Method of making a saddle pad
OwnerCurtis L. Landi, Susan L. Wilson +1inventors
InventorsCurtis L. Landi, Susan L. Wilson, Selver Kulovic
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The inventive saddle pads are for placement between a saddle and a horse's back, or between a saddle and the rider, for therapeutic and cushioning protection for the horse and for the rider. The saddle pads incorporate a perforated honeycomb cellular structure which contours to the horse's back and/or the saddle to provide uniform load distribution. The honeycomb cells of the pad are aligned perpendicular to the horse's back and flex with movement to reduce shear forces against the horse's skin. The ability of the honeycomb to contour and flex with the movement helps keep the pad securely in place, eliminating rubbing and chafing.
Claims21
A saddle pad cushion comprising:
- at least one panel including
- at least a first honeycomb core formed of resilient thermoplastic material and including cell walls having a plurality of perforations and defining a plurality of contiguous regularly shaped cells, the opposite extremities of said cell walls forming first and second core faces on opposite sides of said first core,
- at least a first facing sheet formed of resilient thermoplastic material having a plurality of perforations and thermal compression bonded to one of said core faces for maintaining said first core in its expanded configuration so that it can isotropically flex to stabilize and spread a load applied thereto,
- said at least one panel shaped to be positioned between a horse and a saddle or a rider or between a saddle and a rider.
A therapeutic saddle pad comprising:
- an outer saddle pad having at least one internal pocket,
- at least one panel housed within said pocket and including
- at least a first honeycomb core formed of resilient thermoplastic material and including cell walls having a plurality of perforations and defining a plurality of contiguous regularly shaped cells, the opposite extremities of said cell walls forming first and second core faces on opposite sides of said first core,
- at least a first facing sheet formed of resilient thermoplastic material having a plurality of perforations and thermal compression bonded to one of said core faces for maintaining said first core in its expanded configuration so that it can isotropically flex to stabilize and spread a load applied thereto, said at least one panel shaped to be positioned between a horse and a saddle or a rider or between a saddle and a rider.
The saddle pad of claim 18 wherein the core cells of said panel are more rigid at one end of said saddle pad to provide greater protection to a horse when a rider is in a working position at said one end of said saddle pad and clamping the legs of the rider to the horse for stability.
The method of manufacturing a saddle pad cushion comprising the steps of:
- thermal compression bonding plastic core strips together and expanding said strips into a honeycomb shaped core,
- thermal compression bonding resilient facing sheets to faces of the honeycomb shaped core thereby forming a panel with a honeycomb core,
- folding said panel over on itself, and
- pressure sealing the folded panel in an arcuate line across the folded panel so that said panel itself establishes a two sided curved contour.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.