US992026A - Hopple. - Google Patents

Description

N. MORGAN.

HOPPLE. APPLIOA'I'IOF rum: JUL! 18, 1910.

992,026 Patented May 9, 1911.

mmzvroze Ailor nqy NELSON MORGAN, OF FUNK, NEBRASKA.

HOPPLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9, 1911.

Application filed July 18, 1910. Serial No. 572,546.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it: known that I, NELSON MORGAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Funk, in the county of Phelps and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in I-Iopples, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the care of live stock and particularly to a device designed for use as a hopple wherein the workman is assisted in supporting the weight of the horses hoof while operating on it.

An object of this invention is to produce novel means for connecting the hopple to the body of the animal for the purpose of effecting the result just stated and furthermore, to produce an adjusting device in connect-ion with the supporting member whereby the said supporting member is held at different positions of adjustment.

A still further object of this invention is to produce a device in which the operator may elevate or lower a foot or release the supporting device in the event of the animal losing its equilibrium or when the operator has finished his work.

A still further object of this invention is to produce novel means for connecting the foot and leg engaging member with the sup porting device whereby the supporting device may be moved with relation to the engaging member without undue friction and without lateral pull on the said connecting member.

WVith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, in which- Figure 1 illustrates a view in elevation showing the hopple applied to a horse; Fig. 2 illustrates a perspective View of the hopple; Fig. 3 illustrates a detail view of the connection between the hoof engaging device and the supporting device; and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views.

In carrying out my invention I employ a buckle-like frame 6 having a rigid bar 7 and a bar 8 intersecting the member 7. The bar 8 is designed to engage the rope 9 which is in engagement with the sides of the frame, thereby holding the rope in an abruptly curved position in order that movement of the rope with regard to the frame will be prevented by reason of the frictional engagement of the rope with the sides of the frame and with the bar 8. In addition to the rope 9, I employ a hoof engaging member 10 which may be in the nature of a strap or other flexible device having on its ends, the connections 11, which are approximately rectangular in shape. Each connection has a bar or end 12 which has an end of the engaging member 10 connected to it and an anti-friction roller 13 mounted on a bar 14, the said anti-friction roller 13 being designed to permit the rope 9 to travel through the connecting member under the manipulation of the operator.

In arranging the hopple for use, it is preferable to attach one end of the rope to the frame (3 as shown at 15 and then to thread the said rope through the frame between the side bars and the intermediate bar 8 thereby, as stated, causing the frictional engagement of the said rope in different positions of adjustment according to the size of the animal to which it is applied. The rope is then inserted in the connections 11 as shown in Fig. 2 and the end of the rope is extended through the frame (3 in order that the said rope may be caused to travel in the said frame by a pull on the end of the rope or in the opposite direction by the action of the animal to which the hopple is applied. An operator may, on applying the hopple to the horse or other animal in the manner stated, cause the said animal to support the weight of his hoof though if the said animal loses his equilibrium, the operator may readily release the said hoof so that the animal may be prevented from falling.

As shown in the drawing, the looped portion of the rope remote from the hoof engaging member is looped around one of the animals front legs and then attached to the divided section of the frame. The rope is then passed over the animals back and the rope adjusted in the frame to efleet the frictional engagement of the rope with the frame to which reference has been made. The hoof engaging member is then applied to the hoof of the animal either at the front or rear as occasion may require and the free end of the rope is then passed through the connections 11 and through the frame 6 when the apparatus is ready for operation. While in operation, the workman holds the free end of the rope; the intermediate portion of the rope hangs over and rests on the animals back, thereby the animal is compelled to partially support his own foot and the operator may work with less difiiculty.

I claim In a hopple, the combination of a flexible member and a hoof supporting member carried thereby, of a frictional adjusting device secured to one extremity of said flexible member, said frictional adjusting device comprising an elongated frame having a longitudinal bar connecting the ends of the the point where the frictional adjusting device is secured to the flexible member.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

NELSON MORGAN.

l/Vitnesses:

P. G. FUNK, M. E. JOHNSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G.

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