An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Finishing Hats.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Apr., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 9th June, 1892-Accepted, 9th July, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Finishing Hats.
I, CESAR SIMIS of 60 Broadway, in the City, County, and State of New York,
United States of America, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
My invention consists of a method of, and apparatus for, finishing, ironing, and
performing similar operations on silk hats, the method consisting in fixing the hat
upon a rapidly revolving holder and applying a finishing or polishing tool or
appliance to the hat, the apparatus comprising an expanding holder which may be
quickly adjusted to receive a hat of any size and which may be secured to a rotary
shaft, for instance the armature shaft of an electric motor, in order that the hat may
be firmly held and rapidly revolved so that when a finishing cloth, brush, iron, or
other suitable appliance is held against the hat the nap of the same may be quickly
and smoothly laid and highly polished.
The expanding holder consists of radial arms fitted to slide in radial guides on a
hub or frame, these arms terminating in blocks or jaws whose outer faces approxi-
mately correspond in form and position to the oval form of the hat within which
they fit. Said blocks have lips or flanges affixed to them which are adapted to
overlap the hat rim and prevent the holder from being thrust too far into the hat.
Two of the blocks may have projecting spurs, which penetrate the material of
the hat and prevent slipping. The inner ends of the radial arms are connected
by studs with spiral cam slots in a cam disc carried by a sleeve terminating in a
disc provided with parallel pins serving the purpose of a hand-hold to enable the
sleeve and cam disc to be easily turned for the purpose of expanding or contracting
the radial blocks of the holder. The sleeve is journaled on the central shaft to
the one end of which the hub or frame of the holder is secured; the other end
of the shaft being socketted or otherwise adapted to be coupled to the end of the
armature shaft of an electric motor, but it may be revolved by attaching to any
driving shaft, an electric motor, being preferably employed as a high rate of
speed may be easily attained.
In practice, the holder is not removed from the armature shaft but after one hat
is finished the holder is loosened the hat removed and another inserted in its place,
the motor being, of course, stopped to enable the change to be made. To facilitate
this operation, a small motor, having on its upper side a convenient switch, may be
used.
Dated this th
1003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Finishing Hats.
I, CESAR SIMIS, of 60 Broadway, in the City County and State of New York,
United States of America, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
My invention relates to improvements in a method of, and apparatus for, finishing
ironing and performing similar operations on silk hats, and the object of my inven-
tion is to produce a simple and convenient holder which may be quickly and securely
Price Ra

page_text: adjusted to any size of hat, and which may also be secured to a revoluble shaft such
as the armature shaft of an electric motor to the end that the hat may be firmly
held and rapidly revolved so that when a finishing cloth, brush, iron, or other article
is held against the hat the nap of the same may be quickly and smoothly laid and
highly polished. To this end my invention consists in a method and apparatus
which will be hereinafter described and claimed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a
part of this
Specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the views.
Figure 1 is a sectional plan of the hat holder.
Figure 2 is a cross-section of the same on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 shewing also
the manner of applying the holder to a hat, and
Figure 3 is a plan view on a reduced scale of the entire apparatus, that is it shews
the holder applied to a hat and also to the shaft of an electric motor.
The holder is provided with a base plate 10 having diverging side arms I'l in the
upper sides of which are formed longitudinal recesses which form slide ways to
receive and support the radially-extending arms 12 these arms having their outer
end portions confined by keepers 13 which span the recesses or slide ways of the
arms 11 and the extreme outer ends of the arms 12 terminate in blocks 14 which
have their outer surfaces convex so as to fit snugly and firmly within a hat and
against the hat band. Two of the arins 12 which are placed opposite each other
are longer than the other two, as shewn in Figure 1 so that the holder will approxi-
mate in shape to the shape of an ordinary hat, but it is not essential that the holder
be provided with four arms, as shewn, as a greater or less number may be employed.
The two end blocks 14 have projecting spurs 14" which spurs penetrate the material
of the hat and prevent the hat from slipping. On the upper sides of the blocks 14
are guide plates 15 which are firmly secured to the blocks and which are bent
upward and outward twice at a right angle, as best shewn in Figure 2, thus pro-
ducing outwardly extending arms 16 which are adapted to overlap the hat rim and
prevent the holder from being thrust too far into the hat or the hat too far upon
the holder. The inner ends of the arms 12 are provided with upwardly or laterally
extending studs 17 which project through cam slots 18 which are produced tangen-
tially in a plate 19 the latter being held parallel with the base plate 10 and the
plate 19 is formed integral with the sleeve 20 which has at its upper end an integral
disc 21 with upwardly extending parallel pins 22 these serving the purpose of a
hand-hold and enabling the sleeve 20 and plate 19 to be easily turned.
sleeve 20 is journaled on the reduced portion 23 of the shaft 24, a washer 25 being
inserted between the disc 21 and the shoulder of the shaft, as shewn in Figure 2,
and the shaft extends centrally from the base plate 10 and at right angles thereto,
the lower or inner end of the shaft being reduced and screw threaded, as shewn at 26
so that it may project through the base plate and it is held thereto by a nut 27.
