IMPROVEMENTS IN STIRRUPS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John Gedge
and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STIRRUPS." A communication from abroad by Louis Guillaume Barten-
bach, of 39, Faubourg Saint Martin, Paris, France.
Sealed the 17th January 1865, and dated the 21st July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st July 1864.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of
No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STIRRUPS," (a communication to me from abroad by Louis Guillaume Barten-
bach, of 39, Faubourg Saint Martin, Paris, France), to be as follows:-
This Invention has for object a kind of stirrup, the automatic or self-acting
combination of the pedal or horizontal bar of which will permit this latter to.
yield to the movements given by the rider, and even to open itself should the
rider happen to be thrown.
The fitting and arrangement of the parts constituting these improvements
will be well understood by reference to the accompanying Sheets of Drawing,

page_text: forming part of this Provisional Specification, and the different Figures on
which represent several various arrangements of this new kind of stirrups
with automatic movement.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a front view of a stirrup fitted with a pedal opening
from the side; Figure 2, a horizontal section taken at X, Y, Figure 1.
The stirrup is composed of the vertical branches or frame a, furnished at
the upper part with the ring b, which is to receive the stirrup leather. This
ring is provided with a bottom piece c into which enters the screw-threaded
end d of a rod or stem (see Figures 3 and 4). A small spiral spring e coils
round part of this rod, which can move freely in a socket f contrived at the
top of the stirrup. A nut 9 closes the lower part of the socket f, which for
this purpose
is screw-threaded interiorly to a slight height. In this manner
the stirrup can turn freely. Each branch of the frame a forms at its lower
part a sort of compass joint h, h¹, pierced with a hole i (see Figure 2). The
pedal or horizontal bar is composed of three parts k, k³, k¹¹, the two parts k
and are joined by the hinge o, round which the part k¹ may turn after the
tenon m, which is made at one of its ends, has escaped from the mortice n of
the part . It is here that the pedal opens. The part k, screwed to a disc p,
which penetrates into. the piece h, is lengthened on the other side by a small
cylinder fluted exteriorly and screw-threaded interiorly; the fluting enters
into the opening of the piece h, and in the screw-threaded part enters a screw
with round head which holds against the end of this small cylinder a copper
washer, the object of which is to prevent the small cylinder, and consequently
the pedal, escaping from the piece h. A small circular box v, in which is
placed a spiral spring, fixes on to a screw-threaded and notched part of the
piece h, so that the spiral spring presses with one of its ends against the copper
washer. The part of the pedal is fixed at the other end by means of a
button or pin q which screws on to it, and which may freely rotate in the
pièce h; it is the button q which serves for its pivot, and for the part & it is
the small fluted cylinder which serves for pivot. The action is as follows:-
When the rider is master of his horse this improved stirrup acts like an
ordinary one with this advantage, that it follows the movements of the foot.
If, however, from any cause whatever the horseman should fall or be thrown,
his foot 'naturally following the movement of the leg, which follows those of his
body, upon a backward movement of this latter the foot will use the frame a
as a fulcrum, and acting like a lever on the pedal will cause it to turn round
the axle, as above stated, of the two pieces h, h¹; then, in consequence of the
fluting the small cylinder advances in the opening of the piece h, in pressing
on the spring the part & retreats on the part k", and the tenon of then

