IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS OR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD.
Year: 1867

page_text: HETTERS PATENT to Joseph Edwin Ward, of Bredbury, in the County of
Chester, Hat Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS OR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD.".
Sealed the 27th August 1867, and dated the 30th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Edwin Ward
at the Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th March 1867.
I JOSEPH EDWIN WARD,. of Bredbury, in the County of Chester, Hat
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said. Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS OR COVERINGS FOR
THE HEAD," to be as follows:-
The first part of my. Invention relates to machinery to be used for moulding
or pressing a certain form of felt and other hats, that is, such as will not
withdraw from the mould when pressed into the shape desired, and my improve--
ments consist in the construction, arrangement, and combination of mechanism.
for the purpose. The mechanism by which the pressure upon the hat is
effected is similar to that used for pressing hats which will withdraw from the
mould when finished, that is, hydraulic pressure acting through an elastic
medium, but the mould in which the hat is to be pressed is formed in two..
halves, which are held together when the hat is being pressed, and separated.

page_text: when the hat is to be removed. The mould is constructed in a peculiar
manner; it is first cast as a complete mould, then finished internally and
externally, and is then broken into two halves, being cast with a thin place
in the metal at the part where the fracture is required, the object being to
get a jagged joint such as the fracture of metal gives in place of a straight
line junction that would leave a mark. The mould so prepared is inserted
and secured in a corresponding hollow casing which is heated by steam. One
part of the casing and mould is fixed and firmly secured to a bed or frame,
the other part of the casing and mould is arranged in slides so as to be slided
against or withdrawn from the fixed mould.. The steam is conveyed to and
from the moveable casing of the mould by flexible tubes, swivel jointed pipes,
or sliding pipes and stuffing boxes. The moveable part of the casing and
mould is actuated and held firm by a powerful screw, which is locked by
another screw when the mould is screwed up, or it is actuated by an hydraulic
ram or hydraulic pressure acting through an elastic bag, or by knuckle-joint
levers and an excentric or crank actuated by a lever.
The second part of my Invention relates to arrangements for cutting the
brims of hats to a uniform size all round, and consists in placing the hat in
a suitable holder to keep it central, its brim resting upon a block or edge, and
then bringing down a ring knife of the size and shape of the intended brim,
and cutting out the brim at one operation by pressure or percussion. The
knife may be made by taking a block of the size and shape of the brim to be
cut and bending round it a thin steel blade sharpened at its lower edge, the
blade being secured by clamping its two ends to the block.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Edwin Ward in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
EDWIN WARD, of Bredbury, in the County of Chester, Hat Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Edwin Ward, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Edwin
Ward, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said Joseph Edwin Ward, 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 "IMPROVE
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS OR COVERINGS FOR THE
HEAD," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Edwin
Ward, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should. par-
ticularly 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 Joseph Edwin Ward, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:
The first part of my Invention relates to machinery to be used for moulding
or pressing a certain form of felt and other hats, that is, such as will not with-
draw from the mould when pressed into the shaped desired; and my improve-
ments consist in the construction, arrangement, and combination of mechani.m
for the purpose above named. The mechanism by the the pressure upon
the hat is effected is similar to that used for pressing hats which will withdraw
from the mould when pressed or finished, namely, hydraulic pressure acting
through an elastic medium, but the n:ould in which the hat is to be pressed is
formed in two halves, which are held together when the hat is being pressed,
and separated when the hat is to be removed. The mould is constructed in
a peculiar manner, being first cast as a complete mould, then finished inter-
nally and externally, and is then broken into two halves, being cast with a
thin place in the metal at the part where the fracture is required.
By this mode of construction a jagged joint in the mould is obtained, which
is not so liable to leave a mark as a straight line junction. Moulds with
straight line junctions may be used if care be taken in making good joints, and
the junction line across the crown of the hat may be prevented by dispensing
with the crown part of the mould and substituting a fixed block; the mould
is inserted in a hollow casing, which is heated by steam. One part of the
casing and mould is fixed and firmly secured to a bed or frame, the other part
of the casing and mould is arranged in slides so as to be slided against or
withdrawn from the fixed mould. The steam is conveyed to and from the
moveable casing of the mould by flexible tubes, swivel jointed or sliding pipes,

