Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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HORSESEIOE ASSEMBLY
BACKGRoUMD O~ TIIE INVENTIUN
1. ~IE~D OF lrIIE I~ENTION
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~ he present invention relates to a horseshoe assembly
and more particularly to improvement of or relating to a
horseshoe assembly made of elas-tomeric ma-terial.
2. DESC~IPTION O~ TME ~ R A~T
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It has been a common practice long sice to put horsesh-
oes made of steel on hoofs for all horses including racing
horces and others in order to probect them from cracking
or accicodental injury. A typical conventional method of
putting the horseshoes on the hoofs is practiced by way of
the steps of correctly locating one of them on the bottom
surface of -the hoof to fix it thereagainst, driving nails
n-to the hoof from the bottom and then bending a projected
part of the nails which penetrates -through the hoof and
pro3ec-~s above the upper surface of the hoof~
However, it has b~een pointed out as drawbacks inherent
to the above-mentioned conventional method of fixing the
horseshoes onto the hoofs that bhere is a necessity for
removlng nails from them and then renail them at every time
when they are replaced with new one~, thus resulting in
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many nail holes be~ng left through the hoofs. Thi~ leads
to no space being lef-t for renailing through the hoof or
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replaced horseshoes being easy to drop down therefrom
during running.
Particularly9 in the case of a racing horse it is
common that a horseshoe of the type having a relatively
wide width that is generally called "flat shoe" is fixedly
put on the hoof using nails while it is still red hot. On
the day of horse racing, however, it is a necessity for
replacing the flat shoes with other ones made of light
alloy material such as aluminum alloy having a relatively
narrow width that are generally called 'rrace shoe".
Consequently, it is inevitable that replacing operations
in the order of "flat shoe race shoe - flat sho~" are
repeated for a considerably short period of time. This
ca,uses a number of nail holes to be pierced through -the
hoof. In the extreme case it is lmpossblè to fit horseshoes
onto the hoofs any longer and it is often found that some
hoo~ drops during race~
Further, due to the fact that the conventional horse-
shoes are made of metallic material and has no elasicity
it is found that the legs hurt because of exposure -to shock
caussd during swift running and injuries occur due to
kicking ac~ivitie~ among horses ~hich are hold on -the
pasture.
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In visw of the problems inherent to -the conventional
horseshoes as described above the inven-tor invented
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improved horseshoes made of synthetic rubber and filed an
allication for registration of utility model (of which
invention has been granted as an utility model under
Japanese Utility Model Publication NO~ 7,585/1973)~
The above-proposed horseshoes are made of synthetic
rubber which i9 molded to the configuration corresponding
to tha-t of the bottom of the hoofs and they are fixedly
secured -thereto with the aid of adhesive. Since they are
fixed to the bottom of the hoofs using adhesive, there is
no fear of cau~ing injuries on the hoofs. In addition no
hurt occurs on the legs owing to elasticity of the horse-
shoes.
However, it is found that the improved horseshoes
have still drawbacks Specifically, after applying an
adhesive onto the bottom of a hoof it i9 necessary to hold
up a leg in the folded state until the adhesive is comple-
tely hardened, thus resulting in a long period of time
being conbumed.
To obviate the foregoing drawbacks the inventor
invented another improved horseshoes of the type including
a;body made of elastomeric material having the configuration
~corresponding to the bottom of the hoof, an inclined side
wall portion molded in~egral with the body along the
periphery of the latter to define a hollow space in which
the hoof ia snugly aocomodated and a band extending between
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both the free ends of -the body at the rear part of the
lat-ter so as to firmly hold the horseshoe on the hoof.
Later he Piled application for patent in U.S.A. and E~gland
(the filed applications have been granted as a pate~t under
U.S.Patent ~0~ 4,470j466 and U.K. Paten-t NOo 2~128~867)~
The last-mentioned improved horseshoe is so constructed
that it is fixed to ~he hoof' by receiving the latter in the
hollow space as defined by the body and the side wall
portion and firmly holding it on the hoof with the aid of
the band which is bridged betv~een both -the free ends of the
body~ Owing'to the,fact that no nail is used, fixing i9
not achieved with the use of an adhesive and the body i9
made of elastomeric material the improved horseshoe has
advan-tageous features that no hut occurs on hoo~s and legs
and it is easy to be fit-ted onto the hoof.
Obviously, it is important that this kind of horseshoe
is inhibited from dropping from the hoof during running.
The last-mentioned improved horseshoe has succeeded in
firmly holding it on the hoof by engaging the band to the
upper par~ of ~ spherical raised portionSon -the lower rear
part of a leg and at present it has been put in practical
use. As a result of practical use as mentioned above,
however, it has still another drawback that displacemen-t
of the body relative to -the hoof in the transverse
direction tends to take place under the influence of
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transverse force exer-ted thereon, for instance, when horse
jumps, because the concomonents cons-ti-tuting it are made
of elastomeric material.
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Hence, the present i~vention has been made with -the
foregoing background in mind.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
horseshoe assembly made of elastomeric material which assures
that no displacement takes place when transverse force is
exerted on it.
It is other object of -the present invention -to provide
a horseshoe a,ssembly which is easy to be fitbed onto and
removed from a hoof of a leg without any use of nail and
whioh assures that no hurt occurs on the hoof owing to the
fact that no nail is used.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide a horseshoe assembly which a~sures that no hurt
oocurs on th leg during walking, running or the like.
To accomplish the above objects there is proposed
according to the present invention a horseshoe assembly
adapted to accomodate a substantially whole part of a hoof
of a horse leg therein o~ the type including a body made of
elastomeric material and having a configuration correspon-
ding to the bottom of the hoof, the body being formed with
Q substantially U-shaped cutout of which configuration is
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determined to correspond to that of a recess on the bottom of the
hoof and having free ends at the rear part thereof, an inclined
side wall portion integrated with the body along its peripheral
edge, the side wall portion being opened to the outside at its
rear end so as to snugly receive the instep of the hoof from the
behind and including a first projection and a second projection on
the outer side wall thereof relative to the leg of a horse, the
first projection being located forwardly of the second projection
as seen in the longitudinal direction of the horseshoe assembly,
and a band molded integral with the body to extend across the
latter in the inclined state, the band having a free end on the
outside part relative to the leg with a hole formed therethrough
so as to allow the first projection to be fitted into the hole
while the second projection supports the lower edge of the band in
the inclined state which is bridged between both the free ends of
the body with the central part thereof being engaged to the upper
parts of spherical raised portions on the lower rear part of the
leg, wherein an inclination angle of the side wall portion
relative to the body at its fore part is determined within a range
of angle of between 0 and 5 degrees comprising an instep angle ~,
the lat-ter defining an extent of angular error, and that the body
is inteyrally formed with a bridge
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member at i-ts rear end by way of which both the free ends
of the body are connected to one another.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will become readily apparen-t from reading of the
following description ~hich has been prepared in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWI~GS
.
~ he accompanying drawings will be briefly described
below.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a horseshoe assembly
in accordance with a pre~erred embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 2 i~ a fragmental side view of a horse leg,
particularly illustrating a hoof.
Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the horseshoe assembly in
~ig. 1.
~ lg~ 4 is a yertical sectional view of the horseshoe
assembly taken in line IV - IV in Fig. 1, and
Fig. 5 is a fragmental perspective view of the lower
part~ of the leg, particularly illustrating the operative
state where the horseshoe assembly of the invention is
fitted onto the hoof~
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DESCRIP~rI~N 0~ Ir~E PREFERRED EMB~DIMENIr
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Now9 the present invention will be described in a
greatsr detail hereunder with referance to the accompanying
drawings which illustrate a pre~erred embodiment thereof.
It should be noted that the shown embodiment is merely
illustrative and therefore the present should not be limited
only to this.
