IMPROVEMENTS IN HAT CURLING MACHINES
Year: 1885

page_text: I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, of 52 Chancery
Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, do hereby declare
the nature of said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAT CURLING MACHINES"
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to that class of Hat Curling Machines in which the hat is
clamped upon a revolving block and brim plate, and subjected to the successive
action of tools adapted to bend and press the edge of the brim into the desired curl.
In such machines, two irons, used respectively for, bending and pressing the curl,
are located at opposite sides of the brim plate, and are vibrated to and from the
hat clamp or block, to produce the elliptic shape of curl required; and the object
of this invention is to simplify the mechanism used for vibrating the tool carriers,
and to adapt the irons or tools to adjust themselves more perfectly to the brim or
brim plate, so that they may operate if desired, upon a shaped hat brim.
The improvements consist first; in coupling the two tool carriers by such means
that one will move in just the opposite direction from the other; so that the
required vibrating motion may be imparted by one to the other.
Such a coupler may consist of a double armed lever pivoted upon the arbor of the
rotating hat clamp and linked at opposite ends, to the two opposite tool carriers.
By this construction, the cam or agent for vibrating the tools, is connected with
only one of the tool carriers; and may thus be made in the form of a crank, or
otherwise, so as to be adjusted at pleasure, to vary the degree of vibration.
The invention also consists in mounting the tool carriers upon the ends of
vibrating or rocking arms; in jointing the carriers movably to the ends of such
arms, so that the tools may rest freely upon the brim; in making the carriers
adjustable to and from the hat clamp in the arms, and in providing the carriers
with stops, so that they may be readily retracted from the plate to remove the hat,
and again set in the same position; in a hinged or ball and socket joint between
the iron and the carrier; and in a removable weight applied to the flattening iron,
The rocking arms are preferably arranged vertically at opposite sides of a
rotating hat clan p, the pivots of the arms being applied to their lower ends; and

page_text: the upper ends being pressed toward the hat clamp by means of a weight or spring
like the rectilineal slides heretofore used for supporting the curling tools.
The edge of the brim plate which revolves with the hat clamp, may be of oval
shape to form a cam, against which a roller attached to one or both of the rocking
arms would be pressed by the action of such weight or spring; and the arms thus
be rocked back and forth as the cam rotates.
In one modification, each rocking arm is provided near its pivot or fulcrum with
a toothed segment meshing into the toothed segment upon the opposite arm; such
segments serving to couple the arms together and causing each to participate in the
motion of the other, so that only one requires to be provided with a roller to bear
upon the cam..
To adjust the arm to and from the hat clamp, the roller which is the vibrating
agent, may be attached to the arm by an adjustable shoe, so that it may be moved
upon the arm to or from the cam, as desired.
The invention also consists in a treadle pivoted upon the foot of the machine, 1
and connected by a link to the flattening iron so as to apply additional pressure to
the flattener at the later stages of the curling operation, by the pressure of the
operator's foot.

page_text: I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, of 52 Chancery
Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to that class of Hat Curling Machines, in which the hat is
clamped upon a revolving block and brim plate, and subjected to the successive
action of tools adapted to bend and press the edge of the brim into the desired curl.
In such machines, two irons, used respectively for bending and pressing the curl,
are located at opposite sides of the brim plate and are vibrated to and from the
hat clamp or block, to produce the elliptic shape of curl required; and the object
of this invention is to simplify the mechanism used for vibrating the tool carriers,
and to adapt the irons or tools to adjust themselves more perfectly to the brim or
brim plate, so that they may operate if desired, upon a shaped hat brim.
The improvements consist first, in coupling the two tool carriers by such means
that one will move in just the opposite direction from the other; so that the
required vibrating motion may be imparted by one to the other.
Such a coupler may consist of a double armed lever pivoted upon the arbor of
the rotating hat clamp and linked at opposite ends, to the two opposite tool
carriers.
By this construction, the cam or agent for vibrating the tools, is connected with
only one of the tool carriers; and may thus be made in the form of a crank, or
otherwise, so as to be adjusted at pleasure, to vary the degree of vibration.
The invention also consists in mounting the tool carriers upon the ends of
vibrating or rocking arms; in jointing the carriers inovably to the ends of such
arms, so that the tools may rest freely upon the brim; in making the carriers
adjustable to and from the hat clamp in the arms; and in providing the carriers
with stops, so that they may be readily retracted from the plate to remove the hat,
and again set in the same position; in a hinged or ball and socket joint between
the iron and the carrier; and in a removable weight applied to the flattening iron.
The rocking arms are preferably arranged vertically at opposite sides of a
rotating hat clamp, the pivots of the arms being applied to their lower ends; and
the upper ends being pressed toward the hat clamp by means of a weight or spring
like the rectilineal slides heretofore used for supporting the curling tools. The
edge of the brim plate which revolves with the hat clamp, may be of oval shape to
form a cam, against which a roller attached to one or both of the rocking arms
would be pressed by the action of such weight or spring; and the arms thus be
rocked back and forth as the cam rotates.
In one modification, each rocking arm is provided near its pivot or fulcrum with
a toothed segment meshing into the toothed segment upon the opposite arm; such
segments serving to couple the arms together and causing each to participate in the
motion of the other, so that only one requires to be provided with a roller to bear
upon the cam.

