Improvements in the Manufacture of Hats for the Protection of the Heads of Colliers and others.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Oct 1851
Complete Specification Left, 29th June, 1892-Accepted, 30th July, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Hats for the Protection of the
Heads of Colliers and others.
.
I ALEXANDER DEL GUERRA Oilskin Manufacturer of 160 Bute Road Cardiff
in the County of Glamorgan, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide an effective and mechanical means of
protecting the heads of colliers, miners &c. by a hat so contrived, that on anything
descending on the wearers head the crown gives way partially and deadens the
force of the blow.
The rim is made in one piece of some suitable metal, leather or other material
across which are fixed in a circular shape to form the crown of the hat, eight or
more pieces of spring wire the ends of which are fastened to the top of the said rim
with pieces of wire or other suitable material. The bent springs are likewise
fastened at the top of the crown where they cross each other. Inside the hat
is placed some strips of canvas in circular form, the top of which is about one
inch to inch and half from the wire crown. This allows space for the crown to
bend when anything very heavy descends on the wearers head. I have also
constructed an iron ring which descends to the rim of the hat and holds the wire
spring in its place.
Much the same result is obtained by a somewhat similar arrangement in which
the rim is made of some suitable material. Affixed to the rim is four or more
pieces of metal with a spring or indiarubber tube or some other elastic material
attached to each. On the crown of the hat there is fixed a like number of small
pieces of suitable metal with holes in them, placed so that when the crown is fixed
to the rim it descends on the pieces of metal so affixed, and a smaller screw fixes the
crown in its place. This gives the crown of the hat an elasticity which is very
desirable, and which on being struck by the falling debris naturally gives way and
deadens the force of the blow.
Dated this Ninth day of October 1891.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Hats for the Protection of the
Heads of Colliers and others.
I, ALEXANDER DEL GUERRA of 160 Bute Road Cardiff in the County of
Glamorgan, Oilskin Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
In order to carry out my invention I make a rim marked A on the accompanying
drawing, of any suitable material such as leather, metal, indiarubber or the like,
this rim of course varying in size according to the size of the head of the wearer,
the object of this rim is to carry the framework of the hat and to more evenly dis
tribute the weight of any blow struck on any part of the hat, to this rim are attached
cross pieces or straps of any strong material such as canvas marked B, these straps
are made of such a length that when the rim is in position on the wearer's head
they press lightly on the head and form a skeleton crown and so help to distribute
the weight of any blow upon the bead and prevent the whole pressure from coming
upon the head at the line where the rim is in contact with the head, at the point

page_text: where these straps cross at the top of the head I attach a pad of any soft material
marked C, starting with this rim and skeleton crown I then adopt one of two
methods both of which I will now describe. In the one method I take a number
of pieces of elastic material preferably thin steel such as that of which clock
springs are made, though I do not confine myself to steel or metal, these elastic
strips marked DI cut of such a length that when they are fixed in position as
hereinafter explained, the highest point of the crown formed of the elastic strips
will be about two or two and a half inches above the pad of soft material before-
mentioned, returning to the elastic strips I fasten these together at their middle
points and then bend down the ends so as to fit to the rim of the hat, fastening the
strips to the rim either separately or by passing round them a band of steel, leather
or other suitable substance marked E, under some circumstances in the case I am
now illustrating it is better to take half the pieces of elastic material shorter than.
the other half, say about two inches shorter, then fastening together all the shorter
pieces at their centres and all the longer pieces at their centres I place the frame
of shorter pieces marked F inside the frame of longer pieces and bending all the
ends down to the rim fasten them there as before, the result of this arrangement
being that when the hat is struck by a piece of coal or otherwise the force of the
blow is deadened at twice instead of at once, in order to secure a more even
distribution of pressure upon the elastic strips I sometimes fasten light bands of
steel or other strong substance marked G to opposite points in the bent elastic
strips and then carrying these bands diagonally round the framework of elastic
strips attach the ends to points marked H in the rim of the hat, or in order to more
completely distribute the pressure of a blow I insert inside the crown made of
-elastic strips a coil of steel wire or other elastic substance marked K bent to the
shape of the inside of the crown in its normal shape, one end of which coil is
fastened to the rim holding the elastic pieces in position as shewn in the drawing
and the other end is either fastened to the highest point of the crown or may be left
loose and terminate just below the top of the crown, over the framework thus
formed I place a covering of oil skin or other suitable substance marked M.
I will now describe the other method which I adopt in carrying out my invention,
making a rim and attaching canvas strips as in the preceding case, I fix in this rim
at equal distances round it projecting pieces of metal or other substance marked L,
over which I pass springs, spiral or otherwise or pieces of india rubber or other
elastic substances as shewn in the drawing, these springs should be about two inches
in length, I then make a hat crown of strong material marked N and at its rim or
edge I fix metal ears marked P with holes in so that they will pass over the ends of
projections on the rim and rest upon the beforementioned springs or india rubber,
the hat crown is prevented from parting from the rim by pins passed through the
projections or in any other way, the effect of this method is the same as before,
namely when any blow is struck upon the crown of the hat the springs or india
rubber are compressed and so deaden the force of the blow upon the head of the
wearer.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-