Abstract:
A chin chain for bits/bridles used in equestrian sports (e.g. curb bits) has a first chain element and a second chain element. The first element has members formed of loops that are twisted in one direction, and the second element has members formed of loops that are twisted in the opposite direction. The first element and the second element are linked by at least one connecting ring and are capable of being connected to the bridle.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application is a continuation of PCT patent application Ser. No. PCT/EP2004/002418, filed Mar. 9, 2004 claiming priority of the German Patent Application Serial No. 103 16 525.8, filed Apr. 10, 2003, incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The field relates to chin chains for horses.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     A bridle, such as a curb bridle, makes it possible for the advanced rider to give finer assistance to a suitably trained horse. In the bridle of trained dressage horses, the curb bit usually consists of two bits so that the rider needs to handle two pairs of reins at the same time. The chin chains usually used today, for example, in a curb bridle, consist of a plurality of oval rings which taper towards the ends and nestle into one another. A small, round ring located at the centre of the chin chain, called a lip strap ring, was historically used to buckle on the so-called lip strap which was intended to prevent any slippage if a chin chain was not of suitable length (this is almost of no importance today). The chin chain which is always to be turned out to the right is suspended in the adjacent chin chain hooks from above and specifically from inside on the right side and from outside on the left side. Its correct bending or flexibility has a substantial influence on a good bridle and action.  
         [0004]     The chin chains usually used today for curb bits have the disadvantage that the members twist easily so that individual members are positioned upright and press onto the lips of the horse if they have not been turned outwards very carefully each time before putting on.  
         [0005]     The German Federal Patent 361479 discloses a chin chain for curb bits where each member is provided with an eye through which the neighbouring member can be inserted so that the members cannot twist. In addition, this patent specification discloses the design of chin chain such that every two neighbouring members are rigidly connected one to the other instead of in an articulated fashion.  
         [0006]     Chin chains consisting only of members or chain elements which can be turned out to the right, i.e., chin chains whose linkage of the individual members is in the same direction over the entire length of the chain, effect a nonuniform pull on the two sides of the curb bit and the pull has the effect that the linkage of the individual members acting in the same direction has a lever effect on the chin chain hooks located to the right and left of the horse&#39;s mouth with the effect that in general the left chin chain hook is pulled away from the mouth and the right chin chain hook is pulled towards the mouth As a result of this different action of forces on the two hooks or corners of the mouth (outward on the left, inward on the right), on the one hand a different lever effect is achieved on the curb bit in the horse&#39;s mouth More pressure is exerted on the tooth float blade and on the lip on the right than on the left. At the same time, attention should be paid to the effects on the horse&#39;s mouth or the corner of the mouth which are produced by the pull inward onto the right chin chain hook. This can frequently be observed as a lip which droops on one side on the right side of the horse&#39;s mouth. In addition, this frequently results in injuries to the corner of the mouth as far as tongue defects, such as a pushing out of the tongue for example.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     According to an exemplary embodiment, a chin chain comprising a first chain element and a second chain element is provided. The first chain element comprises at least one first member and the second chain element comprises at least one second member. A first area of the at least one first member is twisted in a first direction from a first plane of the at least one first member. A second area of the at least one second member is twisted in a second direction from a second plane of the at least one second member. The first direction is opposite from the second direction.  
         [0008]     A chin chain may be provided which has a first chin chain element which is to be turned out to the right and it has a second chin chain element which is to be turned out to the left. A chin chain may have a first and a second chain element wherein the chain members are respectively oppositely directed in the first and the second chain element. In this way, a force which is exerted on the chin chain is uniformly guided onto the left and right side of the curb bit. Thus, a different one-sided lever effect, namely increased pressure towards the right on the curb bit is eliminated. In addition, the pull inward onto the right chin chain hook is thereby compensated or eliminated. Thus, the chin chain may act advantageously against a lip to avoiding drooping on one side, injuries to the corner of the mouth and tongue defects. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     Some examples are illustrated in the drawings. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings and explained in detail in the detailed description.  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a three-dimensional view of an exemplary embodiment of a chin chain.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a plan view of a member of a first chain element.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  shows a plan view of a member of a second chain element.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  shows a side view of the member from  FIG. 2 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  shows a side view of the member from  FIG. 3 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  shows a three-dimensional view of another example of a chin chain. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]     The drawings and this detailed description provide some example of the present invention, which should not be used to limit the scope of the claims that issue.  
