IMPROVE- MENTS IN HARNESS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Evans, junior, of No. 2, Belmont Terrace,
Lewisham Road, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HARNESS."
Sealed the 25th November 1856, and dated the 6th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Evans at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th'
August 1856.
I, THOMAS EVANS, junior, of No. 2, Belmont Terrace, Lewisham Road, in,
the County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HARNESS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in making harness and parts of harness with wire or.
svire rope, in combination or otherwise with leather, gutta percha, or india-4
rubber, or with wire in combination with rope, made either of flax, hemp,
cocoa-nut fibre, or other known and suitable material of a like nature, by
which means the harness is rendered much stronger than when made in the
ordinary manner.
In order to obviate the rigidity that might be caused by the wire rope or.
the wire in combination with any of the substances herein named, I some-,
times make such parts in links or short lengths.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Evans in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
EVANS, junior, of No. 2, Belmont Terrace, Lewisham Road, in the County of
Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas-Evans, junior, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Evans,
junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Evans, junior, 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
HARNESS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Evans, junior, my executors 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 Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas. Evans, junior, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of my Invention is the making of harness or parts of harness
much stronger and lighter than when made in the ordinary manner..
'My Invention consists in making harness or parts of harness with wire rope,
wire cord, or wire line; such wire rope, wire cord, or wire line, all or any of
which I shall bereafter call wire rope, having a core of hemp, (tarred .or
otherwise), indian-rubber, flax, or cocoa-nut fibre, and connecting the said wire
rope to other parts of the harness, in the manner herein-after described.
The kind of rope I prefer is that made of the best charcoal-prepared iron

page_text: wire, with a core of tarred hemp or indian-rubber; and for all parts of the
harness requiring flexibility I prefer the 'cablet' rope, consisting of six strands,
each strand forming a separate rope in itself, and composed of six other strands
of six wires each, the several strands 'having a hempen core in each. The:
size of the wires vary from twenty-two to twenty-eight guage, according to the
strength required; and where such wire rope is covered with either of the
material hereafter described, as a protection against friction, I prefer the
annealed to the hard wire, on account of its greater flexibility.
In order to obviate the regidity that might be caused by the wire rope used
in some parts of the 'harness, I sometimes make the same in links or short
lengths.
...
The links I manufacture in the following manner :-
I place a number of 'wires parallel to each other, turn over the ends and
solder them together to form a link, similar to the link of a chain; or I make
them of the ordinary wire rope with metal core, by splicing or joining each;
end together, with the view of further strengthening such links. I sometimes
serve or cover them by winding round them a single wire.
When I make use of short lengths, I unite them by' loops, rings, or short
chains.
In
For such parts of the harness as require regidity and great strength I prefer
the rope to be made of hard wire with a metal core, the wires being of
larger guage and of less number to the strand than has been described.
some cases, for. greater economy, I use the wire rope called hawser-laid' in,
preference to the 'cablet' rope, but to contain six strands of nineteen wires
each, with core made either tarred or other hemp, indian-rubber, flax, or cocoa-
nut fibre, but I prefer the tarred hemp.
As a protection against the weather, I sometimes dress or cover such
wire rope with a coating of tallow, pitch, or tar, and linseed oil, previously.
mixed together, or with indian-rubber, black japan vainish, or Brunswick
black; or else I 'serve' or wind round the same with hempen cord; tarred or
otherwise; or I sometimes use galvanized wire, or. wire electro-plated with
silver or gold.
The wire rope herein-before described I connect to the different parts of the
harness by means of iron or other metal loops, secured to the ends of the wire
rope. The said loops are made with hollow shanks of a conical form (the
smaller end of the cone being next the rope), into which the wire rope is
inserted, and the ends of the wires turned over or. bulged out in the wider end
of the cone, and then forcibly drawn into the cone or cup, and thereby

page_text: becoming strongly wedged or fixed into the shank; or the loop may be secured
to the wire rope by a small metal wedge driven down on each side; the interior
of the cone or loops may be formed by turning round the ends of the wire
rope, splicing or joining the same, and serving or winding them round with
hempen cord or wire.
To these loop ends may be attached metal loops, rings, chains, leather
straps with buckles, swivels or spring hooks, for the purpose of attaching the
said wire rope to the several parts of the harness or carriage.
When "whippletrees" or bars are used, as in the case of two or more horses
being harnessed in a line, I affix metal loops to receive the ends of such bars,
which loops I affix to the wire rope traces with a metal clamp or ring; or I
sometimes make the trace in two or more parts, and connect the same by a
metal ring, into which the whippletree or bar can be attached.
For the hames' of the collar I sometimes use wire rope with a metal core,
and attach to the same metal rings or loops to connect them with the traces,
or as guides for reins.
Where it is necessary to apply breeching in connection with the traces, or.
back band of the saddle, I divide such traces into two parts, and connect them
at the junction by a metal ring or loop.
For traces I prefer the cablet rope, herein-before described, and made of
annealed wire, guage 22 to 28, round a core of tarred hemp or indian-rubber.
For reins, bridles, or halters I prefer wire rope of similar description to
that used for traces, but of the smallest wire, known as guage 28.
For the back-band or ridgett I prefer flat wire rope, and in order to relieve
it from friction I insert antifriction rollers made of metal or hard wood into
the saddle.
For attaching the pole of a carriage or the shaft of a vehicle to the collar or
breastplate of a horse, I affix a short length of either of the before-described
wire ropes, each end having a loop with conical shank, herein described; to
these loops I fix a few links of wire or other chain, so that the collar or breast-
plate may be brought nearer or extended farther from the pole or shaft, or I
sometimes attach to the end of the pole or to the shaft a few metal loops or
staples for a similar purpose.
Although I prefer using wire rope made of iron, I sometimes use wire rope
of copper, brass, or zinc, made round cores, in a similar way to those herein-
before described.
. Having described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is, the method of

page_text: making or improving harness or parts of harness in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Evans, junior, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
HENRY LAXTON, Agent,
19, Arundel St., Strand.
THOMAS EVANS, JUN³. (L.S.)