NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR HOLDING OR SUSPENDING LADIES' DRESSES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Hare, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Merchant's Clerk, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
HOLDING OR SUSPENDING LADIES' DRESSES."
Sealed the 20th March 1877, and dated the 28th September 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Hare at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th September 1876.
"
THOMAS HARE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant's Clerk.
NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR HOLDING OR SUSPENDING LADIES' DRESSES."
My Invention consists of the construction and combination of the parts herein-after
described of apparatus for holding or suspending lady's dresses, whereby the raising
and holding or suspending and releasing of the dress are effected with great ease
and certainty, and the position of the dress readily controlled, and creasing
prevented.
The apparatus constituting my Invention may either be applied directly to the
ladies dress or to a belt or band applied to and fastened around the lady's waist.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a belt or band. To that part of the
belt which when fastened is situated at the front of the person I apply gripping or
fastening mechanism consisting of a fixed gripping surface, and a moveable gripping
surface for gripping the elastic or other cords of the dress passing between them.
I prefer to make the moveable gripping surface in the form of a lever pressed into
its gripping position by a spring, and to make the fixed gripping surface of a bent
bar, against which the free end or nose of the spring lever bears, the elastic or other
cords being gripped between the said nose and the bent part of the bar.
The elastic or other cords are guided between the gripping mechanism by a
loop. The said gripping mechanism and guide loop are carried by a base plate,
which is sewn to the belt or fastened by eyelets or otherwise to the said belt.
Fixed on the belt by sewing, eyeletting, or otherwise are two (or more) equidistant
guide pulleys. One of these guide pulleys is situated, when the belt is worn around
the lady's waist, at the side of the person, and the other guide pulley is situated at
the back of the person. The elastic or other cords attached to the dress pass over
these pulleys through the guide loop and between the gripping mechanism.

page_text: When it is wished to suspend the dress at the side of the person the gripping lever
is raised so as to release the cord fastened to the side of the dress, and the said cord
is drawn or pulled until the dress has been sufficiently raised. On releasing the
gripping lever the cord is gripped between the said lever and the fixed gripping bar,
and the cord is held very firmly and the dress very securely held in its suspended
position. In a like way the other cord attached to the back of the dress may be
pulled and fastened, and the dress at the back of the person suspended and
fastened.
When it is desired to lower the dress the gripping lever is raised; the cords are
thereby released, and the dress falls by its own weight, the cords moving through
the guide loop at the gripping mechanism and over the guide pulleys.
Either of the elastic cords may be drawn and released independently of the other,
so that the required part of the dress may be raised or allowed to fall without
interfering with the other parts.
The guide pulleys described are carried by forked frames or holders, and the
latter are hinged or jointed to base plates, which are sewn or eyeletted or otherwise
fastened to the belt or band. By hinging or jointing the guide pulleys as described
they are capable of readily accommodating themselves to the diameter of the lower
part of the dress, from which the cords passing over the pulleys are attached.
Although I prefer to hinge the guide pulleys to the base plates carrying them,
yet the forked frames may be rigidly secured to the belt.
The parts described, namely, the gripping mechanism and the guide pulleys, are
duplicated, that is, the parts I have described are situated on one half of the belt,
-and-are-used-for-suspending-one-half-of-the-dress,-but-like-parts-are-situated-on-the-
other half of the belt, and are used for suspending when necessary the other half
the dress in the manner already described.
of
When I apply the holding or suspending apparatus directly to the lady's dress I
fasten the gripping mechanism and the guide pulleys to the dress by sewing, eye-
letting, or otherwise, the said parts being used in the same way as when applied to
a belt or band.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Hare in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd March
1877.
It
THOMAS HARE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant's Clerk.
'NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR HOLDING OR SUSPENDING LADIES' DRESSES."
My Invention consists of the construction and combination of the parts herein-after
described of apparatus for holding or suspending ladies' dresses, whereby the
raising and holding or suspending and releasing of the dress are effected with great
ease and certainty, and the position of the dress readily controlled and creasing
prevented.
