AN IMPROVED SAFETY SADDLE BAR
Year: 1884

page_text: We, FREDERICK LAVENDER and GEORGE LAVENDER, trading under the style or
title of Fairbanks, Lavender & Son, of Eldon Works, Eldon Street, Walsall, in
the County of Stafford, Saddlery Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
and in what manner
our Invention for "AN IMPROVED SAFETY SADDLE BAR,'
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by.
the following statement:-
The object of this Invention is the production of a more perfect and efficient
"safety saddle bar" or stirrup fixing, for saddle trees, wherein and whereby,-in
cases of accident,-perfect immunity from " dragging," through the foot of the
rider being caught in the stirrup, is secured, however, or in whatever manner or
direction the rider may be thrown from the saddle, or, to state it more plainly,―
whether the fall from the saddle may take place backward, forward, or on either
side, and it may be thus described:
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We first construct, in any convenient metal, a kind of flat socket or pocket, or
other equivalent receiver or holder, possessing the same bearing or sustaining faces
and features, (hereinafter described) and we fix this upon the "saddle-tree," by ears
or "lugs" and rivets, in the usual manner. The base or main plate of this receiver
or socket, we construct, by preference, as a circle, or thereabout, with the
beforenamed ears or lugs projecting from the top and one side,-reversed, for
right" and "left,"-and, the front or socket portion of the "bar" is spaced about
the eighth of an inch away from, and covering about one half of, its lower portion,
thus causing the top or mouth of the socket to be about across the centre of the
circle; and this is firmly rivetted or otherwise secured to the base or main plate;
and, although the outline of this is a part of the beforenamed circle, the inside line
or form of this socket is that of two "O,G," lines reversed and joined end to end.
We now construct a jointed loop or suspender, with one side or "flap" solid,
and fitting and agreeing with the internal form and thickness or width of the
before-described socket or fixing, and the other side or flap as a loop for the
ordinary stirrup strap or "leather;" their position for ordinary duty, that is,
apart or distinct from accident,-being vertical and downwards from and below the
hinge or joint, which lies, when thus in position,-along the top of the fixed
socket; the one (solid) flap being within and held by the socket, and the other,-
the loop, carrying the stirrup leather and stirrup; and it will thus be evident
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page_text: "
that pressure upon the stirrup and leather, when merely downward, or within an
angle of about forty-five degrees from perpendicular, either backward or forward,―
or, as used in. riding, will tend to keep the solid wing or flap well in the socket,
constituting the whole a strong and safe "saddle bar or suspender; and also, that,
in case of accident, any pull upon the stirrup leather, beyond the limits of the
before-described ninety degrees, will cause the latter or separate portion of the
"bar," to leave the socket or fixed portion, and release the leather and stirrup.
therefrom, so that, whether the rider may be thrown backward, forward, or,―-in
the first instance,--on either side, with a foot fast in the stirrup, the instantaneous
releasing action of this "bar," insures perfect safety from his being dragged
thereby.
" centre
To prevent the stirrup from being too readily released; we construct a simple
"semi-latch," by indenting the outer side or plate of the socket, with a
punch," and drilling a hole or a "counter-sunk" recess, in the solid wing or flap
which fits into it, in such a manner that the slight spring of the socket front, as it
enters, gives the desired effect.
In the accompanying illustrations, Figure 1 is a face view of our Invention,
complete, for the "near side" of the saddle; Figures 2 & 3 are the base and socket
only; and Figure 4 is the hinged loop or suspender for the same; Figure 5 shows
the bar just releasing the stirrup backwards; Figure 6 shows the same releasing
forwards; and Figure 7, the loop or suspender acting for an upward pull; and in
each and all of the foregoing, a is the fixed socket, 6 the loop or suspender, and
c the stirrup leather.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and. in what. manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
The arrangement_and_construction of a-safety"
"saddle bar," possessing the
capability of-releasing the stirrup and leather, backwards, forwards; and upwards;
or through about three fourths of a circle, and consisting of a fixed..socket or
receiver, and a jointed loop or suspender, fitting to and into the same, in such a
manner as to realize the above feature or capability, and' be perfectly safe for
duty, apart from accident,-through the remaining one-fourth of a circle, as, or
after, the manner.hereinbefore described and set forth.
Dated this 29th day of March 1884.