A CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENT IN OR ADDITION TO HARNESS OR HARNESS FURNITURE
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
JOSEPH GREEN, 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 Britain, bearing dato at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of January, in the eighth year of Her reign
did, for Herself, er heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Joseph Green, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said George Joseph Green, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Joseph Green, my exors,
adiiors, and 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, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENT IN OR ADDITION TO HARNESS OR HARNESS FURNITURE;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said George Joseph Green,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to bo inrolled in Iler 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 aud by the
same, reference being thereunto had, cloth more fully and at largo appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Joseph Green, 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
unto the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of an instrument or apparatus for holding or securing
the reins of a horse during the absence of the rider or driver of the said horse,
the said instrument being attached to any convenient part of the harness of the
horse, or to the carriage or vehicle to which the said horse may be harnessed.
The said instrument or apparatus consists of two arms or branches connected
together with a joint, the said arms or branches being parallel to each other,
or nearly so, and capable, by their motion on the said joint, of approaching to
or receding from each other, the reins to be held being introduced between tho
said arms or branches, and the said arms or branches being made to approach
cach other by the action of a spring, or a wedge, or a screw; the said reins are
grasped and held tightly between the said arms or branches. The various
methods of carrying my Invention into effect I find most convenient in prac
tice are represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the accompanying
Drawing.
"
Figure 1 represents a front view, and Figure 2 a side view of one modi-
fication of my Invention.. a is the corner of the dashboard of the vehicle, to
which the instrument is attached by screws at b, b. That portion of the
plate c which is situated horizontally constitutes one of the arms or branches
of the instrument; d is the other arm or branch, connected with the branch c¹
of the plate c by a joint at e. A spring f, placed between the end of the arm d,
marked d', and that part of the plate c marked c", forces the end of the arm d
marked d", against the branch c¹ of the plate c. In order to secure the reins
by means of the instrument, the end of the arm d is pressed so as to raise
the end d from the plate c'. The reins may then be introduced between the
said arm and the plate c', and by discontinuing the pressure on the arm d', the
elasticity of the spring f acting on the arm d', causes the end of the said arm
marked to press upon the reins ar, and hold them tightly.
:
Figure 3 represents another modification of my Invention: This modification
differs from that last described in being placed on the top of the dash-board,
instead of on the side. It consists of an arm or branch h, turning upon the
joint i, the end of the said arm being pressed forcibly on the lower arm or
branch by the spring k. In order to use the instrument, Figure 3, it is only
necessary to press upon that end of the armi h, marked h', so as to depress the

page_text: same. The other end of the arm marked h" is thereby raised, and the reins
may be introduced between it and the arm or branch j. On discontinuing the
pressure on the end of the arm marked ', the spring & causes the ends h¹¹ of
the said arm to press. forcibly on the reins 7, and hold them tightly between
the end of the said arm and the arm j.....
Figure 4 represents another modification of my Invention. It consists, like
the modifications herein-before described, of two arms or branches, between
which the reins to be held are grasped; but differs from them in the manner in
which the said arms or branches are forced together. m is a semicircular wedge,
shewn separately in Figure 5. This wedge turns upon the axis n, at the end
of which axis is a handle o. When the wedge m is in the position shewn in
Figure 4 in dotted lines, the arms p, q, may be separated to such a distance as
will allow the reins to be introduced between them. By afterwards turning
the axis n by means of the handle o, the wedge m is brought under the end p
of the arm p, and raising the said end p', depresses the end p, and grasps the
reins tightly between the said end and the arm or branch 7. In Figure 4,
the wedge mis represented in the position which it occupies when beginning
to raise the end of the arm p.
Figure 6, represents another modification of my Invention. It consists of
the arms or branches u, v, connected together by the joint w. The said arms
are pressed together by the spring y. This modification of my Invention
differs from that herein-before described, and represented in Figuro 3, in regard
of the method by which it is brought into operation. In order to introduco
the reins between the arms u, v, the arm u is raised by the hook 1, and
when the reins have been introduced between the arms u, v, the arm u is
allowed to descend and press upon and secure the said reins.
Figure 7 represents a modification of my Invention to be applied to the
saddles of saddle horses." r represents the saddle, under the flaps of which
the instrument or apparatus for holding the reins is situated. The modifica-
tion of the said instrument or apparatus which I prefer attaching to saddles
resembles that herein-before described, and represented in Figures 1 and 2,
excepting that the arms or portions d, e, of the branches c, d, between
which the reins are grasped, are bent on the right of the jointed portions, as
seen in dotted lines in Fig. 7, instead of on the left, as represented in Figures
1 and 2; and in attaching the said instrument to the saddle, it is affixed in
such a position that the portions of the arms which grasp the reins are situated
vertically, as seen in the Figure 7, instead of horizontally, as represented in
Figures 1 and 2. Although I prefer to use the modification of my Invention.
last described in connection with the saddles of saddle horses, it is obvious the

page_text: form represented in Figures 1 and 2 may be employed for that purpose, and
it is equally obvious that the instrument may be placed on either side of the
saddle, or that one may be placed on each side thereof.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the inanuer in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that although I
have herein described and represented in the accompanying Drawing the
methods of carrying my Invention into effect which I find most convenient in
practice, I do not limit myself to the precise methods of carrying my said
Invention into effect herein-before described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but
claim exclusive right to the construction and use of an instrument or apparatus
for holding or securing the reins of horses, by causing the said reins to be
grasped or pressed between two surfaces, whether the said pressure be pro-
duced by a spring, a wedge, or a screw, or any other of the means by which
such pressure may be produced.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Joseph Green, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninetecuth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.