IMPROVEMENTS IN STIRRUPS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, CHARLES KENRICK GIBBONS, of 27 Choppington Street Newcastle on Tyne
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STIRRUPS" to be as follows
My Invention bas for its object to so construct stirrups that they will be readily
disconnected from the stirrup strap on a ride being thrown and so prevent his
being dragged
According to my Invention I form in the upper part or bow of the stiri up a
recess in which a pin can tuin the said pin forming part of or being attached to
a link or loop through which the sturup strap is passed The said recess in the
stirrup has an opening at or towards the front side through which the aforesaid pin
of the loop for the strap can pass if an abnormal strain be brought on the parts
such as occurs when a rider 18 thrown and dragged with his foot in the stir up
A piece may be attached to the loop for the stirrup stiap to be moved by the foot
to ensure the release of the parts For further security and certainty of action
I prefer to provide an additional piece capable of turning either upon the pin of
the loop for the stirrup strap or upon the bow of the stirrup so that the foot by
pressing upon this piece when the rider is thrown turns the said piece into such &
position that an outlet slot in it coincides with the outlet slot in the stirrup bow
and at the same time forces the pin of the loop for the stirrup strap towards the
Baid outlet slot in the sturup bow and ensures its disengagement when an
abnormal strain is brought upon it as aforesaid
It will be obvious that although I have described the recesses and slots as being
in the stirrup bow and the pin in the loop for the stirrup strap the position of
these parts may be reversed if found desirable that is to say the stirrup may carry
the pin and the loop the recesses and slots

page_text: I CHARIES KENRICK GIBBONS of 27 Choppington Street Nowcastlo on Tyne
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for JMI ROVEMENTS IN
STIRRUPS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement
My Invention has for its object to so construct stirrups that they will be readily
disconnected from the stiri up strap on a Rider being thrown with his foot still in
the stirrup and so release him from being dragged According to my said Invention
I do not forin the stirrup proper and the eye or loop or its equivalent (by which
the stirrup strap is connected to the stirrup proper) in one piece or immovably
connected together but I effect the connection of the stirrup proper and the eye
piece or link or loop by which the stirrup strap is attached, in such a manner that
when the parts are in their normal position the said eye piece link or loop is
maintained virtually as one piece with the stirrup proper but when a rider is
thrown and his foot still remains in the stirrup the abnormal dragging strain which
then occurs causes the stirrup proper and the eye piece or link or loop to be turned
into such a relative position that they become disengaged and the stirrup proper
becomes detached from the eye piece link or loop and the thrown rider is therefore
released from the horse in place of being dragged a considerable distance as
frequently occurs when ordinary stirrups are used
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the figures
Figure 1 represents in front elevation the upper part of the bow of a stirrup
constructed according to my Invention, showing a mode in which the aforesaid
connection between the stirrup proper A, and the link or loop B may be effected―
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same A gap or space is made in the upper
part or bow of the stirrup, and in the opposite ends of the adjacent parts of the
bow forming the faces or aides of this opening are recesses a as shewn clearly in
Figures 3 and 4 which are respectively an elevation of the upper part of the bow
and an inside view of one of the sides of the opening-In the said recesses a
a pin b can turn the said pin forming part of the linh B shewn separately in views
at right angles to each other in Figures 5 and 6-Fach of the said recesses a has
an opening a at the front side in such a position that the pin b will not pass
through it when the normal strain is on the sturup but when an abnormal strain
is brought on the parts in consequence of the rider being thrown with his foot still
engaged with the stirrup the pin bis brought opposite the opening a so that the
Baid pin can pass out of the said opening and the rider is released in consequence
of the stirrup proper A becoming disconnected from the link B-For further
security and certainty of action I prefer to provide a piece C, interposed between
the recesses a and the pin b-1his piece is shewn in position in Figures 1 and 2
and separately in perspective in Figure 7-It has an opening c at its upper part
which only coincides with the opening a' when the parts are turned out of position
by the abnormal strain due to a thrown riders foot being engaged with the stirrup-
I have shewn a projection c³ formed upon the piece O so that the foot of the
thrown under by pressing upon this piece, ensures the turning of the piece into its
releasing position, at the same time forcing the pin b towards the outlet slot a³, but
this projection o' may be dispensed with

