IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSETS. OR OTHER LIKE ARTICLES OF. APPAREL
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CORSETS. OR OTHER LIKE ARTICLES OF. APPAREL " communicated to him from
Gabriel François Levieux, a person resident at Paris in the Republic of
France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd July 1883.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSETS OR OTHER LIKE-ARTICLES OF APPAREL
"
-
a communication to me from Gabriel François Levieux a person resident at Paris
in the Republic of France.
This Invention relates to an improved method of covering and attaching ribs to
corsets or stays and other articles of apparel According to the ordinary practice
sheaths or spaces for the reception of ribs or stiffeners are formed between the
thicknesses of the material of which the corset or other article of apparel is
manufactured and are liable to be strained when in use and become loose or torn
so that the rib protrudes or breaks requiring time and skill to effect repairs when
such are possible.
According to this Invention all these disadvantages are obviated as follows:-
The ribs are preferably composed of whalebone and are formed with rounded
square or pointed ends but any other sufficiently flexible and clastic material or
composition such as cane vulcanised or hardened india rubber and the like may be
employed.
These ribs are encased in a sheath composed of any suitable fabric possessing the
requisite strength and this sheath is sewn to a strip of similar material by stitches
taken either along the sides or at the extremities only of the strip which is a trifle
wider than the sheath and the rib thus arranged is then attached to the corset for
example by sewing the edges of the strip to the corset. When the rib is attached
to the strip at the extremities only, the stitches attaching the latter to the corset
may be taken through the sheath as well as through the strip. Any desired
number of ribs may thus be successively attached to the corset which is thereby.
made very strong and firm and admits of damaged or broken ribs being readily,
removed for repairs
The strip being visible on the interior of the corset may be decorated with
ornamental devices, trade marks, or inscriptions, woven, printed or embroidered,
according to taste

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Patent Office on the 1st January
1884.
"
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman " IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSETS OR OTHER LIKE ARTICLES OF APPAREL
a communication to me from Gabriel François Levieux a person resident at Paris
in the Republic of France
This Invention relates to an improved method of covering and attaching ribs or
stiffeners to corsets or stays and other articles of apparel as hereinafter described.
The method of applying ribs or stiffeners to stays corsets and other similar
articles of wearing apparel as heretofore practised is open to numerous objections
especially with regard to the provision for attaching the said ribs or stiffeners to
the material composing the article of apparel. The sheaths or openings for the
reception of the ribs or stiffeners being formed between the thicknesses of the
material of which the corset or other article of apparel is manufactured are liable
to be strained when in use and become loose or torn so that the rib protrudes or
breaks and if repairs are possible much time and skill is necessary to effect them.
When steel ribs are employed the rust of the metal is liable to cause irremovable
yellow spots on the corset or other article of apparel.
According to this Invention all these disadvantages are obviated by employing a
sheath encasing a rib or stiffener of whalebone cane steel or other like material and
attaching this sheath to a strip or band of such width as to admit of being readily
sewn along its edges to the material composing the corset or other article of apparel
to which the Invention is applied.
$
And in Order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings are respectively a longitudinal
elevation and a transverse section of a rib or stiffener bare or uncovered and
figures 3 and 4 are similar views of the same enclosed in a sheath arranged
according to this Invention Figures 5 and 6 show the rib in the sheath attached to
the strip or band.
The ribs or stiffeners marked A in the drawing are preferably composed of
whalebone formed with rounded square or pointed ends but may be made of any
other equivalent flexible and elastic material or composition such as cane, steel,
vulcanised or hardened india-rubber The rib A is encased in a sheath B (figures 3
to 6) composed of any suitable woven fabric or material possessing the requisite
strength and this sheath is sewn to a strip C figures 5 and 6 of similar material.
The rib or stiffener A encased in the Sheath B is attached to the strip C by
stitches m taken either along the sides or at the extremities only of the strip
(which is a trifle wider than the sheath as shewn) and the strip and stiffener thus
arranged are then attached to the corset (for example) by sewing the edge of the
strip C to the corset When the sheath is attached to the strip at the extremities
only the stitches attaching the latter to the corset may be taken through the sheath
as well as through the strip.
+
Any desired number of ribs may thus be successively attached to the corset or
other article which is thereby made very strong and firm and admits of damaged
or broken ribs being readily removed for repairs.
The strip being visible on the interior of the corset or other article may be

page_text: decorated with ornamental devices trade marks or inscriptions woven printed or
embroidered according to taste.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is:-
The improvements in corsets or other like articles of apparel consisting in the
employment of ribs or stiffeners of whalebone or equivalent material encased in
sheaths attached to strips or bands whereby the said sheaths may be conveniently
secured to the corset or other article of apparel substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
In witness whereof I the said John Henry Johnson have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal this First day of January One thousand eight
hundred and eighty-four
J. HENRY JOHNSON (L.S.)