Improvements in Apparatus for Trimming and Paring the Curls of Hat Brims.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 16th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 21st Dec., 189;
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Trimming and Paring the Curls of
Hat Brims.
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 said invention relates to apparatus for trimming and paring the curls of hat
brims as is well understood.
In my improved apparatus there are two essential parts, a cam conforming to
the shape and proportions of the pared or trimmed inner edge of the curl and also
of the outer periphery of the brim, and a shaper plate for raising and lowering the
hat, according to the amount of curve or curl, while the hat is being subjected to
the action of the paring cutters or knives. I place the hat upon expansion, or
ordinary brow blocks on an adjustable curved bed plate of flexible metal, rubber
or the like or it might be on a flat surface, consisting of, or supported by, a plate
or disc on the upper end of a vertical shaft. The lower end of the shaft carries
the dished shaper plate which runs upon a bowl or on bowls capable of being
shifted along a shaft. The curved or dished shaper plate is so formed that as it
revolves it rises and falls on the supporting bowl,, the greatest amount of rise and
fall taking place when the bowl is at or near the outer periphery of the shaper
plate, the said rise and fall diminishing as the bowl is moved towards the centre of
the shaper plate. The object of this is to provide for the upward curve of the
curl being pared or trimmed, and by shifting the bowl, any curve or curl can be
provided for. Midway between this shaper plate and the disc supporting the hat
I fix a cam on the shaft, the periphery of which corresponds to the shape, fashion
This cam is inade of
and proportions of the hat brim and curl being operated on.
some depth and the ends of the oval are straight while the sides are sloping. The
shaft with its attachments is carried in a frame which is movable and is pulled or
pushed by a weight or spring, so that the periphery of the cam is held against a
stop fixed on a stud which carries a bracket on which is mounted the revolving or
otherwise actuated paring cutter or knife. The stop is made of some length where
it abuts on the cam so that as the cam revolves the stud rocks and turns the cutter
into the position most favourable to its action.
The cutter may be driven by a flexible shaft to allow of these changes of position
or it may be driven in any suitable mauner most convenient for the form of cutter
used. For hats of varying width of brim the stop can be shifted on the sloping
side of the cam the area of the oval being thereby increased or diminished. The
apparatus may be driven by power or by hand.
In a modified form of my invention I might govern the trimming or paring
operation from the periphery of the hat brim itself. This could be effected by
mounting the hat on one spindle and an oval plate or cam on the other, and driving
them at equal speed from a common shaft or it might be by frictional contact.
The peripheries of the hat brim and that of the plate or cam are kept in contact
and revolved against each other the cutter meanwhile operating upon the curl.
I might however use differently arranged mechanism so long as my improved
principle of governing the operation of the cutter or cutters from the periphery of
the hat brim is brought into play.
The cutters employed might be circular, or two circular disc cutters arranged

page_text: scissors fashion or a reciprocating blade or any other suitable cutting or paring
means might be used. In some cases I might use a slipper guard in conjunction
with certain forms of cutter. Such a slipper guard would assist the circular cutter
and would prevent the curl of the hat from moving whilst being operated on, and
so ensure more accurate trimming or paring. The widest part of the curl on each
side of the brim might in some cases be supported against the action of the cutter
by a small sliding clip.
Dated this 16th day of January 1895.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
Improvements in Apparatus for Trimming and Paring the Curls
of Hat Brims.
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 and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying
drawings:-
N
My said invention relates to apparatus for trimming and paring the curls of
hat brims as is well understood.
In my improved apparatus there are two essential parts, a cam conforming to
the shape and proportions of the pared or trimmed inner edge of the curl and
also relatively to the outer periphery of the brim, and a shaper plate for raising
and lowering the paring cutters or knives.
I place the hat upon expansion or ordinary brow blocks on the upper end of
a vertical shaft. The lower end of the shaft carries the dished shaper plate.
which runs in contact with a bowl or bowls capable of imparting movement to
the cutter. The curved or dished shaper plate is so formed that as it revolves
the bowl rises and falls, the greatest amount of rise and fall taking place when the
bowl is at or near the outer periphery of the shaper plate, the said rise and fall
diminishing as the bowl is moved towards the centre of the shaper plate. The
object of this is to provide for the upward curve of the curl being pared and
trimmed and by shifting the bowl any curve of the curl can be provided for..
Midway between this shaper plate and the disc supporting the hat, I fix an oval
cam on the shaft, the periphery of which corresponds to the shape, fashion and
proportions of the hat brim and curl being operated on. This cam is made of
some depth and the ends of the oval are straight while the sides are sloping.
The shaft with its attachments is carried in a frame which is movable and is pulled
or pushed by a weight or spring, so that the periphery of the cam is held against a
stop or stops fixed on a bracket, connected to the part on which is mounted the
revolving or otherwise actuated paring cutter or knife. The cutter may be driven
by a flexible shaft to allow of these changes of position or it may be driven in any
suitable manner, most convenient for the form of cutter used. For hats of varying
widths of brim curl the stop can be shifted on the sloping side of the cam, the
breadth of the curl being thereby increased or diminished. The apparatus may be
driven by power or by hand.
