CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FELTING OF HATS, AND IN PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Cowper, of 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FELTING OF HATS, AND IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Cowper at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th August 1854.
I, CHARLES COWPER, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FELTING OF HATS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR THAT
PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
The prepared "hat body" or piece ready for felting is passed through a
machine, consisting of two series of rollers, placed one above the other, and
furnished with both a rotary movement and a longitudinal reciprocating
motion in the direction of their axes. The rotary movement is given by
toothed wheels or wheels and endless screws. The lower series of rollers is
mounted in a frame, supported or suspended on rods or pillars, which allow of
the reciprocating longitudinal motion. The upper series of rollers is mounted
in another frame in a similar manner, and is also pressed down upon the lower
series by other rods. The two series move simultaneously in contrary direc-

page_text: tions, being connected by connecting rods to the opposite ends of a lever,
whose fulcrum is in its centre. This lever is driven by another connecting
rod, jointed to a crank pin, carried by a revolving shaft, and capable of being
adjusted at various distances from the centre of motion. The extent of the
reciprocating longitudinal motion communicated to the rollers may thus be
adjusted: The lower rollers dip into a cistern of water heated by a steam
pipe, and a portion of hot water is constantly raised by a spiral pump or other-
wise, and conveyed into a cistern placed over the upper series of rollers,
whence it falls-in-showers-through-holes-in-the-bottom- of-the-cistern on or
between the upper rollers. The hat body is thus completely bathed with hot
water and steam while subjected to the felting action of the rollers. Revolving
brushes may be substituted for some of the rollers in the preparation of various
descriptions of hats. It is advantageous to make the rim of the hat of greater
thickness than the crown, and this is effected in the following manner :-The
apex of the hat body (which resembles a hollow cone in form) is folded over
before passing it through the machine, and this part is therefore exposed to
greater pressure, and caused to become thinner than the other part. The hat
body is unfolded on leaving the machine, and again folded in a different place,
and it is then again passed through the machine or through another similar
machine, and these operations may be repeated as often as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Cowper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
COWPER, of 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord-
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year. of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Cowper, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Cowper, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Cowper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,, use, exercise,. and

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
FELTING OF HATS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE," communicated to me
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Cowper, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Cowper, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner, the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :—
Figure 1, Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, is a general plan of the
improved machinery for felting; Figure 2 is an elevation or side view of the
machine. Figure 3, Sheet II., is a longitudinal section, and Figure 4 is a
transverse section of the same. The same letters refer to similar parts in each
Figure. The machine consists, like many other apparatus heretofore used for
a similar purpose, of a number of rollers placed in two parallel series or
ranks one above the other, and so arranged that the rollers in the lower series
revolve in the opposite direction to those in the upper series; a piece of felt
or material to be felted being introduced between the rollers at one end of the
machine will thus be passed from one to another, and conducted through
the machine to the other end. The upper rollers are placed over the spaces
between the lower rollers, as shewn in the Drawings, so as to increase the
number of points of contact or proximity between the rollers.
These rollers have, however, not only a continuous rotary motion upon their
axes, but have also a reciprocating rectilinear motion in the direction of their
length, which motion is always in the contrary direction in one series to that
in the other. The rollers may be of wood with iron spindles or of other suit-
able material. Their spindles turn in bearings, and are driven by toothed
wheels or endless screws.
The lower or first series of rollers A is arranged horizontally upon a frame
B, which is supported or suspended upon four rods or pillars a, a, which form
pivots, and allow of the frame receiving a slight backward and forward motion
in the direction of the axes of tho rollers. The second or upper series of
rollers A¹ is also arranged upon a frame B', supported or suspended in a
similar manuer upon the pillars a', a', which may be adjusted like the former

