Improvements in or connected with Hats.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 11th May, 1899-Accepted, 17th June, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Hats.
I, WILLIAM COBBETT, of 2, Kerrisons Terrace, Ketts Hill, Norwich, in the
County of Norfolk, Clerk, 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:--
My invention relates to hats and to the ventilation of the same.
It is well known that men who wear their hats for long periods at a time fre-
quently become prematurely bald, this premature baldness being, I believe,
mainly due to the accumulation of hot air and steam within the hat.
The object of my invention is to improve the ventilation so that this accumu-
lation will be obviated and to this end it consists in providing a hat with a series
of apertures of such a size that considerable volumes of air can quickly enter
and escape, the said openings being protected by internal screens or baffles which,
whilst preventing the air passing through the holes or apertures directly into
contact with the wearer's head, in no way retard the ingress and egress of the air.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a round felt hat provided with my improve-
ments; and
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the same, the section being taken on the
line 2-2 of Figure 1.
a, a are the holes which are formed in the hat, which holes are in practice
preferably of at least three quarters of an inch in diameter and are arranged
in such a position that they are above the top of the sweat band, the said holes
being preferably placed one at each side and one at the back of the hat. bare
the screens or baffles which are placed in connection with the several holes a, a,
the said screens or baffles being advantageously made of felt and in the form of
half tubes which are closed at the bottom c and open at the top d so that the air
which enters through the said holes will be directed towards the crown of the
hat. These screens or baffles may be moulded or otherwise suitably formed to
adapt them to the hat and are preferably fixed by india-rubber solution or other
suitable cement.
In practice the surface c at the bottom of each tube is inclined and arranged
with its lower edge flush with the bottom of the opening a to which it is applied
so that if rain should enter through the holes a, a it will be able to drain out
again.
As shewn in the drawing each hole a has around it a ring e of felt or the like,
but it will be obvious that such ring is not necessary. In some cases we may
find it advantageous to place pieces of wire gauze over the holes.
Although I have described my invention as applied to a round felt hat it
will be obvious that it is also applicable to hats of other shapes.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The method of ventilating a hat consisting in forming a series of holes in
the same and combining with these holes screens or baffles closed at the lower
end and open at the upper end, substantially as described.
2. The manufacture of hats provided with means for ventilating the same sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 11th day of May 1899.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.