CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON BITS FOR HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1830

page_text: SURMAN'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SURMAN, of Hounslow Barracks in the County of Middlesex, Lieutenant and.
Riding Master to the Tenth Hussars, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixth day of July, in the first year of His reign, give and
grant unto me, the said John Surman, His especial licence that I, the said
John Surman, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said
John Surman, my exors, admors, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON BITS FOR HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said John Surman,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within two 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, I, the said
John Surman, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :-
One of my said Improvements on bits for horses or other animals consists

page_text: in the substitution of a new curb or curbs in place of the common curb, or the
curb usually known by the name of the Mameluke curb, which Mameluke
curb consists of a metal ring linked to the arched part of the mouth-piece or
part of the bridle bit, and into which ring the lower jaw of the horse, mule,
or ass is received on putting on the bridle. Now, in place of the said
Mameluke curb, I either substitute the solid curb A, Fig. 1, which is jointed
at B, B, to the cheeks C, C, of the bit, and has stops D, D, D, D, formed
upon it, which coming in contact with the edges of the cheeks limit its motion
upwards or downwards; or else the curb E, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, which_bas_two
spring boxes F, F, Figs. 3 and 4, affixed to it, the construction of which is as
follows: Fig. 5 is a section through one of these spring boxes F, having a
helical or worm spring G within it, which is shewn separately in Figs. 6 and 7,
and also a metal rod or stem H; shewn separately in Fig. 8, which lodges
within the spring, as shewn in Fig. 5, and passes through a hole made in a
metal plate I, shewn separately in Fig. 9, which is either to be secured by
screws, in the outer end of the box, as shewn in Fig. 5, or to be riveted over,
or otherwise firmly secured upon the inner end of the rod H; the piece of
metal J, shewn separately in Fig. 10, is affixed by riveting or otherwise, and
as shewn in Fig. 5, and-the-spring G-being-thus-in-contact-with-the-pieces-of-
metal I and J; when the position of the curb E becomes changed from its usual
place of rest, as shewn in Fig. 2, to either of the positions, for instance, shewn
by the dotted lines in that Figure, the spring G being compressed and the rod I
drawn out a little, by the action of the outer end of the spring box against the
edge of the cheek of the bit, as shewn in Fig. 2, it tends to bring back the curb
again to its proper place of rest. Fig. 11-is a section of one of the spring
boxes, shewn as empty. This spring curb is jointed to the cheeks of the bit,
as shewn in the Figures, holes being made in the external ends of the rods
H, H, and in the cheeks of the bit to receive the rivets. I can also occasionally
affix a chain curb K, Figs. 12 and 13, to the spring boxes F, F, or to the
solid bars, with stops to them, as shewn in Fig. 14 at L, L, and similar to
those shewn in Fig. 1.
Another of my said improvements on bits for horses and other animals consists
in-revolving mouth-pieces, bars, or ports, of various shapes;-a double-branched
one is shewn in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 15, and 16 at M, turning upon necks or +pivots
at each end of it, acting in circular holes formed to receive them-in-the-cheeks.
of the bits; three or four branched ones may also be fitted to bits in a similar
manner, a four-branched-one being shewn in Figs. 12 and 13 at N, N. #I can
also form such revolving, mouth-pieces with hollow sockets at their ends, and
cause them to revolve upon fixed bars or ports united with the cheeks of the

page_text: bit, an example of a three-branched one being given in Fig. 14 at O, which
turns upon the fixed cylindrical bar P. I can employ these improved curbs
and mouth-pieces in various ways, as may be required, for the different kinds
of bridle bits for horses and other animals, a few examples of which I shall
now to afford, not, however, meaning or intending thereby to limit myself to
these examples only.
In Fig. 1 a solid curb A, with stops D, D, D, D, is shewn as applied to a
light riding bit, with a fixed mouth-piece or port. In Figs. 2, 3, and 4 the
curb with spring boxes and the revolving two-branched mouth-piece or port
are shewn as applied to a Pelham or riding bit. Figs. 12 and 18 exhibit a
four-branched revolving mouth-piece, and a chain curb with spring boxes
applied to a carriago bit. Fig. 14 shews a chain curb with solid ends and a
hollow revolving three-branched mouth-piece turning upon a fixed bar applied
to a riding bit. Figs. 15 and 16 represent a curb with spring boxes and a
two-branched revolving mouth-piece or port applied to a chaise or coach bit;
and Fig. 17 shews a curb with spring boxes applied to a riding bit, having a
fixed mouth-piece or port.
I do not mean or intend hereby to claim as my Invention any of the various
other parts of which the said bits may be composed, but only the improved
curbs and mouth-pieces, and the different modes of applying them to bridle
bits.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Surman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty