A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I WILLIAM
MIDDLEMORE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Пer present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Butain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Thuteenth day of July, in the tenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Middlemore, Her especial licence, full power, solo
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Middlemore, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Middlemore, my
exors, adiiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, excrcise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENT OR CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Middlemore, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
William Middlemore, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had

page_text: unto the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say
-
My Invention consists of a method or methods of applying strips or straps
and sheets or continuous layers of caoutchouc or india rubber (either in its
ordinary state, or when vulcanized, that is to say, when treated with sulphur),
or other suitable clastic substance, in the construction of the seats of saddles,
so as to give the said seats additional clasticity. Also the application of
india rubber, either vulcanized or otherwise, in the construction of the
heads of ladies' saddles.
Figure 1 represents the under side of an unfinished saddle constructed
according to the manner of my Invention, Figure 2 represents the upper side
of an unfinished saddle constructed according to the manner of my Invention;
and Figure 3 represents a vertical section of Figure 1. 6 represents the
saddle tree, which, in my improved saddle is of the form represented in
the Figure. a, a, a, Figure 1, are strips or straps of india rubber, either
vulcanised or otherwise These strips or straps are used in place of the webs
which extend from the head a to the cantle y of a saddle, as commonly con-
structed, and are attached to the upper side of the saddle tiee 6 by tacks or
nails, or in any other convenient manner. One of these strips or straps is seen
in section at a, Figure 3. The linen cloth c, Figure 3, is next stretched over
the stips or straps a, a, a, Figures 1 and 3, and is attached to the saddle tree
in the usual manner, except that the front part is left unfastened, the bellies
are next nailed on each side of the saddle tree, and over the said cloth c and
bellies a continuous stratum or layer of india rubber, either vulcanized or
otherwise, is stretched, as represented at d, in Figure 2. This stratum or layer
of india iubber is attached by tacks or otherwise to the saddle tree b. The
completion of the saddle is effected in the usual way that is to say, a piece of
surge is next stretched over the saddle in that stage of its manufacture last
described, and the usual stuffing is introduced between the said surge and the
stratum or layer of india iubber, d, Figure 2
The method. of attaching the leather or outer covering of the saddle
does not differ from that pursued in the ordinary method of manufacturing
saddles. The linen webs to which the saddle straps are fastened go round each
side of the saddle tree, as shown in the Drawing Figure 1, instead of across
the saddle tice as usual.
I sometimes vary the method of carrying my Invention into effect in the
following manner, that is to say.-Instead of introducing the stuffing of the
saddle between the layer or stratum of india rubber d, Figure 2, and the surge
which is stretched over the said india rubber, as herein-before described, I

page_text: anange the several parts in the following mannet.-The surge is stretched
over the linen cloth c, and the stuffing is introduced between the said surge
and linen cloth, and over the said surge the layer or stiatum of india rubber is
stretched, and over the india rubber the leather or outer covering of the saddle.
I sometimes also vary the manner of caning my Invention into effect by
using a continuous layer or stratum of india rubber in place of the strips or
straps a, a, a, Figure 1.
In addition to the method of using india rubber in the construction of the
seats of saddles, herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Diawing, I also apply india rubber in the construction of the heads of ladies'
saddles
•
Figure 4 represents the interior of the near side head of a ladies', saddle
constructed according to the manner of my Invention. ciepresents the founda-
tion of the head. This foundation is constructed of wood, strengthened with
iron, as in the ordinary manufacture. The form of the foundation is repre-
sented in the Diawing partly by a continuous and partly by a dotted line.
9 is a sheet of india rubber, either vulcanised or other wise; one edge of this
sheet is attached by tacks or other wise to the foundation, e, as shown in
the Diawing, and the said sheet being folded back its other edge is attached
in any convenient manner to the other side of the head. The sheet of india-
rubbei g thus forms as it were a cushion, superior in elasticity to that formed
by the ordinary stuffing.
In applying ny Invention to the consti uction of the off-side head of ladies'
saddles, I extend the stratum of india rubber (see d, Figure 2) which is used
in covering the scat of the saddle to the top of the said off-side head, and also
extend the several coverings and stuffing herein-before described with reference
to the seats of saddles over the said off-side head
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that, although I
piefer carrying my Invention into effect by the use of caoutchouc or india
ubber which has been treated with sulphur or vulcanized, I do not limit myself
to the use of the said vulcanized caoutchouc or india rubber, or caoutchouc or
india rubber in its ordinary state, or after it has been subjected to any of the
various processes by which its clasticity may be increased, or rendered less
liable to variation by change of temperature. Other substances may be used in
place of the said vulcanised caoutchouc or india rubber, as gutta percha, either
11 its ordinary state or after it has been treated by any of the various processes
by which its flexibility and clasticity are increased or rendered more uniform, or
any other suitable elastic substance may be substituted for the said vulcanised

page_text: caoutchouc or india rubber. And I also wish it to be further understood that
I am aware that sheets or continuous layers of caoutchouc or india rubber have
been used in the construction of saddles prior to the date of my Invention, the
said sheets of india rubber having been applied to that part of the saddle which
comes into contact with the rider, and also to that part of the saddle which
comes into contact with the body of the hoise; I therefore do not claim as my
Invention the exclusive use of sheets of caoutchouc or india rubber in the con-
struction of saddles, neither do I claim the application of caoutchouc or india
rubber to those parts of saddles which come in contact with the rider or the body
'of the horse, that is to say, on the outside of the seat of saddles, or on the
under side of saddles; but I claim the use of caoutchouc or india rubber,
either vulcanized or otherwise, or other suitable elastic substance, in the several
ways herein-before described, and partly represented in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, the use of strips or straps of the said caoutchouc or
india rubber in the construction of the support or foundation of the seats of
saddles; also the use of a stratum or layer of the said india rubber immediately
under or over or immediately under and over the stuffing of saddles, whether
the said strips or straps and continuous stratum or layer be used conjointly
-or separately.
Also the method of applying caoutchouc or india rubber, or other suitable
elastic substance, to the construction of ladies' saddles, herein-before described,
and in part represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Middlemore, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven.