IMPROVE- MENTS IN SADDLES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Dunlop, of Haddington, in the County
of Haddington, Scotland, Saddler, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SADDLES."
Scaled the 20th April 1853, and dated the 16th December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Dunlop at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th December 1852.
I, JAMES DUNLOP, of Haddington, in the County of Haddington,
Scotland, Saddler, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES " to be as follows:
My Invention consists in adapting and applying to saddles a ball
and socket joint, by means of which the part on which the rider
sits, or in the case of a cart saddle, the part to which the harness is
connected, is capable of moving freely on the part of the saddle
attached to the horse's back.

page_text: The saddle is thus composed of two parts; one fixed to the horse,
the other moveable on a ball & socket joint.
In riding saddles, the ball & socket joint may be formed by
inserting the socket in the saddle-tree, and the ball in a metal plate
corresponding in form with the saddle-tree, the projection of the
ball from the socket being only so much as to allow of an casy play
of the plate over the saddle-trec.
In cart saddles, the ball and socket joint may be formed by
inserting the socket in the "crib," or part that is fixed to the
horse's back, and the ball may be attached or connected to the
"board," or part of the saddle over or to which the harness is
applied. The ball projects out of the socket just sufficiently to
admit of an easy play of the "board." over the "crib."
Both descriptions of saddles will be padded or covered in the
usual manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said James Dunlop in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES DUNLOP, of Haddington, in the County of Haddington,
Scotland, Saddler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Dunlop, Her
special license that I, the said James Dunlop, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Dunlop, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
tine agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
night make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and. Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Dunlop, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Dunlop, 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; reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
My Invention of "Improvements in Saddles" is intended to give
freedom of movement to the part of the saddle on which the rider
sits, or to which the harness is attached or connected, so that it may
readily accommodate itself to the movements of the horse. And
this effect is accomplished by the adaptation and application of a
ball and socket joint, or ball and socket joints, between that part
or parts of the saddle which is or are fastened to the horse's back,
and that part on which the rider sits, or to which the harness
is connected. So that instead of the whole of the saddle being
fixed, a part or parts is or are fixed, and the remaining part is
capable of moving on a ball and socket joint or joints.
In applying my Invention to riding saddles, the ball and socket
joint or joints may be suitably formed by inserting the socket or
sockets in the saddle-tree, and by fixing the ball or balls on to a
metal plate or plates, corresponding in form with the under part of
the saddle-tree, causing a space between the plate or plates and the
saddle-tree only so great as to allow of an easy play of the latter
over the former. And in applying my Invention to cart saddles,
the ball and socket joint or joints may be formed by inserting the
socket or sockets in the "crib," or that part of the saddle which

page_text: embraces the horse's back, and by fixing the ball or balls on to the
"board," or that part of the saddle over or to which the harness is
applied. In this case the space between the "board" and the
"crib," is only sufficient to admit of an easy play of the former
over the latter.
In order, however, that my Invention may be more fully under-
stood, I will proceed to explain the accompanying Drawings, in
which are represented the parts of the saddle above referred to, as
they would appear before they were padded and covered.
Fig. 1, is a longitudinal section; Fig. 2, is a transverse
section; and Fig. 3, an underneath plan view, of the parts of a
riding saddle. Figures 4, 5, and 6, are similar views of corre-
sponding parts of a cart saddle. a (Figures 1, 2, and 3), is the
saddle-trec; and b, b, the metal plates; c, c, are the sockets inserted.
in the saddle-tree; and d, d, are the balls on the metal plates b, b
(secured thereto as shewn or otherwise), and fitting into the sockets
c, C. In a finished saddle the metal plates b, b, being suitably
padded and covered, are secured to the back of the horse in the
usual. manner in which the underneath part of a saddle has been
heretofore secured. The saddle-tree a, also padded and covered, is
then capable of accommodating itself to the movements of the
horse, instead of being fixed with the other part or parts of the
saddle. e, Figures 4, 5, and 6, is the "board," and f, is the "crib,"
of a cart saddle; g, g, are the balls fixed on the board e, fitting into
the sockets h, h, formed or inserted in the "crib "f; the "board"
e, is then capable of accommodating itself to the movements of the
horse, as the weight presses upon it.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood
that I do not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise form
and arrangements of the part or parts of the saddle which are to
be fixed, and the part which is to be moveable on a ball and socket
joint or joints; neither do I claim as of my Invention any of the
parts of saddles above described, separately considered; but what

page_text: I do claim as of my Invention is, the manufacture of saddles
composed of two parts, whereof one is to be fixed to the horse, and
the other moveable on a ball and socket joint as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Dunlop, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
(L.S.) JAMES DUNLOP.
JAMES ALLAN, witness.