IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PRESSING AND IRONING HAT BODIES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PRESSING AND IRONING
HAT BODIES." A communication from abroad by Nicholas Bunning
Hooper, of Newark, in the State of New Jersey, United States of
America.
Sealed the 12th June 1866, and dated the 20th January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on
the 20th January 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PRESSING AND
IRONING HAT BODIES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to supersede the use of skilled hand
labour for pressing liàt bodies: To this end the hat body is placed upon
a rotary hat block, to which motion is communicated by means of a band
passed round a pulley on the lower end of a vertical spindle provided with
a circular disc or plate on which the rotary hat block is mounted. The
pressing irons are hollow and are constructed with a partition plate, and
are open at one end to receive gas burners, which are placed inside to heat

page_text: the iron instead of doing so by means of moveable heaters or lumps, as is
usually the case. These pressing irons are attached by links to weighted
levers which cause them to press on the surface of the hat body as the
latter is carried round on its axis by the rotation of the central shaft of the
hat block. One of the irons is made to operate on the crown of the hat,
and the other iron on the sides and brim. The latter iron is connected to
two weighted levers, one of which presses it down on the brim while the
other presses it laterally against the sides of the hat body. The body is
secured on the block by a circular spring band or clip which tightly holds
the edges of the body to the disc or plate on which the block is mounted.
It will be understood that the pressing irons may be pressed against the
Lat body by means of springs instead of weights if preferred, or partly by
springs and partly by weighted levers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil, Engineer, send greeting.
G
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that
I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR PRESSING AND IRONING HAT BODIES," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others.) that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument, in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and, in what

page_text: manner the same was to be. performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same. is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,.
and to the letters and figures maiked thereon (that is to say):--
This Invention relates to a machine for pressing or ironing hats, which
is designed to supersede the ordinary manual operations for effecting these
objects.
The Invention consists in employment or use of a rotary hat block
in connection with irons heated and properly weighted, so that the irons
will bear or press upon the hat, so as to iron or press all parts of the same
and make it conform to the shape of the block. The Invention also
consists in heating the irons by means of gas, whereby the trouble and
delay attending the use of heaters for that purpose are avoided, as well as
the use of a fire for heating the heaters, which is oppressive in warm
weather.
Fig. 1, Sheet No. 1, is a vertical section of the machine taken in the
line x, x, of Fig. 2, which is a plan or top view of the same; Fig. 3, Sheet
No. 2, is an elevation of the same; and Fig. 4 a detached vertical section
of one of the irons taken in the line y, y, Fig. 1.
A is a frame which may be constructed in any proper manner to support
a horizontal plate or bed piece B; and C is a vertical shaft placed centrally.
in the frame A, and having its lower end stepped in a cross bar a. This
shaft has a circular disc D attached to its upper end, which is fitted and
works in a circular opening in the bed piece B, the upper surface of the
disc and the bed piece C being flush with each other, as shewn in Fig. 1.
On the upper surface of the disc D, the hat block E is secured by pins a¹.
The hat F to be ironed is fitted on the block, and the edge of the brim of
the hat is secured to the edge of the lower part of the block by a band G,
the ends of which are connected by a spiral spring b, which admits of the
band expanding to suit the diameter of the lower part of the block, as
will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 2. A frame H, when the
machine is at work, extends over the hat block as shewn in Fig. 1. This
frame H is secured at one end to the plate or bed piece B by a pivot bolt
c, and the opposite end of the frame is provided with a notch or groove d,
into which one edge or side of the plate or bed piece B is fitted, the edge

