AN IMPROVED BANDAGE OR TRUSS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Féron, of Theuville-aux-Maillots, in the
Empire of France, Doctor of Medicine, for the Invention of " AN
IMPROVED BANDAGE OR TRUSS."
Sealed the 19th November 1858, and dated the 22nd May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Féron at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1858.
I, PIERRE FERON, of Theuville-aux-Maillots, in the Empire of France,
Doctor of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED BANDAGE OR TRUSS," to be as follows:-
The object I propose to obtain by my Invention is the repression of hernia
with a force proportionate to its efforts to escape in the physiological acts of
defecation, coughing, and other. My improved truss is formed by a steel
spring fixed level with the external angle of the cushion on an iron pivot
rivetted on the face of the cushion; a brass wire spiral spring rolled around
the said pivot, a plate crescent-shaped at one extremity, lined with skin, sewn
in the middle, and fixed at the other extremity between the spring and the
outer end of the iron pivot; a steel plate serving as skeleton to the cushion,
and through the centre of which pass the pivot and spiral, and, lastly, as a
fulcrum to the spiral by a metal plate, supported in its turn by another spring.
This bandage is to be applied in the same manner as other trusses, and when.

page_text: the hernia is reduced, the cushion will rest well upon the inguinal canal,
and the crescent-shaped plate upon the belly. During defecation, for instance,
the trunk being inclined forward and the thighs bent over the basin, the
abdominal plate will press strongly against the belly, and as the abdominal
coating is pushed forward and becomes rigid, the lower extremity of the plate
turns on to that furnished with a small leather spring, which reacts on the
spiral, and communicates a pressure to the cushion. The great advantage of
this truss is the fixity of the cushion laterally, and its mobility backward and
forward during efforts of nature.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Féron in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
FERON, of Theuville-aux-Maillots, in the Empire of France, Doctor of
Medecin, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Pierre Féron, Her special licence that I, the said Pierre Féron, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Pierre
Féron, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, excrcise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED BANDAGE
OE TRUSS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Pierre Féron,
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 Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Pierre Féron, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
and to the Figures and Diagrams marked thereon, similar letters of reference.
being placed upon and denoting similar parts, where such parts appear or can
be seen at each of the Figures respectively :-
The object of my improved bandage or truss is the repression of hernia,
with a force proportioned to its efforts to escape in the physiological acts of
defecation, coughing, and other. Trusses have already been made with this
object in view, but without attaining the desired end, and in most existing
bandages, whether the cushion be fixed or moveable, the spring powerful or
weak, the repressive force remains the same during efforts of nature, and the
varied movements of the body. The great advantage of my improved truss
consists in the fixity of the cushion laterally, and its mobility backward and
forward during efforts of nature; and the means by which this end is attained"
will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, in which Figure 1 shews a front view of my improved truss;
A, being the main spring; E, the cushion; F, crescent-shaped plate resting.
on the belly, and Q, screw head. Figure 2, side view of same; Figure 3,'
cushion with cover removed; Figure 4, side view shewing piston D; Figure 5,
section of piston, and Figure 6, another view of piston. The main spring A
is fixed level with the external angle of the cushion E, on its pivot Q, rivetted
on the face of the cushion, a spiral spring turning round the pivot. The plate
F is crescent-shaped at one extremity, and fixed at the other extremity
between the spiral spring and the screw head Q; a steel plate serves as skeleton
for the cushion E, through the centre of which pass the pivot and spiral; a
metal plate, supported by a spring, serving as a fulerum to the spiral. This
bandage to be applied in the same manner as ordinary trusses, and when the
hernia is reduced, the cushion E will rest well upon the inguinal canal, and
the crescent-shaped plate F upon the belly. The action of my improved truss
during defecation is as follows:-The trunk being inclined forward, and the
thighs bent over the basin, the abdominal coating is pushed forward and
becomes rigid, the abdominal plate F then presses firmly on the belly, and its
lower extremity turns on to the plate furnished with the small spring, which
reacts on the spiral, and communicates a pressure to the cushion. Figures 7
and 8 shew front and side views of a modification of the ordinary truss, the
plate a being of one piece, and fixed at once to the cushion, and between the
hinge and the plate F, I add a spring I, which tends to push the latter from
the piston; a pin S traverses the piston, sliding between two grooves in the
plate a, and limits the course of the plate a and the plate F. Figure 1*
shews in skeleton a modification of my improved bandage or truss; K, being

page_text: the spiral; P, screw head; S, plate which turns for the purpose of fixing F
in the desired position; T, plate resting on the spiral; U, plate upholding
spiral and pistons; V, plate on which turns the plate S; and X, X, Y, Y, the
pistons and their tubes. Figure 2%, front view of same; and Figure 3*, plan;
Z, shewing the course of the plate when desirable to change the relative
positions of the parts. This modification consists principally in the use of two
pistons instead of one. I prefer the improved bandage or truss shewn at
Figures 1 and 2, as being equally efficacious and more simple, and conse-
quently less expensive in construction than that shewn Figures 1, 2, and 3*,
but this latter may, perhaps, in some instances, be found more desirable than
the first-mentioned truss.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I wish to observe that I employ what-
ever material I find most desirable in the construction of the different parts
forming my improved truss; and I claim the exclusive use of the combinations
and modifications herein-before described, detailed, or illustrated in the
annexed Sheet of Drawings, forming in or by their several combinations "An
Improved Bandage or Truss."
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Féron, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
W. E. GEDGE,
4, Danes Inn, Strand.
FERON. (L.S.)