Improvements in Fastenings for Horse Shoes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Oct., 1892-Accepted, 26th Nov., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by EDWARD TABER COVELL, of 163, Cottage Street,
New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States of America, Gentleman.]
Improvements in Fastenings for Horse Shoes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 a fastening for horse shoes by which the shoe is securely
fastened to the hoof without the employment of nails, and is embodied in a fastening
consisting of a band or bail that engages with the shoe at the sides of the hoof and
passes substantially vertically over the front inclined portion of the hoof and is
acted upon by a straining device engaging with the fore part of the hoof and with
the said band.
The straining device preferably employed in connection with the fastening band
in this invention comprises a block or base piece adapted to rest against the inclined
fore part of the hoof in a position extending vertically upward along the inclined
part of the hoof, the said base piece being provided at its lower end with one or
more prongs inclined to the bearing face of the base piece in such manner as to
penetrate the lower part of the shell of the hoof from a point on its upper surface
downward and inward towards the base of the hoof these prongs passing through
substantially the same portion of the shell of the hoof as the usual fastening nails
but entering the hoof in the opposite direction.
The said pronged base-piece is provided near its upper part with a band
straining device shown in this instance as a pivoted cam shaped lever which may
be turned on its pivot to tighten or loosen the band and thereby fasten or unfasten
the shoe.
Other forms of straining devices may, however, be employed as will be
described.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hoof provided with a shoe and fastening therefor
embodying this invention,
Fig. 2 a front elevation thereof,
Fig. 3 a perspective view of the straining device detached, and
Figs. 4 and 5 side elevations showing modifications of the invention that will be
described.
The shoe a may be of usual construction except that it need have no nail-holes,
and the said shoe is provided with lugs b, b, that engage with recesses in the edge
of the hoof so as to properly position the shoe with relation to the hoof and
prevent it from sliding thereon, said lugs being burned into the hoof in fitting the
shoe. thereto in the usual manner.
The fastening band or bail c may be a piece of stout wire of proper length to
pass in arch shape, over the fore part of the hoof and has its ends properly shaped
to engage with the shoe at the sides of the hoof being preferably made with lateral
offsets or
fingers to enter perforations in the said lugs b, b, of the shoe, the said shoe
and bail being substantially as shown and described in my former application
No. 19,663 December 2nd A.D. 1890.
In order to strain the band tightly over the fore part of the hoof and to fasten
the same securely thereto, a straining and supporting device is used which, as
shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, consists of a base piece d composed mainly of a flat
plate that rests on the inclined surface of the fore part of the hoof as shown, and is
provided at its lower end with one or more (preferably two) prongs d² which extend
into suitable perforations in the fore part of the shell of the hoof said prongs

page_text: entering from the upper surface of the shell and extending towards the base of the
shell. The inner face of the base piece is made concave or hollow transversely if
necessary to fit the convexity of the hoof.
These prongs thus securely fasten the base piece d of the straining device to
the hoof and support the same against downward movement along the inclined
front surface of the hoof, although they may be readily withdrawn by moving the
base piece upward.
The said prongs penetrate only the portion of the shell of the hoof near the
lower edge thereof which is usually penetrated by the nails commonly used for
fastening shoes, and as they are introduced from the upper surface they are not
liable to deviate from the proper direction in entering the hoof, and thereby to injure
the hoof, as sometimes happens in driving nails upward from the under surface of
the hoof.
The said base piece being thus securely supported against downward movement
is provided with a straining device shown in this instance as a cam shaped arm or
lever e pivoted at e on the said base piece in such manner that when in dotted
line position Fig. 2, it receives the band loosely over it so that said band can be
readily applied or removed; and when turned to full line position it bears upon said
band and draws it tightly upward thus straining the shoc up tightly against the tread
surface of the hoof as clearly shown.
It is obvious that the construction of the straining device may be varied without
departing from the essential characteristics of construction and operation of the
device, although the specific form shown in which the straining lever turns in the
plane of the base-piece is believed to be the most desirable as it affords a secure
fastening and does not have any objectionable projections from the surface of the
hoof.
The base piece and straining device stand in substantially the same relation to
the hoof as the toe weights that are used sometimes, and may be made of proper
weight to afford an efficient toe weight if desired without impairing their functions
as a means for securing the shoe to the hoof.
The invention is not limited to the specific form of straining device and support
therefor, thus far described.
In some cases it may be desirable to use the construction shown in Fig. 4, in
which the straining device eo, is in the form of the lever itself provided with spurs
or points e, to engage securely with the shell of the hoof the fastening band c being
engaged with the said straining lever, preferably by passing through a transverse
perforation thereof, at a short distance from the spurred end as shown.
Thus by applying the spurred end of the lever to the hoof as shown in dotted
lines Fig. 4, the said end becomes a fulcrum about which the lever may be turned
from the dotted to the full line position thus straining the band c as will be readily
understood, while at the same time the increasing strain of said band tends to imbed
the spurs in the shell of the hoof sufficiently tightly to prevent the lever from
slipping along the hoof after it is turned to the full line position Fig. 4, thus securely
fastening the shoe firmly against the hoof.
The strain of the band c tends to retain the lever e¹0, in full line position and also
tends to press the spurred end of the lever more firmly in contact with the hoof so
that there is no danger of its slipping down along the hoof and thus loosening the
fastening band.
If desired more than one band may be employed as shown in Fig. 5, in which
there are two bands c, c', engaged with the shoe at different points along the side
thereof.
In this construction the straining lever 100, does not engage directly with the
said bands but is pivotally connected with a band receiving piece e", so that the
said lever fulcruming on the hoof draws the said band piece upward along the fore
part of the hoof thereby tightening the band.
It usually will not be necessary, however, to employ two fastening bands; as a
single band arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and 4, affords a secure fastening

page_text: and is at the same time simpler in construction and of better appearance than the
modified construction in which more than one band is used.
The herein described fastening has the advantage that it may be applied in
connection with shoes of the kind already in use requiring no change whatever in
the shoe except the perforation of the side lugs to enable them to be engaged with
the fastening band, and such perforation may be readily made by a punch when the
shoe is hot, thus enabling the fastening to be applied by a blacksmith without
requiring any special tools.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination with a horse shoe provided with lugs or projections to
engage with the edge of the hoof, of the fastening band connected at its ends with
the sides of the shoe and extending up over the fore part of the hoof and the
straining device therefor, engaged with the fore part of the hoof, substantially as
and for the purpose described.
2. The combination of the horse shoe provided with lugs or projections adapted
to engage with the edge of the hoof and the fastening band connected at its ends with
the sides of the shoe and adapted to extend up over the fore part of the hoof; with
the base piece d adapted to rest upon the fore part of the hoof and provided at its
lower end with prongs inclined to said base piece and adapted to penetrate the shell
of the hoof from its upper surface towards the base, and the straining device con-
nected with the upper portion of the said base piece, substantially as and for the
purpose described.
3. The combination of the horse shoe provided with lugs or projections adapted
to engage with the edge of the hoof and the fastening band connected at its ends
with the sides of the shoe and adapted to extend up over the fore part of the hoof;
with the base piece d adapted to rest upon the fore part of the hoof and provided
at its lower end with prongs inclined to said base piece and adapted to penetrate
the shell of the hoof from its upper surface towards the base, and the straining lever
pivotally connected with the upper portion of said base piece and having its pivotal
movement in the plane of the base piece, substantially as described.
4. The combination with the horse shoe of a fastening band connected with the
sides of said shoe and extending over the fore part of the hoof and a straining lever
engaged with said band and provided with spurs to engage with the hoof, substan-
tially as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 4th day of October 1892
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.