IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Barlow Cooley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th August 1855.
I, ROBERT BARLOW COOLEY, of Nottingham, Hat Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF HATS" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the use of an elastic fabric (that is to say, a knitted
or looped fabric,) as a covering for hat bodies. I prefer to employ a tubular
'elastic fabric, either pile or otherwise, of the size of the body of the hat. I.
close the end of the tube, and then stretch it over the body of the hat, so that
the seam at the end of the tube passes over the tip, and the elasticity of the
fabric allows it to stretch over and conform to the figure of the brim. I also
make hat bodies of elastic fabric by stretching a tube of such fabric over the
block, and dipping it into the proofing or stiffening material.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Barlow Cooley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BARLOW COOLEY, of Nottingham, Hat Manufacturer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date. the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Barlow Cooley, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Barlow Cooley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Robert Barlow Cooley, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Barlow Cooley,'my' executor's 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 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent......
Ludo 9.1 101
+
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Barlow Cooley, 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
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
2.
the
This Invention consists in the use of an... elastic fabric (that is to say, a
knitted or looped fabric,) as a covering for hat bodies. prefer to employ
a tubular elastic fabric, either pile or, otherwise, of the size of the body of the
hat. I close the end of the tube, and then stretch it over the body of the hat,
so that the seam at the end of the tube passes over the tip, and the elasticity
of the fabric. allows it to stretch over and conform to the figure of the brim.
I also make hat bodies of elastic fabric by stretching a tube of such fabric
over the block, and dipping it into the proofing or stiffening material.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I
prefer to operate.

page_text: Firstly, to make the body of the hat; I employ a tube of elastic: fabric,
which may be made on a circular knitting machine: of the ordinary description
of about twenty-three inches in circumference, more or less, according to the
size of the hat. The fabric should be of cotton, closely knitted and rather
fine in texture. This tube of fabric I sew or cement across at the top, so 'as
to close it, and I stretch it over a hatmaker's block of the ordinary descrip-
tion, and tie a cord round the block over the fabric where the body is to be
turned up to form the brim; then I give the fabric from the crown to the
brim a coat of proofing, which I allow to dry; afterwards I place the body
in the brim frame, and stretch out the portion of fabric below the cord, to
which I apply proofing with a brush, and iron it down in the ordinary
manner. When the proofing of the first layer of fabric has been dried as
usual, I stretch another tube of fabric over the block and brim frame;
and proceed as before, and so on with a third, if a greater substance of body
is required.
.2
Secondly, to cover the body of the hat with elastic plush or other elastic
fabric, I take a tube of the elastic fabric to be employed for covering the body,
preferring usually for this purpose a knitted cotton fabric with a silk pile, made
on a circular machine of a suitable description, and of about twenty-three
inches in circumference, as before mentioned. This tube of clastic fabric
is (without previously closing the end) to be drawn over the hat body, which is
cemented in the usual way to make the fabric adhere. About three inches in
length of the tube is left over at the end to form the crown; then, by watering
and ironing, the tube is made to adhere to the body round the top of the
cylindrical part of the hat, and the crown is gradually ironed down from the
circumference to the centre, and a join is formed across the top; then
the crown is finished, the cylindrical part of the hat is watered and ironed all
over until the adhesion of the fabric is complete; then the fabric is ironed
down on to the upper surface of the brim; and, lastly, it is brought round and
ironed down on to the under part of the brim, and thus the body is covered
entirely with one piece of fabric. Or, if preferred, in place of making a join
across the crown of the hat, a circular piece of the fabrio may be stitched
into the end of the tube of clastic fabric to form the crown. The hat
is afterwards finished and trimmed in the manner ordinarily practised by
hat-makers.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to
the method of manufacturing hats from elastic fabrics (that is to say, knitted
or looped fabrics,) which I have described, for hats may be made from and

page_text: covered with such fabrics in the same way as hats are made and covered with
fabrics of the ordinary non-elastic description; but what I claim is, first, the
use of an elastic fabric for making and covering hat bodies; and, second, the
method of making and covering. hat bodies by the use of a tubular elastic
fabric, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Barlow Cooley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
ROBERT BARLOW COOLEY. (L.S.)