Improvements in the Manufacture of Cloth Wire Brim Hats.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 18th July, 1889
Complete Specification Left. 16th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 19th Oct., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Cloth Wire Brim Hats.
I MICHAEL SCHNEIDERS of Buck's Row Whitechapel Road in the County of
Middlesex Hat and Cap Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this Invention
to be as follows :-
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the manufacture
of hats of the kind known in commerce as "soft tweed wire brim hats" "silk wire
brim hats" "cotton wire brim hats" and the like and my said improvements consist
in making to the said hats flexible curled brims the shape of which is not affected by
exposure to the action of wet or moisture.
In making according to my invention the curled brim of a hat of the kind herein-
before referred to I take a sheet of felt or other suitable absorbent material and
saturate it with a solution of shellac or other suitable matter which is hard or solid at
ordinary temperatures and which is unaffected by moisture and which is capable of
being softened by exposure to heat and I cut from the said sheet a piece approximately
similar in form to the part of the brim of the hat in which the required curl is to be
formed and I place the said piece between the outer and inner layers of material at
the said part of the brim and secure it in place by sewing the said layers of material
together. I then place the brim of the hat on a suitably formed block and mould the
brim to the required shape on the said block by means of a heated iron.
My invention is applicable to the manufacture of curled brims of the forms known
as the "roll curl" and the "Anglesea curl" and to the manufacture of curled brims
of any other desired form.
1006
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Cloth Wire Brim Hats.
I MICHAEL SCHNEIDERS of Buck's Row Whitechapel Road in the County of
Middlesex Hat and Cap 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 :-
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the manufacture
"silk wire
of hats of the kind known in commerce as "soft tweed wire brim hats
brim hats" "cotton wire brim hats" and the like and my said improvements consist
in making to the said hats flexible curled brims the shape of which is not affected by
exposure to the action of wet or moisture.
In oaking according to my invention the curled brim of a hat of the kind herein-
before referred to 1 take a sheet of felt or other suitable absorbent material and
saturate it with a solution of shellac or other suitable matter which is hard or solid at
ordinary temperatures and which is unaffected by moisture and which is capable of
being softened by exposure to heat and I cut from the said sheet a piece or pieces of
the form necessary for the part of the brim of the bat in which the curl is required
and I secure the said piece or pieces between the outer and inner layers of material
forming the covering of the brim. I mould the brim of the hat to the required shape
on a suitably formed block or frame by means of a heated iron.
My invention is applicable to the manufacture of curled brims of the forms known as
the "roll curl and the "Anglesea curl" and to the manufacture of curled brims of
::
than desired form

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe th
manner in which it is to be performed reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon. The same letters and
figures of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures of the Drawings.
The process of manufacturing a hat which is required to have a curled brim made
according to my Invention is as follows-
The main portion of the brim of the bat (namely the whole of the brim except the
portion in which the curl is to be formed) is made and the covering material is
secured thereto in the ordinary manner. That is to say a piece of glued or sized
canvas is cut to the shape required for the said main part of the brim and a piece of
the material (hereinafter termed the cloth) of which the covering or outer parts of
the hat are to be formed is secured to the side of the said piece of glued canvas which
is to be uppermost by means of waterproof glue such as a solution of india rubber.
Figure 1 represents the form of the said piece of canvas in face view and Figure 2 a
transverse section thereof with the cloth covering secured thereto the canvas being
marked a and the cloth which is glued thereto being marked b.
on the bias" of a length equal to the circumference of the part a of the brim is
A strip of cloth cut
then sewn together at its ends so as to form an endless band and one edge of the said
band is then connected to the outer edge of the brim a and b by stitching. Figures 3
and 4 are views of the parts a and b corresponding to Figures 1 and 2 showing the
endless band connected to the said parts c being the said band and c', the stiching
connecting it to the said parts a b. A hoop consisting of a piece of wire of the same
length as the strip of cloth from which the band c was formed and connected at its
ends by means of a tubular connection is then sewn to the edge of the parts a bas
shown in Figures 5 and 6 in which Figures the wire of which the hoop is formed is
marked d the tubular connection e and the stitches by which the wire hoop is con-
nected to the parts a and b are marked f. To the aforesaid parts of the brim the part
in which the curl is to be formed is connected by placing it over or around the wire
hoop d and sewing its outer edge to the parts a bas shown in Figures 7 and 8 in
which Figures the part in which the curl is to be formed is marked g and the stitches
by which the said part is connected to the parts a bare marked hh. The form of
the part g disconnected from the other parts is shown in Figures 9 and 10. The said
part consists of two pieces (which are each of the form shown in Figure 11) cut from
a sheet of felt or other suitable absorbent material saturated with a solution of shellac
or other suitable matter which is hard or solid at ordinary temperatures and which is
unaffected by moisture and which is capable of being softened by exposure to heat
the ends of one of the said two pieces being connected to the ends of the other of
the said pieces by means of bands of linen or other convenient fabric (marked i i in
Figures 7, 9 and 10) fastened around the parts which are to be connected by means
of ordinary glue or other suitable cement.
