IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND DETACHING HORSES' HARNESS TO AND FROM CARRIAGES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND DETACHING HORSES' HARNESS
TO AND FROM CARRIAGES." A communication from abroad by Heinrich
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th July 1881.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND
DETACHING HORSES' HARNESS TO AND FROM CARRIAGES." [A communication
from abroad by Heinrich Fleischhauer, of Berlin, in the German Empire.]
This Invention has for its object the application to carriages of apparatus by
means of which the traces can be rapidly disconnected from the carriage either by
hand or from the driver's seat in cases of the horses either falling or running away,
and by which the traces can also be readily attached again.
For this purpose there is provided at each end of the splinter bar a metal bracket
having, firstly, a horizontal slot for receiving the flat end of the trace, and, secondly,
above this a vertical pin capable of sliding up and down within a casing, which pin
when in the lowered position passes through a hole in the trace and into a recess in
the slot below it, and thus holds the trace securely, while when in the raised
position the trace is free to be drawn out of its slot. The pin is urged downwards
by a spring, and it has a lateral stud projecting through a vertical slot in the casing,
and resting with its end upon a helical cam mounted on a vertical axis on the
bracket, so that by turning the cam in one direction by means of a lever the stud
on the sliding pin, and with it the pin itself, is raised against the action of the
spring, while on turning the cam in the contrary direction the pin is lowered again.
The levers of the two cams at each end of the splinter bar being connected by a
rod, it will be seen that by actuating the one lever either by hand or by a rod from

page_text: the driver's seat both cams will be simultaneously rotated so as to release the
traces; or if the carriage has double harness, then all four of the cam levers can be
connected by a rod so as to be actuated simultaneously. The sliding pin has a
head outside the casing, and upon the top of the latter is pivotted a lever having a
stud which, when the sliding pin has been raised, can be turned so as to bring the
⚫stud underneath its head, and thus keep it in the raised position until the trace has
been inserted in its slot.
According to another modification, the slot for receiving the trace is arranged
vertically, and the sliding pin is horizontal, and it is provided with a head having
a cam face, against which acts a second cam face on a rotatable boss, through which
the pin passes, so that on rotating the boss by means of a lever the sliding pin is
. forced outwards by the action of the cam faces against the action of a spring. The
lever of the boss has a handle, by which it can be operated by hand, and it is also
connected by a slotted link to another lever on a spindle that extends across the
splinter bar connecting the two apparatus, which spindle has a treadle that can be
operated from the driver's seat, so as to turn the spindle and thereby cause the
sliding pins to be withdrawn from the traces. The slotted link allows the spindle
and treadle to be moved back into the original position after withdrawing the
sliding pins, while leaving these in the withdrawn position for the insertion of the
ends of the traces.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd January 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING AND
DETACHING HORSES' HARNESS TO AND FROM CARRIAGES." A communication
from abroad by Heinrich Fleischhauer, of Berlin, in the German Empire.
This Invention has for its object the application to carriages of apparatus by
means of which the traces can be rapidly disconnected from the carriage either by
hand or from the driver's seat in cases of the horses either falling or running away,
and by which the traces can also be readily attached again.
For this purpose there is provided at each end of the splinter bar a metal
bracket having, firstly, a horizontal slot for receiving the flat end of the trace; and,
secondly, above this a vertical pin capable of sliding up and down within a casing,
which pin when in the lowered position passes through a hole in the trace, and
into a recess in the slot below it, and thus holds the trace securely, while when in
the raised position the trace is free to be drawn out of its slot. The pin is urged
downwards by a spring, and it has a lateral stud projecting through a vertical slot
in the casing, and resting with its end upon a helical cam mounted on a vertical
axis on the bracket, so that by turning the cam in one direction by means of a
lever the stud on the sliding pin, and with it the pin itself, is raised against the
action of the spring, while on turning the cam in the contrary direction the pin is
lowered again. The levers of the two cams at each end of the splinter bar being
connected by a rod, it will be seen that by actuating the one lever either by hand
or by a rod from the driver's scat both cams will be simultaneously rotated so as
to release the traces; or if the carriage has double harness, then all four of the cam
levers can be connected by a rod so as to be actuated simultaneously. The sliding
pin has a head outside the casing, and upon the top of the latter is pivotted a
lever having a stud, which when the sliding pin has been raised can be turned so
as to bring the stud underneath its head, and thus keep it in the raised position
until the trace has been inserted in its slot.
According to another modification, the slot for receiving the trace is arranged.
vertically, and the sliding pin is horizontal, and it is provided with a head having
a cam face, against which acts a second cam face on a rotatable boss, through
which the pin passes, so that on rotating the boss by [means of a lever the sliding.
pin is forced outwards by the action of the cam faces against the action of a
spring. The lever of the boss has a handle by which it can be operated by hand,
and it is also connected by a slotted link to another lever on a spindle that
extends across the splinter bar, connecting the two apparatus, which spindle has a
treadle that can be operated from the driver's seat so as to turn the spindle, and
thereby cause the sliding pins to be withdrawn from the traces. The slotted link
allows the spindle and treadle to be moved back into [the original position after
withdrawing the sliding pins, while leaving these in the withdrawn position for'
the insertion of the ends of the traces.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings shews a side view of the before described
apparatus for single harness; Fig. 2 a vertical section shewing the trace released;
Ti
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page_text: for double harness; Fig. 11, a plan of a modification of the closed apparatus for a
vertical position of the traces; Fig. 12, the same view with the traces released;
Fig. 13, a side view of the apparatus closed; Fig. 14, the same view with traces
released; Fig. 15, a plan of the combined apparatus for a splinter bar.
