CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF VENTILATING HATS OR OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Husband, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Hat Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF VENTILATING HATS OR OTHER COVERINGS
FOR THE HEAD."
Sealed the 8th December 1868, and dated the 9th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Husband at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th June 1868.
I, RICHARD HUSBAND, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF VENTILATING HATS
OR OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in providing for the admission of air into
hats or other coverings for the head by an improved channel between
the head leather or pad and the hat body. I form the said channel
by making the head leather or pad shorter than the inner circumference
of the rim and by fixing it a little aback in the hat, so that its curve

page_text: between the temples is at its apex about one-fourth of an inch in rear
of the corresponding curve of the rim and being there unsewn leaves
open a crescent-shaped funnel or shaft extending from the rim into
the upper interior of the hat, and because it is desirable that the air
passing up such channel should get to the head as soon as possible.
I cut out of the head leather or pad at this part a segment or portion
which reduces its height upwards from the rim to about one inch.
The leather so reduced in bulk is strengthened by a mounting of ribbon
or other suitable material and is secured by special sewing. The
improved channel can be applied in other parts of the hat if required
and may be lined. An outlet at the top of the hat is employed to
accelerate the draft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Husband in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HUSBAND, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Hat Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, 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 Richard Husband, Her especial license that
I, the said Richard Husband, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Richard Husband, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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
METHOD OF VENTILATING HATS OR OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," upon the
condition, amongst others, that I, the said Richard Husband, 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

page_text: 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 Richard Husband, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
My improvements consist in providing for the admission of air into
hats or other coverings for the head by an improved channel or shaft
between the inside of the band and the leather or pad or other band
lining.
In describing how the said improvements are effected I use the
words head leather or pad, intending them to mean any article of the
same or similar shape employed for lining the band of a hat, whether
such article be single or compounded and whether called head leather,
or pad, or other name. By the upper part of such article I mean that
side thereof the edge of which is designed to be sewn or otherwise
affixed to the inner edge or arch of the brim; by the lower part of the
same article I mean that which in wear is nearest to the tip; and by
the fore part of the said article I mean the middle of its length, or so
much of the same as in wear must face the front of the forehead. In
carrying my improvements into effect I proceed as follows, namely:-
The head leather or pad intended to be inserted in the band is first
subjected to several operations.
1. Out of the lower side of the fore part thereof a considerable piece
must be cut away. I cut the said piece away in the form of a segment
whose chord at the lower edge of the leather is about four inches in
length, and the curve of which rises at the centre to within about
one inch or less from the top of the leather. An opening like an
archway is thus cleared out of that part of the leather which is intended
to form the partition between the proposed air channel and the rest
of the oval of the hat. The opening may be of a different shape
and larger or smaller according to the option of the manufacturer.
2. Along the back surface of the leather at the part over the archway
I mount about six inches in length of linen tape or ribbon or other
suitable material. The two substances are attached by a coating of
spirit varnish between them to which they are mutually smoothly
pressed. This mounting is intended to countervail the tendency of the

