US40355A

US40355A - Improvement in hoop-skirts

Info

Publication number: US40355A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1863-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 1880-10-20

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CESAR NEUMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN HooP-sKmTs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,355, datcd October 20, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, (LESER NEUMANN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hoop-Skirts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification. in which- Figure l represents a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference in both views indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to make the waist-band and the bustlerings of a hoopskirt self-adjustable, according to the varying thickness ofthe body of thewearer. In order to effect this purpose, it is not sufficient to make the'waist-band alone self-adjusting, because by increasing the length of the same the rotation of its different parts toward the adjoining ring is changed, and unless the length ofthe ring is increased in a corresponding ratio a strain is exerted on the tapes connecting said ring with the waist-band, and said tapes are liable to tear offin a short time. This difficulty is avoided and the object of the invention fully attained by making both the waist-band and the bustle-rings self-adjustin g in such a manner that the various parts of the same retain the same relative position toward eachother, and the tapes are not eX- posed to an undue strain whether the length of the waist-band be increased or decreased, and the proper shape of the skirt is preserved.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A is the waist-band, from which the bustlerings B B and the hoops C are suspended by means of tapes D in the ordinary manner. The waist-band A is provided with three (more or less) elastic strips, a c', which are secured to the leather or other material from which the Waist-band is made by stitching or in any other desirable manner. The elastic strips are made of shirred india-rubber or other suitable material sufficiently strong to give a firm hold to the Waist-band around the body of the person wearing the same, and at the same time allowing said waist-band to stretch easily and to accommodate itself to the circumference of the body.

l The rings B B', which form the bustle of the hoop-skirt, are made of two or more parts, which are connected to each other by sliding clasps b b, allowing said rings to expand or contract at pleasure. The clasps b are in line with the elastic strips a on the sides of the waist-band, and the clasps b are in line with the elastic strip a on the back, the tapes D being secured to the waistband and to the rings on the sides of the elastic strips and clasps, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. If the strips a expand, and the next adjoining ring, B, was not allowed to expand correspondingly, a strain would be exerted on the tapes adjoining said strips, exerting a tendf ency to tear them oft' from the wrings or waistband.l This injurious strain would extend in a certain measure to the fastenings of the succeeding tapes and bustle-rings, and, furthermore, the bustle would be thrown out of shape. The same effect would take place if an expansion ofthe strip a in the waistband should take place, and the clasp b would be made rigid. By combining the self-adjusting waist-band with the sliding clasps of the bustlerings, the skirt adjusts itself freely to the thickness of the body, the bustle retains its proper shape, and the tapes are never exposed to an excessive strain.

I do not claim as my invention the use of elastic strips in the waist-band of a hoopskirt, neither do I claim the the `application of sliding clasps to the hoops; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The employment of the self-adjustin g Waistband A, with elastic strips a a, in combibination with the bustle-rings B B, provided with sliding clasts b b', arranged in relation to' the strip a a and tapes D, in the manner and for the purpose substantially as shown and described.

CESAR NEUMANN. Witnesses:

J. W. CooMEs, A. E. BEACH.