IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR BLOCKING HATS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Grimshaw, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in
the County of Lancaster, Hat Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR BLOCKING
HATS."
Sealed the 14th December 1875, and dated the 17th June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Grimshaw at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th June 1875.
I, WILLIAM GRIMSHAW, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County of
Lancaster, Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR BLOCKING;
HATS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the construction of a machine whereby
the blocking of hats may be performed with greater precision and
certainty than has hitherto been practicable, and in such a manner as by:
breaking the tension of the felt to ensure the hat not being liable to alter
its shape after being blocked.
:

page_text: Now this Invention relates, first, to a novel description of tip stretcher,
consisting by preference of a vertical shaft or spindle surrounded by a
suitable sleeve piece. To the upper end of this sleeve piece a number
of arms are pivoted by suitable connecting links, and these arms when
in their highest position assume the form of a cone, upon which the hat
body to be tipped is first placed. This sleeve piece carrying the arms is
then caused to rise upon the vertical shaft until it comes in contact with
a series of correspondingly shaped clamp pieces, between which and the
arms herein-before mentioned the tip is firmly held, whilst, as the
upward motion of the sleeve piece continues the arms and clamping
pieces are forced into a horizontal position, and then caused to radiate
outwards by the sleeve piece coming in contact with a cone upon the
shaft, meanwhile stretching the tip with them, and whilst in that
extended position the tip is crimped, or the tension broken, by the action
of a crimper having suitable radiating arms for this purpose.
Secondly. My Invention relates to the construction of a machine for
blocking hats, and consists in mounting the banding ring in a cross
head (herein-after called the upper cross head), which is capable of rising
and falling in a suitable framework fixed upon a table. In the centro
of this table a shaft or spindle is mounted, carrying at its upper
extremity the bat block, and passing downwards beneath the table,
where at its lower extremity such shaft or spindle is fitted with a spiral
spring, which tends to constantly raise the hat block. Surrounding this
shaft or spindle and beneath the hat block is a sleeve piece depending
from what may be termed the brim crimper, consisting of radiating
arms, which are designed to break the tension of the brim when such
brim crimper is raised by its treddle and forked lever, as herein-after
described. The upper cross head also carries a ring or oval, from and
round which depend a number of fingers, the lower extremities of
which are fitted with angular swivelling clamps surrounding the hat a
block, and corresponding in position and number to a series of fellow
clamps mounted on the platform or table, as herein-after described.
The table of this machine is further constructed with a number of
radial grooves, which serve to guide the clamps which stretch the brim
of the hat, these clamps being provided with projections on their under a
sides, which pass through the radial grooves, and being also jointed on
their under sides to the extremities of angular levers passing through
the radial grooves in the table. These angular levers have their fulcrums

page_text: upon a ring on the under side of the table, whilst the shorter arms are
provided with slots, in which an elastic band is stretched so as to give a
constant tendency to the clamps jointed to such lever to move outwards
altogether and simultaneously.
Beneath the table another cross head (herein-after called the lower
cross head) is mounted to slide up and down, and in the centre of this
lower cross head a ring is arranged for the longer arm of the angular
levers herein-before mentioned to rest upon, so that when a lever handle
or treddle is released the angular levers, as also the clamps jointed to
them, are raised upwards, the latter thus forming a conical surface
surrounding the hat block.
Both these cross heads herein-before mentioned are connected to
weighted levers, so as to ensure their rising immediately. Such levera
are released either by withdrawing the foot from a treḍdle or the hand
from a lever.
The method of blocking hats by this machine may be thus described.
The hat body after being tipped is then placed upon the hat block in
this machine, when the upper cross head is caused to descend, and the
action may then be described as follows:-The banding ring and the
fingers carrying the clamps all descend together until the angular
swivelling clamps descend upon the brim of the hat body, when they
cause the clamps to assume a horizontal position, thus extending the
brim of the hat to the desired extent, but as soon as the clamps have
caught hold of the brim an accelerated motion is communicated to the
banding ring by the levers which support such clamping ring in the
upper cross head coming in contact with a fixed point on the sides of
the framework, and thus by the time the clamps have reached the hori-
zontal position the banding ring is fully lowered. The hat block is now
raised to the desired extent by a lever acting upon its shaft or spindle,
and this done, the tension of the brim of the hat may be broken by
raising the brim crimper, the radial arms of which extend between the
clamps.