page_text: quitting the mortice of ¹¹, the pedal opens in turning round the hinge o.
Figure 5 represent a front view of a stirrup the pedal opening in.the
middle of its length; Figure 6 is a plan view of this pedal taken from beneath.
The two parts'k, k', which compose the pedal, and the ends of which enter the
holes i of the compass joint h, join in the middle and are held from beneath
by an S-shaped piece l, one of the extremities of which enters a notch on the
part m of the plate k¹ to close the pedal. The piece l is fixed to the plate k
by a screw upon which it pivots, and its other extremity rests against an
angle block n with pivot o.. This block meets on the periphery of the compass.
joint ha stop which limits its movement as well as the plate q fitted in the
interior of the piece h (see Figure 7), and which is met by the end of the
plate k.
A steel spring r exercises sufficient pressure on the spring / to keep
it on the block n. The movement of each of the two plates k, k', takes place
round their respective pivots o, o¹, when no longer held underneath by the
spring (see Figures 6 and 8).
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Sheet 2, represent a very simple stirrup. It is
composed, as shewn Figure 9, of an ordinary frame, one branch terminating at
the lower end in a disc h pierced with a hole permitting the passage of a
screw which enters into the male part c of a hinge the female part of which
is the pedal,k. This pedal may thus have a movement round the axle of the
screw b, which thus serves for pivot. The other branch terminates in a disch¹
(see Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, pierced with an opening d in which may be
introduced the circular part e of the pedal terminating in a button or pin g.
To cause this introduction it is only necessary to cause to pivot round the
hinge o the sector 1 cut out of the disc so as to leave free the entrance into
the opening d. When the pedal is thus brought into this opening the sector.
is brought back into the disc, the small tenon t entering into a corresponding
mortice in the disc, and the pedal is turned to its normal position, the block n
which is fixed to it then prevents all movement of the sector and the stirrup is
thus formed. If the rider fall the tenon n rises again above the sector, the
pedal escapes by the opening d, and the foot is freed.
Figures 14 and 15, Sheet 3; shew a pedal composed of two parts k, k¹. The
part is itself made in two pieces joined together by a tenon fixed to one
of them. The part k receives at one of its ends a pin.y which serves as hinge
to the plate k. This pedal opens in its length and about two-thirds of its
width; the upper part of this stirrup is the same as that Figures 1 and 2,
Sheet 1. Figures 16 and 17 shews a pedal, the two parts k and resting
one on the other; this combination will permit the pedal to fall by its own
weight and the inclination given to it by the rider.
Figure 17* shews the

page_text: compass joint placed at the lower part of each of the two branches of the
corresponding frame.
The Figures 18, 19, 19, and 20, 21, 21*, Sheet 3, shew other arrange-
ments of double pedals k, superposed. The lower plate k', Figures 20
and 21, is furnished at each end with two or more friction rollers, intended to
permit this plate to slide by the inclination and the weight given by the rider.
Figure 19, top plan of the upper plate; and Figures 18, 20, and 21, two plan
views and one side view of the lower plate with friction rollers; Figures 17*,
19*, and 21*, compass joint for these latter arrangements; i, central bole;
t, angle block; o, opening made in the edge of the compass joint to permit
the pedal plate to escape when required. The red lines, Figures 1 and 9,
shew the pedal open.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her. Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STIRRUPS," (a communication to
me from abroad by Louis Guillaume Bartenbach, of 39, Faubourg St. Martin,
Paris, France), upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their; or one of their hands and seals, should particularly. describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the sanie to be filed in the Great Seal Patent

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Gedge, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
:
This Invention has for object a kind of stirrup the automatic or self-acting
combination of the pedal, foot piece, or horizontal bar of which will permit
this latter to yield to the movement given by the rider, and even to open itself
should the rider happen to be thrown.
The fitting and arrangement of the parts constituting these improvements
will be well understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawing,
forming part of this Specification, the different Figures representing various
arrangements of this new kind of stirrup.
Figure 1 is a front view of a stirrup fitted with a pedal opening from the
side; Figure 2, a horizontal section taken at X, Y, Figure 1.
The stirrup is composed of the vertical branches or frame a, furnished at
the upper part with the ring 6 which is to receive the stirrup leather. This
ring is provided with a bottom piece c into which enters the screw-threaded
end d of a rod or stem (see Figures 3 and 4). A small spiral spring e coils
round part of this rod, which can move freely in a socket f contrived at the
top of the stirrup. A nut g closes the lower part of the socket f, which for
this purpose is screw-threaded interiorly in part of its height. Thus the
stirrup can turn freely. Each branch of the frame forms at its lower part a
a sort of compass joint h, h', pierced with a hole i (see Figure 2). The pedal
or horizontal bar is composed of three parts k, k, k; the two parts k and k
may turn after the tenon m which is made at one of its ends has escaped from
the mortice n of the part ¹¹ It is here that the pedal opens. The part k,
screwed to a disc p, which penetrates into the piece h, is lengthened on the
other side by a small cylinder fluted exteriorly and screw-threaded interiorly;
the fluting enters into the opening of the piece h, and in the screw-threaded
part enters a screws with round head which holds against the end of this
small cylinder a copper washer, the object of which is to prevent the small
cylinder, and consequently the pedal, escaping from the piece h. A small
circular box v, in which is placed a spiral spring, fixes on to a screw-threaded
and notched part of the piece h, so that the spiral spring presses with one of
its ends against the copper washer. The part 1 of the pedal is fixed at the
other end by means of a button q which screws on to it, and which may freely
rotate in the piece h'; the button q serving for its pivot, and the small fluted

