BRACES OR INSTRUMENTS FOR THE RELIEP OF HERNIA OR RUPTURES
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
COLES, of New Street Square, in the Parish of St. Bridges, in the City of
London, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 'called England, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of July, in 'the second year of His reign, give
and grant unto me, 'the said William Coles, my exors, admors, and assigns,
His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that 1, the
said William Coles, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "BRACES OR INSTRUMENTS FOR THE RELIEP OF HERNIA OR
RUPTURES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if
I, the said William Coles, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same to 'be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease; determine, and become void,
as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Coles, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed,..are, particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following.
description thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention of an improvement on "Braces or Instruments for the Relief
of Hernia or Ruptures," consists in the introduction of a spiral spring, and the
particular mode of attaching the same between the pad and the wasteband,
brace, or girdle; and also in the introduction of a plate of steel into the
brace for the purpose of forming a resistance to the spring. Fig. 1 represents
a brace, bandage, or girdle of leather or. other suitable substance intended to
pass round the human body. The situation of the plate of steel or other
resisting material is shewn in this Figure by the dotted lines a, a, a, a, and of
its full size in Fig. 11, with a hole for the admission of the screw b. The
spiral spring is not seen in Fig. 1, being then covered with calico, silk, linen,
or other material, but is seen in Fig. 3.; the screw b secures the pad, the spring,
the leather strap, and bandage together. A nut, Fig. 10, is soldered into the
upper coil of the spring at e, Figs. 5, 7, and 15, to receive the screw, Fig. 9,
and a flanch is formed to the nut, Fig. 10, on one side, and a cap, Fig. 8,
soldered on to the other; for the purpose of holding securely the top coil of the
spiral spring. The spiral spring is so constructed that it will sink into the
level of its lower coil, its appearance when pressed flat resembling a coiled
snake. The bottom coil is by means of loops i, i, soldered to a metallic plate
formed, as Fig. 4, to suit the case of the complaint, which plate is stitched to
a leather pad stuffed with an elastic substance. A leather strap fis also
stitched to; the pad and fastened upon the nut to keep the spring upright. A
continuation of the pad passes in the hollow under the opposite thigh, and is
attached to the girdle at g. The end strap. of the girdle loops on to. the head of
the screw b, and keeps the whole secure to the body. Fig. 2 represents a
brace or girdle to which two pads and the attendant apparatus are attached,
precisely as described above, the respective letters referring to the same part
in both Figures; observing that in the latter a buckle is placed at h for
the purpose of lengthen or shortening the girdle, and two straps are stitched
on-at k and I, crossing each other at m, and loop on to the screw heads of the
opposite pads. Fig. 3 represents a bruce or girdle with two oval pads, each
having a spiral spring, attached as above, pressing against steel plates exposed
in this Figure, but before described as concealed by the covering. These plates
are perforated with several holes for the purpose of altering or adjusting the
situation of the pads, and the thigh straps are stitched or looped behind to

page_text: Fig. 6 the
the brace or girdle, and in front are brought up and looped on to the screw
heads of the pads, the girdle being fastened by a buckle, as shewn in the
Drawing. Fig. 4 is the metal plate as stitched to the pads of Figs. 1 and 2.
Fig. 5 the bottom view of the spiral spring, having the loops i, i.
plate of the oval pad. Fig. 7 an elevation of the spiral spring. Fig. 8 the
cap, Fig. 9 the screw, and Fig. 10 the nut. Fig. 11 the plate of steel as
stitched to the girdle a, a, a, a. Fig. 12 is a pad to which two spiral springs
are applied by means of a bar, exactly in the manner above described,
the bar being fastened by means of a screw to a similar steel plate, as
described in Fig. 11, and stitched to the girdle. Fig. 13 shews a mode of
employing two spiral springs, the steel plate being varied in form; the upper
screw is intended to support the principle resistance, and the lower one to
receive the thigh strap. Fig. 14 is a round pad with the spring and the same
parts as above described, to which may be added the girdle, as Fig. 1, to form
a bandage for umbilical hernia. Fig. 15 is a side view of the pad, the spring,
and the plate, as referred to above.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Coles, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-two
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1822, the aforesaid William Coles came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-two.