Improvements in Horse Traction Arrangements for Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st May, 1896
La 1014
1002
J
200
Date of Application, 21st May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 19th Feb., 1907 Accepted, 1st May, 1997
Improvements in Horse Traction Arrangements for Vehicles.
I, The Right Honourable DOUGLAS MACKINNON BAILLIE HAMILTON
COCHRANE, EARL OF DUNDONALD, of No. 34 Portman Square, in the County
of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to traction arrangements for vehicles, such that the horse
or horses can be easily and rapidly attached to or detached from the vehicle, which
may be, for example, a gun carriage, au ambulance, a fire engine or other carriage
for which rapid attachment and detachment are desirable.
For this purpose, I arrange the harness, where one horse is employed, so as
to carry a pair of shafts connected together at the rear, and which may consist of
a steel tube bent to the form of a U; or, when two horses are employed they carry
between them a pole and, on their outer sides, shafts, the pole and shafts being
attached to a cross or splinter bar behind.
In cases where the horse has to carry a rider, the shafts extend forward only to
the rear part of the saddle, and are connected to the collar or breast band.
The middle part of the rear connection of the pair of shafts or of the splinter
bar is provided with a guide to receive and hold a catch formed on the end of a
short pole projecting from the front of the vehicle.
These parts are so formed that they can engage with each other even when the
vehicle is not directly or nearly directly in line behind the horse or horses, but
when once the parts are engaged and the traction brings them in line, a spring
catch engages in a hole or notch which retains them so.
1
In cases where the shafts or pole or both are attached to a detachable fore
carriage, I provide on the fore carriage the guides with which the short pole of the
hind carriage engages, this pole being bent upwards and the guides being arranged
on the top of the fore carriage so as to admit of the connection of the hind to the
fore carriage even when they are considerably out of line with one another.
Dated this 21st day of May 1896.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Horse Traction Arrangements for Vehicles.
I, The Right Honourable. DOUGLAS MACKINNON BAILLIE HAMILTON
COCHRANE, EARL OF DUNDONALD, of No. 34 Portman Square, in the County
of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention 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 traction arrangements for vehicles such that the horse or
horses can be easily and rapidly attached to or detached from the vehicle which
may for example, be a gun carriage, an ambulance, a fire engine or other vehicle

page_text: for which ready attachment and detachment are desirable, as I shall describe
referring to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 shews in perspective a horse carrying a pair of short shafts having means
of attachment to an arm projecting from the front of the vehicle. Fig. 2 is a plan,
Fig. 3 a rear view, Fig. 3 a detail, Fig. 4 a vertical longitudinal section and
Fig. 5 a horizontal longitudinal section of the arm and its connection to the shafts.
Figs. 6 and 7 shew modifications.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view shewing the connection of the arm of the vehicle to
a pole and pair of shafts arranged for two horses, and Fig. 9 shews the connection
of the arm to a detachable fore carriage.
As shewn in Fig. 1 the horse is harnessed and provided with a saddle for a
rider the shafts A are therefore made short so as not to interfere with the rider's
limbs, each shaft having its end loosely held in a pocket a formed on an adjustable
flap a attached to the saddle. The shaft is also freely connected at a to straps a³
and a extending respectively round the breast and the hind quarters of the
horse.
The shafts are preferably made of steel tube bent to U form, and they are
carried by the pockets a and suitable straps a³.
When there is no rider, the shafts may extend forward and be supported from
the saddle in the usual way, being attached by traces either to the breast band a³
or to a collar. In any case, the shafts are supported at such a height that a socket
provided on their rear bend A¹ can be entered by an arm B which projects from
the front of the vehicle.
Referring now to Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive, on the bend A' of the shafts A I fix a
bracket C within an eye of which is pivotted so as to lie free to swivel a trumpet
mouthed socket c. Within the bracket C there is an arch guide c', concentric
with the pivot of the socket c, and in the centre of the circle c' there is a hole c*
of a segmental form, its lower part coinciding with a round hole in the middle of
the shaft bend A. The arm B is tubular and has lateral slots in each of which is
pivotted a pawl 6 which are urged outwards by springs as far as permitted by stops
on the pawls. There is also within the arm B a bolt 6' which is slotted to admit
the pawls and their springs, and is urged forwards by a helical spring 62. The
front part of the bolt is round to enter the hole in A¹ and immediately behind
this round part is a projection 63 which, as shewn in Fig. 3A, can move partly
round within the segmental hole c. For attaching the vehicle to the shafts the
end of the arm B is inserted in the socket c which being swivelled can present
itself to receive the arm as it is inserted, even when the arm B is at a considerable
obliquity to the centre line of the shafts.
As the arm B is inserted the pawls bare pressed inwards until the arm is so far
inserted that they spring out and hold it.
The end of the bolt 6, if it does not happen to be in line with the centre of the
shaft bend A comes against the arch e¹ and is pressed inwards, until, on the traction
bringing it into line with the centre line of the shafts, the end of the bolt b¹ enters
the hole c and the farther hole in A¹. As the projection 63 can move to and fro
within the segmental hole c² the vehicle is permitted to rock to a certain extent
laterally. In order to detach the shafts from the vehicle the pawls b are pushed
in by hand, the shafts being thus released. Instead of the spring pawls b a key b
may be used as shewn in Fig. 6, the key passing freely through a slot of the bolt b
and through holes in the sides of the arm B wide enough to allow for cant of
the vehicle when the wheel on one side is on higher ground than that on the
other side.
According to the modification shewn in Fig. 1 the bracket C¹ has a hole to
receive a pin D projecting down from the arm B.
In a slot of the pin D is pivotted a spring pawl d which yields while the pin is
being inserted in the hole of C' if the arm is not in line with the centre line of the
shafts, but on its being brought into line it springs out into a notch d¹ formed in
the upper part of the hole.

page_text: After the pin is introduced into the hole of C¹ a key d is inserted in a slot of D
to prevent its withdrawal.
As shewn in Fig. 8 the bracket C to which the arm B is connected as above
described is fixed on a splinter bar E from which project forward a pole e between
a pair of horses and shafts e¹ outside the horses.
Fig. 9 shews the arm B connected to a fore carriage F which is attached by
shafts or by a pole and shafts to a horse or pair of horses. In this case in order
to allow for considerable obliquity of the vehicle relatively to the fore carriage, the
connection is arranged on the top of the fore carriage, the arm B being bent
upwards to reach it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A traction arrangement for a vehicle consisting of a pair of shafts or of a
splinter bar with pole and shafts carried by the horse or horses, an arm projecting
from the vehicle and a readily separable connection of the arm to the shafts or
splinter bar, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The separable connection of the vehicle arm to the shafts constructed and
operating substantially as described with reference to Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive.
3. The modified construction substantially as described with reference to Fig. 7.
4. A traction arrangement for a vehicle consisting of a fore carriage attached to
the horse or horses; an arm projecting from the vehicle and a readily separable
connection of the arm to the fore carriage, substantially as described with reference
to Fig. 9.
Dated this 18th dor of Kahruary 1807
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.