Improvements in Hat Brim Curl Trimming and Paring Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Feb., 1897-Accepted, 20th Mar., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hat Brim Curl Trimming and Paring Machines.
I GILES ATHERTON of the Virginia Mills, Higher Hillgate, Stockport, in the
County of Chester. Hatters' Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improved apparatus for trimming and paring the curls of
hat brims. The apparatus consists of a stand or shears fixed to a table, bench or
elevated support of such a height as to enable the operator to sit down to his work
while leaving him free to bend over and reach all parts of the hat margin.
Upon the shears I secure a bracket machined on the top to receive a sliding carrier
which can be adjusted by a screw to any desired position on the bracket. The sliding
carrier has a loose downwardly projecting tail engaging with a swivelling part or stop
furnished at the head with bowls which bear against the side of an oval cam carried
on a shaft extending upward through the opening in the shears. The two sides of
the cam slope, but the ends are straight, the sloping sides of the cam providing for
different breadths of curl, by adjusting the height of the bearing bowls, such
adjustment being effected by a vertical set screw. The shaft carrying the oval cam
is rotated by means of a worm wheel on the shaft, situated just beneath the shears and
driven by a screw or worm lying alongside of the shears and capable of being thrown
in and out of gear with the worm wheel. The spindle carrying the worm or screw is
separately driven. The top of the shaft carries a flat plate upon which slide clamps
moved by a curved slot cam beneath, the said clamps acting like an expanding block
to hold a hat when placed over the clamps. When the hat to be trimmed is flat, it is
laid on the flat plate but when curved or arched 1 place a curved plate upon the flat
plate to suit the curved brim. A projecting lever beneath the flat plate works the
slot cam and a set screw binds the cam when set. I might use other forms of
expanding cam to secure the hat in position or I might use plain blocks or brow
blocks. As the aforesaid cam with sloping sides, revolves against the stop bowls, the
cam and shaft, which are carried in a bearing, sliding on the shears, and held against
the stop bowls by a weight or spring, are moved to and fro owing to the oval
formation of the cam, the similarly curved brin and curl of the hat at the upper end
of the shaft being also moved so that a fixed and defined curve on the hat brim or
curl is presented to the trimming or paring cutter. This paring cutter consists of a
rapidly reciprocating knife working in conjunction with a slipper jaw which embraces
the curl to be pared. The cutter is worked from a spindle and slide carried in a
pivotted bearing bracket centred on the sliding pivotted carrier which surmounts the
carriage bolted to the shears as aforesaid.
This pivotted bearing bracket has a tail upon which is adjustably fixed a counter-
balance weight. By adjusting this counterbalance, the bearing bracket can be so
delicately balanced on its pivot that the slipper jaw, as the curved brim slips through
it, raises and lowers the bearing bracket to the exact upward and downward curve of
the hat brim, thus keeping the paring tool at work in the exact curve it should
traverse. At the same time the slope-sided cam slides and swivels the cutter bracket
to the exact curves and radial angles required. The spindle which reciprocates the
paring tool is driven from a grooved pulley on the opposite end from the tool and when

page_text: driven from above, I might mount on the bracket two or more pullies to keep the
driving band from unshipping when the bracket is canted on its pivot.
Dated the 1st day of May 1896
drawings.
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the annexed Smeet or
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a plan.
Fig. 3 is a cross section in front of the paring knife.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the pivotted bracket which moves the head
carrying the knife.
Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the pendant connection between the pivotted
bracket and the head.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are views of the cam with inclined sides which governs the
width of the pared curl by regulating the movements of the knife in the horizontal
plane.
Fig. 9 is a plan view of the expanding grippers and plate which hold the hat.
Fig. 10 is an enlarged side view of the slipper guide which engages with the hat
curl and regulates the movements of the knife in the vertical plane.
Fig. 11 shows the clutch for throwing the driving pulley in and out of gear with
the knife spindle.
Fig. 12 shows the slotted plate carrying the knife and reciprocated by a pin on a
disc at the end of the driving spindle.
Fig. 13 shows the sliding bearing which carries the free end of the worm shaft
which drives the vertical 'hat block shaft.
