IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS AND CORSETS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas, of No. 128, Cheapside, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS AND
CORSETS."
Sealed the 1st February 1876, and dated the 9th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th December 1875.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS, of No. 128, Cheapside, in the City of London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STAYS AND CORSETS," to be as follows:-
-
In stays and corsets besides the busk and broad stiffening pieces thin
narrow strips of whalebone have heretofore been inserted in the fabric to
form stiffening ribs throughout, affording the requisite stiffness and
elasticity, and on account of the scarcity of whalebone horn or cane has
been employed for the purpose. It has been found, however, that the
horn or cane is very liable to break when subject to flexure. Now
according to my present Invention I employ narrow thin strips of steel
in place of the said strips of whalebone, horn, or cane, whereby I attain

page_text: If
great strength and clasticity without such liability to fracture.
requisite I strengthen these steel strips in the middle of their length by
placing short additional steel strips upon them at that point, such
additional strips being secured in place by sewing the fabric.
In order to prevent the steel strips from rusting I prefer to coat them
with a less oxidisable metal, either by any suitable known electro-
plating process or by tinning.
°
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS, of No. 128, Cheapside, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five,
in the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Thomas, Her
special license that I, the said William Thomas, executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Thomas, 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 Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS AND CORSETS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Thomas, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Thomas, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In stays and corsets besides the busk and broad stiffening pieces thin
narrow strips of whalebone have heretofore been inserted in the fabric
to form stiffening ribs throughout, affording the requisite stiffness and
elasticity, and on account of the scarcity of whalebone horn or cane
has been employed for the purpose. It has been found, however, that
the horn or cane is very liable to break when subject to flexure. Now
according to my present Invention I employ narrow thin strips of steel,
drawn from wire so as to have rounded edges, in place of the said strips
of whalebone, horn, or cane, whereby I obtain great strength and
elasticity without such liability to fracture, while the rounded edges of
the steel prevent any tendency to cut the cloth. The steel strips may
vary from 1/16th to 16th of an inch in width, and may be of a thickness
varying from 26 to 32 gauge. If requisite I strengthen these steel
strips in the middle of their length by placing short additional steel
strips upon them at that point, such additional strips being secured in
place by sewing the fabric.
In order to prevent the steel strips from rusting I prefer to coat them
with a less oxidisable metal, either by any suitable known electro-
plating process or by tinning.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I make no
claim to the use in stays and corsets of such comparatively wide and
strong strips of steel as are employed for busks and the like, but I claim
the use in stays and corsets of fine and narrow strips of steel, substan-
tially as I have herein described in lieu of the whalebone, horn, or cane
usually employed as stiffening ribs.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
sis