said means are preferably provided' by forming a curved lip 10 on the lower edgeof the cover concentric with the pivot Gand a shoulder 11 at the upper end of the block 2, behind which shoulder said lip isv adapted to pass. The cover 8 is perforated to receive snugly th projecting end of the pivot 6 or any equivalent projection which may be formed on the lug 4, andthe lip 10 terminates at such a point that when the shell 2 and the saddle member and cover are suiiiciently turned with relation to each other on the pivot 6 as a center, the shoulder 11 will be carried beyond one end of the lip 1-0, whereupon the cover 8 may be swung outward into position to permit the insertion or removal of the rope or bridle proper. When the cover is in the closed position, however, and the i block and the saddle member are in any other relative position than the one above referred to, the cover will be prevented from opening by the engagement of the lip 10 with the shoulder 11, and inasmuch as the eXtreme position which itis necessary for the parts to assume in order that the cover may be released is one which 'is exceedingly unlikely to be assumed in use and cannot be assumed when the parts are under tension the accidental release of i the bridle will be practically impossible. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings,

In Fig. 3 the saddle member 5 and its cover 8 are shown as constructed in the same manner as is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, but in this gure the block 2 is replaced by an ordi.

nary eye 12, the upper end of which is pro" vided with a lug and lip-engaging shoulder corresponding in all respects to the lug and shoulder already described. It will beunderstood that a similar lug and lip-engaging lshoulder may be formed as well on the strap of a wooden block or upon anyV other part to which it is desired to apply my attachment.

TOO

I prefer to so proportion the cover and its lip that the latter may be released from the retaining-shoulder in either one of the two eX- treme positions which the saddle member may assume With respect to the block or other part to which it is attached, one of these positions being shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

It will be observed as one result of the construction above described that the strain on the saddle member is supported in part by the cover and applied to both ends of the pivot-pin 6 by reason of the projection of the latter through the perforation in the cover, so that there is no tendency for the saddle member to cramp or bind on its pivot in use. It Will also be seen that the parts are so guided by the iat sides of the lug that loose play between them is prevented, such play eing a disadvantageous feature of a common form of bridle attachment heretofore used. The saddle member may be so applied to the lug 4, if desired, that it will swing in a plane at right angles to the plane of the sheave instead of in the latter plane, which may be advantageous in some cases. I-IoW- ever its parts may be arranged, my device can always be easily and quickly operated and is not likely to break or get out of order.

I do not consider my invention to be limited to the precise means herein described for locking the cover in its closed position or to the specific construction and arrangement of the various parts of my device, and it Will be evident that my invention may be embodied in other devices than bridle attachments, such as various forms of hooks and the like, in case it is desired to prevent the accidental removal of such a device from the part With Which it is engaged.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a device of the character described, the combination with an attaching-lug of a saddle or hook shapedA member having its longer side pivoted thereto, the opposite side of said lug being provided With a projection, a cover hinged to said saddle member and perforated to receive said projection, and means for normally holding said cover in its closed position.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination With an attaching-lug of a U shaped member comprising tWo parts hinged together and adapted to embrace said lug at their ree ends, one of said parts being secured to the lug at one side of the same, and means for normally holding the other part against the opposite side of said lug. s

3. In a device of the character described, the combination With an attaching-lug of a U-shaped member pivoted thereto and comprisino tWo parts hinged together, one 4of said parts being movable toward the lug, and interlocking means forvnormally holding the latter part against the lug.

4. In a device of the character described,

the combination with an attaching-lug of a saddle or hook shaped member pivoted thereto and having a side-opening, and interlocking means for closing said opening When said parts are in normal relative position.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with an attaching-lug having a locking-shoulder, of a saddle or hook shaped member pivoted to said lug, and a cover hinged to said member and provided with a lip adapted to pass behind said shoulder When the parts are moved into normal position.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination With an attaching-lug of a saddle or hook shaped member pivoted thereto, the opposite side of said lug being provided With a projection, and a cover hinged to said saddle member and perforated to receive said projection, said cover and lug being provided With means adapted to interlock When the parts are in normal relative position.

7. In a device of the character described,

cover hinged to said saddle member and perforated to receive the reeend of said pin, said cover being provided with a curved lip adapted to engage said shoulder, and to pass from under the same in an abnormal relative position of said parts.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination with an attaching-lug having its opposite sides flat and parallel, of a saddle or hook shaped member pivoted to one side of said lug in contact therewith, said member having a side opening, a cover for said opening and means for locking said cover in its closed position.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination with an attaching-lug having its opposite sides flat and parallel, of a U- shaped member comprising tWo parts hinged together and adapted to embrace the flat sides of said lug at their ends, one of said parts being pivoted to one side of the lug, and means for normally holding the other part against the opposite si de of said lug.

10. In a device ofthe character described, the combination With an attaching-lug having its opposite sides flat and parallel, of a U- shaped member comprising tWo parts hinged together and adapted to embrace the flat sides of said lug at their ends, a pivot-pin eX- tending through said lug and projecting from each side of the same, one of the parts of the U-shaped member being pivoted on said pin and the other art having a perforation in its free end, andp interlocking means for normally holding the latter part of said member against the lug, With the pivot-pin passing through said perforation.

IOO

IIO

'11. In a device of the character described, the combination With an attaching-lug having its opposite sides flat and parallel7 of a pin passing through said lug and projecting from each side of the same, a saddle or hook shaped member pivoted on one end of said pin, and a cover hinged to said saddle member and perforated to receive the other end of said pin, said cover and lug being provided With means arranged to interlock When the 1o parts are in normal relative position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22d day of March, 1905.

EDWARD B. MERRIMAN.

Witnesses: v

E. D. OHADWTGK, JosEPHINE H. RYAN.

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