IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES FOR THE CURE OR ALLEVIATION OF HERNIA
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacques Rives, of 8, Hotel Motay, Rue
Motay, Paris, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES
FOR THE CURE OR ALLEVIATION OF HERNIA."
Sealed the 8th September 1853, and dated the 16th July 1853:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacques Rives at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th July 1853.
I, JACQUES RIVES, of 8, Hotel Motay, Rue Motay, Paris, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES
FOR THE CURE OR ALLEVIATION OF HERNIA " to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a mode of combining and constructing
parts of trusses for the use of two pads. To a belt (which passes round
the body) is attached a bent plate, to which is affixed, and at right
angles thereto, a spring, which at its lowest end, by a projection, enters
a conical recess in the. lower pad. The upper part of the spring is
bent so as to return down, to the bent plate which is attached to the
belt, and it has a set screw and nut through it near the upper part of
the bend, by which the pressure may be adjusted, and the bent end of

page_text: the spring moves on the back of the upper pad, it being guided
between the two plates, by which (the upper pad is attached to the
bent plate. If desired, there may be two lower pads.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jacques Rives in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 16th January 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JACQUES RIVES, of 8, Hotel Motay, Rue Motay, Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Jacques Rives, Her special
licence that I, the said Jacques Rives, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jacques Rives, my ex-
ecutors, 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 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
TRUSSES FOR THE CURE OR ALLEVIATION OF HERNIA," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Jacques Rives, by an instru-
ment 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 Jacquies Rives, 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 thereof (that is to say):
Figure 1, represents a section, and Figure 2, a front view of my
improved truss. a, a', is a curved spring, bent so as to form two

page_text: branches a, and a'; this spring rests at its upper end onthe pad p,
and at its lower end on the pad pl; between the blades of the spring
is placed a cross bar O, shown at Figure 5, which is attached to the
lower blade by pins t, t, so that if the cross piece is pressed down
in the direction of the arrow the blades of the spring separate from
one another, and the spring presses on the pads p, and p', but more
forcibly on the pad p', which is applied to the hernia, than on the
pad p, since o, is nearer to p¹, than to p. B, is a screw, which passes
through the two blades of the spring at a short distance from the
upper end; by means of this screw the amount of pressure necessary
to separate the blades can be regulated at will. The upper pad p,
formed a cavity D,
is furnished with a metallic plate q, in which is
of a proper form to retain the upper end of the spring, which
has on each side a small projection which works in grooves in the
sides of the cavity D, by which means the end of the spring is
prevented from detaching itself from the pad p. The lower pad p',
is furnished with a plate of metal at its back, in which is a hole closed
at the bottom, and in which hole the pivot m, of the spring bears;
in this manner the pressure is brought as near to the under surface
of the pad as possible, which renders it less liable to be disarranged
by the movement of the patient than when the pressure is applied
higher up. The upper pad p, is connected to the apparatus by two
strips of leather c, e, which are sewed at one end to the pad p, and
at the other to the cross piece o. Figure 3, shows an apparatus con-
structed with two pads, but in other respects similar to that already
described. The spring a, is at its lower end divided into two branches
B, B, at the ends of which branches are formed slots n, n, in which
pivots (similar to m, Figure 1,) are fixed by means of a screw and
nut, the slots allowing them to be adjusted to any required distance
from each other. Figure 4, shows the manner in which the truss
is to be applied. It is fixed on the body by means of the belt D,
which has ends of leather in which are holes, through which the
buttons of the cross piece o, are inserted. Another form of double
truss is represented at Figure 9, but which consists simply of two
of those first described, connected together by one cross piece o.

page_text: Figure 6, shows a truss in which the form of spring is slightly varied,
being formed spiral at its upper end E. This may be done when
greater elasticity is required. This Figure also shows a metallic
pad. p, p, is the shell which carries the piece of metal n, in
which the pivot m, bears. Figure 7, shows a side view, partly in
section; and Figure 8, a plan of part of a cheaper form of truss, but
which does not possess the same elasticity as those before described.
The form of pad shewn at Figure 7, should be used when the principal
pressure is required at a distance from the centre of the pad. Figure
10, is a separate view of the belt D, (Figure 4.)
The principal advantages of the improved form of truss are, the
uniformity and capability of adjustment of pressure; the stability with
which it retains its position when arranged; the great durability of the
apparatus, and that it can be applied to any person, and need not
therefore, be made to measure.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same; I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the exact details described; but what I claim is, the
combination of the two pads p, and p', with the spring, and the cross
piece o, and the belt D, as herein described; also the manner of
applying the pressure beneath the upper surface of the pad as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacques Rives, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JACQUES RIVES.
(L.S.)