IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES OR BANDAGES, AND IN PESSARIES TO BE USED THEREWITH WHEN REQUIRED
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Birkbeck, of the Firm of Tongue
and Birkbeck, of 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agents and Engineers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES OR BANDAGES, AND IN PESSARIES TO BE
USED THEREWITH WHEN REQUIRED."-A communication from abroad by
M. Louis Polydore Grandcollot, of Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 12th September 1862, and dated the 14th March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Henry Birkbeck
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th March 1862.
I, GEORGE HENRY BIRKBECK, of the Firm of Tongue and Birkbeck, of 34,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agents and Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TRUSSES OR BANDAGES, AND IN PESSARIES TO BE USED THERE-
WITH WHEN REQUIRED," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement and combination of a jointed and
moveable pessary, a replacing and graduated relieving apparatus or instru-
ment for keeping the uterus in its place, and intended for the cure of
prolapsus uteri, and to remedy the displacement of that organ. This
instrument is connected to or combined with a double-jointed hypogastrie
bandage, with posterior pad or cushion, by a curved supporting, arm of swan-

page_text: neck form, which fits the the convexity of the pubis, and which can be moved
as required to the right or left in order to adapt itself in the most convenient
manner possible to the intravaginal rod, which carries the bowl or hollow
elastic instrument for supporting the deranged organ. The mode of jointing
the intravaginal rod with the curved arm or swan-neck connection allows the
rod to move freely round its vertical axis, so as to perform the lateral, anterior,
posterior, and all the motions intermediate to them, and, lastly, to describe
a circuitous movement. Two pads or cushions are jointed to the bypogastric
truss, which are capable of being readily fixed and adjusted in any desired
position. These pads or cushions are intended to sustain the weight of the
abdomen, or to exercise a pressure on the region of the anus, or upon any one
or more of such points. The truss or bandage is composed of a cushion;
which takes its point of support on the lumbar region, at which point two
springs are attached; the anterior extremity of which is furnished with two
pads or cushions capable of yielding and being placed in inclined or other
suitable positions. The inclination of these pads or cushions is first adjusted',
and then fixed in the required position by a screw, which produces the
pressure on a ball and socket joint at the back of each pad or cushion, on
which they are capable of rotation. The distance or position of the pads or
cushions from each other can also be varied. The parts are connected
together by a double-hinged joint, and fastened by a spring bolt or by other
convenient means. To the central part of this jointed piece a vertical plate
is fixed by a screw, so as to be capable of adjustment to vary the position of
the parts connected thereto. To the lower ends of this vertical plate the
curved arm which supports the pessary is attached by suitable joints, so that
the height and angle of inclination of the pessary can be arranged and con-
trolled as required. The lower end of the curved arm is formed with a
spherical joint, which supports the intravaginal rod; consisting of a tube
marked with divisions, which indicate the respective heights to which the
hollow bowl or passary can be, raised. Around this there is another tube
formed into a fork at the upper end, to which the hollow, bowl or pessary is
jointed. In the interior of the tube, there is a screw rod, which screws into a
socket, the upper part of which is forked, and is also jointed to the hollow
bowl or pessary, and by giving motion to this, screw. by means of a screw.nut
at the lower end, the inclined position of the hollow bowl or pessary may be
varied. An internal helical spring is inserted in the tube to impart the
vertical elasticity necessary to the intravaginal rod to accommodate itself to
any movement or change of position of the parts. To the back of the hollow
bowl or pessary a kind of prolongation may be applied in the form in the back
.

