CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING THE BRIMS OF HATS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WHITING, of Southwark Bridge Road, in the County of Surrey, Hatter's
Furrier, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of June, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Whiting, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Henry Whiting, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Henry Whiting, my executors, ad-
ministrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR SHAPING THE BRIMS OF HATS,"
being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Henry Whiting, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Whiting, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
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These improvements refer to a peculiar construction of apparatus, by which
the operation of turning up the brims of hats is readily and expeditiously
effected, and any required form or pattern of brim (independently of the skill
of the workman) is produced. The apparatus consists of a steam chest or
chamber, provided with small orifices to allow of the exit of jets of steam at
certain periods of the operation, and over this steam chest a cloth, having a
coiled spring sewn round its edge, is placed. Through this spring two cords
are threaded, similar to the mouth of a purse, for the purpose hereafter men-
tioned. Above the cloth is a plate to support the hat, which is secured in its
proper position by means of an expanding oval or "block," capable of fitting
the interior of any size of hat. A shape composed of two thin strips of metal
of the size and form of the brim to be made is then laid on the brim, of the
hat, and held down while the operation is proceeding. Steam being let into,
the steam chamber will issue through the orifices therein, pass through the
cloth, and impinge upon that part of the hat brim which is not covered by the
plate immediately below it, and in a short time make that part of the brim
soft and pliable. The cords of the cloth are then drawn tight, and by the con-
traction of the spring the cloth will be drawn over the shape on the hat brim,
and turn back the exposed and softened part of the brim over, the shape.
After the cloth has been thus contracted a short time, the cords are slackened,
and the hat is removed from the apparatus.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a front view of the
apparatus with a hat in the position for being operated upon, and Fig. 2 is a
side view of the same; Fig. 3 a vertical section of the steam chest; Fig. 4 a
plan view with the hat removed; and Fig. 5 is a cross section of the expanding
oval for holding the hat. .A, A, is the framework for supporting the various
parts of the apparatus. B is the steam chest or chamber (the construction of
which will be best seen at Fig. 3). a is the steam pipe for supplying steam to
the steam chest, and is in connection with a coil of pipe b, pierced with holes on
ita under side. The steam issuing from these holes will come in contact with
a horizontal plate c, c, also provided with small holes. This plate is intended
to distribute the steam and cause it to flow uniformly out of the small orifices
in the face of the steam chest B, as before mentioned. Through the centre of

page_text: the steam chest a vertical shaft & passes, having upon its upper end a disc,
from the face of which project two pins e. Upon the lower end of the
shaft d is a pinion f, in gear with another pinion g, which is keyed on a
horizontal shaft h, extending to the front of the framing A, and provided with
a winch handle i. j, and k are brackets for respectively supporting the
shafts d and h; a' is a pipe for letting off the condensed steam from the
chamber; C is a cloth, (see the detached view, Fig. 6,) on the outer edge of
which a coiled spring 7 is sewn; it is also provided with a centre plate m for
steadying it in its position on the steam chest. This plate is provided with
slots, and also a circular opening, for the purpose to be hereafter explained.
Upon the cloth C the plate D (also provided with slots and a circular
opening, see the detached views Fig. 7) is laid, and above this plate is placed
the expanding oval or "block" for holding the hat to be operated upon
securely in its proper position. The construction of this "block," which is
capable of contraction and expansion to suit all sizes of hats, will be best seen
by reference to Figures 4 and 5. It consists of a bed plate n, having a
circular opening in its centre, over which a face wheel o is placed, and secured
in its position by guide rollers p, p, supported by brackets attached to the bed
plate n. Taking into the wheel o are two small pinions q, q, which are
respectively mounted on a threaded shaft r, turning freely in lugs or ears s, s,
affixed to the bed plate n. Each of these screw or threaded shafts r is
furnished with a cross head t, which is attached to a bent plate u by pins 1, 1.
v, v are two springs secured respectively at their centres to the bent plates u,
and form the ends of the oval block. These springs are intended to advance
and recede as required by means of the above-mentioned apparatus, and
their extremities are overlapped by shorter springs w, w, which form the sides
and complete the oval form of the expanding block. u', u', are pins which slide
in brackets, and guide the plates u in their backward and forward course.
To the centre of the springs w a piece x, furnished with projecting pins, is
attached. These pins act as guides, and slide in sockets made in the brackets
y, y, which are attached to the bed plate n, and also serve to support a shaft z.
At the centre of the shaft z a thumb piece 2 is provided for turning it, and
one of its ends is formed into a right-handed screw, and the other into a left-
handed screw. These screws pass through double inclined planes 3, 3, which,
as they are caused to advance simultaneously, will slide over corresponding
inclines 4, 4, on the springs v, v, and push out their ends to form a wider oval.
The same movement will also force out the side springs w, w, which are
always kept in close contact with the springs v, v, by means of a spring 5
behind the piece x, or which forms part thereof, and presses upon the ends of

