IM- PROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES." -A communication from abroad by James
Tonnor Mallett of the City of Now You: United States of Imanice
Sealed the 6th October 1865, and dated the 11th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
April 1865.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in that class of horse-shoes which
are constructed of sectional parts jointed together, with a view to adapt them
to hoofs of different sizes, and thereby avoid the necessity of heating and
bending the shoes for this purpose.
The main object of this Invention is to so construct sectional-jointed horse-
shoes that they are not only adaptable to hoofs of various sizes, but which are
with equal facility conformable to hoofs of different shapes, and which are also
so constructed that they shall accommodate themselves to the natural growth
or spreading of the hoof when nailed thereto, as will be herein-after
described.

page_text: Another object of this Invention is to construct a sectional-jointed shoe,
which shall be less liable to break at the joints than hitherto, and wherein
all danger arising from loose rivets injuring the hoof is avoided, as will be
berein-after described.
Another object of this Invention is to support a horse-shoe which is jointed
on each side at an intermediate point between the heel of the shoe and the
toe joint upon calks, which are so applied or arranged as to give a firm
bearing to the hoof, and also a support for each joint, as will be herein-after
described.
My Invention finally has for its object the construction of a sectional-jointed
horse-shoe in such manner that the heel sections thereof shall be susceptible
of lateral adjustment, independently of those portions which are in advance
of the greatest lateral diameter of the hoof, as will be hercin-after described.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention I will
describe its construction and operation.
Before describing this Invention I deem it proper to state that almost all
the diseases which arise in the fect of horses are in some way attributable to
the inflexibility of the shoes, which as hitherto constructed, do not allow the
hoof to expand naturally, but cramp and confine it in such manner as to
check the natural flow of the juices of the hoof, and thus produce dryness and
other diseases consequent thereon. This difficulty I effectually remedy by
constructing shoes which will expand as the hoof grows, and which will also
be sufliciently flexible to admit of the natural elasticity of the hoof under all
circumstances.
Fig. 1 is a bottom view of this improved shoe; Fig. 2 is a similar view
showing the same shoe contracted at two points; Fig. 3 is a perspective
view of the top of the shoe; Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, are views of the shoe in
detail showing the construction of the sectional parts thereof. Similar letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
In Fig. 1 I have represented my improved horse-shoe adjusted to conform to
a normal boof; in this view it will be seen that all that portion of the shoe
forward of the red line a, a, forms a semicircle, and that the heel portions
extending on the opposite side of said line are curved tangents of said semi-
circle gradually converging towards each other. In Fig. 2 I have represented
the same shoc adapted to fit a differently shaped foot or hoof; in this view the
sides of the shoe are contracted, but the distance between the extremities of
the heel portions remains the same as in Fig. 1. The red lines, however,
represent these heel portions adjusted nearer together. It will thus be seen
that the shoe is susceptible of being adapted to hoofs of various sizes as well as of

page_text: different shapes, and that the heel sections of the shoe can be adjusted without
changing the shape of the forward portion of the shoe, and also that the
forward portions can be adjusted and set further apart or nearer together
without the necessity of changing the distance between the rear ends of the
rear portions.
It will be seen that this shoe is composed of five separate pieces or segments
of circles.
a represents the toe section; b, b', the side sections; and c, c', the
heel sections. These several sections are pivotted together so as to form close
or "rule joints," as clearly shown in the Drawings; and these joints are made
by halving and overlapping the rounded ends of the sections, employing as
connections the cylindrical pins e, e, e, which are cast or otherwise formed on
the overlapping ends, and made of sufficient length to project through the
upper sections, and admit of having their ends mashed down into countersinks
to form rivets. By thus connecting the sections together I do not leavo
broken surfaces nor openings which would be liable to fill up with foreign
substances, and thus prevent these joints from working, and by this mode of
forming the rivets they cannot wear loose nor injure the hoof by being forced
therein, while at the same time they increase the strength of metal at the
joints, and render the shoe less liable to break at these points than it would
be if the rivets passed through both ends of the joint.
It will be seen that I have four joints in my shoe, and that the yare so
disposed as to enable me to accommodate the sections to the shape of the horse's
hoof, that is, the two intermediate joints at i, i, allow the forward sections
b, b, to be adjusted further apart or nearer together, according to the width
of the hoof without changing the distance between the rear ends of the heel
sections c, c¹, as represented by a comparison of the two Figures 1 and 2. Or
said joints i, i, will admit of the heel sections being adjusted independently of
the three forward, sections, to adapt the shoe to very wide or very narrow
quarters," as indicated by the red lines, Fig. 2. It is the side joints or
those which are at intermediate points between the rear ends of the heel
sections and the forward joints that enable me to accommodate my shoe to the
shape of the different sized hoofs, and it is desirable that these joints be located
at or as near as possible to the points represented in the Drawings, otherwise
the difficulty existing in the old two or three jointed shoes will be experienced
to a greater or less degree.
66
In referring to the three-jointed stiff side bar shoes, I will here state that
they cannot be spread out at the sides without also spreading out their rear
ends so far as to render them useless, nor can they be spread out at the heel
without distorting their shape at the sides; but by the addition of the other