page_text: of an arm chair, which. serves, in cases of weakness, to raise up and correct the
position of the body of the "uterus.". The hollow bowl or pessary may be
made of elastic or other suitable material, and so constructed that the lower
part may be sufficiently hard to be attached to the mechanism, whilst the
upper surface, which comes in contact with the organs, may have all the
flexibility and softness desired.
The principal features of this Invention consist, first, in the arrangement of
the truss or bandage forined with joints and pads or cushions, which may be
placed in any desired position. This arrangement of parts may be applied to
all instruments or bandages of this character to which they can be adapted.
Secondly, the arrangement and combined action of the pessary, carried by
the curved arn, together with the adjusting plate, the fastenings of which,
fitted to the truss or bandage, may remain fixed, or be allowed to move, to
the right or left as desired.
Thirdly, the peculiar arrangements which admit of the pessary or sup-
porting instrument to be introduced directly or laterally, and so as, afterwards
to be placed horizontally, or at any convenient angle between the vertical and
the horizontal positions after its introduction.
Fourthly, the mode of jointing the intravaginal rod with the curved arm,
so as to allow the rod to move freely round its vertical axis to perform any
desired movement.
Lastly, the apparatus may be varied in size, form, and material, and the
curved arm and intravaginal rod may be made of gold, silver, or other
suitable inoxydisable metal or material. The pessary or supporting bowl or
instrument may also be made of the same materials, or of ivory, caoutchouc,
gutta percha, or other suitable substance.
0 %
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Henry Birkbeck in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY BIRKBECK, of the Firm of Tongue and Birkbeck; of 34, Southampton
.Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents &
Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
5 Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord. One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
'me, the said George Henry Birkbeck, Her special license that I, the said
George Henry Birkbeck, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Henry Birkbeck, 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 TRUSSES OR BANDAGES, AND IN PESSARIES TO
BE USED THEREWITH WHEN REQUIRED," a communication to me from abroad by
M. Louis Polydore Grandcollot, of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the
.condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Henry Birkbeck, 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 inmediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Henry Birkbeck, 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:-
:
This Invention relates to the arrangement and combination of a jointed and
moveable pessary, a replacing and graduated relieving apparatus or instrument
for keeping the uterus in its place, and intended for the cure of prolapsus
utery, and to remedy the displacement of that organ. This instrument is
connected to or combined with a double-jointed hypogastric bandage with a
posterior pad or cushion by a curved supporting arm of swan-neck form, which
fits the convexity of the pubis, and which can be moved as required to the right
or left, in order to adapt itself in the most convenient manner possible to the
intravaginal rod, which carries the bowl or hollow elastic instrument for
supporting the deranged organ. The mode of jointing the intravaginal rod
with the curved arm or swan-neck connection allows the. rod to move freely.
'round its vertical axis, so as to perform the lateral, anterior, posterior, and all
the motions intermediate to them, and, lastly, to describe. a circuitous movement.
Two pads or cushions are jointed to the hypogastric truss, which are capable
of being readily fixed and adjusted in any desired position; these pads or
"cushions are intended to sustain the weight of the abdomen or. to exercise a
pressure on the region of the anus, or upon any one or more of such points..

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shews a front view of a truss or bandage arranged and constructed
according to this Invention; Figure 2 shews a plan of the same partly in
section; and Figure 3 shews a transverse section of the same; Figure 4 is a
vertical section on a larger scale, shewing the combined action of the intra-
vaginal rod. The other Figures shew some of the parts separately.
The truss or bandage is composed of a cushion A, which takes its point of
support on the lumbar region, at which point two springs M and N are
attached, the anterior extremity of which is furnished with two pads or
cushions B, B', capable of yielding and being placed in inclined or other
suitable positions. The inclination of these pads or cushions is first adjusted
and then fixed in the required position by a screw C, which produces the
pressure on a ball and socket joint D at the back of each pad or cushion, on
which they are capable of rotation. The distance or position of the pads or
cushions from each other can also be varied by varying the points of oscillation
between the slots of the parts E' fixed to the springs M.and N.. The parts. F
are connected together by a double-hinged joint F, and the truss is closed or
fastened by a spring bolt V, or by other convenient means: To the central
part of this jointed piece a vertical plate H is fixed by a screw, so as to be
capable of adjustment to vary the position of the parts connected thereto; G is
a circular disc connected to the part F, as shewn, which serves to receive the
plate H, so as to fix it firmly in position.. The disc G is capable of moving in
on one side or the other, in order to incline the parts carried by the plate H,
as required. The parts are secured in position by the screw I. A number of
holes are drilled in the face of the plate H for the point of the screw G to enter
in order to adjust the height to which the pessary is required to be raised. To
the lower ends of this vertical plate H the curved arm O which supports the
pessary is attached by suitable joints, so that the height and angle of inclination
of the pessary can be arranged and controlled as required. To the lower end
of the plate H the piece K is jointed, which is also capable of adjustment by
means of the screw L. In this manner the arrangement of the pessary may
be inclined more or less in any direction in relation to the plate H when
required. The upper end of the curved arm O enters into a socket in the
piece K, and is fixed in any desired position by the screw P, the end of which
enters a groove formed around the end of the arm 0. The lower part of the

