IMPROVE- MENTS IN HATS AND CAPS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, of Stockport, in the
County of Chester, Hat Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HATS AND CAPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th October 1861.
I, SAMUEL RATCLIFFE CARRINGTON, of Stockport, in the County of Chester,
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS AND CAPS," to be as follows:-
Heretofore in the manufacture of hats or caps made to fit close upon the
head of the wearer there has been considerable difficulty in producing venti-
lation in the inside of the hat or cap. Now by indenting or corrugating the felt
or other material at the lower part of the crown of the hat or cap through the
band, the leather or pad being tight so as to fit the head of the wearer, at
each indent or corrugation in the felt or other material of which the hat or
cap is formed I obtain an aperture for the admission of air into the interior
of the hat or cap whilst being worn. I also carry the indentation or corruga-
tion of the felt or other material as aforesaid from the band to the apex of the
hat or cap, or to any intermediate distance thereof, and this either by regular
or irregular indentations or corrugations, thereby obtaining a novelty of con-
struction, and producing greater effect of appearance to the hat or cap when
worn.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
RATCLIFFE CARRINGTON, of Stockport, in the County of Chester, Hat Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel
Ratcliffe Carrington, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, 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 HATS AND CAPS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, 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 Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, 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, reference being had to the Drawings bereunto annexed, that is to
say.:-
My improvements consist in indenting or corrugating the felt or other
material of which the body of the hat or cap is formed at the lower part of
the erown of the hat or cap through the band, as shewn in Figures 2, 4, and 6,
of the annexed Drawing, the leather or pad being tight so as to fit the head
of the wearer, whereby at each indent or corrugation in the felt or other
material as aforesaid I obtain an aperture for the admission of the air into
the interior of the hat or cap whilst being worn. I also carry the indentation
or corrugation of the felt or other material as aforesaid from the band to the
apex of the hat or cap, or to any intermediate distance thereof; as shewn in

page_text: Figures 1, 3, and 5, in the annexed Drawing, and this either by regular or
irregular indentations or corrugations, thereby obtaining a novelty of construc-
tion, and producing greater effect of appearance to the hat or cap when worn,
in all cases where the indentation or corrugation extends higher up the crown
than the outer band or ribbon of the hat or cap as shewn in Figures 1 and 3.
The manner of making the indentations or corrugations may be either by
softening the body of the hat or cap by steam or heat in the usual way, and
forming it to a suitable block, thereby impressing the desired indentation or
corrugation, or by pressing the body of the hat or cap in the inside of a mould,
and applying hydraulic pressure inside such mould, and within an india-rubber
or other elastic bag, whereby the body of the hat or cap is forced into the
indentations or corrugations of the mould, and a similar result is produced.
The form, size, and material of hats and caps indented or corrugated as
described may be varied at pleasure.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not claim
the manner of making these indentations or corrugations; but what I do claim
is the manufacture of hats and caps indented or corrugated as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
S. K. CARRINGTON. (L.S.)