AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clay, of Birmingham, in the County of War-
wick, Saddler, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN SADDLES."
Sealed the 2nd October 1857, and dated the 28th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clay at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th July
1857.
I, JOHN CLAY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Saddler, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the method or methods herein-after described of
giving elasticity to the seats of saddles. I attach springs to the webs ordinarily
used in saddles, and constituting the foundation of the said saddles in the
following manner:-I attach the said webs by one end to the posterior part of
the saddle-tree, and by their other ends to the anterior part of the saddle-
tree by means of helical or coiled springs, which said springs constitute as it
were a prolongation of the ends of the webs. The said webs and springs
constitute an elastic support or foundation to the saddle, and permit of the
yielding of the seat under pressure. Although I prefer the method described of

page_text: carrying my Invention into effect, yet I do not limit myself to the precise details
described. The essence of my Invention consists in giving elasticity to the seats
of saddles by means of webs kept in a state of tension by helical or coiled
springs.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Clay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st January
1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN CLAY,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Saddler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Clay, Her special licence, that I, the said John Clay, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Clay, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SADDLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Clay, 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 immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Clay, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
.
My Invention consists of the method or methods herein-after particularly
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings of giving elasticity to
the seats of saddles.
'
Figure 1 represents a plan of the under side of an unfinished saddle con-
structed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 represents a vertical and
longitudinal section of the same. a is the saddle-tree, and b, b, the_webs

page_text: which constitute the foundation of the saddle. One end of each of the webs
b, b, is attached to the saddle-tree a, at the points marked c, c. The other
end of each of the said webs b, b, is attached by means of wire-stitches to
helical or coiled springs d, d; the other ends of the said springs are attached
in a similar manner to another short piece of web, which web is nailed on
the anterior part of the 'saddle-tree. The webs b, b, and springs d, d, con-
stitute an elastic support or foundation to the seat of the saddle, and permit
of the yielding of the seat under pressure. The saddle is finished in the
'ordinary manner.
I sometimes carry my Invention into effect in the manner illustrated in
Figure 3, that is to say, I connect the webs to the anterior part of the saddle-
tree by nailing the same thereto as represented at e, and I connect the ends of
the webs to the posterior part of the saddle-tree by means of helical or coiled
springs as represented at f, f.
Figure 4 represents one of the helical or coiled springs of the actual size,
which I prefer to employ in carrying my Invention into effect, the said spring
being represented in its normal form at 9, and expanded or elongated at h.
I sometimes construct the helical springs used in carrying my Invention
into effect in the manner illustrated in Figure 5. The spring i is enclosed in
a tube k, a rod passes up the axis of the spring i, the said spring bearing
at one end against the closed end of the tube k, and at the other end against
the shoulder on the rod 1.
The spring Figure 5 is connected with the saddle-tree by one of the hooks
m being attached thereto, the other of the said hooks m being attached to
the web. The spring, Figure 4, acts by extension, and the spring, Figure 5, by
compression, that is to say, the tension of the web elongates the coils g, h,
when the spring, Figure 4, is used, and the tension of the web compresses the
coils i when the spring, Figure 5, is used.
Although I prefer the methods described of carrying my Invention into
effect, yet I do not limit myself to the precise details described and repre-
sented, as the number, size, and length of the springs may be varied, as well as
the method of connecting them to the webs or other material of which the
seat of the saddle is made, and to the saddle-tree.
The essence of my Invention consists in giving clasticity to the seats of
saddles by means of webs or other material kept in a state of tension by
means of helical or coiled springs.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention the improvement or improvements in saddles herein-before

page_text: described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, giving
elasticity to the seats of saddles by means of helical or coiled springs, the said
springs being so applied as to keep the webs or other material constituting
the foundation of the seat in a state of tension, whether the said springs are so
constructed and fixed that pressure upon the saddle shall cause them to expand
or contract, and whether the said springs are placed at the anterior or pos-
terior part of the saddle, or at both parts.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clay, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN CLAY. (L.B.)