IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS OR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Wheble, of 21, Cockspur Street, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS
OR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Wheble at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th May 1869.
I, ROBERT WHEBLE, of 21, Cockspur Strect, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS OR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing hats or such like coverings for
the head with more than one brim, and so that all the brims may be
removeable, or any and every brim beyond the first may be made
removeable, that is to say, to a hat or head covering with a brim
narrower than any other of a set of brims I affix by means of studs,
clips, or other fasteners another brim or brims of broader character;
this latter brim or these latter brims being altogether detachable from

page_text: the other part of the hat. Or I make simply a skull cap or body of a
hat, and provide a number of brims each having a portion projecting
upwards to fit to the said skull cap or body of hat, and to be thereto
attached and secured by studs or other fasteners as aforesaid; or the
skull cap or body of hat may have a projecting rim to which the brims
may be fastened. Hats or coverings for the head thus constructed will
possess the advantage of being convertable from a hat or covering with
a brim of the ordinary width into a hat or covering with a brim of such
width and extent and shape as to have all the advantages of a sun-
shade or protector from solar heat, or from wet, or other effects of
weather; it being obvious that any of the brims not in use may be
detached and laid aside so as not to cucumber the person unnecessarily
when the necessities of changes of climate and of weather render an
alteration in the size and shape of the brim desirable. The brims may
be made reversible or not, and also may be made to fold or not, and
constructed of any texture or textures that may be desired; these brims
may also be applied to hats already constructed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Wheble in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WHEBLE, of 21, Cockspur Street, Westminster, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, benring date the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Wheble, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Wheble, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Wheble, 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
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN

page_text: HATS OR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Wheble, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly 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 Robert Wheble, do hereby declare
the nature of my said 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 relates to certain improvements applicable to hats or
other coverings for the head, and consists in the application to the
ordinary brim or border of the hat, or to the hat body, of a supple-
mentary or moveable brim of any size or form required, such brim being
attached to the ordinary brim or to the body of the hat by any suitable
fastenings capable of being adjusted and removed according to the brim
required to be applied and worn, the object of the Invention being to
permit the application of various descriptions of brims to the hat in
order to render it suitable to the changes of weather, and more especially
as a protector from the heat of the sun.
In applying my Invention to bats manufactured with an ordinary
brim I form one or other number of supplementary or additional brims
or borders of larger dimensions than that of the hat, their interior
periphery or measurement loosely fitting the body, so that when one of
them is placed on the narrower brim and over the body it may be
fastened or temporarily attached to the ordinary brim by means of studs,
clips, or metallic tangs, or other suitable means.
In applying the Invention to the body of the hat or other covering for
the head, such body or covering consisting merely of a skull fabric, and
having no border or brim, I form the supplementary or adjustable brim
with a flanged border or edge to fit such skull fabric or cover, to which
the border is to be attached by any suitable fastenings; or the skull
fabric may be provided with a series of external rings or eyes riveted to
and through the body so as to project through or to correspond with a
similar series of orifices or eyelets formed in the flanged border; the
rings or eyes may then be secured together by tangs of metal or other

page_text: metallic fastening, or a cord or ribbon may be passed completely round
the border and through the eyes, and being tied at its extremities will
afford a convenient and ornamental mode of attachment of the two parts.
These methods of attachment will also serve for the ordinary plain brims.
The eyes should in such case be fixed beneath these brims and the rivets
on the upper surface, the cyclets being applied to the ordinary brim;
then the ribbon or cord would be passed through the eyes under the
ordinary brim and would be out of sight. For hats to be worn in wet
weather this plan would be preferable, because no orifices would exist. in
the upper brim; but for sunshade brims the eyes or rings could be
riveted or fastened to the ordinary brim and pass through cyclets in the
supplementary brim, the cord or ribbon being passed through the cyclets
and exposed to view on the outside of the hat. The adjustable brims
may be made of a compound fabric, such as a light. summer fabric on one
side and a thin waterproof fabric on the other, so as to afford a reversible
brim adaptable for variable weather, such brims being applicable to any
ordinary construction of hat, cap, or bonnet, or other covering for the
head, suitable for ladies or children, also permitting in some fabrics of
the folding up of the adjustable brin for convenience of carriage. For
summer weather the hats may be made of straw, or the brims may be
of straw, to be applied to a different material of which the hat may be
composed. The brims may be felt, cloth, leather, waterproof fabric, or
other suitable material or fabrics, as desirable.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a view of a hat with a
supplementary brim attached thereto, Fig. 2 showing the brim removed,
and Fig. 3, an under plan view; Fig. 4 is an example of flanged border
or brim attached to a skull fabric.
In Fig. 1, a is the body of the hat, and 6 the supplementary brim or
border covering the ordinary brim, and extending beyond its margin
(shown by dotted lines); c, c, are the situations of the rivets, eyelets, or
other fastenings or attachments of the two parts. In some cases onc
fastening in front of the hat or covering will be sufficient, but any
number may be applied. In Fig. 2, 6 is the brim. In Fig. 3 the edge or
margin of the brim b is shewn projecting beyond the true brim d. In
Fig. the flange or edge of the brim or border b is shewn at c attached
to the skull body or fabric by a cord, but, as before mentioned, metallic
or other fastenings or methods of attachment may be used.
Fig. 5 is an under plan view of Fig. 4; Fig.6 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into practical effect, I would
remark in conclusion that I do not restrict myself in the application of
my improvements to any particular description of hat or other covering
for the head, nor to any material or materials or fabrics of which such
hats or coverings may be composed; nor to any material or fabric of
which my adjustable or supplementary brim or border may be composed,
as the materials or fabrics may vary according to climate and to the
purposes for which the hat or covering may be required; but what I
claim and desire to be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters
Patent is, the application to ordinary hats or other coverings for the
head, whether made with brims attached thereto or merely of a body or
skull fabric of a removable or supplementary and adjustable brim or
border, or brims or borders with or without flanged or raised edges, as
required, such brims or borders being capable of adjustment over the
body of the hat or covering by fitting loosely thereto, and of attachment
either to the skull body or the true brim or border by aid of eyelets,
rivets, tangs, or other metallic fastenings, or by cyclets, rings, or other
equivalents in combination with cords, ribbons, laces, or otherwise,
substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Wheble, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
25 Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
ROB. WHEBLE. (L.S.)