IMPROVEMENTS IN HARNESS FOR DRAUGHT ANIMALS, AND IN CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING DEVICES TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st January 1870.-A communication from abroad. by J. B. Crosby,
of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARNESS FOR
DRAUGHT ANIMALS, AND IN CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING DEVICES TO BE USED
THEREWITH," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction and arrangement
of means for attaching horses to vehicles, so that the connection between
the animal and the vehicle can be quickly and easily made, the appa-
ratus or harness being simplified, cheapened in cost, and reduced in the
number of parts and weight.
On each thill is fixed a metal strip, to which is removably attached a
case. The latter contains a draw bolt, which is surrounded by a spiral
spring, so that strains exerted on the eye of the draw bolt in a direction
to impel the vehicle forward are transmitted to the vehicle through the
medium of the spring, which yields sufficiently to the movements of

page_text: the animal and to the resistance which roughness of the road offers to
the progress of the vehicle to lessen the strain and jars upon the horse.
The arrangement of the spring is such that under increased resistance
to the progress of the vehicle the spring is compressed, and as the
resistance lessens the spring extends itself by reaction. The stiffness of
the springs must be proportioned to the amount of draft which it is
necessary for the horse to exert to move the vehicle. The edges of the
case fit in rebates formed in the edges of the strip, in which are made
dovetailed openings. On one end of the case is formed a dovetailed
projection, which will fit in any of the openings.
At the other end of
the said case a screw passes through a hole formed therein into one of a
number of nut-threaded holes formed in the strip. By means of the
said dovetailed projection and openings and the screw and nut-threaded
holes the case and the attachments thereunto may be adjusted relatively
to the body of the vehicle to suit long or short bodied horses, the adjust-
ment being readily effected on both thills. To prevent the rattling of
the parts when the vehicle is in motion leather cushions or washers are
interposed between the spring ends and the metal against which the
spring acts, and a leather cushion is interposed between the draw bolt end
and the adjacent end of the case. It is also advisable to surround the
spring with a tube of thin leather. The cyc on the draw bolt enters a
slot made in a metal piece, where it may be confined by a pin, which
is kept pressed through the opening in the eye by the action of a spring.
The pins form the only connections between the horse and the vehicle,
so that the connection is made and unmade by manipulations of the
eyes of the draw bolts and the said pins. By lifting the pins and
starting the horse forward the eyes of the draw bolts are moved out of
the slots in the metal pieces, which are opened toward the rear to permit
this and to allow of the horse being backed in between the thills to let
the eyes enter the said slots when the pins are lifted. The metal piece
is made with several eyes or loops to receive the various harness straps.
An eye or loop receives a strap from the saddle, another loop receives
the breast strap by which the horse draws the vehicle, while another
loop receives the breeching strap by which the horse holds back the
vehicle, and another loop receives the strap by which the shafts are kept
from side sway and from working up and down.

page_text: dispensed with, and so too may be the breeching straps, especially with
very light vehicles. The girth strap which is used with this harness is
peculiar in having its front edge made as a soft roll, which may be
stuffed, and in having at each end buckles which receive both the saddle
straps and the shaft sway straps, so that beneath the horse there is only
one strap, which prevents the pinching of the skin of the animal which
occurs when separate girths are used for the saddle and the shafts. This
girth has at each end two buckles, one to which the saddle is connected
and by which it is drawn tight by the strap above mentioned, and one
to which the shafts are girthed by means of another strap. A roll or
soft edge is placed next to the fore legs of the horse and prevents cutting
and chafing.