US361042A - Elastic stocking - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

C. P. BENNETT- ELASTIG STOGKING. K No. 361,042. Patented Apr. 12, 188.7.

March 14, 1876.

^ IINITED STATI-s Pn'rniwrl OFFICE.

CHARLES F. BENNETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELASTIC STOCKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,042, dated April 12I 1887.

Application filed October Q5, 1886. Serial No. 217,177. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elastic Hose, of which the following is a specification.

The object of myinvention is to make an elastic hose for use as a surgical appliance which shall avoid the inconvenience of having the seam over the cords of the foot at the rear of the ankle orl over the ankle-joints at the sides, and at the same time permit the taking out and replacing of the portion at the rear of the heel as the same may become worn without injury to the stocking; and my invention consists in the features and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows the hose in place on the foot, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hose as the same appears when lying with the rear portion up.

A is the upper portion of the sock; B, the foot; C, the heel-piece; D and F, seams, and E the opening at the heel. l

In knittingelastic hose the material out of which it is composed,together with the threads of rubber or other elastic material, are woven into a piece of cloth of the proper width and shape to form,when folded and sewed together, a sock or stocking to t the foot or portion of the limb for which it is intended. As commonly made, the seam where the edges of the material are sewed together passes directly up the back of the heel and over the cords at the back of the ankle, so that in use it is apt to chafc and hurt at thispoint. The inconvenienee of this arrangement has been attempted to be obviated in certain cases by weaving the material so as to throw the seam at one side, as in the patent to Cyrus Hoult of February 9, 1886, and in some cases at both sides of the ankle, as in the patent to Edward Tivey of In none of these cases, however, has that portion of the hose immediately in the rear of the heel, where the wear occasioned by the slight movement of the heel up and down in the shoe takes place, been made in a separate piece, so that when it becomes worn it can be removed and a new piece inserted without injury to the stocking. In

these patents and in all the cases of which I have any knowledge this portion, when worn, has to be cut out, leaving ragged edges, which cause the hose to unravel and impair its use, notwithstanding another may be sewed in place. y

In making my hose I knit or weave the sam'c with the'seam D running from one end of the material to the other. The width of the material is varied from time to time to conform to the shape of the foot or limb to be tted. After weaving enough to cover the foot, I di` -minish the width of the material, asindieated by the heavy line E, after whichl I weave the material of the diminished width until, preferably, I have reached a point about corresponding with the ankle joint when the hose is on the foot, after which I prefer to gradually increase the width of the material by adding to each side until it is of sufficient width to t the limb when the edges are brought and sewed together, though, if preferred, in the case of short socks, the parts need not converge together, and the piece C may extend to the top. When sewed together, the material woven with converging edges forms, when lying fiat, an ar ticle like that shown in Fig. 2, with the piece marked C omitted. If it should be put on the foot in this condition, t-he rear of the heel and ankle would be left uncovered. To supply this omitted portion of the hose I weave a separate piece of the proper length and width to ill the space left in weaving the main portion of the hose, as shown by the letter C in Fig. 2. This piece. C is made with a selvage or finished edge, and all of the edges of the main portion of the hose are also made with a selvage or finished edge. To complete the hose, the piece C is sewed in place when the other parts are stitched together. In this way the hose is nished complete and ready for use.

In weaving the material forthe main part of the hose, and when I diminish its width, as shown at E, I am careful to make the material sufficiently wide to cover'the ankle-j oints when brought and sewed together. This brings the seams caused by sewing in the piece C in the hollow at the rear of the ankle-j oints, and prevents the irritation and chaiing at these joints, which stockings as now made are apt to occa- ICG sion. There are several advantages resulting from thus weaving the hose in two distinct parts of the proper shape to be sewed together in making the completed article. As the portion of the hose at the rear of the heel and ankle becomes Worn, it can be removed by taking out the stitching Without cutting orin any Way impairng the other parts of the hose and a new piece can be sewed in. No ragged edges are made, and no trouble is experienced in removing a worn and inserting a new piece, and if the ankle should become swollen or diminished in size, so that the hose as originally made would be too small or fail to fit the parts with that closeness necessary in articles of this kind, the difficulty can be easily remedied by inserting a larger or smaller piece, C, as the case may require.

\Vhen I speak of covering the foot or limb, I do not mean a complete covering, but only the parts necessary to be covered by the stocking, and when I speak of thc seams in the rear of the ankle-joint converging into one seam I mean that they come into the main seam before reaching thetop of the stocking, though at what point or at what angle they approach the main seam-Whethcr acute, obtuse, or right-isimmaterial.

W'hat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Au elastic stocking consisting of a main part covering the foot and limb and a minor part covering the rear of the ankle, said parts being made separately and sewed together in the completed article by seams in the rear of the ankle-joints converging into oneseam, substantially as described.

CHAS. F. BENNETT.

Witnesses:

E. F. HUB'HARD, THonAs A. BANNING.

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