AU2011224130A1 - Horseshoe - Google Patents

Abstract

5 Horseshoe (1) that has a support surface (6), a base (5), a toe (2) and nail holes (12) that extend through the horseshoe (1) from the support surface (6) to the base (5), characterised in that at least one of these nail holes (12) is oriented such that it forms an angle (B) towards the 10 inside with respect to the perpendicular direction (L-L') of the support surface (6) of the horseshoe (1). Figure 2. M' L

Description

Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant: Kerckhaert, B.V. Actual Inventor: Rudolf Karel Marie Kerckhaert Address for Service: C/- MADDERNS, GPO Box 2752, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: HORSESHOE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

la The present invention relates to a horseshoe. 5 In particular the invention relates to a horseshoe that has a nail guide. Traditionally, the shoeing of a hoofed animal, generally a 10 horse or a donkey, is done with horseshoes that are secured to the hooves by means of nails. This 'shoeing' is primarily but not exclusively done to prevent too much wear on the hoof or to correct the stance 15 and/or gaits of the animal. On the whole this is generally done as follows. Every six to eight weeks the hooves of a horse generally 20 have to be trimmed, after which if need be the shoes have to be repositioned or renewed. First all foreign materials, such as manure, sand, straw, etc, are removed from the hooves. 25 Then the toe is first cut to length by trimming or cutting the hoof, and then the rest of the hoof is adjusted to 2 Although the aim is always for straight hoof and leg axes, the best position of the hoof and leg nevertheless has to be assessed for each horse individually. 5 This assessment is generally done both at rest and when moving, whereby in this last case special attention is paid to the way the hoof comes away from the ground and the way it is set down. 10 With a good flat and balanced hoof, the heels of the hoof come to the ground simultaneously and the hoof rolls in the middle over the toe. After trimming, a suitable horseshoe is selected that is 15 then made to fit even better, and can be affixed either hot or cold. It is generally affixed by nailing it to the hoof. 20 Generally the use of six horseshoe nails is sufficient for this. These horseshoe nails are affixed to the front half of the hoof in order to obstruct the hoof mechanism as little as 25 possible. This means that a certain expansion of the hoof must be able to take place with every step or loading and a certain spring-back when unloaded successively, whereby a type of 30 bellows effect occurs that guarantees sufficient blood flow through the living parts of the hoof.

3 Fastening a horseshoe properly with horseshoe nails requires skill and must be done in the approved way, whereby a certain play has to be left for the lengthways 5 and breadthways expansion towards the back of the hoof, in the heel, to enable the action of the hoof mechanism. In the base of each horseshoe there is a slot, called the groove, in which the nail holes are placed. 10 The groove and the nail holes of a conventional horseshoe have to be placed such that after adjustment, they are exactly opposite the white line that can be seen on the underside of a normal hoof, and indicates the dividing line 15 between the horny wall on the outside and the living tissue on the inside of the hoof. When driving in the horseshoe nail, it has to penetrate into the white line via the sole surface, and then go 20 obliquely upwards through the horny wall and come out on the surface of the horny wall at around 1/3 of the height of this wall measured from the bottom. This is only possible when every hoof nail is driven in 25 separately at an angle to the sole surface that is adjusted to the local angle of the horny wall itself. In order to enable this driving in at the desired angle, which differs from place to place on the hoof, with 30 conventional preformed horseshoes a series of nail holes 4 has to be provided that allow a relatively large play with respect to the horseshoe nails used. Traditionally these nail holes are not completely 5 rectangular in shape but consist of two parts in line with one another and tapering towards one another. A first part is a funnel-shaped part that is bordered by the walls of the groove, and which has its widest opening 10 oriented towards the underside of the horseshoe, and in which the head of the horseshoe nail will rest and be wedged in place after being driven in. Extending from this, and perpendicular to the support 15 surface of the horseshoe, a narrower part with a square or rectangular cross-section, through which the point of the horseshoe nail followed by the slender part or the shank can be guided during shoeing, before penetrating the white line in the horny layer of the hoof. 20 With suitable traditional horseshoes, the tops of these horseshoe nail holes, i.e. where the nail comes out of the horseshoe and penetrates into the hoof during shoeing, are exactly opposite the white line of the hoof, which, as 25 stated, in fact indicates the dividing line between the horny wall of the hoof and the softer living tissues. In conventional preformed horseshoes, these nail holes are perpendicular to the support surface of the horseshoe.

5 It is part of the approved way and rules of good craftsmanship that, when being driven in, the horseshoe nails are allowed to bend so that they come out of the horny layer sideways at the desired place on the outside of 5 the hoof. Finally after driving in the horseshoe nails, the parts of the nails protruding out of the hoof are bent downwards and snipped off if need be, and the bent part is sunk into a 10 small groove that was first made in the horny wall for that purpose by means of a small gouge. A great disadvantage of all this is that correctly shoeing hoofed animals, in addition to the correct and suitable 15 materials and means, still requires a very high level of professional knowledge and skill, all the more so as it can only be done exceptionally under very favourable conditions. 20 A further disadvantage of this is that the driving in and securing of every nail is accompanied by a certain damage to the hoof, and that this has to be repeated periodically with every change of horseshoe. 25 A further disadvantage is that the bending of the nails towards the outside while being driven in is sometimes difficult to control, for example due to the large play that has to be left between the nail and nail hole, such that the place where the nails come through the hoof wall 30 is subject to considerable variation.

