IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES FOR THE CURE OR RELIEF OF HERNIA
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Timon Cornelis Schoevers, of the
Hague, in the Kingdom of Holland, Surgeon, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES FOR THE CURE OR RELIEF OF HERNIA."
Sealed the 21st March 1873, and dated the 8th January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Timon
Cornelis Schoevers at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 8th January 1873.
I, ALEXANDER TIMON CORNELIS SCHOEVERS, of the Hague, in the
5 Kingdom of Holland, Surgeon, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES FOR THE CURE OR RELIEF OF HERNIA,"
to be as follows:-
―:
My Invention has for its object the production of a truss which in
use shall exert the necessary pressure at the required point, and at the
same time shall not be liable to displacement by the motion of the body
of the wearer.
'

page_text: My said Invention has reference wholly or mainly to that part of the
truss called the pad or cushion, and consists in making the said pad or
cushion in the following manner:-I make the back of the pad of a
series of radial spring arms connected to a central plate. The ends of
the spring arms are expanded in breadth and slightly turned up. The
said springs and central plate are bent so as to give the whole a dome-
like figure. The said springs and central plate may be made in one piece
by cutting out from thin sheet steel. The outline of this spring back
of the pad may either be circular or elliptical. Within the said dome or
spring back is a coiled spring of a conical figure, the apex of the cone
being connected to the centre of the plate forming the summit of the
dome. The base of the conical spring carries a small metallic plate,
which, when the spring carrying it is uncompressed projects a short
distance beyond the plane in which the ends of the spring arms are
situated. The parts described are contained within a case or cover of
vulcanized india-rubber. The pad is connected to the spring band,
which passes round the body of the wearer by a connection at its back,
which allows the said pad a considerable range of motion about the end
of the spring band. The face of the pad of the truss is of a slightly
convex figure, the central part being made to project considerably by the
pressure of the conical spring.
In applying my improved truss the central part of the face of the
pad is applied to the centre of the rupture, the spring band being
attached to the body of the wearer. The said spring band presses the
pad against the body, and the result of the pressure is that the edge of
the pad is thereby pressed all round against the body, thus fixing the
position of the pad by the hold which the edge of the pad acquires on
the flesh of the part to which it is applied.`
By my improved truss the pressure is applied to the rupture at the
precise point required, and the position of the pad is so secured that
there is no risk of its displacement by the motion of the wearer's body.

page_text: ATION pursuance of the Comumtions OT DIC LOUIS OLD,
filed by the said Alexander Timon Cornclis Schoevers in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 2nd July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
TIMON CORNELIS SCHOEVERS, of the Hague, in the Kingdom of Holland,
Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alexander Timon Cornelis Schoevers, Her
special license that I, the said Alexander Timon Cornelis Schoevers, my´
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Timon Cornelis Schoevers, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES FOR THE CURE OR RELIEF OF
HERNIA," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Timon Cornelis Schoevers, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Timon Cornelis Schoevers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
My Invention has for its object the production of a truss which in use
shall exert the necessary pressure at the required point, and at the same
time shall not be liable to displacement by the motion of the body of
the wearer.

page_text: My said Invention has reference wholly or mainly to that part of the
truss called the pad or cushion, and consists in making the said pad or
cushion in the following manner :— -I make the back of the pad of a
series of radial spring arms connected to a central plate. The ends of
the spring arms are expanded in breadth and slightly turned up. The
said springs and central plate are bent so as to give the whole a dome-
like figure. The said springs and central plate may be made in one piece
by cutting out from thin sheet steel. The outline of this spring back
of the pad may either be circular or elliptical. Within the said dome
or spring back is a coiled spring of a conical figure, the apex of the cone
being connected to the centre of the plate forming the summit of the
dome. The base of the conical spring carries a small metallic plate,
which when the spring carrying it is uncompressed projects a short
distance beyond the plane in which the ends of the spring arms are
situated. The parts described are contained within a case or cover of
vulcanized india-rubber. The pad is connected to the spring band,
which passes round the body of the wearer by a connection at its back,
which allows the said pad a considerable range of motion about the end
of the spring band. The face of the pad of the truss is of a slightly
convex figure, the central part being made to project considerably by the
pressure of the conical spring.
In applying my improved truss the central part of the face of the
pad is applied to the centre of the rupture, the spring band being
attached to the body of the wearer. The said spring band presses the
pad against the body, and the result of the pressure is that the edge of
the pad is thereby pressed all round against the body, thus fixing the
position of the pad by the hold which the edge of the pad acquires on
the flesh of the part to which it is applied.
By my improved truss the pressure is applied to the rupture at the
precise point required, and the position of the pad is so secured that
there is no risk of its displacement by the motion of the wearer's body.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in edge view a truss constructed according to my
Invention; Figure 2 represents a cross section of the pad or cushion of

