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US 9,179,661 B2Granted
Horseshoe with splaying, and stabilizer feature
OwnerMurali Mahidharainventor
Life of this patent
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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 monolithic single piece solid metal body including a heel-region and including left and right branches 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 branches of the horseshoe to splay, whereby, when said central toe area is not impacting the ground, said left and right branches of the horseshoe tend to be repetitively and resiliently restored to their original positions without splaying, said metal horseshoe additionally including stabilizer means comprising at least two parallel rows of bead-like metal projections integrally formed on each of said left and right branches on a bottom surface of the horseshoe to provide stability and 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 when the horseshoe is in use, said horseshoe comprising a generally U shaped single piece monolithic solid metal body and including left and right branches lying on a bottom plane of the horseshoe, and a central toe portion integrally bridging said left and right branches 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 with 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 the 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 branches to splay, 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 the ground and is off the ground, said metal horseshoe additionally including stabilizer means comprising a plurality of parallel rows of bead-like elements integrally formed on each of said branches on an undersurface of the horseshoe to provide stability and additional road grip while the horseshoe is in use on a race track.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.