page_text: and stuffing boxes. The moveable part of the casing and mould is actuated
and held firm by a powerful screw, which is locked by another screw when the
mould is screwed up, or it is actuated by an hydraulic ram or hydraulic pres-
sure acting through an elastic diaphragm or bag, or by "knuckle joints, links,
or levers actuated by a lever.
The second part of my Invention relates to arrangements for cutting the
brims of hats to a uniform size, and consists in placing the hat in a suitable
holder to keep it central, its brim resting upon a block or edge, and then
bringing down a ring knife of the size and shape of the intended brim, and
cutting out the brim at one operation by pressure or percussion. The knife
may be made by taking a block of the size and shape to which the brim is to
be cut, and bending round it a thin steel blade sharpened at its lower edge,
the blade being secured by clamping it to the block.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation in section, Fig. 2, an end elevation, and
Fig. 3 a plan view, partly in section, of a machine according to the first part
of my improvements.
a, the feet; b, the bed. (similar to a lathe bed) resting upon the feet; c, one
half of the hollow mould case secured to the bed by a plate and bolts (c¹) as
shown; cis-the other half of the hollow mould case secured so as to be at liberty
to slide in the bed (b); this half (c) of the hollow case is attached by means
of a collar and plate (d), as shown, to the end of a screw (d), which screws
through a nut collar (d) inserted in a part (1) standing up from the bed (),
the nut collar being formed in two halves, so that the upper half may be forced
down upon the screw (d) by a locking screw (d), the end of which acts upon
a piece resting upon the upper half of the screw nut (d); d is the handle for
the locking screw (d³), and d³ is the hand wheel for the screw d. Each half
of the casing c and is heated by steam, which descends a vertical pipe to a
swivel joint (e), and then passes by a short branch pipe into the side of the
casing; the vertical steam pipe to the moving half of the casing (c) is suffi-
ciently long and flexible to permit the casing to move to the extent required,
or the pipe is connected with a swivel joint at its upper end, which will allow
of this movement. Condensed steam is taken away from each half of the
casing by the pipes (f) shown in Fig. 1; the moulds (9) for all sizes of hats
are all of the same size externally, and fit into the interior of the casing.
The construction of the cover to the mould, and the hydraulic apparatus, and
its mode of action is well known, and need not be particularly described. I
will therefore only name the parts. h is the cover to which the elastic bag (i)
is secured; h¹ is a rod passing through a guide (h³) for lifting the cover (h);
this rod () is attached to one end of a chain or cord passing over a pulley (h³),

