Improvements in and relating to Harness for Horses.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 9th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 28th Oct., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Harness for Horses.
I, VICTOR MARIE EUGENE LITOUX, of Saffré, in the Republic of France,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to harness for horses, and comprises shaft harness with a
buckle of special construction. When in ordinary shaft harness the shaft is not
simply held by a broad loop of leather formed at the end of the back strap, it rests
in a kind of loop or channel of metal which is suspended from the inner side of the
back strap and receives on the outer side a strap forming the girth strap of the
belly band; in fact this strap surrounds the shaft, passing over it and then
descending in order to be attached to the belly band, like the girth proper of the
belly band; but whilst the girth of the belly band serves to strap up the horse by
directly tightening the belly band upon the saddle the girth strap establishes the
connection between the back band and the belly band. This girth strap cannot in
fact be used for tightening purposes, for passing round the shaft it renders the latter
immovable however little it is tightened. Now it is well-known that, especially for
two-wheeled carriages, the shaft must preserve, in order that no fatigue may be
experienced in the carriage, a sufficient mobility in the vertical direction while
being properly held in the horizontal direction the ordinary system does not
at all fulfil this condition, because it leaves no mean between rendering
the shaft immovable upon the saddle and allowing it to move freely in every
direction.
My improved system of shaft harness renders the tightening of the saddle with
the belly band independent of the tightening of the shaft in the shaft harness while
enabling the two tightening operations to be effected with the same strap.
For this purpose my shaft harness comprises a buckle which permits it to be
connected to the saddle, and a strap with two parts which is attached to a cross-
piece of the buckle. The longest part of the said strap surrounds the shaft, then
passes through a ring attached to the shortest part. But when this has been
effected the suspended end of the longest part, instead of being buckled directly to
the belly band, as is usually the case, is first slid upon a tongue fixed to the short
part of the strap.
If the distance between the said cross-piece of the buckle, to which the strap is
attached, and the ring is sufficiently great the shaft will have play in the vertical
direction, although not in the transverse direction if the longest part of the said
strap has been slid upon the tongue so as to stretch the portion comprised between
this tongue and the said cross piece. This arrangement renders the saddle strap
useless, because it enables the saddle to be tightened as much as may be desired
with the belly band, this tightening having no effect upon the tightening of the
shaft.
My shaft harness is also characterized by the special buckle having a fixed tongue
by which I connect it to the saddle. The great advantage of the buckle with a fixed
tongue is that it does not wear like the ordinary buckle with a movable tongue, which,
as is well-known, wears quickly owing to the friction of iron upon iron and to the
rust which results from the action of sweat, water, blacking, and the like. My
buckle with a fixed tongue is moreover very convenient, for it permits of the straps
being attached and detached rapidly and without effort; it constitutes one of the
important features of my invention and may be applied to all the parts of the
harness.

page_text: I will now describe the mode of construction which I preferably employ with my
shaft harness and its buckle.
The buckle comprises two vertical parts preferably bent a little for this particular
application, and a certain number, which may be varied according to requirements,
of cross-pieces provided at suitable distances from each other for allowing the
passage of the straps between them.
The second cross piece is provided with the fixed tongue the extremity of which
is slightly bent downwards so as not to let accidentally slip the strap attached
thereto, while permitting it to be detached and attached rapidly when desired.
In this instance the strap of the shaft harness is fixed to the lower cross piece of
the buckle; for this purpose I make the short part of the said strap of two
thicknesses sewed together except at the points where the said cross piece and the
ring are provided which pass between these two thicknesses. Between the aforesaid
ring and cross piece I insert by preference a third thickness of leather sewed
together with the other two; I also insert a third thickness at the extremity of the
long part of the said strap proximity to the above-mentioned cross piece; the
extremities of these third thicknesses serve as abutments for limiting the movement
of the cross piece in the space provided for it between the two thicknesses above
referred to. The length of this space is sufficient for allowing a certain longitudinal
displacement of the strap relatively to the buckle, to provide for slightly varying
the distance which separates the ring of the cross piece with the object of regulating
at will the vertical play of the shaft.
