United States patent 903073

by Murray W. Ferris

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
MUR.RAY W. FERRIS, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SHOULDER-BRACE.

No. 903,073. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov. 3, 1908. Application filed June 8, 1908. Serial No. 437,311.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, MURRAY W. FERRIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shoulder-Braces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. The invention relates to wearing apparel, and its object is to provide certain new and useful improvements in shoulder braces, tending to hold the body view the wearer in proper position, with a view to insure an upright, healthy carriage; at the same time allowing sufficient yielding for the comfort of the wearer, protecting the arm straps against perspiration, preventing the shoulder straps from accidentally sliding off the shoulders, and allowing convenient adjust- ment to accurately fit the wearer's body. The invention consists of novel features and, parts and combinations of the same, which will be more fully described herein after and then pointed out in the claims. A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate cor- responding parts in all the views. Figure 1 Is a front perspective view a the improvement as applied; Fig 2 is a rear per- spective view of the same; Fig. 3 is an en larged sectional plan view of the pocket and elastic band of one of the shoulder straps, the section being on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section of the same on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section of one of the shoulder straps. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the shoulder brace in its general construction embraces a girdle A, crossing back straps B, B', shoulder straps C, C' and elastic bands D, D' secured on the terminals of the shoulder straps C, C' and extending into pockets E, E' formed on the back straps B, B', the lower end of the said elastic bands D, D' being secured by stitches or other fastening means F to the pockets E, E' at the lower portions thereof, as plainly indicated in Fig. 3. The girdle A is made m two parts A' A2 fastened together by a lacing G, and the lower end of the back strap B Is removably connected by buttons H or other fastening means to the rear end of the girdle part A'. The other back strap B' is integrally connected at its lower end with

the rear end of the other girdle part A2, and by adjusting the lacing G the parts can be conveniently adjusted to fit the wearer's body, it being understood that for attaching the shoulder brace or removing the same it is only necessary for the wearer to fasten or unfasten the back strap B at the fastening devices H. Each of the shoulder straps C; C' has its tap portion formed of a transversely shirred band C2 connected to narrow strips C3, so that the shirred bands C3 snugly fit onto the top of the wearer's shoulders, and at the same time the shirred or plaited parts securely hold the shoulder straps from slipping off the wearer's shoulders. The portions of the shoulder straps C and C' passing under the arms of the wearer are in the form of pockets C' containing a suitable filling C5 to render the said portions padded and easy under the arms, without danger of chafing the same. The inner sides of the pockets C4 are formed of a waterproof material, so as to render the pockets impervious to perspiration, thus pro- tecting the padded pockets against injury by perspiration. By having the elastic bands D, D' arranged as described, the shoulder straps C, C' can yield sufficiently to allow the desired com fort to the wearer when moving the arms or body. The portions of the back straps B, B' ad jacent to the pockets E, E' are preferably stiffened by whalebones or other stiffeners B2 (see Figs. 2 and 4.) It is understood that after the girdle parts A', A2 are adjusted by the lacing G, no fur ther adjustment is required; and its adjust ment is not disturbed as it is only necessary for the wearer to button and unbutton the back strap B at the girdle part A' after plac- ing the brace in position on the body or pre- vious to removing the same therefrom. Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 1. A shoulder brace provided with shoul der straps having shirred top portions for en gagement with the top of the shoulders to hold the strays against slipping. 2. A shoulder brace provided with shoul der straps widened at the top and each hav ing inelastic narrow side strips, and a shirred band connecting the said side strips with each other. 3. A shoulder brace provided with, shoul-