IMPROVED MEANS OF ADJUSTING BEARING REINS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
OF ADJUSTING BEARING REINS," a communcation to me from abroad by Joseph
Darling of Karns City in the County of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, United
States of America, Gentleman to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to enable a driver to slacken or tighten the
horses' bearing rein without leaving the box seat, and the Invention consists
principally of a bearing rein hook adapted to slide through the saddle tree or back
pad of the harness and having a strap or cord attached for operating it for the
above purpose.
The Invention also consists of suitable means for locking the hook in and
unlocking it from the saddle tree or pad, and also of the construction arrangement
and combination of parts all as hereinafter described.
The bearing rein hook is attached to a base plate or bar which in this instance
is loosely held between the tree and the saddle, these parts being suitably recessed
for that purpose. The said plate has a strap attached. to its rear end, which strap
may reach back to the box seat or to any point in reach of the driver. In a slot
in the said plate is pivoted a dog which, when the bearing rein hook is drawn back
into operative position, engages with the shoulder of a recess made in the tree.
A spring is provided to cause the dog to act with certainty but this spring might
be omitted if desired.
In order to disengage the dog for permitting the bearing rein hook to slide
forward to slacken the bearing rein, the dog is provided with a second bevelled lip
in rear of the first, which, when the hook is drawn still further backward, rides
upon a T shaped sliding plate or bridge piece contained in a T shaped recess in the
tree whereby the dog will bo lifted so that its first lip will clear the shoulder with
which it was engaged. The bridge piece is notched to receive the second lip and
it is free to slide a short distance back and forth in the T shaped recess so as on

page_text: the bearing rein hook being drawn forward again as hereafter mentioned the dog
will be carried clear of the shoulder with which it was engaged. A curved spring
is placed at the forward edge of the tree and a lip is provided upon the lower
forward edge of the book so that when the latter is drawn further back as above
mentioned, the spring will be compressed and will draw the hook and bridge piece
forward for the purpose of releasing the former when the strap by which it was
drawn back is slackened. The bearing rein hook is thus released from the saddle
and tree, except as it is held by the strap which will always be of sufficient length
to give the horse perfect freedom of the head. The second or bevelled lip above
mentioned readily slips off the bridge piece after carrying the first lip over the
shoulder and in tightening up the bearing rein, it first pushes the bridge piece back
as far as it will go and then rides upon it as above mentioned. The spring by
which the dog is pressed downward, also serves to prevent the check rein from
leaving the hook when the bearing rein is slackened.
Instead of the strap reaching back to the drivers seat, it may be made short and
provided with a hole or formed or provided with other means whereby a hook or
knob on the drivers whip may be temporarily engaged with the strap for the
purpose of operating the hook and in most cases the strap will be stiffened at the
point of its attachment to the base plate of the hook by a thin metal plate to
compel the base plate always to properly re-enter the saddle tree when the strap is
drawn backward.

page_text: baving a strap or cord attached to it for operating the hook to uncheck or check up
the horse.
The invention also consists of suitable means for locking the hook in and
unlocking it from the saddle tree or pad, and also of the construction, arrangement
and combination of parts all as hereinafter described.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
both the figures. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a disassembled harness tree
hook and saddle of a harness made in accordance with the invention and Figure 2
is a sectional elevation of the same showing the parts assembled and the check hook
locked in position for checking up the horse.
The check hook A is secured to or made a part of the plate a which in this
instance is loosely held between the tree B and the saddle C, these parts being
suitably recessed as shown at b, c, for that purpose. The plate a, has the strap d
secured to its rear end which strap may reach back to the carriage or to any point
in reach of the driver, so that by drawing upon this strap the horse may be checked
up or unchecked as desired. When the check hook A is drawn back into position
for checking up the horse, (the position shown in figure 2) it is locked in such
position by the dog e pivoted in the recess or passage fmade through the plate a,
the lip g of the dog engaging with the shoulder h made in the tree B as shown
clearly in Figure 2. The spring i is provided to cause the dog e to act with
certainty, but this spring might be omitted if desired. For disengaging the lip g
from the shoulder h for permitting the hook A and plate a to slide forward to slack
the check rein of the bridle and thus uncheck the horse, it is necessary to draw
backwards again upon the strap d which will cause the beveled lip of the dog e
to ride upon the sliding plate or bridge piece k which will lift the dog so that the
lip g will stand on a higher level than the shoulder h. The bridge piece k is
notched as shown at l, and it is adapted to slide a short distance back and forth in
the T shaped recess m, made in the tree B. A curved spring n is placed at the
forward edge of the tree B and a lip o is formed or secured upon the lower edge of
the hook A so that as the hook A and plate a are drawn backward for unchecking
the horse, the spring n will be compressed, a considerablo tension being put therein
at the time, lip passes over or into the notch 2 of the bridge piece k, so that when
the strap d is released, the spring n will force the hook A and plate a forward,
The spring when the dog c rests upon the bridge piece k, holds the dog pressed
downward, so that the lip j will engage with the notch with considerable force so
that when the spring n forces the book A and plate a forward the bridge plate k
will slide forward in the recess m a short distance and thus carry the lip g over the
sboulder thus practically releasing the check hook from the saddle and tree
except as it is held by the strap d, which will always be of sufficient length to give
the horse perfect freedom of the head. The forward edge of the lip jis inclined or
beveled so as to readily slip off from the notch 1. In checking up the horse by
drawing backward upon the strap d, the lip of the dog coming against the
forward end of the bridge plate k, will slide the bridge plate backward in the
recess m as far as it will go, so that the plate k will not interfere with the
engagement of the lip g with the shoulder h to again lock the hook in checked
position. The spring i besides serving to press the dog e downward, also serves to
prevent the check rein of the bridle from leaving the check hook A when the
horse is unchecked as will be understood from Figure 1:
Instead of adapting the strap d to reach back to the vehicle, it may be made
short and provided with the hole p or formed or provided with other means,
whereby a hook or knob in the driver's whip may be attached to the strap and the
check hook thus operated and in most cases I shall stiffen the strap d at the
point of its attachment to the plate a by the thin metal plate a¹ to compel the
plate a always to properly reenter the saddle tree when the strap d is drawn
backward.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination with a saddle and its tree of a hook provided with a bar
sliding between the saddle and tree and a dog for locking the bar in position
substantially as described.
2. The tree B and saddle C recessed as shown at bc in combination with the
sliding hook A and a locking dog arranged for the purposes set forth.
3. The combination with the recessed tree B and saddle C of the hook A
provided with the bar a carrying the dog e engaging a shoulder of the tree
substantially as herein shown and described.
4. The combination with the hook A provided with the plate a having dog e
and the tree B having shoulder h of the sliding plate or bridge k arranged to
operate substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
5. The hook A provided with the plate a carrying the pivoted dog e and formed
with the projections g.j in combination with the tree B formed with shoulder h
and the sliding bridge or plate k arranged to operate substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
6. The hook A formed with the plate a recessed at f and provided with the dog e
in combination with the spring i and recessed tree and saddle B. C. substantially as
described.
7. The book A formed with the plate a recessed at f and provided with the
dog e and spring i in combination with the recessed tree B provided with the
shoulder h, sliding bridge k and spring n, substantially as herein shown and
described.