IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES AND IN THEIR FASTENINGS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Page, of Adelphi Terrace, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES AND IN
THEIR FASTENINGS."
Sealed the 21st December 1863, and dated the 25th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Page at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
June 1863.
I, THOMAS PAGE, of Adelphi Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES
AND IN THEIR FASTENINGS," to be as follows:-
I make horse-shoes of wood, gutta percha, india-rubber, or other suitable
elastic material, and either in the usual form or in the form of a plate,
covering the whole of the sole of the hoof, or it may be leaving the frog
uncovered. In these elastic shoes I fit and fix points of iron or other metal,
so as to project below the surface of the elastic material, affording good hold
and bearing to the horse's foot. The elastic material, although not intended
to be the wearing surface, yet should possess great toughness and wearing
properties, as in parts it may have actual contact with the ground. This
elastic material of the shoe is principally intended to interpose elastic material
between the hard wearing surface and the hoof of the animal, and to afford a
vehicle for the attachment of the wearing surface. The wearing points may be

page_text: say half an inch square, or round, and tapering to a dull point below, and either
set in close proximity to each other in the elastic material, or apart, or metal
bars across the foot may be used in lieu of studs. In either case I prefer pre-
senting a mixed surface of sole to effect contact with the ground. The india-
rubber, wood, or other elastic material I secure to the hoof by means of
marine glue, or other suitable cement, in all cases presenting a broader surface
of contact with the hoof than usual. In addition to the cement, I sometimes
add two or three nails for greater security, or it may be screws, like those
used in wood, the heads being well countersunk in the elastic material. I
also apply clips to-retain the elastic material in position as usually applied to
horse-shoes; or such clips may be on the metal wearing bars, and both keep
themselves and the elastic medium in position. I am aware it has been
proposed to make shoes of hard india-rubber (ebonite), or even interpose it
as an elastic medium, but this material is too--hard for the purposes of my
Invention
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Page in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
PAGE, of Adelphi Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord'One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Page, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Page, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Page,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES AND IN
THEIR FASTENINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Page, my exécutors 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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Page, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention has for its object to ameliorate the condition of horses' feet
by applying such shoes as shall afford all necessary freedom of action to the
foot, and at same time afford a firm foot-hold. I, moreover, provide a method
of fixing the shoes to the horses' feet, whereby they may be well secured
without nails, or at least with only slight security from screws, nails, or other
metal fastenings. I make horse-shoes of wood, gutta percha, india-rubber, or
other suitable elastic material, and somewhat in the usual form, or in the
form of a plate covering the whole of the sole. of the hoof, or it may be
leaving the part and frog uncovered. In these elastic shoes I fit and fix points
of iron or other metal, so as to project below the surface of the elastic
material, affording good hold and bearing to the horse's foot. The elastic
material, although not intended to be the wearing surface, yet should possess
great toughness and wearing properties, as in parts it may have actual contact
with the ground. This elastic material of the shoe is principally intended to
interpose elastic material between the hard wearing surface and the hoof of
the animal, and to afford a vehicle for the attachment of the wearing-surface.
The wearing points may be, say, half an inch square, or round, and tapering
to a dull point below, and either set in close proximity to each other in the
elastic material, or apart, or metal bars across the foot may be used in lieu of
studs. In either case I prefer presenting a mixed surface of sole to effect
contact with the ground. The india-rubber, wood, or other elastic material
of the shoe I secure to the hoof by means of marine glue, or other suitable
cement, in all cases presenting a broader surface of contact with the hoof than
usual in horse-shoes. In addition to the cement, I sometimes add two or
three nails for greater security, or it may be screws, like those used in wood,
the heads 'being 'well countersunk in the elastic material. I also apply clips
to retain the elastic material in position, as usually applied to horse-shoes; or
such clips may be on the metal wearing bars, and both keep themselves and
the elastic medium in position. When broad metal 'surfaces are used,
similar to an ordinary shoe, in addition to fixing the shoe by screws, small
bolts, or otherwise, I cement the metal to the material interposed between it
and the hoof, or such shoe may be cemented directly to the hoof.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a side view of a horse's hoof shod according to my Inven-
tion; Fig. 2, a vertical section; and Fig. 3, an under side plan of the same.
a, a, is a piece of elastic wood, or it may be india-rubber in a partially
hardened state, or a compound of gutta percha with other materials. This
piece a, a, I fit somewhat closely to the under side of the hoof b, and fix
it thereto by Jeffries' marine glue, or other suitable adhesive cement,
but by preference by a cement herein-after described, by reason of its great
adhesiveness and tenacity. The body a, a, will thus adhere firmly to the hoof,
but for greater security I add two or three wood screws c, c, screwed into the
wall or insensible part of the hoof, as seen in Fig. 4; or it may be two or
three nails of the ordinary kind, which additional fastenings may prevent
the shoe being knocked off by a sudden blow, while at same time the
cementing forms the principal fixing of the shoe. In the piece a I fix a
number of points d, d, which form the principal wearing surface; these are
made with square stems e, which enter square holes in the piece a, and are
fixed therein by through pins f entering from the edge of a and passing
through the stems e, as seen in the section and plans, Figs. 2 and 3. The toe-
piece, it will be observed, is oblong, but may consist of two pieces similar to
the others. The pieces d may be made of iron, steel, or other suitable material
to afford the necessary wear. In order that the part a may possess considerable
resistance to wear, if made of india-rubber or gutta-percha, or other com-
pounds, I mix and knead up with them, while in a plastic state, any suitable
granular material, such as iron, sand, emery, cast-iron or steel borings, or the
like, which may render the compound sufficiently hard and resisting to wear,
or the rubber may be otherwise partially hardened, as well understood by
manufacturers of such materials.
Fig. 5 represents a side view of a horse's hoof, showing another manufac-
ture of shoe according to my Invention, and Fig. 6, a section of the same.
In this case I have shown two thicknesses of material interposed between
the hoof a and the wearing surface, the inner one 9 may be of wood,
leather, india-rubber, or other elastic material, while the outer substance his
hardened and rendered enduring, as before described, with reference to the
piece a, Figs. 1, 2, and 3. I insert wearing surfaces as before, but in this
case they are all represented as short bars i, which, if desired, may pass quite
across the foot.
Fig. 7 represents an upper side plan, the part removed.
In this case
I pass the stems c through h before fixing it to g, and pass a strong wire k