The trace a, Fig. 9, is formed with a hole in which a vertically sliding bolt b
fits. The mechanism is connected to a casing c formed of one piece, into which is
inserted the trace at each end of the splinter bar, as at Fig. 7. The bolt b has at
the side a stud d engaging in a slot e in the casing c, and formed in one with a
collar which constitutes the abutment for the spring h. The projecting end of
the stud & bears upon the helical surface f of the cam E. If the latter be turned
by means of the lever g the stud d, and consequently also the bolt b, will be raised
or lowered, thereby releasing or securing the trace a. As the bolt b is only raised
by the cam E it is urged downwards by the spring which bears against a cover F
screwed on to the top of the casing. The bolt b has furthermore a head i screwed
on to it, so that by unscrewing this the driver can readily replace a defective
spring or the bolt itself with a new one. The head has also the object to hold
the bolt in its raised position, in order more conveniently to insert the trace.
This is effected by introducing a lever m under the head, the lever being made to
turn on a pivot at K and having a handle 1. The lever m has a pin n on which
the head rests on releasing the lever g of the head. In order to effect the simul-
taneous raising and lowering of the bolts, and consequently the simultaneous
releasing of the traces from the splinter bar, the levers g and g¹ of the cams E, E¹,
are connected by a rod o, and the lever g¹ has an extension serving as a handle for
turning it by hand. For simultaneously releasing all four traces of double harness
the two connecting rods o and o¹ of each pair are coupled together by a link p.
This arrangement is of course only applicable with a fixed splinter bar.
For the second modification of the apparatus the casing c¹ (Fig. 10) is so formed
and fixed that the slot for receiving the trace is in a vertical position. The bolt b₁
slides both through the casing c¹ and through the eye of a bracket m¹ fixed thereto,
the eye and bolt being made rectangular so as to prevent the latter from turning.
The bolt carries a cam E³ with helical face, against which bears the similar face f
of the cam E2, which can be rotated on the bolt b¹ by means of the lever n'. This
lever is connected by means of the link o', having a slot s¹ (Figs. 13 and 14) with
the bell crank lever g², g³. A spring h¹ acting on the end of the bolt b¹ tends to
keep this in the inward position.
The mode of operating with this apparatus is as follows:-If the traces are to
be attached, the two bolts b¹ are simultaneously withdrawn from the casing c' by
pressing upon the lever g³, thus bringing the parts from the position shewn at
Fig. 13 into that shewn at Fig. 14. The lever g², g³, can then be raised, whereby
it assumes the position shewn at Fig. 13, the link o' being made to slide with its
slot 8 over the stud p¹ on the lever n, so that the latter remains in the position
at Fig. 14. The traces can now be inserted, after which the bolts b are shot
inwards again so as to pass through and lock the traces by turning the lever n¹.
It will thus be seen that in detaching the traces where it is essential that all of
these should be liberated simultaneously; this is readily effected by pressure
upon the lever g2, and the detaching can be effected from the driver's seat by means
of a treadle, which is a great advantage in cases of carriage horses taking
fright.
As in the arrangement shown at Figs. 1 to 10 the apparatus can be applied to
double harness as well as single harness by coupling together the two sets thereof,
so that a single lever or treadle may be made to liberate both sets. Fig. 15 shews
a plan of the apparatus as applied to a pivotted splinter bar..
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I claim,
First. The herein described construction of apparatus for attaching and releasing
horses' harness, wherein a bolt or pin passing through a hole in the trace so as to

page_text: hold it is withdrawn so as to free the trace by the action of a revolving helical
surface turned by means of a lever in one direction, the bolt or pin being urged in
the contrary direction by a spring.
Second. The construction of apparatus, herein described with reference to
Figs. 1 to 7 of the accompanying Drawings, for simultaneously attaching and
releasing both traces of single harness by means of vertical sliding bolts or pins
actuated by a single lever.
Third. The combined arrangement of apparatus referred to in the preceding claim
for double harness, so that all four pins or bolts can be simultaneously actuated by
means of a single lever, as herein described.
Fourth. The construction of apparatus, herein described with reference to
Figs. 11 to 15 of the Drawings, for simultaneously attaching and releasing single
harness by means of horizontal sliding bolts or pins actuated by a single
lever.
Fifth. The combined arrangement of apparatus referred to in the preceding claim
for double harness, so that all four pins or bolts can be simultaneously actuated by
means of a single lever, as berein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.
CHA³, D. ABEL. (L.S.)