Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Oct, 1886
Complete Left, 2nd Aug., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 2nd Sept., 1887
I JULIUS FUCHS of 43 Mariahilferstrasse Vienna, Austria, Manufacturer do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object to provide means whereby a corset can be readily
unclasped at any chosen point, while in use and in a manner that will not attract
attention, and means for tightening or slackening, likewise in a manner that will not
attract attention, either the portion of the corset above the waist, or the portion below
the waist.
These objects are attained first by connecting the rear busks of the two half-corsets
by means of two separate laces instead of one single lace as has been usual hitherto ;
one of these two laces connecting the portions of the half-corsets above the waist, the
other the portions below the waist. The upper lace has one end tied or attached to
either of the two uppermost eyelets, and the lower lace to either of the two lowermost
eyelets, and both laces have a ribbon or strap sewed to the free end, this ribbon or
strap being provided with eyelets, for engaging with corresponding hooks, which are
fixed to the front side of the waist portions of both half-corsets.
The two laces are not passed in the usual zigzag lines from the eyelets of each busk
to those of the other, but each lace, after having run in a horizontal direction from an
eyelet of one busk to the next eyelet of the other busk, is led up or down vertically to
the following eyelet of the latter busk.
The objects above stated are attained secondly by means of particularly-shaped
clasps, secured to one of the two front busks, these clasps being formed of two
pivotally connected jaws, so as to set free the respective headed stud fixed to the other
busk on said jaws being opened. By preference one jaw is rigidly connected to the
busk and the other jaw is pivoted to said busk. Normally the jaws of these clasps are
kept closed by springs, and in order to admit of their being opened without unbuttoning
the corsage or dress, the jaws or their extensions beyond the pivot carry headed studs
of sufficient length to be perceptible through the fabric or layers of fabrics of which
the corsage or dress is made.
Doted this 30th dovy of October 1000

page_text: I JULIUS FUCHS, of 43 Mariahilferstrasse, Vienna, Austria, Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention has for its object to provide means whereby a corset can be readily
unclasped while in use at any chosen point, and in a manner that will not attract
attention, and means for tightening or slackening, in a manner that will not attract
attention, either the portion of the corset above the waist, or the portion below the
waist.
These objects are attained first by means of particularly shaped clasps secured to one
of the two front busks, these clasps being formed of two pivotally connected jaws which,
on being opened, set free the respective headed stud fixed to the other busk. By
preference, one jaw is rigidly connected to the busk and the other jaw is pivoted to the
said busk. Normally, the jaws of these clasps are kept closed by springs and in order
to admit of their being opened without unbuttoning the corsage or dress, the jaws or
their extensions beyond the pivot carry headed studs of sufficient length to be felt
through the fabric or layers of fabric of which the corsage or dress is made. As it is
desirable that the clasps should open wide with a very small expenditure of force, great
leverage is given to the movable jaw by arranging its pivot a certain distance below
the fixed jaw, the bearing edge of which is preferably made rectilinear in order to
prevent the headed stud from remaining hooked on the fixed jaw after the clasp bas
been opened.
The objects above stated are attained secondly by connecting the rear busks of the
two half-corsets by means of two separate laces instead of one single lace, as has been
usual hitherto ; one of these two laces connecting the portions of the half-corsets above
the waist, the other the portions below the waist. The upper lace has one end tied or
attached to either of the two nppermost eyelets, and the lower lace to either of the
two lowermost eyelets, and both laces have a band or strap sewn to the free end, this
band or strap being provided with eyelets for engaging with corresponding hooks
which are fixed to the front side of the waist portions of both half-corsets. These two
laces are not passed in the usual zigzag lines from the eyelets of each busk to those of
the other, but each lace, after having run in a horizontal direction from an eyelet of
one busk to the adjacent eyelet of the other busk, is led up or down vertically to the
following eyelet of the latter busk.
In the annexed sheet of drawings Figure 1 is a perspective back view of a corset
embodying the invention; Figure 2 shows the two front stay-busks, inclosed in their
respective sheaths, and the portions of the corset adjacent to the said sheaths; Figure 3
is a front elevation of a two-part clasp pivoted to one of the two front busks and of the

