IMPROVEMENTS IN GUARDS OR PROTECTORS FOR HATS AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Kemp Mace, of Birmingham in the County
of Warwick, Hatter, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GUARDS OR
PROTECTORS FOR HATS AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD."
Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 9th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Kemp Mace
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the
9th May 1862.
I, THOMAS KEMP MACE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Hatter, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN GUARDS OR PROTECTORS FOR HATS AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists of a guard or protector for retaining the hat or head
covering, when by wind, or otherwise, it is. removed from the head, the said
guard or protector being used in place of the cord commonly used for the
same purpose.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a hat. In making a guard
or protector, according to my Invention, I take a small flat circular box,
similar to that of a measuring tape,, the said box having a reel in its interior,
on which is wound a tape, cord, or other flexible line. The reel may be
turned so as to wind or unwind the tape, cord, or line, either by a winch on
one end of its axis, or by fixing one of the circular sides of the box to the said
axis, and making the said sidè capable of rotation; or the reel may have a

page_text: coiled spring, by which the tape, cord, or line is wound up when its end is
loosed, as in the spring measuring tape. I fix the said box inside the hat,
either at the crown, or on one side, and I pass the tape, cord, or line from the
inside of the hat, or put it between the body of the hat and lining, making the
end project a little below the brim on the outside, or leave the end to run quite
into the hat; or the said box may be fixed outside the hat at any convenient
point. On the end of the tape, cord, or line I fix a ring or make a loop, and
above the ring or loop I make a knot, button, or stud, to prevent the end of
the tape, cord, or line from being drawn up into the interior of the hat. In
using the guard or protector, the end is drawn down after the hat has been
put on the head, or when off the head, and the ring or loop fastened to a
button of the coat, or secured to any convenient part of the dress. Should the
hat be blown off, or otherwise removed, it is retained by the protector or guard.
When a spring reel is employed, the guard or protector is drawn up into its
case by the spring on the 'liberation of its end, and the removal of the hat from
the head. A small ratchet or check_may be used inside the box, so as to
prevent the tape, cord, or line running into its case before required, or for
fixing the tape, cord, or line at the required length. The box may be per-
forated, and fixed over an opening in the crown or other part of the hat, by
which hats are commonly ventilated. Although I prefer putting the reel in a
circular box or case, yet the said reel may be enclosed in a box of any other
figure, or the reel may be employed without any covering or case.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Kemp Mace in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
KEMP MACE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Hatter, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Kemp Mace, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Kemp Mace, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Thomas Kemp Mace, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all.

page_text: .
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 GUARDS OR PROTECTORS FOR HATS AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR
THE HEAD," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Kemp Mace, 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 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 Thomas Kemp Mace, 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a guard or protector, containing the improvements
herein-after described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, the said
guard or protector having for its object the retaining of the bat or head
covering, when by wind, accident, or otherwise it is removed from the head;
the said guard or protector being used in place of the cord commonly used for
the same purpose.
I will describe and illustrate my Invention in connection with a hat. In
making a guard or protector according to my Invention, I take a small flat
circular box, similar to that of a measuring tape, the said box having a reel in
its interior, on which is wound a tape, cord, or other flexible line. The reel
may be turned so as to wind or unwind the tape, cord, or line, either by a
winch on one end of its axis, or by fixing one of the circular sides of the box
to the said axis, or to the reel, and making the said side capable of rotation;
or the reel may have a coiled spring, by which the tape, cord, or line is wound
up when its end is loosed, as in the spring measuring tape.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents one side of a guard or
protector made according to one of the forms of my Invention; Figure 2
represents the opposite side of the same; Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the
same, shewing the reel in its interior, with the tape, cord, or line wound upon
the said reel; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the same; and Figure 5 is a
transverse section of the same. The said guard or protector, consists of a
circular box, formed of the two parts or sides a, b; the part a constituting one
side and edge of the box, and the part 6 the other side of the box. The side
b is capable of turning upon the other part, and has soldered to its inner side,

page_text: a reel c, on which the cord or line è can be wound, by turning the said move-
able side by the knob d. One end of the cord or line e is passed through a
hole or slot in the reel c, and is fastened 'therein by a knot, and the other end
is passed through a hole in the side of -the part a, and has a button, or stud,
and ring f, g, attached to it. The side a has a tube i in its middle, through
which the screw h passes; by which screw the guard or protector is secured to
the bat or other head covering. The parts a, b, are secured together, so that
they can turn upon one another by expanding the end of the tube i upon a
washer, which has been dropped into a depression in the side b, as will be
understood by an examination of Figure 5. By gently pulling the end of the
cord or line e, the said cord or line can be unwound to the required extent
from the reel c. To re-wind it upon the reel, it is only necessary to turn the
moveable side 6 of the guard by the small knob d; Figure 6 represents, in
'section, a hat provided with a guard or protector made according to my
Invention; and Figure 7 represents a plan of the same. In Figures 6 and 7
the guard or protector is represented at k, fixed inside the crown of the hat;
but the said guard may be fixed on the under side of the brim as represented
at 1, in Figure 7, or on the side of the hat, or in any other convenient position,
either inside or outside the hat. The guard is fixed to the hat by piercing a
hole therein at the place where it is wished to fasten the guard, and the screw
h screwed into the said hole as seen in Figure 6. The stud or button f on the
end of the cord or line e prevents the said cord or line being drawn into the
guard, and by means of the ring 9, a sliding loop may be formed from the cord
or line, by which loop the guard can be attached to the person. In using
the guard or protector, the end of the cord or line is drawn down before the
hat is placed on the head, when the said guard or protector is inside the hat,
and the sliding loop which is made at the end of the cord or line fastened to a
button of the coat, or secured to any convenient part of the dress. Should
the hat be blown off, or otherwise removed, it is retained by the guard or
protector. The cord or line, when the guard or protector is inside the hat,
may be passed between the body and lining, the button or stud on its end
projecting below the brim; or the end of the cord or line may be allowed
to run quite into the hat. When a spring réel is employed, the guard or pro-
tector is drawn up into its case on the liberation of its end, and the removal
of the hat from the head. A small ratchet or check may be used inside the
box, so as to prevent the tape, cord, or line running into its case before
required, or for fixing the tape, cord, or line at the required length. The box
of the guard or protector may be perforated, and fixed over an opening or
openings in the crown or other part of the hat, by which hats are commonly

page_text: ventilated; Figure 8 represents one side of the perforated guard or protector
to be used for ventilating the hat; and Figure 9 represents the opposite side
of the same. Ventilation is effected by air passing through the holes,
represented in the sides of the guard or protector, the hat having holes made
in it corresponding with those in the upper side of the said guard or protector.
Although I prefer putting the reel in a circular box or case, as herein-before
described and represented, yet the said reel may be enclosed in a box of any
other figure; or the reel may be employed without any covering or case.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it be understood that I do not limit myself
to the precise details herein-before described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention.
But I claim as my Invention the improvements in guards or protectors for
hats and other coverings for the head, herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the said guards or pro-
tectors essentially of a reel, by preference enclosed in a case, upon which reel
the tape, cord, or line for retaining the hat or head covering is wound, the
said tape, cord, or line being wound upon the reel, either by hand, or by the
action of a spring, also perforating the case of the guard or protector, when
required, for the purpose of ventilating the hat or head covering.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Kemp Mace, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
25 Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
THOMAS KEMP MACE. (L.s.)