The cutters employed might be circular, or two circular disc cutters arranged
scissors fashion, or a reciprocating blade or any other suitable cutting or paring
means might be used. I use a slipper guard in conjunction with certain forms of
cutter.
Such a slipper guard assists the cutter and prevents the curl of the hat from

page_text: paring.
To render my invention more clear I will now proceed to describe the same
particularly and in detail, reference being had to the annexed sheet of illustrative
drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view just in front of the bracket which supports the
cutter and guide stop mechanism.
Fig. 3 is a plan of the guide stop bracket and bridle.
Fig. 4 is a cross section of the guide stop bracket and upper slide with pendant
plate which transmits motion from the guide stop bracket to the cutter carrier.
Fig. 5 is a diagram of the disc and eccentric pin which moves the cutter holder
up and down.
Fig. 6. is a separate side view of the shaper plate at right angles to the view
appearing in Fig. 1.
Fig. 7 is a plan view of the cam.
Fig. 8 is a cross section of the same.
Fig. 9 is a view of the longest side shewing the vertical ends.
Fig. 10. is an enlarged view of the cutter slide and slipper shewn as operating
upon a hat brim curl.
I mount the working parts of the apparatus upon a frame or shears a which
might be carried upon a table or upon neat supports similar to those of a sewing
machine, the revolving hat and 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. In this frame or support I mount a central shaft 6 the
upper end of which carries an expansion brow or block to receive a hat c which is
shewn mounted on the said expansion brow or block. Just beneath the said brow
or block I fix a cam d on the shaft the cam being shewn more particularly in
Figs. 7, 8 and 9. The periphery of the cam d corresponds to the shape and pro-
portions of the hat c or other hat to be operated upon. The cam is made of
some depth so as to allow for different proportions of hat brim curl. As seen at
Fig. 9 the cam, which is elliptical in shape corresponding to the shape of a hat, is
vertical at each end of the ellipse, and slopes at the sides.
This provides for the different widths of brim curl. Just beneath the cam, the
shaft is carried in bearings formed in a slide e which is capable of sliding
to and fro on the shears a carrying with it the shaft and all of the parts carried
by the said shaft. Beneath the shears I secure upon the shaft a circular shaper
plate which is curbed or dished, so that as it revolves the bowl s which rests in
contact therewith is caused to rise and fall, and it will be evident that the said
rise and fall of the bowl will be increased or diminished according as the bowl is
moved nearer to or further from the centre of the shaper plate. The object of the
shaper plate as will be hereinafter more fully explained is to move the cutter
through the requisite upward curve of the curl being pared or trimmed, and by
shifting the bowl any curve or curl can be provided for. The upright shaft b
is revolved by means of a worm wheel secured beneath the shaper plate and
gearing with a worm carried on a countershaft i which receives motion from any
suitable source.
The worm should preferably be secured to the shaft i by a slip
feather and groove and be confined between jaws extending from the slide e as
indicated in Fig. 1, so as to traverse the worm with the slide and so maintain it in
gear with the worm wheel. The slide is pulled in one direction so as to keep the
cam d against the stops j, by means of a weight -attached by a thong to the
slide and hung over the pulley carried in a bracket at the end of the shears a.
Upon the shears I mount and fix a bracket m planed on the top and having
vec slides to receive a carriage n. This carriage n is capable of being moved
to and fro on the bracket m by a screw o engaging with a projection from the
carriage. A projection from a pivotted plate on the carriage n carries a
pivotted lever p the tail of which is connected by a flexible rod 9 with the double

page_text: lever which carries the aforesaid bowl s. This double lever r is pivotted at r¹ to
a bracket adjustably secured in a slot to the side of the shears a so that the
bowls can be adjusted towards and from the centre of the shaper plate f. A
secondary bracket on the end of the lever provides for further adjustment of
the bowl. A counterbalance weight 3 is suspended to the other end of the
lever by the thong 5 so as to keep the bowl s up against the shaper plate. The
flexible rod q offers no obstacle to the said adjustment. The position of the flexible
rod q on the lever is also adjustable by reason of the slot in the tail of the
lever r.
In the boss 3 of the plate v I form a keyhole recess, seen most plainly at
Figs. 2 and 4 and in this recess I hang a plate t the tail of which passes through a
slotted pivot roller in the guide stop bracket j², which guide stop bracket is hung
on a pivot u from the bridle u, the said bridle being adjustably suspended by the
studs from the carriage n. This arrangement is to enable the guide stop
bracket to swivel on the pivot u as the cam v revolves and thereby present the
bracket always radially to the curve of the cam, which as hereinafter explained
has the effect of similarly presenting the cutter in the same requisite radial position
to the hat brim curl. The guide stop bracket carries two guide stops or
bowls, which bear upon the side of the cam d. The swivelling of the bracket j
is imparted through the plate t to the plate v which is thus caused to assume a
similar angle to the guide stop bracket j.