page_text: cylinder serving for pivot to the part k. The action is as follows:-When the
rider is master of his horse this improved stirrup acts like an ordinary one,
with this advantage, that it follows the movement of the foot. If, however,
from any cause whatever the horseman should fall or be thrown, his foot
naturally following the movement of the leg, which follows that of his body,
upon a backward movement of this latter the foot will use the frame a as a
fulcrum, and acting like a lever on the pedal, will cause it to turn round the
axle, as above stated, of the two pieces h, h¹; then, in consequence of the
fluting, the small cylinder advances in the opening of the piece h. In pressing
on the spring the part k retreats on the part.", and the tenon of k¹ then
quitting the mortice of k, the pedal opens in turning round the hinge o.
Figure 5 represents a front view of a stirrup the pedal opening in the middle
of its length; Figure 6 is a plan view of this pedal taken from beneath. The
two parts k, k, which compose the pedal, and the ends of which enter the
holes of the compass joint h, join in the middle and are held from beneath
by an S-shaped piece l, one of the extremities of which enters a notch on the
part n of the plate k to close the pedal. The piece l is fixed to the plate k
by a screw jupon which it pivots, and its other extremity rests against an
angle block n with pivot o; this block meets, on the periphery of the compass
joint h, a stop which limits its movement, as well as the plate q fitted in the
interior of the piece h (see Figure 7), and which is met by the end of the
plate k. A steel spring r exercises sufficient pressure on the spring 1 to keep
it on the block . The movement of each of the two plates k, l, takes place
round their respective pivots 0,0¹, when no longer held underneath by the
spring (see Figures 6 and 8).
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, represent a very simple stirrup. It is composed,
as shewn Figure 9, of an ordinary frame, one branch terminating at the lower
end in a disc h pierced with a hole permitting the passage of a screw b which
enters into the male part c of a hinge the female part of which is the pedal k.
This pedal may thus have a movement round the axle of the screw b, which
thus serves for pivot. The other branch terminates in a disc h¹ (see Figures 9,
10, 11, 12, 13) pierced with an opening d in which may be introduced the
circular part e of the pedal terminating in a button or pin g. To effect this
introduction it is only necessary to cause to pivot round the hinge o the
sector / cut out of the disc so as to leave free the entrance into the opening d.
When the pedal is thus brought into this opening the sector is brought back
into the disc, the small tenon t entering into a corresponding mortice in the
disc, and the pedal is turned to its normal position, the block n which is fixed
to it then prevents all movement of the sector and the stirrup is thus formed.

page_text: If the rider falls the tenon n rises again above the sector, the pedal escapes by
the opening d, and the foot is freed.
Figures 14 and 15 shew a pedal composed of two parts k, k). The
part k is itself made in two pieces joined together by a tenon a fixed to one
of them. The part k receives at one of its ends a pin y which serves as
binge to the plate k. This pedal opens in its length and about two-thirds of
its width; the upper part of this stirrup is the same as that Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 16 and 17 shew a pedal the two parts k and resting one on the
other; this combination will permit the pedal to fall by its own weight and
the inclination given to it by the rider. Figure 17* shews the compass joint
placed at the lower part of each of the two branches of the corresponding
frame.
The Figures 18, 19, 19, 20, 21, 21*, shew other arrangements of double
pedals k, k, superposed. The lower plate k¹, Figures 20 and 21, is furnished
at each end with two or more friction rollers, intended to permit this plate to
slide by the inclination and the weight given by the rider. Figure 19, top
plan of the upper plate; and Figures 18, 20, and 21, two plan views and one
side view of the lower plate with friction rollers; Figures 17*, 19*, and 21*,
compass joint for these latter arrangements; i, central hole; t, angle block;
o, opening made in the edge of the compass joint to permit the pedal plate to
escape when required. The red lines, Figures 1 and 9, shew the pedal
open.
Having now described the essential characteristics of this Invention, con-
sisting in the combination of a species of automaton, a self-acting pedal or
foot place, I claim the fundamental combination and the several arrangements
of this improved stirrup, whatever variation may be made in the shape,
material, or dimensions of the constituent parts thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
W. E. GEDGE. (LS.),