Improvements in Hame Tugs.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1391-Accepted, 31st Oct., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hame Tugs.
I, SAMUEL ELLSWORTH BRICKNELL, of Oregon, in the County of Ogle and
State of Illinois, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to certain improvements in hame tugs, said improvements
having in view the production of a simple and easy fastening for the end of a tug,
and a strong and durable means of securing said fastening to the hame.
These improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein,
Figure 1 is a side view of a hame tug, illustrating certain of my new improve-
ments;
Figure 2 is a top view partly in section, of the same;
Figure 3 is a detail view of the end of the tug and the hook attached
thereto;
Figure 4 is a section taken in line 4-4 of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a side view of a hame tug, showing certain additional improvements;
Figure 6 is a broken section cut in line 6-6 of Figure 5; and
Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 are perspective views of certain details of construction.
The general features of the construction here shown are old. They consist of a
hame, A, having a yoke-shaped plate, C, bolted to it by bolts, B, a block, C¹,
pivoted within the yoke, C, by a horizontal bolt, B', a box, F, containing holes, f,
in one side, a link, D, vertically pivoted to the block, C', and also to the box, F,
and a tug, G, having at its end a pivoted hook, H, the under-cut head, h, of which
is pressed by a spring, S, into the openings, f.
of
My first improvement relates to the spring, S, which tends to force the head, h,
into the openings, f. I find that when the tug and the hook upon its end are
removed entirely from the box, and possibly thrown upon the floor, the end,
the spring, S, swings so far from the hook, under the torsion of the coiled spring,
that if anything happens to be thrown upon it, or if it is stepped upon, it is bent
backward still farther, and sometimes broken. To prevent this, I have added a
device adapted to prevent the free end of the spring from swinging backward any
farther than is necessary to give the hook the required amount of play. It is, of
course, immaterial what particular device is employed for this purpose, as any
mechanic could doubtless construct a great number which would be equally
satisfactory; but the best which I have tried consists of a plate, K, arranged
behind the spring and pivoted at one end upon the arbor thereof by means of
tongues, k, turned up from said plate. The amount of play is fixed by constructing
the tongues, k, so that they will strike against the hook, H, as shown in the figure.
It is obvious, of course, that the portion, k², of the plate itself could be allowed
to strike against said hook. This improvement keeps the end, s, of the spring
in such a position that no difference what falls upon it, it can only be forced.
down against the hook, H, but little beyond the position which it occupies when
in the box, F.
My second improvement is in the manner of pivoting the hook, H, to the tug, G.
This is done by means of a plate, I, sharpened at the end, i, so that it can be driven
into the end of the tug and secured thereto by rivets, g, and having at the opposite
end a hook, i, adapted to receive and hold the round portion, ', of the hook, H.
The open part of the hook is not large enough to allow this round portion to be

page_text: slipped therefrom, but at one edge said hook, H, is reduced in size at h³, so that
by turning the hook backward until this reduced portion is above the open part of
the hook,, it can be slipped downward through said open part, and the hooks
disengaged from each other.
My third improvement relates to the universal joint connection between the
box, F, and the hame, A; and is designed at once to simplify said connection, to
enable the different parts included therein to be easily and readily taken apart, and
to make the portions where the greatest wear occurs separable, so that when they
are worn out they can be removed and replaced by new pieces, of uniform size,
kept in stock by the dealer and readily applied when needed, with but slight trouble
and expense. Said connection consists in a clevis-shaped link, D, (see Fig. 7)
pivoted directly to the box, F, by means of a pin, d, and having the block, C³,
pivoted upon its side opposite to said pin. To enable said block to be readily
removed from the clevis, the middle portion thereof, in front of the clevis, is made
in the shape of a separate piece, c, (see Fig. 9,) so that it can be removed when
the bolt, B', is taken out. As a further improvement, the portion of the block, C¹,
about the hole through which the bolt, B', passes, is also made in a separate piece, c',
(see Fig. 10,) which can be removed and replaced with a new piece as the bolt, B',
wears it away, and which also serves to hold the part, c, in place when the bolt, B',
is removed.
To adapt my improvements, both as heretofore described and as now modified,
to what is known as a "long hame tug," I have interposed between the box, F, and
the link, D, a second box, I, made of the same general appearance as the box, F,
but lacking, of course, the features of the latter which adapt it to engagement with
the tug. The two boxes are hinged together by means of links, L, L³, and pins
passing through the ends of said links and the two boxes. The box, F, has
brackets, f¹, secured to it above and below, to enable the belly-band and the back-
band to be secured thereto, and the lengths of the two boxes are so proportioned
that when the two fold together upon their hinged connection, the hames and said
bands shall fall together, and the entire harness be in compact form, so that it may
be hung up in the least possible space.
I do not, of course, limit myself to the combination of all of the different improve-
ments above described, as it is evident that they can be used either conjointly or
separately.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1-The combination of a tug, G, a hook, I, secured to the end thereof, having
an open head,, a second hook, H, having a portion, 1, fitted to the interior of
the head,, of the hook, I, and having an adjacent portion, ³, reduced sufficiently
to slide through the opening in the head, ; substantially as described.
2-The combination of a tug, a hook, I, having a shank sharpened at i, suitably
secured to the tug, and an open head, , and a hook, H, having a round portion, h¹,
fitted to the interior of the head, and an adjacent reduced portion, ³, adapted to
slide through the opening thereof; substantially as described.
3-The combination of a tug, a link secured by suitable devices to the end
thereof, a block, C¹, pivoted upon said link and having the removable piece, c, and
a pivotal connection between said block and the other portions of the harness,
adapted to hold the portion, c, in place; substantially as described.
4-The combination of a tug, a link, D, suitably secured to one end thereof, a
block, C', pivoted upon said link and having the separable portions, c and c², and a
pivot, B; passing through the latter and suitably connected with the other portions
of the harness; substantially as described.
5-The combination of a tug, a box, F, adjustably secured to the end thereof, a
clevis-shaped link, D, pivoted to one end of the box by means of a pin, d, a block, C¹,

page_text: pivoted upon the link and containing the separable portions, c, c³, a hame, a yoke, C,
secured thereto, and a pivot, B¹, passing through the yoke and the portion, c', of the
block, C¹; substantially as described.
Dated this 29th day of August A.D. 1891.
SAMUEL ELLSWORTH BRICKNELL.