AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE HUMAN BODY AND DRAUGHTING PATTERNS FOR COATS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Schädler, of Langham Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Tailor, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE HUMAN BODY AND
DRAUGHTING PATTERNS FOR COATS."
Sealed the 24th January 1871, and dated the 1st August 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Schädler at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st August 1870.
I, GEORGE SCHÄDLER, of Langham Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Tailor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE HUMAN BODY AND
DRAUGHTING PATTERNS FOR COATS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to obtain the exact proportions of a
person to be fitted with a coat, and to draught the pattern therefrom
with facility and precision, dispensing with the usual systematic
calculations which occupy considerable time, and are nevertheless
mostly inaccurate.
:

page_text: -
My improved method consists in the use of apparatus which being
formed of flexible and shifting pieces and spring clips may be so fitted
against the body of the person being measured as to follow all its
undulations and irregularities. This apparatus consists of two pieces of
cloth or other flexible material herein-after termed respectively front
and back piece, of a waist belt, of spring clips by which these pieces
are fixed without undue pressure upon the body of the person being
measured, and of a piece termed a plummet by which the centre line of
the coat is obtained. These pieces being fitted on the person the position
of the various parts in relation to each other is marked with a piece of 1
chalk or otherwise; they are then removed, laid upon cloth or paper,
the outline of the coat drawn in accordance with these marks and the
pattern cut therefrom.
The formation and application of this apparatus is illustrated on the
accompanying Sheets of Drawing forming part of this my Provisional 1
Specification and on which Figure 1, Sheet I., represents the apparatus
fitted on to a person as seen from the front. A is the front piece or
body; B, B, shoulder straps in connection with the back piece C,
and D, D, collar straps also forming part of back piece C; E is
the plummet which is weighted at the lower end and hangs from the
collar in front for the purpose of obtaining the centre line of the
coat..
Figure 2, Sheet I., is a back elevation of the above. The dotted
lines a, a, show the direction of a measuring tape taken from stud b
in back C over the shoulder and round under same back to stud b, for
the purpose of ascertaining any variation in the height of the shoulders;
F is the waist belt which binds the whole apparatus together when
fitted on, whilst the necessary marks and measurements are made or
taken.
Figure 3, Sheet II., illustrates the manner in which the patterns are 3
obtained from the apparatus after it has been fitted on to a person. The
front piece or body A is first laid down on a piece of cloth, paper, or
other suitable material, and the back piece C is then placed in its
relative position as indicated by the marks previously made whilst on the
person.
Figure 4, Sheet II., shews the manner in which the, height of the
shoulder is accurately obtained, namely, by removing the back piece C
from the position as in Figure 3, and placing it as shown, here the exact

page_text: position is clearly indicated by the chalk line drawn round the shoulder
strap upon the front piece or body A whilst on the person.
Figure 5, Sheet III., shéws the pattern or drawing as described from
the apparatus but with same removed; this pattern is also represented
by the blue lines, Figure 4.
Figure 6, Sheet IV., is the front piece or body A. fitted with sliding
body G, by means of which the exact position, size, and shape of the
arm hole is accurately obtained; c, c, c, are the spring clips which
hold the front piece firmly on the person; d is an opening or slit in
the front piece to allow of the same being drawn in to fit the waist by
the strap e.
Figure 7, Sheet IV., shews the back piece C with shoulder straps
B, B, and collar D, D, also the spring clips c, c, for attaching same to
the person; 6 is the stud from which the exact height of each shoulder
is measured.
Figure 8, Sheet IV., is the waist belt F, at either end of which is a
spring clip c, c, to secure same to body A.
Figure 9, Sheet IV., is the plummet E with hook at one end as
shewn in end view of same, and weight at the other to ensure its
hanging in a perpendicular line.
. Figure 10, Sheet IV., represents an elevation and plan of spring clip
as it appears when closed and extended. These are drawn full size.
This.clip is formed of a metal case C enclosing a piece of elastic or a
coiled spring, one end of which is fixed to the case, and the other end
of which carries two sharp hooks f, f, which take into the cloth, over
which they are stretched by pulling the hook i as at Figures 1 and 2,
and hold the apparatus in position, while the springs permit it to yield
to the movement of the body. The piece G of the front piece A shifting
to and fro in the slide g shown in dotted lines at 9, Figures 3 and 6,
may be used to obtain the size of arm hole of a boy or of a man of any
size, and the other pieces on the Drawing are to a scale which will
permit them to take the measurements of persons of almost any size.
The contour of the front piece A, except as regards the curves for
arm hole in the main piece, and its adjunct G, need not be precisely
as shewn, but be more angular or more rounded as may be preferred.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Schädler in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st January 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SCHÄDLER, of Langham Street, in the County of Middlesex, Tailor, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Schädler, Her special licence that I, the
said George Schädler, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Schädler, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR MEASURING THE HUMAN BODY AND DRAUGHTING PATTERNS FOR COATS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Schädler,
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 George Schädler, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheets
of Drawing and to the figures and letters of reference placed thereon,
similar letters of reference denoting similar parts in each of the Figures
respectively:-
The object of my Invention is to obtain the exact proportions of a
person to be fitted with a coat, and to draught the pattern therefrom
with facility and precision, dispensing with the usual systematic

