US371444A - Thomas s - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

. S'. GILBERT.

CORSET.

No. 371,444. Patented Oct. 11, 1887.

MUM llll 1 .E i?

N. PEIERs. Fholnhllwgnpher. Washington. I)v Q UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

THOMAS S. GILBERT, OF NE\V HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO MAYER, STROUSE & CO., OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,444, dated October 11, 1887.

Application filed May 16, 1887. Serial No. 238,298. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS S. GILBERT, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Corsets; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, iii- Figure 1, a side view of one-half of the corset; Fig. 2, a transverse section through the body and two of the overlays; Fig. 3, a vertical central section through one of the pockets, showing the overlay and the body of the corset; Fig. 4, a portion of the corset at the upper edge, showing the flap as raised, exposing the upper ends of the pockets and stays; Fig. 5, an inside view of the corset at the lower edge, showing a portion of the flap as turned away to expose the openings through the body into the pocket.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of corsets in which the body is formed from a single thickness of fabric in contradistinetion to two thicknesses of fabric, through which parallel lines of stitches are run to form pockets for the introduction of the stays, but in lieu of which second thickness narrow vertical strips of fabric are placed as overlays upon the exterior of the single thickness and stitched thereto with parallel lines of stitches to form the pockets, the object of the invention being to adapt this class of corsets to the use of steel or what are commonly called watch spring stays as a substitute for bones.

In the use of steel stays it is necessary that the corset shall be constructed so that the stays may be readily removed for laundering purposes; but in the usual construction of this class of corsets the pockets are closed at the top and bottom, so that removal of the stays necessitates ripping the ends of the pockets. Again, under the best usage the watchspring stays are liable to break. It is therefore desirable that the corset should be constructed so that these stays may be readily replaced when broken.

To this end the invention consists in a corset the body of which is composed of a single thickness, combined with vertical overlays upon the surface of the body of the corset, the

said overlays stitched to the body of the cor k set at the lower edge overlapping the openings in the body of the corset upon the inside, as more fully hereinafter described.

- A represents the body of the corset, which is made from a single thickness of fabric, and may be cut from several pieces stitched together or woven or knit to the required shape. Upon the outer surface of the corset, at the points where stays are required, overlays or narrow strips of fabric are applied, B representing the first overlay at, the rear, C the second overlay, D the third overlay, the said overlays C D being one each side the vertical hip-line, and E represents several vertical overlays on the front or breast portion of the corset. These overlays all extend from the extreme lower edge of the corset to a point near the upper edge, as shown, and are stitched to the body of the corset by vertical seams, as shown, forming pockets to receive the stays. These pockets terminate with the overlays at a. point below the upper edge of the corset, and are there left open for the introduction or removal of the stays.

At the lower edge the corset is bound in the usual manner, the binding inclosing both the body and the lower end of the overlays. Upon the inner or reverse side the single thickness or body of the corset is cut through above the lower edge into the pockets, so as to form an opening upon the inner side of the corsct'near its lower edge into the respective pockets. Upon the upper edge a flap, F, is stitched upon the outside to extend down over the upper ends of the overlays, and this strip may be hidden by an ornamental trimming.

Upon the inside of the corset, at the lower edge, a flap, G, is stitched to the corset, may

be included in the binding, and extends up above theopenings in the body of the corset, and is secured to the corset by lacings, as shown, or otherwise.

The stays, which are made of strips of fine steel commonly called watch-spring, are introduced into the pockets either at the top or bottom. The stays, when in place, extend at their lower end below the pocket-opening on the inside of the corset and to the bottom of the pocket, so as to prevent their working downward. At the upper end they are cov' cred by the flap F, as shown.

The stays are readilyremovcd by raising the flap at the top and withdrawing them from their respective pockets. If a stay breaks, the break occurs at the waist-line'or at the short bend. In either case the parts may be removed, the one from the top and the other through the opening in the body of the corset upon the inside, and a new one may be introduced at the upper end of the pockets, asbefore described. This construction makes a very light corset adapted to the use of watchspring stays.

I vdo not claim, broadly, a corset having the body composed of a single thickness of fabric with overlays stitched thereto to form pockets for the stays, as such, I am aware, is not new.

I am also aware of United States Patent No. 357,356, and do not claim anything therein shown or described. The corset is composed tinuous upper edge, leaving the vertical pockets formed'between the two thicknesses open- 4o ing at the edge of the shorter thicknesses respectively, and distant from the edges proper of the corset, the present invention differing from that of the said patent in that the corset is composed of one thickness only, with narrow overlays, which must extend to the lower edge of the corset only and cannot project beyond it; hence the openings into the pockets must be cut throughthe single thickness or body of the corset into the pockets; but

What I do claim is- A corset the body of which is composed of.

body constructed with openings on the reverse side above the lower edge of the corset into the said pockets, and a flap secured to the upper edge of the said body and extending down over the upper ends of the said overlays, with stays in said pockets, all substantially as described. a

, THOMAS S. GILBERT.

Witnesses:

FRED C. EARLE, J. H. SHUMWAY.

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