page_text: curved arm O is formed with a spherical joint r, which supports the intra-
vaginal rod R, consisting of a tube r! (formed (with a spherical end r), marked
with divisions, which indicate the respective heights to which the hollow bowl
or pessary X can be raised. Around this there is another tube s, formed into
a fork s' at the upper end, to which the hollow bowl or pessary X is jointed.
In the interior of the tube there is a screw rod c, which screws in a socket, the
upper part of which is forked, and is also jointed to the hollow bowl or
pessary X, and by giving motion to this screw by means of a screw nut e at
the lower end, the inclined position of the hollow bowl or pessary may be varied.
An internal helical spring is inserted in the tube to impart the vertical elasticity
necessary to the intravaginal rod to accommodate itself to any movement or
change of position of the parts. The position of the tube s surrounding the
tube is not changed in relation thereto by reason of the projection a soldered
to the part u entering a groove a¹, as shewn at Figure 4. The screw u is
combined with the tube s, and with the part i, which is retained in the
groove a¹ of the tube z, in order that the two parts may move simultaneously.
The lower part of the tube x is grooved to receive the button k, cut with teeth
to act as a catch for the sliding bolt to lock the parts when in position. The
piece acts as a guide to the screw rod c, the pitch of which is the same as
that of the screwed piece v, and which rod c works in the, tube d, to which are
jointed the forked arms d' attached to the oval bowl X. The tube d fits into
the tube v, as seen at Figure 4. A grooved collar c¹, formed at the lower part
of the rod c, is arranged to receive the ends of the two pins n, which allow of
free rotatory movement, but which at the same time prevent any alteration of
the vertical position. The power of working the rod c is furnished by means
of the button e fixed on the end of the rod f, which is connected to the rod c
by means of projections c². The slotted rod allows the rod c as well as the
piece to which it is fixed to rise or descend as required, and as is hereafter
explained. The spiral spring i, placed between the piece v and the part x,
serves to give the vertical elasticity necessary to the intravaginal rod in order
that it may accommodate itself to the movements of the body. The spring i
always remains in the same degree of tension whatever be the height to which
the bowl or instrument X has been raised by the tube s and parts connected
therewith.
From the previous description it will be seen that by the combination of the
several parts, all the variations necessary for the various functions of the pessary
may be obtained. The power of inclining the bowl or instrument X to any
angle required is obtained by turning the milled button e, which is fixed on the
rod f and tied by the pins c¹ to the screw rod c. This rod c causes the tube d

page_text: with the arms d¹ attached to the bowl or instrument X to ascend or descend
and thus vary the inclination thereof, as shewn by the red lines in Figure 3.
The ascent of the bowl or instrument X, and of the intravaginal rod is
caused by first drawing back the bolt 1 from the notched button k, then turning
this button with the button e. The movement of the screw c and of the piece i
being the same, it follows that the tube s, as well as that marked d, will rise
equally together by keeping the distance of the piece equal in relation to the
tube v, and by preserving the same tension to the spring i. If it be desired to
change the angle of the bowl or instrument X in relation to the horizontal
plane, pressure must be applied to the spring bolt y, which disengages it from
any one of the notches in the sphere r, which allows the operator to change
the position of the rod R and parts connected therewith, as shewn by red lines
in Figure 2.
To the back of the hollow bowl or pessary X, a kind of prolongation may
be applied in the form of the back of an arm chair, which serves in cases of
weakness to raise up and correct or adjust the position of the body of the
uterus. The supporter is rounded and suitably joined to form a continuation
with the rim of the bowl X. The upper part is also slightly inflated in order
to produce a surface that will not injure the patient. The hollow bowl or
pessary may be made of elastic or other suitable material, and so constructed
that the lower part may be sufficiently hard to be attached to the mechanism,
whilst the upper surface which comes in contact with the organs may have
all the flexibility and softness desired.
The principal features claimed under this Invention consist, first, in the
arrangement of the truss or bandage formed with joints and pads or cushions,
which may be placed in any desired position. This arrangement of parts may
be applied to all instruments or bandages of this character to which they can
be adapted.
Secondly, the arrangement and combined action of the pessary X, carried
by the curved arm O and other parts together with the adjusting plate, the
fastenings of which fitted to the truss or bandage may remain fixed or be
allowed to move to the right or left as desired.
⚫Thirdly, the peculiar arrangements which admit of the pessary or supporting
instrument being introduced directly or laterally, and so as afterwards to be
placed horizontally or at any convenient angle between the vertical and the
horizontal positions after its introduction.
Fourthly, the mode of jointing the intravaginal rod with the curved arm so
as to allow the rod to move freely round its vertical axis to perform any
desired movements.

page_text: Lastly, the apparatus may be varied in size, form, and material, and the
curved arm and intravaginal ród may be made of gold, silver, or other suitable
inoxydisable metal or material, the pessary or supporting bowl or instrument
may also be made of the same materials, or of ivory, caoutchouc, gutta percha,
or other suitable substance.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Birkbeck, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
толуава
pessary
instrument
may also be made of the same materials, or of ivory, caoutchouc, gutta percha,
or other suitable substance.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Birkbeck, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
or other suitable substance.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Birkbeck, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
GEORGE HENRY BIRKBECK. (L.S.)