Improvements in Horse Collars.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Oct., 1887
Specification Accepted, 8th Nov., 1887
Improvements in Horse Collars.
1, CHARLES BLOCK, a citizen of the German Empire, residing at Merrill, in the
County of Lincoln, and State of Wisconsin, one of the United States of America,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
:-
This invention has relation to horse collars, and the improvements consist in the
construction, novel arrangement and adaptation of devices, as will be hereinafter more
fully described and particularly pointed out in the claim appended.
The main object of this invention is to provide a collar of cheap and simple
construction which may be made adjustable without the employment of straps or other
common fastening devices such as at present in use.
The invention will be fully understood from the following description, when taken in.
connection with the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1, is a view of my improved collar showing the parts disconnected.
Fig. 2, is a similar view with the parts properly united.
Fig. 3, is a view of the sweat pad which I contemplate using in connection with
my collar.
Referring by letter to the said drawing, A, A, indicates the sections of my collar,
which are properly shaped from wood. These sections are provided at their upper
ends with a suitable number of transverse perforations to receive bolts or the like in
connecting the same with the hinged cap, as will be presently explained.
B, indicates the cap which is composed of two branches, aa, hinged together at
their upper ends and are provided with transverse perforations at their lower ends
equal in number to those of the perforations in the collar sections and are designed to
register in uniting the parts. The lower ends of these sections, a, may terminate
in deep sockets to receive adjustably the upper ends of the collar sections, or they
may be made flat and placed on one side of the said sections in applying the bolts or
screws.

page_text: The sockets are however preferable, as they add greater strength to the joints and
remove undue strain from the fastening screws. The hinged cap or section, B, is
provided with a check hook as shown.
In the wooden sections, A, and adjacent to their inner longitudinal edges, are
transversely disposed apertures, b. C, is an iron strip which is narrow and of a
contour similar to that of the wooden sections, A. These strips are placed upon the
outer side of each collar section and their perforations are designed to coincide, so as
to receive fastening screws and the staples carrying the draft bar and tug hook. By
this construction it will be seen that the strip is interposed between the heads of
the screws and the wooden base in which they are inserted; consequently a better
joint may be formed and the posts upon which the draft is brought will not work loose
so readily.
It will be observed that the perforations at the upper ends of the collar are arranged
in pairs with relation to the transverse plane of the sections, and that the hinged cap
is similarly provided. Therefore it will be seen that should the said cap be secured
by bolts or the like in the, lower set of apertures, by removing them and changing
the joints to the next upper set, the collar would become still longer and thereby
adapted for a larger animal. A similar adjustment might be effected by changing
the fastening screws in the perforations of the hinged cap with respect to those in the
collar.
D, indicates a metallic plate which may be firmly united at one end to one of the
lower ends of the collar. The opposite end of this plate is provided with a longitudinal
series of apertures, d, each of which is designed to register successively with an aperture
in the opposite lower end of the collar sections. This opposite section is provided
with a fastening device, which may be a bolt adapted to enter the coinciding perforations
of the plate and collar in uniting the same. The plate is also provided with a martin-
gale loop as shown.
E, indicates posts which are secured in the collar above the metal strips, and are
provided with eyes at their outer ends to receive the draft rod or bar, F. I also
employ the line hooks and tug loops, which may be of any ordinary or approved
construction.
G, indicates the sweat pad which may be of any ordinary construction, having a
suitable number of hooks secured near its inner edges and these hooks are designed to
engage the rings e, on the collar sections when the said pad is to be used.
It should be noticed that the collar as well as being adjustable lengthwise may also
be adjusted laterally by simply withdrawing the fastening bolts at the lower portion of
the sections and bringing any of the apertures of the plate to register with that of the
collar and applying the bolt as before.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
The combination with the two collar sections perforated transversely, as shown, of the
metallic strips of a similar curvature and similarly perforated, the cap hinge having
socket sections, and screws for connecting the same, substantially as specified.
Dated is day or October 1907.
CHARLES BLOCK.
By Jensen & Son,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Patent Agents.