HORSE SHOE

Abstract: This invention relates to a method of increasing the wear resistance of a horse shoe made of a light, metallic material. The surface of the horse shoe intented to be in contact with the ground is provided with a wearing layer by means of laser which wearing layer comprises carbide particles. The invention also relates to horse shoes made in accordance with the method.

Description: Horse Shoe This invention relates to a method of increasing the wear resistance of a horse shoe and to a horse shoe manufactured according to the new method. Within the trotting and gallop sport the horses, as a rule, are provided with horse shoes which for reasons of weight are made of a light, metallic ma¬ terial like for instance aluminium. These aluminium shoes, however, have a very low wear resistance and therefore the horse shoes have to be exchanged with often recurrent intervals, which have resulted in that the expences for the horse shoe exchanges have been considerable . The intention with this invention is to offer a horse shoe of a light, metallic material, for instance aluminium, at least portions of the wearing surface of the horse shoe having been provided with a hard and wear resistant wearing layer. Due to that fact the shoe gets an increased wear restistance and therefore the horse owner does not need to exchange shoes on his horse so often, having the consequence that there will be a considerable reduction regarding both material ex¬ pences and labour expences . Another advantage with wear resistant horse shoes according to the invention is that these ones spare hooves and other extremities. The reason why is that often occurring shoe exchanges lead to hard wear on the hooves, and therefore the risk of hoof cracks is great. When having such problems the horse must stop competing until the hoof has grown out. Furthermore, changes in the form of the shoe, which arise quickly in conventional shoes, lead to changed hoof angles and therefore the extremities of the horse are exposed to increased risks of damages which, in its turn, leads to a reduced competing. Moreover, horse shoes being quickly worn out lead to changes of the way of the horse how to move, because the horse will tense itself during movement and therefore cannot perform maximum of its ability. Due to the fact that the horse shoe according to the invention maintains substantially the same balance and form during the period of use, the horse can train and compete under consequent conditions . This fact to¬ gether with a reduced risk of hoof damages and other damages increase the efficiency of the horse in train- ing as well as in races. The invention shall be described more closely with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of a horse shoe according to the invention, Ficr. 2 shows a cross section along the line II-II of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the invention and Fig . 4 shows a cross section along the line III-III of Fig. 3. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown there a horse shoe 1 having a U-like cross section. That means that the horse shoe has an inner projection 2 and an outer projection 3 extending continuously over the hole horse shoe. The projections 2, 3 form between them¬ selves a bowl-shaped space 4 which can take up the head of not shown nails used for fastening the shoe onto the hooves of the horse. For this purpose the horse shoe is provided with holes 5 for the nails. Owing to this space 4 there will be no wear between the head of the nail and the bed on which the horse moves. The horse shoe is made of aluminium or another light metal. These materials are very light and well suited to be used for horses within the trotting sport. The materials, however, have a very low length of life. The new and special thing with this invention is that wearing is that the wearing surface of the horse shoe, that is the part of the horse shoe that is intended to be in contact with the ground, has been made hard and wear resistant by means of carbides of for instance titanium, chromium, nickel and/or wolfram. In this con¬ nection only certain portions 6 of the wearing surface are provided with the hard wearing layer. These por- tions 6 are preferably located farthest at the front of the horse shoe and at the rear portion of each leg of the horse shoe. It is, of course, possible to provide the whole wearing surface of the horse shoe with the hard and wear resistant wearing layer, but since that is not neccessary, it is for reasons of expence the most suitable only to coat certain portion of the wearing surface. The hard and wear resistant wearing layer is formed by means of laser. In this connection the sur- face layer of the basic material of the horse shoe, that is the aluminium, is locally melted by means of the laser at the same time as a material comprising hard carbide particles of for instance titanium, chro¬ mium, nickel and/or wolfram are added to and distri- buted into the melt. An essential advantage with this method is the lack of a transition zone or a binding zone between the basic material and the surface layer. Such a zone can be a detail of weakness and result in that the surface layer may come loose when the detail is exposed to strains . When using the method according to the inven¬ tion, the basic material continuously extends right out to the surface and therefore gives a good strength of the surface layer. In the Figs. 3 and 4 there is shown a second em¬ bodiment having a different design in relation to the " first one. Thus, the legs 7, 8 of the horse shoe are connected by means of a bridge 9 which has a projection 10 extending rearwards. This projection 10 functions as a support for the rear portion of the horse hoof. In Fig. 4 there is shown a cross section of a leg of the horse shoe, having a rectangular form. Further¬ more, the horse shoe has holes 11 for those nails by which the horse shoe is fastened to the hooves of the horse. Even this horse shoe is suitable made of aluminium and has like the former one a hard and wear resistant wearing layer on its underside, that is the side that is to be in contact with the ground. This wearing layer is made of the same material and in the same way as has been described previously for the first embodiment. The wearing layer is also in this case suitably located only to certain portions 12 of the horse shoe where the wear is the greatest. These portions 12, in similarity with what has been shown in the first embodiment, are located farthest at the front of the horse shoe and at the rear portion of each leg. Moreover, the projection 10 is provided with a wearing layer at its outer edge on each side of the longitudinal centre line of the horse shoe. It has also appeared that the wear resistance of a horse shoe can be considerably increased if a horse shoe of aluminium is coated with a hard material like for instance aluminium oxide and/or carbides which ma¬ terial is harder than the basic material. Neither in this case it is necessary to coat the whole wearing surface of the horse shoe with aluminium oxide but it is sufficient only to coat the front portion of the horse shoe and the rear portion of the legs where the wear is the greatest. In the specification two different embodiments of the horse shoe have been described. The invention idea is, of course, applicable on other embodiments of horse shoes, for instance horse shoes having semi- ircular cross section.

Claims: Claims 1. A method of increasing the wear resistance of a horse shoe made of a light, metallic material, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the horse shoe Cl) is provided with a hard and wear resistant wearing layer by means of laser, which wearing layer is harder than the basic material, the surface layer of the basic material being melted locally by means of the laser at the same time as a hard material comprising carbide particles is added to and distributed into the melt. 2. A horse shoe made of a light, metallic material and having a front portion and two legs extending from the front portion, the horse shoe also having one side intended to be applied against the hoof of the horse and one side intended to be in contact with the ground, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that at least parts of the surface of the side of the horse shoe Cl) intended to be in contact with the ground has a wearing layer which is harder than the basic material of the horse shoe ( 1) . 3. A horse shoe according to claim 2, c h r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that the wearing layer is applied onto the front portion of the horse shoe Cl) and the rear portion of the legs (2, 3) . 4. A horse shoe according to claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the legs C6, 7) are connected by means of a bridge C8) having a projection extended rearwards . 5. A horse shoe according to claim 4, c h a r - a c t e r i z e d in that the projection C9) has a wearing layer. 6. A horse shoe according to any one of the claims 2-5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the wearing layer comprises carbides of titanium, chromium, nickel and/or wolfram. 7. A horse shoe according to any one of the claims 2-5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the wearing layer comprises aluminium oxide. 8. A horse shoe according to any one of the claims 2-7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the basic material of the horse shoe comprises aluminium.

Inventors: OLOFSSON JOHAN LENNART, OLOFSSON, JOHAN, LENNART
Applicants: OLOFSSON JOHAN LENNART, OLOFSSON, JOHAN, LENNART
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A01L1
IPC codes: A01L1