CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS, CAPS, BONNETS, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HINKS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and
JAMES VERO, of Burbage, in the County of Leicester, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her, present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said John Hinks and James Vero, our exors, adiñors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the
said John Hinks and James Vero, our exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said John Hinks and James Vero, our exors, adors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the terms of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF HATS, CAPS, BONNETS, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said John
Hinks and James Vero, or one of us, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
John Hinks and James Vero, do hereby declare that the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is
to say:--
Our Invention consists of certain new or improved methods of treating
hats, caps, bonnets, and other coverings for the head, whereby the same are
rendered impervious to liquids without losing their flexibility, and methods of
covering hats, caps, bonnets, and other coverings for the head.
Our Invention relates principally to hats, and as the application of our said
Invention to caps, bonnets, and other coverings for the head differs only from
the application of the same to hats in respect of the different shapes of the
said caps, bonnets, and other coverings for the head, we will describe our
Invention as carried out in the manufacture of hats, the modifications required
to apply the same to caps, bonnets, and other coverings for the head being
such only as an ordinary workman is competent to make.
The first part of our Invention consists in rendering hats of felt waterproof,
without affecting their colour, flexibility, or appearance. This part of our
Invention is carried out in the following manner-We dissolve india rubber
or caoutchouc in oil of turpentine or other solvents, or we take the solutions
met with in commerce and called Macintosh's paste or varnish, and mix
therewith oil of turpentine, so as to produce a solution having about the con-
sistency of cream. We apply the said solution with a brush to the under side
of the brim and the inside of the 'crown of the hat, until the solution appears
slightly on the outside of the hat. We then place it in a stove, where it
is retained until the solvent is evaporated, and the hat so treated will be found
impervious to liquids. The time during which the hat must remain in the
stove depends upon the temperature of the said stove, and other circum-
stances, and can only be determined by experience; we have found that
twelve hours is generally sufficient. It is sometimes desirable to make the
brims of hats treated in the way last described as stiff as the brims of ordinary
hats, in which case we effect the stiffening of the brim by the method
employed in the ordinary manufacture of hats; the stiffening of the brims of

page_text: bats by the ordinary method may also be applied to the hats treated in. any
other of the ways herein-after described, and the same process of stiffening
may also be applied to the crowns or tips as well as the brims of hats, the
sides of the said hats only being left flexible.
5 The second part of our Invention consists in waterproofing and preparing
hat bodies made of felt and knitted fabrics, to be covered with velvet, silk,
and other plushes, paramatta, or other woven or knitted fabrics. The hat
body to be prepared is placed on a block or frame, and the solution of india
rubber herein-before described in the first part of our Invention is spread
thereon with a brush, the said solution being applied to the exterior of the
hat. After the drying of the first coating a second coating is applied and
dried, and so on until five or six coatings have been applied, after which, a
coating of the varnish commonly employed in the manufacture of hats is
applied, and after that the covering material is attached in the ordinary
manner. The brims and the crowns of the said hats may either be left
flexible or stiffened by the ordinary method.
The third part of our Invention consists of a method of waterproofing
varnished or painted felt hats. In carrying this part of our Invention into
effect we make the following composition:-We take 8 Ibs. of whiting or
carbonate of lime, which we mix into a paste with two quarts of hot water,
and add thereto lb. of lamp black previously mixed with half a pint of
water or oil of turpentine. When the whole has been well mixed. we add
thereto one quart of boiled linseed oil, and when these have been well mixed
we add two quarts of a solution of india rubber, the said solution consisting
either of caoutchouc dissolved in oil of turpentine, or Macintosh's paste dis-
solved in oil of turpentine to the consistency of cream; the solution of india
rubber is added by small quantities at a time, and thoroughly incorporated
with the mixture by stirring. This solution is applied to the felt hat with a
strong brush, the said hat being supported on a block during the application
of the said varnish. The hat is afterwards placed in a drying stove, after
which it is fit for japanning; which said japanning is effected by the appli-
cation of several coatings of japan varnish, each coating being well dried
before the application of the next. The japan I prefer using is made as
follows, videlicet:-4 lbs. of asphaltum, lb. of common resin or pitch, lb. of
damor resin, and a pint and a half of boiled linseed oil; the mixture is
heated over a slow fire until the solids are dissolved in the oil, when it is
removed, and, while still hot, a quart of a solution of india rubber in oil of.
turpentine, or of Macintosh's paste dissolved in oil of turpentine to the con-.
sistency of cream, is added and the whole diluted with as much oil of