6 This position is important for the quality of the hoof and also influences the risk of complications, such as the occurrence of lameness when it comes out too high, or the splitting of the hoof wall if the distance is too small. 5 A further disadvantage is that, when driving in the first nails, the horseshoe can move slightly, for example due to an unexpected movement of the animal, and that, when this results in the shoe not being well centred, not only can it 10 bring about an abnormal roll in the movement, but it can also lead to the occurrence of hoof tearing, ossification of the hoof cartilage, and can even give rise to fractures. It is already known to give the point of the nail a 15 slanting side. The slanting side must be turned towards the hoof when driving in the nail, such that the nail is driven through the horny wall to the outside. The slanting side as it were 20 steers the nail in the desired direction. Notwithstanding this, there is still a great demand for horseshoes whereby horseshoe nails can be driven in with less force and less lasting damage or deformation, but with 25 greater precision, more accurately and just as securely, more specifically at the right angle, which differs sharply from place to place. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a 30 solution to at least one of the aforementioned and other disadvantages by providing a horseshoe that has a support 7 surface, a base, a toe and nail holes that extend through the horseshoe from the support surface to the base, whereby at least one of these nail holes is oriented such that it forms an angle towards the inside with respect to the 5 perpendicular direction of the horseshoe support surface. In other words, at least one nail hole is oriented towards the inside from the base to the support surface. 10 A great advantage of this is that the horseshoe nails can be easily driven in and secured at the desired local angle, without considerable play having to be provided in the horseshoe nail holes. 15 As a result the risk of damage to the horny layer or the horseshoe nail being driven into the soft or living tissues of the hoof, with all the known negative consequences of this, is greatly reduced. 20 In a preferred embodiment, the angle oriented towards the inside of at least one guide hole locally is 6 to 15 degrees, even better 9 to 12 degrees, and at best around 10 degrees with respect to the perpendicular to the support surface of the horseshoe. 25 In a further preferred embodiment, only some of the nail holes have an angle oriented towards the inside with respect to the perpendicular of the support surface of the horseshoe.

8 In a further preferred embodiment, only the first three nail holes starting from the toe are at such an angle. In another preferred embodiment this angle becomes smaller 5 the further away the nail holes are from the toe. In a further preferred embodiment, the width of the nail hole seen through the cross section of the horseshoe is larger than the thickness of the horseshoe nail, at least 10 with respect to the front part of the nail, so that the play between the nail hole and the nail enables the nail to be positioned at different angles in the nail hole when inserted, after which, when driving in the nail, the play becomes less due to the conical shape of the nail, and 15 finally the rearmost end of the nail, the 'head' is secured in the nail hole. In a preferred embodiment, the nail hole opens out into the base, in the 'groove', which is constructed as a slot 20 shaped recess in the base of the horseshoe. In a further preferred embodiment, the groove is displaced, with respect to a horseshoe with traditional nail holes, towards the outside edge of the horseshoe to ensure that 25 the nail hole opens out into the support surface directly opposite the white line. With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, a preferred embodiment of a horseshoe with 30 nail holes according to the invention is described hereinafter by way of an example, without any limiting 9 nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 schematically shows a bottom view of a 5 horseshoe according to the invention; figure 2 shows a cross section of the horseshoe of figure 1, according to the line II-II; figure 3 shows a cross section of a conventional horseshoe according to the line II-II of figure 1. 10 The horseshoe according to the invention shown in figures 1 and 2 consists of a toe part 2 and two arms 3 and 4, with a base 5 and a support surface 6 primarily parallel to it, intended to come into contact with the sole part of the 15 hoof 7, in other words the underside of the hoof 7, as shown in figure 2 by the dashed line. A hoof 7, as is known, consists of a horny wall 8 on the outside and a section of living tissue 9 on the inside, the 20 wall corium, that are separated from one another by a zone called the white line 10. The shape of the horseshoe 1 is such that it must follow the outside edge of the hoof 7, whereby the size of the 25 horseshoes 1 must correspond to the size of the hoofs 7. As they are different for the front and back hooves, and different on the left or right, and also differ from animal to animal, the horseshoes 1 always have to be made to size 30 or adjusted.

