Improvements in and connected with Saddle Bars.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 23rd Mar.,
1895
Improvements in and connected with Saddle Bars.
We, BENJAMIN SAMUEL WESTON, Engineer, of 5 Parkholme Road, Dalston,
and HENRY STAINES WILTON, Sadler, of 457 and 459 Oxford Street, both in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
For the purpose of connecting the stirrup leather to the saddle we provide an
improved safety saddle bar to ensure in the case of a rider being thrown that he
shall not be dragged by the stirrup.
This safety saddle bar so long as the saddle is occupied securely holds the
buckle or loop of the stirrup leather but when the saddle is unoccupied it allows
the loop to escape directly the stirrup leather is exposed to any oblique pull.
The improved mechanism consists essentially of a fixed hook, a moveable
retaining piece, and a locking lever..
The hook is rigidly attached to the saddle, it is adapted to receive the stirrup
loop upon it and to support any downward pressure exerted on the stirrup; at the
same time it is so formed and bevilled or cut diagonally on either side that any
obliquity of the strain will cause the stirrup loop to leave the hook.
The moveable retaining piece when in position. stands so that a lug upon it is
just over the nose of the hook and the stirrup loop cannot then escape past it.
The retaining piece can however yield to a light pressure although a spring tends
to keep it in place.
The locking lever is moveable around pivots; it engages with the retaining piece
so that this latter cannot make the small movement necessary to release the stirrup
loop without imparting a much greater movement to the locking lever.
The locking lever lies beneath the skirt flap of the saddle and so long as the
skirt flap is kept down by the rider seated in the saddle neither the locking lever
or the retaining piece can move and the leverage is such that a very light pressure
of the skirt flap upon the lever will suffice to prevent movement. But when the
rider is not seated in the saddle then so soon as the stirrup leather pulls obliquely
upon the stirrup loop, the loop rises resting upon one side of the channel of the
hook and pressing in an upward direction against the lug upon the retaining piece
which in rising lifts the locking lever and allows the loop to slide off the bevilled
edge of the hook.
We also provide a combined stirrup loop and buckle which allows a limited
amount of movement of the buckle independently of the loop.
In order that our said invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect we will proceed to describe the drawings annexed.

page_text: moveable parts being removed.
the foundation plate of the mechanism, all the
Figure 6 is a section on the line 6, 6, in Figure 5.
Figure 7 is a front elevation and Figure 8 is a side elevation of the retaining
piece.
Figure 9 is a frout elevation and Figure 10 is a side elevation of the locking
lever.
Figure 11 is a side elevation of the spring.
Figure 12 is a front elevation of our combined stirrup loop and buckle.
Figure 13 is a section of the same.
The foundation plate of our improved safety saddle bar is fixed to the saddle
tree by rivets or screws passing through the holes a a and it has formed upon it
the book which on either side at is bevilled forming inclines. This hook
when the stirrup loop is upon it supports any direct downward strain but oblique
strains tend to cause the loop first to assume an inclined position as represented by
dotted lines in figure and then to ride up one or other of the inclines and so to
escape. is a passage or recess formed in the foundation plate to receive the
retaining piece.
The retaining piece fits into the recess c and it can slide up and down between
the guide bar a and the back of the hook ; this guide bar forms part of the
foundation plate. The retaining piece has a lip d which when the parts are in the
position shown in Figures 1 and prevents the stirrup loop escaping over the nose
of the hook. e is a slot in the upper part of the retaining piece, a pin f on the
locking lever passes through this slot and in this way the retaining piece and the
locking lever are jointed together. 9 is a lug upon the back of the retaining piece, it
receives the pressure of a light spring h, i is a screw which serves to keep the
spring in place; the abutment for this spring is upon a cross bar k which forms a
part of the foundation piece. The locking lever is jointed to the foundation plate
by pivot pins and it carries a pin f which passes through the slot e in the
retaining piece. Thus it will be seen that the retaining piece cannot rise to release
the stirrup loop without throwing the locking lever up into the position shown in
Figures 2 and 4 and as the locking lever lies beneath the skirt flap of the saddle
this movement cannot take place so long as the rider is seated.
2
The arrangement of the moveable retaining piece admits of variation in detail,
preferably it is arranged as shown in the drawings to slide up and down in suitable
guides formed in connection with the foundation plate and hook, but it may be
pivotted below the hook, so that the lip upon it moves rearwards from the nose of
the hook when the locking lever rises. Or the retaining piece may be pivotted
above the hock so that its lip may recede from the nose of the hook either by an
upward or a rearward movement according to the form which is given to the part
but in all cases the retaining piece is so arranged that the stirrup loop cannot
escape from the fixed hook without moving the retaining piece or without this
movement being transmitted to the locking lever.
We would remark that the mechanism above described is an improvement on
that of a safety saddle bar which is described in the Specification of a former
Patent granted to us No. 1117 in the year 1881. We under this Patent employed
a jointed hook and a locking lever in connected therewith; this jointed hook
proved however to be somewhat unsecure in mounting, a defect which is entirely
overcome by substituting a solid fixed hook. The novel arrangement with the
fixed hook and the moveable retaining piece and locking lever herein described has
also other advantages.
In the Figures 12 and 13 which show the combined stirrup loop and buckle o is
the loop and p is the buckle. The buckle is mounted so as to be able to turn on
the lower bar of the loop, it is free to assume the position indicated by dotted lines
in Figure 13 but it is stopped when in this position by a pin o' which is set into the
lower bar of the loop and projects through an elongated hole p' in the buckle.
q is the tongue of the buckle. This arrangement admits of the length of the

page_text: stirrup being adjusted without interfering with the position of the loop on the
hook of the safety mechanism.
At q we provide a shallow recess and this the lug of the retaining piece enters to
hold the loop from turning upon the hook. If the stirrup leather be jerked
upward the buckle turns about its joint whilst the loop remains in place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In safety mechanism for stirrup bars the combination of parts substantially as
described, namely, the solid hook, the moveable retaining piece and the locking
lever.
2. The combined stirrup loop and buckle shown by the Figures 12 and 13 of the
annexed drawings.
3. Apparatus substantially as described and represented by the annexed
drawings.
Dated this 7th don of wh
1002
B. S. WESTON.
H. S. WILTON.