The tongue on which is slid the long part of the strap before buckling it to the
belly band is carried by a metallic plate fixed to the lower extremity of the said
short part, being interposed below the ring between the aforesaid two thicknesses
before sewing one to the other. This tongue is slightly bent upwards in order that
the long part of the strap may not become accidentally detached when it has been
slid thereon.
Another mode of construction of my shaft harness consists in replacing the short
part of the said strap by a metallic band articulated to the lower cross piece of the
buckle and carrying the ring, which is mounted by a hinge upon this band, and the
fixed tongue. The extremity of the strap which must be attached to the belly band
is in this case fixed to an intermediate cross piece of the buckle.
It will be understood that I do not confiue myself to the modes of construction
herein before described, as I may make in my system of shaft harness and buckle any
changes of form, dimensions and the like which I may find useful without departing
from the principle of my invention.
Dated this 12th day of December 1809
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Harness for Horses.
I, VICTOR MARIE EUGÈNE LITOUX, of Saffré, in the Republic of France,
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 harness for horses, and comprises shaft harness with a
buckle of special construction.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an ordinary shaft harness.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of my improved harness drawn to an enlarged
scale.

page_text: Figure 3 is a vertical section thereof.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of harness.
Figure 5 represents a perspective view of another modification, and
Figure 6 is a vertical cross section of a further modification.
When in ordinary shaft harness the shaft 1 is not simply held by a broad loop
of leather formed at the end of the back strap, it rests in a kind of loop or
channel 2 of metal, see Figure 1, which is suspended from the inner side of the
back strap 3 of the saddle 4 and receives on the outer side a strap 5 forming the
girth strap of the belly band 6; in fact this strap surrounds the shaft 1, passing
over it and then descending in order to be attached to the belly band, like the
girth proper 7 of the belly band; but whilst the girth of the belly band serves
to strap up the horse by directly tightening the belly band upon the saddle, the
girth strap establishes the connection between the back band and the belly band.
This girth strap cannot in fact be used for tightening purposes, for passing round
the shaft it renders the latter immovable however little it is tightened.
Now it is well-known that, the shafts, especially of two-wheeled vehicles, must
preserve a sufficient mobility in the vertical direction while being properly held in
the horizontal direction, in order that no fatigue may be experienced in the
vehicle; the ordinary system does not at all fulfil this condition, because it leaves
no mean between rendering the shaft immovable upon the saddle and allowing it
to move freely in every direction.
My improved system of shaft harness renders the tightening of the saddle with
the belly band independent of the tightening of the shaft in the shaft harness,
while enabling the two tightening operations to be effected with the same strap.
For this purpose my shaft harness (Figure 2) comprises a buckle A which
permits it to be connected to the saddle, and a strap with two parts B and C
which is attached to a cross-piece a of the buckle. The longest part B of the said
strap surrounds the shaft, then passes through a ring E attached to the shortest
part. But when this has been effected the suspended end of the longest part, B,
instead of being buckled directly to the belly band, as is usually the case, is first
slid upon a tongue D fixed to the short part C of the strap. If the distance
between the said cross-piece a of the buckle, to which the strap is attached, and
the ring E is sufficiently great the shaft will have play in the vertical direction,
although not in the transverse direction if the longest part B of the said strap has
been slid upon the tongue D so as to stretch the portion comprised between this
tongue and the said cross piece a. This is clearly shown in Figure 3.
This arrangement renders the saddle strap useless, because it enables the saddle
to be tightened as much as may be desired with the belly band, this tightening
having no effect upon the tightening of the shaft.
My shaft harness is also characterized by the special buckle A having a fixed
tongue A by which I connect it to the saddle. The great advantage of the
buckle with a fixed tongue is that it does not wear like the ordinary. buckle with a
movable tongue which, as is well-known, wears quickly owing to the friction of iron
upon iron and to the rust which results from the action of sweat, water, blacking and
the like. My buckle with a fixed tongue is moreover very convenient, as it
permits of the straps being easily and rapidly attached and detached; it constitutes
one of the important features of my invention and may be applied to all the parts
of the harness.
