Garment Stretcher.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Nov., 1894-Accepted, 15th Dec., 1894
Garment Stretcher.
I, LUCILLA MALLORY, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States of America,
Gentlewoman, 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 :-
My invention has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive device
adapted for general use but more especially for household use in stretching
flannel underwear and holding it stretched so that it may be dried without
shrinking.
It is of course well understood that the use of flannel underwear is attended with
a serious inconvenience in that it is practically impossible to wash it in such a
nanner that it will not continually shrink in drying so that after a few washings
garments amply large in the first instance become too small to be worn with
comfort.
In order to overcome these objections I have devised the novel device for
stretching garments while drying of which the following description in connection
with the accompanying drawing is a specification, numbers being used to designate
the several parts.
Fig. 1 is a view of my novel stretching device partly in section on the line x, x,
in Fig. 2, aud
Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line y, y, in Fig. 1.
1 denotes a central supporting rod which is threaded at its upper end as at 2 and
is provided at its lower end with a suitable base 3. 4 denotes an upper and 5 a
lower block both of which are rigidly secured to the standard and are provided
with ears 6. 7 denotes upper and 8 lower sets of arms which are pivoted respec-
tively to the upper and lower blocks and carry at their outer ends pivoted heads 9
to which stretching braces 10, preferably made of wood, are secured. 11 denotes
a block which is adapted to slide freely over both the threaded and smooth portions
of the central rod but without engagement with the thread. This block is provided
with a groove 12.
13 denotes a hand wheel which is provided with a hub 14
internally threaded to engage the threaded portion of the rod. The hub is provided
in its under side with a socket 15 which receives the upper end of the sliding
block 11. 16 denotes set screws which pass through the wall of metal surrounding
socket 15 and engage groove 12 in the sliding block thereby locking the hub to
the block but leaving the hub free to be rotated on the threaded portion of the rod
which of course moves the sliding block up or down as may be required. The
sliding block is provided with sets of ears 17 between which links 18 are pivoted,
the outer ends of said links being pivoted to arms 7 so that when the hand wheel
is rotated in one direction the sliding block will be moved upward on the threaded
portion of the rod and will move the sliding block, links, arms and stretching
braces from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 to the position shown in dotted
lines. In use the operator moves the stretching braces far enough inward so that
the article to be dried may be readily slipped over them and then by turning the
hand wheel in the other direction moves the sliding block downward thereby
forcing the arms and stretching braces downward and outward until the article to
be dried is stretched as much as may be required, in which position it will remain
until the hand wheel is turned backward again and the sliding block allowed to
move the stretching braces inward and upward as clearly indicated in Fig. 1.

page_text: 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 :
A device for stretching garments consisting of a central rod having an upper
threaded portion, an upper and a lower block rigidly secured thereto, sets of arms
pivoted to said upper and lower blocks, stretching devices pivotally secured to the
outer ends of said arms, a sliding block 11, located above the upper fixed block,
links pivoted to said sliding block and to one of the sets of arms, and a hand wheel
having a hub threaded to engage the threaded portion of the rod and secured to
the sliding block in such a manner as to permit the free rotation of the hub, whereby
the stretching devices are caused to move upward and inward, or vice versa, as may
be required to effect the intended purpose.
Dated this 24th day of October 1894.
LUCILLA MALLORY.