page_text: SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said William
Grimshaw in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th January
1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GRIMSHAW, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County of Lancaster, Hat
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Grimshaw, Her special licenco
that I, the said William Grimshaw, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Grimshaw, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR BLOCKING HATS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Grimshaw, 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 Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Grimshaw, 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 a
by the following statement :-
The object of this Invention is the construction of a machine whereby
the blocking of hats may be performed with greater precision and
certainty than has hitherto been practicable, and in such a manner as

page_text: by breaking the tension of the felt to ensure the hat not being liable
to alter its shape after being blocked.
In order that this my said Invention may be the more readily under-
stood and carried into practical effect I have hereunto annexed 2 Sheets
of Drawings illustrative of my improvements in hat blocking machinery,
similar letters marked on the several views being used to indicate similar
parts..
Fig. 1 is a front view, and Fig. 2, a side view of a tip stretcher
constructed in accordance with my Invention, both drawn to a scale of
about two inches to the foot; Figs. 3 and 4 are half size sectional views
of part of Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 5 is a plan of the crimper seen in
Fig. 3.
In all the views A is the table of the machine supported upon the
metallic framework B, and carrying the hot water trough B'; 0, 0, are
a pair of pedestals which are bolted together by the cross piece O³, and
secured to the table A by the bolts C³; D, D, are another pair of
pedestals rising from the same table and braced together by the bolts D',
and further stayed to the cross piece C¹ by the stay rod D³. These
pedestals D, D, at their upper extremities form bearings for the rocking
shaft E, upon which is keyed the spur toothed segment E'; F is a move-
able cross head guided upon the edges of the pedestals C, O, as illustrated
and secured near the lower extremity of a vertical rod F³, which passes
through the cross piece O", where a toothed rack F³ is formed
upon the
back of such vertical rod gearing with the toothed segment E'. At the
lowest extremity of the vertical rod Fª a rounded shoulder F³ is formed
(see Fig. 3), which constitutes the fulcrum or turning point for a series
of arms G (say eight in number, although I do not confine myself to this
number, as more or less might be employed) surrounding such shoulder,
and which depending from such shoulder are kept in position thereupon
by the screwed cap G', as illustrated. The lower extremity of these
arms are capable of opening or radiating outwards, for which purpose
they are guided in radial slots formed in the circular plate G³, which also
depends from the vertical rod F¹, but such arms have a constant ten-
dency to meet in the centre imparted to them by the action of an elastic
band of india-rubber G, which surrounds them, as seen in Fig. 3. Each
of these arms & carries a swivelling clamping piece H, which when no

page_text: causing the vertical rod F to descend until the swivelling clamping
pieces H come in contact with the tip of the crown, thus resting upon
the cone O and so press the same firmly upon the clamping plates O.
When between such corresponding clamps the tip will be firmly held,
whilst as the downward motion of the vertical rod F continues the
clamps and hat body are forced into a horizontal position (as seen dotted
in Fig. 4) radiating outward at the same time, and so stretching the tip
along with them to the desired extent. Whilst in this extended
position the crimping plate I is brought downwards by depressing the
treddle lever K, and by the pressure of its radiating arms I' upon
the
extended tip such tip is crimped, or in other words its tension is broken
when the treddle lever K is immediately released, the hand lever R
raised by the action of the weight 8, and the tipping operation is thus
completed.
It will be readily apparent that instead of having the cone of
clamping plates O arranged as herein-before described, that they may
be mounted upon a sleeve piece which could rise towards a 'corre-
sponding series of clamping plates, to which only a horizontal and
radiating motion would be imparted.
Fig. 6 represents a front view partly in section, and Fig. 7 a side
view of a hat blocking machine constructed in accordance with
my In-
vention, and drawn to a scale of about two inches to the foot.
As this blocking machine in its principal parts and in its action
much resembles the tip stretcher herein-before described and illustrated
in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be only necessary to particularly describe
the parts which are not apparent, from a consideration of the tip
stretcher.
The cross head a carries on its under side a ring 6, from the outside
of which depend a series of clamping arms c which are provided with
Theads c¹ (as seen full size in Figs. 8 and 9, representing respectively a
full size front and side view of one of the clamping arms). These
clamping arms are jointed or hinged to the ring 6 by their heads
taking into suitable recesses formed around the outside of such ring,
and such clamping arms are formed in two pieces, one sliding over the
other and being fitted with a metallic washer o³ which is pressed against
ז'

