Improvements in or relating to Shoulder Braces or Suspenders.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th July, 1897-Accepted, 25th June, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Shoulder Braces or Suspenders.
I, EDWARD FLICEK, of 703, South Canal Street, Chicago, in the County of
Cook and State of Illinois, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
-
This invention relates to shoulder braces or suspenders.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shoulder brace or suspender embodying the
invention.
Fig. 2 is an elevation on a somewhat larger scale, of the spring which is
incorporated in and forms a part of the brace.
The invention consists in the features of novelty that are hereinafter described.
A A are a pair of shoulder loops, each of which is preferably made up of two
straps, a a', both of which are preferably permanently united at a" and one of
which (a) is provided at its front end with a clasp B, through which the other (a)
passes adjustably, the lower end of the strap al terminating in a suspender
strap C, which latter is itself adjustable by a sliding clasp D of any suitable con-
struction. At back each of these two loops A is secured to the upper end of
one of the two branches of a spring E, to the lower end of which spring the back
suspender strap F is secured, said strap being in itself adjustable by means of
an adjustable clamp f of any suitable construction. The spring E is constructed
of a piece of spring wire coiled at its middle to form an eye e from which the
two branches el of the wire proceed upward crossing each other at the point ell
whence they diverge to the points e, at which points they are bent slightly
resulting in converging portions e³, above which the wire is again bent or doubled
upon itself to form depending portions es which are practically parallel with
each other, and below which the wire is again doubled upon itself so as to form
upwardly extending portions e5, the portions e³e and uniting to form eyes
through which the straps of the loops A are passed, said loops being preferably
permanently secured therein by stitching as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.
I prefer to construct this spring precisely in the manner above described and as
shown in the drawing, but I desire to have it understood that in its broadest
aspect the invention is not limited thereto, but on the contrary comprehends a
spring of any construction that affords at the lower end means for attaching
thereto a back suspender strap and which has two substantially upright yielding
branches proceeding upward from the back suspender strap to a point approxi-
mately between the shoulder blades, each of said branches having one of the two
shoulder loops attached to its upper end substantially as already described, so
that when the shoulders are thrown forward, carrying the loops with them, the
upper portions of the two branches of the spring will yield as indicated by
dotted lines in Fig. 2, the recoil of the spring tending constantly to draw the
shoulders back.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A shoulder brace or suspender having in combination, a back suspender
strap, a spring to which said strap is secured, whence the spring proceeds upward
in the form of two substantially upright yielding branches which terminate at
a point approximately between the shoulder blades and a pair of shoulder loops
each loop being secured to the upper end of one, and only one, of the branches
of the spring so that when the loops are drawn apart the two branches of the
spring will be deflected laterally, substantially as set forth.
"
2. A shoulder brace or suspender having in combination a back suspender
strap, a spring to which said strap is secured whence the spring proceeds upward,
in the form of two substantially upright yielding branches which cross each other
and terminate at a point approximately between the shoulder blades, and a pair
of shoulder loops each loop being secured to the upper end of one and only one
of the branches of the spring so that when the loops are drawn apart the two
branches of the spring yield laterally substantially as set forth.
3. A shoulder brace or suspender having in combination a pair of independent
shoulder loops a back suspender strap and a spring through the medium of which
said loops and strap are connected said spring being formed of a single piece of
wire bent at its middle to form an eye to which the back suspender strap is
secured whence it proceeds upward in the form of two substantially upright
yielding branches which cross each other above said eye and terminate at a point
approximately between the shoulder blades each shoulder loop being secured
to the upper end of one and only one of the branches of the spring so that when
the shoulder loops are drawn apart the two branches of the spring will yield
laterally substantially as set forth.
4. In a shoulder brace or suspender the combination with shoulder loops and
back suspender strap of a spring to which both loops and strap are fastened so
that while the spring is substantially unyielding vertically it will yield laterally
for the purpose described.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete
shoulder brace or suspender substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 10th day of T..11007