US 252758

US 252,758 — Hoof-Protector

Title: Hoof-protector
Patentee: John M. Goodman (spelled "JOHN MILES GOODMAN" in the claim signature; the specification reads "JOHN M. GOODMAN"), of Mill Creek, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania
Patent number: US 252,758
Date of patent: January 24, 1882
Application filed: October 5, 1881 (N0 model.)
Assignee: None identified in the supplied text
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US252758](/patent/US252758)/en

Purpose. The stated object is "to provide a cheap, efficient, and easily-removable shoe for protecting the feet of, fat cattle and oxen while being worked or driven long distances upon the road," constructed so that "the parts of the foot of the animal are left free to move naturally as the animal walks."

Plain-language scope. The protector is a two-part cloven-hoof shoe. Parts A and B are right and left halves, each made of a ground plate (a, b) with an upwardly projecting side flange or fender (c, d) that is inwardly inclined and curved to fit the sides of the hoof. The halves meet at their forward ends under the division of the hoof, so each half of the hoof rests on its own plate. The rear ends carry arms hooked together by a hook e and eye f, forming a sort of hinge that lets the halves move with the natural action of the foot. The rear of the shoe is held on by a curved connecting-rod K whose hooks k k engage slots or openings g g in the fenders and pass over the heel; the front is secured by a strap H seated in depressions b b and buckled across the front of the hoof. The shoe may be removed at any time or left on permanently.

Claims. (1) The hoof-protector formed of the oppositely-curved parts A and B, comprising bottom plates a, b and side flanges c, d, adapted to be secured to the animal's foot. (2) Parts A and B with plates a, b, flanges c, d, hook e and eye f, in combination with the hooked connecting-rod K and strap H.

What the excerpt does not establish. It does not identify an assignee, does not state whether the invention was ever made or sold, and (beyond the "Expired – Lifetime" status listing, itself flagged as an assumption and not a legal conclusion) does not establish current legal status, ownership, validity, or the content or effect of any prior art. Classification as A01L3/06 (shoe-like appliances enabling draught animals to walk on bogs or the like) is taken from the source listing, not the specification text.