page_text: and to the other end of the chain or cord a balance weight (h) is attached;
h is the handle attached to the pulley (43) for giving motion to the cover (h);
jis the pipe from the hydraulic reservoir, which conveys water to the two-
way tap (), from which it ascends the pipe (*), and descends the pipe (³)
to the interior of the elastic bag (i). The lower part of the pipe (3) is
secured to the cover (h), and slides through a gland into the upper part of
the pipe when the cover is lifted; k is the pipe for conveying away the water
from the elastic bag (); is a tap for allowing the air to escape from the
elastic bag; m are three upright hooks which hold down the cover (h), and
resist the pressure when the three arms (m³) centred upon the rod (h¹) is
turned to bring the ends of the arms under the hooks by means of the
handle (m²).
Fig. 4 is a side elevation, and Fig. 5 is a plan showing an alternative
mode of actuating the moving half of the mould by knuckle joint levers.
a, the feet; b, the bed; c, the fast half of the casing; c, the moveable half
to which one end of a link or lever (a) is jointed, the other end being jointed
with one end of another link (n), which has its other end jointed with an
adjustable screw (22), secured in the upright from the bed (b). At the junc-
tion between the two links n and none end of another link (n³) is jointed,
the other end of which fits upon a crank pin (n) in a crank upon a short
shaft (), carried by a bracket (26) secured to the under side of the bed (b),
and upon the end of this short shaft a lever handle (n) is placed. As shown
in full line in Figs. 4 and 5 the links n and n' are in a straight line, and
are supposed to have pushed the moveable half of the casing or mould close up
against the fixed half of the casing or mould. But when the lever handle (n)
is turned half a revolution the links (n and n') will come into the position
shown in dotted line, and will have withdrawn the moveable half of the casing
or mould away from the fixed half to allow the pressed hat to be removed,
If desired the lever handle (n) may be held by a latch or catch to prevent
the possibility of its moving when the pressure is acting. An hydraulic piston or
ram may be attached to the side of the moveable half of the casing in a horizontal
position, and this piston or ram may be made to fit into a cylinder bolted to
or cast upon the bed (6), and a pipe may be brought from a three-way tap to
the cylinder, so that by turning the tap partly round the pressure will first
enter the ram cylinder, and then by turning the tap further it will enter the
clastic bag, then by turning the tap again the water will escape from the
elastic bag, and by further turning of the tap it will escape from the ram
cylinder. In place of one three-way tap a separate two-way tap may be used
for the ram and for the elastic bag.

page_text: Fig. 6 is a front elevation, and Fig. 7 an end sectional elevation, and Fig. 8
a plan view of a machine for carrying out the second part of my Invention;
Fig. 9 is a detached view (looking at the under side) of the plate carrying the
block with the cutting knife attached. p is a base frame with an overhanging
jib (p) all in one piece; this base frame is secured upon a suitable table or
bench having a space below the opening in the base or frame; within the
frame a square block of wood (9) is fitted, so that it can be slided to and fro
in the frame, and in the centre of the block of wood a hole is made of the size
and shape of the body of the hat to be cut. If the body of the hat is larger at
the crown than near the brim the wood block (9) is made in two holes, so that
they may be slided apart to place and remove the hat:
In the overhanging
jib (p¹) a screw (r) is placed, and a handle (r) is secured to its upper end,
as shown; its lower end screws into the boss of a plate (8), which has a notch
(81) in its edge (see Fig. 9), that slides upon a vertical projection (p²) from
the jib (p¹), and thus the plate (s) is prevented from turning round. To the
plate (s) a block (t) is secured by bolts (t), which block is of the size anl
shape of the intended brim, and the cutting knife (u), made of thin "doctor"
steel sharpened at its lower edge, is bent round the edge of this block and
secured by a clamp (t), as shown best in Figs. 6 and 9. In using the machine
the holding block (q) is slided from under the plate (s), the hat to be cut is
then inserted, and the holding block is slided back under the plate until it
comes against the end of the frame or a suitable stop, which will leave it
exactly in the proper central position under the cutter, which is then screwed
down, and the superfluous brim is cut away, the cutting edge sinking slightly
into the upper surface of the holding block (9). The cutter (u) and upper
surface of the holding block in Figs. 6 and 7 is shown straight and flat, but
both the upper face of the holding block and the knife may be formed to fit
the curve or shape of the brim of the hat to be cut. The knife is made to fit
by grinding away its edge, so that its entire edge will come in contact with the
brim to be cut at the same time when screwed or otherwise forced down.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, and claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the combination, arrangement, and construction of machines for
pressing or finishing bats, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated
by the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, the actuating of the moveable half of the mould in machines for
pressing hats by means of screws, "knuckle jointed" links, or levers, or by an
hydraulic ram, or by hydraulic pressure acting through an elastic bag or
diaphragm and ram, substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: Thirdly, the system or mode and machinery for cutting the brims of hats,.
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Edwin Ward, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
JOSEPH E. WARD. (L.S.)