IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELT HATS CAPS AND OTHER HEAD COVERINGS AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Feb., 1887.
Complete Left, 31st Aug., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 4th Oct., 1887.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM CHEETHAM of 131 Great Norbury Street, Hyde, in the
County of Chester, Hat Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELT HATS CAPS AND OTHER HEAD
COVERINGS AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to the manufacture of felt hats caps and other felt head
coverings and consists chiefly in a new or improved process of veneering or in other
words felting the surface of a coarse wool or cheap fur body with a finer or better
quality of wool or fur such as waste fur of fine quality but too short in staple to be
used for other purposes.
Hitherto the common and best known method of veneering has been to card a fine
material on to a coarse material or body and unite the two by felting them together.
My new or improved process of veneering may be carried out in several ways as
for instance I may use an analogous process to that used for felting cloth and known
as flocking. In this case the hat bodies made of the coarse material would be placed
in a fulling or felting machine and the finer material contained in a hopper or other
suitable receptacle would be fed on to the bodies during the felting operation and thus
the short staple wool or fur would be worked into the face of the coarser material of
the body whereby a fine surface would be obtained.
Instead of using a hopper or other receptacle the fine wool or fur may be mixed
with water or other liquid and fed on to the bodies during the felting operation by

page_text: hand or otherwise; and the bodies may be hand planked and the fur or fine wool put
on by hand or by dipping the bodies into a mixture of the fine material and water or
other liquid.
The finer quality wool or fur may be felted on to the coarser material of the body
either before or after proofing or stiffening but it is advantageous to felt it on after
proofing as then all the proofing goes into the body while the finer wool or
fur is left in a better condition for dyeing and a finer finish and effect is consequently
obtained.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Felt Hats, Caps, and other
Head Coverings, and in the Apparatus Employed in such
Manufacture.
I FREDERICK WILLIAM CHEETHAM of 131 Great Norbury Street Hyde in the
County of Chester Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FELT HATS CAPS AND OTHER HEAD
COVERINGS AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE, 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 improvements in the manufacture of felt hats caps and
other felt head coverings and consists chiefly in a new or improved process of
veneering or in other words felting the surface of a coarse wool or cheap fur body
with a finer or better quality of wool or fur such as waste fur of fine quality but too
short in staple to be used for other purposes my chief object being to cheapen the cost
of manufacture in such manner that I am enabled to produce a felt hat or other felt
head covering having all the appearance feel and finish of an expensive hat of fine
quality but costing much less in production.
Various attempts prior to my present Invention have been made to improve the
appearance of felt hats by making the surface covering or vencer of finer wool or fur
than the main portion or body, for example
:-
The cone or form as it leaves the carding engine has been coated or covered with a
thin lap or sheet of finer material and the two combined have been first placed in the
hardening machine and then in the fulling or bumping machine. In the felting or
planking operations undergone in these machines the finer material is to a great extent
mixed and incorporated with the main body of coarser material and the finer material
being thus absorbed the desired object i.e. having a surface covering or veneer of fine
material is not attained.
.
Another well known mode is to make up the hat of two distinct bats or bodies one
body of coarse felt the other of finer felt or fur the two bodies being cemented
together to form a hat; or two unfelted or only partially felted bodies one of coarse
material the other of finer material have been felted together.
My new or improved process of veneering may be carried out in several ways as
for instance I may use an analogous process to that used for felting cloth and known
as flocking. In this case I make the form or body of the felt hat cap or other head
covering of coarse wool or other suitable material and I proof or stiffen this form or
body when a hard hat is to be made-by any of the usual modes well known to hat
manufacturers.
In the ordinary course of manufacture these processes would be followed by those
of dyeing and finishing whereas according to this Invention I pass the forms or bodies
through an additional process for the purpose of veneering or covering them with a
fine surface covering or veneer as previously mentioned.

