A NEW AND USEFUL FABRIC FOR ELASTIC STOCKING, STAYS OR CORSETS, BANDAGES, AND OTHER SIMILAR AND ANALOGOUS ARTICLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Anne Catherine Laurys, of the City of Louvain, in
the Kingdom of Belgium, Merchant, for the Invention of "A NEW AND
USEFUL FABRIC FOR ELASTIC STOCKING, STAYS OR CORSETS, BANDAGES, AND
OTHER SIMILAR AND ANALOGOUS ARTICLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Anne Catherine Laurys
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition, on the
2nd March 1867.
I, ANNE CATHERINE LAURYS, of the City of Louvain, in the Kingdom of
Belgium. Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A NEW AND USEFUL FABRIC FOR ELASTIC STOCKINGS, STAYS OR CORSETS, BANDAGES,
AND OTHER SIMILAR AND ANALOGOUS ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the manufacture of
elastic stockings, stays or corsets, bandages, and other like articles, whereby
important advantages are obtained, and many of the well-known defects
connected therewith as hitherto manufactured are avoided.
.
One portion of this Invention consists in constructing the articles which
form the subject of this Invention without a seam or seams, as has previously
been the case, the materials being knitted by hand or by machinery into a
seamless web or tissue of a circular or any other desired form. Into the
web or tissue as thus formed is worked spirally a thread of india-rubber (by
preference in a vulcanised state). which runs throughout the work. following
the gradually ascending rows of meshes, and passing alternately through one
front and one back mesh so as to be guided by the former and rest upon the
latter thus forming one uninterrupted whole, and being in fact, a kind of
Pri S1

page_text: elastic tube possessing great strength. The india-rubber thread retains its
expansive and elastic properties unimpaired, and being only fixed at one end
it gives freely to every movement or variation of shape in the limb or part to
which the article may be applied, the strain caused thereby being equally
divided throughout the whole length of the elastic thread, whereby the con-
scriptive power of the fabric remains uniform and regular, and undisturbed
by breakage or relaxation, thereby presenting a great advantage over the
elastic india-rubber thread as hitherto commonly employed, and which, as it
does not form a circular horizontal line in which its elastic properties have
full play, cannot adapt itself to the form of the part to which it is applied; it
forms, on the contrary, a portion of the fabric into which it has been worked, and
such tissues being naturally expansive, but not elastic, the thread relaxes with
them and does not recover itself, so that it ceases to exert its elasticity, and the
end for which it was used is unattained; whilst, in the circular seamless
system embraced by this Invention, the elastic thread is subject to no undue
strain. in order to render the india-rubber inodorous it is covered with
cotton, wool, silk, or mixed material.
Another application of this Invention consists in making the fabric to be
employed flat as well as circular; this is effected by changing the position
of the thread of india-rubber in the following manner: This thread, instead
of descending spirally between the rows of superposed meshes as in the
circular system, descends by being bent downwards at the extremities of each
superposition of two rows of meshes going from left to right, and from right
to left. The ends of fabrics so made may be bound with ribband, leather,
silk, or other suitable material sewn thereto, without interfering with the
elastic thread, the free action of which continues unimpaired through the
loops of the meshes throughout the fabric, neither is the elasticity of the said
thread in any way diminished by its being bent in its passage from one row
of meshes to another. The fabric thus formed may be combined with other
materials or with the circular fabric according to the requirements of the
articles to the manufacture of which it is applied.
A most important feature connected with the present Invention is, that from
the circumstance of the fabrics employed being knitted instead of woven a
greater degree of permeability is attained, and by varying the relative thick-
nesses of the india-rubber thread and its covering any desired degree of pressure
may be insured. The object of a true elastic bandage, that of being a continuous
mechanical dressing. is thus entirely effected.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patents, filed
by the said Anne Catherine Laurys in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. ANNE
CATHERINE LAURYS, of the City of Louvain, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria. by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of March. in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Anne Catherine Laurys, Her special licence that 1, the said Anne Catherine
Laurys, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said
Anne Catherine Laurys, 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 "A NEW
AND USEFUL FABRIC FOR ELASTIC STOCKINGS. STAYS on CoRBETS, BANDAGES, AND
OTHER SIMILAR AND ANALOGOUS ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Anne Catherine Laurys, 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 Ollice within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I. the said Anne Catherine Laurys, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention consists in certain improvements in the manufacture of
clastic stockings. stays or corsets. bandages, and other like articles, whereby
important advantages are obtained. and many of the well-known defects
connected therewith as hitherto manufactured are avoided.
One portion of this Invention consists in constructing the articles which
form the subject of this Invention without a seam or seams. in a manner
differing essentially from what has previously been done. the materials being
knitted by hand or by machinery into a seamless web or tissue of a circular