page_text: the springs v, v. The cloth C, plate D, and oval block or holder having been
placed on the steam chest as above stated, they are steadied in their position
by pins or projections on the steam chest passing through the slots in the
plate m of the cloth and also those in the plate D, and through corresponding
slots in the bed plate n of the "block."
Having described the principal parts of the apparatus which I employ for
shaping the brims of hats, I will suppose that the operation is now to
commence. I take a bat which has gone through the usual stages up to
shaping the brim, and place it upon the "block," first adjusting the width of
the block to suit the size of the hat by turning the shaft z, which, as before
explained, will force out the side springs w, w. When once set to the ordinary
width, the block will require no further hand adjustment until a hat of more
than usual width, when compared with the length, comes under operation. I
then, by means of the handle i and bevil wheels g and f, cause the shaft d and
its pins e, e, to rotate, which pins projecting upwards through the openings in
the plates m, D, and n, will come in contact with the arms of the wheel O, cause
it to revolve, and drive the pinions q, q, with their respective shafts, in opposite
directions. This movement will force forwards the cross heads t, t, and press
out the springs v. v, and w, w, until they come tight against the interior of the
hat, thereby holding it firm in its position while the operation of bending up
the brim is proceeding. I now place over the brim of the hat a shape com-
posed of two thin strips of metal attached together, as shewn at Fig. 8, of the
width and general form required for the brim. This shape is kept in close
contact with the hat by means of pressers E, E, see Fig. 1, which, when
required to be brought into action, are dropped into a slot in the top of the
vertical rods F, F, one on each side of the framing, and are secured thereto
by a button at the top of the slot. These rods are connected together at their
lower ends by a horizontal rod, and are capable of being depressed by a treadle
G. H, H, are perpendicular tubes, through which the rods F pass, and they
are each provided with a coiled spring to keep the rods and pressers E up
out of the way when not required to be used. The pressers are brought down
upon the shape by forcing down the treadle G by the foot; steam is at the
samo time turned on to the steam chamber, and issuing out in small jets, the
hat brim overlapping the plate D will quickly be softened. The strings which
pass through the coiled spring 7 of the cloth are then drawn out in order to
contract the cloth and make it turn the hat brim over the metal shape placed
immediately above it. In Figures 1 and 2 the mode of effecting this move-
ment will be readily seen. I, I, are two vertical rods, placed one on each side
of the framing, and at their upper end is a bar carrying two rings, to which

page_text: the cords of the cloth are attached. The rods I, I, slide in tubes K, similar to
the rods F, and like them are forced upward by a spring inside the tubes, and
are depressed by means of a treadle L. It will be clearly seen that the
bending up of the brim when softened is but a momentary operation, and
therefore that a good saving of time will be effected. By changing the
shaping plates any style of hat brim may be as expeditiously formed without
depending, as in the ordinary mode of working, upon the skill and ingenuity of
the workman. The hat, after remaining a sufficient time to set, is then released
from the apparatus. By withdrawing the foot from the treadles the springs in
the tubes H and K will force up their respective rods F and I immediately,
upon which the spring of the cloth will expand, and the cloth will fall back
into its flat position, and the pressers will at the same time rise. A reversed
motion is then to be given to the winch handle i, which, by means of the
gearing before described, will cause the oval block to contract and allow the
hat to be removed. Instead of using the steam chest B, as above described,
the same effect might be produced by warming the brim on a hot plate, as is
at present practised, and then operating upon it with the improved apparatus ;
or, if thought desirable, wooden blocks of varying sizes may be employed in
place of the expanding oval above described for securing the hat while being
being operated upon.
At Figures 9 and 10 I have shewn a more simple construction of expanding
block than that above described. It consists of two springs 6, 7, which are
drawn together or separated in a longitudinal direction by means of the
handle 8. This handle is fixed upon a shaft or rod 9, having a right-handed
screw at one end, and a left-handed screw at the other. These screws severally
turn in sockets 10, 10, affixed to the springs 6, 7, and also through female
screws in the ends of the stationary piece 11. At each side of the springs
6, 7, inside, are two angular pieces or inclined planes 12, 12, sliding in slots in
the stationary piece 11. The screws 13, 13, may be fixed in any of the holes
of the piece 11, according to the extent to which the block is required to be
enlarged.
In conclusion, I wish it to be understood that I lay no claim to the appli-
cation of heated moulds for shaping the brims of hats; but that which I do
claim, and desire to secure under above in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
Firstly, the employment of a cloth, or other similar flexible substance, in
connection with suitably formed plates, as above described, for shaping the
brims of hats.
Secondly, the peculiar construction of oval "block" above described, and
shewn in the Drawing at Figures 4 and 5, and also the modified arrangement

page_text: represented at Figures 9 and 10, whereby hats of varying sizes may be held
firmly in their place, while the operation of shaping the brim is being
performed; and,
Lastly, the general arrangement of the apparatus as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Whiting, have hereunto set my 5
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.