page_text: through the several eyes, and fasten it all as seen in Fig. 7. When the two
parts g and h are placed together the wire is embedded between the two, which
parts g, h, are secured to each other by marine glue or cement, as before
mentioned; with reference to fixing the shoe to the hoof, the part g is fitted,
cemented, and fixed to the hoof b in the manner herein-before described with
reference to a, Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
Other methods may be adopted of fixing the pieces d and i, which may be of
various other shapes, for instance, the tangs or stems e made in lamina, and split
open after being passed through the holes in a and h receiving them, tapering
largest on the upper surface; or the stems e may be expanded originally and
embedded in the material while plastic. If parth be tolerably hard, it may be
formed with a clip or clips 7, as seen in Fig. 5; to hold the hoof or clips may
be extended upwards from bars i to clip the hoof, and hold the shoe in
position.
Fig. 8 represents a vertical section, and Fig. 9 an under side plan of a horse's
hoof shod with a shoe somewhat of the ordinary kind. In this case I fit and
fix the piece m to the hoof, as before described, which piece m should be
partially elastic. The wearing surface n I also cement to m by the cement
herein-after described, and further fix it with screws p, p, as seen, or it may be
by nails or other metallic fastenings, whereby to assist the holding power of
the cement, which should, however, form the principal fastening. In all cases
the pieces a, g, and m, may be secured by screws or other metal fastenings
in addition to the cement, but which should be but slight, the cement forming
the principal security. In cases where the parts a, g, and m, are plates
covering the whole hoof, a cavity must of course be cut for the frog, and
a layer of hemp and tar covering a sufficient area inserted, leaving only
a sufficient area of surface around for the proper adhesion of the cement to the
hoof. The cements I prefer to employ are as follows, the second of which
will of itself answer all the purposes of my Invention:-For fixing the parts
a, g, or m, to the hoof, I compose a cement of sixty parts of gutta percha,
10 parts of shellac, 2 parts of caoutchouc, 20 parts of Venice turpentine, and
five parts of pitch. To unite the metal and other hard substances I prefer a com-
pound consisting of forty parts of gutta percha, twenty parts shellac, five parts
gum mastic, half a part of oxyde of lead, three of styrax, twenty-six and a half
parts of Venice turpentine. This cement possesses great adhesiveness for iron,
and may even be used to fix a horse's shoe directly to the hoof, in which case
the shoe should be of such form as to present considerable surface to the under
side of the hoof, as in the case of parts a, g, m, and should be further secured
by small screws, as seen at Fig. 4, or slightly nailed in the usual manner; this

page_text: figure may indeed represent the iron shoe cemented to the hoof. In com-
pounding these cements the balsams should be first heated to the requisite
degree for dissolving the harder gums. The gums when dissolved in the
balsams are then put into a machine with the gutta percha, also heated
together with the other component parts, and the whole thoroughly amalga-
mated by mastication, the cement will be then fit for use.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the manufacture and fixing
of horse-shoes in the manner herein-before described and illustrated in the
Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof I, the said Thomas Page, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
THO PACE G