Improvements in Means for Manufacturing Flanges for Shaping and Curling Hat Brims.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 12th May, 1896-Accepted, 18th July, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Manufacturing Flanges for Shaping and
Curling Hat Brims.
I, FRANK LOUIS FERDINAND BUTTERWORTH, of No. 503 Washington
Street, in the City of Newark, County of Essex, and State of New Jersey,
United States of America, Hatter, do hereby declare the nature of my invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My present invention relates to improvements in means for manufacturing
flanges for curling and shaping hat brims; and the invention therefore consists in
the construction of hat-brim making flanges and the combination thereof with
other certain parts of mechanism in the manufacture of hats.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan view of a certain metallic frame having pitch pieces at the
two ends, either permanently or detachably arranged on said frame.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the said frame and its pitch
pieces.
Figure 3 is a cross section taken on line 3-3 in Figure 1, illustrating in section
the arrangement of a hat body in the said metallic frame, and the space between
the outer end of one of the metallic frames and the hat brim filled with a plastic
material.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the said frame and the plastic material molded
thereon, illustrating its arrangement on said frame after the hat body has been
removed, and with the inner portion of the metallic frame filled in with a layer of
plastic material.
Figure 5 is a cross section of the said frame and parts connected therewith,
said section being taken on line 5-5 in Figure 4.
Figure 6 is a plan view of the same parts, with the molding board used in
connection therewith; and Figure 7 is a perspective view of said board.
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the under side of a layer of plaster-paris or
other plastic material employed in the different steps of the invention, and Figure 9
is a view similar to that illustrated in Figure 5, with said layer, shown in Figure 8,
in position, and a certain metallic plate and clamping means used in connection
therewith, to give the layer of plastic material, shown in Figure 8, the desired
thickness before it has set.
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the several parts illustrated in Figure 9, when
looking in the direction of the arrow 10 in said Figure 9.
Figure 11 is a similar view of the parts illustrated in Figure 10, with a certain
peculiarly shaped mold formed from plastic material molded thereon; and
Figure 12 is a perspective view of part of said mold when detached, to be used as
a pattern.
Figure 13 is a plan view of the metallic frame, with certain metallic pieces
secured thereon to form a complete mold for forming the metal hat brim shaping
flange.
Figure 14 is a cross section of the mold illustrated in Figure 13.
Figure 15 is a top view of the metallic frame, with the metallic hat brim shaping
flanges thereon, after the metallic pieces made from the plaster-paris or other like
patterns or molds have been removed. Figure 16 is a perspective, and Figure 17
is a bottom view of the said metallic hat brim shaping flanges.

page_text: Similar letters of reference are employed in each of the above described views,
to indicate corresponding parts.
A designates a suitable metal frame, which is formed with an opening a of the
shape and contour of the ordinary stiff hat, and is provided with a surrounding
flange or shoulder a¹ forming the off-sets a² and a³, as will be clearly seen from
Figure 1.
At the opposite ends of the frame A, and secured on the said flange or
shoulder a', are two end pieces at and a. One way of securing the end pieces to
said flange or shoulder is by means of suitable screws a, which are passed through
holes a in said flange, and which are screwed into the end pieces, as clearly shown,
but they may be secured in any other well known manner.
The said end pieces at and as are upwardly inclined, as at a8, the pitch of these
surfaces varying according to the different styles of hat brims to be formed.
I will now describe the different steps in the method of making the plaster-paris
or other like molds or patterns, from which the patterns are cast, to be finally
used as mold-sections for forming the metallic hat-brim shaping flanges, illustrated
in Figures 15, 16 and 17.
A hat body b is first made by hand, or otherwise, and provided with a brim b¹,
which has been suitably curled according to the shape of hat desired.
The hat body is then arranged in the opening a of the frame A, as clearly
illustrated in Figure 3, in such a manner that its surrounding surface 62 snugly
fits the inner contour of the opening a, and its rim extends around the outer
and upper edge of the frame A and directly above the off-sets a² aud a³.
The space beneath the brim of the hat and the surrounding surface of the
frame A is then filled in with a suitable plastic or fibrous material, such as plaster-
paris, prepared papier maché or asbestos cement, of the proper consistency, that it
can be easily forced into place and readily molded into the proper shape desired,
thereby producing the plaster-paris or other like mold c. When the plastic
material has sufficiently set, the surface e¹ of the same, just below the curl of the
brim is cut away with a knife or other suitable instrument, or otherwise trimmed
away, and the hat body b is removed, leaving the mold con the one-half of the
frame A of the shape shown more particularly in Figure 4, and of the cross
section illustrated in Figures 3 and 5. The edges and surfaces c2 and 3 are then
smoothed off and trimmed down by means of a knife or other suitable instrument
to the shape desired.
