AN IMPROVEMENT IN SADDLES AND GIRTHS, BY AN APPARATUS AFFIXED TO EITHER OF THEM
Year: 1830

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I JOHN
LAWRENCE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Silversmith, send
greeting..
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster the Tenth day of August, in the first year of His reign, did give
and grant unto me, the said John Lawrence and to William Rudder, of Ege, in
the County of Gloucester, Gentleman, His especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said John Lawrence and the said William
Rudder, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Great Britain and.
Ireland called England, and Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my and the said William Rudder's Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
SADDLES AND GIRTHS, BY AN APPARATUS AFFIXED TO EITHER OF THEM;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that if I, the said John
Lawrence, and the said William Rudder, or one of us, should not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to performed, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,.
or under the hand and seal of one of us, and cause the same to be enrolled in the
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent, then the said Letters Patent should be
void, reference being thereunto had will at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said.
John Lawrence, do hereby declare that the nature of our said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are described and ascer-
tained by the following explanation thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our improvement in saddles, and in girths for fastening saddles to the backs
of horses and other animals intended to be ridden, consists in the adaptation
and attachment of a metal box or case containing springs to the girth, or to
those parts of the saddle by which the girth is intended to be connected to it,
which contrivance is designed for the purpose of affording a degree of elasticity
to the girth, that is, to allow the girth to contract or elongate after it has been
drawn up tight round the body, so as to accommodate itself to any increase
or decrease in the bulk of the animal, and at all times to remain tight without
the necessity of frequently adjusting its tension. This improved apparatus,
which we call a constrictor, consists of a metal box or case, of about four or
five inches square, or rather longor in ono direction than the other, and some-
times slightly deviating from a rectangular form, and about a quarter of an
inch in thickness or depth, within which box a case or series of steel springs
are to be placed, the springs being formed and combined in such manner as
exhibited in the Drawings, and herein-after described with reference thereto.
Figure 1 represents the apparatus in its most simple construction, consisting
of a box containing a series of bow springs placed in couples, the external part
of their curves acting against each other, and their ends being confined by two
guide bars near the sides of the box. a, a, a, a, is a metal frame, which, with
a thin plate at bottom and another at top, constitutes the box to hold the
springs. In this Figure the top plate is removed in order to shew the form
and situation of the springs within. b, b, b, are a serios of bowed pieces of
steel, in pairs, placed in contact, the external surfaces of each pair bearing
against the adjoining bow, and together constituting a spring, on what is called
the grasshopper principle; c, c, c, c, are straight bars, placed along the bottom of
the box, on to which notches at the under sides of the bow pieces fit, for tho
purpose of keeping the bow pieces in their proper situations, and causing
them to preserve their parallelism when the spring expands or contracts;
d, d, is a sliding drawing bar, placed at the back of the outer bow piece, to
which bar the drawing plate e, e, (shewn by dots) is affixed by screws, rivets,
any
other means; and f, f, are loops or staples, with each a roller attached
to the reverse extremity of the drawing plate, to which the girths or straps
are attached.
ór
The construction of the apparatus being described, it only remains to
shew its mode of adaptation to saddles and girths, and the effect produced
by it. Let the box or constrictor be made fast to the saddle by tho

page_text: buckles g, g, and let the girth or girths be connected to the drawing plate
by the straps h, h; when the girth or girths have been drawn tight round
the body of the horse or other animal, the spring will be compressed by the
force of the drawing bar exerted against the hindermost bow piece, and the
girth will be held in tension. If the body of the animal should shrink some-
time after the girth has been drawn tight round it, the force of the spring
retiring from its state of tension to that of rest will draw up the girth, and
hence keep the saddle tight upon the back of the animal; or in the act of
leaping, or any other violent exertion to which a horse might be exposed, should
the body suddenly expand, the spring will become compressed, and the girth
consequently give out, that is, elongate, to accommodate itself to the circum-
stances, always, however, keeping tight round the animal. It is only necessary
further to remark, that whether the constrictor be attached to the saddle by the
buckles g, g, as above described, or by the straps h, h, of the drawing plate, we
consider to be indifferent, provided the girth is connected to the opposite.
Another mode of forming and connecting a series of springs suited to the
same purposo is shewn at Figure 2, which, like the former, represents the box
or case having a strong metal frame a, a, a, a, placed round it, with a thin plate
at bottom and top (the latter being removed). 6, b, b, b, are a series of angular
springs, cach of which is formed nearly in the shape of the letter L, and when
combined, as shewn, constituto one powerful spring; c, c, are pieces of metal
fastened to the bottom of the box, for the purpose of confining the springs and
forming the fulcrum against which they act; d is a lever turning on a fixed
pivot at e, the reverse end of which lever is connected by means of its hook to
a pin f in the swivel bar attached to the drawing place 9, 9; a bar or lever h
connects the lever d to the springs b by pins or points; and hence, supposing the
constructor to be attached to the saddle by the buckles or straps, as before
described, when the drawing plate g, g, is drawn out by the girth connected to
it at h, the springs b will be brought down and hold the girth with considerable
tension, but affording to the girth the means of giving out or contracting.
according to the enlargement or shrinking of the animal's body.
Another mode of constructing our apparatus is shewn in Figure 3, which
represents the box or case with its rim or metal frame a, a, a, a, (the top plate
being removed), and containing a series of curved springs b, b, b, confined by the
fulcrum piece c; against the end of the outer spring the lever d is made to
bear, its pivot or fulcrum being at e. The reverse end of this lever is connected
by the compound levers ƒ and g to the drawing plate h, h, which slides in
grooves i, i. It will be seen, that if the apparatus be connected by means of
the buckles to the saddle, as before described, and the girth to the drawing

page_text: plate, that on pulling the girth tight the drawing plate will be brought down,
and with it the levers and springs, when the girth will be held with con-
siderable tension, but capable of giving out or contracting, according to the
necessity of the case, and still remain tight round the body of the animal.
Though we have herein shewn and described only three modes of forming
and combining a series of springs with levers acted upon by a drawing plate
inclosed within a thin case or box of metal, yet we do not confine ourselves
precisely to the particular forms and positions of the springs and levers shewn,
as they might be varied without deviating from the principle of our Invention,
and perhaps answer the purpose nearly as well. We therefore wish it to be
understood that we claim as our Invention the construction of a series of
springs, of whatever form and however arranged, within a metal frame, box, or
case with a sliding drawing plate or bar, the said apparatus being attached
to a saddle, and also connected to a girth or girths, for the purpose of holding
the saddlo at all times tightly on the back of the horse or other animal without
requiring adjustment, should the body of the animal expand or contact while
ridden.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lawrence, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighth day of February, in the first year of the
reign of His said Majesty King William the Fourth, and in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and thirty-one.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of February, in the
first year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
John Lawrence came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Ninth day of Febr