US16345A - Riding-saddle - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SETI-I WARD, OE PRINCETON, INDIANA.

RIDING-SADDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 16,345, dated January 6, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETI-I VARD, of Princeton, in the county of Gibson and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Riding-Saddletreesg and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a vert-ical longitudinal section of a riding saddle tree constructed with my improvement. Fig. 2, is a plan of the same, the suspended underground seat being removed. Fig. 3 is a rear View.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention relates to an improvement in suspended spring seat riding saddles and is designed to simplify and lessen the cost of the construction of the same render them less liable to derangement and more easy and pleasant for riding upon, as will be hereinafter shown.

The nature of my said improvement, consists, in having the cantle attached loosely at its ends or corners to the side bars of the tree, by hinge connections and at the center of its rear to a semi-circular bridge of the tree, by an elastic strip of rubber or webbing.

It consists 2nd in connection with the above in providing one, or more elastic strips of rubber or webbing underneath the suspended ground seat.

' To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I .will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, represents the tree, made of wood or any other suitable material and of any form desired, to suit the character of saddle to be constructed upon it.

B is the head of the tree, and C the cantle or back part of the same. The cantle is provided with a semi-circular recess on its under side in order that it may be litted loosely over a semi-circular bridge D, which is formed on the rear of the tree and serves for connecting its parts together and also as part of the cantle, in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

E, E, are the hinge connections by which the cantle and tree are connected loosely together. Each ofthese connections consists simply of two eye plates, one of which is attached to the cantle and the other to the side bar of the tree, as shown.

F, is the strip of india-rubber or webbing by which the cantle is attached at the center of its rear to t-he bridge D, of the tree. This strip, which forms the spring, as will be presently shown, is secured above and be` low the semi-circular line representing the division between the bridge of t-he tree and the cantle by means of plates a, a, let into the cantle and bridge, as represented, the object of which strip of india rubber is to allow the seat to yield to the weight of a person when on the saddle, and to bring the cantle back to its original position when the seat is relieved of its weight, thus dispensing with a spring under the center of the saddle tree, or, at any other point, this furnishing, of itself, all the elasticity necessary to make an easy seat, yielding readily to t-he weight placed upon it, and the motion of the horse, more simple in construction, cheaper; allowing beneath the rider, a freer ventilation, than any other invention yet produced.

Gr, is the ground seat; it is formed of leather and fastened to the head and cantle, being suspended entirely above the side bars of the tree so as to give sufficient room for the seat to play up and down, when a man is riding.

By having the cantle made separate from the tree and hinging it at E, E, and combining it with the bridge D, as described, another important advantage, besides those of simplicity and neatness, is secured, viz: that of being able to get at the interior of the saddle in case of any of the parts giving out; for by simply removing the top seat which is generally arranged for speedy removal and taking out three screws which fasten the strip of rubber or webbing to the bridge D, the cantle can be turned up on its hinges in a manner to allow of the workman getting his hand conveniently into the interior of the saddle ;-and should it be necessary to take up the entire ground seat, it can be done by taking out the screws which fasten the hinges to the side bars; for by doing this the cantle will be disconnected entirely from the side bars and the ground seat can be turned bottom side up.

I am aware that riding saddles with suspension seats are not new. Also that metal springs have been employed in such saddles in various lWays, for the purpose of giving to the back part of the cantle secured above elasticity to the seat; therefore I do not and also below the semi-circular opening 'of claim broadly, the suspension of the seat, the cantle by screw plates let in operating l5 nor the making of the same elastic, nor d0 in manner described and for the purpose 0f 5 I claim the motion of the seat nor the Inoobviating the necessity for any springs either tion of the cantle nor the hinges, for these under the seat or cantle, it in itself giving devices are all shown in John C. F. Salosufficient elasticity to the seat as shown in mons tree patented Nov. 18th, 1851, neither -niy specification.

do I claim any device embodied in Mr. Solo- SETH VARD. 10 mons patent, but Witnesses: f

What I claim is N. B. FRENCH,

The application an india rubber spring J. C. KIMBALL.

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