IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LADIES' COSTUME STANDS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bernard Sigrist, of Aldersgate Street, in the City of
London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
LADIES' COSTUME STANDS
〃
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bernard Sigrist at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th February 1883.
BERNARD SIGRIST, of Aldersgate Street, in the City of London,
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LADIES' COSTUME STANDS,"
"IMPROVE-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of ladies' costume
stands the object of such improvements being to render the said stands specially
suitable for travelling, by making the same so as to be capable of being closed up
or folded, when not in use, and also to so construct the stands that the same,
together with the costume arranged thereon, may be turned round without the
necessity of moving the support on which they are mounted.
That portion of the body of the stand which is provided for the reception of
the skirt of the costume is constructed of a number of rings of wire or other
suitable material which rings are connected together, at the desired distance from
each other, by means of lengths of tape, pieces of chain or other suitable and
similar material, by preference, within the inside of a skirt of any suitable
material. In some cases the said rings are connected together by folding links,
that is to say, pieces of wire or other suitable material are mounted, at one end, to
turn freely on one of the said rings, and the opposite ends of the said pieces of
wire or other material, are hinged to the ends of like pieces of wire or other
material mounted in a similar manner on the rings situated immediately above
and below the first mentioned ring, and the said hinges are so arranged that on
the rings of the stand being allowed to close on each other the said pieces of wire
One or more of
or other material constituting the said links will fold inwards.
the said rings is or are, when desired, provided or connected with suitable clips
or other contrivances for attaching the stand to a suitable support when in use.
Stays may be arranged for the purpose of maintaining the stand in the desired

page_text: position when arranged on the support. Costume stands constructed as herein-
before described are of such a nature as to be capable of being folded into a small
space when it is desired to pack them away for travelling or any other purpose.
In some cases, the hinge, connecting the ends of the two pieces of wire or other
material, is constructed in the following manner. The end of one of the said pieces
of wire is bent in the form of a loop and the corresponding end of the second
piece of wire is bent in a similar manner the bent portion thereof passing freely
through a suitable bearing attached to the first mentioned piece of wire, so that
when the said pieces of wire are brought into an upright position by the suspension
of the said stand or by the same being placed in a suitable position for the
reception of the skirt of the costume, the bent portions of the two pieces of wire
bear against each other and thus cause the link formed by the said two pieces of
wire to bend or fold only in the desired direction
When it is desired to turn the costume and stand as herein before stated, without
moving the support, a suitable ring or collar is mounted on the upper end of the
said support in such a manner as to be capable of turning freely and securely
thereon and the costume stand, and also the bust, if desired, is connected thereto
or to attachments thereof.
The upper portion of the support is, in some cases, made telescopic so that the
height thereof may be varied at will.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Bernard Sigrist in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th August
1883.
BERNARD SIGRIST, of Aldersgate Street, in the City of London, " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LADIES' COSTUME STANDS
23
My said Invention relates to improvements in the construction of ladies' costume
stands the object of such improvements being to render the said stands specially
suitable for travelling, by constructing the same in such a manner that the skirt
portion thereof can be closed up or folded when not in use, whilst at the same
time the stand together with the costume arranged thereon may be turned round
without the necessity of moving the support on which they are mounted.
That portion of the body of the stand, which is provided for the reception of
the skirt of the costume, is constructed of a number of rings or hoops of wire or
other suitable material, which rings or hoops are connected together, at any desired
distance from each other, by means of lengths of tape, pieces of chain. or any
suitable contrivance capable of being folded up when the stand is not in use.
The said rings or hoops are, by preference, covered by a skirt of any suitable
material. In some cases the said rings or hoops are connected together by folding
links which may be of the following construction. Pieces of wire or other suitable
material are mounted, at one end, so as to turn freely on one of the said rings or
hoops, and the opposite ends of the said pieces of wire or other material are hinged
to the ends of like pieces of wire or other material mounted, in a similar manner,
on the rings or hoops immediately above or below the first mentioned ring or
hoop, and the said hinges are so arranged, as will be well understood, that on the
rings or hoops being allowed to close on each other the said pieces of wire or other
material constituting the said links will fold inwards. One or more of the said
rings or hoops is or are, when desired, provided or connected with suitable clips or
other contrivances for attaching the skirt portion of the stand to a suitable support
when in use, for the purpose of maintaining the same in the desired position. The
skirts of costume stands, constructed as herein before described, are of such a
nature as to be capable of being folded or closed up into a small space when it is
desired to pack them away for travelling or any other purpose. A convenient
manner of constructing the hinge, connecting the ends of the two pieces of wire or
other material of the links hereinbefore mentioned is as follows. The free end of
one of the said pieces of wire is bent into a loop and the corresponding end of the
second piece of wire is bent in a similar manner, the bent portion thereof turning
freely within a suitable bearing attached to the first mentioned piece of wire so
that when the said pieces of wire are brought into an upright position by the
suspension of the skirt of the stand, or, by the latter being placed in any suitable
position for the reception of the skirt of the costume, the bent portions of the two
pieces of wire bear against each other and thus cause the link formed by the said
two pieces of wire to bend or fold only in the desired direction.
When it is desired to so construct the stand in order that the same may be
turned round without moving the support a suitable ring or collar is mounted on
the upper end of the said support in such a manner as to be capable of turning
freely and securely thereon and the skirt portion of the costume stand and also
the bust are connected to the said ring or collar or to attachments thereof.
The upper portion of the support is, in some cases, made telescopic so that the
height of the support may be varied at will.

page_text: I will now proceed to refer to the accompanying drawings from which the
nature of my said Invention will be more clearly understood. The same letters of
reference indicate like parts in all the Figures. Figure 1, is an elevation of a
costume stand constructed in accordance with this invention, and Figure 2. is a
view of the skirt portion thereof when closed up. A. is the bust, B. are the rings
or hoops which constitute the skirt of the stand, C. are tapes connecting the same,
and D. is the support. Figure 3. is a section of the arrangement of mechanism to
allow of the stand being revolved without the necessity of moving the support D.
Around the edge of an aperture in the bottom of the bust is a metal ring or
collar e.-and the same moves upon. a ring or collar which is screwed on to the
upper end of the support and which is shown at f. When it is desired to release
the bust from the end of the support the ring or collar f. is unscrewed therefrom
by, means of the thumb pieces fi. Figure 4, is an under view of the bust showing
a method of connecting the skirt thereto. The top ring of the said skirt is placed
within grooves on the outer surfaces of the plates g. and is then caused to be
clutched by the grooved block h., at the end of the bent spring i., by the lever j.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed I would observe in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original and therefore claim as constituting the
invention secured to me by the said hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent,
are:-
First. The construction of the skirts of ladies' costume-stands of-rings-or hoops
joined together by flexible or folding connections, substantially as and for the
purposes hereinbefore set forth and described.
And secondly. The arrangement of the busts of costume stands on the upper
end of the supports in such a manner that the former can be revolved inde-
pendently of the latter, substantially as hereinbefore described and set forth.
In witness whereof I the said Bernard Sigrist have hereunto set my hand
and seal this twenty third day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
DEDNARD STADIST Gol