Corset and Dress Stay.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 28th July, 1893-Accepted, 4th Nov. 1893
CUM LEIE DIECIFICATION.
Corset and Dress Stay.
1, CHARLES. S. COLE, of Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United
States of America, Real Estate Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to-be-particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention has for its object to produce a corset and dress stay which shall be
simple and inexpensive to produce, inodorous under all circumstances, impervious
to heat, cold or moisture, pliable and elastic, and practically non-breakable.
With these ends in view I have devised the novel stay made from fish scales,
which I will now describe referring by numbers to the accompanying drawing
forming part of this Specification in which:
Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating a stay in which the stay proper or stiffener
consists of overlapping fish scales secured together by stitching, said stay being
placed in an ordinary textile sheath or covering.
Fig. 2 a longitudinal section corresponding with Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a stay in which the stay proper or
stiffener consists of overlapping fish scales secured together by a suitable size or
glue without stitching, and
Figs. 4 and 5 are views illustrating a stay consisting of a sheet of overlapping
fish scales secured together and folded together to form three plies.
It will be apparent from the above that the manner in which the overlapping
fish scales are secured together is not of the essence of my invention. The material
from which the stays are made is so tough and elastic that it will work equally
well whether the scales are secured together by stitching or whether they are laid
in size or glue and pressed together. In Fig. 1, I have illustrated a stay in which
layers of overlapping scales denoted by 1 are secured together by lines of stitching
denoted by 3 and are placed between plies of textile material denoted by 2. In
this form the scales may be stitched together in layers overlapping each other,
by multiple needle sewing machines, the product being in the form of a long strip
which simply requires that the edges be trimmed and may then be cut up into stays
of any required length which may or may not be used in connection with sheaths
of textile material. In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a mode of carrying my invention
into effect in which a sheet is made by laying fish scales in suitable size or glue,
compacting them together closely and evenly by passing them between heavy
rollers, and then drying the sheets in any suitable manner. The sheets are then
cut up into strips of suitable size to form stays of any required length, and may be
used either with or without sheaths of textile material. In Figs. 4 and 5 I have
illustrated a form of stay which is formed by folding over plies of a comparatively
thin sheet of overlapping scales secured together in any suitable manner and then
stitching or otherwise securing the plies together.
In carrying out my invention any kind of fish scales may be used, but same
should not be too large otherwise they will not work well, and if they are too small
difficulty is found in securing them together. The scales of the red snapper and
the drum fish are suitable for my purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A corset or dress stay composed of fish scales secured to each other with their
edges overlapping, substantially as described.

page_text: together in the form of a strip, said scales being secured together by stitching,
substantially as described.
3. A corset or dress stay consisting of a series of overlapping fish scales secured
to each other in the form of a strip, and a casing of textile material, substantially
as described.
Doted thi 15th doof C. 1000
CHARLES S. COLE.