Farriery – Tools – Hoof cleaner or trimmer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-24
2001-03-20
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3643)
Farriery
Tools
Hoof cleaner or trimmer
C015S236070, C030S169000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202754
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to tools for the care of equine animals, and in particular, to tools for cleaning the hooves of horses and other equine animals.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
A horse's hoof typically has a concave sole on its underside. When a horseshoe is secured by nailing to the hoof's outer wall, the inner edge of the horseshoe does not seat well against the concave sole of the hoof under the horseshoe, thereby forming a cavity recess or space between the horseshoe and the concave sole of the hoof. As the horse walks or runs, loose ground surface materials such as dirt, crushed limestone, sand, pebbles, etc., can collect within this cavity recess between the horseshoe and the sole of the hoof, often causing lameness in the horse. This problem is especially acute on modern arena surfaces that are covered by crushed limestone, which penetrates the sole of the hoof into the sensitive tissues thereunder, often creating an abscess within the horse's hoof that causes the horse to become lame.
It is therefore desirable to be able to easily remove these accumulated ground surface materials from the cavity recess between the horseshoe and the sole of the hoof so that lameness of the horse can be prevented, and it is especially desirable to remove the accumulated ground surface materials without the trouble and expense of having to remove the horseshoe from the horse's hoof.
Well-known solutions for this problem include various horseman's knives and hoof picks, but such prior art solutions have been found to be less than optimal.
A preliminary patentability search in Class 168, subclass 48.1, produced the following patents, some of which may be relevant to the present invention: Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 544,540, issued Aug. 13, 1895; Wilbanks, U.S. Pat. No. 547,703, issued Oct. 8, 1895; McCartea, U.S. Pat. No. 567,493, issued Sep. 8, 1896; Simuro etal., U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,607, issued Feb. 12, 1980; Sabol, U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,798, issued Jan. 11, 1983; Tippin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,222, issued Jan. 5, 1993; Sapyta, U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,337, issued Nov. 19, 1996; and Pitchford, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,697, issued Jun. 10, 1997.
None of these references, either singly or in combination, disclose or suggest the present invention.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a horseshoe cleaning tool and method for cleaning under a horseshoe shod to a horse's hoof. The tool includes a blade portion having a blade neck with proximal and distal ends, and the blade portion has a substantially thin and planar tip portion adjacent the blade neck distal end. The tip portion has left and right wing-type extensions each extending laterally outward within the plane of the tip portion and respectively having a left and a right pointed tip remote from the blade neck. The left and right wing-type extensions respectively form left and right notches of about 90 degrees adjacent the blade neck distal end, and the tip portion is substantially rounded intermediate the left and right pointed tips. The tool has a handle grip spaced from the plane of the tip portion, and a blade mounting segment extends upwardly and rearwardly from the blade neck's proximal end and joins to the handle grip. The method comprises grasping the handle grip with a hand, raising the horse's hoof above the ground so that the horse's hoof no longer supports the horse, then placing the tip portion of the tool under the horseshoe and between the horseshoe and the horse's hoof, and then moving the handle grip from side to side and forcing debris from under the horseshoe by using the wing-type extensions to engage the debris.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved horseshoe cleaning tool and method for cleaning debris under a horseshoe shod to a horse's hoof without the trouble and expense of having to remove the horseshoe from the horse's hoof.
REFERENCES:
patent: 37000 (1862-11-01), Kelly et al.
patent: 544540 (1895-08-01), Jones
patent: 547703 (1895-10-01), Wilbanks
patent: 567493 (1896-09-01), McCartea
patent: 587873 (1897-08-01), Sisson
patent: 701503 (1902-06-01), Plummer
patent: 816733 (1906-04-01), McDonald
patent: 1473143 (1923-11-01), Dean
patent: 2264374 (1941-12-01), Henschell
patent: 2787395 (1957-04-01), Florio
patent: 2824323 (1958-02-01), Tos et al.
patent: 2827697 (1958-03-01), Woodel
patent: 3224091 (1965-12-01), Scigliano
patent: 4187607 (1980-02-01), Simuro et al.
patent: 4248660 (1981-02-01), Johnson
patent: 4367798 (1983-01-01), Sabol
patent: 5095573 (1992-03-01), Henke et al.
patent: 5176222 (1993-01-01), Tippin
patent: 5251352 (1993-10-01), Cullison
patent: 5337442 (1994-08-01), Stewart
patent: 5392484 (1995-02-01), Stoltzfus
patent: 5575337 (1996-11-01), Sapyta
patent: 5636697 (1997-06-01), Pitchford
patent: 5694660 (1997-12-01), Rachwalski
patent: 6000137 (1999-12-01), Gamba
Bergin James S.
Poon Peter M.
Walker, McKenzie & Walker P.C.
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