IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE SHOES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66. Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE SHOES."-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th August 1853.
S
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the r
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE SHOES" to be as follows:-
It is well known that horses fect, after much travel upon paved
streets or hard macadamized roads, become very tender, and that they
are often affected by various diseases, which materially impair their
usefuluess and capability, and greatly lessen the amount of work which
they are able to perform; this results from the violent and repeated
concussions of the hoof upon the hardground, which jars the bones and
heats excessively the whole foot, there being nothing between the
hoof and the ground or ravement but the inelastic unyielding iron
shoe.
Attempts have been made to remedy this inconvenience, and elastic
substances have been placed between the shoe and the hoof, the
former being divided in some instances into several parts, which were
placed end to end around the hcof; the nails which secured the shoe

page_text: in place being passed through both the shoe and the interposed elastic
substance. This, however, proved practically inoperative, for when-
ever the clastic substance was compressed the nails moved either in
the shoe or the hoof, and thus became loose in a short time.
This Invention consists in making the shoe of two plates, between
which the india-rubber or other clastic substance is confined, one of
the plates being securely nailed to the hoof, and the other being firmly
screwed to the upper plate after the india-rubber has been inter-
posed. The same end may also be accomplished, as will be hereafter
explained in detail, by making the shoe originally in one piece, which
is afterwards slit nearly in two horizontally, the elastic substance being
afterwards introduced between the two portions of the shoe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 8th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of. the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her
special licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE SHOES," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,

page_text: should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-s
tion, 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
It is well known that horses feet, after much travel upon paved
streets or hard M° Adamized roads, become very tender, and that they
are often affected by various diseases, which materially impair the
usefulness and capability of the animals, and greatly lessen the amount
of work which they are able to perform; this inconvenient effect arises
from the violent and repeated concussions of the hoof upon the hard
ground, which jars the bones and heats excessively the whole foot,
there being nothing between the hoof and the ground or pavement but
the inelastic and unyielding iron shoe.
Attempts have been made to remedy this inconvenience, and elastic
substances have been placed between the shoe and the hoof, the former
being divided in some instances into several parts, which were placed
end to end around the hoof, the nails which secured the shoe in place
being passed through both the shoe and the interposed elastic sub-
stance. This, however, proved practically inoperative, for whenever
the clastic substance was compressed the nails moved either in the
shoe or the hoof, and thus became loose in a short time.
The Invention which has been communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent has for its object to obviate these objections, and consists
in making the shoe of two plates, between which the india-rubber
or other elastic substance is confined, one of the plates being securely
nailed to the hoof, and the other being firmly screwed to the upper
plate after the india-rubber has been interposed. The same end may
also be accomplished, as will be hereafter explained in detail, by making
the shoe originally in one piece, which is afterwards slit nearly in two

page_text: horizontally, the elastic substance being afterwards introduced between
the two portions of the shoe.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the present
Invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation,
reference being had to the annexed Drawing, in which Fig. 1, is
a plan of the top plate A, of the shoc, or that which comes next
to the hoof; it is secured in place by mails which pass through the
holes a, a.
The vulcanized india-rubber or other clastic substance.
beneath which is placed the bottom plate d, of the shoc, is shown
at c, c, Fig. 2. Between the two plates A, and d, and at about the
centre of the hoof, is placed a washer e, Fig. 2, which is slightly thinner
than the interposed india-rubber; the two plates A, and d, are then
secured together by screws f, which pass through the lower plate and
washer into the holes b, Fig. 1, in the upper plate, and the whole is
thus held firmly together.
As a modification of the Invention I propose sometimes to construct
the shoe in the following manner:-) Fig. 3, is a bottom view, Fig. 4,
is.a side view of the proposed modification. The shoe is made in one
piece, and is afterwards slit in any appropriate manner nearly in
two, the solid portions g, being left in the positions occupied by the
washer e, of Fig. 2. This abutment or solid portion is defined by the
dotted lines in Fig. 3. The plates of the shoe are now sprung apart,
and the india-rubber lining is introduced, the plates being allowed to
spring together sufficiently to hold the rubber or other clastic sub-
stance in place. i, i, are holes for the nails, which are made to pass
through the solid portions g, the heads of the nails lying in the groove h,
in the customary or ordinary manner. It is evident that as the horse's
foot strikes the ground the lower plate will yield slightly at the licel or
toc, and will turn slightly upon the washer e, or solid portion g, as the
case may be; the foot thus falls as it were upon a cushion, which is
found in practice to be sufficiently elastic to prevent the disagreeable
consequences which would otherwise result, as has been demonstrated
by experience.
The shoes may be made of malleable or wrought iron, or of tempered
steel;
the latter is the material which the inventor prefers. When

page_text: thus made the advantages which the shoes possess over the ordinary horse S
shoe are many; amongst them may be enumerated, first, the preser-
vation of the horses fect, and the consequent increased length of time
during which the animals will continue serviceable; second, horses fur-
nished with these shoes are much less affected by heat and by hard work
than those having the ordinary shoes, and are capable of a longer and
a severer day's work than when shod in the ordinary manner; third, the
shoes, when properly made and applied according to the improved plan,
are more than three times as durable as the common shoe; fourth, by
the use of the double plate, as represented in Figures 1, and 2, shoes of
different forms may be applied in a few moments, according to the state
of the roads, or a winter shoe may be substituted for a summer shoo
without the necessity of drawing and driving the nails, it only being
necessary (as is the case when the india-rubber is to be replaced) to
remove the screws f, and substitute a new lower plate or new packing,
as the case may be. The hoof is thus in no danger of being injured, as
is often the case by frequent shoeing, while there is no danger or incon-
venience to be anticipated from the heating of the shoe.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Horse
Shoes," that has been communicated to me as aforesaid, I would observe,
in conclusion, that I do not claim interposing an elastic substance between
the shoe and the horse's hoof; but what I do claim as new, and desire
to secure by Letters Patent, is, making the horse shoe of two plates,
and interposing india-rubber or other elastic substances between them,
as above described, and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four
0 Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lanc.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)