An Improved Felt Pad for the Shoulders of Coats, Jackets, and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Feb., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 27th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 24th Dec., 1897.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Felt Pad for the Shoulders of Coats, Jackets, and
the like.
I. WILLIAM HENRY SLADDIN Brighouse In the County of York Woollen Merchant
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
The special feature of this invention, is, its manner of construction, producing
greater comfort by making two shoulder pads together in a mould of Zinc or Tin or
other material, so bent as to guide the formation of the pad, or pads, and as the top
part of the pad, or upper circle is over an inch longer, this method of construction,
ensures exactness, which cannot be got by any former production All master Tailors
admit, that they have the greatest difficulty in getting their workmen to reduce the
inner circle, when making the garment, pressure on the top of the shoulder has often
been caused by the workman getting his facing too long. but by the use of these pads,
made as above described, the difficulty is overcome By cutting several layers of
Felt, varying in size according to the thickness required & shaving the edges with a
sharp knife we make it impossible to distinguish this pad from one felted by a felting
machine, & as this felted pad has been found too fragile, we cover our layers of
shaved Felt, with what is known as French canvas, or other covering, & when the Felt
pad is placed into the aforesaid mould, along with the bottom cover, and the top
cover two rows of hand stitching, at the thickest part of pad or pads, to hold the
covers & felt, with just the proper amount of convex formation for the outside and
concave for the inside.
To be able to do this prick stitching a continuous strip has been cut out of the
model or mould of Zinc, Tin, or other material, at proper distances from the middle
to hold the Felt securely, and at the same time, allow for the guilotine or other cutter,
as two pads are made in the one mould they have to be cut in two, then the thin
edges, or covers are stitched by the sewing machine, the thickest part of pad is
whipped over the edge by hand as a further securing of the Felt. & covers.
Dated this thirtieth day of January 1897.

page_text: be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement -
The Construction of this pad is superior to all others, because of its Curvature, to
be hereafter described In the first place, let me explain, that there are a great
number of Tailors who dont seem to be able to make a Comfortable Coat or Jacket
shoulder when pads are used, because when the workman is making the garment it
is customary to have the inside towards him (the operator) so that all the work
required in fixing the different parts is done, with the inside uppermost either on the
workman's knee, or on the flat boards, constituting the shop board, now since the
introduction of separate pads, a very large proportion of Coats & Jackets have been
carlessly constructed at that part of the shoulder where the pad is placed, sometimes
it is the fault of the Cutter, keeping to the old shape of shoulder seam, namely
round, and forgetting, that extra cloth should be left on at the end nearest the
sleeve to make room for the shoulder pad, thereby requiring a hollow shoulder seam,
but even when this has been allowed for, there has frequently been the difficulty of
workmen getting the inner circle too long, because having the Coat or Jacket as
described, with the facing or lining uppermost, he almost invariebly gets the inner
Circle too long, and hence uncomfortable pressure at the top of the shoulder the
applicant has for five years, by Circulars, pamphlets, and verbal argument, endeavoured
to get the Tailors to see this, but they either cant or wont so the next best thing is,
to bring out a pad which will remove the difficulty by being bent in its construction,
instead of flat or straight, this invention or pad is so constructed as to get the exact
amount of bend or curve required, being fixed and made in curved moulds, so as to
get the exact amount of relative difference in the outer and inner circles, however
the thickness of the pad varies, this method also guides the upper and lower canvas
Covers for the felt pad, and the underneath cover is cut the straight, or warp way of
canvas, or other textile fabric used as covering, to prevent it stretching so that we
secure the curved formation as described, and it then constitutes a guide for the
workman, the facing or inner circle being made up the same length as the pad or
the shortest side of the pad, as explained Cuttings of felt are used of a very light
kind these are cut in layers, & shaved down at the edges of each layer, see figure 3,
these are then placed in the mould figure 1. but with the largest piece uppermost as
shewn in figure 4, the bottom Cover being underneath, the outside coverbeing placed
on the top, then a lid or cover is fastened over the lot as in figure 1. the trenches
marked A.A. are opposite similar trenches in the mould under these are for the
purpose of getting a needle up and down, this being the thickest part of the felt, it
is stitched by hand, so as to keep the felt in its proper position, when this has been
done, the pads with covers attached are taken out, and cut through the middle at
the line shewn on figure 5, after which each pad is stitched at the thinnest edge, or
left open
if required, and finally whipped over the edge as in figure 6.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig 1. Represents the curved mould, in which the pads are shaped. the trenches.
A. A. are for the hand stitching at the thickest part of the pads prior to being cut
in two.
Fig 2 is the section of Fig 1.
Fig 3. shews the layers of felt in position.
Fig 4. is No 3 reversed.

page_text: rotundity of the body at that part already described, and at the same time securing
the exact amount of relative difference required in the outer and inner circles of
such shoulder pad, producing greater comfort.
2 The Mould as shewn, by sketch Fig 1. and already described.
3 Cutting the underneath cover of pad on the straight or warp way of the material,
canvas, or other textile fabric, so as not to stretch, but hold the inner circle as at
first made.