         [0017]      FIG. 1  shows a three-dimensional view of one example of a chin chain for a curb bit. The chin chain shown in  FIG. 1  comprises a first chain element  2  and a second chain element  4 . The first chain element  2  comprises a plurality of first members  6 . The second chain element  4  comprises a plurality of second members  8 . Each of the members  6 , 8  may be a link in the elements  2 , 4  of the chin chain. The first members  6  of the first chain element  2  are linked to the right, i.e. turning out to the right-hand direction, and the second members  8  of the second chain element  4  are linked to the left, i.e., turning out to the left-hand direction. In other words, the first members  6  of the first chain element  2  are configured such that they have an area which is twisted out from a plane of the member. Likewise, the members  8  of the second chain element are configured such that they have an area which is twisted out from the plane of the respective member. The twisting of the members  8  of the second chain element  4  is oppositely directed to the twisting of the members  6  of the first chain element  2 .  
         [0018]     The reference number  10  designates a mid-point line of symmetry of the chin chain. If the left part of the chin chain comprising the first chain element  2  is considered, this left part of the chin chain exactly corresponds to a left part of a traditional chin chain. In contrast to the traditional chin chain; however, the right part, i.e. the part to the right of the mid-point line  10  is configured with a linkage in the opposite direction of linkage. Thus, the area to the left of the line of symmetry  10  has a rightwardly out-turning linkage whereas the area to the right of the line of symmetry  10  has a leftwardly out-turning linkage.  
         [0019]     In the area encompassing the mid-point line  10  are a pair of connecting members  12  to connect the first chain element  2  to the second chain element  4 . Members  14 , 16  may be suspended in a curb bit and are provided at the ends of the first chain element  2  and the second chain element  4 , respectively. For example, a pair of links are connected one to the other and to the first and second chain elements  2 , 4 .  
         [0020]     It can also be deduced from  FIG. 1  that the members  6  and  8  are each linked such that in the first chain element  2  and the second chain element  4  there are respectively areas in which three neighbouring members are suspended through each of the other members  6 , 8 . This type of linkage is now described further with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , for example.  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  shows a three-dimensional plan view of a first member  20  of the first chain element  2  and  FIG. 3  shows a three-dimensional plan view of a member  30  of the second chain element  4 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a portion of three neighbouring members  22 ,  24  and  26  are suspended in and pass through the illustrated member  20 . The members  22  and  24  extend to the right and the member  26  extends to the left. The member  22  is suspended in the member  20  such that an end area  28  which can be provided with a thickening comes to rest directly on an end area  29  of the member  20  under loading. The member  24  is likewise suspended in the member  28 . When the members  24  and  26  are under load, an area  25  of the member  26  which is configured as an end area and may be thickend, rests on an end area  23  of the member  24  which likewise may have a localized thickening. The member  22  is suspended in the member  20  such that the upper area of the member  22  goes over the member  20  whereas the lower area of the member  22  goes over the member  20  whilst the lower area of the member  22  passes through under the member  20 . The member  24  is thus suspended in the member  20  and the member  26  such that an upper area of the member  24  goes over the member  20 , then goes over the member  26  and then the lower area of the member  24  passes through under the member  25  and under the member  20 . The member  26  is thus suspended in the members  20  and  24  so that the upper area passes through under the member  20 , passes through under the member  24  and then lies in the lower area above the member  24  and in its lower area over the member  20 .  
