Improvements in Nosebags.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 19th Mar.. 1898
Improvements in Nosebags.
I, WILLIAM GEORGE HEATHER, Jeweller's Manger, of 75, High Street, Winchester,
in the County of Hampshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improved nosebag for horses and like animals, and has
for its object a method of construction by means of which the surface of the food in
the bag is kept always in a position to be easily reached by the animal, without the
need of tossing up the bag for that purpose, thus saving the waste of food which has
arisen from such tossing in bags as hitherto made and used.
My invention consists of a suitably shaped bag, having a strap and buckle for
suspension upon the animals head in the usual way, and provided with a rigid
leather bottom, to which is connected the lower ends of covered spiral springs, the
upper ends of which are connected to the upper end of the bag, the weight of the
food when the bag is filled serving to place the said springs in tension, and expand
the bag lengthwise to its full extent, but as the food is consumed and its weight
consequently lessened, the power of the said springs operate in raising the said bottom
and the food in the bag, so that the surface of the said food is thereby automatically
kept always within the reach of the animal without the need of alteration in the
buckling of the strap, or the animal tossing up the bag. The upper end of
the said bag is enclosed by a diaphragm, having a central aperture through which the
mouth and nose of the animal is inserted, suitable perforations being provided in
the sides of the bag for admitting air to the nostrils of the animal.
In the accompanying drawings Fig is a perspective view of my said improved
nosebag, while Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections of the same, in a state of expansion
and collapse respectively.
Fig. 4 is a sectional plan of same taken upon the line A B Fig. 2.
I carry my invention into effect by constructing of any suitable material a bag A,
preferably of the shape shewn, so that its lower end is of less diameter than the top,
the said lower end being protected against wear and damp by a casing of leather
such as B, while its upper end is enclosed by a cover C, of any pliable material, in
which a central opening D is provided, adapted to permit the insertion of the nose
of the animal, suitable straps and buckles E and E¹ being provided for suspending
the bag upon the head of the animal in the usual way.
Upon the inside of the bag A I provide a suitable number of spiral springs F,
connected at their upper ends to top of the bag A, and at their lower ends to the
bottom of the bag and its casing B, each of the said spring's being rendered invisible
and protected from damp by a casing or covering of flexible waterproof material G,
stitched or otherwise connected to A.
or more
The upper end of A may be composed of a double thickness of material, as at H,
and between these is placed and fixed by sewing or other means, one
perforated zinc-discs J, for allowing the animal to breathe freely, the outer surface or
urfaces of which said disc or discs may be uncovered (as shewn in Fig. 1) while the

page_text: inner surface or surfaces of same may be covered by the material A, it being assumed
that the said material is sufficiently porous to admit of this arrangement.
The filling of the bag with the food K through the aperture D, would cause the
springs F to expand and allow the bottom B to fall by the weight of the said food,
until the sides of A were in a state of tension, as shewn in Fig. 1, the upper surface
of the food being easily within reach of the animal when the bag is suspended upon
its head in the usual way, and as the weight of K is gradually reduced by the
lessening of its bulk, the tensional strain upon the springs F would in like manner
be reduced, and these operating to raise the bottom B, would consequently raise the
food K therewith until the last of the latter was consumed, thus bringing the upper
surface of the said food always within range of the mouth of the animal, as suggested
by Fig. 3, thereby avoiding the necessity of tossing the bag by the animal, or altering
the straps E E¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
elaim is :-
1st. The improved perforated nose-bag adapted to expand and collapse vertically
by means of spiral springs, substantially as and for the purposes herein described
and shewn.
2nd. In an improved nose-bag, the combination of a casing A, with perforations
such as J, bottom such as B, diaphragm such as C, and enclosed spiral springs such
as F, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and shewn by the
appended drawings.
Dated this
day of
1898.
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
1, Broad Street Buildings, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicant..