A New or Improved Safety Releasing Buckle.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Oct., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 17th July, 1894-Accepted, 18th Aug.,
1894
A New or Improved Safety Releasing Buckle.
I, ARTHUR FREDERICK GARROOD of Violet House, Hainault Road, Leyton-
stone, Essex, Master Baker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to buckles and is more particularly designed for harness
so as to afford a ready means of releasing various parts of the harness when
desired in case of the horse falling down and thereby (or from any other cause)
placing a great strain upon the said buckle whereby it is most difficult and often
impossible to quickly unbuckle the parts of the harness so as to quickly free the
fallen animal.
Or my buckle may be used in any other manner or for any other purposes
desired.
My present invention is as follows:-
The rim mount or frame of the buckle is formed of an oblong or other suitable
shape and carries a fixed cross bar which is advantageously set back from the plane
of the front of the buckle and carries thereon a tongue or pin (or pins) adapted to
pass through the holes in the harness strap or other part of the harness etc. as is
well understood.
This is the "operating" pin or tongue and for the sake of brevity I will term
same No. 1 pin.
The free end of this No. 1 pin comes against a bar rest or support whereby the
strap etc. is normally beld in position as usual-only such bar or support is
according to my invention adapted to be rotated slid or otherwise moved (when
required) out of the path of the said free end and thereby the strap etc. held in the
buckle is released.
For this purpose I arrange and mount the said bar or support with an eccentric
disc on each end adapted to operate in bearings in or on the rim of the buckle (or
an eccentric piece or block mounted on a simple rotating bar or support will act in
precisely the same or equivalent manner to support or release the said No. 1 pin)
and an arm or plate or other lever fixed rigidly to or formed on said bar or support
controls the rotation of the latter and is locked and held to the said rim by a
suitable catch or holding device which can be readily released after the manner of
any ordinary door catch by imparting a rotary movement to the handle or releasing
knob or by any other suitable means.
t
On the opposite end of the rim (or on a separate special mount) I arrange a
second pin or tongue (or pins) which is not the operating pin like No. 1 (but is for
the purpose of safety in case of any failure of No. 1 pin) and which I shall term
No. 2 pin.
The said support is brought under No. 1 pin-and same is locked in position by
the aforesaid attachment to the rim and the strap chain etc. to be fastened in the
buckle has the No. 1 pin passed through same and also the No. 2 pin (which latter
inay be of any suitable length and be supported at its free end at any suitable point)
and the strain of whatever character is received on the No. 1 pin.
Now if the animal falls down strain (whatever it may be) is still alone placed on
No. 1 pin while No. 2 pin having no strain thereon can be readily disengaged from
the strap etc. and then the aforesaid releasing catch is operated and releases the
support under No. I pin so that such support is by the pressure of the No. 1 pin
automatically forced slid or moved out of the path of said No. 1 pin which is
thereby released and consequently releases the strap etc.

page_text: On the other hand in the event of No. 1 pin being accidentally released (by
failure of the said catch or any other reason) the strain will simply be transferred
on to No. 2 pin and the buckle will then simply act like the ordinary well-known
single pin and rim buckles.
Stops or stop pieces may be arranged to limit the movement of the plate or lever
carrying the releasing catch if desired.
Dated this 17th day of October 1892
I, ARTHUR FREDERICK GARROOD of Violet House, Hainault Road, Leyton-
stone, Essex, Master Baker, 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 :-
This invention relates to buckles and is more particularly designed for harness
so as to afford a ready means of instantaneously releasing various parts of the harness
when desired in case of emergency for instance when the horse falls down and thereby
(or from any other cause) placing a great strain upon the said buckle whereby it is
most difficult and often impossible to quickly unbuckle the parts of the harness so
as to quickly free the fallen animal.
Or my buckle may be used for any other purposes desired.
My present invention is as follows:-
:-
The rim mount or frame of the buckle is formed of an oblong or other suitable
shape and carries thereon (or on a fixed cross bar which is advantageously set back
from the plane of the front of the buckle) a tongue or pin (or pins) adapted to pass
through the holes in the harness strap or chain or other part of the harness etc. as
is well understood.
This is the "operating" pin or tongue and for the sake of brevity I will term
same No. 1 pin.
The free end of this No. 1 pin comes against a bar rest or support whereby the
strap etc. is normally held in position as usual-only such bar or support is
according to my invention formed or adapted to be rotated slid or otherwise
moved (when required) out of the path of the said free end and thereby the
pin and consequently the strap etc. held in the buckle is released as hereinafter
explained.
For this purpose I arrange and mount the said bar or support with an eccentric
disc on each end adapted to operate in bearings in or on the rim of the buckle (or
an excentric piece or block mounted on a simple rotating bar or support will act in
precisely the same or equivalent manner to support or release the said No. 1 pin)
and an arm or plate or other lever fixed rigidly to or formed on said bar or support
controls the rotation of the latter and is locked and held to the said rim by a
suitable catch or holding device which can be readily released-for instance after
the manner of any ordinary door catch by imparting a rotary movement to the
handle or releasing knob--or by any other suitable means.
Next I arrange a second pin or tongue (or pins) either on the aforesaid pin or
on a separate special mount which is not the operating pin like No. 1 (but is for
the purpose of safety in case of any failure of No. 1 pin) and which second pin I
shall term No. 2 pin.
The said support is brought under No. 1 pin-and same is locked in position by
the aforesaid readily releasable attachment to the rim and the strap chain etc. to be

page_text: In Fig. 1 h is the leather strap which passes under d and then up over the
crossbar a' the pin being passed through hole h' in said strap and the safety pin c
through another hole in said strap-the end h³ of said strap then passing
under cross straps or "loops" on the second strap i which latter carries the
buckle by being attached thereto in any suitable manner for instance as shown in
Fig. 1.
In Fig. 2 the chain is passed under the bar d and then up and over the
operating pin b.
11 is the chain (or it may be a leather strap or other suitable means) carrying
the buckle by being attached to the crossbar a².
The operation is as follows:-
In the case illustrated in Fig. 1-if from any cause the pin 6 should be
accidentally released from its support d then the strap h would be drawn off said
pin b and at same time the strain would be transferred on to the safety pin c which
would thereupon be swung over on the crossbar al until the free end of said pin c
strikes the crossbar d which it can never pass under any circumstances thereupon
the strap is still firmly retained in the buckle which now simply acts as an ordinary
buckle.
On the other hand when the strap or chain is mounted as shown in Figs. 1 and 2
and a heavy strain is put upon the strap or chain k and it is desired to quickly
release or from the buckle (for instance when the horse falls down) the end of
the strap his disengaged from the safety pin c (and similarly the end of the chain k
would be disengaged from a similar pin c-if used) and thereafter the device fis
readily disengaged and moved clear from the rim a and thereupon the bar d is now
free to be revolved or partially revolved and by a quarter turn thereof the end of
the pin b will by reason of the cut out portion e pass clear of said bar d and strap h
or chain k can come off the pin band will thus be disengaged and entirely freed
from the buckle.
In the constructions illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the strain on the pin b will itself
automatically rotate said bar d immediately the retaining device is released so as
to permit such rotation.
In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 3-1 have shown the application of my
present invention adapted to simultaneously release both traces of either horse in a
pair horse vehicle.
In this arrangement each operating pin 6x 6x is independently mounted to turn
on the axes m and n while the free end of each such pin rests on a prolonged bar d*
mounted so as to be free to rotate in the frames a* and a** respectively carried on
the splinter bar o and which frames a* and a** carry also the said pins or axes m
and n respectively.
fx is the locking lever pivotted at p to the bar d* and retained by an india-
rubber or other suitable catch g* in which position as shown in Fig. 3 said bar d*
cannot possibly revolve.
The back ends of the traces are respectively passed over the pins 6x (either with
or without using the second or safety pin c as in Fig. 1) and thus if the horse falls
down or it is desired to suddenly release both traces the retaining lever f* is
released from * and swung outwards on the hinge p thereby the bar d*
(supporting both pins 6x) can now be partially rotated and thereby simultaneously
release both pins 6× 6× and consequently both traces are simultaneously released;
and both traces of one horse can thus be released when desired without releasing
those of the other horse.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what mauner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
-
1. A buckle for barness or other purposes having means to move the support
from under the pin so as to permit the latter to pass the former and thus release
thó stran chain ats from coid huable

page_text: 2. A buckle having a rim a pin mounted on said rim or on a separate crossbar
and a support for the free end of said pin mounted in said rim and adapted to be
moved out of the path of said free end of said pin and means to retain said
support in position in the path of said pin until it is desired to release same.
3. A buckle consisting of a rim a pin mounted on said rim or on a separate
crossbar a support for the free end of said pin mounted in said rim adapted to be
moved out of the path of said free end of said pin means to retain said support
in position in the path of said pin until it is desired to release same and a
second and separate pin mounted on the said rim and of such a length that it
cannot pass said support under any circumstances.
4. A buckle consisting of the arrangement and combination of a rim such as a,
a pin such as 6 mounted on the crossbar a¹ of said rim, a rotatable support such
as d having a part cut away or recess formed therein such as e and adapted to
normally retain the end of said pin b the length of which latter does not extend
to the centre of said pin d, a retaining lever f hinged or pivotted to the
support and adapted to overlap or engage with the rim a and means to
retain said lever fin engagement with the rim a or readily release same when
desired substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the drawings hereunto annexed.
5. A buckle constructed and arranged to act substantially in the manner and
for the purposes herein before described.
Dated this 16th day of July 1894
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.