As the plate and the projection carries the pivotted lever p, and as this
lever p carries the cutter, it is thus evident that the cutter operates on the curl at
an angle which will always be radial to the curve of the hat brim curl, just as the
guide stops beneath are always radial to the curve of the cam d. The boss pl of
the pivotted lever p carries a spindle with a grooved pulley w at one end and a disc
with an excentric pin at the other end. This excentric pin plays in a slot in a
rising and falling bar (see Fig. 5.) which carries a cutter blade marked r.
Beneath
the cutter blade there is a forked slipper guide y which embraces the hat brim curl
and prevents it from yielding up or down to the reciprocations of the cutter blade
as more clearly shown in Fig. 10. A band passing partly around the grooved
pulley w drives the spindle at a rapid rate and the cutter trims and pares the hat
brim curl.
The operation is as follows. The hate having been mounted on the expansion
block, the first operation is to set the cutter to pare the proper width of curl. To
do this I turn the shaft round until the back or front of the hat lies opposite to
the cutter, the stop guides jj then resting against the vertical ends of the
elliptical cam d. I now adjust the cutter by means of the set screw o to the
narrowest part of the curl at the back or front of the hat. This being once
adjusted remains constant owing to the ends of the cam being perpendicular.
I then revolve the shaft 6 a quarter of a turn so as to bring the widest part of the
curl round to the cutter. The cutter may now be set to pare the curl to the proper
width by manipulating the jamb nuts z or the adjusting means substituted therefor,
so as to slide the stops jj up or down the sloping side of the cam d, the cutter
being set inwards if the stops are moved up, and outwards if the stops are moved
down, thus fixing the width of curl. I also adjust the bowl s or the lever r
relatively to the shaper plate f so as to correspond to the curve of the hat brim
curl, the curve being more pronounced the further the bowl is set from the centre
of the shaper plate. The slipper guard g is now placed so as to embrace the hat
brim curl and the apparatus is set in motion. The cutter runs at the required
high speed, rapidly paring the curl. The shaft turns slowly round, being driven
by the worm and worm wheel g. As the shaper plate frevolves, it rocks the
lever r and thus throws the lever p into the corresponding angles so as to rise and
fall to the upward and downward curves of the hat brim curl. At the same time
the lever p is swivelled horizontally by the influence of the cam d operating through
the guide stop bracket and swivelling plate vso that the cutter pares always in a
true elliptical path, the spindle in the bracket boss 2 lying always truly radial to
the curve of the curl at the part then being operated on. I might apply automatic

page_text: means such as a stop and catch whereby when the hat has been entirely revolved
once round, the worm gearing will be automatically stopped to allow the trimmed
hat to be removed and replaced. Instead of a reciprocating cutter blade as
described I might use revolving circular cutters or circular disc cutters arranged
scissors fashion.
By a modification of the apparatus, instead of raising and lowering the cutter by
means of the shaper plate as described, I might have a fixed bowl horizontally
adjustable and let the shaper plate roll thereon, raising and lowering the hat, the
radial and other motions of the cutting means being effected from the cam as
hereinbefore described. Such an arrangement might enable me to give more
steadiness to the cutter bracket.
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. 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. In an apparatus of the indicated nature the employment of a cam similar to
the cam d for regulating, guiding and defining the path of the cutter or cutters
which pare the brim curls and for rendering the same adjustable to different sizes
of brim curl, substantially as described and shown.
3. In apparatus of the indicated nature the employment of a dished or curved
disc such as the shaper plate for imparting the requisite rise and fall to the cutter
or cutters corresponding to the amount of curve of the hat brim curl and adapted
to allow of adjustment of the cutting means to different curves of brim curl,
substantially as described and shown.
4. In apparatus for trimming and paring hat brim curls, the combination of the
shaper plate with the bowls lever and other indicated parts for transmitting
movement to the cutter holder and the means for adjusting the said bowl relatively
to the shaper plate, substantially as described and illustrated.
5. In combination with the cam d, the adjustable pivotted guide stop bracket
and stops against which the cam is held in constant contact and the arrangement
of parts whereby the said guide stop bracket transmits motion to the cutter carrier
so as to preserve the cutters in a true path relatively to the curve of the brim curl,
together with the indicated means of adjustment whereby the said path of the
cutter may be varied and defined, substantially as described and shown.
6. In apparatus of the indicated nature and in combination with reciprocating or
circular revolving cutters, the slipper guard for supporting and protecting the hat
brim curl as it is operated upon by the cutter or cutters, substantially as described
and illustrated.
413
Dated this 10th day of November 1895.
For the Applicant,
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Chartered Patent Agents.