IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSET BUSKS
Year: 1885

page_text: I; WALLACE FAIRWEATHER, C.E., of 96 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, in the county
of Lanark, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSET BUSKS," (a communication from
Gustav Brocklaus, of Unna, Westphalia, Prussia, in the German Empire) to be as
follows:-
-
My invention relates to improvements in corset busks, and has for its object to
render such busks less liable to break at the point where they are most subject
to bending, i.e., at the waist, such breakage occurring very often with the sheet-
metal busks generally in use.
The improvements of my invention consist in cutting the busk in two at the
waist, and in uniting the two halves by a spring or springs, thereby affording an
increased flexibility in every direction.
The said spring or springs, which are preferably of helical form, or flat serpentine
wire springs of about one inch in length, are fastened to the adjacent ends of the
two pieces of the busk by any suitable means, e.g., by soldering, screws, rivets, or
the like. Without impairing the requisite stiffness of the corset in its upper and
lower parts, said springs preserve the busk from breaking in the waist, and besides
they allow the person who wears the corset, to feel more at ease in bending, in
sítting, and in all movements in which the busks offer resistance.

page_text: I WALLACE FAIRWEATHER, C.E., of the firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather
135 Buchanan Street Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, Fellows of the Institute
of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication
from Gustav Brocklaus of Unna, Westphalia, Prussia in the German Empire,) 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 improvements in corset-busks and has for its object to
render such busks less liable to break at the point where they are most subject
to bending, namely at the waist, such breakage occurring very often with the sheet
metal busks generally in use.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows a corset busk in two parts A, B,
linked together in the usual manner at C fitted with one modification of the
improvements, and Figure 2 a corresponding corset-busk A¹, B₁, fitted with another
modification.
My invention consists in separating each of the two corset-busks A, B, crosswise
into two parts, at the place where they are most subject to bending and breaking,
namely at the waist-part A2, B2, and to connect the two halves of each part A, B,
by a spring, or springs a, b, of such flexibility, that the busk readily follows every
bend of the body, especially every lateral bend, by which the frequent breakages
of the steel are usually occasioned.
In Figure 1, two such connecting spiral springs a, b, are shown on each part, but
in some cases one spring of suitable elasticity may be found sufficient, or the
number of springs applied to each busk may be increased. The springs are secured
to the blades of the busk by any convenient means, such as rivets, screws, or
soldering at c and where spiral springs are applied, as in the modification shown in
Figure 1, I prefer to secure short studs at e to the upper and lower part of each
busk, around which studs c the upper and lower ends of each spiral-spring are
wound up and soldered.
The modification shown in Figure 2 consists in the arrangement of a flat, sinuous
or serpentine-shaped spring a¹, 61, between the two halves of each busk A', B¹.
Such busks with flat springs may more readily be inserted into the woven fabric
of the corset and they exert less friction against the enclosing fabric, or pressure
against the body, than the spiral-springs of Figure 1 may do.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me,
I declare that what I claim is :-
A corset busk made of two pieces united to each other by means of a spring or
springs of spiral or flat serpentine form as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 8th day of March 1886.