A SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR STIRRUP BARS
Year: 1884

page_text: I BENJAMIN SAMUEL WESTON of 5 Parkholmo Road Dalston, Engineer, in the
County of Middlesex and HENRY STAINES WILTON of 457 & 459 Oxford Street,
Sadler do hereby declare the nature of our Invention for A SAFETY ATTACHMENT
FOR STIRRUP BARS, to be as follows:
Instead of hanging the stirrup strap directly upon the present Bar, we intervene
our safety device, attached preferably, by means of a grooved wedge shaped slide
or one having sheaves instead of grooves, carrying hinged upon its top edge a
hanging Hook or ledge piece upon which we hang the buckle of the stirrup strap;
this Hook or ledge piece has, sliding within it, a locking bolt worked by the
movement between the slide and Hook, preferably by being hinged in a lower
plane upon the slide, in such a manner that when the hook or ledge piece carrying
the strap is turned upwards by the rider falling upon the opposite side, the locking
bolt shall be withdrawn when the Hook or ledge piece reaches its highest point,
thereby allowing the strap buckle to escape; we prefor to make the bolt of folded
steel so that it may act as a spring. With the backward action the grooved or
sheaved slide passes out of the bar in a similer manner to that of the present
strap.

page_text: BENJAMIN SAMUEL WESTON, Engineer of 5 Parkholme Road Dalston in the
County of Middlesex and HENRY STAINES WILTON, Saddler of 457 Oxford
Street, W. also in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of their
invention for A SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR STIRRUP BARS, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to provide a Safety Attachment that cannot
become disengaged by the movement of the user in riding or leaping however
much he may leave the saddle short of being actually thrown or losing his seat.
The Safety Attachment or Slide is placed upon the ordinary Spring Stirrup Bar
as shown in Fig 1, by means of this, when the rider is dragged the spring piece of
the Stirrup Bar is opened more readily, from the peculiar construction of the
attachment, than with the Stirrup leather placed directly upon the Bar without
the intervention of our Safety Attachment When the rider is thrown and dragged
on the opposite side, the upward pull upon the stirrup leather is sufficient to bring
the Attachment to a position in which the locking bolt is automatically withdrawn
and the stirrup leather is disengaged from the saddle, its construction will be
understood by reference to the drawings.
That our Safety Attachment may be free from the Bars pressure and friction
against the panel, under which conditions the stirrup leather works, we use instead,
a channelled sliding piece which enters the fork of the ordinary Spring Bar B.
Fig 2 and which by preference we make of a wedge shaped figure shown in section
at A having its rear top corner C prolonged and its bottom rear D cut away and
rounded in such a manner that with the backward pull the rear point C will press
against the top of the spring piece E opening it and allowing the rounded edge D
to easily push it down in its passage out of the Bar, thus releasing the rider much
more readily than where the stirrup leather only is used which considering the
smallness of the diagonal angle obtained in releasing, is of great importance.
Instead of the channelled piece A aforesaid, grooved rollers or sheaves may
be used.
We will now explain the action for the release of the rider when dragged on
the opposite side, Fig 3 shows the front view near side Fig edge view seen from
the direction of the Horses head and Fig 5 the back view of the Attachment or
Slide, Figs 6. 7 & 8 are sections of same showing the action of the spring bolt
The Attachment is opened as at Fig 8 which withdraws the spring bolt Cand
the buckle of the stirrup leather is placed within the hook of B it is now closed
as at Figs 3. 4 & 6 which slides the spring bolt C down in front of the buckle
locking it in its place, the Attachment is now placed by means of the channelled
back A (Figs 3 4 & 5 and 6. 7 & S) into the fork of the Bar B. Fig 2. The
normal position of the Attachment is that of Fig 6 the hook B being hinged at
its top to the back A, Figs 67 & 8, by the pin D while the spring bolt C is hinged
to the back A, by the pin E which it will be noticed is not in a line between tho
point of the bolt C and the hinge pin D, this allows of the opening or outward
movement of the hook piece B to the position shown in Fig 7 without withdrawing
the bolt C at all, this amount of play is rendered necessary in consequence of the
rider being often thrown upwards from the Horse without losing his seat, this
upward jerk is also the cause of Stirrup leathers being so frequently lost from
patent Bars, from the position shown at Fig 7 the pressure of the bolt spring C

page_text: increases with the upward movement, its tail rosting upon a cam formed around
the hinge pin D, until with the weight of the rider thrown on the opposito side,
the hook pieco B reaches the position shown at Fig 8 where the spring bolt C is
sufficiently withdrawn to admit of the buckle passing out of the hook B. The
eye F of the hinge pin D. Figs 3 4 & 5 is provided for the purpose of attaching
the safety slide to tho staple on the saddle if desired by means of a Rubber ring
to prevent the possibility of the stirrup leathers being pulled off and lost whilo
leading Horses to covert &.
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:
1 Making a Safety Attachment or slide with a locking bolt to be withdrawn
by the upward movement of the hook with which it is combined, substantially as
herein described.
2nd Hanging the Safety Attachment or Slide upon a Stirrup Bar by means of
a channelled piece within the fork of the said Stirrup Bar.
3rd Making the rear of such channelled piece (preferably wedge shaped) to
project backwards against the top of the spring piece of the Stirrup Bar and
rounding the lower side as shown in Fig 2.
4 Hanging the Attachment or Slide upon the Bar by means of grooved Rollers
or Sheaves in place of the channelled pieco aforesaid.
Dated this thirteenth day of September 1884.
BENJAMIN S. WESTON.
H. S. WILTON,