IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Felix Miquel, of Paris, France, Physician, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Felix Miquel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st June 1859.
I, JEAN FELIX MIQUEL, of Paris, France, Physician, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES," to be as
follows:-
These improvements in trusses for hernia relate to certain arrangements in
which a short bent spring is caused to act with one end on the hernia, while
the other end is prevented from pressing injuriously on other parts of the
body. For this purpose a belt is buckled round the waist of the patient;
this belt is provided with suitable means for fixing thereto, at variable lengths,
a strap, one end of which is bifurcated, and is to embrace the thigh or buttock,
and to which strap is fixed a moveable double-curved spring, one end of which
is provided with the cushion that is to press against the hernia, whereas the
other end of the said spring glides in a sheath fixed to the strap, which latter
is held at the required height by another short strap, one end of which forms
a slip knot round the first-mentioned strap, while the other end is held by
the belt.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Felix Miquel in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
FELIX MIQUEL, of Paris, France, Physician, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Jean Felix
Miquel, Her special licence that I, the said Jean Felix Miquel, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jean
Felix Miquel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TRUSSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jean
Felix Miquel, 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 Jean Felix Miquel, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
These improvements relate to trusses for curing, restraining, or containing
hernia, and consist in providing them with a short bent metal elastic lever or
strong spring,, one end of which is caused to press on the hernia by means of
a proper cushion or pad, while the other end is held by suitable straps
embracing the thigh or buttock of the patient, and fixed at the required length
to a belt arranged round the waist, the ends of which belt act on a spring
pressing on the pad.
In order to make the Invention more fully understood, I will, in the
description thereof, refer to the annexed Drawings, in the various Figures
whereof corresponding parts are indicated by the same letters of reference.
Fig. 1 shows a front view of a human body provided with one of my

page_text: trusses for a single hernia; Fig. 2 shows the same seen from behind; while
Fig. 3 shows the truss seen from behind; Fig. 4 shows a back view of a pad
in actual size; Fig. 5 showing a side view of the same, whereas the Figs. 6
and 7 show respectively a back and top view of a double truss, that is to say,
one intended to act on two hernia at a time, arranged according to my
Invention. In the Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, some parts are represented as cut
off in order better to make the entire construction understood; the Figs. 4,
5, 6, and 7 are actual size, whereas Fig. 3 is at about, and Figs. 1 and 2
about of that size.
The pads A are arranged nearly in the same manner as the ordinary pads
or cushions of trusses, that is to say, they consist of a stuffing of horsehair,
wool, or other somewhat elastic yielding material, at the back of which I
prefer having a thin iron plate a, covered with another somewhat larger
plate b, of strong leather. To the lower part of the two plates one end of a
lever B is fixed by means of one or more screws d, and to the upper part a
broad flat spring C is fixed, also by one or more screws p. The pad A, the
lever B, and the spring C, are covered by chamois or other soft leather or
suitable material. The lever B must be made of iron, steel, or other suitable
metal or material of sufficient strength to resist the strain to be exerted on it,
and offering at the same time a little elasticity for yielding to the required
extent. This lever B is of the double-curved form shown in the Drawings,
and to its free end is fixed a leather eye or loop D, in which is introduced a
double tape E, the two ends e and e¹ of which are kept connected by a sort of
small slip knot F, fixed to one of the ends e, the other e¹ being passed through
the eye of the knot. In both ends of the spring C are fixed small buttons or
knobs i, for hooking in the eye-holes, with which the straps g, forming the
ends of the belt G, are provided; to this latter are fixed at the required spots
two buckles h, h', in which the ends e, e¹, of the band E are fixed when
making use of the truss. The mode of making use of this truss may be
sufficiently understood by the inspection of the Figs. 1 and 2; the belt G
being slung round the waist of the patient, the ends of it are fixed to the
pad A, so as to make this latter exactly cover the hernia, and the lever B,
provided with its tape E, is passed between the thigh and pudenda so as to
cause the free end to project a little towards the anus, after which the ends e
and e' of the band E are fixed at such lengths to the buckles h & h¹ for
causing the required pressure to be exerted on the hernia.
For double hernia, the double truss shown in the Figs. 6 and 7 is to be
made use of. This truss differs from the one just described, by having two
pads A and A¹ fixed either to one spring C, or to two springs C and C¹, united

page_text: by a screw k, the upper spring being provided with a longitudinal slit n, for
allowing this spring C to glide for a short distance over the other C', whereas
behind the connected end of both springs is situated a small plate of iron II,
in which takes the screw k, whereas through both ends of this plate H pass
the screws S and S', the free ends of which press against a strip L of strong
leather or iron, one end of which is curved, and which strip is fixed by the
screw p between the spring C and the back of the pad. The remainder of
the parts of this double truss, and manner of making use of it, are similar
to what has been described in respect to the single truss, with the exception
that the inclination of the pads A and A' is regulated by means of the set
screws S and S¹.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same may be used, I would, in conclusion, observe that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the presise details or exact forms of parts which I have
had occasion to describe, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the main features of the Invention; but what I claim as my
Invention in trusses for curing or for preventing hernia from protruding,
consists in causing the pad to be pressed on the hernia by the combined
action of a spring connected to the belt, and. by one end of a suitable lever
arm, the other end of which is likewise connected to the said belt..
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Felix Miquel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. SOUTH.
J. F. MIQUEL. (L.S.)