page_text: corresponding hook rivetted to the other busk; Figure 4 shows the opened two-part.
clasps in connection with busks enclosed in the corresponding sheaths of the corset,
Figure 5 is a transverse section of the two busks, showing one jaw of the two-part
clasp and the hook; Figure 6 is an end view of the two-part clasp ; Figure 7 is a
front view of a two-part clasp having its lower jaw made rectilinear and rivetted to the
busk; Figures 8 to 11 show two-part clasps, the movable jaw of which is pivoted to a
point below the straight fixed jaw.
As is clearly shown in Figure 1, the one lace, b, of the two laces by which the two
half-corsets are held together at back, is tied or attached to one of the two uppermost
eyelets, and the other lace b¹ is tied or attached to one of the two lowermost eyelets.
In order to render the said laces more easily movable or with less friction they are
not threaded through the successive eyelets along a zigzag line as usual, but either
lace after having been passed from an eyelet of one half-corset to the adjacent eyelet
of the other half-corset, is passed straight down or straight up to the following eyelet
of the latter half-corset. To the free ends of either lace is sewed a band or strap b²
having eyelets in it, and according as the corset is more or less tightly laced, one or
the other of these eyelets is hooked to a corresponding hook c, fixed to the corresponding
front busk d or d¹. Thus, by unhooking either strap 2 and then slightly bending the
body to the side, a person wearing such a corset may at pleasure slacken the
lace bor bl.
The clasps serving for connecting the two half-corsets at their front edges are shown
in Figures 3 to 11. As already stated, corset clasps, constructed according to this
invention, consist of two pivotally connected jaws kept closed by a spring and carrying
rather long headed studs, by means of which they can be taken hold of and forced
asunder, even while being covered by the corsage. In the clasp shown in Figures 3
to 6, both jaws a and a¹ are movable round a common pivot and they have the form of
two-armed levers the curved inner arms of which make up the clasp proper, while the
outer arms are held asunder by a spring a³ and carry by their free ends headed studs a²
of sufficient length to be felt through the fabric of which the corsage is made.
Figure 4the headed studs a² are shown projecting from the busk sheath through an
elongated eyelet e.
In
For the sake of an unvariable position of the outlet or passage formed in the clasp
on operating the headed studs a² it is preferable to fix either of the jaws a and a¹ to
the busk d. In the drawings Figures 7 to 11 show two-part clasps, the lower jaw a¹
of which is rivetted to the busk d. Moreover the clasps shown by the said figures are
provided with rectilinear lower jaws a¹, which cannot retain the hook g or headed stud g¹
after the clasp has been opened, as curved jaws are likely to do.
The pivot of the upper jaw a of the clasps, Figures 8 to 11, is placed a certain
distance below the straight lower jaw a', this arrangement affording a longer lever
arm between the pivot and headed stud a², than would be the case if the pivot f were
placed on the same level with the stud a" upon the busk of limited width. In order
to admit of this arrangement without the two parts, a and a¹, of the clasp crossing
each other, the fixed lower jaw a¹ is provided with a downward extending tang a,
which may be made U-shaped as in Figures 8 to 10, when it is to serve as an abutment
for the spring a³.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim, in respect
of corsets, is :-
1. In a corset, two laces, one of which is fixed to either of the two uppermost eyelets,
and the other to either of the two lowermost eyelets, each lace being passed through
the successive eyelets of both busks as far as the waist portion of the corset, and having
connected to its free end a band or strap provided with eyelets for engaging with hooks,
which are fixed to the waist portion of the front of the corset, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
2. In a corset provided with two laces running from the uppermost and lowermost
eyelets to the waist portion, the passing of each lace, after having been threaded through

page_text: an eyelet of the one busk and through the adjacent eyelet of the other busk, up or
down to the following eyelet of the latter busk, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
3. A corset clasp made of two pivotally connected halves, which are kept closed by
a spring and carry headed studs of sufficient length to be felt through the corsage or
dress, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. A corset clasp made of two pivotally connected halves, which are kept closed by a
spring, and either of which is rigidly connected to the busk, while the other carries a
headed stud of sufficient length to be felt palpably through the corsage or dress,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. A corset clasp made of two pivotally connected halves, which are kept closed by
a spring, and either of which is rigidly connected to the busk and made of rectilinear
form, while the other carries a headed stud of sufficient length to be felt through the
corsage or dress, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
6. A corset clasp made of two pivotally connected halves, which are kept closed by
a spring, and either of which is rigidly connected to the busk and made of rectilinear
form, while the other has its pivot placed beyond the fixed half and carries a headed
stud of sufficient length to be felt through the corsage or dress, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.