US1196907A - Garment-stay. - Google Patents

Description

F. L. 0. WADSWORTH.

GARMENT STAY. V

APPLICATJON FILED IULYIT; 1912- RENEW ED MN. 14, H6.

1,196,907, Patentedfispt 5,1916;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES v INVENTOR.

,F. L! O. WADSWORTH.

GARMENT STAY.

APPLICATION FILED JULYIZ. 1912. RENEWED 1AM. 34.1916.

1396,96? v PatentedSept. 5,1916.

2 SH LETS-SHEET Z.

WITNESSES:

, a a f @5 wjfflg ms "cams PEYERS ca. Fuamurna. Wasnnvawu, o. c.

INVENTOR.

ATTO NEY. v

UNITED STATES PATENT ornifon.

FRANK L. 0. WADSWORTH, OF SEWICKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE SPIRELLA COMPANY, OF MEADVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, A

CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

GARMENT-STAY.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

Application filed July 17, 1912, Serial No. 710,006. Renewed January 14, 1916. Serial No. 72,180.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK L. O. WADS- WORTH, a resident of Sewickley, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsyl-.

Vania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Garment-Stays, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to the construction of stays or stiffeners for corsets and other garments or wearing apparel, and particularly to those forms of stay which are formed of one, two or more wires bent or coiledto form a flat spring having two series of curved loops or eyes lying at the edges of the stay and an intermediate series of transverse crossing portions connecting these loops or eyes.

The general objects of the invention are to provide a stay having greater stifiness as Well as greater resiliency than stays of the same weight, as heretofore constructed; and also to provide a stay construction in whlch the resistance to bending in difierent directions-can be widely varied without altering the general form: of the stay or the general arrangement of the edge loops and crossing portions. To accomplish these objects I construct. the stay body of wire having either a substantially triangular or a substantially. trapezoidal cross section and with the: successive crossing portions of the wire body preferably twisted in opposite directionsabout the axis of the wire.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 illustrate plan views of different forms of: stay embodying the invention; Fig; 4 is across section on the line H, Fig. 1;,Fig. 5'is a cross section on the line 55, Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a plan View of another formof stay; Fig. 7 is a cross section. on the line 7-7, Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a plan view of another: form of stay; Fig. 9 isanedge; View thereof; Fig. 10 is a cross section on the line 1010, Fig. 8; and Figs. 11, 12 and 13. are views corresponding respectively to- Figs. 8,, 9' and 10, and representing: another: form of' stay. I

The-stay shown-in Fig. 1 is composed of a single wire 1, bent alternately back and for-th'to form two series of oppositely disposed loops or eyes 2 with the transverse portions or crossings3 substantially normal to-the longitudinal axis of the stay.

Fig. 2 shows another form of stay also formed from a Wire 1, bent alternately back and forth to form the two series of oppositely dlsposed loops or eyes 2, which are of bulbous or general pear shape so that the edges of adjacent loops or eyes overlap, as at 4, the crossings 3 in this case being reversely bent or of general S-shape.

Fig. 3 shows still another form in which the stay is composed of two wires 1 and'l each bent alternately in opposite directions to form two series of oppositely disposed eyes 2, and in which the twowires are interlaced in such a manner that the loops or eyes in one wire bridge the spaces between the loops or eyes in the other wire, adjacent loops or eyes in the stay structure overlapping, as shown.

Many other forms of stay can be formed to embody the invention, and the same may be formed either of one wire or any plural number of wires.

The stays illustrated are all flat wire springs and preferably will be slightly concaved, that .is, the transverse portions or crossings 3 will be slightly deflected out of the flat plane of the stay toward one side, as shown in Fig. 4. The effect of this is to give the stay a transverse curvature corresponding somewhat to the contour of the body, and also renders the stay stiffer.

The wire from which the stay is formed is of triangular or trapezoidal form'in cross section, either a triangle, as shown in Fig. 13, a square, as shown in Fig. 5, a parallelogram, as shown in Fig. 6, or a rhomb. or rhomboid, as shown in Fig. 10. The corners are rounded off so as not to leave sharpedges which would cut into the fabric of the garment. With triangular, square, rectangular, rhomboidal or other trapezoidal form of wire, a Very considerablev portion of the metal is disposed at a greater distance from the neutral axis than is the case with round wire, and this is of advantage in enabling the metal sections to better resist both the bending and the. torsional stresses to which they are subjected in edgewise and in flatwise bending. Thus in all of the stays illustrated edgewise fiexurez. e., flexure in the general plane of the stay bodyis taken care of by the transverse bending or flexure of the portions of the wire forming the edge loops or eyes, and the resistance of these portions to such bending or flexure may be greatly increased by forming them with the longer axis of the wire section parallel to the general plane of the stay, as shown particularly in Figs. 6 and 9, an arrangement only possible when the wire is of other than circular cross section. In these stays flatwise flexures-z'. 6., flexure at right angles to the general plane of the stay body-is taken care of largely, if not entirely, by the twisting or torsional action of the transverse portions or crossings, and here again the disposition of the metal at as great a distance as possible from the neutral axis of the section very considerably increases the resistance of that section to torsional or twisting stresses; This effect is most pronounced with the triangular form of Wire shown in Fig. 13, where the maximum amount of the metal is disposed at a maximum distance from the axis of twist. The effect diminishes as the number of s ides of the polvgon or cross section increases. Preferably, wire is used in which the cross section is a polygon of not more than four sides.

