Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates, in general, to horse bridles and, in particular, to the browband portion of a horse bridle.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Horse owners “dress” their horses for horse show competitions with decorative equipment (e.g., bridles and saddles) because of the widespread belief that the attractive appearance of the horse enhances the chances of success in the competition. One such equipment part is the browband portion of a horse bridle.  
         [0003]     Many, many decorative horse browbands are available today. In one popular style of such browbands, glass beads or semi precious gems are adhesively attached to a leather band.  
         [0004]     In general, such browbands that have decorative components adhesively attached to a leather band have a major shortcoming. Because the browband must be flexible to adapt to the curvature of the brow of the horse, there is a tendency for the decorative components to loosen or fall off the leather band when the adhesive fails as the browband flexes. The results is a browband of poor appearance (i.e., irregularly spaced voids along the leather band) and the loss of valuable items (i.e., decorative components lost in turf).  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     A horse browband, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a flexible band having first and second loops at first and second ends, respectively, of the flexible band with each of the loops adapted to receive a bridle strap. A plurality of decorative components is adhesively attached to the flexible band along the length of the flexible band. Each of the decorative components has a first through hole extending parallel to the length of the flexible band and aligned with the first through hole of an adjacent decorative component and a second through hole extending parallel to the length of the flexible band and aligned with the second through hole of an adjacent decorative component. A first length of thread extends from the first end of the flexible band through the first through holes of the decorative components to the second end of the flexible band and a second length of thread extending from the first end of the flexible band through the second through holes of the decorative components to the second end of the flexible band. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a top view of a preferred embodiment of a horse browband constructed in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the  FIG. 1  horse browband taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a top view, partially broken away, of an end portion of the  FIG. 1  horse browband.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  3 , a horse browband, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a flexible band  10  having first and second loops  10   a  and  10   b  at first and second ends  10   c  and  10   d , respectively, of the flexible band. Each loop  10   a  and  10   b  is adapted to receive a bridle strap in the usual manner. Flexible band  10  preferably is leather.  
         [0010]     A horse browband, constructed in accordance with the present invention, also includes a plurality of decorative components  12 ,  14 ,  16  . . . that is adhesively attached to flexible leather band  10  along the length of the flexible leather band. As shown most clearly in  FIG. 2 , each decorative component (e.g.,  16 ) has a first through hole (e.g.,  16   a ) extending parallel to the length of flexible leather band  10  and aligned with the first through hole of an adjacent decorative component and a second through hole (e.g.,  16   b ) extending parallel to the length of the flexible leather band and aligned with the second through hole of an adjacent decorative component.  
         [0011]     A horse browband, constructed in accordance with the present invention, further includes a first length of thread  18  extending from the first end  10   c  of flexible leather band  10  through the first through holes (e.g.,  16   a ) of decorative components (e.g.,  12 ,  14 ,  16 ) to the second end  10   d  of the flexible leather band and a second length of thread  20  extending from the first end  10   c  of the flexible leather band through the second through holes (e.g.,  16   b ) of the decorative components to the second end of the flexible leather band. The lengths of thread  18  and  20  should be sufficiently strong to withstand the flexing of flexible leather band  10  and not break when the flexible leather band flexes. The first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  can be metallic wire.  
         [0012]     A first end  18   a  of the first length of thread  18  is anchored to flexible leather band  10  at the first end  10   c  of the flexible leather band and a first end  20   a  of the second length of thread  20  is anchored to the flexible leather band at the first end  10   c  of the flexible leather band. A second end  18   b  of the first length of thread  18  is anchored to flexible leather band  10  at the second end  10   d  of the flexible leather band and a second end  20   b  of the second length of thread  20  is anchored to the flexible leather band at the second end  10   d  of the flexible leather band.  
         [0013]     The first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  can be separate pieces of thread or a single piece of thread.  
         [0014]     When the first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  are a single piece of thread:  
         [0015]     (a) the first end  18   a  of the single piece of thread is in the first loop  10   a  of flexible leather band  10  and extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band to a first lateral edge  10   e  of the flexible leather band,  
         [0016]     (b) the single piece of thread extends from the first loop  10   a  of flexible leather band  10  through the first through holes (e.g.,  16   a ) of the decorative components (e.g.,  12 ,  14 ,  16 ) to the second loop  10   b  of the flexible leather band,  
         [0017]     (c) the single piece of thread extends through the second loop  10   b  of flexible leather band  10 ,  
         [0018]     (d) the single piece of thread extends from the second loop  10   b  of flexible leather band  10  through the second through holes (e.g.,  16   b ) of the decorative components (e.g.,  16 ,  14 ,  12 ) to the first loop  10   a  of the flexible leather band, and  
         [0019]     (e) the second end  20   a  of the single length of thread extends from a second lateral edge  10   f  of flexible leather band  10  into the first loop  10   a  of the flexible leather band transverse to the length of the flexible leather band.  
         [0000]     The free ends  18   a  and  20   a  of the single length of thread extend through a bead  22  that is crimped to secure together the free ends of the single length of thread.  
         [0020]     When the first length of thread  18  and the second length of thread  20  are separate pieces:  
         [0021]     (a) the first end  18   a  of the first length of thread  18  is in the first loop  10   a  of flexible leather band  10  and extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band to a first lateral edge  10   e  of the flexible leather band,  
         [0022]     (b) the first end  20   a  of the second length of thread  20  is in the first loop  10   a  of flexible leather band  10  and extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band to a second lateral edge  10   f  of the flexible leather band,  
         [0023]     (c) the second end  18   b  of the first length of thread  18  is in the second loop  10   b  of flexible leather band  10  and extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band to the first lateral edge  10   e  of the flexible leather band, and  
         [0024]     (d) the second end  20   b  of the second length of thread  20  is in the second loop  10   b  of the flexible leather band  10  and extends transverse to the length of the flexible leather band to the second lateral edge  10   f  of flexible leather band.  
         [0000]     The free ends  18   a ,  20   a  and  18   b ,  20   b  of the separate lengths of thread extend through beads, such as bead  22  shown in  FIG. 3 , that are crimped to secure together the free ends  18   a ,  20   a  and  18   b ,  20   b  of the separate lengths of thread.  
         [0025]     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention.

Technology Category: 7