I will now describe the mode of construction which I preferably employ with
my shaft harness and its buckle.
The buckle A comprises two vertical parts preferably bent a little for this
particular application, and a certain number of cross-pieces, which may be varied
according to requirements, provided at suitable distances from each other for
allowing the passage of the straps. between them, as clearly shown in Figures 1
and 2. The second cross piece a¹ is provided with the fixed tongue A¹ the
extremity of which is slightly bent downwards so as to prevent the accidental

page_text: slipping of the strap attached thereto, while permitting it to be detached and
attached rapidly when desired.
In this instance the strap B C of the shaft harness is fixed to the lower cross
piece a of the buckle; for this purpose I make the short part C of the said strap
of two thicknesses c c² sewed together except at the points where the said cross
piece a and the ring E are provided which pass between these two thicknesses.
Between the aforesaid ring E and cross piece a, I insert by preference a third thick-
ness of leather 2 sewed together with the other two; I also insert a third thickness b
at the extremity of the long part B of the said strap in proximity to the above-
mentioned cross piece a, the extremities of these third thicknesses c² and 6 serve as
abutments for limiting the movement of the cross piece a in the space provided for
it between the two thicknesses c and c. The length of this space is sufficient for
allowing a certain longitudinal displacement of the strap relatively to the buckle,
to provide for slightly varying the distance which separates the ring E of the
cross piece a with the object of regulating at will the vertical play of the shaft.
The tongue D on which is slid the long part B of the strap before buckling it to
the belly band is carried by a metallic plate d fixed to the lower extremity of the
said short part C, being interposed below the ring E between the aforesaid two
thicknesses e and e¹ before sewing one to the other. This tongue is slightly bent
upwards in order that the long part of the strap B may not become accidentally
detached when it has been slid thereon.
Figure 4 represents another mode of construction of my shaft harness which
consists in replacing the short part of the said strap by a metallic band el articulated
to the lower cross piece a of the buckle A and carrying the ring E which is mounted
by a hinge upon this band, and the fixed tongue D. The extremity of the strap
which must be attached to the belly band is in this case fixed to an intermediate
cross piece a² of the buckle.
Figure 5 of the drawing represents another modification of my shaft harness
provided with a special buckle, which is particularly suitable when the shafts tend
to make a considerable lateral movement, such as cabs and other two-wheeled
vehicles which are very heavily ladened at the rear. It will be seen that this
arrangement, which is also applicable with advantage in all cases, differs from
that shown in Figure 4 only in that the metallic band C, instead of being
articulated to the lower cross piece a of the buckle A, is rigidly fixed to this cross
piece. It will be understood that in this manner the flexibility and movableness of
the shaft harness are very slight, because it can be displaced only altogether and
because its single axis of rotation is formed by the upper cross piece of the buckle.
From this it will be understood that this construction is very suitable for shafts
which have a great tendency to displacement.
I have represented in Figure 6 of the drawing a slight modification in the con-
struction of the model of shaft harness shown in Figures 2 and 3. This modification
consists in mounting the buckle E in the piece of iron d which carries the tongue D
in lieu of taking it simply between the thicknesses of leather.
It will be understood that I do not confine myself to the modes of construction
herein before described, as I may make therein any changes of form, dimensions
and the like which I may find useful without departing from the principle of my
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A shaft harness comprising a buckle which permits of attachment to the
saddle and a strap fixed to a cross piece of this buckle and hooked to a tongue
connected with the said buckle before being attached to the belly band, substantially
as described.
Second. A buckle with a fixed tongue, constructed substantially in the

page_text: manner and for the purposes described and shown in Figures 2, 4 and 5 of the
drawings.
Third. A shaft harness constructed substantially as described and as represented
in Figures 2, 3 and 6 of the drawing.
Dated this 9th day of September 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.