10 As the angle A that the support base 6 of the horseshoe 1 makes locally with the horny wall 8 of the hoof 2 can differ considerably from place to place, the angle at which the horseshoe nails have to be driven into the hoof 7 5 always has to be adjusted accurately to local circumstances. In the base 5 there is a slot, the groove 11, in which there are nail holes 12 that further extend into the 10 support surface 6. Figure 2 shows that each nail hole 12 itself consists of two parts 13 and 14, on the one hand a funnel-shaped part 13 that is bordered by the groove 11, and in which the head 15 of the horseshoe nail will be jammed (not shown) when shoeing, and on the other hand, a guide hole 14 that has a rectangular or square cross-section, and according to the invention is oriented obliquely inwards, if need be at an angle B of 10 degrees with respect to the perpendicular 20 direction L-L' of the support surface 6. In other words the centreline M-M' of the nail hole 12, or at least the guide hole 14, forms an angle B to the aforementioned perpendicular direction L-L'. 25 As a result of this orientation B, the top nail hole opening of the guide hole 14 at the side of the support surface 6 is shifted slightly inwards with respect to the bottom nail hole opening of the guide hole 14 at the 30 location of the base 15 of the groove 11, and is shifted 11 somewhat further inwards with respect to the lowest nail hole opening on the side of the base 5. A horseshoe 1 according to the invention is made or adapted 5 such that the aforementioned top opening of the nail holes 12, along which the horseshoe nails are guided into the horny wall 8 of the hoof 7, is located precisely opposite the white line 10 of the hoof 7. 10 Figure 3 shows a similar cross-section as in figure 2, but this time for a conventional construction of a nail hole 12 according to the state-of-the-art. Here we see corresponding elements to those shown in figure 15 2. However, we see that, due to the absence of the angle B of figure 2, the nail hole 12 extends perpendicularly to the base 5 and the support surface 6 and is constructed 20 primarily symmetrically with respect to the centreline M M'. Shoeing with a horseshoe 1 according to the invention is done in the traditional way, as described in brief above. 25 To manufacture horseshoes 1 according to the invention, an unworked horseshoe with a groove 11 but without nail holes is first taken, and the nail holes are punched by means of a straight punch or chisel that is driven into the 30 horseshoe 1 at an angle B with respect to the perpendicular L-L' of the support surface 6.

12 With this method it is important for the lifetime of the punch or chisel, and for the good quality of the nail holes, to start with a horseshoe 1 with a groove 11 whose 5 base 15 makes an angle B to the support surface 6 and to use a punch or chisel with a head flattened at a right angle, such that when punching the punch is oriented perpendicularly to the base 15 of the groove 11 and the head of the punch pierces through the base 15 of the groove 10 11 perpendicularly, and the centreline M-M' of the guide hole 14 is at right angles to the base 15. It is clear that if the nail holes are not punched, but for example produced by forging or casting, the angle of the 15 base 15 of the groove 11 is of no importance to the invention. It is also clear that the angle B must not be the same for all nail holes 12, but for example the angle B can be 20 different for the nail holes 12 against the toe part compared to the nail holes 12 further towards the arms 3 and 4, and there can even be nail holes 12 without an angle B. 25 For the nail holes that include an angle B, angles of 6 to 15 degrees are used, and even better 9 to 12 degrees, and best of all around 10 degrees. Preferably only the first three nail holes 12 starting from 30 the toe 2 have such an angle B.

13 The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiments described as an example and shown in the drawing, but a horseshoe 1 according to the invention can be realised in all kinds of variants, without departing 5 from the scope of the invention.

Claims (7)

1. 2. Horseshoe (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that with respect to the horseshoe at least one nail hole 15 (12) is oriented towards the inside in the direction from the base (5) to the support surface (6).
2. 3. Horseshoe (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the angle (B) oriented towards the inside of at 20 least one nail hole (12) locally is 6 to 15 degrees, or better 9 to 12 degrees, and best around 10 degrees.
3. 4. Horseshoe according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that only some of the nail holes (12) form 25 an angle (B) oriented towards the inside.
4. 5. Horseshoe (1) according to claim 4, characterised in that only the first three nail holes (12) starting from the toe (2) have such an angle (B). 15
5. 6. Horseshoe(l) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that the angle (B) is smaller the further away the nail holes (12) are from the toe (2). 5 7. Horseshoe (1) according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the width of the nail hole (12), seen through the cross section of the horseshoe (1), is larger than the thickness of the horseshoe nail, at least with respect to the front part of the horseshoe nail, such that 10 the play between the nail hole (12) and the nail enables the nail to be positioned in the nail hole (12) at different angles (B).
6. 8. Horseshoe (1) according to any of the previous claims, 15 characterised in that the nail hole (12) opens in the base (5) via the 'groove' (11), which is constructed as a slot shaped recess in the base (5) of the horseshoe (1).
7. 9. Horseshoe (1) according to one or more of the previous 20 claims, characterised in that it is made such that the openings of the nail holes (12) in the support surface (6) are located precisely opposite the white line (10) of the hoof (7). 25 10. Horseshoe (1) according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the base (15) of the groove (11) at the location of a nail hole is perpendicular or practically perpendicular to the centreline (M-M') of the nail hole (12) concerned, at least with respect to the centreline (M 30 M') of the part (14) that forms a guide hole for a horseshoe nail.