Corset Supports.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 13th Feb., 1892
CONI LEIE DIECIFICATION.
Corset Supports.
A communication from abroad by EUGENE PEARL, of 23, Union Square, New
York City, New York, United States of America, Artist.
I, JOHN CORRY FELL, of the firm of Fell and Wilding, of 1, Queen Victoria
Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, 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 devices which are used as corset supports and to prevent
the breaking of the bones and steels in the parts where they usually break, which
may be worn independently of the corset or which may be applied to corsets, to
restore and preserve their strength and shape when the bones and steels have
broken and to prevent the broken ends of the bones and steels from tearing the
under garments, injuring thhody of the wearer or otherwise causing any
discomfort. The object of my invention is to provide such a device which may be
incorporated with the corset in its manufacture or may be applied thereto
subsequently or worn independently thereof and which shall conform perfectly to
all positions of the body without wrinkling, shall not increase the size of the waist,
shall be light, dainty, durable and inexpensive, and will not prevent the corset
from being rolled up as usual.
The base of the improved support or protector is a wire fabric adapted to be
held in place within the corset by suitable means at the parts to be protected.
This I have found to possess the necessary or desirable qualities of lightness,
durability, resistance to the broken ends of corset-bones and steels, and capacity
to conform perfectly to the body in its movements. Other features are added to
produce certain other desirable results, as fully set forth hereinafter.
In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention :
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a corset having my improvement applied
thereto.
Figure 2 is a detail view showing the preferred construction of the support or
protector when manufactured complete in itself ready for application to the corset.
Figure 3 is a face view of the same.
Figure 4 shows a piece of the wire fabric cut in the form which has been found
best adapted for use.
Figure 5 is an inside view of a corset having the support or protector incorporated
therewith in its manufacture, the inner lining being partly broken out.
Figures 6 and 7 show different forms in which the support or protector may be
made up.
Figure 8 shows the protector made up in the form of a belt.
The corset A may be composed of a textile fabric and substantially vertical
steels and bones a, a, in the usual manner. To the inner side of the corset at the
waist, is applied a piece of wire fabric B, preferably of ordinary woven wire fabric
of about the weight and size of mesh of fine strainer sieve.
In order to protect the wire fabric as well as to provide a convenient means for
securing it in place, a covering C is applied over it and may be secured in place
by stitching, as at D. When the support or protector is intended to be supplied
to the user for application to a corset, it is desirable that the wire fabric, cut to
the proper shape, should be protected or covered in order to prevent any injury,
either to the protector itself or to the garment or person of the wearer, which
might result from leaving the ends of the wires exposed. As shown in Figure 2
the wire fabric is secured between two pieces, C and E, of a textile fabric of a

page_text: some what yielding and elastic character, such as stockinet. The three plies may
be secured together in any convenient manner as by stitching, but preferably by
the application to the opposing faces of the covering material of an adhesive
waterproof gum; such as soft rubber, which will not only preserve the pliability of
the shield but will protect the wire fabric from the rusting which might be
occasioned by the dampness incident to the use of the article.
It has been found necessary, in order to enable the support to conform perfectly
and without wrinkling to the double curvature which it must have when applied at
the waist line over the hips, and to enable it at the same time to yield slightly
when the body assumes different positions, to have the piece of wire fabric cut on
the bias, as clearly represented in Figure 4, and for the same reasons to employ
for the covering pieces some yielding and elastic material, such as the textile
fabric known as stockinet, or a sheet of rubber, or other equivalent material.
-see
In some instances or for some wearers it may be considered desirable to supple-
ment the broken steels or bones of the corset by light steels or bones F,-
Figure 6-which may be secured to the support by stitching, or simply by being
placed, with the wire fabric, between the gummed faces, of the covering fabrics
and E. These supplemental steels are placed vertically and impart to the support
an additional stiffness and resilience.
In some cases the covering material may be applied to one side only of the wire
fabric, or slightly overlapping the edge to bind and protect the same, as shown
at I in Figure 7. If the supplemental steels are employed their ends may be
secured beneath this overturned edge, the intention being that the support or
protector should be worn with the covered side next the wearer.
In Figure 8 is shown a support or protector designed to be secured about the
body of the wearer before the corset is put on, fastening devices being provided
for convenience in securing it to the body. It is obvious that this form may be
found useful as an abdominal belt.
From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the improved support
or protector will not increase the size of the waist, that it will not interfere in
the least with the rolling of the corset in small space when not in use, and that it
will not rust. Long continued tests have shown that its use with new corsets will
largely prevent the breaking of the steels and bones, that its use with broken
corsets restores them substantially to their original form, that it absolutely prevents
all injury and discomfort from broken steels and bones, that it will not wrinkle with
long use, and that its presence causes no discomfort whatever to the wearer.
I am aware that has been attempted to make a corset altogether of wire
fabric with a suitable binding, but such a corset is not practically adapted for
actual use and is expensive to manufacture. I am also aware that wire fabric has
been used for bosom cups or pads and that in some cases a wire bosom cup has
been covered with an elastic textile fabric. Therefore do not seek to cover
broadly the use of wire fabric in the construction of corsets. My invention is
limited to the production of an improved protector or support to be applied at the
waist line for the purpose of preventing the breaking of the steels and of preventing
injury to the wearer of a corset having broken steels. Furthermore, I am aware
that protectors for use with the ordinary corsets have been made of textile fabric
alone, of textile fabric with steels inserted and of a more or less stiff sheet of
various materials, such as celluloid, horn, metal &c., which must be molded to the
shape of the body at the point where it is to be applied. However, owing to the
fact that a protector at the waist line must have a curvature on both the vertical
and the horizontal axis, it is inevitable that a protector made of textile fabric alone
or of textile fabric with steels must wrinkle after a few days' wear and will then
become exceedingly uncomfortable to the wearer. Again if it has sufficient body
to give adequate protection against injury by the ends of broken steels it takes up
much room within the corset and is stiff, clumsy and awkward. The protector
which is molded from a sheet of celluloid, horn, metal or other similar material
is thin and light and takes up little room within the corset, but by reason of the