page_text: ones a, a, by means of nuts. This second frame B' also receives a recipro-
cating motion, but in a contrary direction to that of the first frame B, so that
when the first rollers are moving in one direction, the second rollers are moving
in the opposite direction, and vice versa. This double alternate movement is
obtained by a very simple mechanism, which admits of the motion being
increased or diminished at pleasure, as herein-after described. This same
machine is also applicable for raising a nap or pile upon the felt, by replacing
the alternate upper rollers A¹ by other rollers covered with brushes, as shewn
at A in Figure 5. These brush rollers A" receive a rapid rotary motion.
The frames B and B¹, respectively, are connected by rods C and C' to the
double levers b, which are driven by connecting rods D, jointed to the cranks
or pins e on the horizontal shaft d. These pins e may be adjusted at different
distances from the axis of the shaft. Thus, at each revolution of the shaft d
each of the frames B and B receives a backward and forward motion, the
extent of which is regulated by the distance of the pins e from the axis of the
shaft, or by adjusting the other ends of the rods D to different distances from
the fulcrum of the lever b. Each roller, as herein-before mentioned, has also
a continuous rotary motion, more or less rapid, communicated from one to
another by a series of spur wheels and pinions, as indicated by the red circles
in Figure 3, or by worm wheels and endless screws. One of the upper rollers is
driven by a shaft R, through the intervention of a short jointed shaft r, which
is capable of sliding in a socket on the spindle of the roller, so as to allow for
the end motion of the roller. Ono of the lower rollers is driven in a similar
manner by the shaft S, which receives its motion from the shaft R by means
of the toothed wheels T, U. On the shaft R is a wheel V, driven by a worm
or screw upon the shaft d. W and X are fast and loose pulleys on the shaft d
for driving the machine. The frames B and B are guided pillars or guides
Y, Y, at each end of the machine.
The thin piece or hat body which is to be felted is first prepared in the
usual manner from rabbits' fur or other suitable filamentous material, in the
form of a thin conical cap or cake, which has but little cohesion, and requires
to be felted to increase its thickness and give it strength.
The picce thus prepared is presented by the workman to the first pair of
rollers, which convey it into the machine, and it passes successively between
the other rollers, until it arrives at the last rollers, and passes out of the
machine. The material is not only compressed by the rolling pressure of the
rollers, but is also violently worked about in a transverse direction by the reci-
procating end motion of the rollers. It is this continual transverse working
of the material during its passage between the rollers which produces the

page_text: felting, by causing the hairs or fibres to entangle with one another. This
felting action, however, can scarcely be effected with success unless the mate-
rial is at the same time submitted to heat and moisture. The apparatus is
therefore so arranged that the lower rollers may dip into a bath of hot water G,
which is placed beneath them and within the frame of the machine. The
water is heated by means of a current of steam. A box or cistern with a per-
forated bottom (which is not shewn in the Drawings) is placed over the upper
rollers, and serves to distribute a shower of hot water upon them. The water
may be continually raised from the lower cistern or bath G to the upper one
by means of a pump. The hat body which is to be felted is thus kept at a
high temperature during the successive operation of the rollers, until it passes
out of the machine in a firmner and thicker state than that in which it entered.
By presenting the piece to be felted in a flat state to the machine, the result
would be a piece of felt of uniform thickness; but, as it is particularly desirable
to obtain a greater thickness at those parts which are to form the rim of the
hat than at the apex of the cone, which forms the crown, the operation is con-
ducted in the following manner :-The apex of the cone is folded over before
it is introduced into the machine, and this part is therefore exposed to greater
pressure, and is caused to become thinner than the other part. The piece is
passed several times through the machine, and each time it is unfolded on a
table, and again folded in a different part, so as to prevent the formation of
permanent folds or creases. It is convenient to employ two of these machines
placed side by side, but in contrary directions, so that the piece, on leaving the
end of the first machine, may be immediately introduced into the beginning or
front of the second machine, on leaving the end of which it is again introduced
into the front of the first machine. The second frame B', which carries the
upper rollers A', is pressed downwards by means of the vertical rods h, h, con-
nected to the cranks or levers K, K, fixed on the shafts L, L. On each of
these shafts L is a lever M, with an adjustable weight m, which exerts a
greater or less pressure upon the frame B', according to its position on the
lever. The pressure of the rollers upon the material to be felted is thus not
merely that of their own weight and the weight of the frame, but is increased
to a greater or less extent by adjusting the weights m at various distances from
the centres of the shafts L. Springs of metal or vulcanized caoutchouc or
other suitable material may be substituted for the weights m. To facilitate
the introduction and withdrawal of the cistern G, and to adjust its height, it
is furnished with brackets N, N, carrying small wheels or rollers n, n, which
run upon rails o, o. The cistern is raised by means of studs or sliding rods q,
which are forced up by the cams O, O. The spindles of these cams are con-

page_text: nected by an endless chain p, and they are moved by a crank or winch P.
The cistern can thus be easily run into the machine on the rails o, o, and then
raised by means of the winch P.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is,―
Firstly, the constructing machinery for the felting of hats, as herein-before
described, having an upper and lower series of rollers (or rollers and revolving
brushes) mounted in two separate frames, which receive an alternate recipro-
cating transverse motion, as herein-before described, and so arranged that the
rollers in the upper series may be over the spaces between the rollers in the
lower series, as herein-before described. And I also claim the arrangements
for varying the extent of the motions in the aforesaid machinery, as herein-
before described.
Secondly, the felting of hats by means of the machinery herein-before
described; and also the heating of both sides of the hat bodies by hot water
and steam during the process of felting them by machinery, as herein-before
described.
Thirdly, the mode of felting hats of unequal thickness in the different parts
by operating on the hat bodies in a folded state by the aforesaid or similar
machinery, in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Cowper, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
CHARLES
ES COWPER. (L.S.)