Improvements in and connected with Appliances for the Treatment of Umbilical Hernia.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 15th June, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 15th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 15th May, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Appliances for the Treatment
of Umbilical Hernia.
1, FREDERICK WILLIAM ARTHUR STOTT, M.A., M. B., and B. Ch., Oxon,
of 26 Church Street, South Shore, Blackpool in the County of Lancaster, Surgeon,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The use of the truss commonly employed at present in cases of umbilical hernia,
is attended with inconveniences which it is the object of this invention to avoid.
The appliance which I have designed and constructed for the purpose of my
invention has the further advantage that it acts also as an abdominal bandage
or support.
It is employed in combination with a corset and consists of a spring, preferably
constructed of a band or strip of sheet steel, and curved. The centre of the
spring is attached to the lower end of one of the corset busks or to the lower end
of an auxiliary busk or support such as is sometimes worn with corsets, with the
concavity of the curvature outside.
To the outer ends of the spring there are attached studs buckles buttons or the
like to which straps may be secured. The straps which are used each have one
end attached to the corset at a point about midway between the front and the back
or nearer to the front or back, and near the lower edge. At about the point of
attachment of the spring to the busk, a pad is secured so as to come upon the
umbilical region when in use. This pad may resemble the pads used with umbilical
trusses and will vary in construction to suit the particular hernia for which it is
intended.
In use, after the corset is in place, with the pad over the hernia, the straps from
each side of the corset are connected with the ends of the springs and are adjusted
until the proper degree of pressure is produced by the consequent flattening of
the curvature of the spring. In removing the corset it will be necessary to detach
only one of the straps from the spring.
Gussets of elastic web may be inserted in the lower edge of the corset and the
straps or a portion of them may be made of elastic web or of coiled springs or
the like.
Dated this 13th day of June, A.D. 1896.
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Appliances for the Treatment
of Umbilical Hernia.
1, FREDERICK WILLIAM ARTHUR STOTT, M.A., M.B., and B. Ch., Oxon,
of 26 Church Street, South Shore, Blackpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Surgeon, 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 relates to appliances to be used in cases of umbilical hernia and
Price 80

page_text: -the-like-in-substitution-for-the-inconvenient truss at present in use and commonly
employed, and its object is to so construct and arrange such appliances that they
may be easily and readily applied and be worn without discomfort.
In carrying this invention into effect I mount or place a suitably shaped pad
upon or within a pair of corsets in such a position as to press upon and support
the desired part of the body when the corset is in use. Combined with and
arranged across the pad outside the corset is a suitable spring or spring plate the
ends of which are furnished with hooks, studs, or similar devices by means of which
they may be attached to straps extending from and secured to the body of the
corset. By varying the points of attachment of the spring ends and the straps
the pressure upon the pad may be varied within wide limits, or other well known
devices may be employed for the same purpose.
So that my invention may be more readily understood I have hereto appended a
sheet of drawings to which I will hereinafter refer, and which illustrate an
appliance constructed to embody my improvements.
A indicates a corset which may be of the usual or any convenient shape and
which may be arranged to fasten in any desired manner, as, for example, by the
studs and eyes shown. Attached to one side of the front of the corset is a pad or
the like B which may be secured to the busk C by pins, rivets, screws, or other
equivalent or suitable means. Upon the front and outside of the corset is a spring
plate D arranged across the pad and connected thereto or to the busk or body of
the corset This spring is so formed that its ends are normally free of the body
of the corset, or it may be only in contact with the corset at the point of connection,
and, preferably, it is formed with a curve outwards, as illustrated in Figure 2 which
represents a plan of the pad, busk, spring, and part of the corset.
These parts
may conveniently be connected together by the screw E having a milled or other
head, and more than one hole may be formed through the busk so that the position
of the pad may be easily varied.
Secured to the corset are straps or bands F, G, the ends of which are adapted to
engage with the ends of the spring D. In the drawings the ends of the spring
are shown provided with studs and the ends of the straps are perforated for their.
reception, but it will be understood that other arrangements for connecting them
together may be employed.
The position of the pad may, of course, be different to that shown in the
drawings, it being so placed as to come directly upon the required part of the
wearer's person when the corset is in use.
When the appliance is to be worn the corset is put on in the usual mauner and
the pad is at once in its proper place. The ends of the straps F and G are then
connected to the ends of the spring, thus bending the spring backwards and putting
the required pressure upon the pad. The amount of pressure may be varied by
connecting one or other of the holes in the straps to the studs up on the spring, or
by altering the relative positions of the pad and spring by the screw E, or by
adjusting the length of the straps by a sliding buckle or the like.
In an appliance constructed as described the pad is securely held in place and
cannot move. The corset may have gussets of elastic web inserted along its lower
edge, and the straps F, G, may be formed of elastic web or have elastic portions
interposed in their lengths.
The pad, spring, and straps may be arranged upon a special corset which may
also be adapted to form or to act as an abdominal support or bandage, or they may
be applied to any corset in use by the patient. In the latter case they are
preferably mounted upon an auxiliary busk which is secured by sewing
means to the corset, this auxiliary busk being of sufficient length to reach the
required spot.
or by other
If desired, the straps F and G may be dispensed with and the ends of the spring D
may be bent down to give the required pressure and may be secured to the corset
by passing them within loops, or by causing them to engage with spring fasteners,
or by analogous means.

page_text: In lieu of being applied to a corset as shown, the pad, spring, and straps or-
equivalent fastening devices may be mounted upon an ordinary abdominal bandage.
or support.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An appliance for the treatment of umbilical hernia or the like, consisting of
a pad, a spring, and straps, arranged upon a corset substantially as hereinbefore
described and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
2. An appliance for the treatment of umbilical hernia or the like, constructed.
and arranged substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 13th day of March 1897
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.