IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSING BONNETS, BONNET FRAMES, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSING BONNETS, BONNET FRAMES, AND
SIMILAR ARTICLES."-A communication from abroad by Mary Jane
Osborn, Executrix of William Osborn, deceased, of Louisville, in the
State of Kentucky, United States of America.
Sealed the 17th July 1860, and dated the 18th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th April 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSING BONNETS, BONNET FRAMES,
AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," a communication to me from abroad by Mary Jano
Osborn, Executrix of William Osborn, deceased, of Louisville, in the State of
Kentucky, United States of America, to be as follows:-
Heretofore it has been usual to press the "tip" or crown of the bonnet by
one set of dies, then press the flaring face piece by another set of dies, and
afterwards unite the parts, and where a bonnet of straw or other material or
any article to be worn on the head has been pressed, the different parts have
been separately acted on by dies. The said Invention consists in making a
pair of dies the size and shape required for the bonnet, hat, bloomer, felt hat,.
or other similar article, and pressing between such dies the whole of the
article at one operation, whether made up of one piece of buckram, felt, woven.
willow or chip goods, or of several pieces introduced at one time between the
dies. By this means the whole shape is given at one operation, and the article

page_text: may be formed seamless by the use of one piece of goods that is stretched,
compressed, formed, and dried, into the desired shape, said dies being heated
for this purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adıministrators,
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 PRESSING BONNETS, BONNET FRAMES, AND SIMILAR
ARTICLES," a communication to me from abroad by Mary Jane Osborn,
Executrix of William Osborn, deceased, of Louisville, in tho State of Kentucky,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and causo
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 Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
The said Invention relates to pressing the whole of a bonnet, bonnet frame,
bat, or similar article, at one operation by dies acting on the entire surface; said
bonnets, frames, or similar articles being formed of one or of several pieces.

page_text: In the Drawing, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the dies and mechanism or
press by which they may be forced together.
Fig. 1, a, a, a, a, a, a, are heaters to be placed all around the side of the
upper die, the small heater a' is the one that goes on the top of the upper die,
to heat the tip of said upper die; b, b, is the heater for the block or lower die.
Fig. 2, c and d are front and side views of the block or lower die.
Fig. 8, No. 1, e is a round iron plate attached by screws f.ff, to lugs on
top of the die J (No. II.). The plate e has a bolt through the center, and is
attached by said bolt to a plate at the lower end of the rack shaft. There are
four screws through the plate attached to the lower end of the rack shaft to
adjust the upper die J. h is the top plate attached by screws 9, 9, 9, to the
top of the die J, forming the tip of the same to press the tip of the bonnet, or
bonnet frame, or similar article.
Fig. 3, No. III., is a top view of the plate h, and die J with heaters.
No. IV. is a side view, shewing front and back of upper dio J.
By varying the
kinds of bonnets
Fig. 4 is the case which covers the heaters of upper die J.
shape of the dies, the above described apparatus will press all
and bonnet frames, or similar articles of every size and shape. The block or
lower die may be made of marble or any other material that will not rust from
the acids which may be in the articles and discolor them. The upper die may
be made of cast iron or other material so arranged with a rim or flange around
the lower edge as to hold heaters all around it, to make it hot enough to press
the articles. The lower block or die stands upright on an iron bed plate, and
is secured by screws to keep it in place. The bonnet, bonnet frame, or similar
article is put upon the lower die, and the upper die is lowered on to it by the
crank, and it is pressed by one impression, or in other words is pressed all over
at the same time.
The bonnet, frame, or similar article, can be made either with the front and
side crown in one piece, or in two pieces; if in two pieces, they are both
formed at once, and stuck together at the sides and top at one impression; and
in cases where the shape is such that the bonnet, frame, or similar article
can be formed of one piece of material, including the flaring face piece, sido
crown and tip; said material can be pressed in the dies the same as bonnets.
On the block or lower die there are two small steel pins about a quarter of an
inch in length, made fast to said block; the pins have sharp points, and stand
vertically in the lower die. When the bonnet frame is put on the lower die,
the pins stick through the corners of the material, and hold the same in place
until the tip and side crown are put on the lower die, the upper die is then
Jowered by means of the crank, which upper die has two holes in it to receive

page_text: the pins on the lower die, and at one impression the frame is made; the result
is the same, whether the front, side crown, and tip, are in one, two, or three
picces, it makes no difference with the machine, it works as well in the one
case as in the other.
of
None of the separate parts herein set forth are claimed, neither is any claim
made to pressing of the crown piece of bonnets or bonnet frames separately, or
to pressing the flaring face piece or rim of the bonnet or other article to be
worn upon the head, by means of dies, but there is no instance before the
Invention of the said William Osborn, deceased, in which the dies were adapted
to pressing upon the whole surface of the bonnet, frame, or similar article at
one operation, whereby the whole article was pressed to the proper shape by
one operation, whether the same was a bonnet, or similar article made up
any number of pieces sewed together (as in a straw or similar bonnet or other
article) or made up of two, three, or more pieces (as in a frame of buckram or
similar material). And by such dies acting upon the whole surface of such
bonnet, frame, or similar article, it became possible to press in dies at one
operation, the bonnet, frame, or similar article formed of one piece of material.
It will be evident that this Invention is the same, whether applied to pressing
a bonnet, frame, or other article to be worn on the head, whatever may be the
size or shape, according to the fashion, or whatever name may be applied to it
in the trade; therefore what I claim, and desire to be secured by Letters
Patent, is,―
First, pressing the whole of a bonnet, frame, or similar article at one
operation by dies, substantially as specified, whether formed of one or of several
pieces, and irrespective of the particular size and shape.
I also claim forming the side crown and flaring face piece of a bonnet frame
in one piece, or at one operation, as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.B.)