After this has been accomplished, a layer of plastic material, as d, of plaster-
paris, papier maché, asbestos cement, or other similar material, is formed in the
upper part of the opening a in the frame A. When the upper surface d' of the
layer d has been rendered perfectly smooth and allowed to set, a hole d² is formed
therein, and the mold c as well as the surface d' are varnished and covered with
oil or grease, as vaseline or the like.
The trame A and the mold c and the layer d formed in said frame are then
placed upon a suitable table, with the mold c and the surface d' of the layer d
turned upwardly. A flexible molding board e, cut away, as at e', to the shape or
contour of the mold c, is next placed on the table or working bench, in such a
manner that the edge e¹ of said board e fits snugly against the outer edge of the
mold c, as clearly represented in Figure 6. The said board e being made of thin
sheet metal, such as tin, can be readily bent into the desired shape, as will be
clearly evident; on the other hand, however, said board may be made of wood and
its upper surface properly curved in order that its rim or edge e¹ will fit snugly
around the edge of the said mold or pattern c.
When this has been done, I next run plaster-paris, or other like plastic material
over the entire surface, as will be seen from Figure 6, the material being of a
proper consistency that it can be molded. The soft material is then smoothed
down by hand or a proper tool, to form the plaster-paris shield f, shown in
Figure 8.
next cut away a portion to form a recess, as f¹, remove the board e, and place

page_text: a suitable metal plate g, which is of a shape corresponding to the recess f¹ of the
shield, in position over the said cut away portion, said plate g being slightly
larger than said cut away portion in order that it will overlap the edges of
said recess f. Said plate is provided with adjusting screws g', aud when it
is gently forced down upon the soft layer of the plastic material f, the said
material is compressed to the desired thickness, regulated by the projecting portions
of said screws g' beneath the plate g, as will be clearly understood from an inspection
of Figure 9.
After the plastic material forming the shield has set, and the edges f of said
plate or shield have been cut, in the manner shown in Figure 8, in order, that
when the shield is placed upon the mold or pattern c, previously formed, it has two
parts and f, which extend considerably beyond the surrounding edge of the
inold c, as will be seen from Figure 10.
As has been stated, the mold or pattern c and the surface d' of the layer d in the
opening in said frame A, have been greased or oiled, to enable the shield f to be
readily removed. After said shield has been made in the manner just described, it
is also provided with a coat of oil or grease.
The next step, is to place said shield back in its former position on the surface d
and over the top of the mold or pattern c, still using the plate g, and then securing
the parts together by means of a suitable clamp 92, as clearly shown in
Figure 9.
Said clamp is passed through the hole or opening d in the layer d, which permits
of the parts being readily secured together.
After these parts have thus been secured together, I form on the extending
portions and of the shield f and over the mold c on the frame A, up to the
surrounding edge of the said frame, plaster-paris or other like material h, as will be
clearly seen from Figure 11. After this material has sufficiently set, all the parts
are removed from the frame A, and said part or mold h being cut upon the line ',
will form a right and left pattern of the shape and form illustrated in Figure 12,
which are to be used in the manner to be described hereinafter.
The shield fis also cut into two pieces on the dotted line indicated in Figure 8,
and the said patterns are molded in sand, in the usual manner, and when removed
therefrom, molten metal is poured into the mold to form the metal portions i and i,
which can be united or secured together by means of suitable screws or rivets 2, as
clearly illustrated in Figure 13, or said mold-portions and may be made of
papier maché, or asbestos cement, as will be clearly evident.
The old portions are now arranged on one side of the frame A as shown, or
two sets may be used, one for each half of the frame, and these are held in position
around the outer surface of the frame A by means of suitable clamps j, or any
other fastening devices.
As will be seen from said Figure 13, when the said mold-sections and
are placed in position against the frame A, they do not meet in the centre, but
form an opening, which is used as a pouring gate. In order to close the
bottom of said opening is, I secure against the said mold sections and the frame A,
by means of any suitable clamping device, as k, see Figures 13 and 14, a curved
plate which is provided with a projection at the top. By the employment of
this device, I am enabled to close said opening on the under side, providing an
opening in the top which can be used as a pouring gate.
