CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HAT PLUSH
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau.
of the English and Foreign Patent Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, and 39, Ruc de l'Echiquier, Paris, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HAT PLUSH."
-A communication.
Sealed the 5th November 1853, and dated the 6th May 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand Le
Comte de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th May 1858.
I, PETER ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of the English
and Foreign Patent Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 89,
Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, do hereby declare that the nature of the
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF. HAT
PLUSH," to be as follows:-
The Invention consists in combining horse-hair or other fibres im-
pregnated with gutta-percha with silk or cotton plush, to produce a
tissue for the manufacture of hats or head coverings for men and
women.

page_text: I set the loom for weaving the silk or cotton plush warp in the
ordinary manner; then another roller for receiving a third warp for
forming an underneath tissue, the weft of which is composed of horse-
hair or fibres impregnated with gutta-percha. I afterwards unite the
two tissues according to the usual process, and apply them for the pur-
poses above stated:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Morean,
in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 5th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
PETER ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of the English and
Foreign Patent Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39,
Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Armand Le
Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF HAT PLUSH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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

page_text: Sea atent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, 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 thereof,
that is to say:
The Invention communicated to me consists in combining horse-
hair or other similar tissues impregnated with gutta-percha with silk
or cotton plush for the manufacture of hats and other coverings for
the head. By this process the carcass is dispensed with and greater
flexibility and lightness are obtained. I proceed as follows:-I employ
the loom for receiving the silk or cotton plush as usual. I add a roller
to form a warp of horse-hair or other similar fibre, previously dipped in
a solution of gutta-percha, and which forms an underneath tissue, and
I join the two tissues together.
I cut two pieces of the tissue, prepared as before stated, to the shape
the hat is to receive. I join them together by a seam on each side, and
tack the two together to form the body of the hat, which is supported
on one side by the horse-hair tissue, and on the other side by a scam
lined with horse-hair, which I stitch from place to place, taking care
that the needle should only take hold of the horse-hair tissue, by which
means I succeed in concealing the stitch in the hat.
I sew on the side, crown, and tip with the horse-hair in the same
manner as for making a regular crown, and turn them. I sew the
body of the hat and plush together. I apply on the top of the body
and against the edges of the crown a horse-hair braid to fix the sharp
edges required at top; this braid is joined together by means of an over-
lapping seam, and forms a kind of hinge which affords the means of
folding the hat with the greatest facility.
To prepare the rim I cut two pieces of the material, prepared as
herein-before described, of the required shape. I place them one upon
the other, taking care that the horse-hair of each of the said pieces be
in a contrary direction to the other, in order to obtain a support on
both sides.
To increase the strength of the rim I add a third piece of

page_text: horse-hair tissue of the same shape as the two others, which I place
between them, and join the whole together with a seam round the
circumference. To finish the hat I line it and give it the shape.
This is effected by the usual means, and the horse-hair being wetted
will cause the shape given by the hot iron to be preserved.
By the herein described means I manufacture hats which can be
folded, and having sufficient elasticity to resume their original shape.
And having now described the Invention communicated to me, and
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein-before
mentioned, provided the general features be similar to what has been
herein laid down.
But what I claim as new and intended to be protected by the herein
in part recited Letters Patent is,-
The combining horse hair or other similar tissues impregnated with
gutta-percha with silk or cotton plush for the manufacture of hats and
other coverings for the head.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU.
Witness, W. A. GILBEE.