I mount the working parts of the apparatus upon a frame or shears a which might
be carried on a table or upon neat supports similar to those of a sewing machine, the
revolving hat band block being supported at such a height as to enable the operator
to sit down to his work and leave him free to bend over and reach all parts of the hat
margin. On the shears I mount a sliding bearing block c the said bearing block
carrying an upright shaft d the upper. end of which carries an expansion block or
brow to receive the hat which is shown in Fig. 1 mounted on the said expansion
brow or block. Just above the sliding bearing block c I fix an oval came on the
shaft, this cam being shown more particularly in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. The periphery of
the cam e corresponds to the shape and proportions of the hat b or other hat to be
operated on. The came is made of some depth so as to allow for different proportions
of hat brim curl. As seen from the figs. the cam e which is elliptical in shape
corresponding to the shape of a hat, is vertical at each end of the ellipse and is
inclined at each side. This provides for the different widths of brim curl.

page_text: Beneath the shears I secure upon the shaft a worm wheel which gears with a
worm g sliding with a slip feather and groove on the shaft g', the said shaft being
driven from a pulley 7 secured on the end thereof. The worm g is carried between
arms which are secured to the block c so that the worm is always kept in gear
with the wheelf. To throw the worm g in and out of gear with the worm wheel f
when desired, I use a lever h pivotted to a bracket on the side of the shears and having
its lower end connected to a side lever ¹ pivotted to the other end of the frame a.
The side lever h¹ is connected by a rod i with the shaft g¹ the fork on the end of the
rod i embracing the shaft on each side as shown in Fig. 13. The free end of the shaft g¹
is carried in a sliding bearing block j sliding in a bearing bracket on the side of the
shears. The driven end of the shaft is carried in a pivotted block . By moving the
lever I can throw the worm a out of gear with the worm wheel and thus stop
the rotation of the upright shaft d when desired. In order to arrest the rotation of
the worm wheel fas soon as the lever h is moved, I provide the inner side of the side
lever with teeth so that when the lever his moved so as to disengage the worm g,
at the same time the said teeth on the lever ' lock with the teeth of the worm wheel f
and stop it at once. When the worm g is again put in gear the same movement frees
the toothed lever h' from the worm wheel.
The sliding bearing block c is pulled in one direction so as to keep the
cam e against the bowl stops m, by means of a weight n, attached by a thong o
to the slide and hung over pullies p carried in a bracket on the end of
the shears as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Upon the shears I mount and fix a
bracket planed on the top and having vee slides to receive a carriage r. This
carriage is capable of being moved to and fro on the bracket 7 by a set screw s
which screws through the thickness of the back of the bracket g the screw extending
between the outer end of a tail from the slide and an abutment projecting down-
ward from the said slide. A springs' is strung on the screv s between the end of
the bracket and the tail this spring keeping the slider out against the bead of
the screw s. By turning this screw the slide can be adjusted in wards or outwards as
desired. As a ready means of moving the slide inwards, to place the slipper guide
over the hat curl for example, I use a pivotted hand lever a whereby the slide can
be quickly thrust in, the spring bringing it back. In a boss on the sole of the
carriage (see Fig. 5) I form a key hule recess and in this recess I hang a plate t,
the tail of which passes through a slotted pivot roller u in the guide stop bracket
which guide stop bracket is hung on a pivot from the bridle w the said bridle
being adjustably carried by side set screws aa
The screws are simultaneously revolved by a counter shaft a provided with
bevel wheels a gearing with similar bevel wheels as at the foot of the screws xx.
Thus the bracket with the stop bowls m m can be adjusted to any suitable
height, relatively to the periphery of the cam. The guide stop bracket v swivels
freely on the pivot r as the cam é revolves, and thereby presents the stop bracket
always radially to the curve of the cam which has the effect of similarly presenting
the cutting knife in the requisite tangential position to the radii of the hat brim
curl. The bowls m in the guide stop bracket v cause easy and frictionless contact
with the cam e. The swivelling of the bracket vis imparted through the tail plate t
to the carriage which is thus caused to assume an angle similar to the guide stop
bracket t.