as hereinbetore described the unsecured part of the band of cloth c is turned over the
After the part g has been secured in place
said part and secured to the underside of the brim by means of gutta percha as
usual. Figure 12 is a transverse section of a portion of the brim showing the band c
thus secured. The crown of the hat is then secured to the brim and the binding
which covers the inner or underside of the junction of the crown with the brim and
the usual outside band are then secured in place the said crown being made and the
said parts being secured as required in the ordinary or any suitable manner.
The
part of the brim which is directly connected to the crown is then shaped in the
ordinary manner on an ordinary "sunk frame." The part of the brim to be curled is
then shaped to the required form as follows:
A suitable "brim frame" is applied to the part of the brim in which the curl is to
be formed and the said part is then moulded to the shape required by the application.
of heat and pressure thereto the effect of the application of heat being to soften the
matter with which the part 9 is saturated and the effect of the application of pressure
being to cause the said part g to take the form of the part of the brim frame by which
it is supported which form is retained by the said part g when the matter with which
it is saturated is allowed to harden before the brimi frame is removed.

page_text: A brim frame of convenient construction and of the form required for the produc-
tion of a roll curl is illustrated in Figures 13 and 14 of the accompanying Drawings
Figure 13 being a plan view of the said frame and Figure 14 a side view thereof.
Referring to the said Figures j is the part of the said frame which is applied to the
brim of the hat the face of the said part which is shown uppermost being of the form
which the curl part of the brim is required to have. kis a rod having a screw k¹
formed at one end which screw is engaged with a screwed socket / connected to the
part by means of arms and in is a bearing piece which is connected to the rod k
by the engagement of a pin thereon with a hole in the said bearing piece.
Figure 15 of the accompanying Drawings shows in central transverse section a hat
made as heroinbefore described and supported on an ordinary sunk frame and having
a brim frame of the construction illustrated in Figures 13 and 14 applied to it the
crown of the hat being shown pressed inward in order to admit of the application of
the brim frame. In the said Figure 15 the sunk frame is marked n.
is
The method of using the brim frame is as follows:-The rod is turned in the
direction necessary to cause the parts j m to approach each other sufficiently to admit
of the said part m being passed into the crown of the hat when the said part
placed under the curl part of the brim. The said parts of the brim frame are then
engaged with the hat as shown in Figure 15 and the said rod k is turned in the direc-
tion necessary to cause the parts j m to separate until the parts of the hat with which
they are engaged are firmly pressed against the sunk frame and the brim frame is
securely fixed in place. The curl is then formed in the half of the brim with which the
part of the brim frame is engaged by applying heat and pressure to that part of
the said half of the brim which is above the said part j. When this has been done
the brim frame is removed and applied in like manner to the other half of the brim
and the curl is formed in like manner therein. The part of the brim of the hat on
the left hand side of Figure 15 which lies above the upper edge of the sunk frame is
shown curled or moulded to the form of the part of the brim frame and the corre-
sponding part of the brim on the right hand side of the said Figure 15 is shown of
the form which the said part of the brim has before being so moulded.
"
Where the brim of the hat is required to be of the form known as an Anglesea
curl" or where a curl of other shape is to be formed in the brim of the hat a brim
frame of the construction shown in Figures 13 and 14 may be used but the part of
the said frame must be of such a form in section as will admit of a curl of the required
shape being produced in the brim by pressing or moulding the said brim with a heated
iron on the said part of the frame.
The solution of shellac herein before referred to may be prepared in the same manner
as that ordinarily used by hatters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manuer the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
Manufacturing the curled brims of cloth wire brim hats substantially as herein-
before described that is to say manufacturing the said curled brims by securing
between the inner and outer or upper and under layers of cloth covering the brim at
the part where the curl is to be formed an absorbent material saturated with a matter
which is hard or solid at ordinary temperatures but is capable of being softened by
heat and moulding the said material to the form of the required curl by the applica-
tion of heat and pressure thereto.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.