Fig. 1 i8 a perspe¢tive view o~ a horseshoe assembly
in accordance with the embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2
i8 a ~ide view of~the lower part of a horse leg , particul-
arly illustrating a hoo~ of the latter, Fig. 3 i9 a bottom
view of the horseshoe assembly in Fig. l and Fig. 4 is a
vertical section~l view of the horseshoe assembly taken in
line IV - IV in Fig. 4. A~ will be readily apParent from
the drawings, the horseshoe of the invention is so constru-
ted that the rear part of a body l having the configuration
corresponding to the bottom of the hoof is opened to the
outside so as to allow the hoof to be accomodated in the
hoolw space as defined by the body l and an inclined s~de
wall portion 2 is made integral with the body l to snugly
cover the insteP of the hoof.
The inclined s1de wall Portion 2 i~ designed in such a
manner that an error as measured be~ween the inclination
angle of the side wall portion 2 and an angle e ~ormed by the
bottom 30 and the instep 31 of the hoof 3 that is called
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instep angle is restricted within a range of five degraes.
~pecifically, the inclined side wall portion 2 is so designed
that an angle x -Eormed by the side wall por-tion 2 and the
body 1 i8 determined within the range as defined by an
inquality of ~ < x < ~ + 5. When the angle x i8 de-termi-
ned less than the instep angle ~, there is a fear of causing
malfunctions that the hoof is difficult to be accomodated
in the horseshoe assembly, the latter is deformed
undesirably and it is di~place~ transver~ely of the hood by an
appreciable distance especially when certain force i5
exerted on it in the transverse direction. On the other
hand9 when the angle x exceeds the insetp angle ~ by an
extent of 5 , the side wall portion 2 fails to well fit the
ins~ep 31, resulting in unde~irable displacement taking
place in the same manner as mentioned above.
Thus, proper determination of the angle x formed by the
side wall portion 2 and -the body 1 is very important for the
viewpoint of inhibiting an occurrence of displacement of the
horseshoe. It is confirmed by a number of experiments that
displacement of the horseshoe from the hoof is easy to take
pla¢e, unles~ the aforesaid angle is de-termined properly.
A band 4 extending from the position located in the
; ; vicinity of the one free end of the side wall portion 2 at
a certain inclination angle is integrated with the side wall
portion 2, The band 4 is formsd with an engagement hole 5
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at its free end. After the band 4 i~ engaged to the upper
par~ of the sphericaL raised portion30n the horse leg( ~ ~ )
(see ~ig. 5), it extends -therefrom further at a downward
inclination angle until the engagement hole 5 on the free
end of the band 4 is fitted onto an engagement projection 6
which i9 provided on the other free end part of -the side
wall portion 2. Incidentally, -the reason why the band 4
does not extend in the vertical directlon ~rom the upper
end of the le~t part of the side wall portion 2 a~ seen in
Fig. 1 until the ~ree end of the band 4 is fixedly fitted
onbo the engagement pro~ection on -the right par-t of the
side wall portion 2 in the same manner as in -the illustrated
embodiment consists in that one ,ïeg of a horse rubs against
the other one' sometimes during running operation.
~pecifically, if the engagement projection on the one leg,
is directed toward -the engagement projection on -the other
leg, legs are damaged or injuried due to collision of the
one engagement projection with the other one when the one
~leg rubs against the other one. For the reason it is
;preferable that no engagement projection is provided on the
~;oppositely located side (namely~ on the inside) of each of
the horse ieg~ Obviously, the embodiment of the invention
has been described in view o~ the above-mentioned fact as
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to the case where the horseshoe for the left-hand leg
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As will be best seen in Flg. 1, a support projection 7
is provided on the side wall portion 2 in the side-by-side rela-
tion at the position located closer to the free end of the sidewall portion 2 than the engagement projection 6. The support
projection 7 functions to support the lower edge oE the band 4 so
as to allow the band 4 to extend in the inclined state when the
engagement hole 5 on the free end of the band 4 is fixedly fitted
onto the engagement projection 6.
