Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 5th July, 1886.
Complete Left, 5th Apr., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 22nd Apr., 1887.
We EDWARD GEORGE SIM and ROBERT HODGES BISHOP, both of 4 Bull and
Mouth Street in the City of London, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
In Trouser Stretchers, as at present constructed, the trouser is secured in two places
by clamps which are generally pushed apart by a screwed rod or other mechanical
means, and tension is thereby applied to the trouser to take out creases &c. There are
however several objections to the employment of clamps, the most important of which
is, that where they grip the trouser, they make an unsightly mark.
Now the object of the present invention is to produce a trouser stretcher in which all
the objections that may be taken to the clamp stretchers will be entirely overcome.
In carrying out our invention, we apply the stretcher inside the leg of the trouser,
and it consists, in its simplest form, of a spring steel or other suitable metal frame,
which has in form somewhat the appearance of two W's placed one above the other
(the upper one being inverted), the several points of the W's being flattened out.-
This spring frame, when inserted in the log of a trouser, will distend it, and thereby
take out the creases and the bagginess at the knee.
For convenience of transport, this frame may be made in two or more parts, which
will be hinged or otherwise connected together, so that they may be folded or taken
apart, as may be desired, when not in use.
Instead of a frame composed entirely of spring metal, we may employ a pair of
wood or metal bars or rods, which may be forced apart by springs. Toggle levers,
wedge pieces, or other mechanical devices, may also be employed to push out the bars,
so as to give the necessary pressure, the essential feature of the invention being the
application of the pressure inside the trouser, by which means all risk of marking the
trouser will be entirely obviated.

page_text: EDWARD GEORGE SIM and ROBERT HODGES BISHOP, both of 4 Bull and
Mouth Street, in the City of London, Manufacturers do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
In Trouser Stretchers, as at present constructed, the trousers are secured on the
outside in two places by clamps, which are pushed apart by screwed rod, or other
mechanical means, and tension is thereby applied to the trousers to take out
creases &c. There are, however, objections to the use of clamps, the most
important of which is that they make marks on the trousers.
Now the object of the present invention is to effect the stretching of trousers in such
a manner that clamps will be dispensed with, and therefore the objections to their use
will be overcome.
In carrying out our invention we apply the stretching apparatus inside the leg of
the trouser, and we form our stretching apparatus of a pair of suitably shaped bars of
wood or metal, which are forced apart by means of springs or other mechanical means.
In the accompanying drawing, Fig 1 represents the form of trouser stretching
apparatus which we prefer to use, and
Fig. 2 shows the stretching apparatus applied inside the trouser.
The apparatus consists of a pair of bars A A' of metal or wood, which are forced
apart so as to give the necessary pressure by means of springs B B¹, of any convenient
or suitable form, or by any other mechanical means, such as toggle levers or wedges
worked by a screwed rod, as will be well understood by any competent mechanic.
In its simplest form, the stretching apparatus will consist of a length of spring steel
wire, bent to the shape shown in the drawing, the ends being secured together by a
metal or other suitable clip C.
At the point a, the bar or wire will be shaped to fit the front part of the trouser.
To introduce the stretching apparatus into the leg of the trouser, it will only be
necessary to grasp, with the hand, the two middle wires B, press them together, and
then insert the apparatus into the upper part of the leg of the trouser. The stretcher
can then be easily pushed down to the bottom.
For greater convenience in transport, we may make the stretching apparatus to fold
in two or more parts, for which purpose the parts BB¹ will be connected together at
the point marked b by a single or double hinge, as the case may be, and at the sides,
where marked c, the bars A A' will be connected by sliding tubular sockets, or in any
other convenient and well known manner. The stretching apparatus, when inserted
in the leg of a trouser, will distend and stretch it, and thereby take.out the creases.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :—
1st. The application, inside the legs of trousers, of stretching apparatus substantially
as herein shown and described, for the purpose set forth.
2nd. An apparatus for applying pressure inside the leg of a trouser, consisting of a
pair of bars of metal or wood, in combination with suitable mechanical devices for
forcing the said bars apart, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the
purpose set forth.
3rd. The particular construction of trouser stretching apparatus as herein described
and shown in the Drawing.