page_text: To adjust the arm to and from the hat clamp, the roller which is the vibrating
agent, may be attached to the arm by an adjustable shoe, so that it may be moved
upon the arm to or from the cam, as desired.
The invention also consists in a treadle pivoted upon the foot of the machine,
and connected by a link to the flattening iron so as to apply additional pressure to
the flattener at the later stages of the curling operation, by the pressure of the
operator's foot.
The annexed drawing shows the coupler applied to two different forms of
machines; Fig. 1 being a front view and Fig. 2 a side view of a machine, in which
the tool carriers are mounted on rocking arms; Fig. 3 is a side view and Fig. 4 a
plan of a machine in which the tool carriers are mounted on reciprocating slides;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view of one of the tool carriers and its guide and stop, taken
on line x, x, in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified tool carrier connected
with a pressing iron by a ball joint; and Fig. 7 is a section of the same on line y, y,
in Fig. 6.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, A is the frame of the machine, B the hat clamp, C its
spindle and C¹ its bearing. a are gears, a¹ a clutch and as a pulley to rotate the
same; and a³ a handle to shift the clutch; B' the hat brim plate whose edge serves
as a cam to vibrate the tool carriers b, b; c is the curling tool, & the pressing tool;
D are rocker arms fixed to rocker shafts D¹ and coupled together by toothed
segments D² affixed to such shafts. Guides E are pivoted by pinion shafts a¹ to
their upper ends to sustain the tool carriers which are fitted to slide therein to and
from the hat clamp, as by the dovetail fitting, shown in Fig. 2, and the pinion e,
shown in Fig. 5, and operating upon a rack e¹ on the carrier.
h are breakers jointed to the guides by arms i; and the pressing iron & being
adapted chiefly for forming flat or anglesea curls, the breaker adjacent to such
pressing iron is therefore shown in its inoperative position. ; is an adjusting arın
pivoted concentric with one of the arms D, and provided with a shoe k carrying a
roller which bears against the cam B¹.
n is a screw to set the arm and tool carried thereby to suit the size of the hat
operated upon; the shoe being clamped to the arm, when adjusted, by a screw and
hand wheel m. Any movement and adjustment imparted to one arm will obviously
be transmitted to the other by the toothed segments D'; which thus serve as a
coupler, to obviate the use of separate actuating mechanism for each arm.
Beside the adjustment afforded jointly to the two arms by the screw n, each
carrier is separately adjustable in the guide E by the pinion e and the stop f;
which, by means of screw g, is set in contact with the rear of the guide E when
each tool is properly adjusted.
The curling tools in the carriers may thus be withdrawn from the curl at any
time and restored to their adjusted positions at the commencement of the curling
operation; the pressing iron d being lifted from the brim plate B¹, until the curl is
sufficiently formed to be pressed thereon. A treadle T is connected with the tool
carrier b¹ by a rod F hinged to the treadle by a ball joint o; the treadle being used
to produce an increased pressure upon the curl during the latter stages of the
curling operation; as is commonly practiced in curling by hand. The treadle lever
may be extended backward as at T' in Fig. 2, and provided with an adjustable
weight W by which the pressure upon the tool d can be neutralized to any extent
during the first part of the curling operation.
To hold the tools entirely away from the brim plate when applying the weight
thereto, a spring pin s is fitted in a socket s³ near the shaft of the arm j, and a
hole is formed in the latter to engage the pin when all the arms are drawn back
in their inoperative positions, as shown in the dotted lines D³ in Fig. 1.
A handle & serves to withdraw the pin from the hole r, to shift the arms and
tools to their operative position. A different means for pressing the tool d upon
the curl is shown in Fig. 3, where a removable weight w is affixed directly to
the tool to produce the maximum pressure desired; and in such case a treadle
rod may be connected to the treadle arm T¹, as indicated by dotted lines F¹ in
.