The carriage has loosely pivotted to it a jawed bracket y. In this bracket is
carried a spindle z and between the jaws of the bracket I loosely mount on the
spindle a grooved pulley I driven by a band 2 and capable of heing moved on the
spindle by a clutch lever 3 pivotted on a side bracket 4 and engaging with a clutch 5
formed on the boss of the pulley. On the other side of the pulley I form a clutch
half with ratchet teeth capable of engagement with another similarly toothed clutch
half 6 fixed on the spindle z. The clutch lever, pulley and clutch half are shown
in plan in Fig. 11. The outer end of the spindle carries a disc 7 with a pin 8 which
enters a slot in a plate 9 which slides in the head y¹ of the bracket. The sliding
plate 9 carries a knife 10 the said knife acting in conjunction with a slipper guide 11

page_text: shown in Fig. 10, the said slipper guide laying hold of the curl of the hat brim as
clearly shown. The slipper guide not only embraces the hat curl and governs the
vertical movements of the bracket y but also prevents the hat brim curl from
yielding up or down to the reciprocations of the knife 10 the curl being supported
on both sides by the slipper guide. As the hat brim curl slips through the guide, the
bracket y is moved in the vertical plane to correspond to the swell or arch of the
curl. The hat b might be supported on any ordinary carrier or brow blocks which
might be expandable. For instance I might grip the hat by sliding grippers 12 as
shown in plan view Fig. 9. These grippers are mounted on an oval plate 13 and
slide radially, pegs projecting from the gripper feet passing through radial slots in the
plate 13 and engaging with curved slots in another plate 14 beneath the plate 13.
The plate 14 is provided with a catch 14, whereby I can turn the plate 14, the
plate 13 remaining unmoved. The result is that the radial slots compel the
grippers 12 to move outward or inwards according to the direction of movement
of the plate 14. I use a flat sole plate to rest a flat brim on and a curved or arched
plate when the hat brim is arched."
The operation of setting and working the machine is as follows. The hat 6 having
been placed on the expansion or other block the first thing is to set the knife or
cutter 10 to pare the proper width of hat curl.
To do this I turn the upright shaft d round until the back or front of the hat lies
opposite to the cutter 10 the stop howls m of the guide stop bracket v then resting
against one of the vertical ends of the cam e.
I now adjust the position of the cutter 10 by moving the carriage on the
bracket by means of the set screw s, to the narrowest part of the curl at the back
or front of the hat. This position being once adjusted, remains constant owing to the
perpendicularity of the ends of the cam e. I then revolve the shaft à a quarter of a
turn so as to bring the widest part of the curl round to the cutter 10. The cutter can
now be set to pare the proper width of curl by operating the shaft x (or any adjusting
means substituted therefor) so as to slide the stop bowls m of the guide stop bracket v
up or down the sloping side of the cam e the cutter 10 being set inwards if the stops
are moved up and outwards if the stops are moved down, thus fixing the width of
curl. The slipper guide 11 is now adjusted by the handle s2 so as to clip the hat
brim curl and the apparatus is set in motion. The cutter 10 runs at the required high
speed, rapidly paring the curl. The upright shaft d turns slowly round being driven
by the worm g and worm wheelf. The guide stop bracket being always held radially true
to the came, the cutter pares always in a true elliptical path, the cutter spindle and the
bracket y being swivelled as the work proceeds with a constantly true radial position
relatively to the curve of the curl at the part then being operated on. As already
stated the position of the bracket y and the knife 10 in the vertical plane is regulated
by the guiding influence of the curl itself as it passes through the slipper guide 11.
Automatic means might be employed to stop the machine when the paring is
completed. Instead of a reciprocating cutter blade 10 as described I might use
revolving cutters or circular disc cutters arranged scissors fashion.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is.
1.) The general arrangement, construction and combination of apparatus for
trimming and paring the curls of hat brims, substantially as hereinbefore described
and as illustrated.
2.) Automatically operating and governing the movements of the pivotted cutter
bracket y from the hat curl itself by means of the slipper guide 11 engaging with and
supporting the hat brim curl in the manner and substantially as hereinbefore described
and shown.
3.) The means for readily adjusting the slide, the bracket y and the slipper guide 11
to the hat brim, said means consisting of the adjusting screws, spring s¹, bracket
and handle s substantially as described and as shown.
4.) The side lever with teeth arranged to engage with the teeth of the worm

page_text: wheelf at the times when the driving worm or screw is thrown out of gear with the
worm wheelf, and connected to the lever for throwing the said worm out of gear,
substantially as described and shown.
5.) As means for raising and lowering the guide stop bracket the two screws.c
in combination with the counter shaft and bevel gearing whereby the screws a
are simultaneously revolved, substantially as described and shown.
6.) In combination, the cam e the pivotted cutter bracket y automatically operated
from the hat brim, and the guide stop bracket v, operated by the cam e and imparting.
motion to the slide and cutter bracket substantially as described and shown.
Dated the 1st of February 1897.
For the Applicant,
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Chartered Patent Agents...