IMPROVEMENTS IN THE IANUFACTURE OP HATS AND CAPS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Latham, of Russell Court, Drury Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
IANUFACTURE OP HATS AND CAPS."
MA
Sealed the 30th September 1858, and dated the 17th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Latham at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th April 1858.
I, WILLIAM LATHAM, of Russell Court, Drury Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND CAPS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of hats
and caps. For this purpose, in order to obtain a good ventilation within a hat
or cap, the body of the hat or cap, just above the upper edge of the ordinary
band around the brim or part which fits the head, is made of somewhat larger
diameter all round, or partly round, and the body of the hat or cap is per-
forated with numerous holes, so that air may freely enter the hat or cap just
above where the hat or cap fits on the head of the wearer. In order that the
outer surface of the band may not be of less or of materially less diameter

page_text: than the part of the body immediately above the band, the outer surface of the
body of the hat or cap, where it surrounds the head, is thickened with a band
or thickening of cork, or other suitable material, thus leaving a groove or
recess in the body of the hat or cap just above the band, where the air enters
into the body of the hat or cap through perforations as above stated.
It is not essential that the body of the hat or cap should be of larger
diameter in all directions, as the ventilation may be at the sides only, or at
the back and front only. At the upper part of the hat or cap there is an
opening or openings for the passage away of air from the interior.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Latham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LATHAM, of Russell Court, Drury Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Latham, Her special licence that I, the said William Latham,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Latham, 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 CAPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Latham, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 William Latham, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of hats
and caps. For this purpose, in order to obtain a good ventilation within a
hat or cap, the body of the hat or cap, just above the upper edge of the ordi-
nary band around the brim or part which fits the head, is made of somewhat
larger diameter all round, or partly round, and the body of the hat or cap is
perforated with numerous holes, so that air may freely enter the hat or cap
just above where the hat or cap fits on the head of the wearer. In order
that the outer surface of the band may not be of less or of materially less dia-
meter than the part of the body immediately above the band, the outer
surface of the body of the hat, where it surrounds the head, is thickened with
a band or thickening of cork, or other suitable material, thus leaving a groove
or recess in the body of the hat or cap just above the band, where the air
enters into the body of the hat or cap through perforations as above stated.
It is not essential that the body of the hat or cap should be of larger
diameter in all directions, as the ventilation may be at the sides only, or at
the back and front only. At the upper part of the hat or cap there is an
opening or openings for the passage away of air from the interior.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a section, and Figure 2 an external view of an ordinary bat
with a brim. a is the band which fits on the head; the upper part of the hat
at a, a, immediately over the band a, is of larger diameter than the band, and
the step or narrow part a', a', which connects the parts a and a², is perforated
with numerous holes by which air can pass freely into the interior of the hat;
there is also an air passage in the crown or upper part of the hat, as has before
been the case with other ventilating hats. Other forms of hats and also caps
may be similarly made according to my Invention, that is, they may each have
a band a to fit the head, and be ventilated through a part a¹, connecting the
upper part of the hat or cap with the band a, and the lower part or edge of
such band a, in place of having a brim as in the ordinary hat; it may be formed
in any suitable manner as hats and caps have heretofore been usually formed.
I have not thought it necessary to show by the Drawings more than the one
form of hat, Figures 1 and 2, as the essential feature of my Invention consists
in the combination of the parts a, a, and a², whatever be the form of the hat

page_text: or cap above the part a', and whatever be the form of the hat or cap at the
lower edge of the band a.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Latham, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
B. GOBEY,
24, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane.
WILLIAM LATHAM. (L.s.)