IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TAKING THE MEASURE- MENTS FOR COATS AND OTHER GARMENTS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TAKING THE MEASURE-
MENTS FOR COATS AND OTHER GARMENTS."-A communication from Lyman
Derby, of New York City.
Sealed the 25th September 1857, and dated the 15th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th April 1857.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,. do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TAKING THE
MEASUREMENTS FOR COATS AND OTHER GARMENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in instruments for planing and
delineating tailors' measurements for cutting coats and other garments, the.
object being to simplify the operation of cutting out and ensure a perfect fit.
The apparatus consists of a number of graduated rules connected together
and capable of adjustment to indicate the distances between any given points.
To a central rule, which has a hinge joint at its middle, and which I will
call A, two side rules are attached by binding screws. This jointed rule is

page_text: intended to take the measure of the half circumference of the bust of the
human subject just under the arms by means of the setting of the side rules.
These side rules (B, B',) work at right angles upon the rule A, and have
inches marked upon them, commencing at their intersection with the upper
edge of the rule A and counting towards their ends. One of the side rules
(B) is used for measuring the length of waist down the middle of the back.
Upon its lower end and at right angles to it is a sliding rule for the purpose
of measuring the waist point of the back, and on its upper end a curved
sliding rule, which fits the round of the neck, and is used to measure the top
of the back of the coat. A shoulder seam rule, also curved, is secured on
this curved rule by a binding screw; its slide is made quite open to allow
space for adjustment to make a broad or narrow shoulder scam. Attached
by a set screw to one limb of the jointed rule is a shoulder and hip point
sliding rule, the object of which is to obtain the measurement of the width
of the back and locate the position of the arm-hole, also for balancing the
cont, by marking the hip point. The side rule (B) is a breast rule, and its
object is to measure the front of the bust as the complement of the back half
of the diameter of the chest; upon its lower end is secured by a slide and
set screw the front half of the waist rule. This rule works at right angles
to tho rule B, and its object is to ascertain the location of the hip point
upon the Diagram, and measure the complement of the waist measurement.
On the upper end of the rule B is a slide rule, arranged so as to work at
right angles to it, and parallel with the rule A. Its object is to obtain the
line from the collar, and also to measure the length of the coat from the neck
to the hip point or waist, by means of a curved neck sliding rule which it
carries. A curved adjustable sliding rule is carried by the rule A near its
joint. This rule forms the front half of the arm-hole rule. The curve of the
rule is made so as to take the form of the arm-hole by a curved line being
drawn by the point of the dividers through the joint of the rule A a littlo
below and in front of its centre of motion. Upon the upper end of this arm-
hole rule is secured by a loose slide and set screw a curved seam rule, which
has a shape similar to that of the back shoulder seam rule, before mentioned,
and like that works loosely upon its centre, so as to correspond in curve and
length with the shoulder seam of the back part of the coat.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR TAKING THE MEASUREMENTS FOR COATS AND OTHER GARMENTS,"
being a communication from Lyman Derby, of New York City, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :—
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to improvements in instruments for planning and delineating tailors'
measurements for cutting coats and other garments, the object being to
simplify the operation of cutting out and to ensure a perfect fit.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a plan view of the instrument,
showing by the red outlined Diagram the half of a coat; and Fig. 2 represents
the breast and back of a coat. A, A', is a jointed rule, having any required
number of inches (say eighteen inches on each half) marked upon it. - This

page_text: jointed rule is intended to take the measure of the half circumference of the
bust of the human subject just under the arms, by means of rules B' and B
applied to the outer ends of tho rule A, and adjusted by the set screws b, b.
These rules work at right angles upon the rule A, and have inches marked
upon them, commencing at their intersection with the upper edge of the
rule A and counting towards their ends. The rule B' is used for measuring
the length of waist down the middle of the back; upon its lower end and at
right angles to it is a sliding rule C', having a scale of inches upon it for tho
purpose of measuring the waist point of the back, and on its upper end is
a sliding rule E, having a slight curve so as to fit the round of the neck, and
having on it a scale of inches, commencing from the inner lino of the rule B',
and held by a screw e, for the purpose of measuring the top of the back of
the coat. F is a shoulder seam rule, secured on the end of E by a screw f*,
and having its face divided into inches, commencing from the inner edge of E.
The slide of this rule is made quite open to allow space for adjustment to
mako a broad or narrow shoulder seam. D is a shoulder and hip point
sliding rule, having a scale of inches marked upon its face, commencing from
the upper edge of the rule A' and counting towards the ends, and adjusted by
a set screw d³ upon the rule A¹. The object of this rule is to obtain the
measurement of the width of the back and to locate the position of the arm-
hole, also for balancing the coat, by marking the hip point p; and as the two
rules B and D are parallel to each other, and at right angles to the rules
Cand A', it will be perceived, in connection with the operations of the breast
rule B, that the waist, breast, and collar lines or points are curved lines,
which, when fitting upon the rounded bust of the human subject, take the
shape of the body with a graceful and easy fit, and balance the front and
back without bagging or drawing the scams. B is a breast rule, having a
graduated scale of inches marked on it, commencing from the upper line or
edge of the front end of the rule A and counting towards the end. This rule
is secured by a set screw upon the rule A, and its object is to measure the
front of the bust as the complement of the back half of the diameter of the
chest. Upon its lower end is secured by a slide and set screw c³ the front
half of the waist rule C, having a scale of inches marked upon it, commencing
from the inner line or edge of the rule B and counting forwards to its end.
This rule works at right angles to the rule B, and its object is to ascertain
the location of the hip point p upon the Diagram and measure the com-
plement of the waist measurement. On the upper end of the rule B is a
slide rule G, arranged so as to work at right angles to it, and parallel with
the rule A, having a scale of inches marked upon it, commencing from the