page_text: or side being rounded to form a portion of a circle, of which the pivot bolt
c is the centre (see Fig. 2). I is an iron of rectangular form in its trans-
verse section, but having one end slightly rounded. The upper end of
this iron is connected by a pivot e with the lower end of a bar J,.the.upper
end of which is pivotted to a lever K, which lias its fulcrum fin a carriage
L, which is allowed to slide freely on the frame H. This iron I is con-
nected by a ping to the lower arm of a T-shaped lever. M, the fulcrum
of which is in the frame H. The pin g passes through an oblong slot,i in
the arm h, as shewn in Fig. 1. The iron I rests upon the top of the crown
of the hat, and is pressed down upon it by a weight. N on the lever K, and
the iron I is provided at the outer side of its bottom with a pendent. flange
, which is pressed against the side of the crown of the hat by a weight. O
or lever M, the oblong slot i in the arm of the lever admitting of the
lever M acting horizontally against the iron I. P is an iron of 'smaller
construction to the iron I, with the exception that it is not provided with
the flange. This iron is connected at its top by a link Q with a lever. R,
which also has its fulcrum k in the frame H, and has a weight S upon it.
A T-shaped lever T, which has its fulcrum in the frame H, has its lower
arm m connected to the outer side of the iron by means of a pin n; which
passes through an oblong slot o in the lower arm m, as shewn. in Fig. 3.
The lever T has a weight U upon it, and at the inner side of the lower
part of the iron P there is a laterally projecting lip p, which is pressed
snugly by the weight U of the lever T against the lower part of the crown
of the hat at its junction with, the brim. The lever R with its weight S
presses the iron P down, upon the brim. V is an iron constructed similarly
to the irons, I, P, with the exception that it has no flange j nor. lip:p. This
iron V has a dovetail slot g made. transversely on its upper surface, and in
this slot a, dovetail projection r at the lower end of a screw. rodi Wris fitted.
This screw rod passes up vertically through the frame. H; and serves as a
guide for the iron V. To the outer side of the iron V. there are attached
four rods s, on, which a plate X is fitted and allowed to slide freely, and
retained thereon by nuts t. On the rods & between the iron V and.the
plate X there are placed spiral springs u, and to the inner side of. plate X
there is attached an arm Y, to which the lever arm, of a T-shaped lever
Z is attached by a pin u*, which passes through an oblong slot. A on the
the arm . The upper arm 6 of the lever Z is secured in the frane H by a
fulcrum pin c¹, and the lever has a weight A' upon it, by which the iron
V is pressed against the side of the crown of the hat.
From the above description it will be seen that when the shaft C is

page_text: rotated the hat block E will also be rotated, and the iron I will press the
top of the crown of the hat, the flange j producing a proper angle at the
junction of the top and side of the crown. The iron P presses the top. of
the brim of the hat, and the lip p presses the lower part of the crown at
its junction with the brim snugly against the block, and gives a proper
angular form to the band portion of the hat. The iron V presses, the side
of the crown of the hat, and as the crown varies from a circle in.its:
transverse section the springs u admit of the iron yielding to conform to
the oval form of the crown as. the hat block rotates. The pressure of the
iron V on the brim of the hat is graduated by turning the screw rod W..
The band G, on account of the elasticity allowed it by the spiral spring b,:
admits of the edges of the brim of the hat being snugly adjusted over the
edge of the block. In order to iron the under side of the brim of the hat
a hollow block is used, and secured in an inverted position in the upper
end of the shaft C. The iron P acts upon the under side of the brim in
the same manner as it acted upon the upper surface. In order to place a
hat upon the block, or remove it therefrom, the frame H is turned around
out of the way of the irons, of course moving with the frame. By this
means different blocks may be applied to the disc D. The irons I, P, V,.
are heated as follows:--Each iron has a horizontal partition d' within it, a
space
e¹ being between the inner end of the plate and the closed end of the
iron, see Figure 4, the opposite end of the irons being open. In the irons
at their open ends, between the partition plates d, there are tubes f¹ having
one or more burners or orifices at their inner sides. These tubes fare
made to communicate with any gas pipe by means of flexible tubes, and it
will be seen that the products of combustion pass underneath the plate or
partition d' up through the space e, and thence back to the open end of the
iron, as shewn by the arrows in Fig. 4.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as afore-
said,
First, the employment or use of a revolving hat block in combination
with a series of irons arranged with weights, or springs, or both, and in
such relation with the hat block that as the latter rotates the irons will
press or bear upon or against the hat upon the block, and press or iron the
same as described.
Second, I claim the frame H pivotted to the plate or bed piece B, and
having the levers K, M, R, T, Z, fitted in or applied to it as shewn, and

page_text: the irons I, P, V, connected with the levers, to operate in the manner as
and for the purpose set forth.
Third, I claim the application of the springs u and plate X to the iron
V and lever Z., as shewn to admit of the iron V yielding or giving to
conform to the oval shape of the hat block as set forth.
Fourth, I claim constructing the irons I, P, V, with a partition plate d,
with a space or opening e¹ at one end, in combination with gas burners or
jets at the outer open ends of the irons, as shewn and described.
Fifth, I claim the band G provided with the spiral spring b, for the
purpose of securing the edge of the hat brim to the edge of the hat block,
as described.
In witness whereof; I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J: W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)