page_text: Fig. 2; the foot pressure upon the treadle then serving conveniently to raise the
pressing iron to insert the brim beneath it.
Fig. 3 shows a hat K applied to the brim plate and illustrates a different form of
coupler, the guide E being pivoted upon vibrating, slides G, G, which are coupled
together by links G attached respectively to opposite ends of a transverse lever H
which is pivoted upon the hat clamp spindle C.
The cam B2 is applied to the shaft Ĉ below the brim plate B¹, with the coupling
lever H between the two; and the cam roller ¹ is attached to the slide Q' by a
shoe k¹ and adjusting screw n¹, to set the slides and tool carriers to and from the
hat clamp. A weight X is connected with the slide G by a cord 2, and operates
through the coupling links G2 to press both the tool carriers normally toward the
hat clamp, and to neutralize the lost motion of the joints in the coupler.
In Fig. 4 the guides and tool carriers are omitted, to show the shafts a¹ to which
the pinions e are attached; the shafts being furnished with cranks a³ in Fig. 1, and
with square heads a³ for the application of a removable handle, in Fig. 4.
The slides G, G¹, may be held in their inoperative position, like the arms shown
at D in Fig. 1; by a pin & inserted in a hole in one of the slides G, when the
latter is retracted.
The carrier guides are pivoted upon the ends of the arms D, and upon the
slides G, G², to adapt the tool to rest freely, by its weight, upon the hat brim plate;
and to rise and fall during the curling operation if such plate be curved hori-
zontally to fit a hat brim already shaped.
The ball and socket joint between the curling tool and its carrier, shown in Fig. 7,
adapts the iron to bear evenly upon such a curved plate.
In this figure the carrier is constructed to hinge directly upon the arm D or
slide G, and the upper side of the curling tool is formed with a spherical projection t
fitted to a corresponding recess u formed upon the under side of the carrier arm.
A hole is provided in the centre of such recess to permit the free passage of a
bolt t¹ which is attached to the top of the projection t; and a concave washer v¹ and
nut serve to secure the projection movably in the spherical recess.
A gas jet p is shown affixed to the arm to project a flame through the open side
of the iron; and the upper end of the bolt t¹ is provided with a wooden knob q by
which the heated iron can be raised from the brim plate, at pleasure.
A removable weight w³ is shown affixed to the carrier in Fig. 7, and operates the
same as the weight w shown in Fig. 3.
By the various attachments and adjustments described, it is obvious that the
tools can be, more readily than heretofore, removed from the finished hat, another
hat applied to the brim plate, and the tools applied thereto in the same relations as
before; as the coupler enables the operator to move both tools simultaneously;
while the stops fƒ enable him to restore the tools immediately to their previous
position,
The retraction of both the tools from the brim plate and their retension in an
inoperative position, by means of the spring bolt or pin 8 or 83; also affords the
operator most convenient access to the brim plate for removing or placing the hat
thereon. The tool carriers may, when retracted, rest upon a support on the arm D
or slides G, G¹, to sustain them at or above the level of the brim plate; so as to
readily slide thereon when restored to their operative position.
It will be understood that the arm; turns loosely upon the shaft of the arm D,
so as to vibrate freely when actuated by the cam and roll ; and that the arm D is
rigidly fastened thereto by the clamping screw and hand wheel m, when properly
adjusted by screw n.
In Fig. 2 are shown at J and J¹, pipes supplying gas and air under pressure to
the curling tools to heat them in the usual manner.
It is obvious that with the coupler described herein, any agent, as a crank or
eccentric, may be used to vibrate both of the tools by a connection to either of the
same; and, that if an adjustable crank be used, the extent of the vibration may be
varied at pleasure, and the tools adapted to operate in a variety of elliptic paths.

page_text: A curl may thus be formed upon a brim of any oval shape; while the adjustment
of the tools to and from the hat clamp, by means of the screw n, adapts them to
operate upon brims of any size.
Having thus described the nature of my invention, I do not limit myself to
the precise mode of construction herein set forth; as it is not material what form of
coupler may be employed to move the opposite curling tool simultaneously; and
as other forms of guides and stops may be used in connection with the tool carriers
to effect the result which I have described herein. What I claim herein is
1st The improvements in hat curling machines as herein before described.
2nd The combination, with a revolving hat clamp; of two opposed tools, and
means for coupling them together; substantially as herein described.
3rd The combination, with the tool carriers, of vibrating or rocking arms pivoted
upon opposite sides of the hat clamp, and coupled together; substantially as shown
and described..
4th The combination, with vibrating arms or slides operating at opposite sides of
the hat clamp; of tool carriers pivoted to such arms or slides, with their attached
tools resting freely upon the hat brim; substantially as herein described.
5th The combination, with a revolving hat clamp, of tool carriers mounted in
vibrating guides, and adjustable therein to and from the hat clamp, and provided
with stops to limit their movement in said guides; substantially as herein described.
6th The means for jointing the curling tool movably to the carrier, consisting in
the ball and socket joint; substantially as herein described.
7th In a bat curling machine, I claim the employment of a removable weight
applied to the curling tool or to its carrier, to increase its pressure upon the hat
brim when desired; substantially as herein set forth.
8th The combination, with a jointed tool carrier and a tool resting freely upon
the brim plate; of a treadle and a rod connected with the tool carrier; substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
9th The combination, with two tool carriers coupled together; of means, as pin 8,
for holding them in an inoperative position; substantially as herein described.
Dated this 5th day of February 1886