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US 2014/0374124 A1Published application
Horseshoe with splaying, and stabilizer feature
OwnerMurali Mahidharainventor
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OwnerMurali Mahidharainventor
Estimating the term…
A horseshoe with a stabilizer-feature and splaying has a U shaped metallic unitary body with left-right wings and an integral compliant leaf-spring disposed proximate to or in the horseshoe toe area. The leaf-spring may be crescent-shaped or chord-shaped and resiliently deforms upwards, exerting sideways-pressure causing splaying of the left-right wings. The leaf-spring may have a groove on either side to assist preparation before horseshoe installation. The crescent-shaped leaf-spring forms a cavity with the hoof underside in use, which cavity is optionally filled with a resilient material, e.g., silicone, obviating accumulation of dirt/debris. Stabilizers comprising a plurality of rows of beads formed integrally with the horseshoe bottom form a negative camber on the horseshoe-underside. The stabilizer rows may be staggered and assist in the stability of the horse during racing, especially at track-curves. The horseshoe may be cast/forged, blanked, or welded and can be mass-produced. Preferably, the horseshoe comprises hardened spring steel.
A horseshoe that when in use is capable of accommodating splaying of a horse hoof, said horseshoe comprising a generally U shaped unitary single piece solid metal body including a heel-region and including left and right body portions having metallic undersurfaces lying on a common bottom plane of the horseshoe, and a central toe area, said central toe area including a crescent shaped spring element that includes a convex outer edge and a concave inner edge, said spring element having resilience in a vertically upward direction that is perpendicular to said common bottom plane, said convex outer edge being substantially in said common bottom plane, said concave inner edge in use projecting below said common bottom plane by a projection-portion having a chosen design dimension which upon the horseshoe in use impacting ground, gets resiliently pushed vertically upwards to deliberately and mechanically cause and allow said left and right body portions of the horseshoe to splay, whereby, when said central toe area is not impacting the ground, said left and right body portions of the horseshoe tend to be repetitively and resiliently restored to their original positions without splaying, said metal horseshoe additionally including stabilizer means comprising rows of bead-like metal projections integrally formed on a bottom surface of the horseshoe to provide additional road grip while the horseshoe is in use on a race track.
A generally U shaped compliant unitary single-piece solid metal horseshoe having left and right wings which lie in a common bottom plane and having a toe area integral with said left and right wings, said metal horseshoe including a compliant spring element integral with and bridging said left and right wings and having vertically upward resilience and acting as a leaf-spring, said leaf-spring having a projection of a chosen design dimension in use formed substantially perpendicular to and projecting below said common bottom plane, said leaf-spring having a first unstressed state and a second resiliently stressed state, said leaf-spring attaining its said second stressed state upon loading of the horseshoe in use by ground impact to push said projection resiliently upwards, said leaf-spring in its second stressed state exerting resilient horizontal mechanical pressure sideways on said left and right wings so as to deliberately cause splaying of said left and right wings as desired, said leaf-spring tending to be repetitively restored to its first unstressed state when the horseshoe in use is not loaded or not impacting ground, whereupon said left and right wings are restored to their positions prior to splaying, said metal horseshoe additionally including stabilizer means comprising bead-like elements integrally formed as projections on a bottom surface of the horseshoe to provide additional road grip while the horseshoe is in use on a race track.
A horseshoe capable of causing and accommodating splaying of a horse hoof in use, said horseshoe comprising a generally U shaped unitary single-piece solid metal body and including left and right body portions lying on a bottom plane of the horseshoe, and a central toe portion integrally bridging said left and right body portions which are capable of resilient splaying, said central toe portion including a generally crescent shaped leaf-spring with a first unstressed state and a second stressed state, said crescent shaped leaf-spring having a convex edge and a concave edge, said concave edge having a projecting-portion equal to a chosen design dimension and projecting below said bottom plane in said first unstressed state, said generally crescent shaped leaf-spring attaining its said second stressed state by loading of the horseshoe when the horseshoe in use impacts ground, said projecting-portion of the leaf-spring being resiliently pushed upwards to reach its said second stressed state to deliberately cause said left and right body portions to splay as desired, whereby said central toe portion continually and alternately goes through its said second stressed and said first unstressed states repetitively when the horse hoof in use impacts ground and is off ground, said metal horseshoe additionally including stabilizer means comprising a plurality of rows of bead-like elements integrally formed on a bottom surface of the horseshoe to provide additional road grip while the horseshoe is in use on a race track.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.