page_text: c³.
a suitable shoulder by intervening rings of india-rubber c³ so as to
permit a yielding action in such clamping arms, and thus ensure them
all bedding perfectly upon the hat brim. The angle of each of such
clamping arms, with regard to the ring b, is adjustable by means of the
set screws c'. The lower extremity of these clamping arms are fitted
with swivelling plates c. d is the banding ring which depends from
the vertical guide rods d' passing through the cross head a and con-
nected to the weighted levers d³, as illustrated. This banding ring
descends with the cross head a until the longer arms of the levers d³
come in contact with the fixed T headed studs ď³ (which are adjustable
in height in the brackets d', as illustrated), thereby causing an
accellerated downward motion to be given to the banding ring, as herein-
before described. e is the hat block secured at the top of the vertical
rod e' which is pivoted to the lever f (seen partially in section in
Fig. 6), and further prevented turning upon its axis by the two guide
rods f¹. The lever ƒhas its fulcrum upon the pin ƒ³, and is supported at
its other extremity by the spiral spring f³, and by means of a rod f*is con-
nected to the hand lover ƒ³, whereby the hat block e may be raised and
lowered as required. Surrounding the vertical rod e' is a sleeve piece e³,
which at its upper extremity carries a crimping plate g having arms g²
radiating between each clamp, as herein-before described with reference
to the tip stretcher. This crimping plate 9 is raised and lowered by the
weighted treddle g³. h is a boss carried by a cross rail ¹ secured to the
main framework, see Fig. 7, and the rounded shoulder ³ of which forms
the centre of motion for a series of clamps corresponding in number to
the swivelling plates upon the clamping arms, say twenty-four in number,
an enlarged or full size view of one of these clamps being seen in Fig. 10.
These clamps each consist of an angular lever i, one arm of which is
centred upon the rounded shoulder ³, and the other arm rises through
a radial slot in the table, where it carries one end of a clamp plate j, the
other end of such clamp plate, by means of a bowl, resting upon the
edge of the radial groove, in which it is guided by the projection *.
These clamp plates; are provided with adjustable stops, which receivo
the thrust from the swivelling plates of the clamping arms. It will bo
understood that a series of these clamping plates surround the hat block,
and that one and all of such clamping plates by means of their several
angular levers rest upon a ring k, and are thus held in the position seen
in Fig. 6. The ring k is carried and guided in its up-and-down motion

page_text: by a cross head, connected by a pair of links A³ to the rocking shaft ³
working in bearings formed in the main framework, and such ring is
further provided with a counterbalance weight, which gives to the
clamping plates a constant tendency to retain the position as seen in
Fig. 6. The rocking shaft ³ is in connection with a treddle m by means
of a link ¼” (see Fig. 7) in order that the ring & may at any time be
drawn downwards, and thus release the clamping plates ;, and allow
them to assume the position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 10.
The action of this blocking machine is as follows:-The clamping
arm o having been adjusted to the desired angle by means of the set
screws oʻ, and the adjustable stops ƒ³ being secured in proper position upon
the clamping plates j, according to the shape of the hat to be blocked,
the hat body having been previously tipped, is placed upon the hat
block e, when the attendant lowers the lever 1, and latches it under the
notch m', the effect of which is to bring down the cross head a, and with
it the clamping arms c and swivelling clamps o; a continuation of the
downward motion causes the clamping plates; to assume a horizontal
position, as seen dotted in Fig. 10, radiating outwards meanwhile, and
thereby stretching the brim to the desired extent.
Simultaneously with the before-mentioned action the banding ring d
comes over the hat body, and near the termination of the downward
stroke of the cross head a the levers & have come in contact with the
T headed studs d³, and thereafter an accelerated downward motion is
given to such banding ring up to the termination of the stroke. Whilst
the hat body is thus distended the attendant through the hand lever f*
imparts a jigging or up-and-down motion to the hat block to stretch
the crown to the desired extent; and, lastly, he places his foot upon the
treddle lever g³, and by depressing the same raises the brim crimper ³,
so breaking the tension of the felt around the brim, and this whilst the
brim is already extended; this done he first places his foot upon the
treddle m, in order to prevent the clamping plates; rising, and then
releases the lever 1, so permitting the cross head a and mechanism
carried thereby to return to its first or original position, as seen in Fig. 6,
when the hat body will be found ready blocked, and may be lifted off
the block, and his foot being then released from the treddle m the
blocking of another hat body may be immediately proceeded with. The

page_text: described in connection therewith, and as illustrated on the accom-
panying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Grimshaw, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five
Witness,
JOHN G. WILSON,
Patent Agent,
71, Market Street,
WILLIAM GRIMSHAW. (L.S.)
Manchester.