page_text: turpentine as will give it when cold the consistence of molasses or treacle, it is
then fit for use. Although we have described that composition of varnish
or japan which we prefer to use, but we do not confine ourselves to the precise
composition stated. Instead of carbonate of lime in the varnish any other
earthy carbonate may be substituted, and any other black for the lamp black,
and a greater or less proportion of the india rubber may be used in proportion
as a greater or less degree of flexibility in the hat is required; and instead of
japan of the composition described, the ordinary black japan used for japanning
wood, table mats, oil cloths, &c., when mixed with a sufficient quantity of india
rubber, may be applied. When we wish to produce colored instead of black
hats, we introduce a suitable coloring matter into the varnish, and omit the
lamp black.
The fourth part of our Invention consists of a method of covering hats. The
object of this part of our Invention is to avoid the junction which is apparent
when hats are finished by being covered in the ordinary way with plush or
other fabric. In covering, for example, a hat the body of which is of a hemi-
spherical figure with plush, it is necessary to cut the said plush into a number
of segmental pieces, and attach them to the hat so that their edges come into
contact, but it is not possible so to effect the junction of the said pieces as to
conceal the said junction. This part of our Invention consists in the use of
knitted fabrics for covering hats, the said covering being knitted of silk or other
suitable material. We sometimes make the knitted covering of the same
shape as the hat, but somewhat smaller than the said hat, so that when put on
the said hat it is stretched tightly and smoothly thereon, but we usually make
the knitted covering flat, and stretch it over the hat, the elasticity of the said
knitted fabric sufficing to make the said covering take the form of the hat.
Although we prefer making the knitted covering for the brim separately from
the covering for the body of the hat, and joining them when on the hat, yet we
sometimes make the knitted covering both for the body and brim in one piece.
When we make the knitted covering for the brim separately from the knitted
covering for the body of the hat, we make the said knitted covering for the
brim in the form of a continuous band, that is to say, a tube of a diameter
somewhat less than that of the brim, and of a length equal to twice the breadth
of the brim, and placing that tube on the brim, one half of the said tube is
drawn over the upper, and the other half over the under side of the said brim.
Besides using knitted fabrics for covering hat bodies, we sometimes use the
said. knitted fabrics for making the body of the hat. In such case we place the
said knitted fabric, knitted either in the form of the body, or in a flat piece,
and stretch the same upon a properly shaped block, and treat the said fabric.

page_text: with any of the waterproofing flexible compositions herein-before described, by
which the form of the said body is retained, and the said body rendered water-
proof. We sometimes apply knitted fabrics only to the bodies of hats, and
make the brims of the said hats after the ordinary method.
Although we prefer using caoutchouc or india rubber in all the water-
proofing compositions herein described, yet we do not confine our Invention
to the use of compositions or varnishes containing caoutchouc or india rubber,
as we sometimes, either wholly or in part, substitute gutta percha, for the
caoutchouc or india rubber, where we wish to obtain a degree of flexibility
inferior to that obtained by the use of caoutchouc or india rubber.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not
limit ourselves to the precise methods of carrying our Invention into effect
herein described, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of our said Invention. But we claim,―
Firstly, the waterproofing felt hats, caps, bonnets, and other coverings for the
head, without altering the appearance or affecting the flexibility of the same,
by applying thereto a solution, either of caoutchouc or india rubber, or of gutta
percha, or of both, as herein described.
Secondly, the waterproofing of the bodies of hats, caps, bonnets, and other
coverings for the head, made of felt, to be covered with velvet, silk, or other
plushes or fabrics, so as to preserve the flexibility of the same, by treating
them with a solution of caoutchouc or india rubber, or of gutta percha, or of
both, as herein described.
Thirdly, the waterproofing japanned and painted felt hats, caps, bonnets, and
other coverings for the head, without destroying the flexibility of the same, by
treating them in the manner and with the compositions herein described.
Fourthly, the covering of bats, caps, bonnets, and other coverings for the
head, by attaching thereto knitted coverings of silk or other suitable substance,
as herein-before described.
Fifthly, the making of the bodies of hats, caps, bonnets, and other coverings
for the head, of knitted fabrics, treated with a flexible waterproofing composi-
tion, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hinks, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
JOHN (L.S.) HINKS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid John Hinks came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.