Improvements in Horse Shoes,
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Mar., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 8th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 13th Jan., 1900
Improvements in Horse Shoes,
I, REGINALD HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert Haddan & Co., of 18, Bucking-
ham Street, Strand, W.C., Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication to me from abroad by William R. Howe, of Dayton,
County of Montgomery, and State of Ohio, in the United States of America,
Physician) to be as follows:-
My invention relates to that class of horse shoes, in which there is a recess
in the under side to receive elastic material to prevent shocks and jars and to
keep the horse from slipping, and it has for its object the improved construction
of such shoes whereby their durability and efficiency are very largely increased.
The body of the shoe is of the usual or any suitable construction, made of
iron or other proper metal, and with a groove on its under side, running from
heel to heel and cut away at the toe so as to dispense with the front wall of the
groove at that point. This groove is enlarged or made dövetailed at the base,
or formed in such shape as to be wider within the groove than at the surface.
For example it may be of equal width for a certain distance inwards and then
obliquely enlarged so as to be of dovetail form.
Fitted within the groove and extending slightly beyond the middle of the bottom
of the shoe, is an elastic packing which is of soft vulcanized rubber or any other
suitable material, possessing its characteristics of elasticity and adhesion on wet or
slippery surfaces. While this packing at the point where it. projects from the
middle of the shoe entirely fills the width of the groove, yet a space is left on
cach side of the packing within the groove, for example by the inner dovetailed
part of the packing having less splay than the dovetailed part of the groove in
which it lies, so that the packing when receiving the weight of the horse may
readily expand within the groove, and thus prevent the very considerable wear
heretofore experienced in the use of elastic tread horse shoes. This provision
for space for the packing to expand within the groove when compressed, con-
stitutes one of the most valuable features of my invention, for without it the
packing would be crowded out over the edges of the groove at the bottom of the
shoe and would be soon worn out and cut away. By providing, however, for
this ready expansion within the groove, the life of the packing is prolonged and
the material will last practically as long as the metal of the shoe.
The shoe is made with an opening at the toe, which is filled with the elastic
packing and thus provides a non slipping toe piece. A feature also of con-
siderable importance for as is well known, horses in lifting their feet always tilt
them on the toe to get a purchase in moving forward, and by my construction
this toe is composed wholly of the elastic non slipping material and in this
connection it may be observed that it will be preferable to make that portion of
the rubber at the toe piece harder than the rest so as better to resist the wear.
At the base of the packing there may be a strip of canvas to give substantial
backing against the base of the groove. Instead of this strip of canvas the
rubber may be hardened at the base, while to give a little more elasticity when
desired, a longitudinal opening, may be provided from end to end. The pack-
ing is inserted in the groove from the toe opening, the end portions being

page_text: readily pushed to the heel, and when desired a flange of metal, may be provided
at the toe opening to be bent up and over the front of the toe. portion to hold
the same in place.
With this construction it will be evident that the packing will be held in the
groove by the side flanges thereon and no other means of fastening the packing
in the groove will be required.
I, REGINALD HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert Haddan & Co., of 18, Bucking-
ham Street, Strand, W.C., Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication to me from abroad by William R. Howe, of Dayton,
County of Montgomery, and State of Ohio, in the United States of America,
Physician) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to that class of horse shoes, in which there is a recess
in the under side to receive clastic material to prevent shocks and jars and to
keep the horse from slipping, and it has for its object the improved construction
of such shoes whereby their durability and efficiency are very largely increased.
The body of the shoe is of the usual or any suitable construction made of
iron or other proper metal, and with a groove on its under side, running from
heel to heel and cut away at the toe so as to dispense with the front wall of the
groove at that point. This groove is enlarged or made dovetailed at the base,
or formed in such shape as to be wider within the groove than at the surface.
For example it may be of equal width for a certain distance inwards and then
obliquely enlarged so as to be of dovetail form.