page_text: relative position, as indicated by the marks previously made on the
person.
Figure 4 (Sheet I.) shews the manner in which the height of the
shoulder is accurately obtained, namely, by removing the back picce C
from the position as in Figure 3 and placing it as shown here. The
exact position is clearly indicated by the chalk line drawn round the
shoulder strap upon the front piece or body A whilst on the person.
Figure 5 (Sheet II.) shows the pattern or drawing as described from
the apparatus but with same removed; this pattern is also represented
by the blue lines, Fig. 4.
Figure 6 (Sheet II.) is the front piece or body A fitted with sliding
side body G, by means of which the exact position, size, and shape of the
arm hole is accurately obtained; c, c, c, are the spring clips which hold
the front piece firmly on to the person; d'is an opening or slit in the front
picce to allow of the same being drawn in to fit the waist by the strap e;
H flap piece giving spring of coat tail.
Figure 7 (Sheet II.) shows the back piece C with shoulder straps
B, B, and collar D, D, also the spring clips c, c, for attaching the same
to the person; b is the stud from which the exact height of cach shoulder
is measured.
Figure 8 (Sheet II.) is the waist belt F, at either end of which is a
spring clip c, c, to secure same to body A.
Figure 9 (Sheet II.) is the plummet E with hook at one end as shown
in end view of same, and weight at the other to ensure, its hanging in a
perpendicular line.
Figures 10 (Sheet II.) represent in elevation and plan a spring clip
as it appears when closed and also as extended; these are drawn full
sizc. This clip is formed of a metal case c enclosing a piece of clastic
or a coiled spring, one end of which is fixed to the case and the other
end of which carries two sharp hooks f.f, which take into the cloth,
over which they are stretched by pulling the hook i as at Fig. 1
and 2, and hold the apparatus in position while the springs permit it
to yield to the movements of the body. It may be sewn on to the
apparatus by the holes m or by the loops n. In this latter case the
tail picce c' of this clip may be suppressed.
Figures 10 (Sheet II.) represent another form of spring clip. a is
the slide to which the hooks or curved needles f are attached; c is a

page_text: guard plate, whereby the hooks when not in use are protected; k, the
metal or elastic spring; 1, a wire loop or eye by means of which the clip
is sewn or otherwise attached to the cloth. The basis of my clips or
catches is the combination of the hooks ƒ with a spring or elastic, and I
would here observe that although I prefer to use clips made substan-
tially as herein described and illustrated on the next Sheets of Drawing,
I nevertheless do not propose to limit myself to their use, but purpose
adopting any kind of clip or catch possessing the requisite strength and
clasticity, and which I may in practice find preferable. The piece G of
the front piece A shifting to and fro in the slide 9 (shown in dotted lines
at g, Figs. 3 and 6) may be used to obtain the size of arm hole of a boy
or of a man of any size, and the other pieces on the Drawing are to a
scale which will permit them to be used for taking the measurement
of persons of almost any size. The contour of the front piece A except
as regards the curves for arm hole in the main piece and its adjunct G
need not be precisely as shewn, but be more angular or more rounded
as may be preferred.
g
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the use of any particular material
for making the various parts of my apparatus, nor limit myself to any
dimensions of parts, and that I claim,—
Firstly. The exclusive use of the front and back pieces, Figures 6 and
7, in combination as at Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, substantially as and for
the purposes herein-before set forth, and whether used in conjunction
with the pieces E, F, or otherwise.
Secondly. The exclusive use of the spring clips or catches, Figures 10
and 104, or their equivalent substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Schädler, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one.
GEORGE SCHÄDLER. (L.S.)