page_text: inner edge of the breast rule and counting towards the outer end. The
object of this rule is to obtain the line from the collar, and also for measuring
the length of the coat from tho neck to the hip point p, or waist, by means
of the curved neck sliding rule II upon it, and on which is a scale of inches,
commencing from the upper edge of the rule G and counting upwards. K is
an adjustable sliding rule upon the rule A near its joint. This rule forms the
front half, the arm-hole rule, having a scale of inches marked on it, com-
mencing at the upper edge of the rulo A and counting outwards. This curve
of the rule is made so as to take the form of the arm-hole, by a curved line
being drawn by the point of the dividers through the joint of the rule A a
little below and in front of its centre of motion. Upon the upper end of this
arm-hole rule is secured by a loose slide and set screw a curved scam rule J,
having a scale of inches marked on it, commencing at the lower or graduated
elge of the rule K and counting outwards. This rule has a shape similar to
that of the back shoulder seam rulo F, and like it works loosely upon its
centre, so that the curve and length of shoulder seam of the back part of the
coat when joined together shall correspond.
Tho application and use of this Invention will be best understood by
reference to the following measures taken by the tailor :-
1st. 18 inches half breast measure (waist 16 inches).
2nd. 7
3rd. 10
"
from back seam to head of sleeve.
"
"
4th. 7
"
"
5th. 20"
6th. 5
11
7th. 23
8th. 17
"
"
"
armpit to a marked point (p) on hip bone.
centre of back to point (p) on hip.
nape of neck down back to point (p) on hip.
diameter of 16 inches circumference of the arm-hole.
from nape of neck down front of arm to point (p) on hip bone.
width of top of shoulders, back of the neck.
The usual allowance for overlap and buttoning are added to the breast and
waist measurements.
To apply these measurements, the operator lays the delineator upon the
table and sets the rules B and B on the rule A back nine inches each way
from the joint. Having done this, the rule D is then set forward on A',
<listant from the graduated edge of B' seven and a half inches, to indicate the
"2nd "ineasurement. The rules C' and C on the lower ends of the rules
B and B are then set down eleven inches to get the length of waist, and as
the lower end of the rule B' is contracted towards rule B till the graduated
point ten inches on the rulo D at its point of intersection with the rule C'
strikes the bip point p to mark the "Srd" measurement, and also on the
rule C seven and a half inches to mark the "4th" n:casurement, the rule

page_text: E is then set up nine and a half inches on the upper end of the rule A', thus
indicating the "5th" measurement of twenty and a half inches for length of
waist; the rulo K is next set forward on the rule A towards the joint, so
that between the graduated edges of D and K there is a span of five and
a quarter inches to mark the 6th measurement. The rule G on the upper
end of B is set up, and the neck rule II set forward upon it, so as to indicato
by a line drawn from it to the hip point p twenty-three inches, the 7th
measurement; the front half of the machine is then opened or closed so as to
measure between the neck rule H and intersecting point of rules B' and E
seventeen inches to indicate the 8th measurement of the width of the shoulders
to give the proper balance to the coat. Having done this, the operator out-
lines his patterns with such width of side seams and style of collar as well as
overlap for breast as the fashions may require.
Having now described the Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Taking
the Measurement for Coats and other Garments," and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I clain the jointed rule A, A', in com-
bination with the rules B and B and D, or with either one or more of them,
when used and applied for the purposes set forth.
I also claim the use of the rules B and B and D in combination with the
rules C and C and G and E, or the combination of any two or more of the
said several parts, when used and applied for the purposes set forth.
I also claim the use of the rules H, J, and K in combination with the
jointed rule A when used and applied as set forth.
I also claim the use of the rules E and F in combination with the rule B'
& slide on arm-hole rule K when used and applied for the purposes set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
3
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)