US3160142A - Curry comb type implement or shedder - Google Patents

Description

1964 D. 1.. TOROW 3,160,142

CURRY COMB TYPE IMPLEMENT 0R SHEDDER Filed Oct. 17, 1965 INVENTOR. DOROTHY L TOROW HER Arron: Y.s.

3,160,142 CURRY (311MB TYPE IMPLEMENT R SHEDDER Dorothy L. Torow, 1850i) Hicks Road, Los Gatos, Qalif. Filed Get. 17, 1963, Ser. No. 316,837 1 Claim. (Ci. 119-412) The present invention relates to curry combs, and pertains more particularly to a comb-like implement of a type generally referred to as a shedder, which is used for cleaning and grooming horses and cattle, particularly for show.

In preparing an animal, such as a horse, for show, or for use in a track or ring event'where the appearance of the animal is important, it is necessary to get any loose hairs out of its coat, and to clean the coat thoroughly of foreign matter such as dust, and dried mud and manure.

In the pastyarious types of implements have been developed for this purpose, such as, for example, the single bladed comb disclosed in Patent No. 431,490 of 1890. In spite of the age of this patent, combs of this type, known as shedders, are still in use today. Such combs are quite expensive to make in the limited quanti ties required by todays market, are limited to a single tooth size per comb,'and when rusted or damaged require replacement of the entire implement.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved shedder for use in grooming live stock, wherein two lengths of hack saw blade material are mounted in relatively endwise reversed, side-by-side, slightly spaced, parallel relation along an edge of a handle member with the teeth of said blades exposed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shedder with two equal lengths of hack saw blade material inserted in parallel grooves provided lengthwise of an elongated, narrow edge of ahandle member, with the blades in side-by-side, parallel relation, and relatively reversed endwise thereof so that the teeth of the two blades are exposed and face in opposite directions, each blade being releasably secured in its own groove by a jam strip inserted in such groove laterally adjacent the blade.

7 United States Patent 0 in width, and one inch in thickness has been found satisfactory. The handle member preferably is tapered at 14 toward the edge 13 in which the two blades 17 and 18 are mounted to a thickness of approximately one half inch.

The two grooves 11 and 12 for receiving the blades 17 and 18 preferably are of a depth of approximately two thirds of the width of a conventional hand hack saw blade, which is of the order of one half inch, and also preferably have their laterally outward sides separated by a distance substantially less than the length of a hair of an animal to be groomed, for example, of the order of A or of an inch. Thus, when the shedder is being use as shown in FIG. 1, the teeth of the rearmost blade will engage each hair of an animal being groomed while such hair is still being engaged by the teeth of the leading blade, which action greatly improves the effectiveness of the implement.

The center land 19 between the grooves 11 and 12 is of a suitable thickness to provide the strength necessary to withstand the stresses to which it is subjected in use, and a pair of insert or jam strips 20 for retaining the blades in place in their grooves 11 and 12 are of a thickness to have a light to medium press fit in the grooves when the blades are mounted therein to thereby frictionally retain the blades in place during ordinary use of the implement. The insert strips may be of any suitable maten'al, such as Wood or plastic.

These, and other objects and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a shedder embodying the invention as it appears in use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view looking toward the blade mounting edge of the shedder shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a transverse, sectional view of the shedder shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a corner fragment of the shedder shown in FIGS. 1-3 as it appears when broken away diagonally.

FIG. 5 is a view in reduced scale of the hmdle member with the blades and jam strips removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a hack saw blade fragment of the type which provide the blades for the shedder, the broken lines showing portions of a broken hack saw blade which are removed in making the blade for the shedder.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one of the jam strips which hold the blades in place.

Referring to the drawings, a curry comb A of the type known as a shedder, and embodying the present invention, is shown in its entirety in FIGS. 1 and 2. The shedder A comprises a handle member It in the form of a rectangular block, and having two parallel grooves 11 and 12 along one edge 13 thereof. The handle member 10 is of suitable material, preferably of low thermal conductivity such as wood or plastic so as to be comfortable to handle in extremes of hot and cold weather.

