Skirt-measuring device.

(Application filed Oct. 20, 1899.) (No Model.)

<img file="US655960A_D0001.tif" />

THE NORRIS PETER#CO7 PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON. D. C.

United: States Patent Office.

EMMA E. CUNNINGHAM, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SKIRT-MEASURING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,960, dated August 14, 1900.

Application filed Octoter 20,1899. Serial No, 734,218, (No model.)

Io all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Emma E. Cunningham, a citizen of the United States, residing at West Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State 5 of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Skirt-Measuring Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part io of this specification, in explaining its nature.

The invention relates to the herein-described device for taking the measurements for a skirt from the body of a person and from which measurements the pattern from which 15 the skirt is to be cut is drafted or made.

The invention comprises a measuring-band of peculiar character which is adapted to be adjusted to the waist of a person and by the act of adjustment to measure the circumfer20 ence or size of the waist and upon the adjustment to indicate in inches the size of the waist; also, in a second measuring-band arranged about five inches below the waistmeasuring band and adapted to be adjusted 25 about the person being measured at the hips and which upon being adjusted will indicate in inches the size of the person at the hips, the said hip-measuring band being movable in its supports.

The invention further comprises vertical tapes for measuring the length of the person from the waist and hips downward and which tapes are detachably secured to the waistmeasuring band and are also horizontally ad35 justable thereon. These tapes are also arranged to support the hip-measuring band and to be extensible near their lower ends and to indicate upon their adjustment their length. Any desired number between the 40 back and the front upon one side of the device maybe used. I prefer to employ five or six, and each one will indicate .the necessary length to be given the pattern and skirt upon the line of the body over which it extends.

The device aside from measuring the waist is reversible and is employed to first provide measures for one side of the body and then by being turned to provide measures for the other side, where it is supposed for any rea50 son that the sides of the body are unequal in size. Otherwise the measurement of one side or half-will answer for the measurement of the other side or half.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of my measuring device,, 55 representing it in the form in which it would appear when in use. Fig. 2 is a view, enlarged, of a portion of the waist-band, also showing the upper ends of two of the measuring-tapes attached to the waistband. Fig. 60 3 is a view in section, enlarged, upon the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a view in section upon the dotted line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view in section upon the dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a view in section upon 65 the dotted line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

A represents the waist-measuring-band. This band is of any flexible material, and it is adjustable as to length and has means whereby its ends a a'are detachably secured 70 together. A buckle attached to one end with which the other end’may be engaged will answer. I prefer, however, to make the engagement by means of separable fasteners of the ball-and-socket variety, any desired num- 75 ber of ball members a² being secured to the outer surface of one end of the band and a corresponding number of socket members a³being attached to the inner surface of the other end of the band and the members be- 80 ing closely arranged. The outer surface of the band is divided by lines into inch-spaces, which may be subdivided into fractions of an inch, and each space is numbered in any desired order, the purpose of this measure be- 85 ing to permit the size of the waist, in inches and fractions thereof, to be read from the measuring-band after it has been adjusted and also to permit the tapes for measuring the lengths to be properly spaced with re- 90 spect to each other about one side of the body. The waistband also bears means by which the measuring-tapes are detachably secured thereto and made horizontally adjustable thereon. Any desired means may be em- 95 ployed for this purpose; but I prefer to use the ball-and-socket fastener and that the ball members be attached to the waistband closely together throughout its length and that the sockets be secured to the upper ends of the 100 measuring-tapes upon their inner sides, so that the measuring-tapes will be attached to

655,960 ο

the outer surface of the waistband. (See Fig. 3.) This provides an easy and desirable method of attaching (he tapes to the waistband and also of permitting them to be de5 tached and removed either to the right or the left, according as the waist may vary in size.

B represents the various measuring-tapes. b represents their engaging devices mounted upon the waistband, and b' the engaging deio vices which are mounted upon their upper ends. These measuring-tapes B are extensible at their lower ends by means of the independent take-up tapes B', and these take-up sections B' are movable vertically upon the lower 15 ends b². They are attached thereto to be vertically movable in any desired way; but 1 prefer a frictional holder of the nature represented in Fig. 5 and which in substance comprises a flat sleeve c, permanently at20 tached to the ends b², and having a sleeve c', through which the upper end b^s of the sections B' extends, and which sleeve has a frictionspring c^s to bear against the said upper end. This provides a structure which will permit 25 of the easy vertical adjustment or movement of the tape-sections B' to any extent desired and will also serve to hold them in place after said movement and will also by their upper or tab ends afford means by which they may 30 be readily moved, and the act of moving or adjusting them at the same time causes the measure to be moved, so that at the end of the movement the measurement of the tapes may be instantly taken. All of the upper sec35 tions of the measuring-tapes are of the same length, and each of the lower sections has upon its outer face a division into inch or other spaces and each of which may bear appropriate numbers, preferably indicating inches.

These numbers begin at the lower end of each and increase as they extend upward, and the measure is read at the line of intersection of the upper end of the said lower part of the tape with the lower end of the upper part of 45 the tape. For instance, in the drawings the said lower ends have as their lowest figure “29” at their lower end and they run upward to about “40.” The “29” indicates the shortest skirt that could be measured. In 50 the drawings the measure is represented as adjusted for a skirt forty-three inches in length at its front. The tapes also support the hip-measuring strap or band D, preferably by means of the loops d, attached to the 55 front sides thereof about five inches from the waistband and in which the hip-measuring band may be drawn horizontally. This band is represented as extending from the rear tape B, which should be at the center of the 60 back, and is adapted to measure the size of a person about the hips, and it bears upon one or both of its surfaces figures indicating its length, preferably in inches.

In use the measure is applied to the body in the following manner: The waistband is 65 adjusted to the waist. Its adjustment will immediately indicate the size of the waist by means of the indicating-figures upon it. The tapes are attached to the waistband, preferably beginning at the center of the back and 70 being spaced from that point as desired. The lengths of the tapes are then adjusted by the adjustment of the lower ends thereof and preferably with respect to the floor, and the lower sections of the tapes may be pro- 75 vided with lead or other weights at their ends, if desired. The hip-measuring strap, which is supported by the tapes, is drawn sufficiently taut to make it conform to the section of the body against which it bears. The va- 80 rious measures, as before stated, are obtained in these adjustments and are then taken or read off and will provide information by which accurate patterns maybe drafted from whicli the skirt will afterward be cut, as it 85 will determine accurately the waist measurement, the hip measurement at a predetermined distance below the waist, and measurements for the length of the patterm or skirt on all needed lines between the back 90 and the front at predetermined intervals or spaces apart. The other side of the body may be measured, if desired, or its measurement obtained by duplicating the measures of the half which is measured. 95