IMPROVEMENTS IN BITS
Year: 1858

page_text: (
LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Timms, of 1, Skelton Street, Greenwich, in
the County of Kent, Coachman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BITS."
Sealed the 25th February 1859, and dated the 9th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Timms at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th September 1858.
I, THOMAS TIMMS, of 1, Skelton Street, Greenwich, in the County of Kent,
Coachman, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BITS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in bits.
For these purposes
a bit is made with checks or side bars, in such manner that a rein or bridle
may be attached near to or at the end of the bit, and the horse is then
driven as if with a snaffle; but in the event of more power being required
over the horse, the act of pulling on the rein or bridle causes the ends of the
rein or bridle to slide down the cheeks or side bars further and further from
the bit, and thus greater leverage is obtained; and this is accomplished by
having two sliding pieces on the cheeks or side bars of the bit, to which the two
ends of the bridle or rein are attached; these sliding pieces are constantly
acted on by springs (by preference of vulcanized india-rubber), so as to keep
them near the bit; but as the rein or bridle is more and more pulled on, the
side bars or cheeks assume an inclined position, and the springs yield, to allow
the sliding pieces to move along the bars away from the ends of the bit, and
thus is the leverage increased; but so soon as the horse yields, the springs
draw back the sliding pieces towards the bit.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions. of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Timms in, the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE-PRESENTS SHALL COME; - I, THOMAS
TIMMS, of 1, Skelton Street, Greenwich, in the County of Kent, Coachman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Timms, Her. special licence that I, the said Thomas Timms,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Timms, my executors, administrators, 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 BITs," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Timms, 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 same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Timms, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in bits. For these purposes
a bit is made with cheeks or side bars in such manner that a rein or bridle
may be attached near to or at the ends of the bit, and the horse is then
driven as if with a snaffle; but in the event of more power being required
over the horse, the act of pulling on the rein or bridle causes the ends of the.
rein or bridle to slide down the cheeks or side bars further and further from
the bit, and thus greater leverage is obtained; and this is accomplished by
having two sliding pieces on the cheeks or side bars of the bit, to which the,
two ends of the bridle or rein are attached. These sliding pieces are con-
stantly acted on by springs (by preference of vulcanized india-rubber), so as to

page_text: annexed.
CO 435CITOO The Drawing Hereunto
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 is a side view, of a bit constructed
according to my Invention. a is the mouthpiece or bit which enters the
horse's mouth; b, b, are the cheeks or side bars, which are jointed to the ends
of the bit a, to allow them to adjust themselves according to the position of
the head of the horse; c, c, are rings or sliding pieces to which the ends of
the rein or bridle are fixed; d, d, are springs, by preference of vulcanized
india-rubber; they are attached to the rings or sliding pieces c, c, and also to
the upper ends of the cheeks or side bars 6; the springs, as the Drawing
shows, pass within the cheeks or side bars, which at the ends above the mouth-
piece or bit are made tubular for the purpose. So long as the horse is pulling
but slightly, the springs d, d, keep the rings or sliding pieces c, c, near to or at-
the ends of the mouthpiece or bit, and the horse is then driven as if with a
snaffle; but as the tension of the bridle or rein increases, the rings c gradually
slide down the cheeks or side pieces b until they assume the position shewn by
red lines in the Drawing, and thus the leverage of the curb continually.
increases with the tension on the rein or bridle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Timms, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
THOS TIMMS. (L.S.)