An Improvement in Surgical Trusses and Abdominal Supporters.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 11th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 26th Jan., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Surgical Trusses and Abdominal Supporters.
I FREDERICK THOMAS SIMMONS of 52 Rathbone Place Oxford Street
London W. Truss Maker do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
My invention relates to surgical trusses of all kinds as well as to abdominal
supporters and its has for its object to distribute the pressure of the spring to which,
in the case of a truss the pads are attached, over a larger area of the body than is
the case with trusses as at present made, the excessive pressure of these springs on
parts of the body being generally a source of discomfort to the wearer of the truss
and often painful.
To this end my invention consists in providing the spring with a pneumatic
cushion extending over the whole inner surface of the spring and formed in one
with an air pad or pads, the said cushion being furnished with an inlet valve for
the attachment of an air pump by means of which the cushion may be inflated to
any desired degree. The cushion is directly fixed to the spring and it is provided
with a removable sheath, which envelopes the spring and its cushion, made of a
washable fabric (preferably Jaeger material) the elasticity of which will allow for
the pneumatic parts being inflated to their fullest extent and at the same time assist
in keeping the truss in the correct position.
Dated this 23rd day of August 1894.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Surgical Trusses and Abdominal Supporters.
I, FREDERICK THOMAS SIMMONS, of 52, Rathbone Place, Oxford Street,
London, W. Truss Maker, 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 :-
This invention relates to surgical trusses and abdominal supporters, and it has
for its object to prevent excessive local pressure of the spring, particularly on the
bony parts of the body, which is frequently a source of discomfort to the wearer of
the truss and often painful. It has also for its object to enable the pad proper, and
the effective pressure thereby applied, to be readily graduated according to the
amount of support required.
My invention consists of a pneumatically-inflated pad extending, in the form of
a cushion, along the entire inner side of the spring which is preferably of slightly
curved cross section concave on the inner side so as to combine increased strength
with lightness. The pneumatic head or pad proper is formed in one with the
cushion and both are permanently attached to the spring and enclosed in a casing of
[Rice 17

page_text: flannel. Said pad and cushion may be inflated to any degree required to meet the
different stages of hernia, and the soft cushion interposed between the spring and
the body effectually prevents all chafing of the skin and greatly conduces to the
comfort of the wearer.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, wherein
Figure 1 represents the truss complete.
Figure 2 shews a cross section through the pad and inflating valve, and Figure 3 a
cross section of the body-encircling portion, the two latter figures being drawn to an
enlarged scale.
The same letters of reference denote like parts in all the figures.
a is the spring terminating in an enlarged end at 6 to form the backing of the
pad c. This spring (with the exception of the enlarged end b which may be flat)
is made of concavo-convex cross section, as shewn in Figure 3, in order to increase
its stiffness and so enable a lighter spring to be used, and also to afford by its
concavity greater space for the storage of air in the pneumatic cushion. This
cushion is formed of an indiarubber tube d having a bulb-like enlargement at the
one end to form the head or pad, and it is secured in position against the inner
side of the spring by an envelope of woollen fabric cut on the bias.so as to render
it sufficiently elastic, the edges of the envelope being cemented to the back of the
spring with rubber solution and covered with a backing strip of leather or other
suitable material. The valve for the inflation of the pad is seated in the back b
of the pad and is formed of a membrane of rubber e secured over the orifice ƒ of a
tubular plug g screwed into a flanged socket h which passes through an aperture in
the back b and in the rubber bulb and is screwed into a nut i bedded in a thick
washer of rubber cemented to the inside of the bulb portion of the rubber
tube d. The flange h' of the socket bears against the back of the metal plate b
and the rubber is clamped against the inner face thercof so as to make a perfectly
air-tight joint around the aperture. k is a removable plug screwed into the valve
tube to exclude dirt, and 1, l, are washers placed between the several flanges to
prevent leakage. The membrane e is secured over the orifice of the valve tube by
a ligature binding its edges around the undercut sides of a projection on the end of
the valve tube, one edge of the membrane being left free so as to permit the air
pumped in to escape from beneath the membrane into the pad but prevent passage
of air in the reverse direction.
I do not limit myself to a spring of concave section, as an ordinary flat spring
might be used but with less advantage, and although the valve shewn and described
is preferable other forms of valve such as, for instance, a valve commonly used for
pneumatic cushions may be used, provided it does not project too far into the pad,
.as will be readily understood.
It will be evident that in the case of trusses or supporters in which the pad or
head is made separate from the spring my invention is applicable to both the pad
and cushion, being, in that case, separately inflatable and when no spring is used
the invention is applicable to the pad portion only of the truss.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. The application to a surgical truss or abdominal supporter of a pneumatically-
inflated pad for the purpose specified.
2nd. In a surgical truss or abdominal supporter, the combination, with the spring,
of a pneumatically-inflated cushion extending the whole length of the spring, as
specified.
3rd. The herein described surgical truss consisting in the combination, with a
spring, of a pneumatically-inflated combined pad or head and cushion extending
along the spring, as specified.

page_text: 4th. Making the spring of concavo-convex cross section, as and for the purpose
specified.
Dated this 11th day of December 1894.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.