A NEW SYSTEM OF SHAFT TUGS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis A. Normandy, jun., of 67, Judd St., London,.
for the Invention of "A NEW SYSTEM OF SHAFT TUGS."-A communication.
Dealed the 28th June 1859, and dated the 31st December 1858
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis A. Normandy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st December 1858.
I, LOUIS A. NORMANDY, jun'., of 67, Judd St., London, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW SYSTEM OF SHAFT TUGS," to be
as follows:-
-
These shaft tugs (Fig. 1 and 2) consist of a ring or band composed of
two branches of iron coupled together by means of a hinge C. In one of
these branches a mortise M is cut, and when this branch is pushed down on
the other the key K enters into the mortise, and then by merely turning this.
key, the ring becomes completely closed as represented in Fig. 1.
The buckle B, and the rings a and b, serve to attach the shaft tugs to the pad
or saddle, as may be seen in Fig. 3; the belly band V is attached to the ring a;.
the breeching R to the ring b, and the back band S may then be buckled to B
The shaft tugs being thus placed once for all at each side of the saddle, it will be
seen that in order to harness the horse, it will suffice to buckle.the belly band.
The harnessing of horses is thus considerably simplified; all that is required
is to open the branch L of the shaft tug, as represented in Fig. 2, and to
allow the shaft to fall into the band or ring. On shutting the branch L, the
shaft is fitted in at the same time that the horse is put to, and therefore by
means of this system, the operation of attaching successively the breeching,

page_text: the belly band, and the back band is dispensed with. Anybody may thus
put a horse to, without fear of anything being wrong. In a word the fixing
of the carriage breech and of its accessories requires nothing more than the
buckling of a strap, and the harnessing is accomplished by simply turning the
key. As, however, in some cases the shaft might be smaller than the band or
ring whence would arise the drawback of its being loose in the shaft tug, I have
added to the branch L an iron tongue N, which being pushed by a screw on
the outside will then bear against the shaft, and will steady it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis A. Normandy in the Great Seal Patent Office on 1
the 28th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS A.
NORMANDY, of 67, Judd Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our
"Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Louis A. Normandy, Her special licence that I, the said Louis A.
Normandy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Louis A. Normandy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"A NEW SYSTEM OF SHAFT Tuas," (being a communication,) upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis A: Normandy, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and inmediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis A. Normandy, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,

page_text: and to the Figures or Diagrams marked thereon, similar letters of reference
being placed upon and denoting similar parts where such parts appear, or
may be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
The object of my system of shaft tugs is to simplify the putting to of a
horse or team, and by its use a horse may in every case be put to or
unharnessed in an instant. My improvement is essentially composed of
metal supports, coated or not with paint or other substance; these supports
are attached by buckles or otherwise to the harness, as shewn at a, Figure A;
they form a sort of ring in two parts B and C, joined by a binge b, arranged
so as to receive and hold the shaft of a vehicle. The moveable part of the
ring is attached to the main part by means of a button c, which turns on itself,
and by the position given to it fastens together or releases the two parts of the
ring. A spring may or may not be adapted to the ring, but by the use of this
spring d the moveable part of the ring, when unfastened by turning the button
c, would instantly fly back, opening the ring, and releasing the shaft. By my
system the belly and breeching bands (which are often too tight, and at
other times not sufficiently so,) may be suppressed, and should the horse fall,
it may be disengaged in an instant by opening the shaft tugs. My system
possesses the additional advantage of being adaptable with little expense
to old harness.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it understood that I do
not claim any of the parts herein set forth and shewn in the Drawing, when
used separately, and not for the purposes of my Invention, but what I claim
as of my Invention is the arrangement and combination of parts substantially
as herein described and shewn in the Drawing, forming when so combined
"A New System of Shaft Tugs."
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis A. Normandy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 28th day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
A. NORMANDY.
LOUIS A. NORMANDY. (L.S.)