Pack-saddle.

Application filed January 14, 1907. Serial No. 352,169.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Karl Franz Schaller, field-forge manufacturer, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing 5 at Vienna, Austria-Hungary, have invented a new and useful Improved Pack-Saddle; and I, do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The objects of my invention are pack s'ad10 dies with side load-carrying bars which serve to throw the weight of the load upon the saddle-bars, whereby any side pressure on the flanks of the animal is obviated.

In pack saddles as at present constructed, 15 in order to be able to fit the saddle to the body of the pack animal, the bars connecting the two saddle bars, and to which the loadcarrying bars are attached, are provided with a number of holes for adjustment, so that 20 the saddle-bars, together with the saddle pads, attached to them, can be fitted lower down upon the bars for broader animals, and higher up for narrow-backed animals. This construction of the saddle has the disadvan2 5 tage that, in the case of broad-backed animals, the saddle pads are placed far apart, so that the weight of the whole load rests, not on the parts of the back nearest to the spine,— which are best capable of bearing the strain,— 30 but on the more sensitive side portions of the back. This evil is avoided, in the packsaddle forming the subject-matter of this invention, by an arrangement which permits of adjusting the load-carrying bars on the two 35 sides of the saddle, relatively to each other so that the saddle can be fitted to the back of any pack-animal, while maintaining one and the same distance between the saddle pads, and without detaching the various 40 parts of the saddle from each other. The tact that the distance between the two saddle-pads remains always the same, moreover permits of the arrangement of a plate between the saddle-bars, along the back of the 45 horse, on which a bag, for carrying war material or the like can be strapped.

Referring to the drawings which form a part of this invention Figure 1 is a side elevation, Figi 2 a back-view, Figs. 3, 4 and 5 50 show details to a larger scale.

Of an example of such a pack-saddle, arranged for carrying, simultaneously, a field forge forming a chest when in the folded-up state, on one side, and an equally heavy tool 55 chest, as balance-weight, on the other side.

The saddle-bars 2 are fixed on two saddle pads 1, stuffed with saddle-wool and covered with stout cow-hide, so that their ends are inserted in pockets 3 of leather or the like, sewn on to the pads. The saddle-bars 2 are held go together by two bars 4, of curved outline, which are fixed to them by screws 5, so that the saddle pads 1, which are wedgeshaped, tapering off downwards, leave along the back of the horse a vacant space, with a view to 65 the ventilation required for keeping the back of the animal cool. At the ends of each bar 4 on either side of the saddle, a pair of vertical carrying bars 6 are hinged, which bars are staid to each other by a wooden bar 6¹ 70 and fastened, at their lower ends, to the saddle pads 1. On each of the upper ends of the bars 6, which are extended beyond the bars 4, a tension rod 7, is movably attached, or hinged, (Fig. 5), which rod extends with its 75 screw-threaded end through a sleeve 8, hinged to the bow-like bar 4, so that it can slide loose in this sleeve, and can be adjusted in it and fixed in any desired position, by means of two nuts arranged on the rod 7, on 80 either side of the sleeve. In this operation, the bars 6 are caused to turn on their pivots, on the ends of the bars 4, so that the distance of the lower ends of the two saddle pads can be adjusted to suit the shape of the 85 body of the pack-animal. At the upper ends of the bars 6, hooks 9 are attached, from which the chests are hung. Screw clips 10 hinged on the lower ends of these bars and which fix into lugs arranged on the chests, SO serve to hold the load fast in position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. In order to prevent any lateral displacement of the chest, in ascending or descending, the lower end of each of the bars 6 (Figs. 2 and 4) is 95 provided, at its opposite sides, with lugs 11, · which are slidably engaged by clips, 12, fixed on a plate 13 connected with the saddle pad. The lugs 11 may also be arranged on the inner sides or outer sides only, of the bars 6 in 100 order to prevent any lateral shifting of the load.

Between the two saddle-bars 2, above and along the back of the animal, a plate 14, of sheet iron or the like, is arranged, to which a 105 water-proof bag 15 can be strapped, or a supply of fuel for the forge or of any other materials. The saddle is fixed on the animal by means of one single surcingle 16, attached in the known manner, immediately to the sad- HO

893,199 die bars, so that the animal is not in any way impeded, either in its motion or in its respiration.

The harness consists of the usual harness 5 front-part and breeching, 17 and 18, from which tightening or tension straps (19, 20) lead to the front and hind part respectively, of each saddle pad, so that any shifting of the saddle is effectually prevented.

The pack-saddle described is not only suited for carrying the tool and field-forge chests, but also machine guns, ammunition chests and other war-like materials, for the convenient packing of which the pack-saddle 15 may be suitably modified or adapted.