Improvements in the Manufacture of Felt Hats.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 16th May, 1894-Accepted, 16th June, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION..
Improvements in the Manufacture of Felt Hats.
I, CHARLES VERO, of Atherstone, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
the veneer.
When making felt hats with a surface of fine material known as a veneer there is
much difficulty in preventing the inequalities of the body beneath appearing through
There is difficulty also in causing the veneer to adhere to the body so
On the other hand
firmly as not to be disfigured by friction in transport or wear.
if measures be taken to felt the veneer firmly to the body there is danger of the
finer material penetrating into the substance of the body in place of remaining upon
the surface.
To avoid these difficulties and otherwise improve the manufacture I proceed as
follows:-
:-
I take the hat body made of the coarser material, felted and proofed, and I
consolidate it by heavy pressure in a metal cone corresponding in form to the hat
body. I next rub the body all over with glass paper so as to obtain as fine a
surface as possible.
Then I place the hat body in a cylinder somewhat like that described in my
Specification No. 17701 of the year 1887 but with its periphery formed of fustian
or such like fabric and it is lined in every part to secure softness and aid in
felting.
In this cylinder the hat body is revolved in one direction with the short or cut
fur which is destined to form the fine veneer. Preferably I apply a moderate heat
for this aids the adhesion of the short fur to the body; but I take great care that
the heat is not sufficient to cause the hat body to lose its form for if it be allowed
to crease the short fur will be unevenly deposited upon it. When sufficient short
fur is accumulated upon the hat body I remove it from the cylinder and dust off
the superfluous fibre and place it upon a perforated metal cone; over it I place a
cloth cover then another cone unperforated with cloths and felt covers between the
cone and the hat body. Steam is admitted to the lower cone and by the pressure
of the upper cone aided by a gentle movement the veneer is consolidated upon the
hat body. This veneering operation may be repeated as often as desired. After-
wards the hat is finished in the usual manner.
Sometimes, especially for soft hats, I place a light frame inside the body to keep
it in form whilst in the cylinder and to prevent the bodies entering one within the
other.
c A
1000
CHARLES VERO.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Felt Hats.
I, CHARLES VERO, of Atherstone, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
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:-
When making hard and soft felt hats with a surface of fine fur material known as
plating or veneering there is much difficulting in preventing the inequalities of the
body beneath appearing through the veneer and if no real felting process is employed

page_text: there is difficulty also in causing the veneer to adhere to the body so firmly as not
to be disfigured by pressure and friction in transport or wear. On the other hand
in all measures heretofore taken to felt the fur veneer firmly in earlier stages to the
body have caused the finer material to penetrate into the substance of the body in
place of remaining upon the surface.
I make a hat body in the usual way either from wool or from fur or from a
mixture of the two. It is made in the ordinary conical or sugar loaf form; it is
felted and it is stiffened as required with proofing.
I submit this hat body to heavy pressure in the machine well known as a "hatters
hydraulic press," which consists of a metal mould of the same conical shape as the
hat body and a flexible watertight bag to the interior of which water under
pressure can be admitted. The hat body being heated to soften the proof is placed
in the mould, the bag is inserted within it and secured by placing the cover on the
mould; finally the water under pressure is admitted to the bag. The pressure is
applied to the body within the mould in the usual way.
I then after removing the hat body from the mould dress the surface of the hat
body with glass paper so as to remove all irregularities coarse harls, kemps and
burrs to obtain as fine a face as possible.
I next proceed to plate or veneer the hat body with short or powdered fur. I
use the fur of hares, rabbits or other animals cut very short or reduced by grinding
in a machine to a short staple.
The plating operation is best conducted by placing the hat body in a cylindrical
chamber of wood or metal the walls of which are lined with fustian or such like
fabric, of fibre which will not felt. The cylinder lined with fustian cloth is
constructed between two similar discs of wood or metal also lined with fustian and
each about four feet in diameter; these discs form ends to the cylinder, they are
fixed on a horizontal axis at about five feet apart. The cloth lining is supported
between the discs by wooden bars extending from disc to disc parallel to the axis.
