US26941A

US26941A - Island

Info

Publication number: US26941A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1860-01-24
Anticipated expiration: 1877-01-24

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT` OFFICE.

JOHN A. WADSWTORTH, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

ELASTIC rnssARY.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. VVADswoRrH, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and Improved Instrument for the Iteduction and Cure of Prolapsus Ut-eri; and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, allusion being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The instrument, to which, in accordance with its immediate operation, I have given the name of uterine elevator, may be said, (for the purpose of rendering my description more intelligible) to consist of eight parts or divisions, viz., A cup, B stem, O supporter, D front strap, E back strap, F side strap, Gr hip strap, and H shoulder strap; all of which are represented in three views; viz., lateral, front, and back views.

Figure l, gives a lateral view of the instrument in its position when in use. Fig. 2, represents the portion of the instrument affixed to the front of the patient; and in Fig. 3, are seen such parts of the instrument as belong to the back of the patient.

The cup is made of some very soft and elastic substance, like vulcanized caoutchouc. It is, in form, like an ordinary church bell inverted, and of such internal diameter and depth as to receive, and tit closely the whole of the cervix uteri of the patient, and permit .the uterus, itself, to press upon its upper portion. The cup, at its margin, is about the one sixtieth part of an inch thick, and is gradually increased in thickness from the margin toward the bottom of it, where it is about one tenth of an inch thick. In the center of its bottom is an aperture of an eighth of an inch diameter.

The stem is a straight tube, its external diameter is half an inch, and its internal diameter one-eighth of an inch, and it is not far from three inches long.

The supporter is a straight tube, twenty inches long, tive-eighths of an inch external diameter, and three-eighths of an inch internal diameter, and has permanently fastened on each of its extremities a piece of narrow webbing, about three inches long, with a button sewed upon it. The stem and supporter should be made of the same sort of material as the cup. One end of the stem is joined to the bottom of. the cup, in such manner that its cavity coincides with the aperture in the bottom of the cup, and

26,941, dated January 24, 1860.

the other end is connected with the supporter, near its center from end to end. I make the cup and stem in one piece, and connect lthe bottom end of the stem with the supporter by a socket which has a ferrule secured to it, and at right angles with it, by small studs, that keep the ferrule one-eighth of an inch oi the bottom of the socket. I then invert the bottom end of the stem into the socket, and secure it there by cement or otherwise, and pass the supporter through the ferrule, which is of such size as to embrace the supporter closely. The socket and ferrule should be made of gold, or some other metal thickly plated with gold. The socket has a small hole in the bottom of it corresponding with the cavity in the stem.

Fig. 4, represents a central and vertical section of the above described portion of the instrument, all of full size; the supporter, however, is curved as in use.

The front strap is a piece of elastic webbing, two inches wide and five inches long; a button is sewed on each corner of one end of it, and several button holes, at different distances from, yet near, the other end, are made along the center of the strap; the end having the buttons upon it is the upper end.

The back strap, is made of webbing, eighteen inches long; three inches of one end, and six inches of the other end of it are two inches wide, and made of elastic mate-l rial; the central portion of the strap is nonelastic. A button is sewed on each corner of the end of the shorter bit of elastic material, and other two buttons are sewed on the same side of the strap, two inches distant from the buttons already placed there, and this is the upper end of the strap. Several button holes are made at a little distance from each other, in the other end of the strap; and immediately above them, on the elastic part, two buttons are affixed, one opposite the other, and both on the same side of the strap with the buttons at the other end of it.

The two side straps are made of webbing, each, one inch wide, and twenty four inches long, having one button hole in one end, several button holes in the other end, and half dozen buttons on the same side, near the middle of it.

The two hip straps are made of webbing also, one inch wide, and fourteen inches long. They have one button hole at one end, and several at the other end of them.

The two shoulder straps, are precisely like the side straps, with the exception of the buttons.

The application of the instrument is thus made: I rst ascertain if the cervix uteri is pendent; if it is not, I place the uterus in its natural attitude. After which I apply the cup, so as to embrace, in its cavity, the cervix uteri, and then by gentle pressure I raise the uterus to its proper place, and in order to keep it there, I put a shoulder strap on one of the shoulders of the patient, and button it to the upper end of the back strap. Then I pass thel remaining shoulder strap over the other shoulder, and confine it by its appropriate button on the back strap, after which, button a side strap to a lower button on the upper end one end of a hip strap to a side strap, near the shoulder strap, and then button the other end of the hip strap upon the lower end of the back strap. The other hip strap should be placed in a corresponding manner upon the other side of the patient. The front end of the supporter is to be buttoned to the front strap, and the other end to the back strap; I then slide the stem (if necessary) along on the supporter, to its proper place, and all is completed.

The different parts of the instrument, are to be varied from the above dimensions, so as to lit the size of the patient.

It will be seen by the above, that l. I claim for my invention the peculiar Jform, and peculiar size, combined with great softness and elasticity, of the cup. Y

2. I claim also vthe method by'which the cup is kept in position, substantially as above specified. v

JOHN A. WADSWORTH.

Witnesses:

JAMES TILLINGHAST, GEORGE ALDRICH.