The handle member 10 is of a size to permit it to be held comfortably in ones hand, for example, a size of approximately 6 inches in length, two and one half inches The blades 17 and 18 may be withdrawnfor renewal, or for replacement by blades of a different tooth size, by grasping them, one at a time, by a suitable tool, such as a pair of ordinary pliers, not shown. The useful life of a pair of the blades 17 and 18 in normal use is substantial, since the material fromwhich hack saw blades are made is, as is well known, extremely hard and durable, as it must be for cutting the metal, such as iron and steel, for which such blades are designed. However, an animals coat usually contains a substantial amount of dust, and frequently also dried mud, and the particles of this material have an abrading effect which tends to dull the tooth edges of any curry comb type of implement.

When the teeth of a shedder A embodying the present invention start to get dull, and it is noted that the implement is beginning to lose some ofits effectiveness in stripping dust, dirt and loose hairs from the coat of an animal upon which it is used, the blades 17 and 18 may be withdrawn from their grooves 11 and 12, and replaced with new blades.

Each of the blades 17 and 18 is made by breaking off from a longer piece, as indicated in broken lines at 13" in FIG. 6, a length of hack saw blade material of substantially the same length as the grooved edge 13 of the handle member. Such breaking of the blade material can be easily accomplished as by grasping the longer piece 15 of blade material with two pairs of pliers (not shown) on opposite sides of a desired line of breakage, and then bending the blade laterally along this desired break line. The blade material, being, as is well known, extremely brittle, will break off approximately along such line. After the two required lengths of hack saw blade material have thus been broken off, the corners thereof preferably are rounded off as at 21 to avoid scratching an animal while using the shedder A.

The blades 17 and 18 thus formed are inserted in their respective grooves 11 and 12 in relatively endwise reversed relation, with their teeth 22 exposed. A jam strip 20 is then pressed into place alongside each blade to retain it in place in its groove. The teeth 22 of the two blades 17 and 18 thus point in opposite directions, which is important, since apparently the teeth of the leading blade facing in one direction clean and strip ofi the dirt from the hairs engaged thereby in a different manner from the oppositely facing teeth of the trailing blade.

The exact nature of the engagement of the individual hairs by the two sets of teeth in this manner is not completely understood, but in using the shedder A it is noted that it is much more effective in cleaning and grooming an animal than any curry comb or shedder used previously. 4

In using the shedder A, it preferably is held in ones hand substantially perpendicularly to the coat of the ani mal as shown in FIG. 1, and is drawn in rapid easy strokes with medium pressure in the direction of the lay of the hair. After thoroughly cleaning an animals coat, the shedder A may also be used in short twisting'strokes, in a manner well known to those used to grooming animals for show, to produce a waved or curly appearance of the coat. The shedder A is also extremely useful in cleaning the mane or tail of an animal, such as a horse, since it thoroughly cleans the hairs and strips off any dried mud or manure which may be present to thoroughly clean and dress the animal.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, :it will be understood, however, that various changes and modifications may be made in the details thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim;

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is defined by the following claim: i

A curry comb type of implement known as a shedder for grooming livestock such as horses, said implement comprising (a) a handle member of substantially greater width than thickness and having a narrow, elongated edge, said narrow edge having a pair of parallel, blade receiving grooves lengthwise therein, the side walls of the grooves being substantially parallel to the major mid-plane of the handle member,

(b) a pair of toothed blades, each blade comprising a length of hack saw blade material of substantially the same length as the narrow, elongated edge of the handle member, and of a width greater than the depth of such grooves, each blade being inserted against a selected side of one of such grooves, the blades being inserted in their respective grooves in relatively endwise reversed relation with their toothed edges exposed, so that the teeth of the two blades face in opposite'directions, V

(c) and a jam strip fitted into each groove alongside a blade inserted therein, each jam strip being of a thickness to frictionally retain its associated blade in its groove.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 711,423 10/02 Greene et a1. 119-92 1,855,299 4/32 Lindenschmitt 30172 1,895,051 1/33 Schneider 30-l72 2,546,577 3/51 Young '30172 2,800,879 7/57 Quick 119--92 SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

HUGH R. CHAMBLEE, Examiner.

Images