These bars are covered and padded with fustian. The hat bodies are prepared
each with a string across the base to prevent them entering one into the other
during their revolving. In this state the bodies about 12 at a time, are placed in
the cylinder together with a sufficient quantity of short or powdered fur. There
is a door about foot deep across from disc to disc also lined with fustian by which
the hat bodies are put in and taken out from the cylinder. The cylinder is turned
slowly by manual labour or by means of a driving belt passing around a pulley on
its axis. A speed of 20 revolutions per minute will be found suitable and in about
15 minutes the plating operation will be complete.
Around the axis and within the chamber I provide a casing about 12 inches in
diameter which is also covered with fustian. To this casing I can admit steam as
the plating operation proceeds better and quicker when the hat bodies and the
short or powdered fur are warm; but the heat employed must not be sufficient to
soften the proofing and render the hat bodies so limp as to wrinkle or lose their
shape.
In order to keep the hat bodies for semi-hard or soft hats in form whilst in the
plating cylinder it is advisable that they should be stretched over and fastened on
light frames of wire work or strong proofed bodies.
The rotation in the cylinder causes the plating to be even over the surface of
the bodies.
At the end of the plating operation the hat bodies are removed from the plating
cylinder and the superfluous short fur is shaken off, but a sufficient quantity is firmly
attached to form a good veneer. In order to felt this veneer to the hat body
without however causing it to penetrate beneath the surface I make use of the
apparatus well known to hatters as the "cup and cone hardener," it consists of
a hollow copper cone of the form of the hat body, it is finely perforated all
over and steam is admitted to its interior; it is covered with a felt jacket and
around this a cloth is wrapped. Over the cone thus padded on the surface the
hat body with the veneer upon it is placed. Another metal cone as a cover

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descends on and over the hat body but with a soft cloth between the two..
The top cone does not fit tightly and it receives from the mechanism a short but
quick jiggering" movement. After treatment in this well known machine for
about one or two minutes the veneer will be felted and properly fixed on the
body. By repeating the operations the hat body may be doubly or trebly
veneered or plated if desired. The bodies are then piled in two or three dozen
piles and placed in a steam chest and subjected to steam under pressure for one
or two hours. In addition for veneering soft hats I further harden them on
a flat hardener as is well understood. I also sometimes give them one or more
rounds by hand or in a planking machine. The finishing operations are of the
ordinary description.
The annexed drawing shows the plating cylinder. Figure 1 is a longitudinal
section and Figure 2 is a transverse section.
a is the axis, a' a belt pulley upon it, bb are the discs fixed upon the axis..
6' is a door. ce are the padded bars parallel to the axis connecting the discs..
dd are the walls of the cylinder covered with fustian or like fabric. e is the
steam casing around the axis covered with fustian and e¹ is a pipe by which steam
is supplied to it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The process substantially as described for veneering hard or soft felt hat
bodies with short or powdered fur consisting in consolidating the felted hat
body by pressure in a conical mould, then cutting the face of the hat body to a fine
surface with an abrading material such as glass paper, then covering or plating the
hat body with finely divided fur and afterwards firmly felting the veneer of short
or powdered fur by working the veneered hat body between steam heated cones one-
fitting within and the other over the hat body as herein set forth.
2. The means substantially as described for applying short or powdered fur to
hard or soft felt hat bodies consisting in placing the hat bodies together with the
fur in a cylinder or chamber such as is shown by the annexed drawing, lined
throughout with fustian or such like fabric and causing the said cylinder or chamber
with its contents to revolve.
3. The process substantially as described for veneering hard or soft felt hat
bodies with short or powdered fur consisting in consolidating the felted hat body
by pressure in a mould; then cutting the face of the hat body to a fine surface;
then placing the hat bodies together with powdered fur in a heated and fabric lined
cylinder and revolving them therein; and afterwards firmly felting the veneer to
the body by working the veneered hat body between cones.
4. The process substantially as described for veneering hard or soft felt hat
bodies with short or powdered fur consisting in consolidating the felted hat body
by pressure in a mould; then cutting the face of the hat body to a fine surface,.
then covering or plating the hat body with finely divided fur; then felting the
veneer to the body by working the veneered hat body between cones; then
again covering or plating the hat body with fur and finally again working the
body between cones.
5. The process substantially as described for veneering hard or soft felt hat
bodies with short or powdered fur consisting in consolidating the felted bat
body by pressure in a mould; then cutting the face of the hat body to a fine
surface; then covering or plating the hat body with finely divided fur; then
felting the veneer to the body by working the veneered hat body between cones ;.
and applying steam as herein set forth.