page_text: or any other desired form, into which is simultaneously worked spirally a
thread of india-rubber (by preference in a vulcanised state), which runs
throughout the work. following the gradually ascending rows of meshes, and
passing alternately through one front and one back mesh, so as to be guided
by the former and rest upon the latter, thus forming one uninterrupted whole.
and being in fact a kind of elastic tube possessing great strength. The india-
rubber thread being perfectly independent of the other parts of the fabric retains
its expansive and elastic properties unimpaired, and being only fixed at one end,
it gives freely to every movement or variation of shape in the limb or part to
which the article may be applied, the strain caused thereby being equally
divided throughout the whole length of the elastic thread. whereby the
constrictive power of the fabric remains constantly uniform in degree, and
undisturbed by breakage or relaxation, thereby presenting a great advantage
over the elastic fabrics in which india-rubber thread has been hitherto commonly
employed, wherein, as it does not form a circular horizontal line in which its
elastic properties have full play it cannot adapt itself to the form of the part
to which it is applied; it forms, on the contrary, an integral portion of the
fabric into which it is worked, and such tissues or fabrics being naturally
expansive but not elastic the thread relaxes with them and does not recover
itself, so that it gradually ceases to exert its elasticity, and the end for which
it was used is unattained; whilst, in the circular scamless system with the
independent elastic thread embraced by this Invention, the elastic thread, and
consequently the bandage or any other object which it pervades, will continue
to act efficiently as long as the india-rubber endures. In order to render
the india-rubber inodorous it is covered with cotton, wool, silk, or mixed
material.
Another part of this Invention consists in applying the principle of the
independent elastic thread to flat as well as circular fabrics; this is effected
by changing the position of the thread of india-rubber. in the following
manner: This thread, instead of descending spirally between the rows of
superposed meshes, as in the circular system, descends by being bent down-
wards at the extremities of each superposition of two rows of meshes going
from left to right, and from right to left. The ends of fabrics so made may,
when required, be bound with ribband, leather, silk, or other suitable material
sewn thereto, without interfering with the elastic thread, the free action of
which continues unimpaired through the loops of the meshes throughout the
fabric, neither is the elasticity of the said thread in any way diminished by its
being bent in its passage from one row of meshes to another. The fabric thus
formed may be. combined with other materials, or with the
circular fabric

page_text: according to the requirements of the articles to the manufacture of which it
is applied.
A most important feature connected with the present Invention is that from
the circumstance of the fabrics employed being knitted instead of woven a
greater degree of permeability is attained. and by varying the relative thick-
nesses of the india-rubber thread and its covering any desired degree of
continuous pressure may be ensured. The object of a true elastic bandage.
that of being a continuous mechanical dressing, is thus entirely effected.
I will now proceed to refer to the accompanying Drawings, from which the
nature of my Invention will be more clearly understood.
Figure A represents an elastic stocking made upon the principle of this
Invention: Figure B is a piece of elastic fabric on my circular seamless
principle with the independent india-rubber thread; Figure C is a piece of
elastic fabric on the old or alternating principle with seam and joint:
Figure D is a piece of my elastic flat fabric: Figure E is a back view of an
ordinary pair of stays of my improved elastic fabric: Figure F is a front view
of the same: Figure G is a front view of a pair of stays of the same fabric for
the use of enceinte females; Figure H is a back view of the same: Figure J
is a back view of a sanitary under waistcoat to be made with or without
whalebone: Figure K is a front view of the same.
Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which it is to be performed. I would observe in conclusion
that what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as being the
Invention secured to me by the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
are, the methods of constructing and manufacturing an elastic fabric in the
manner and for the purposes substantially herein-before described and set forth,
or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Anne Catherine Laurys, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
A. CROOY.
ANNE CATHERINE LAURYS. (L.S.)