IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE HOES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Churchman Darby, Farmer, Little Waltham,
in the County of Essex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE HOES."
Sealed the 18th March 1862, and dated the 8th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Churchman Darby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th November 1861.
I, THOMAS CHURCHMAN DARBY, Farmer, Little Waltham, in the County of
Essex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HORSE HOES," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist chiefly in the simplicity of construction of horse
hoes. To accomplish this, I use iron (by preference) as material; the wheels
are mounted on an expanding axle, which axle can be altered in width at
pleasure by four bars of flat iron, two with arms attached for the wheels,
and the other two simply flat pieces, which flat pieces of iron slide on each
other in such a manner that they can be altered and retained to any width
required. Some of these bars can be removed occasionally. Upon this axle
I attach shafts or whipple trees to draw it by. In the centre of the said
axle I introduce a bearing, on which the fore end of the beam lies by adjust-
ing the beam up or down in the bearing. I alter the angle of the cutting
edges of the hoes. This aforesaid bearing pivots on the said axle. The stems
of the hoes are attached to a bar or bars laid across or attached crossways to
the handles or beam formed in parts, & hinged to allow for unevenness in the
ground. The handles are fixed on to the beam in the usual manner for
ploughs, and the hoes are guided by the handles. I can fix a lever at each

page_text: end of the aforesaid stem bar to lift the outside hoes out of the ground, inde-
pendently of the others by means of simple levers pinned on to one stem, and
proceeding from thence to the outside one, and lifting it out when required.
When wanted to travel, I can mount the whole upon the wheels by freeing
the end of the beam from the bearing and drawing it on to the axle, so that
the bar that the hoe stems are attached to is by that means brought to the
axle, and the wheels take all the weight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Churchman Darby in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
CHURCHMAN DARBY, Farmer, of Little Waltham, in the County of Essex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Churchman Darby, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Churchman Darby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Churchman Darby, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
HORSE HOES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Churchman Darby, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Thomas Churchman Darby, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say. :-

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a plan of a horse hoe, which is in two parts connected
together, and there is an expanding joint by which, when the two parts require
to work inclined to each other, they may do so, and yet the hoes remain equi-
distant; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a back view;
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the same, the parts being in the positions in
which they will appear when the machine is to travel along a road; Figures
5 and 6 show views of an expanding axle; and Figure 7 shows an ordinary
axle; Figure 8 shows the arrangement of parts, when the outermost hoes are
arranged to descend lower than the other hoes; Figures 9 and 10 show appa-
ratus, used when a horse hoe is constructed of three parts or frames, which
are coupled together at their fore ends to the axle by means of the parts
shown in Figures 9 and 10; Figure 11 shows a large horse hoe, composed of
three frames, expanding joints being introduced between the parts as in the
horse hoe.
In constructing an expanding axle in the manner shewn in Figures 5 and 6,
four parts are used, two of which b, b, have arms or necks formed thereon to
receive the nasses or bosses of the wheels. The other two parts a, a, are
simply flat bars. If a shorter axle be required shorter bars a, a, may be used
in combination with the parts b, b, or axle may consist of the parts b, b, only.
The parts of an axle are to be held together by clamping bands, or by set
screws, or otherwise, so that when the axle has been expanded or contracted
to the length desired they may be securely held together. In constructing a
horse hoe, whether such an axle as that shewn at Figures 5 and 6, or are like
that shewn at Figure 7, a boss f is applied in the centre thereof, and fixed by
a set screw or otherwise. On this boss is formed or fixed a projection g, which
receives the socket used for supporting the fore end of the beam of the
machine. On the axle and near its ends are also applied bosses e, e, on which
the draft irons are placed; h is the socket on the projection 9, in which the
fore end of the beam is received and supported; this beam is composed of
two parallel bars l, one forming part of one of the two frames of the machine,
and the other bar forming part of the other of the two frames, as shewn in
Figure 1. The beam 1, 1, is also connected to the boss f on the axle, by
means of a drag chain j, as shewn in Figure 2. The socket h can be sup-
ported in any position on the projection g, by means of the moveable collar k,

page_text: which is fixed in position by a set screw, as shewn at Figures 9 and 10. The
two bars 1, 1, which form the beam are connected by means of an expanding
joint M, which allows the two bars N, on which the hoes are mounted, to
work in an inclined position to each other when the centre of the land inclines
in opposite directions. When three frames are used in constructing a horse,
the parts forming the beams are similarly connected together by expanding
joints M, as is shewn in Figure 11, in which machine the parts shewn in
Figures 9 and 10 are employed to couple the ends of the bars composing the
beams together, as is shewn in Figure 11, in which case the bar i is placed
on the projection 9; the beams are also connected together by a bar v, and
such bar is linked to the boss f on the axle. The ends of bar i are formed
with knuckle joints h, into holes in which and in holes at the ends of the
bar i, the fore ends of the bars forming the beams are received. When a
horse hoe, such as is herein described, is to be moved on a road the fore end
of the beam is to be separated from its socket h, and the frames of the hoe
are to be placed on the axle, as shewn in Figure 4. The stems o of the hoes
are fixed to the bars N by means of clasps and eyes in the ordinary manner.
The horse hoe, Figure 1, has two handles r, one to each of the two frames.
The horse hoc, shewn at Figure 11, has four handles r. In Figure 8, the
outermost hoe u is arranged to descend lower down than the others; this is
accomplished by its being mounted on a lever s, which turns on an axis s*.
The lever is constantly pressed on by a spring T. As before stated, when the
machine is to be used for cultivating land in place of hoes, small ploughs are
to be mounted on the stems o.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the parts separately; but what I claim is,-
First, the combined arrangements of parts herein described for constructing
a horse hoe.
And, secondly, the construction of axle, described with reference to Figures
5 and 6.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Churchman Darby, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
THOMAS CHURCHMAN DARBY. (L.S.)