page_text: double curvature which it must have to fit the body it becomes in use a rigid plate
and will not yield with the body in its various movements.
Being cognizant of all these different protectors and of their defects I have
sought to produce a shield or protector which shall be thin, light and thoroughly
efficient, and at the same time shall conform itself to the shape of the body, shall
yield with every movement, notwithstanding its double curvature, and shall remain
always smooth and free from wrinkles. After many and long continued experiments
I have found that all of these requirements are met fully by the protector herein
described and claimed.
I have found, further, that the best results are obtained
when the several plies are united firmly to each other throughout their adjacent
surfaces and this can be done without interfering with the pliability of the shield
and its capacity to adapt itself to every shape and movement, not by sewing the
plies together but by securing them by an adhesive gum.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :
A corset support or protector composed of a piece of woven wire fabric and a
covering of yielding elastic fabric upon opposite sides of the wire fabric, the
opposing faces being closely united as by an adhesive gum, substantially in the
manner and for the purpose described.
Dated this 10th da f T
1000
FELL & WILDING,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 19th Mar., 1892
An Improved Automatic Water Gauge.
1, ALEXANDER GRAY of No. 22 Wentworth Place in the City and County of
Newcastle upon Tyne, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improved application of ball valves, acting auto-
matically to close the steam and water outlets of the gauge in case of a broken
glass, with the advantages of simplicity of construction and facility for clearing
the gauge from dirt or other obstruction without interfering with the automatic
valves.
On the accompanying sheet of drawings my invention is shewn as I propose to
carry it into practical application.
S is the steam cock.
W the water cock.
C C¹ cavities to receive the automatic ball valves.
B & B the ball valves for steam and water respectively.
O & O the outlet passages to gauge glass for steam and water.
SB stuffing boxes with packing glands to receive the gauge glass.
PP screwed plugs for opening, through which the ball valves are inserted into
cavities C & C
P screwed plugs by removing which the steam and water passages from boiler
through cocks S and W may be cleared.
P3 screwed plug by removing which the gauge glass may be cleared down.
BP a small bye-pass, in seat of steam ball valve, to restore the equilibrium
after a new glass has been fitted.
The drawing shews a water gauge in normal working order when, the pressure
of the steam and water in the glass being equal, the two ball valves B & B are at
rest in the bottom of the cavities C & C. Upon the glass breaking the two
ball valves are instantly forced by the issuing steam and water into their
seats in the outlets O and O" as shewn by dotted lines. The cocks being now
closed a new glass is inserted and when the cocks are again opened the ball valves
fall back into the bottom of the cavities the small bye pass BP in the steam valve
seat having allowed steam to pass into the glass and restored the equilibrium. The
seats of the ball valves are shewn slightly inclined to facilitate the return of the
valves into the cavities. It will be seen that in case of obstruction in the passages
of the gauge a wire can be passed straight through the steam and water branches
by unscrewing the plugs P without disturbing the ball valves and also straight
down the glass by unscrewing the plug P³ which, so far as I am aware, cannot be
done with any of the existing arrangements in which automatically closing ball
valves are used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
The application to automatic water gauges of ball valves, so disposed that they
will offer no obstruction to clearing the passages between the boiler and the gauge
aless
and ale through the corre class itself but will instantly close the outlet

page_text: passages between the boiler and the gauge glass upon the latter being broken
substantially as described and shewn.
Dated this 12th day of January 1892.
T. J. DANSON, F. Inst. P.A.,
Chartered Patent Agent, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Agent for Applicant.