A bridge member 8 is formed integral with the body l to
connect both the free ends of the body 1 to one another whereby
displacement of both the free ends of the body l in the transverse
direction or in the inclined direction is inhibited. Namely, the
bridge member 8 inhibits the whole horseshoe assembly from being
deformed under the effect of various force, particularly force in
the transverse direction. Thus, displacement of the horseshoe
assembly from the hoof 3 does not take place.
The body l is formed with a number of lattice-shaped
antiskid treads 8 over the inner wall thereof in order to improve
running performance of the horseshoe assembly. Further, a U-
shaped cutout lO is formed at the central part 1 and a raisedportion 11 is projected upwardly in the inclined state from the
periphery of the cutout lO toward a recess on the bottom of the
hoof 3.
; ~ The body 1 and the side wall portion 2 are made of
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elastomeric material whereby shock active on the lega during
running or the like is damped and load carried by the joint
portion or the like part on the leg is reduced, resulting
in an occurrence of injury being inhibited. Synt'netic
rubber such as polyuretane, polybutadiene; polystylene or
the like or natural rubber is employable as elastomeric
material.
It is preferable that elastomeric material used as
material for the body 1 has JIS A hardness in the range of
60 to 97. If it has JIS A hardness lower than 6Q, it is
found that a horse is difficult to walk or run due to
exces~ive elasticity. On the other hand, if it has JIS A
hardness higher than 97, it become~ excessively hard and
therefore there i~ seen no advantage when the horseshoe is
made of elastomeric material~ In the case when a racing
horse or the like walks or runs maninly on the soft ground
such as dirt, lawn, pasture or the like ground, it is
pre~erable that elastomeric material having compara-tively
high JIS A hardnes~ in the range of 85 to 97 is seIectedO
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On the other hand, in the case when it walks or runs on
the hard~ground such as paved road, floor of stable or the
llke ground, it i~ preferable that elastomeric material
having comparatively low JIS A hardness in the range of
60 to 70 is selected.
: Next, fitbing operati.on of the horseshoe of the
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invention onto the hoof 3 will be described below~
As shown in ~ig. l, the hoof 3 i9 ~irst ~itted ~rom the
opened side of the body 1 into the hollow space as de~-Lned
by the body 1 and the side wall portion 2. Next, as shown
in Fig. 5, the band 4 i~ engaged to the upper part of the
spherical raised portion 12 and thereafter it extends
downwardly further until the engagement hole 5 on the fore
end of' the band 4 is fitted onto the enO~agement projection 6
on the side wall portion 20
Alternatively, fitting opera-tion may be performed by
way of the steps of first fitting the engagement hole 5 on
the band 4 on-to the engagement projection 6, inserting the
hoof 3 into the hollow space as defined by the body 1 and
the side wall portion 2 and then engaging the band 4 to the
upper partSof the spherical raised portion~l2 while stretch-
ing the band 4 by an operator~s hand.
~ ince the support projection 7 supports the lower edge
of the band 4 on completion-o-f fitting operation, inclined
extension oP the band 4 in the s-tretched state is maintained.
By virtue of the arrangement ma~e in that way it is assured
that downward displacement of the band 4 beyond the spheri-
cal raised portion~l2 is inhibited and moreover burden on
the latter is reduced.
In order to reduoe burden on the spherical raised
portion~it is preferable that the inside surface of the
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band 4 is lined with so~t elastomeric material such as
sponge, polyuretane rubber or the like.
As will be readily understood ~rom the above descript-
ion, the present invention consists in that both the free
ends of the body are connec-ted to one another by way of a
bridge member which is molded integral with the body in
order to inhibit transverse displacement o~ .the body and
deformation of the latter under the effect o~ force exerted
on the body in the transverse direction and that the angle
x formed by the side wall portion and the body is determined
same to the instep angle ~. Owing to this the firmly fitted
state can be maintained lrrespective of how high force is
exerted on the horseshoe assembly in any direction.
While the presen-t invention has been described above
with respect -to a single preferred embodiment, it should o~
cource be understood that:it should not be limited only to
this but various changee or modifications may be made in
any acceptable manner without departure ~rom the spirit and
scope of the i~vention as defined by the appended claims.
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