AN IMPROVED METHOD OF INSTANTLY RELEASING ONE OR MORE HORSES FROM VEHICLES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Staker, of Southampton, in the County
of Hants, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF INSTANTLY
RELEASING ONE OR MORE HORSES FROM VEHICLES."
Scaled the 11th May 1875, and dated the 14th November 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Staker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th November 1874.
I, CHARLES STAKER, of Southampton, in the County of Hants, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF INSTANTLY RELEASING ONE OR MORE HORSES FROM VEHICLES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in an improved method of instantly releasing
horses from vehicles in the event of their becoming unmanageable; for
example, the following are the means by which it is proposed to
accomplish the above object :-
I will first describe my Invention as applied to vehicles having two
horses, in which case I propose to cut a slot in each of the trace hooks

page_text: so that the traces may pass through the said hooks instead of over them
as is now the case. I also fix a spring catch or bolt so as to pass trans-
versely through the aforesaid slot, and cut a small hole at a short
distance from the end of the traces so that the catch or bolt may pass
through it when the trace is inserted in the aforesaid slot, and a loose
cap is put on the end of the pole. The aforesaid spring catches or bolts.
are all connected together by rods or chains to one main rod or chain
fixed near the driver in such a way that all the said catches or bolts
may be drawn back simultaneously, and thus the traces are released and
the horses are perfectly free from the vehicle, the loose cap aforesaid
leaving the pole.
For vehicles having only one horse the shafts are connected to the
said vehicles by means of spring pins or bolts instead of fixed ones as at
present. The said spring pins or bolts are connected together and work
the same as in vehicles with two horses, as above described, and upon
the spring pins or bolts being drawn back the shafts are freed from the
vehicle. A rein fixed at the back ends of the shafts passes through a
ring fixed on the harness and thence to the driver, and upon pulling the
said rein a catch is forced through the rings which prevents the shafts
from hanging loosely at the sides of the horse when disengaged from
the vehicle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
-
filed by the said Charles Staker in the Great Seal Patent Office on
*. the 14th May 1875.–
TO ALL TO WHOM. THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
STAKER, of Southampton, in the County of Hants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and

page_text: successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Staker, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles Staker, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Staker, 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 IMPROVED METHOD
OF INSTANTLY RELEASING ONE OR MORE HORSES FROM VEHICLES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Staker, 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 Charles Staker, 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 :-
.
This Invention consists in an improved method of instantly releasing
horses from vehicles in the event of their becoming unmanageable; for
example, the following are the means by which it is proposed to
accomplish the above object :-
I will first describe my Invention as applied to vehicles having two
horses, in which case I propose to cut a slot in each of the trace hooks
so that the traces may pass through the said hooks instead of over them
as is now the case. I also fix a spring catch or bolt so as to press trans-
versely through the aforesaid slot. I also cut a small hole at a short
distance from. the end of the traces so that the catch or bolt may pass
through it when the trace is inserted in the aforesaid slot, and a loose
cap is put on the end of the pole. The aforesaid spring catches or bolts
are all connected together by rods or chains to one main rod or chain
fixed near the driver in such a way that all the said catches or bolts may
be drawn back simultaneously, and thus the traces are released and the
horses are perfectly free from the vehicle, the loose cap aforesaid leaving
the pole.

page_text: Figure 7 is a top view, and Figure 8 a side view shewing my Inven-
tion as applied to vehicles having one horse. A, are the levers; B, the
catches or bolts which unite the shafts to the carriage; C, the straps
fastened to the ends D of the levers A, and which after passing round
small pulleys E join the main strap placed within reach of the driver.
Figures 9 and 10 show the mode of connecting the shafts to the main
strap by making the strap K fixed to the shafts at L, Figure 9, pass
through small pulleys M, Figure 10, fixed at the back of the harness,
and thence to the main strap. When the shafts are detached they are by
these means pulled up against the side of the horse.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
"An Improved Method of Instantly Releasing one or more Horses from
Vehicles," and the means whereby it may be effected, I would remark
in conclusion that I hereby declare this Invention to consist in, and I
claim, "the improved method of releasing one or more horses from
vehicles, substantially as described and represented.
In witness whercof, I, the said Charles Staker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.