page_text: joints herein-described, the shoe can be adjusted at the sides as well as at the
heel. After my shoes are nailed to the hoofs the joints will yield, and the
rear sections will expand in proportion as the hoof increases in size without
loosening or shortening the nails, consequently there will be no cramping of the
frog nor injurious results from this cause, and the shoes will not be liable to
come off as casily as the old shoes.
I
The shoe represented in the Drawings is calked, but I do not confine this
Invention to calked shoes exclusively, as it will be evident that the use of
calks is optional. The toe calk y is made of sufficient width to support the
two forward joints and the calks g', g', between the heel calks g*, g², and
the toe calk are arranged directly under the joints i, i, so as to support the
shoe at these points. The nail holes can be made along the edges of the
several sections, and the shoes nailed to the hoofs in the usual manner.
It is obvious that the side sections and heel sections of my shoe may be
subdivided and jointed together, but as this will render the shoes unnecessarily
expensive and weak they will probably never be made with a greater number
of joints than I have above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Clark, 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,
excrcise, 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," a communication to me from abroad by James Fenner Mallett,
of the City of New York, United States of America, upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 William Clark, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
Fig. 1 is a bottom view of this shoe; Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the
same shoe contracted at two points; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the top
of the shoe; Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are views of the shoe in detail, showing
the construction of the sectional parts thereof. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
This Invention relates to improvements in that class of horse-shoes which
are constructed of sectional parts jointed together with a view to adapt them
to hoofs of different sizes, and thereby avoid the necessity of heating and
bending the shoes for this purpose.
The main object of this Invention is to so construct sectional-jointed horse-
shoes that they are not only adaptable to hoofs of various sizes, but which are
with equal facility conformable to hoofs of different shapes, and which are also
so constructed that they shall accommodate themselves to the natural growth or
spreading of the hoof when nailed thereto, as will be herein-after described.
Another object of this Invention is to so construct a sectional-jointed shoe,
which shall be less liable to break at the joints than hitherto, and wherein all
danger arising from loose rivets injuring the hoof is avoided, as will be herein-
after described.
Another object of this Invention is to support a horse-shoe which is jointed
at each side at an intermediate point between the heel of the shoe and
the toc joint upon calks, which are so applied or arranged as to give a firm
bearing to the hoof, and also a support for each joint, as will be herein-after.
described.
This Invention finally has for its object the construction of a sectional-
jointed horse-shoe in such manner that the heel sections thereof shall be
susceptible of lateral adjustment, independently of those portions which are in

