CERTAIN IMPROVENENTS IN SPURS FOR MILITARY AND GENERAL USE."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cox, Saddler' Ironmonger, of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, and Samuel Frankham and Moses Frankham,
Bit, Stirrup, and Spur Manufacturers, of Walsall, in the County of
Stafford, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVENENTS IN SPURS FOR
MILITARY AND GENERAL USE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cox, Samuel Frank-
ham, and Moses Frankham at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th June 1859.
We, JOHN Cox, Saddlers' Ironmonger, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, and SAMUEL FRANKHAM and MOSES FRANKHAM, Bit, Stirrup, and
Spur Manufacturers, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, do hereby declare
the nature of our said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SPURS FOR
MILITARY AND GENERAL USE," to be as follows (that is to say):-
Our Invention relates to the construction of spurs, the principal elements of
which is that they may be applied or removed from the heels of boots with-
great facility, and without the objections and expense attendant on the des-
cription of spurs known as box spurs, and which class of spurs our Invention
is mainly intended to supersede. It consists in forging or forming a small
pointed shank for entering the heel of the boot, and which shank is formed at
the base of the part which carries the roll; and on each side of the pointed
shank, two projections are formed to receive axes on which two lateral clips
work for clipping the boot heel. The base of the shaft of the spur before
referred to is tapped for receiving a conical nut or screw; and by the screwing

page_text: in and out of this nut the lateral arms are either freed from or made to securely
clip the boot heel; these arms may be made of light steel, if preferred, so as
to yield and fit the various sizes of heels by its elastic nature; and the extreme
ends of these lateral arms may either be bent at right angles for more securely
clipping the heel or sharpened into a pointed shank to be- imbedded in the
leather of the heel, or pressed over screw pins fixed either in the heel or in
the lateral arms for that purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Cox, Samuel Frankham, and Moses Frankham in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
Cox, Saddlers' Ironmonger, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, and
SAMUEL FRANKHAM, and MOSES FRANKHAM, Bit, Stirrup, and Spur Manu-
facturers, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Cox, Samuel Frankham, and Moses Frankbam, Her special
license that we, the said John Cox, Samuel Frankham, and Moses Frankham,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
John Cox, Samuel Frankham, and Moses Frankham, our executors, admi-
nistrators, or 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. "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SPURS FOR MILITARY AND
GENERAL USE, upon, the condition (amongst others) that. we,, the said John
Cox, Samuel Frankham, and Moses Frankham, by an instrument in writing.
under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same. was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Cox, Samuel Frankham, and.
Moses Frankham, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention; and in.