To further increase the stiffness of the stay against stresses tending to bending in one flatwise direction and also increase its resiliency and its ability to resist the tendency to take a permanent set or bend when bent repeatedly to short radii of curvature, said wire may be given an initial twist or torsional set in the fabrication thereof, and preferably in the transverse portions or crossings 3, all of said crossings being initially twisted in the same direction, viewing the stay as a whole, as indicated by the arrows on Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This can be readily effected in the fabrication of the stay in various ways, one manner being according to my application Serial No. 706,956, filed July 1, 1912. It is well known that after a wire or rod has been twisted in one direction beyond the elastic limit of the metal, its modulus of elasticity is increased and its resiliency is correspondingly augmented. Under such circumstances it also resists stresses tending to further twist it in the same direction to a greater degree than it resists a tendency to twist it in the opposite direction. Obviously, therefore, a flexure of the stay in the direction to twist the several crossings in the same direction in which they are already twisted will meet with materially greater resistance than a flexure of the stay in the opposite direction. Also, as stated above, this initial twist renders the stay much more resilient when flexed in either direction and the stay will resist taking a permanent set much better than without such initial twistor torsional set.

When. the wire is of a cross section having unequal dimensions, as in the forms shown in Figs. 6 and 10, the wire is so twisted as to maintain the longer dimension of the wire in the eyes or loops substantially parallel with the general plane of the stay body. This is illustrated in Fig. 6, which shows a stay formed of wire having rectangular cross section. In this form of stay the wire of each eye or loop 3 is so placed as to have its longer dimension in the general plane of the stay body, and the intermediate crossings 3 are twisted through either substantially 180 or a multiple thereof. In Fig. 8, where the wire is in the form of a rhomb or rhomboid in cross section the wire is likewise twisted in the crossing portions through either substantially 180 or a multiple thereof. In both of these stays it will be understood, however, that the wire in the successive crossing portions is twisted in opposite directions with reference to the neutral axis of the stay wire, making all the twists in the stay run in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows.

The twist in the stay will be put in such direction as to give the increased stifi'ness and resiliency when the stay is flexed with its concave side on the outside of the curve, so that the concavity supplements the torsional set or twist. The stays are so placed in the garment that the concave side thereof is inward or toward the body of the wearer, and as a consequence, the stay will most effectively take care of the stresses to which garment stays are subjected in actual use. This enables the stay to be either formed of lighter wire than similar stays as heretofore constructed, or if formed of wire of the same cross section or weight will produce a stay which is much stronger, stiffer and more resilient than as heretofore constructed.

The use of wire of a triangular or trapezoidal cross section also enables me to increase the stiffness of the stay against edgewise fiexure by increasing the frictional resistance to the movement of the edge loops or eyes one over the other. For example, in the stay shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, the wire may be either a rhomb or rhomboid in cross section and with the longer dimension of the wire substantially parallel with the general plane of the stay body. Successive eyes or loops 2 in this form of stay also overlap each other longitudinally of the stay body, as at 4, and, as shown in Fig. 9, this brings the inclined faces or surfaces 5 of the wire into fairly close juxtaposition and parallel with each other. On edgewise flexure of the stay, the inclined side face or surface on each loop or eye rides or slides up on the inclined face or surface of the adjacent loop or eye. Thus each loop or eye is pinched, as it were, between the two adjacent loops or eyes on opposite sides thereof. Moreover, edgewise fiexure of the stay causes each loop or eye to be slightly tilted or rotated out of its normal inclined position with reference to the stay body, until it assumes substantially the position indicated in dotted line in Fig. 9. This move ment is, of course, resisted by the torsional strength of the crossing portions 3. With a stay constructed as described edgewise flex ure of the stay is, therefore, resisted not only by the inherent resistance of the wire in the eyes or loops to bending, but also by the torsional resistance of the wire in the crossing portions.

To obtain the same efiect when wire of triangular cross section is used, preferably, only every other crossing is twisted, as indicated in Fig. 11. The adjacent fiat surfaces or faces of successive eyes or loops then have full bearing contact with and ride upon each other during edgewise fiexure of the stay, thus increasing its stiffness and resistance to edgewise fiexure, as described.

l/Vhat I claim is 1. A garment stay comprising a fiat wire spring composed of wire of substantially polygonal cross section, the cross sectional dimension of the wire being greater in one direction than in another, the wire being formed into a series of loops, said wire be ing placed under an initial twist or torsional set running in the same direction in corresponding parts of the stay, the wire of said eyes or loops having the longer cross sectional dimension in the plane of the stay.

2. A garment stay comprising a flat wire spring composed of wire of substantially polygonal cross section, with not more than four sides, the cross sectional dimension of the wire being greater in one direction than in another, the wire being bent back and forth into sinuous form to form a series of oppositely disposed loops and transverse connecting portions or crossings, the wire of said loops having the longer cross sectional dimension in the plane of the stay.

3. A garment stay comprising a flat wire spring composed of Wire of substantially polygonal cross section, with not more than four sides, formed into oppositely disposed loops with transverse connecting portions or crossings, the said transverse portions or crossings being under initial twist or torsional set, the twist in all said crossings running in the same direction.

4. A garment stay comprising a flat wire spring composed of wire of substantially polygonal cross section, with not more than four sides, bent to form a series of oppositely disposed loops with the sides of contiguous loops overlapping.

5. A garment stay comprising a flat wire spring composed of wire of substantially polygonal cross section, with not more than four sides, bent to form a series of oppositely disposed loops with the sides of adjacent loops overlapping, the transverse portions or crossings being initially twisted, the twist in all of said crossings running in the same direction.

6. A garment stay comprising a flat Wire spring composed of wire of substantially polygonal cross section, with not more than four sides, bent to form a series of oppositely disposed loops joined by transverse portions or crossings which are initially twisted, said crossings being deflected sidewise out of their normal plane.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

FRANK L. O. WADSWORTH.

Witnesses:

ELBERT L. HYDE, MARY E. CAHOON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patento, Washington, D. C.

Images