Means or or Apparatus to be Used in Taking Measurements Draughting Patterns for Garments, and in Applying Linings to Garments or Parts thereof.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Aug., 1887
Complete Left, 24th May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 29th June, 1888
Means
or
or Apparatus to be Used in Taking Measurements
Draughting Patterns for Garments, and in Applying Linings
to Garments or Parts thereof.
1 JULES COUTEAU, of Béziers, (Herault) France, Tailor, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In designing the apparatus which forms the chief subject of the present invention
my object has been to facilitate considerably the making up of garments, so as to do
away with the necessity of taking. measurements in the ordinary way, trying on, and
alterations.
My invention mainly consists of what may be termed a conformator to be placed
upon the body of the person for whom it is wished to make a garment. It is
composed of pieces of cloth arranged exactly in the same manner as those which will
constitute the garment to be made, but instead of the different pieces of the con-
formator being sewn together, they are attached together by means of slide plates or
connections so that the different parts of the conformator may be drawn together or
pulled apart until it is suitably adjusted or fitted to the body of the person. The
slide plates are marked with numbers or scales which after the fitting or adjustment
of the conformator are to be copied or reproduced on paper patterns which have
numbered lines corresponding with the plates of the conformator and similarly placed.
In cutting the patterns according to the marks thus made exact plans of the different
parts of the garment will be obtained. These patterns will serve, as is at present the
case, for cutting out the cloth intended to be made into a garment; it is evident that
when the different parts are sewn together the garment will fit the body without any
alteration being necessary. In lining the front part of the garment I use a support
to which a suitable curve or convexity is given so that the pattern of the garment to
be made can be laid exactly on it. The workman therefore knows that this curved
support offers the necessary convexity for the body of the person for whom he is
making the garment. He can therefore place the necessary lining between this
support and the cloth of the garment and fasten it temporarily by tacking the two
fabrics, the lining placed in this way will be of the exact size; not being larger than
the outside cloth it will not form any puckers inside, and not being smaller it will not
distort or drag the cloth.

page_text: By means then of my invention I obtain the advantages of a perfectly faultless cut
and an exact copy of the conformator, no alteration of the garment being required
and the curve or convexity necessary to make it fit without pucker or crease upon the
wearer being given.
I will proceed to describe more in detail the application of my invention to taking
the conformation of a person for a coat.
The conformator for this purpose is composed of five or six pieces of cloth, viz.: two
front pieces, two side pieces, and a back piece or two half back pieces. These pieces
are attached together by slide plates in the following way -A plate which is placed
on the edge of one of the pieces has ears by which it is attached by rivets or eyelets
to the piece. This plate has a longitudinal slot through which a screw with nut
passes; the head of the screw engages below a slot in the plate which is similarly fixed
by rivets or eyelets to the adjoining piece of the conformator. Each plate is marked
with figures or scales so that at a given position of the nut of the screw, two
indications or marks correspond, the one vertical on the one plate and the other
horizontal on the other plate.
The front pieces of the conformator have horizontal lines of numbered holes to
give the position for the buttons. These pieces also have triangular cuts fitted with
adjusting plates to allow of the proper adjustment for the breast; and they have
scale lines to give the length for the skirt &c.; they also have at the arm hole a plate
with a sliding crescent-shaped piece thereon which is moved up against the arm.
At the upper part of the back piece of the conformator is a fork movable on a
vertical plate so as to determine the position of the neck. The sides or arms of the
fork can move in a slide plate towards or from each other; and one of the said sides
carries a vertical movable plate which gives the height the neck should have. There
is a scale or set of dividing marks near the bottom of the back piece to determine the
position of the bottom of the back. At this point is a vertical loop through which a
divided belt or band is passed to measure the size of the waist, the divisions starting
from the middle of the back.
All the indications given by the conformator are copied or repeated on the paper
pattern.
When the several parts of the garment have been put together and it is wished to
line the front I place the pattern of the front of the garment upon a support which
may be termed a liner; it is composed of cardboard or other sufficiently stiff material
which is capable of adapting itself to convexities and plain portions so as to reproduce
the form of the person to be fitted. These modifications in convexity are obtained by
means of right and left handed screws which engage in corresponding sockets in the
liner in opposite sides of triangular notches or cuts at the edges thereof. By turning
these screws by means of nuts thereon the sides of the triangular notches are moved
nearer together or further apart. The pattern cut according to the conformator being
placed on this liner the screws are turned so as to make the liner conform thereto;
the cloth of the garment and the lining for the same can then be easily put in position
and attached together by tacking or otherwise.
The invention is applicable in the making of garments of various kinds for men,
women or children the conformator and the number of pieces composing it being
modified accordingly.
J. C. MEWBURN,
169, Fleet Street, London,
Agent.

