CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES OR SURGICAL BANDAGES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
GREEN, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Surgical Instrument Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of March, in the fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Green, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Alfred Green, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Alfred Green, my executors, administrators, or assigns,.
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and all times
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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES OR SURGICAL
BANDAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me,
the said Alfred Green, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference 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
Alfred Green, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
-
My Invention of improvements in trusses or surgical bandages consists in
an improved mode of constructing the same, whereby they are rendered more
compact and made to fit more closely to the part affected, so that the truss will
not shift its position when once properly placed. One great inconvenince arising
from trusses of the ordinary construction is the protuberance of many of the
parts, such as the springs, studs, and buttons, by which the various parts are
connected together, and also the bulkiness of the pads or cushions. These
inconveniences have considerably lessened; first, by employing a spring of
such a form as will, when in use, lie close and flat against the pad or cushion
plate; and, secondly, by connecting or attaching the various parts together by
means of cyclet holes in place of studs, screws, buttons, or other fastenings,
which would project and be visible outside the clothes.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn different views of my im-
proved truss. Fig. 1 is a front view of my improved truss complete. a, a, is
the body belt, made of soft flannel, covered on the inside with chamois or other
soft leather; b, b, is the pad or cushion, made of a concave metal or other
plate, its convex side being padded with soft flannel, and covered with chamois
leather or other suitable material, and the front or concave side of the plate is
covered with strong leather or cloth. A perpendicular ogee steel spring c is
connected by means of the metal eyelot hole a to the body belt; this spring is
covered with leather, and is also connected to the cushion or pad 6 by the
metal eyelet hole d, which passes through the spring and the leather or other
covering of the cushion. is the thigh strap, connected to the end of the per-
pendicular ogee spring c, either by means of an eyelet hole, or by being sewed
on to the leather covering of the spring. This thigh strap passes between
the legs, and is fastened to the body belt by one of the studs or buttons g, g,
and thereby keeps the pad or cushion in its proper place. The body bolt is
fastened round the body by means of the strap hand buckle i. Fig. 2 is a
front view of another bandage, in which the perpendicular ogec spring c is
fastened to the body belt by the eyelet hole e, but passes freely through a metal
or leather loop or slide j, made by sewing or otherwise attaching the loop ar
slide in a horizontal position on to the leather covering of the concave pad or
cushion plate.

page_text: Fig. 3 is a section through the middle of the pad, shewing the concavity
of the pad or cushion plate, and the peculiar shape of the spring, which
when the truss is in use lies close into the concavity of the pad. The
other parts of the truss are the same as in Fig. 1, and as they are marked
with similar letters of reference no further mention of them is required. The
perpendicular ogee spring may also be connected to the pad or cushion by
making a slot in the spring and affixing a flat-headed stud or screw through
the slot to the cushion plate, so as to admit of its sliding.
Fig. 4 represents the manner of applying two pads or cushions to a body
belt for a double truss. The body belt is divided into two parts, which are
connected together by the middle strap and buckle k, l, by which means the
pads or cushions may be brought nearer together or separated farther from
cach other, as circumstances may require. The pad or cushion and spring
shown is of the same construction as Fig. 2; tho spring c being fastened
to the body belt by the eyelet hole e, and allowed to pass freely through the
leather or metal loop or slide j. I have merely shown this method of forming
a double truss, but do not claim it as novel.
Having now described my Invention, I wish it to be understood, in con-
clusion, that I do not intend to confine myself to the precise form and arrange-
ment of parts herein shewn, nor the materials of which they may be composed,
as they may be slightly varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention. But I claim, as the Invention secured to me by the hercin-before
in part recited Letters Patent,-
First, the method herein shewn and described of constructing trusses or
surgical bandages with a perpendicular spring and concave plate.
Secondly, I claim fastening a perpendicular spring to the body belt of
trusses and other surgical bandages.
Thirdly, the improved method of fastening or connecting the various parts
of trusses and other surgical bandages together by means of eyelet holes
instead of the projecting studs, buttons, screws, and other means heretofore
used.
And, fourthly, the method, shewn in Figures 2, 3, and 4, of connecting the
perpendicular spring to the pad or cushion by means of a loop or slide of
leather, metal, or other suitable material, by means of which the pad or cushion
may be raised or lowered, as circumstances may require.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Green, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
(L.S.) ALFRED GREEN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Ninth day of Sep-
tember, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Alfred Green came before
our Lady the Queen 'in Ier Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of September, in the year above written.