page_text: leather where suspended unsewn to stretch in wear and destroy the
air channel which is to exist at this part of the hat, and the said
mounting is made six inches long in order that for about an inch at
each end its selvage may be sewn with the leather to the rim of the hat,
and the resistance to stretching be thereby increased.
3. From the upper edge of the leather at the fore part a slight
portion of the convexity is pared away to prevent its appearance when
the hat is in wear. The tape above mentioned must be so fixed as to
be clear of this paring.
4. The leather thus prepared must be inserted in the band shorter
than is required for an ordinary band lining, and too short to occupy
the whole circumference of the oval. At the fore part the leather for
about two inches on each side of the axis of the oval must not as
elsewhere conjoin to the brim nor be sewn, but must diverge therefrom
on both sides concentrically so as to form upon the same axis a curve
shorter than, and interior to the front arch of, the brim or band. The
apex of the unsewn curve of the leather must be about one-fourth of
an inch in rear of that of the corresponding and containing curve of
the band, and the distance or chord between the two points of divergence
between the unsewn leather and the brim must be about four inches.
The sewing in of the leather must begin at each end of the said four
inches, and be continued rearwards throughout the rest of the
circumference. The sewing begins at the points mentioned, because it
is necessary at the outset thereof to fix and secure thereby the position
of the unsewn fore part of the leather relatively to the brim, as above
described. Between the fore part of the leather and the inner front
of the band there will by these arrangements be created perpendicular
to the oval a channel or shaft crescent-shaped on plan extending
from the brim towards the crown of the hat, and through which air
can freely pass into the interior when the hat is in wear, and sooner
and to more advantage because of the open archway cut out of the
leather where it forms one of the walls of the channel.
The air channel in question may, however, be constructed with
modifications, and so that the band wall thereof may be lined.
Accordingly instead of fitting in the prepared leather or pad simply
as above described I prefer coupling therewith a portion of another
leather or other suitable substance about five inches long, and of a depth
equal to that of an ordinary head leather. This shorter leather is

page_text: intended to occupy that portion of the fore part of the band where the
main leather is not to be sewn, and it may be there affixed before the
insertion of the main leather. But I prefer to attach the shorter
leather to the main leather before either is inserted, and I do this in
such manner that the two together may themselves constitute the
skeleton of the proposed air channel. The connection of the two leathers
must therefore be such as that the curve of the short piece shall be
longer than, and enclose that of the main leather, and shall coincide
with that of the fore part of the band to which it is to fit, while the
main leather at the centre stands back therefrom about a quarter of
an inch. To hold the two leathers in this relative position I run a
seam from the top edge to the bottom at each end of the converging
curves. The two leathers together then constitute one band lining of
sufficient length to occupy the whole circumference of the oval to
which they are then sewn, the sewing in commencing as before at both
ends of the open curve, and fixing the shorter leather to the fore part,
and the main leather to the rest of the band. The shorter leather being
somewhat longer than the open curve the sewing in for about a quarter
of an inch at its respective ends passes through both leathers.
As an
additional precaution against the encroachment of the unsewn curve
of the leather upon the ventilating channel I run outside each end of
the said curve a retaining seam of about one inch long, the stiches
of which run parallel to, and some half inch below the brim, and passing
through both the leather and the hat body hold them firmly together.
The shorter of the two leathers may be placed to the face instead of
to the back of the main leather, in which case the reduction in width
and the mounting with tape above described as having to be performed
on the main leather must take place in the shorter one only, and the
main leather will have to be sewn to the brim throughout the whole
oval, and the shorter one to take the receding curve and be sewn to
the brim at its ends only. The fixing of the two leathers in their
mutual position will in this case also be facilitated by a seam from
the top to the bottom of the leathers at each end of the conterminous
curves before the sewing to the brim is begun.
Having thus described the manner in which I carry my improve-
ments into effect it may be necessary to remark that the Invention
may be applied in a cruder manner, that is to say, the main leather
reduced in size, as above described, may be lashed into the hat along

page_text: both sides, and left unsewn in front so as to form a ventilating
channel between it and the hat body without being mounted with tape
or ribbon and without there being any other leather or cognate material
employed in the case. The improved ventilating channel may also be
applied in a different part of the oval of the hat, and in one or more
places therein if so required. The ventilation is accelerated by an outlet
at the top of the hat, of which outlets there are many varieties in public
use. I employ an orifice with an eyelet therein in the centre of the tip.
In conclusion I wish it to be understood that my claim for Invention
is limited to cases in which for the purposes of ventilation in hats
or other coverings for the head, a channel perpendicular to any arc of
the band anywhere of less than the ordinary height of the head leather
and crescent-shaped on plan whether more or less than four inches
in horizontal compass, and whether one or more in number is or are
produced in any of the modes above described, indicated, or implied.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Husband, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
RICHARD HUSBAND. (L.S.)