Method of and means for applying electricity to the human body / [Frank Dowling].

  • Dowling, F. (Frank)
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Method of and means for applying electricity to the human body / [Frank Dowling]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    V, l Date of Application, 23rd May, 1893 Complete Specification Left, 30th Nov., 1893—Accepted, 3rd Feb., 1894 PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. Methods of and Means for Applying Electricity to the Human Body. I, Frank Dowling, of Marie Villa, 23, Mayola Road, Lower Clapton, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :— The object of my invention is to provide improved electric appliances to be 5 attached to, or form part of belts, corsets, or under-garments, or which may be worn independently of either, by persons of either sex, and by means of which electricity may be obtained for curative or other purposes, in a simple manner. In carrying out my invention, I avail myself of static electricity and use a non¬ conducting material upon which it is well known that electricity may be obtained 10 by friction, and I arrange that the necessary friction may be obtained by the movement of the body of the wearer. For the purposes of my invention, I use' discs/ rods, or sheets of a convenient size and shape, composed of ebonite, amber, sealing-wax, glass, ivory, shellac resin, caoutchouc, or gutta-percha, or any good electric compound, such as a mixture of 15 shellac, gum-mastic, Venice turpentine, and marine glue. In practice, I prefer to use ebonite discs, rounded on the edges, except in some cases where a flexable material is more suitable. My appliance for wearing next to woolen or silk under-garments may consist simply of a disc or sheet of ebonite, or other non-conducting material mentioned 20 above, provided with elastic bands or cords capable of being attached to the under¬ garments, or suspended from the body of the wearer in such a manner that friction may be set up between the non-conducting disc or sheet and the under-garment in consequence of the various movements of the body of the wearer. In order to make my appliance self-contained, however, I prefer to enclose an 25 ebonite disc in a case of leather or other suitable material, somewhat larger than the disc and provided with one or more openings on one side. I insert a flannel or silk pad in this case, so that the disc will be free to move about in the case and rub upon the pad, and to facilitate this movement I may suspend the disc in the case by elastic cords. This appliance is provided with 30 elastic bands for attachment in the same manner as hereinbefore described, and one or more of these appliances may be worn in any desired position. In forming an electric belt according to my invention, I provide a number of these discs, which I couple together or attach separately to a suitable band preferably of an elastic material and I fix a number of flannel or silk rubbers under 35 these discs in such a manner that friction may be caused between the rubbers and discs when the band or belt is expanded. In the same manner I form an appliance specially suitable for ladies by the attachment of a number of discs to a corset instead of a belt, but I may prefer to use a flexable material such as hereinbefore described, in place of ebonite discs. 40 The discs or sheets as hereinbefore described may be perforated with a number of holes, and sometimes I fix a metal plate on one side when it is not used as a rubbing surface. It will be readily understood that rods, rollers or rectangular sheets of any of the above materials may be substituted in place of discs for the purposes of my 45 invention. In some cases I provide sheets of tin-foil and parchment between the flannel silk rubber and the material to which it is attached but this is not essential. [Price 8c?.]