Of course it will be understood, that before the mold sections i and i are secured
together by means of the screws or rivets 3, they are cleaned up and polished on
the inside, so that the metal hat brim forming flanges to be cast therein on said
frame A will be as nearly perfect as possible.
The finished hat brim shaping flanges are clearly illustrated in Figures 15, 16
and 17.
They consists, essentially, of a composition of type and
easily fusible metal, which is poured into the said opening
Babbitt metal, or other
between the two mold

page_text: sections, shown in Figures 13 and 14, and can be readily removed from the frame A,
when the mold sections i and are removed, or said flanges I may be cast directly
on said frame A to form a part thereof, as will be clearly evident.
In order to avoid the use of too great a quantity of the type or other fusible
metal employed to make the flanges l, I may secure suitable iron or other like
cores on the flange of the frame A, and when the soft metal is poured into the
mold formed, said cores will become embedded in the end of said metal flauges l,
as will be clearly seen from Figures 16 and 17.
From the above description of the present invention, it will be readily understood
that the said flanges are easily and quickly made, and when of no further use can
be melted over to be used for other flanges.
It will also be clear, that one set of mold sections and can be used on the
different sizes of frames A, corresponding to the different sizes of hats to be made,
said sections and i', when in their positions on the different frames, being closer
together or further apart at the middle of the frame, to make a small or large
pouring gate, according to the size of the frame A employed.
When the plaster-paris molds have once been used in the sand to form the mold
in which the mold sections i and are cast, said molds can be destroyed. Thus, it
will be readily seen, that I dispense with the making of wooden patterns, which
are expensive and in this case are tedious to make.
When the hat brim shaping flanges fall into disuse, owing to the style of hat
becoming unpopular, I can use one of said flanges as a pattern, and with the use of
a rasp or file, I can readily re-shape the soft metal flange to a new style, from
which I can make new mold sections of a plastic or fibrous material, such as papier
maché or asbestos cement, such as is commonly used for the covering of steam pipes,
which, when dampened to the right consistency beds itself readily to the metal shape
of the shaping flange l, after which heat is applied to drive off the waste water,
and the mold becomes smooth and hard. It can then be used as a mold section,
to cast the new shape of hat shaping flanges, with but little extra labor
and cost.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In combination, with a metallic frame, as A, a mold c, of a plastic material,
surrounding said frame, a shield fabove said mold c and extending over the frame A,
and a mold h, formed over said shield and the said mold c. substantially as and for
the purposes set forth.
2. In combination, with a metallic frame, as A, having a central opening, and a
filling d, of plastic material in said opening, a mold c, of plastic material, surrounding
said frame, a shield above said mold c and extending over the frame A, and a
mold, formed over said shield and the said mold c, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
3. In the art of making flanges for shaping hat brims, the combination, with a
frame A, baving a surrounding flange or shoulder a' and the end pieces a and as,
forming suitable off-sets on the opposite sides of said end pieces, mold sections i
and i, and means for securing said sections together, whereby the curved edges of
the sections i embrace the outer edge of the frame A, and the plates i extend over
said frame, and means for securing said sections against the frame, to form a mold,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
4. In the art of making flanges for shaping hat brims, the combination, with a
frame A, having a surrounding flange or shoulder a' and the end pieces a and a³,
forming suitable off-sets on the opposite sides of said end pieces, mold section i
and, and means for securing said sections together, whereby the curved edges of
the sections i embrace the outer edge of the frame A, and the plates extend over
said frame, and means for securing said sections against the frame, to form a mold,

page_text: consisting, essentially, of a plate k¹ secured against the mold sections, an upwardly
extending projection kon said plate, and clamps j, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
5. In combination, with the frame A having an opening a and a surrounding
flange or shoulder a¹ forming off-sets a² and a³, of the herein described hat brim
shaping sections I, having cores 1, and means for securing said sections on said
off-sets, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
6. In combination, with a frame A having an opening a and a surrounding
flange or shoulder a¹ forming off-sets a² and as, of the herein described hat brim
shaping sections 1, made of type or Babbitt metal, having cores 1, and means for
securing said sections on said off-sets, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
Dated this 18th day of April 1896.
FRANK LOUIS FERDINAND BUTTERWORTH.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.