AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR CONSTRUCTION OF STAYS OR CORSETS in the or
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
PROCTER WESTHEAD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Small
Ware Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of June, in the third year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joshua Procter Westhead, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Joshua Procter Westhead, my exors, adiňors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Joshua Procter Westhead, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR CONSTRUCTION OF STAYS OR CORSETS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said
Joshua Procter Westhead, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joshua Procter Westhead, do hereby declare my Invention of "An Improve-
ment or Improvements in the Manufacture or Construction of Stays or
Corsets, to consist in a new and improved fastening, by which the art of lacing

page_text: and unlacing such stays or corsets when in use is more readily performed, and
the apertures through which the lace is passed rendered more permanent and
durable than those in ordinary use; and the manner in which the same is to
be performed and carried into effect is set forth in the annexed Drawing,
which represents the parts at full size, and in the following description thereof.
The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in the various
Fig. 1 represents the back of a pair of stays or corsets, in which the letter a
represents a series of small loops or openings, firmly attached to the edge;
Fig. 2 represents a small rod of whalebone, which is slightly rounded at the
edges, as seen in section below the Figure. Each pair of stays or corsets
are provided with two of these rods, which are inserted at the opening c, see
Fig. 1, and passed respectively through the succession of loops marked a, by
which arrangement the space between the rod and the side of the stays or
corsets forms a succession of apertures or openings for the admission of the
lace, the course of which is indicated by dotted lines at Fig. 1. Supposing the
lace to be fastened at the point d, and passed across in the usual manner, it is
clear that the friction and wear of the lace will take place in contact with the
whalebone rods, which present a smooth surface, and one not liable to give
way, as the holes made in ordinary stays and corsets. And further, the trouble
and delay of unlacing are quite obviated by withdrawing one or both of the
whalebone rods. When the stays or corsets are required for use, or to be
relaced, the whalebone rods are to be replaced, as seen at Fig. 1. To keep
these whalebone rods, shewn at Fig. 2, firmly in their place when passed
through the loops a, they are provided with a small spring f, Fig. 2, which
presses against the substance of the lowest loop, when it is forced into the
opening at c.
In constructing the loops a, I have adopted two plans, the first of which is
represented at Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and consists of a piece of cloth woven with
a series of openings, as seen at Fig. 4, the intermediate part between each
opening being stronger than the remainder of the fabric. This cloth being
doubled will shew in section, as seen at Fig. 5, and in elevation, as at Fig. 3,
in which position it forms the two sides of the stays, ready for the introduction
of the whalebone rods, as seen at Fig. 1. The second plan, which I find less
costly and considerably better, is represented at Figs. 6, 7, and 8, and consists
in weaving a tape, alternately thick and thin, as best seen at Fig. 7, which is
effected by leaving out part of the warp in the thin part, and using a finer

page_text: weft, or by using a thick and thin weft alternately, without making any change
in the warp. The tape thus formed is then cut in equal lengths across the
thin part, and doubled into a loop as seen at Fig. 8, in which form it is sewn
on the edge of the stays or corsets, as seen at a, Fig. 1, ready for the recep-
tion of the whalebone rods, as already described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "An Improvement or
Improvements in the Manufacture of Stays or Corsets," together with the
manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into effect, I would
state that I do not confine my Invention to the exact plans herein-before
described for carrying the same into effect, as I am aware such plans may be
variously modified and varied, as well as the materials used in the construction
of such parts.
But I do claim as my Invention the application of cloth or tape of varying
thickness, for the purpose of constructing the loops a, as set forth and
described.
I also claim as my Invention the construction of stays or corsets having a
series of loops formed of detached pieces of tape or cloth, woven either
alternately thick and thin, or of a uniform thickness, for the purpose of receiving
the whalebone rods, as already described at Fig. 1.
And such my Invention being to the best of my knowledge new and never
before used in this country, I deliver this as a true and faithful Specification
of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Procter Westhead, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Second day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
JOSHUA PROCTER (L.S.) WESTHEAD.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of December, in the
year of our Lord 1889, the aforesaid Joshua Procter Westhead came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.