IMPROVEMENTS IN
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Charles Day, of the Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Military Outfitter, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Charles Day
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th October 1859.
I, WILLIAM CHARLES DAY, of the Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Military Outfitter, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STOCKINGS & DRAWERS, & OTHER ARTICLES OF UNDER
CLOTHING," to be as follows:-
My improvements in stockings, drawers, and other articles of under clothing,
consist in making those articles of increased thickness compared with the legs
or arms at the knees and elbows in the manner well understood in making
the heels & toes of stockings of double thicknesses. By this means the
knee caps & elbow joints are kept warm. I prefer to make. the increased
thickness so that it is very much curtailed, or disappears altogether at the
back of the leg, or in the bend of the arm, so that the extra thickness shall
not interfere with the action of the joints.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Charles Day in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CHARLES DAY, of the Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Military Outfitter,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Charles Day, Her special licence that I, the said
William Charles Day, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William. Charles Day, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should. and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOCKINGS AND DRAWERS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
OF UNDER CLOTHING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Charles Day, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Charles Day, do hereby
declare, the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My improvements in stockings, drawers, and other articles of under
clothing, consists in making those articles of increased thicknesses (com-
pared with the general thickness of the legs or arms) at the knees and elbows
in the manner well understood in making the heels and toes of stockings
of double thicknesses; by this means the knee caps and elbow joints are kept
warm. I prefer to make the increased thicknesses so that it is very much
curtailed, or disappears altogether at the back of the legs and in the bend of

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents the upper part of the leg of a stocking.in 'the flat, and as
woven in the stocking frame, while Fig. 2 represents the stocking: complete.
The dotted lines a show the form of the extra thickness or knee-cap applied
according to my Invention; the form and space over which this extra thick-
ness is extended may be varied, but I believe the form represented best
adapted for the purpose, as it affords the warmth to the knee cap of the
wearer, and does not incommode the action of the limb, such as it might
occasion if the increase of the thickness were carried all round the leg or arm.
I also find it is preferable to narrow the leg. a little at the knee, as repre-
sented, as it causes the knee of the stocking to grip the knee of the wearer
better, and prevents the thickened part slipping from its place. The thickened
part may be merely an extra thread of the same material as the stocking,
introduced in the form required, or it may be another suitable material. For
instance, a cotton stocking may have a woollen and fleecy substance intro-
duced on the inside of the stocking of the form required, or it may be silk; or a
silk stocking may have a thickness of cotton or wool introduced, if desired.
For introducing a thick fleecy substance I use needles having straight open
beards, as well understood in weaving fleecy hosiery goods; and I employ,
say "thirty-four guage needles," and dispose them at distances, say equal to
twenty-eight guage, and continue the work on them during the length of time
the extra substance is being introduced, after which I remove the stocking
from such arrangement of needles, and work the remainder on like needles
I find it
arranged at thirty-four guage, and complete it in the usual manner.
is better also to use sinkers formed of steel instead of iron, as in ordinary; I
also weave drawers of looped fabrics with an extra thickness of material at the
knees in like manner, and for a like purpose I manufacture the elbows of
under shirts of looped fabrics with additional thicknesses of material at the
elbows in the same form so as to cover the points of the elbows of the wearer
to afford warmth as may be required, which, with the drawers thickened at
the knees, will not require further explanation.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is weaving stockings,
drawers, and under shirts, with thicknesses of material at those parts which

page_text: cover the knees and elbows of the wearers, in addition to that of the general
substance of the articles or garments, for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Charles Day, have héreunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
WILLIAM CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
W. C. DAY. (L.S.)