IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE HUMAN FIGURE, AND IN APPLYING THE SAME FOR TRACING OUT GARMENTS FOR THE HUMAN FIGURE
Year: 1858

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Michael Tooke at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd December
1858.
I, MICHAEL TOOKE, of the City of Norwich, Tailor, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING
THE HUMAN FIGURE, AND IN APPLYING THE SAME FOR TRACING OUT GARMENTS FOR
THE HUMAN FIGURE," to be as follows:-
Firstly, I prepare two bands of metal or other material, one to encircle the
chest close under the arms and made fast, and the second to encircle the body
at the waist, and also made fast. On the band at the breast I employ about
eight sliding gravitating indexes, to two of which I cause to be attached four
tapes or tape measures such as are commonly used by tailors. Two of these
tapes I use for bracing up the band on the breast, by leading them over the
shoulders, and by means of eyelet holes or other contrivances I make them
fast to two of the gravitating indexes; the other two tape measures I use to
measure the upper part of the body. To two other of the gravitating indexes
I attach two tape measures (one to each index) and two strips of metal or
other substance (one to each index) which I call "pendulums," and which
I use to obtain a straight line and centre under the arm between the two
bands. The other two gravitating indexes are made to project upwards about
four or five inches; they are for obtaining the distance from the middle of the
back to the front of the arms or.legs.

page_text: Secondly, to the waistband I apply about four gravitating indexes, two of
which I slide over the hips, or directly over the pendulum, by means of which
I obtain two centres for each side of the figure, and from these centres I
measure the distance apart of the two bands on different parts of the body.
The third part of my Invention consists in the employment of three tape
measures with a straight bar attached to one of them; two of the measures
are made fast to each other, one being perpendicular to the other. The third
measure slides upon the horizontal one, and carries the bar and a gravitating
index, which are made to slide up and down.
The horizontal tape is intended to be made fast round the neck, so that the
fixed perpendicular one hangs down in front, and the sliding one with the bar
hangs down the middle of the back. The bar is intended to obtain the width
of the back opposite the back seam of the sleeve, and the figure on the tape
measure will give the distance from the collar seam to the bar. The gravitator
is intended to.show when the bar hangs true..
The fourth part of my Invention consists of an instrument which I call a
"hand gravitator." This gravitator is made of metal or other substance in the
form of a right-angled parallelogram with a dial face forming a semicircle, and
divided into thirty-two parts, which are numbered from the centre sixteen to
the right and sixteen to the left. These divisions are subdivided into halves
and quarters, and the dial is furnished with a pointer or pendulum oscillating
from the centre of the semicircle.
I use this instrument to measure the angles of inclination of the figure, such
as the top of the back, the top of the shoulder, the hollow of the waist, the
spring at the hips, the incline of the breast to the collar bone, or any other
parts that may be thought necessary.