page_text: The veneering material which I employ for this purpose is preferably either wool
or fur cut or ground to a short staple and usually of superior or finer quality than the
material of which the forms or bodies of the hats are composed.
The surface covering or veneer is then felted on to the forms or bodies made of the
coarse material as above specified either by hand planking as hereinafter described or
by means of a fulling or bumping machine or by any other machine suitable for the
purpose. A convenient construction of machine fitted with special apparatus accord-
ing to my Invention being shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings which
I will now describe reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
The machine shown in Figure 1 of the Drawings is what is well known in the trade
as a Crank or Link Bumper and needs no special description. The apparatus which
I apply to the machine for the purposes of my Invention consists of the following
parts A pipe a is attached to the frame band is in communication with the interior
of the machine below the fulling stocks; an injector c is attached to the pipe a and to
the injector care attached three pipes d e and respectively of which the pipe d is for
the supply of steam or other fluid under pressure to work the injector the pipe e is
connected to a cistern containing the veneering material consisting of the short staple
wool or fur mixed with water or other liquid usually hot water and the pipe f is for
the purpose of conveying the veneering material supplied from the cistern to the
injector c and delivering it through a perforated portion on to the hat bodies on the
fulling stocks.
The action of the apparatus is that the veneering material delivered to the injector c
through the pipe e is forced up the pipe fand falls through the perforations" on to
the hat bodies being bumped on the fulling stocks; some of the fine wool or fur
becomes fastened or felted to the bodies and the remainder mixed with water finds its
way into the box below the stocks and passes through the pipe a to the injector by
which it is again forced through the pipe with the fresh veneering material supplied
through the pipe Each of the pipes a d and e is supplied with a suitable valve or
tap not shown by which the working of the apparatus may be regulated.
e.
The fulling or bumping operation is continued while vencering material is being
fed on to the bodies as described until a sufficient quantity of the fine short staple
wool or fur has been worked or felted on to the coarser material of the body and a
fine surface covering or veneer has been obtained on one or both sides or part of each
side as required.
In Figure 2 another well known form of fulling or felting machine is shown in
which the hat bodies or forms are passed between a series of rollers g. These rollers
receive a longitudinal reciprocating in addition to a slow rotary motion imparted to
them by means of suitable gearing so that the hat bodies are thoroughly felted during
their passage through the machine. In the ordinary process of manufacture hot
water is discharged on the hat bodies as they pass through the machine from
perforated pipes fed by an injector c supplied with steam through the pipe e and with
water through the pipe a.
I propose to utilize this arrangement of apparatus for the purposes of my Invention
and supply the veneering material say short staple wool or fur mixed with liquid
through the pipe a whereby it is distributed on to the hat bodies and by the action of
the rollers g is felted on to the surface.
Instead of mixing the fine fur or wool with liquid and employing the apparatus
herein described and shown the veneering material may be placed in a hopper or other
suitable receptacle and fed on to the bodies during the felting operation which may be
performed by hand planking in the ordinary manner well known to hat manufacturers
or otherwise or the fine fur or wool may be blown on or be put on by hand or by a
suitable machine or by dipping the bodies into a mixture of the fine material and
water or other liquid.
It is obvious that my Invention may he used in the manufacture of both hard and
soft felt hats or head coverings and in the manufacture of the latter little or no
proofing or stiffening is required but for the former the bodies have to be proofed
or stiffened.

page_text: SO
By the usual processes of manufacturing hard felt hats the bodies are
impregnated with the proofing or stiffening materials that it is almost impossible to
dye them successfully so as to obtain a good and fast black or colour.
One great and important advantage obtained by the use of my Invention is that
the surface covering or veneer obtained as described consists of unproofed wool or
fur as all the proofing or stiffening material is put into the bodies before the
veneering material is felted on to the same and as this surface covering or veneer
is unproofed it is left in a far better condition for taking the dye in the subsequent
dyeing process and a finer finish and effect is consequently obtained than by the
ordinary processes of manufacture.
I have always described the veneer or surface covering as being of finer or better
quality than the form or body of the hat and generally this would be the case but it
might be found desirable to adopt my herein described process and to felt on to
the body an unproofed veneer or surface covering of short staple and of the same
or as coarse a material as the body in order to secure the advantage of being able to
dye an unproofed material as above mentioned.
Instead of dyeing the short staple wool or fur veneering material after it has been
attached to the form or body of the hat or other head covering the said veneering
material may if preferred be first dyed and then be felted on to the forms or bodies to
form a surface covering or veneer as herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is―
1. The improved process of felting an unproofed or unstiffened surface covering or
veneer of short staple wool or fur on to a hat body or form substantially as herein set
forth for the purposes specified.
2. The improved process of felting an unproofed or unstiffened veneer or surface
covering of short staple wool or fur on to the proofed or stiffened form or body
of felt hat or other head covering substantially as herein described for the
purposes specified.
3. The combination with the body or form of a felt hat cap or other head covering
of a veneer or surface covering of short staple wool or fur applied substantially in
the manner and for the purposes herein described.
4. A felt hat cap or other head covering having a form or body composed of coarse
wool or fur and a veneer or surface covering of finer or better quality wool or
fur of short staple applied substantially as herein described for the purposes
specified.
5. A felt hat cap or other head covering in which an unproofed veneer of short
staple material has been felted on to a form or body after the operation of proofing or
stiffening substantially as herein described for the purposes specified.
6. The use and application of the apparatus herein shown and described or
any other suitable arrangement of apparatus for supplying to hat bodies during the
process of fulling bumping or hand planking a veneering material consisting of short
staple wool or fur substantially as specified.
7. The veneering material consisting of wool or fur cut ground or otherwise
reduced to a short staple and applied whether by hand or otherwise to hat bodies or
forms undergoing a fulling bumping or planking process substantially as herein
described for the purposes specified.
Dand thin 20th day of Ad 1007
H. B. BARLOW,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester,
Agent for Applicant.