IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND BONNETS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hugbes
and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND BONNETS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." -A communication from abroad by
Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of New Haven, United States of America.
Sealed the 31st December 1867, and dated the 18th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th October 1867.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND BONNETS,
AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad
by Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of New Haven, United States of America, to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to hats and bonnets made of cloth, and consists in
forming on the outside of the hat or bonnet a design or pattern similar to
the plaits of the straw or grass hats and bonnets at present in use. The hat
or bonnet is composed of two or more pieces of cloth cemented together by
paste or other suitable cementing substance, the piece for the inside of the

page_text: hat or bonnet consisting of common cotton cloth, and the piece for the outside
of fine cloth, such as jacconette or similar material. For shaping the hat or
bonnet from the cemented pieces of cloth I employ a pair of plain dies of the
size and shape required. And for embossing its exterior I use a pair of dies in
which the male die is plain and the female die engraved with the required
straw plait or other pattern, and both pairs of dies are used in connection with
a press worked by a screw or other well-known means. The plain dies are
of the exact form of the required hat or bonnet, and are made of iron, steel,
or other suitable metal; and it is evident that when the hat or bonnet after
being shaped by the plain dies is put in the figured female die, and then pressed
by the corresponding male die, the exterior of the hat or bonnet will be
embossed as required. Instead of using cloth for the manufacture of these
hats and bonnets I can employ paper, or cloth and paper combined.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Thomas Hughes, Iler special license that I, the said Edward
Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND BONNETS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by
Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of New Haven, United States of America, upon the
condition, amongst others, that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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

page_text: nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the saine 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to
say:-
This Invention relates to hats and bonnets made of cloth, and consists in
forming on the outside of the hat or bonnet a design or pattern similar to the
plaits of the straw or grass hats and bonnets at present in use.
The hat or
bonnet is composed of two or more pieces of cloth cemented together by
paste or other suitable cementing substance, the piece for the inside of the
hat or bonnet consisting of common cotton cloth, and the piece for the outside
of fine cloth, such as jaconnette or similar material. For shaping the hat or
bonnet from the cemented pieces of cloth I employ a pair of plain dies of the
size and shape required. And for embossing its exterior I use a pair of dies, in
which the male die is plain and the female die engraved with the required
straw plait or other pattern, and both pairs of dies are used in connection with
a press worked by a screw or other well-known means. The plain dies are
of the exact form of the required hat or bonnet, and are made of iron, steel,
or other suitable metal; and it is evident that when the hat or bonnet after
being shaped by the plain dies is put in the figured female die, and then
pressed by the corresponding male die the exterior of the hat or bonnet will
be embossed as required. Instead of using cloth for the manufacture of these
hats and bonnets I can employ paper, or cloth and paper combined.
This Invention will be clearly understood by the following particular
description thereof, reference being had to the figures and letters on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of an
ordinary fly press provided with a male and female die, the latter being shown
in section; Fig. 2, a sectional plan of Fig. 1 at the line A, B; Fig. 8,
a longitudinal section; and Fig. 4, a plan of a cementing or pasting
apparatus.
In Figs. 1 and 2 a represents the body, and b the bed plate of the press;
c, the ram and screw; and d the fly. The bottom part of the ram is held by
the flange e and screws f to the slide g fitted to the cross frame h, and in the
bottom of the slide there is a hole or socket, into which is placed the pin i

page_text: having a large flange k, to which is screwed the plain male die 1, and on the
bed plate is placed the figured female die m, which is adjusted and held fast
by the screws n in the lugs o.
In the cementing or pasting apparatus shewn in Figs. 3 and 4, p repre-
sents a roller on which is wound the common or coarse cloth for the interior
of the hat or bonnet; q, a roller on which is wound the fine cloth for the
exterior thereof; r, a box through which the coarse cloth passes; and s
partitions having their bottom edges bevilled to allow the cloth to pass easily
under them. The said partitions are placed in grooves in the sides of the
box, and fastened by wedges t to any required height according to the thick-
ness of the cloth, and the cement or paste is contained in the space between
the partitions. The cloth from the roller p is passed through the slit u
through the cement, and through the slit v, as shown by the arrows, after
The cloth from the roller q is
which it is passed between two rollers w, w.
also passed between the rollers, and as the two pieces are drawn forwards
the weight of the top roller causes them to adhere tightly together. When
thus cemented the cloth is bung in a warm room to dry, and afterwards
passed through a waterproofing solution, consisting of alum and sugar of lead,
or any other solution used for the same purpose. The cloth is then stretched
and dried, and if it is desired to manufacture a perfectly white hat or bonnet a
'The
coating of whiting or other blanching substance is applied thereto.
cloth is now cut to a proper form, and placed between plain male and female
dies of the required shape and size, the female die being heated by gas or
otherwise, and the male die forced by the press into the female die to shape
the cloth into the form of the hat or bonnet, which form is then placed in the
female straw-faced die, Figs 1 and 2, heated by gas or otherwise, and the
male die is forced by the press into the female die in order to impress on the
exterior of the hat or bonnet the design of the female die. The hat or bonne
tbus made will be sufficiently firm for all ordinary purposes; but, if desired
wire may be applied around the edges or in other convenient parts, and
solution of tin, bronze, and collodion may also be applied, which has the effec
of still further stiffening the material, of rendering it more impervious t
water, and of giving it a bronzed appearance; but other colors or dyes ma
be applied to the said hat or bounet when required. The female die may
made of brass or any other suitable metal, and the male die made of paper
evident that dies of an
soft metal, or any other plastic material, and it
shape and size may be used.
b
Having now described the nature and particulars of the sail Invention, an
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understoo

page_text: that I claim the improvements in the manufacture of hats and bonnets and
in the apparatus employed therein, as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my band and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
E. T. HUGHES. (L.S.)