Fitted within the groove and extending slightly beyond the middle of the bottom
of the shoe, is an elastic packing which is of soft vulcanized rubber or any other
suitable material, possessing its characteristics.of elasticity and adhesion on wet or
slippery surfaces. While this packing at the point where it projects from the
middle of the shoe entirely fills the width of the groove and in the remainder
of the groove the packing is wider within the groove than at its outer surface,
yet a space is left on each side of the packing within said remainder of the
groove, for example by the inner dovetailed part of the packing having less
splay than the dovetailed part of the groove in which it lies, so that the packing
when receiving the weight of the horse may readily expand within the groove
and thus prevent the very considerable wear heretofore experienced in the use
of elastic tread horse-shoes. This provision for space for the packing to expand
within the groove when compressed, constitutes one of the most valuable features
of my invention, for without it the packing would be pressed out over the edges
of the groove at the bottom of the shoe and would be soon worn and cut away.
By providing, however, for this ready expansion within the groove, the life of
the packing is prolonged and the material will last practically as long as the
metal of the shoe.
The shoe is made with an opening at the toe, which is filled with the elastic
packing and thus provides a non-slipping toe piece. This is a feature also of con-
siderable importance for as is well known, horses in lifting their feet always tilt
them on the toe to get a purchase in moving forward, and by my construction
this toe is composed wholly of the elastic non slipping material and in this
connection it may be observed that it will be preferable to make that portion of
the rubber at the toe piece harder than the rest so as better to resist the wear.

page_text: At the base of the packing there may be a strip of canvas to give substantial
backing against the base of the groove. Instead of this strip of canvas the
rubber may be hardened at the base, while to give a little more elasticity when
desired, a longitudinal opening may be provided from end to end. The pack-
ing is inserted in the groove from the toe opening the end portions being
readily pushed to the heel, and when desired a flange of metal may be provided
at the toe opening to be bent up and over the front of the toe portion to hold
the same in place.
With this construction it will be evident that the packing will be held in the
groove by the side flanges thereon and no other means of fastening the packing
in the groove will be required.
This invention is illustrated in the annexed drawing in which Fig. 1 is an
underneath plan view of the shoe, Figure 2 a cross section thereof on line 2-2
and Fig. 3 a front end view thereof.
A represents the metallic part of the shoe and B the elastic packing. The
preferable cross sectional shape of the groove a in the metallic part A is shown
in Figure 2. For some distance inward of the exterior surface of the shoe the
walls of the groove a in this example are rectangular to the surface as at ; the
said walls then flare outward from one another as at e to the base d of the groove
which is in a plane parallel to the surface of the shoe. At the toe of the shoe
the forward side of the groove a extends to the front edge of the shoe where a
clip of metal f is provided (see Fig. 1). At the heels of the shoe the groove a
is shown as stopped and rounded:
The elastic packing has the same shape as the groove a except that its flaring
part has not such a wide angle of spread as the flaring part of the groove.
Thus there remains between the packing and the inner surface of the groove
a space in which the packing may expand, as before described, while also the
packing holds itself at all times in the groove without any other means of
fastening.
to the elastic packing and also the
Fig. 2 shows the backing of canvas
longitudinal opening e herein before referred to.
While I have illustrated in the drawings the preferred form of cross section
for the groove and the packing B 1 do not limit myself to this form but:-
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. A horse shoe provided with a groove on its inner surface wider in cross
section within than at the surface and an elastic packing partly filling said
groove also wider within than at the surface of the groove so that the packing
can expand within the groove under external pressure while at the same time
holding itself within the groove.
2. A horse shoe provided with a groove on its under surface wider in cross
section within than at the surface and with an opening in the front wall at the
toe and an elastic packing partly filling said groove also wider within than at
the surface of the groove so that the packing can expand within the groove under
external pressure whilst at the same time holding itself in the groove.
3. A horse shoe having a groove a and a packing B both of the shape herein-
above described and illustrated in the drawings.