IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR HARDENING FELT HAT BODIES AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Vero at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
October 1870.
I, JOSEPH VERO, of Dewsbury, in the County of York, Hat Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR HARDENING FELT HAT BODIES AND
OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements upon and additions
to the hardening machine described in the Specification of Letters
Patent granted to me on the 10th day of March 1868, No. 826, and has
for its object the simplifying the machine and the reducing the wear
and tear of the mechanical parts thereof whilst at the same time a
more efficient mode of hardening is obtained.
According to my present improvements I propose to make the
reciprocating wedge-shaped block upon which the hat bodies are
hardened perforated on its two opposite acting faces for the purpose of
allowing the steam employed for heating such block to escape into
or upon the felt body placed thereon during the process of hardening.

page_text: By this arrangement I am enabled to dispense with the use of the
separate moveable shell referred to in my said former Specification. As
the felt body is thus steamed or moistened whilst it is upon the recipro-
cating wedge-shaped block the application of steam to the wings or flaps
referred to in my said former Specification may be dispensed with,
although in some cases, if desired, the said wings may be heated by
means of steam confined therein or otherwise. The said wings may
or may not be hinged together at the top, but I prefer to make them
without hinges, the continuous sheet metal lining referred to in my
said former Specification being made to form the wings themselves, it
being bent or curved at the top, as heretofore, and stiffened oľ
strengthened on the outer surfaces by metal plates or wooden slabs
secured thereto. This continuous sheet is lined with another continuous
sheet of roughened india-rubber extending over the whole of the acting
surface thereof, and is attached at its curved or bent part to a cross
bar in the sliding frame described in my said former Specification. The
continuous sheet thus lined has its two sides pressed against the felt
body by means of adjustable screws carried in the said sliding frame and
acting against the upper portion of the two sides of the continuous sheet,
whilst the lower portion is acted upon by means of two levers or arms
hinged to the sides of the sliding frame. The sliding frame carries the
wings or continuous sheet and the said pressing levers or arms are
suspended by chains or their equivalent from an overhead counter-
weighted lever, the said chains being connected to the bottoms of the
continuous sheet forming the wings on each side and also to the hinged
levers or arms, so that when lifted the chains will first act upon and
lift the levers or pressing arms and will then raise the inner frame
opening at the same time the wings or continuous sheet. The said
wings are prevented from lateral motion at the bottom part by having
a slot or groove made at their lower ends working upon the sides of the
sliding frame.