Equestrian bit mouthpiece from copper alloy

Abstract

Equestrian bits are manufactured with the mouthpiece component comprising a copper alloy with composition; 65-80% by weight copper, 0-2% tin and the remainder being zinc including other elements. In a further embodiment, the copper alloy comprises 70-73% copper, 0.9-1.2% tin, 28% zinc the remainder being other elements at a %, by weight, of less than 1%. The alloy of the invention provides a horse bit mouthpiece which rapidly achieves thermal equilibration when placed in, or moved within, the mouth and has characteristic strength sufficient for the intended use.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to the manufacture of horse bridle bit mouthpieces, and a copper alloy used in the manufacturing thereof.THE PRIOR ART[0002]The materials used for the mouthpiece of a bit for the control of a horse by its rider must satisfy some well known requirements. The mouthpiece materials and the design of the mouthpiece must first satisfy the engineering constraints imposed by the forces expected to be exerted upon it in normal use and then a margin for forces in excess of those normally exerted must be allowed. This first requirement has led to the widespread adoption of metallic materials as the engineering option of choice as these materials are available in a wide range of compositions whose basic physical properties such as the tensile strength and the yield strength are sufficiently high to withstand the forces expected in normal use. For ductile materials of the present invention and prior art, the important parameter is the yie...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a horse bit mouthpiece made of a copper alloy that has excellent thermal conductivity and yield strength. The alloy can contain various elements such as zinc, tin, zirconium, chromium, beryllium, and cobalt. The alloy should not contain any allergens like nickel. The technical effects of this invention are improved performance and durability of the horse bit mouthpiece.

Problems solved by technology

Rusting of the metal imposes some restrictions on the design of mouthpieces because it can degrade the nominal values of the main engineering properties such as ultimate tensile strength and there is an aesthetic effect which is not desirable.

However, the tensile strength and the yield strength of pure copper is low.

However, the effect of these additions is to undesirably reduce the thermal conductivity.

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