page_text: Means or Apparatus to be Used in Taking Measurements or
Draughting Patterns for Garments, and in Applying Linings
to Garments or Parts thereof.
JULES COUTEAU of Béziers (Herault), France, Tailor, 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 :—
In designing the apparatus which forms the chief subject of the present invention
my object has been to facilitate considerably the making up of garments so as to do
away with the necessity of taking measurements in the ordinary way, trying on and
alterations.
My invention mainly consists of what may be termed a conforinator to be placed
upon the body of the person for whom it is wished to make a garment. It is composed
of pieces of cloth arranged exactly in the same manner as those which will constitute
the garment to be made, but instead of the different pieces of the conformator being
sewn together, they are attached together by means of slide plates or connections so
that the different parts of the conformator may be drawn together or pulled apart
until it is suitably adjusted or fitted to the body of the person. The slide plates aro
marked with numbers or scales which after the fitting or adjustment of the conformator
are to be copied or reproduced on paper patterns which have numbered lines corre-
sponding with the plates of the conformator and similarly placed. In cutting the
patterns according to the marks thus made exact plans of the different parts of the
garment will be obtained. These patterns will serve, as is at present the case, for
cutting out the cloth intended to be made into a garment; it is evident that when
the different parts are sewn together the garment will fit the body without any alteration
being necessary. In lining the front part of the garment I use a support to which a suitable
curve or convexity is given so that the pattern of the garment to be made can be laid
exactly on it. The workman therefore knows that this curved support offers the
necessary convexity for the body of the person for whom he is making the garment.
He can therefore place the necessary lining between this support and the cloth of the
garment and fasten it. temporarily by tacking the two fabrics, the lining placed in this
way will be of the exact size; not being larger than the outside cloth it will not form any
puckers inside, and not being smaller it will not distort or drag the cloth.
By means then of my invention I obtain the advantages of a perfectly faultless cut,
and an exact copy of the conformator, no alteration of the garment being required and
the curve or convexity necessary to make it fit without pucker or crease upon the
wearer being given.
I will proceed to describe more in detail the application of my invention to taking
the conformation of a person for a coat.
Figure 1 shows the conformator placed on the person and Figure 2 is a view of one
half of it opened out flat.

page_text: :
The conformator is composed of five or six pieces of cloth, viz. two front pieces A,
two side pieces B, and a back piece C or two half back pieces. These pieces are
attached together by slide plates arranged as shown on a larger scale in front view in
Figure 3 and in Figure 4 which is a section on the line MN of Figure 3. A plate D
which is placed on the edge of one of the pieces has ears a, a by which it is attached
by rivets or eyelets to the piece. This plate has a longitudinal slot through which a
screw with nut d passes; the head e of the screw engages below a slot in the plate E
which is similarly fixed by rivets or eyelets to the adjoining piece of the conformator.
Each plate is marked with figures or scales so that at a given position of the nut of
the screw, two indications or marks correspond, the one vertical on the plate D and the
other horizontal on the plate E.
The front pieces A of the conformator have horizontal lines of numbered holes f, ƒ'
to give the position for the buttons.
These pieces also have triangular cuts g and fitted with adjusting plates to allow of
the proper adjustment for the breast; and they have scale lines and a to give the
length for the skirt &c.; they also have at the arm hole a plate F with a sliding
crescent-shaped piece thereon which is moved up against the arm.
At the upper part of the back piece C of the conformator is a fork G movable on a
vertical plate m so as to determine the position of the neck. This device is shown
separately in Figure 5, and also in Figure 6 which is a section on the line P-Q Figure 5.
The sides or arms of the fork can move in a slide platen towards or from each other
and one of the said sides carries a vertical movable plate H which gives the height the
neck should have. There is a scale or set of dividing marks o (Figure 2) near the
bottom of the back piece to determine the position of the bottom of the back. At
this point is a vertical loop through which a divided belt or band is passed to measure
the size of the waist, the divisions starting from the middle of the back.
All the indications given by the conformator are copied or repeated on the paper
pattern in full size. Figure 7 represents a paper pattern on a reduced scale. Or if
the pattern has to be sent to a distance the indications can be copied on a paper
pattern of reduced size and be afterwards reproduced on a pattern of full size.
When the several parts of the garment, have been put together and it is wished to
line the front I place the pattern of the front of the garment upon a support which
may be termed a liner. One half of this liner is shown in two views in Figures 8 and 9;
it is composed of pasteboard or other sufficiently stiff material which is capable of
adapting itself to convexities and plain portions so as to reproduce the form of the
person to be fitted. These modifications in convexity are obtained by means of right
and left handed screws (seen more clearly in Figure 10 Sheet 2) which engage in
corresponding sockets in the liner in opposite sides of triangular notches or cuts at
the edges thereof. By turning these screws by means of nuts q thereon the sides of
the triangular notches are moved nearer together or further apart. The pattern cut
according to the conformator being placed on this liner the screws are turned so as to
make the liner conform thereto; the cloth of the garment and the lining for the same
can then be easily put in position and attached together by tacking or otherwise.
The invention is applicable in the making of garments of various kinds for men,
women or children, the conformator and the number of pieces composing it being
modified accordingly.,
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 Means or apparatus to be used in taking measurements or draughting patterns
for garments and in applying linings to garments or parts thereof" is :-
1. The conformator" composed of pieces of cloth arranged like those in the
garment to to be made and attached together by slide plates with tightening bolts"
whereby the different parts of the conformator can be adjusted to the figure of the
person to be fitted, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The marking of the slide plates referred to in claim 1 with numbers or scales
as and for the purpose herein before described.

page_text: 3. The fork at the upper part of the back piece of the conformator to determine the
height of the back, the distance between the two sides or arms of the fork being
adjustable, and one of said sides or arms being fitted with a plate which can be moved
vertically, as hereinbefore described.
4. The employment in the application of linings to garments or parts thereof of a
support or "liner" such as is herein before described made of a material to which the
requisite convexities can be given to reproduce the form of the person to be fitted, as
set forth.
5. The construction of a support or "liner" for the purpose referred to in claim 4
with triangular notches or cuts at the edges and with right and left handed screws for
regulating the distance between the sides of the said notches or cuts, as herein before
described.