The apparatus constituting my Invention may either be applied directly to the
lady's dress or to a belt or band applied to and fastened around the lady's waist.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a belt or band. To that part of the
belt which when fastened is situated at the front of the person I apply gripping or
fastening mechanism, consisting of a fixed gripping surface and a moveable gripping
surface for gripping the elastic or other cords of the dress passing between them.
I prefer to make the moveable gripping surface in the form of a lever pressed into
its gripping position by a spring, and to make the fixed gripping surface of a bent
bar, against which the free end or nose of the spring lever bears, the cords being
gripped between the said nose and the bent part of the bar.
The cords are guided between the gripping mechanism by a loop or opening in
the case in which the gripping mechanism is contained. The said gripping mechanism

page_text: and guide loop are carried by a base plate or frame, which is sewn to the belt or
fastened by eyelets or otherwise to the said belt. Fixed on the belt by sewing,
eyeletting, or otherwise, are two (or more) equidistant guide pulleys. One of these
guide pulleys is situated, when the belt is worn around the lady's waist, at the side
of the person, and the other guide pulley is situated at the back of the person.
cords attached to the dress pass over these pulleys through the guide loop and
between the gripping mechanism.
said lever.
The
When it is wished to raise or suspend the dress at the side of the person the cord.
connected with the side of the dress is drawn or pulled until the dress has been
sufficiently raised, the cord lifting the gripping lever so as to allow it to pass the
On releasing the cord the said cord is gripped between the said lever
and the fixed gripping bar, and the cord is held very firmly, and the dress very
securely held in its suspended position. In a like way the other cord attached to
the back of the dress may be pulled, and the dress at the back of the person sus-
pended and fastened.
When it is desired to lower the dress the gripping lever is raised; the cords are
thereby released, and the dress falls by its own weight, the cords moving through
the guide loop at the gripping mechanism and over the guide pulleys.
Either of the cords may be drawn and released independently of the other, so
that the required part of the dress may be raised or allowed to fall without inter-
fering with the other parts.
The guide pulleys described are carried by forked frames or holders, and the
latter are hinged or jointed to base plates, which are sewn or eyeletted or otherwise
fastened to the belt or band. By hinging or jointing the guide pulleys as described
they are capable of readily accommodating themselves to the diameter of the lower
part of the dress, from which the cords passing over the pulleys are attached.
Although I prefer to hinge the guide pulleys to the base plates carrying them, yet
the forked frames may be rigidly secured to the belt.
The parts described, namely, the gripping mechanism and the guide pulleys, are
duplicated, that is, the parts I have described are situated on one half of the belt,
and are used for suspending one half of the dress, but like parts are situated on the
other half of the belt, and are used for suspending when necessary the other half of
the dress in the manner already described.
When I apply the holding or suspending apparatus directly to the lady's dress I
fasten the gripping mechanism and the guide pulleys to the dress by sewing, eye-
letting, or by the spring fastening herein-after described or otherwise, the said parts
being used in the same way as when applied to a belt or band.
I will now describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation one half of a belt or band, to which gripping
and guiding mechanism constructed according to my Invention for holding or
suspending a lady's dress is applied. As like parts are affixed to each half of the
belt or band I think it necessary only to represent and describe the parts affixed to
one-half of the belt or band.
Figure 2 represents in front elevation, partly in section, the gripping or fastening
mechanism of the apparatus.
Figure 3 is a back elevation, and Figure 4 an edge view of the same; Figure 5 is
a side elevation and end elevation of the same.
Figure 6 is an edge view of one of the guide pulleys and its carrying frame.
In Figure.1 the parts are drawn of the full size, and in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
the parts are drawn double the full size.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawing.
The gripping or fastening mechanism is enclosed in a metal box or case a secured
near one of the free ends of the belt b, so that when the said belt is fastened around
the lady's waist the said gripping mechanism a is situated at the front of the person.