page_text: advance of the greatest lateral diameter of the hoof, as will be herein-after
described.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention, I will
describe its construction and operation.
Before describing this Invention I deem it proper to state that almost all
the diseases which arise in the feet of horses are in some way attributable to
the inflexibility of the shoes, which, as hitherto constructed, do not allow the
hoof to expand naturally, but cramp and confine it in such manner as to check
the natural flow of the juices of the hoof, and thus produce dryness and other
diseases consequent thereon. This difficulty I effectually remedy by con-
structing shoes which will expand as the hoof grows, and which will also be
sufficiently flexible to admit of the natural elasticity of the hoof under all
circumstances.
In Fig. 1 I have represented this improved horse-shoe adjusted to conform
to the normal hoof; in this view it will be seen that all that portion of the
shoe forward of the red line a, a, forms a semicircle, and that the heel portions
extending on the opposite side of said line are curved tangents of said semi-
circle gradually converging towards each other. In Fig. 2 I have represented
the same shoe adapted to fit a differently shaped foot or hoof; in this view tho
sides of the shoe are contracted, but the distance between the extremities of
the heel portions remains the same as in Fig. 1. The red lines, however,
represent these heel portions adjusted nearer together. It will thus be seen
that the shoe is susceptible of being adapted to hoofs of various sizes, as well
as of different shapes, and that the heel sections of the shoe can be adjusted
without changing the shape of the forward portion of the shoe, and also that
the forward portions can be adjusted and set further apart or nearer together
without the necessity of changing the distance between the rear ends of the
rear portions.
It will be seen that this shoe is composed of five separate pieces or
segments of circles. a represents the toe section; b, b, the side sections;
and c, c', the heel sections. These several sections are pivotted together, so
as to form close or "rule joints," as clearly shown in the Drawings; and
these joints are made by "halving" and overlapping the rounded ends of the
sections, employing as connections the cylindrical pins e, c, c, which are cast or
otherwise formed on the underlapping ends, and made of sufficient length to
project through the upper sections, and admit of having their ends mashed
down into countersinks to form rivets. By thus connecting the sections
together I do not leave broken surfaces nor openings, which would be liable
to fill up with foreign substances, and thus prevent these joints from working,

page_text: and by this mode of forming the rivets they cannot wear loose, nor injure the
hoof by being forced therein, while at the same time they increase the strength
of metal at the joints, and render the shoe less liable to break at these points
than it would be if the rivets passed through both ends of the joint.
It will be seen that I have four joints in this shoe, and that they are so
disposed as to enable me to accommodate the sections to the shape of a horse's
hoof, viz., that is, the two intermediate joints at i, i, allow the forward
sections b, b', to be adjusted further apart or nearer together, according to the
width of the hoof, without changing the distance between the rear ends of
the heel sections c, c', as represented by a comparison of the two Figures 1
and 2; or said joints i, i, will admit of the heel sections being adjusted inde-
pendently of the three forward sections to adapt the shoe to very wide or
very narrow "quarters," as indicated by the red lines, Fig. 2. It is the side
joints, or those which are at intermediate points between the rear ends of the.
heel sections and the forward joints that enable me to accomodate these
shoes to the shape of different sized hoofs, and it is desirable that these joints
be located at or as near as possible to the points represented in the Drawings,
otherwise the difficulty existing in the old two or three jointed shoes will be
experienced to a greater or less degree.
In referring to the three-jointed stiff' side bar shoes, I will here state that
they cannot be spread out at the sides without also spreading out their rear
ends so far as to render them useless, nor can they be spread out at the heel
without distorting their shape at the sides, but by the addition of the other
joints, herein described, the shoe can be adjusted at the sides as well as at the
heel. After these shoes are nailed to the hoofs the joints will yield, and the
rear sections will expand in proportion as the hoof increases in size without
loosening or shortening the nails, consequently there will be no cramping of
the frog nor injurious results from this cause, and the shoe will not be liable
to come off as easily as the old shoes.
The shoe represented in the Drawings is calked, but I do not confine this
Invention to calked shoes exclusively, as it will be evident that the use of
calks is optional. The toe calk 9 is made of sufficient width to support the
two forward joints, and the calks g', g', between the heel calks f, g, and the
too calk are arranged directly under the joints i, i, so as to support the shoe at
these points. The nail holes can be made along the edges of the several
sections, and the shoes nailed to the hoofs in the usual manner.
It is obvious that the side sections and heel sections of this shoe may be
subdivided and jointed together, but as this will render the shoes unnecessarily

page_text: expensive and weak they will probably never be made with a greater number
of joints than I have above described.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, a sectional jointed horse-shoe, which is so constructed that it can be
expanded or contracted in width either at the heel, or at an intermediate
point between the heel and toe, or at both of said points at pleasure,
substantially as described.
Secondly, a sectional jointed horse-shoe, which is constructed with one or both
of its heel sections jointed to forward jointed sections, substantially as and for
the purposes described.
Thirdly, so constructing the pivot pins of a sectional jointed horse-shoe,
that they constitute a part of the underlapping portions of the sections,
substantially as described.
Fourthly, the use of projections g, g', g, applied to a sectional jointed horse-
shoe in such manner as to strengthen the sections at the joints, and to
constitute calks for preventing the horse from slipping, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
JAMES DAISHI,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)