IMPROVEMENTS IN BRACES OR SUSPENDERS, BELTS, STRAPS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Wilson, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRACES
OR SUSPENDERS, BELTS, STRAPS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES OF WEARING
APPAREL."
Sealed the 15th August 1871, and dated the 28th February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Wilson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th February 1871.
I, SAMUEL WILSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iμ-
PROVEMENTS IN BRACES OR SUSPENDERS, BELTS, STRAPS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL,” to be as follows:—
My Invention relates to the braces or straps employed to suspend or
keep in position certain articles of wearing apparel, and to waist belts,
and to other articles of a similar nature, and consists of an improved
method of imparting elasticity to the said articles.
When making braces or suspenders according to my Invention I form
the bands constituting the main portion of the said braces of a non-

page_text: elastic material or of a material not specially designed or made to be
clastic, as, for example, I form the said bands of webbing or leather.
The said bands are connected by means of rings of caoutchouc, or
vulcanized caoutchouc, with short pieces in which the button holes are
formed. I may employ one, two, or more rings to connect each of the
said pieces with the band, and in order to connect the said rings with
the said pieces and bands I prefer to employ rollers mounted in metal
frames, or on spindles fixed in metal frames, which frames are attached
to the ends of the said bands and of the pieces in which the button holes
are formed or are suitably formed to net as buckles or fasteners, as the
case may be, or each of the said spindles may be a portion of a loop
frame suitably formed to be attached to the end of the said piece or band
or to act as a buckle, as the case may be. The said rollers are preferably
formed with circular grooves or recesses made suitable in form and
number to the form and number of the said rings, the said grooves or
recesses retaining the said rings in position on the said rollers. In the
case of straps, waist belts, or other similar articles a number of the said
rings are employed to connect together two or more portions of each of
the said straps or belts, the number and strength of the rings being made
suitable to the amount of elasticity required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
WILSON, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Wilson, Her special
license that I, the said Samuel Wilson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Wilson, 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

page_text: 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 BRACES
OR SUSPENDERS, BELTS, STRAPS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES OF WEARING
APPAREL," upon the condition amongst others, that I, the said Samuel
Wilson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Samuel Wilson, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to the braces or straps employed to suspend or
keep in position certain articles of wearing apparel, and to waist belts
and to other articles of a similar nature, and consists of an improved
method of imparting elasticity to the said articles.
When making braces or suspenders according to my Invention I form
the bands constituting the main portion of the said braces of a non-
clastic material, or of a material not specially designed or made to be
elastic, as, for example, I form the said bands of webbing or of leather.
The said bands are connected by means of rings of caoutchouc, or
vulcanized caoutchouc, with short pieces in which the button holes are
formed. I may employ one, two, or more rings to connect each of the
said pieces with the band; and in order to connect the said rings with
the said pieces and bands I sometimes employ rollers mounted in metal
frames, or on spindles fixed in metal frames, which frames are attached
to the ends of the said bands and of the pieces in which the button holes
are formed or are suitably formed to act as buckles or fasteners, as the
case may be; or each of the said spindles may be a portion of a loop or
frame suitably formed to be attached to the ends of the said piece or
band, or to act as a buckle, as the case may be, and either fitted with a
roller or not so fitted as preferred.
Referring to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Fig. 1 represents
the end portions of a brace or suspender; Fig. 2 is a side view of one of
the clastic rings; and Fig. 3 is a modification of the form of brace
represented in Fig. 2.

page_text: In Fig. 1 three rings of caoutchouc marked a are represented as being
employed to connect the buckle & with the straps c, c, and the end of
the web d with the strap c. A roller is mounted on a spindle forming
part of the frame of the said buckle, and a corresponding roller is
mounted in each of the frames g, h, and i. The said rollers are formed
with circular grooves or recesses made suitable in form and number to
the form and number of the rings a. The said rings rest in the said
grooves or recesses, and are thus retained in position. Fig. 2 illustrates
the manner in which the said rings are mounted on the rollers so as to
connect together the buckle band the frame g. The number of the said
rings may be varied, or, if preferred, one ring or endless band may be
used, as represented in Fig. 3. In this example one ring or band only
is used for each end of the brace, and the said ring or band is connected
with the straps c, c, by means of the loop or bent wire frame and with
the webbing & by means of the buckle & without the intervention of
rollers between the said ring or band and the said loop or frame and
buckle. The other ring or band is similarly connected by means of two
loops or frames m, m. Leather or other material may be substituted for
the webbing das preferred.
The method of application of my Invention to waist belts, trouser
straps, and similar articles of apparel will be sufficiently understood from
the foregoing and by inspection of the Drawings.
Having now described and illustrated the nature of my said Invention,
and methods of carrying the same into practical effect, I would have it
to be understood that I claim the method or methods of imparting
elasticity to such articles of apparel as herein indicated, substantially as
herein-before described and set forth, and as illustrated by the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whercof, I, the said Samuel Wilson, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-fifth day of August, in tho year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.