The present invention refers to a hoof protector for animals, specially intended for being applied to horse hooves, as a convenient, comfortable non-permanent, non-atrophying protection means, and being capable of adapting to any possible situation, without interfering with the natural biomechanics of the animal while moving or in stance, or affecting performance of the inner structures of the equine foot.
The traditional means for protecting horse hooves, which appeared during the Middle Ages and became popular in the Western world from the Industrial Revolution onwards, consist of the classical rigid horseshoes, made of different metal alloys, being fixed to the hoof mainly by means of nails and entailing a permanent protection against wear, with the drawback of being highly atrophying and also showing other side effects that appear in the long-term.
Nowadays, there are attempts to improve this traditional version with the use of flexible and absorbent materials, mainly plastic and rubber which are made from the combination of several components, being reinforced with a metal alloy sheet therein, thus avoiding loss and breakage thereof, and spreading nail vibration onto a bigger surface. Although these last embodiments involve a significant improvement compared to the traditional version thereof, they continue being a permanent support, with all that it involves (overgrowth of the hoof horn due to no wear, occurrence of leverage effect which compromise the soft tissues of limbs, infections of plantar tissues such as the white line and/or the frog, etc.)
On the other hand, both conventional horseshoes and the above mentioned improved version of them, only provide partial hoof protection, particularly against wear of the lower surface thereof. However, they do not protect either the hoof dorsal or front or side surface, or the hoof palmar surface or rear side.
Recently, some non-atrophying solutions have been developed intended to protect both the sole and wall, even protecting the bulbs. In this sense, three different approaches can be cited which are described below.
The first protection approach commonly known as “Glue-ons”, as it can be seen in WO2009142801, US00D685142S, and the Spanish Utility Model ES1072993U, consists of a lower sole which is coupled onto the hoof base, and which can be attached onto the front and side surface of said hoof through an upper wall. These protections use an adhesive to be fixed to the hoof surface, which hinders easy and quick frequent removal thereof.
The second protection approach refers to what is commonly known as “Integral Boots”, to which U.S. Pat. No. 8,291,683B2, US20050072128, A1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,010, EP2545771A2, US20050166556A1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,715,661A and 6,694,713B1 pertain, consisting of a lower sole being coupled onto the hoof base, an upper wall being coupled to the front and side surface of said hoof, and a third layer of a different material enclosing the upper periphery of protection, above the coronary band of the equine foot and, particularly, around the short pastern bone. These protections remain attached to the hoof in a timely fashion, thus allowing frequent removal in an easy and quick manner. This type of boots, however, feature several important drawbacks:
The third protection approach, refers to what is commonly known as “Sports Boots”, being described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,422A, US20110219732A1, U.S. Pat. No. 8,413,412B2, US20130008139A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,958, U.S. D440363, PCT/ES20141070325 and EP2409565A1, comprising a lower sole that couples onto the hoof base, an upper wall that couples onto the front and side surface of said hoof, and a third rear part that couples onto the rear side of the hoof. These protections use different systems so as to remain attached to the hoof in a timely fashion, thus allowing frequent removal, in an easy, quick and comfortable way. The main drawbacks found in the different models making up this type of equine protections or boots are:
The object of the present invention is to solve the above mentioned problems and to:
As it has been indicated above, the protector of the invention is of the type consisting of a base being coupled to the animal hoof, having a lower support sole, a rear shield closing the base at the back, a protecting skin attached to and fixed onto the inner surface of the protecting shield, and also including means for connecting the rear shield to the base.
According to the invention, the sole of the protector base has, from the rear edge to the neighbourhood of the front edge, a longitudinal central area being flexible at the outside, which allows transverse deformation of said sole. According to an embodiment, the sole has at the outside area thereof, a longitudinal central area of a thickness lower than that of said sole, so as to define the elastically flexible longitudinal central area mentioned above. The bottom of this longitudinal central area of the sole of a lower thickness, may be longitudinally crossed by alternate grooves and ribs, thus forming an accordion-like structure that will enable transverse deformation.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the sole of the base will preferably be of a slightly curved configuration, with convexity oriented towards the inner side of the base, so as to cause the enclosure of said base wall over the animal hoof during the gait phase, thus reducing the risk of losing the protection.
The base assembly is intended to be used as a means for protecting the hoof of the animal legs, and is configured in such a way that it can be tightly coupled onto the hoof. To comply with this, the base will be preferably made of a thermoformable material, for example, a thermoplastic material, the purpose of which is to provide the user, by applying heat or by other methods, with a base featuring permanent deformation so as to achieve the perfect adaptation to the geometry of the hoof on which it is to be placed. In order to improve adaptation thereof, the base will have ribs on its wall that will allow opening through holes intended to improve adaptation without risk of breakage. Moreover, the base will feature a different geometry depending on it being intended for the fore or the hind feet of the animal.