page_text: without its case or cover of vulcanized india-rubber; and Figures 4, 5,
6, 7, 8 and 9 are parts of the same as herein-after explained. The same
letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawing.
a, a is the series of radial spring arms connected to the centre plate b,
the said spring arms and plate constituting the spring back of the pad,
the said spring back having a dome-shaped figure. The said arms and
plate a, b, are made from one piece of sheet steel. The ends of the
spring arms a, a, are expanded in breadth and have a convex or rounded
figure given to them. The dome shaped spring back a, b, is represented
in plan in Figure 4. The centre plate 6 of the dome shaped spring back
is secured between the flat edges of the two cupped metallic plates c, d,
the middle of each plate being hemispherical for the purpose herein-after
explained. The cupped plate c is represented separately in elevation,
section, and plan in Figure 5, and the cupped plate d is represented
separately in clevation, section, and plan in Figure 6. The two plates
c, d, are connected together with the middle part 6 of the dome shaped
back a, b, between them by the screw pins e, e, the concave faces of the
plates being presented to each other. When so presented to each other
and fixed together, a spherical central opening is left between them, in
which the spherical end f* of the connecting arm ƒ fixed on the spring
band works. The arm f,f, is shown separately in Figure 7. Between
the cupped plate c and the head ƒ of the arm ƒ is a filling up piece g,
shown separately in Figure 8. The connection of the spring band h
of the truss to the pad or cushion is thus effected by a joint of the kind
commonly called a ball-and-socket joint, the spherical end f of the arm
f forming the ball part, and the spherical opening between the two plates
c, d, the socket part of the joint. Within the dome shaped spring back
a, b, of the pad is a coiled spring i of a conical figure, the apex of the
cone being connected by soldering or otherwise to the centre of the
cupped plate c. The base of the conical spring i carries a small convex
metallic plate k, which plate k projects when the spring i is uncompressed
beyond the plane in which the arms a, a, of the spring back a, b, are
situated; is the case or cover of vulcanised india-rubber (shown
separately in Figure 9) by which the parts constituting the pad or
cushion are enveloped. The said case or cover 7, besides covering and

page_text: protecting the parts of the pad from injury, also assists in preventing
the pad from getting out of place. The pad or cushion thus made has
a convex figure, the central part being made to project considerably by
the pressure of the conical coiled spring. The shape of the completed
pad or cushion is best seen in Figures 1 and 2. By connecting the pad
or cushion to the spring band h of the truss by the ball-and-socket joint
at its back as represented in the Drawing, the said pad or cushion has
considerable play or range of motion about the end of the said spring
band.
In applying my improved truss to a rupture, the central part of the
face of the pad or cushion is placed against the centre of the rupture
and the spring band is fastened to the body of the wearer. On fastening
the truss to the body the action of the spring band presses the pad
against the body and compresses the arms a, a, of the spring back a, b,
which are thereby expanded or flattened out, and by their elasticity
press every part of the edge of the pad against the body. The
position of the pad is thus fixed by the hold which the edge of the
pad acquires on the flesh of the part to which it is applied, and the
central part k of the pad which has been pressed with considerable force
against the ruptured part by the action of the coiled spring i, is thereby
-prevented from being displaced.
By an examination of the Drawing it will be seen that by the united
action of the spring back or dome a, b, conical spring and plate i, k,
elastic covering 1, and the spring band h, the pad or cushion is so firmly
fixed on the person that it cannot be moved without lifting up the spring
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
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention, but I claim as my Invention of "improvements in trusses for
the cure or relief of hernia,"
-
Firstly. Constructing the pad or cushion of trusses of a dome shaped
spring back, within which a conical coiled spring, having a convex
metallic plate at its base is fixed, and enveloping the whole in a case or
cover of vulcanized india-rubber, the said parts being combined and

page_text: acting substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for connecting
the back of the pad or cushion to the spring band of the truss, whereby
the said pad or cushion has considerable play or range of motion about
the end of the said spring band.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Timon Cornelis Schoevers
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
ALEXANDER TIMON CORNELIS SCHOEVERS. (L.S.)
Vitness,
JACQUES CORNELIS PAULUS HOTZ.