In the said box or case a is a gripping lever c turning on the centre o³, and pressed

page_text: into its fastening position by the spring d. The nose 3 of the said lever c is situated
opposite to and bears against the fixed gripping surface or bar e, the said part e
being formed on a plate to which the gripping lever is jointed. Between the two
gripping parts c³ and e the cords f, g, which are fastened to the dress pass, the said
cords being guided to the gripping surfaces by the opening h at one edge of the
box or case a, the said cords passing out of the box or case by the opening i at the
opposite edge of the said box or case, as represented. The handle end c' of the
gripping lever projects through a slot k at the bottom of the box or case. This slot
has a shoulder 12 at one end, by which the lever c may be held in the position in
which it releases the cords f, g. On the belt or band b are two guide pulleys 7 and
m, the pulley 1, when the belt b is worn around the lady's waist, being situated at
the side of the person, and the other guide pulley m being situated at the
back of the person.
The cord from the gripping mechanism in the case a
passes over the pulley 1, and is attached by the spring hook n (or otherwise) to the
inner side of the dress near the bottom thereof, the said hook being passed through
a hole worked in the skirt, and the other cord g passes over the pulley m, and is
attached by the spring hook p (or otherwise) to the inside of the back of the dress
near the bottom thereof.
One of the guide pulleys is represented in edge view in Figure 6. The guide
pulleys l, m, are carried by forked frames or holders l², m³, which are hinged or
jointed at 3, m³, to the base plate q, r, by which they are fastened to the belt or
band b. This hinging or jointing of the guide pulleys permits them to rise from
the belt so as to accommodate themselves to the diameter of the lower part of the
dress to which the cords f, g, passing over them are attached. The box or case a
containing the gripping mechanism is secured to the belt b by means of the
fastening represented in Figures 3 and 4 attached to the base plate a² of the said
box or case. This fastening consists of two spring wire arms 8, 8, connected to the
loop or eye t on the base plate a². Opposite the said eye t are tongues u, u, under
which the bent ends of the spring arms 8, 8, are engaged, so as thereby to secure the
box or case to the belt. The eye t and tongues u, u, are passed through piercings
in the belt before the spring arms 8, 8, are engaged with the tongues u, u. The base
plates q and r, to which the forked plates 12², m² carrying the guide pulleys l, m, are
jointed, are connected to the belt b in a similar way. I do not limit myself to the
arrangement represented for fastening the gripping and guiding parts to the belt or
band.
When it is wished to suspend the dress at the side and back of the person the
cords f, g, are drawn or pulled by their ends at f, g, until the dress has been lifted
to the desired height, the said cords pressing back the gripping lever c so as to allow
them to pass. On loosing the cords they are again gripped or fastened in their
adjusted positions by the lever c, and the dress is very firmly held in its raised position.
Instead of pulling or drawing the two cords f, g, simultaneously either cord may
be pulled independently of the other.
When it is wished to lower the dress the gripping levers c, c³, c, is raised into
the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, and its handle end et engaged
with the shoulder k² of the slot k. The gripping lever c is thereby held in its raised
position, and the cords f, g, are released, and the dress falls by its own weight, the
cords moving through the holes h, i, in the box a, and over the guide pulleys l, m,
the connected ends at f, g, of the cords being prevented from being drawn through
the case a by the stop w. The other half of the dress is suspended by gripping and
guiding parts of the kind represented fixed to the other half of the belt.
Instead of the spring gripping lever c, c², c, c, a spring slide may be used. In
this case the cord or cords is or are gripped between the said spring slide and the
fixed gripping part at e.
The gripping and guiding mechanism described and represented may be fastened
directly to the lady's dress, instead of to a belt or band.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention,

page_text: the new or improved apparatus for holding or suspending ladies' dresses herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
apparatus for gripping or fastening and guiding the cords attached to the lady's
dress, the parts of the said gripping or fastening and guiding apparatus being con-
structed and arranged and used substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hare, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
THAN
) Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
THUMAD HARE,