         [0022]     In  FIG. 3 , three members  32 ,  34  and  36  are suspended in the member  30 . The member  32  is suspended in the member  30  such that in the upper area it runs through under the member  30  in the perspective in  FIG. 3  but in the lower area runs over the member  30 . The member  34  and the member  36  are thus linked to the chain  30  so that the member  36  is also suspended in the member  34  or the member  34  is suspended in the member  36 . The direction in which the members  34  and  36  are suspended in the member  30  can be deduced from  FIG. 3 . According to  FIG. 3 , the member  36  is suspended such that in its upper area it runs over the member  30  and over the member  34  but in its lower area runs under the members  34  and  30 . The member  34  is linked to the members  30  and  36  so that in the perspective of  FIG. 3 , in its upper area it runs under the member  30  and the member  36  but in its lower area however runs over the member  36  and the member  30 . The members  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36  may be provided with thickenings at their contact surfaces, which may be used to increase the strength and resistance to wear, for example. The members  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36  are depicted as ovals in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ; however, the members may be oval, round, ellipsoidal or any other shape suitable for linking one to the other in the manner shown. Such thickenings may originate from welded seams or brazed joints or by the process used to forge the links, for example.  
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows a side view of the member  20  of  FIG. 2  that is rotated ninety degrees from the orientation shown in  FIG. 2 . The member  20  has a twist to the left, which is not apparent in  FIG. 2 . This is indicated by the directional arrow  40 .  
         [0024]     A flat link may be formed that is not twisted. Then, the flat link may be twisted either to the left or the right to form a member  20 ,  30 . A flat link has a plane that passes through the loop of material forming the link. A member  20 ,  30  is formed by twisting the link such that an area of the link is turned out from this plane. A member  20  may be used for the first chain element  2 , such that in the side view a central area  42  runs from bottom left to top right, i.e. is linked to the right. In this position the member  20  in the first chain element  2  is linked to the other chain members as shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  shows a one-dimensional side view of the chain element  30  from  FIG. 3 . As shown by the directional arrow  44 , the member  30  is the opposite direction from member  20 . This means that in the side view shown in  FIG. 5 a  front middle area runs from top left to bottom right. A comparison of the two types of members  20 ,  30  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  is useful to illustrate the difference between the present invention and a commercially available chin chain. The front middle area  42  of member  20  has a positive gradient compared to the negative gradient of the front middle area  46  of member  30 . The members  20 ,  30  may be similarly linked but have an opposite twist direction in the two chain elements  2  and  4 .  
         [0026]     A chin chain according to the drawings advantageously provides an equal-sided action of force on the two hooks or corners of the mouth. An identical lever effect of the curb bits in the horse&#39;s mouth is thereby achieved so that the pressure on the tooth float blade and the lip on the right is the same as the pressure on the tooth float blade or the lip on the left. In addition, when the chin chain is under load, the load is uniformly diverted to both sides. Advantageously, this arrangement avoid discomfort and damage to the horse, such as a lip which droops on one side, injuries to the corner of the mouth and tongue defects.  
         [0027]     The chin chain shown in FIGS.  1  to  5  is advantageously used in conjunction with a commercially available rubber underlay which is also used with a traditional chin chain. Advantageously in conjunction with the rubber underlayer, any twisting of the individual chain members is prevented and thus, any injury to the horse caused by twisting of the individual chain members is prevented.  
         [0028]      FIG. 6  shows a three-dimensional view of another example of a chin chain that may be used in a bridle, such as a curb bridle, for example. The opposite twisting of the chain elements of the left chain element and the right chain is illustrated. The chin chain described and shown in the drawings may be used for bridles; for dressage horses or for draught horses that pull a cart.  
         [0029]     The first members and the second members may be made of a brass, a copper, a stainless steel or an iron, for example. Also, combinations of these materials and other materials may be used to form the members. For example, the members may be chromed, plated or otherwise coated with a surface layer that is different than the core of the members. This surface layer may be applied merely for aesthetic reasons or may be used to reduce wear or to resist oxidation, discoloration or corrosion.