The sole of the base forming the protector has, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, two grooves through which corresponding straps pass upwardly, those straps running over inner slots of the sole, and projecting from the rear edge thereof for it to be anchored in buckles which are arranged at the bottom of the protector rear shield.
In the protector of the invention, the rear shield has a central opening which is limited at the upper and lower part thereof by flexible upper and lower stripes. Furthermore, this shield is provided with front, upper and lower extensions, through which said shield is related to the walls of the base.
The front lower extensions of the shield show limited elastic deformation capacity, which increases towards the end of said extensions. This characteristic can be achieved, for example, by reducing the thickness of the front lower extensions in the end portion thereof. For example, said extensions can have, at the inner surface thereof, a central longitudinal slot or recess, along which holes are drilled that are facing holes of the base wall, for anchoring screws to pass through.
The connection means between the rear shield and the base comprise two upper side connectors and two lower side anchoring elements. The upper side connectors are made up of corresponding flexible bands having limited elasticity which are pivotally connected to the upper side extensions of the shield and to the upper connecting areas of the base wall. The lower side anchoring elements consist of at least a screw bolt passing through and fixing each lower front extension of the shield to lower connecting areas of the base wall.
The pivoting connection between the two upper side connectors and the upper side extensions of the shield are made up of a screw bolt.
The upper front extensions of the shield, at the inner surface thereof and in coincidence with the connecting point of the upper side connectors, can be provided with a polygonal slot coinciding with that of the nut being part of the pivoting connection between said upper side connectors and upper front extensions of the shield, thus enabling screwing and tightening between the screw and nut.
Regarding the bands forming the upper side connectors, these have a longitudinal alignment of holes, two of which are selected for being passed through by screws forming the pivotally connections between said bands and the base wall and upper side extensions of the shield. Furthermore, these bands include a closed contour which is elastically deformable by traction, up to a limit point. This closed contour can be located at one of the ends of the bands, and anchored therethrough to locking levers pivotally fixed to the upper connecting areas of the base wall.
The above locking levers may comprise two arms, an upper one and a lower one, both articulated to each other at on the ends thereof. The lower arm is pivotally fixed to the upper connecting area of the base wall. Both arms, at the opposing surfaces thereof, are provided with mutual interlocking conformations, in the closed position, and with a passage for receiving and retaining the band closed contour forming the side connectors.
The attached drawings show a non-limiting embodiment, wherein:
Constitution, characteristics and advantages of the protection of the invention may be better understood with the following description, referring to the embodiment shown in the above listed drawings.
As it can be appreciated in
The base (1) will be of an elastically flexible nature, featuring great abrasion resistance and will be preferably made of a thermoformable material, which will enable permanent conformation thereof onto the hoof, by applying heat.
As it can be seen in
At the outside, the sole (4) has a longitudinal central area (6) of a lower thickness which is elastically flexible in a transverse direction, and it may have an accordion-like structure, having alternate longitudinal grooves (7) and ribs (8), thus providing the protector with a flexibility that allows it to adapt to all natural deformations which are produced in the hoof horn of the animal hoof during the different gait phases.
The wall (5) surrounds the sole along the front and side edges thereof, being also possible for it to be partially surrounded at its rear edge.
In the sole (4) two through grooves (9) are drilled through which corresponding toothed straps (10) are introduced,
The rear shield (2),
The skin (3) is attached and fixed onto the inner surface of the rear shield, for example by means of elastic rivets (22),
The rear shield (2) relates to the base wall through two upper side connectors (23) and two lower side anchoring elements (24),
The upper side connectors (23),
The upper front extension (20) of the rear shield (2) also have,
The lower front extension (21) of the rear shield (2) is also provided,
In turn, the base wall (1) has,
With the constitution described, the rear shield (2) is associated to the base wall (1) through pivoting connections made up of a screw (31),
These locking levers (32), as shown in
The upper (33) and lower (34) arms have, at the opposing surface thereof,
As it is shown in
The locking lever (32),
All the components described will be preferably made of thermoplastic materials, which provide certain flexibility to said components.
The front (39) and rear (3) skins will be breathable and having anti-frictional wear, made of, for instance, neoprene or materials with similar characteristics.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/ES2016/070603 | 8/16/2016 | WO | 00 |