AN IMPROVED SAFETY STIRRUP
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lennan, of Dawson Street, in the City
of Dublin, Saddle and Harness Maker, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED SAFETY STIRRUP."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lennan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th June 1862.
I, WILLIAM LENNAN, of Dawson Street, in the City of Dublin, Saddle
and Harness Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
AN IMPROVED SAFETY STIRRUP," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction of safety side saddle
stirrup, for the purpose of disengaging the rider's foot in case of accidents.
According to this Invention, the rest which supports the foot in the stirrup is
extended to nearly the length of the foot, and is made to pivot at or near the
centre. At the top of the arch for the instep is hung a detent or latch, which
admits of the foot rest being turned up on its centre to a vertical position, and
holds it in that position, thus instantly releasing the foot in case of accidents,

page_text: and preventing its returning. A transverse bar or stop serves to keep the
foot rest in a horizontal position when the foot is bearing upon it in the
proper manner.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said William Lennan in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LENNAN, of Dawson Street, in the City of Dublin, Saddle and Harness Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Lennan, Her special license that I, the said William
Lennan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Lennan, my executors, administrators, or 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, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED SAFETY STIRRUP," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Lennan, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,
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 Lennan, 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 accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction of safety stirrup for
the purpose of disengaging the rider's foot in case of accidents. According to
this Invention, the rest which supports the foot in the stirrup is extended to
nearly the length of the foot, and is made to pivot at or near the centre. At

page_text: the top of the arch for the instep is hung a detent or latch, which admits of
the foot rest being turned up on its centre to a vertical position, and holds it
in that position or prevents it falling back again, thus instantly releasing the
foot in case of accidents. A transverse bar or stop serves to keep the foot
rest in a horizontal position when the foot is bearing upon it in a proper
manner.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a perspective view, full size, of my
improved safety stirrup; Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the
same, and Figure 3 is a similar view of the safety stirrup in the act of tipping
over when releasing or disengaging the rider's foot.
A is the rest which supports the foot, it is secured to a cross bar B, which
pivots or turns freely at each end in the lower extremities C, C, of the stirrup
iron; D is a curved bar corresponding in form nearly with the arch of the
stirrup iron, to which it is hung freely at the centre thereof, as shewn at E;
d, d, are two small projections formed on the lower ends of this curved latch
or detent and made to bear against the front of the stirrup iron, as shewn at d
in Figure 1, thereby preventing the detent D from passing or turning through
the stirrup, but allowing it to swing freely in the opposite direction, as shewn
in Figure 3. To this detent latch may be fitted a pad or cushion F (Figure 1),
to protect the instep, but I lay no claim to this pad. G is a fixed cross bar or
stop parallel to the turning bar which carries the rest, it is secured firmly at
each end to the extremities of the stirrup iron C, C, and acts as a support or
bearing surface for the rest when the latter is in its horizontal position, as
shewn in Figures.1 and 2.
Should the rider become accidentally thrown, or
requires instantly to disengage his or her foot from the stirrup, it is simply
requisite to bear upon the heel or bind portion of the rest, when the latter will
instantly turn up and throw out the foot, the toe of the rest passing under the
crown of the inner curved bar or detent, which opens or turns up to admit of
such passage, as shewn in Figure 3, and then drops into its vertical position
again against the back of the stirrup, so as to prevent the return of the rest
until the stirrup is readjusted.
By this arrangement of safety stirrup a perfect and certain release of the
foot is instantly obtained in any case of emergency.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried

page_text: into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the general construction and
arrangement of safety stirrup substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lennan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
WILLIAM LENNAN. (L.s.)
WILLIAM LENNAN. (L.s.)