The upper or outer end of the shaft 24 is provided with a socket 28 and the free
end of the shaft is thickened as shewn at 29 so as to form a bearing for the set
screw 30. The socket 28 is adapted to receive the armature shaft 31 of an electric
motor 32, and the shaft 24 is held to the motor shaft by the set screw 30 the latter
being made to impinge upon the shaft 31. The shaft 24 and the other parts of
the holder may be revolved by attaching the shaft 24 to any revoluble driving
shaft, but an electric motor is preferably employed to turn the holder as by
means of the motor a high rate of speed may be easily attained.
The
The operation of the apparatus is as follows ;-The holder is applied to the
hat by inserting the blocks 14 within the hat while the blocks are in their
inner position and the studs 17 in the inner ends of the cam slots 18. The
guides or plates 16 assist in adjusting the holder and when it is placed within
the hat the plate 19 is turned by means of the holder pins 22 and this forces the
studs 17 toward the outer ends of the cam slots 18 thus moving outward the
several arms 12 and forcing the blocks 14 firmly against the inner portion of
the hat body. The inclination of the cam slots 18 is such that the studs 17 and

page_text: arms 12 will not move inward until the plate 19 is turned back by hand. After
the hat is adjusted, the holder which is connected to the shaft of a motor as already
described is rapidly revolved and the cloth or brush which is used in finishing or
polishing the hat is held against its surface and the rapid rotation of the hat causes
it to be quickly and nicely finished or polished.
In practice the holder is not removed from the armature shaft but after one hat
is finished the holder is loosened, the hat removed, and another inserted in its place,
the motor being of course stopped to enable the change to be made. To facilitate
this operation a small motor having on its upper side a convenient switch may be
used, as shewn in Figure 3.
I do not confine myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts set
forth in the drawings and described above, as the construction may be greatly
modified without departing from the principle of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is―
1. The herein described method of finishing or polishing hats, which consists in
rapidly revolving the hat and holding a finishing or polishing tool or article against
the surface of the hat, substantially as described.
2. The herein described method of finishing or polishing hats, which consists in
applying a holder to the interior of the hat, rapidly rotating the holder and holding
a finishing or polishing tool against the exterior surface of the hat, substantially as
described.
3. In an apparatus of the character described, a hat holder comprising a central
shaft, a plurality of outwardly moving blocks carried by the shaft and a cam
mechanism for moving the blocks, substantially as described.
4. In an apparatus of the character described, the hat holder comprising a
central shaft, a base plate carried thereby, outwardly-extending arms held to slide
on the base plate and having blocks at their outer ends and a mechanism for moving
the arms, substantially as described.
5. In an apparatus of the character described, the hat holder comprising a
central shaft having means for attachment to a driving shaft, a plurality of blocks
carried by the shaft having guides to fit the rim of the hat and a cam mechanism
for moving the blocks in or out in relation to the shaft, substantially as described.
6. In an apparatus of the character described, the hat holder comprising a
central shaft having means for attachment' to a driving shaft, a base plate carried
by the shaft and having radially-extending slide ways therein, arms held to move
in the slide ways and having their outer ends provided with blocks shaped to fit
a hat and a revoluble cam plate mounted on the central shaft and adapted to
operate the several arms, substantially as described.
7. The combination, with the ceutre shaft, the plate secured thereon and having
slide ways therein and the arms held to move in the slide ways, the arms having
blocks at their outer ends, of a revoluble cam plate journaled on the shaft and
provided with a plurality of tangential car slots and studs secured to the arms
and held to move in the cam slots, substantially as described.
8. The combination, with the centre shaft, the base plate and the radial arms
mounted on the base plate and having blocks at their outer ends, of a sleeve
journaled on the shaft, a plate secured to the sleeve and having tangential cam
slots therein, studs fixed to the arms and adapted to move in the cam slots, and
a handle for the sleeve, substantially as described.
Dated this 0th day of June 1800