CATAMENIAL BANDAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.  dated September .
Application filed November 4 1901. Serial No.  (No model.
To all whom it ima7j concern:
Be it known that we JOHN F. JAMES and
ROBERT M. KIPPEN Subjects of the Queen of
Great Britain and residents of Melbourne
5 in the county of Middlessex in the Province
of Ontario Canada have jointly invented a new and useful Catamenial Bandageof which the following is a specification.
This invention relates to a device which is
o applied to the external generative organs of
woman the object being to hold the men
strual secretions in the vagina and thus pre
vent them from coming in contact with the
outer air fora period of time suitable to the
c5 wearer and by preventing said secretions
from coming in contact with the outer air
they are nonirritating and thus harmless
and this invention consists of a device for
holding the menstrual secretions in the vaio gina and also of the improved construction
and novel combination of parts of said device
as will be hereinafter first fully set forth and
described and then pointed out in the claims.
Reference being had to the accompanying s5 drawings Figure ] is a plan view of a device
embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a longi
tudinal view of same on the line a a of Fig.
1 and Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view of same
on the line b b of Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5 illus3o trate front and side views respectively of
said device supported from a belt which pro
vides one convenient means of securing it in
position on the body of the wearer.
In the accompanying drawings the numeral
35 1 designates a base which may be formed of any suitable size or shape and of any suitable material and while various shapes and kinds
of material are more or less satisfactory we have found by experiment that the most sat40 isfactory results have been obtained from a
base formed of soft rubber and of the shape shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings.
The numerals 2 and 3 designate ribs which
45' are preferably pneumatic tubes formed of
soft rubber but they may be pneumatic
tubes formed of any other suitable material
or they may be formed solid and of hard or
soft rubber or any other suitable material.
o And said ribs are preferably formed some
what of an oval shape as shown in Fig. 1 of
the accompanying drawings but they may
be formed of any suitable size or shape as found most suitable or convenient. The rib 2 surrounds an oval space which with the base 1 forms a concavity 4 and the rib 3 surrounds an oval space and is of larger
diameter than the rib 2 and preferably follows for a short portion of its length the outline of the base 1 and with the base 1 forms 6o another or annular concavity 5 between said ribs 2 and 3 and the inner concavity 4 has its long diameter parallel with the long diameter of the larger space or concavity 5.
The numerals 6 designate rings which are 65 secured to the ends of the base 1 which rings 6 engage with hooks 7 secured to loops 8 and the latter are secured to a thin belt 9 adapted to extend around the body of the wearer and said belt 9 as well as the loops 8 may be lengthened or shortened by means of the buckles 10 and 11 respectively and these together with the rings 6 and hooks 7 provide one convenient means for holding said base 1 and ribs 2 and 3 to the body of the wearer but they may be secured in position in any manner or by any means found most suitable or convenient and by means of the rings 6 and the hooks 7 said device may be readily and easily attached or detached. 8o
The principle of the action of this device is simply pressing gently the external labia together thus preventing the discharge escaping from the vagina. The inner concavity 4 of this device surrounds the labia and 85 covers the entrance to the vagina while the outer concavity 5 covers the remainder of the vulva extending back on the perineum and the vagina being a membranous canal free from air and capable of dilatation can 90 hold the normal amount of the menstrual fluid without any inconvenience to a woman. However if the amount of menstrual fluid should be excessive or if from any other cause any should escape it may be taken up by a little absorbent cotton placed in the concavity 4.
The practical advantages of this device are as follows: It is a simple strong durable inexpensive and efficient device for the purpose for which it is intended one that is perfectly sanitary comfortable pliable and nonirritating it may be readily adjusted and readjusted and attached or detached
55
70 75
95 I00
2
5
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from the hooks 7 on the belt 9 and one that prevents the air from coming in contact with the secretions. Hence said secretions re
main aseptic and while aseptic there is no
offensive odor therefrom and by securely
and safely holding the secretions in the va
gina there is no danger of their getting on a
woman's skirts. It thus permits women dur
ing this period to wear delicate and. flimsy
to skirts in safety. Walking and traveling have a tendency to increase said secretions which increase of flow is difficult to be absorbed and held by the cloths ordinarily used to catch the same. This invention is
i5 useful to women in walking and traveling because there is not the slightest danger that it will not retain these secretions in the vagina or become detached from the body of the wearer. It is always clean and ready for
20 use and by abolishing those detestable diapers it saves expense in maintaining their cleanliness the saving in a few months laundry more than paying the price of it only one being needed it will last for years it is
25 cool in summer and protects women from
cold in the cool weather and the essential
characteristic of the device which attains
these many benefits and advantages is—We have foundby experiment that the
construction herein shown and described
gives the best results but while we prefer
said construction we do not wish to limit ourselves to the details thereof as they may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of our invention.
Having thus described our invention we claim
1. A device for holding the menstrual or other fluid in the vagina consisting of a base provided with two ribs consisting of pneumatic tubes one rib shaped to press the external labia together and the other covering the remainder of the vulva and extending back on the perineum substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. A device for holding the menstrual or other fluid in the vagina consisting of a base provided with two concentric oval ribs forming an inner concavity and an annular surrounding concavity for the purposes described in combination with means for securing the same in position on the body of the wearer substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In testimony whereof we have signed in the presence of the two undersigned witnesses.
Witnesses:
P. J. EDMUNDS M. BRAUND.
JOHN F. JAMES. ROBERT M. KIPPEN.
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40
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