IMPROVE- MENTS IN HORSE-SHOES FOR FROSTY OR SNOWY WEATHER."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Stewart Robertson, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HORSE-SHOES FOR FROSTY OR SNOWY WEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Stewart Robertson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th December 1872.
. I, JOHN STEWART ROBERTSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES FOR FROSTY OR SNOWY WEATHER," to be
as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the providing of appliances, by means
of which horses may in a few minutes be suitably fitted for encountering
frost or snow; and it consists in making shoes or skeleton shoes in a
peculiar manner, and so as to be applicable as a kind of overshoes upon
or in connection with the ordinary shoes.
The improved shoe comprises three parts; firstly, the sharp steel
points at the toe and heels to enable the horse to take hold of the

page_text: slippery surface of frozen ground or of hardened snow; secondly, the
plate, frame, or skeleton, which is herein-after termed the sole, and on
which the sharp points are fixed or held; and, thirdly, the appliances by
which the sole is fixed upon the hoof.
1. The sharp points are either formed or welded on the sole, or they
consist of separate steel pieces fixed or held in sockets, slots, or grooves
in the sole, so that they can be easily replaced by new ones when worn.
The points may be held in their sockets by spring catches, or by being
simply wedged in.
2. The sole is either an entire plate of wrought iron or of malleable
cast iron or of steel, covering the hollow of the hoof, and preventing
snow from lodging therein; or it is approximately of the ordinary horse
shoe shape, or it is in the shape of the letter T, the heel points being in
this last case formed or fixed on the cross part, and the toe point at the
further end of the other part.
3. The appliances for fixing the sole on the hoof, and which form the
most important part of the present Invention, consist of different modi-
fications to suit different circumstances. A strap to be passed round
the upper front part of the hoof is attached to the heels of the sole, and
may consist of leather with a buckle or of strong vulcanised rubber to
be sprung on, or of copper or other suitable metal to be fixed and
tightened by a screw when on the hoof. The front or toe of the
sole is held firmly in its place by being formed with a clip or flange
which catches upon the front of the hoof. This clip, or a metal strip
hinged to it, or a strap attached to it, may extend up to and be held by
the front part of the strap which passes round from the heels. When
the improved shoe is to be applied on a shoe which, like that of a cart
horse, has a downwardly projecting toe, there are substituted for the
single front clip two smaller clips at the sides of the toe. To prevent
lateral displacement two small snugs are formed on the upper side of
the sole to catch against the inner edge of the ordinary shoe at the front
part, or a single lip or flange extending some little distance round the
front part may be substituted for the two snugs. Similar snugs may
be formed at the heels, or the sole itself may be shaped to fit in between
the heels of the ordinary shoe. When the sole is of the shape of an
ordinary shoe there may be hinged to the inner edge of the toe part a
curved piece of metal with spring sides formed with projections to catch

page_text: the inside of the ordinary shoe, both at the toe and heels. When the
sides of this curved piece are drawn together it relieves the catches at
the heels, and the hinge action relieves the catch at the toe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Stewart Robertson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STEWART ROBERTSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Stewart Robertson,
Her special licence that I, the said John Stewart Robertson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Stewart Robertson, 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 HORSE-SHOES FOR
FROSTY OR SNOWY WEATHER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Stewart Robertson, my exccutors 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 c lendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Stewart Robertson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
› Drawings, that is to say :—

page_text: My said Invention has for its object the providing of improved
appliances by means of which horses may in a few minutes be suitably
fitted for encountering frost or snow, and it consists in making shoes or
skeleton shoes in a peculiar manner and so as to be applicable as a kind
of overshoes upon or in connection with the ordinary shoes.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
various modifications of my improved froster overshoes for horses. In
these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same
or like parts wherever they are repeated.
My improved shoe comprises three principal parts; firstly, the sharp
steel or iron points 1, 2, 3, at the toe and heels to enable the horse to
take hold of the slippery surface of frozen ground or of hardened snow;
secondly, the plate, frame, or skeleton 4, which is herein-after termed
the sole, and to which the sharp points 1, 2, 3, are attached; and
thirdly, the straps 5, 6, or other appliances by which the sole is fixed on
the hoof.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one modification of my improved over-
shoe complete, and Figure 2 is a side elevation showing it as applied to
a horse's hoof fitted with a common form of shoe 7. Figure 3 is a plan
of the overshoe as inverted, and Figure 4 is a back edge view corre-
sponding to Figure 3.
Figures 5 and 6 are a side elevation and an inverted plan of a second
modification.
A third modification is shown in Figures 7, 8, 9, which are views as
at right angles to each other.
The sharp points 1, 2, 3, are either formed or welded or the sole 4, as
shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, or they consist of separate steel pieces
fixed or held in sockets, slots, or grooves in the sole 4, as shown in
Figures 5, 6, and also in Figures 12, 13, 14, 15, so that they can be
easily replaced by new ones when worn. The points 1, 2, 3, when not
formed or welded on the sole 4, may be held either by being simply
wedged in their grooves or sockets or by pins 8 entered from the upper
side of the sole, as shown in Figures 5, 6, such pins being conveniently
held by a ply 9 of leather or other packing material which I prefer to
interpose between the overshoe and the ordinary shoe to prevent clanging.

page_text: noise, or the points may be held by being screwed through the sole 4, as
indicated in Figures 12, 13.
The sole 4 is either an entire plate of wrought iron or of malleable
cast iron or of steel, as shown in Figures 3, 12, covering the hollow of
the hoof and preventing snow from lodging therein; or it is approxi-
mately of the ordinary horse-shoe shape, as shown in Figures 6, 14, 15;
or it is in the shape of the letter T, as shown in Figures 7, 8, 9, the heel
points 2, 3, being in this last case formed or fixed on the cross part 10,
and the toe point 1 at the further end of the other part.
The appliances for fixing the sole 4 on the hoof 11, and which form
the most important part of my present Invention, consist of different
modifications to suit different circumstances. In one modification shown
in Figures 1, 2, a leather strap 5 to be passed round the front part of the
hoof 11 is attached to the heels of the sole 4 by hooks or otherwise, and
is fixed on the hoof by means of a buckle. Or the strap may be made
of strong vulcanized rubber to be sprung on, or of copper or other
suitable metal to be fixed and tightened by a screw 12, as shown in
Figure 11. A convenient form of metallic spring strap is shown in
Figure 13. The front or toe of the sole 4 is held firmly in its place by
being formed with a clip or flange 13 which catches upon the front of
the hoof 11. This clip 13 or a metal strip 6 hinged to or hooked on it,
or a strap attached to it extends up to and is held by the front part of
the strap 5 which passes round from the heels, as shown in Figures 12,
11, 13.
When my improved shoe is to be applied on a shoe 14, Figure 10,
which, like that of a cart horse, has a downwardly projecting toe 15,
there are substituted for the single front clip 13 two smaller clips at the
sides of the toe 15, which may be joined together above for the connec-
tion of the link or strap 6. To prevent lateral displacement two small
snugs 16, Figure 1, may be formed on the upper side of the sole to catch
against the inner edge of the ordinary shoe 7 at the front part; or a
single lip or flange 17, Figures 5, 6, extending some little distance round
the front part may be used for that purpose. Similar snugs 18 may be
formed at the heels, as shown in Figure 1, or the sole 4 itself may be
shaped, as shown in Figures 12, 13, to fit in between the heels of the
ordinary shoe 7.
In the modification shown in Figures 12, 13, the snug or projection 16

page_text: in use.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Stewart Robertson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN STUART ROBERTSON. (L.S.)