page_text: Figures 8 to 11 illustrate another way in which my Invention may be carried
out Figure 8 is a front view of the upper part of the stirrup shewing the parts
in their engaged position-Figure 9 is a plan of the upper part of the bow of the
stirrup alone and figure 10 is a section on the line xy Figure 9, and Figure 11
shews in perspective and end view the intermediate piece C separately-The parts
here shewn are arranged and act in substantially the same manner as do those
described with reference to figures 1 to 7 The upper part of the bow of the
stariup has the opening through it and recesses formed in it which receive the
intermediate piece C and the pin b of the link B-a³ 18 a strap piece which may be
advantageously used with light stirrups to support the opposite parts of the bow of
the stirrup the said strap piece a³ being fixed to one side of the bow and engaging
with a slotted recess in the other side to admit of the parts of the bow being forced
outwards so that the spring of the said parts is utilized to grip the stem 6* of the
link B to hold it in position, rounded recesses being provided at a' in the part A
to receive the stem b The part C is formed with a projecting piece c³ which
bears at the front part against the stem 63 so that when side pressure 18 brought to
bear upon the parts when the rider is thrown with his foot still in the stirrup the
said piece C is forced down into the position in which its open side at c coincides
with the openings at a in the sides of the recesses a in the bow of the stirrup for
releasing the link B from the stirrup proper A, in the manner described with
regard to the first arrangement
Figures 12 and 13 shew in plan and elevation respectively a slight modification
wherein the strap piece a³ is dispensed with and a stop is left on the stirrup for
the sake of appearance and to prevent the link from turning backwards
The said
stop is constituted by the projections The line at y shews a cut which is
preferably made right through the stirrup bow for the purpose of utilizing the
spring of the two parts of the stirrup to grip the stem of the link B as in the
preceding arrangements
I have given the arrangements hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawings as those which are the best I am acquunted with for
carrying my Invention into effect but I do not limit myself to these precise arrange
ments as it will be obvious that many modifications can be made without departing
from the nature of my Invention for example the arrangement of the recesses and
pins may be reversed that is to say the bow of the stirrup may carry the pin and
the link may have the recesses or openings made in it
In order to obviate any
objection that may arise from having the slot only to the front which necessitates
the foot of the rider being placed in the stir up always in the same direction I may
make duplicate slots a opening on either side of the stirrup bow that is to say
one opening to the front and the other to the bick as shewn clearly in Figure 14
The stirrup can then be hung to the stirrup leather strap either way forward so as
to be released on an abnormal strain being brought upon it as herein before descubed
In this case the piece C is provided with two projections c³ as shewn in Fig 15
whilst the strap piece a³ or its equivalent (the stop 2) is dispensed with
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim 18
1st A stirrup in which the stirrup proper and the link or its equivalent by which
the stirrup proper is attached to the stirrup strap are so connected or attached
together that when the parts are in their normal position the said stirrup proper
and the link or its equivalent are virtually one piece but so that when an abnormal
strain is brought upon the parts due to a 11der being thrown with his foot still in
the stirrup the said stirrup proper and link or its equivalent are turned into such
a relative position that the sturup proper becomes released from the hak or its
equivalent substantially as herein before described
2nd The arrangement and combination of the parts A B and C substantially as
and for the purpose herein before described and illustrated by the accompanying
drawings

page_text: 3rd The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the safety stirrup
herembefore described and illustrated in figures 1 to 7 of the accompanying
drawings and also the arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
safety stup herumbefore described and illustrated in figuies 8 to 11 of the
accompanying drawings and the modifications thereof hereinbefore described and ɓ
illustrated in figures 12 13 14 and 15 of the accompanying diawings
Dated this 22nd day of November 1884