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
Our improvements in the construction of spurs are intended to facilitate
their application and removal to the heels of boots, without requiring the boot
heels to be purposely made or fitted to receive them in any way, with the
exception of a small hole, made with any simple pointed instrument, such as a
gimblet or brad-awl, on each side and at the back, which, when made, will
require no further preparation as long as the heel will endure, rendering
metallic sockets or boxes entirely unnecessary, yet permitting the spur to be
removed and applied with all the ease and simplicity common to the use of
spurs known as box spurs. And we effect this by forming the part that clips
the heel in two parts, united at the back to the part that carries the rowel by
strong pins on which they move laterally; and to this part (that carries the
rowel) a strong conical pin is formed for entering the heel of the boot, and
over this part a conical collar is applied, which being tapped or threaded, and
turned as a thumbscrew, its conical or inclined face will bear on the base of
the lateral arms, causing them to press on and clip the heel of the boot; and at
the end of the lateral arms two or more pins are formed, which enter correspond-
ing holes formed in the heel, thereby thorougly securing the spur to the boot.
But in some instances, instead of using a conical screwed collar at the back,
we use a conical pointed collar acted on by a helical spring; so that the spur
has only to be applied to the heel, and the pins at the end of the lateral arms
pressed into their corresponding holes in the heels, and the spring collar freed,
when its pointed end will enter the heel of the boot, and its conical surface
press on the base of the arms, thereby keeping them in place, securely clipping
the boot heel.
And this same principle we also apply to spurs having their sides made of
tempered steel, capable of being expanded for passing over the heel of the boot
and collapsing so as to press the side pins into the heel, when the collar, acting
as before described, may be freed for allowing the back pin to enter the hole
at the back of the heel in like manner, as before described. And in some
cases we use a spring secured to the part of the boot heel towards the toe or
sole of the boot, which spring is intended to catch in notches formed on the
corresponding sides of the side pins towards the spring, which will have the
effect of holding them very securely. ;
But as our Invention will be more fully understood by referring to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, we will. proceed to describe the same, reference
being made to the figures and letters marked thereon.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
. Fig. 1 reprsents a flat view of one of our improved spurs, as suited for an
ordinary boot. A and B are the lateral arms united to the shank C by two
pins as at d, e; g is a conical pin, forming a part of the shank C, which being
placed into a hole at the back of the heel, imparts great firmness to the spur
when on. The conical collar or boss F is tapped on to the shank, and by
turning this in the direction of from left to right, the inclined surface of the
collar will press against the corresponding part of the arms, thereby causing
their extreme ends to come nearer together for clipping the boot heel, and
forcing the two points or pins h and i into the leather, by which means the
spur will be securely held, the removal being effected, when desired, by simply
reversing or unscrewing the collar F. Fig. 2 is a side view of Figure 1; and
Fig. 3 and 4 represents the same description of spur made of the size and
shape of military spurs, to show that our improvements are applicable to a
bent or curved shank, as at J, as well as to straight ones, as at C in the last
Figure. It is not positively essential that the collar should be tapped and
screwed, as we can obtain the same effect by a helical spring, as exhibited at
Fig. 5, K being a lateral arm, as exhibited in Figure 1, and united to the
part that carries the rowel by the pin l; m, m, is the collar represented
partly in section, its extreme end forming a blunt pin for entering the heel of
the boot at the back; and in the hollow of this part a helical spring is placed
over a reduced part of the shank, exerting its force against a shoulder of the
shank marked n, and the termination of the hollow part of the collar, in such
a way that when the collar is pulled towards the rowel of the spur it will
collapse the spring, and pull the pin back with it, but which, when freed, will
enter the hole in the heel, and the inclined surface of the collar will press
together the lateral arms in like manner, as before described. Fig. 6 is a
repetition of Figure 5, without showing the collar in section, the dotted lines
representing its position when pulled back; and Fig. 7 represents a detached
side view of the collar, showing the slot in which the part marked p works;
the dotted lines in this Figure representing its internal form which we recom
mend to be stamped hot in suitable dies, and united at the point, as at r, and
closed up in the finished spur, and secured by the solid rings; or we may
unite the point r, as at Figure 1, with the shank, and unite the collar to a
base for catching the spring by tapping or otherwise; or the spring may be
acted on by two side plates, as exhibited at T, T, Fig. 8, and which parts are
intended to be united together by pins working through slots on each side of
the shank U. The curved or inclined surfaces of the parts T, T, may be used

page_text: for compressing the lateral arms, in like manner as described in the former
Figures, or be used as here shown, for pulling in and out the back pin v.
W represents a section of the heel of a boot; and the arms X, X, are forged
with the shank U, but being made, as we purpose of hardened steel, they are
intended to be expanded when applied, and clipping the heel by their own
elastic force, according to the strength of the steel used, and there secured
from shaking by the points y, y, entering the leather of the heel. Sometimes
we prefer using a steel plate, as at Z, screwed to the part of the heel as here
shown, and filing notches in the points y, y, to catch the angle part of the
spring; and as the pins are intended to be of a conical form, they may be
applied to the heel of the boot with the spur hanging down, thus presenting a
plain surface to the springs, but when the spur is brought up in position, as
here shown, the spring will catch in the notches and be there secured, at which
time, by relieving the clips T, T, the back pin will enter the heel, and
thoroughly hold the spur; the spring Z may be applied, if desired, to the
spurs exhibited in Figures 1, 3, and 5, by filing a notch in the pins for that
purpose, as exhibited at a'. Fig. 9 is simply a side view of Figure 8 repre-
senting the boot heel marked W.
Having thus given a general description of our improvements, as also the
manner in which the same may be carried into effect, we do not purpose con-
fining ourselves to the exact details berein described, as the same may be
greatly varied as taste or use may require; but what we claim and wish pro-
tected by these our in part recited Letters Patent is, the general construction
of spurs, as herein described and exhibited, for facilitating their application and
removal from the heels of boots.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Cox, Samuel Frankham, and
Moses Frankham, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seven-
teenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty nine
Witness,
JOHN COX.
SAMUEL FRANKHAM.
MOSES FRANKHAM.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
JOHN COA.
(L.S.)
SAMUEL FRANKHAM. (L.S.)
MOSES FRANKHAM.
(L.S.)