A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SHAVING OR FINISHING HARD AND SOFT FELT HATS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Eaton at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 20th December 1880.
JOHN EATON, of Stockport, in the County of Chester, Machinist and Fur
Clearer. "A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SHAVING OR FINISHING HARD
AND SOFT FELT HATS."
My Invention relates to the construction of a new or improved machine for
shaving or finishing hard and soft felt hats.
Hitherto the shaving or finishing of hard and soft felt hats has been effected by
hand, and this process besides requiring a great length of time and skilled labor
to carry it out is the cause of much loss and annoyance, from the fact that damages
frequently occur to the hats whilst being operated upon.
Now the object of my Invention is the construction of a machine by which this
operation may be effected at a very small cost and with a great saving of time, and
whereby damage to the hats being shaved or finished is avoided.
In carrying out my Invention I employ an ordinary shaving or finishing lathe with
a reversible motion, on the block of which the hat is placed in a similar manner to
that employed when shaving or finishing by hand; to a suitable framing on the
table of the lathe I fix a bracket in which works a spring acting upon the shorter
arm of a two armed lever; to the longer arm of this lever I bolt or otherwise fix a
carriage having a backward and forward motion given to it by an iudia rubber
faced wheel or roller pivotting on the carriage and pressed against the hat by
means of the herein before described spring and lever. The wheel or roller, and
with it the carriage, will by the eccentric shape of the hat in revolving have a
backward and forward motion communicated to it. On the hereinbefore described
carriage I mount a vertical frame provided with a slot on each side throughout
nearly the whole of its length; in these slots are placed suitable bearings in
which pivot arms or levers having a radial motion and which are set at the
required angles according to the curve of the sides and crown of the hat by means
of set screws; these radial arms are raised and lowered according to the curve of
the sides and crown of the hat by means of a suitable arrangement of adjustable
screws and gearing. On the outer ends of the hereinbefore described radial arms
is pivotted the shaving or finishing tool; this tool is constructed of a flanged frame,
within which I place a spring having a curved face of india rubber or other

page_text: suitable material which will give a readily yielding pressure on the surface of the
hat; over this spring is placed the shaving or finishing cloth or paper, the edges of
which are secured between the herein before described spring and the flanges of the
tool by means of set screws in the back of the frame.
On the opposite side of the herein before described frame of the machine I provide
an arrangement consisting of a spring, lever, carriage, and roller similar to that
first herein before described, but the india rubber faced roller is pivotted in a
somewhat higher position to admit of a tool being fixed below the carriage for the
purpose of shaving or finishing the brim and band of the hat; this tool is similarly
constructed to the tool for shaving or finishing the sides and crown of the hat,
except that, as will be well understood, the shape of the face thereof should follow
the curve between the brim and band of the hat. A roller faced with india
rubber is also provided near the centre of the crown for holding the hat and block
down to the face of the lathe plate; this roller is carried in a two armed lever
operated by a spring in a similar manner to that hereinbefore described for the tools
for shaving or finishing the hat. To remove the hat from the block after it has
been shaved or finished I provide each of the herein before described brackets
carrying the springs for operating the two armed levers with a latch lever connected
to the spring in such a manner as to compress the spring when drawn downwards,
and the pressure of the springs being thus withdrawn from the two armed levers,
the carriages, framing, and tools may be moved outwards away from the hat, when
it can be taken off the block.
Although I have described in my Invention the use of two tools only it will be
understood that a larger number of tools could be applied to the machine if
required.