CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, of Stockport, in tho
County of Chester, Hat Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS."
Scaled the 2nd May, 1856, and dated the 24th November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Rateliffe Carring-
ton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th November 1855.
I, SAMUEL RATCLIFFE CARRINGTON, of Stockport, in the County of Chester,
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS, to be as follows:-
My improvements are applicable to that part of the lining of hats which fits
upon the head, and which is technically called the leather or pad. My
improvements consist in making the pad of an absorbent material or fabric;
and of a repellent or non-absorbing material, the object being to obtain a
yielding substance to fit the head, and to absorb perspiration, and to prevent
the perspiration passing to injure the hat. The pad may be covered with silk
to improve the appearance, and by binding it with whalebone or other suitable
material, and stitching it to the hat in three or four places, the pad when
soiled may be removed with facility, and another substituted in its stead.

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 23rd May 1856.
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 Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give-and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, Her special license. 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 CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS, 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 Specification thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements are applicable to that part of the lining of hats which fits
upon the head, and which is technically called the leather or pad. My
improvements consist in making the pad of an absorbent material or fabric,
and of a repellent or non-absorbing material, the object being to obtain a
yielding substance to fit the head, and to absorb perspiration, and to
the perspiration passing through the pad to injure the hat.
prevent
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
The repellent material which I prefer to employ is a cotton fabric steeped

page_text: in a solution of shellac in ammonia. The fabric is then allowed to dry, and one
sido is covered with a solution of gutta percha. The absorbent material which
I prefer to employ is flannel or felt, which is laid on to the gutta percha, and
caused to adhere thereto by the application of a heated iron, thereby forming a
combined absorbent and repellent band. This band is made up on a block of
the size of the hat for which the pad is intended, the absorbent material being
at the inside. The pad is then ready to be faced with silk or other material,
and made up in the ordinary manner. By this means, a pad fitting easily the
head, and of elegant appearance, is obtained. It possesses also the great
advantages of absorbing the exudations of the head, and preventing tho
permeating thereof through the body of the hat.
I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the use of the
materials mentioned, as others possessing the same properties may be used;
and I declare that I claim as of my Invention manufacturing the pads of hats
by combining absorbent and repellent materials or fabrics, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Ratcliffe Carrington, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
0 Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
S. R. CARRINGTON. (L.S.)