IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND BONNETS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND BONNETS,
AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication from
abroad by Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of New Haven, United States
of America.
Sealed the 17th October 1868, and dated the 18th April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas
Hughes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 18th April 1868.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND
BONNETS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me
from abroad by Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of New Haven, United States
of America, to be as follows:-

page_text: This Invention relates to hats and bonnets made of cloth, paper, or
cloth and paper combined, and consists in forming on the outside of
the hat or bonnet a design or pattern similar to the plaits of the straw
or grass hats and bonnets at present in use, or any other pattern or
design can be produced.
The hat or bonnet is composed of two or more pieces of cloth
cemented together by paste or other suitable cementing substance,
the piece for the interior of the hat or bonnet consisting of common
cotton cloth and the piece for the exterior of fine cloth, such as jacconette
or other similar material. The coarse cloth is wound on a roller fixed
to the cementing apparatus and passes through a slit or groove formed
in the end thereof, the said cementing apparatus being divided into
three compartments, the centre one containing the cementing substance.
The coarse cloth passes beneath the divisions (which are bevilled off
to allow of its free passage and regulated by wedges according to the
thickness of the material employed) through the cement and through
a slit or groove at the opposite end of the cementing apparatus, from
whence it is drawn between two rollers. The fine cloth for the exterior
of the hat or bonnet is wound on a roller at that end of the apparatus
from which the coarse cloth issues, and is also drawn with the coarse
cloth between the two rollers above mentioned, the pressure of the
top roller on the two cloths causing them to adhere firmly together
by reason of the surface of the coarse cloth having been cemented.
The cloth is then cut into lengths and hung in a warm room to dry,
after which it is cut into the required shape and size for the hat or
bonnet to be produced and passed through a waterproofing solution
consisting of alum and sugar of lead or other suitable waterproofing
solution, and if it be required to produce a perfectly white hat or bonnet
the cloth is washed with whiting or other blanching substance. The
cloth is now placed in a female die heated by gas or otherwise of the
exact size and shape of the hat or bonnet required, and a male die of
the same size and shape is pressed into the said female die, thus pressing
the cloth into the required shape. The hat or bonnet thus formed is
then placed in a female die embossed with the required pattern and
of the required shape and size, also heated by gas or otherwise, and
a male die of the same dimensions is forced into the said female
die, great pressure being employed for the purpose, the hat or bonne
issuing from the female die with the desired pattern distinctly impressed
upon it.

page_text: The hat or bonnet thus manufactured will be sufficiently firm for
all ordinary purposes, but if desired it may be further stiffened by
wire in the ordinary manner and a solution of tin, bronze, and collodion
may also be applied, which has the effect of still further stiffening the
material, of rendering it more impervious to water, and of giving it
a bronzed appearance, but other colors or dyes may be applied to the
said hat or bonnet when required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special
licence that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Thomas
Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND BONNETS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by
Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of New Haven, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes,
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 manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the

page_text: 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 accompanying
Sheet of Drawings (that is to say):
This Invention relates to hats and bonnets made of cloth, paper, or
cloth and paper combined, and consists in forming on the outside of
the hat or bonnet a design or pattern similar to the plaits of the straw or
grass hats and bonnets at present in use, or any other pattern or design
can be produced if required.
The hat or bonnet is composed of two or more pieces of cloth
cemented together by paste or other suitable cementing substance,
the piece for the interior of the hat or bonnet consisting of common
cotton cloth and the piece for the exterior of fine cloth, such as jaconette
or other similar material. The coarse cloth is wound on a roller fixed
to the cementing apparatus or otherwise, and passes through a slit or
groove formed in the end thereof, the said cementing apparatus being
divided into three compartments, the centre one containing the
cementing substance. The coarse cloth passes beneath the divisions
(which are bevilled off to allow of its free passage, and regulated by
wedges according to the thickness of the material employed) through
the cement and through a slit or groove at the opposite end of the
cementing apparatus, from whence it is drawn between two rollers in
the direction of the arrows. The fine cloth for the exterior of the hat
or bonnet is wound on a roller at that end of the apparatus from
which the coarse cloth issues, and is also drawn with the coarse cloth
between the two rollers before mentioned, the pressure of the top roller
on the two cloths causing them to adhere firmly together by reason
of the surface of the coarse cloth having been cemented, as before stated.
The cloth is then cut into lengths and hung in a warm room to dry,
after which it is cut into the required shape and size for the hat or
bonnet to be produced, and passed through a waterproofing solution
consisting of alum and sugar of lead or other suitable waterproofing
solution, and if it be required to produce a perfectly white hat or bonnet
the cloth is washed with whiting or other blanching substance. The

page_text: cloth is now placed in a female die heated by gas or otherwise of the
exact size and shape of the hat or bonnet required, and a male die of
the same size and shape is pressed into the said female die, thus pressing
the cloth into the required shape. The hat or bonnet thus formed is
then placed in a female die embossed with the required pattern and
of the required shape and size also heated by gas or otherwise, and
a male die of the same dimensions is forced into the said female die,
great pressure being employed for the purpose, the hat or bonnet issuing
from the female die with the desired pattern distinctly impressed
upon it..
The hat or bonnet thus manufactured will be sufficiently firm for
all ordinary purposes, but if desired it may be further stiffened by
wire in the ordinary manner, and a solution of tin, bronze, and collodion
may also be applied, which has the effect of still further stiffening the
material, of rendering it more impervious to water, and of giving it a
bronzed appearance, but other colors or dyes may be applied to the said
hat or bonnet when required.
In order that this Invention may be more clearly understood I have
annexed the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an
elevation of an ordinary fly press shewing the female die in section; Fig. 2,
a plan of the same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of the cementing
apparatus; and Fig. 4, a plan of the same.
A is the body of the press; B, the bed plate; C, the female die;
D, the male force or die; E, the fly fixed to the screw F, which is
caused to revolve at a great velocity, thus causing the male die D to
descend with great pressure into the female die C; G are the lugs
through which the screws H pass to hold the female die C in position,
and it is thus evident that all sizes and shapes of dies can be used.
In Figs. 3 and 4 a is the cementing apparatus; b, the partitions
between which the cement c is placed; d, the wedges for regulating the
said partitions; e, the roller on which is wound the coarse cotton cloth;
f, the roller on which is wound the fine linen cloth; and g, g, the rollers
through which both cloths pass in the direction of the arrows.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the said In.
vention, what I claim is, the manufacture of hats and bonnets and the

page_text: apparatus employed therein, as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
E. T. HUGHES. (L.S.)