Improvements in the Manufacture of Leather Hats and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 18th July, 1898-Accepted, 8th Oct., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Leather Hats and the like.
I, GAETANO DELLACHA, of 745, Calle Tucuman, Buenos Aires, Argentine
Republic, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement: —
My invention relates to certain improvements which I have introduced in the
manufacture of leather hats, helmets, caps and other like articles of head gear,
by which I am enabled to give to this material an application hitherto un-
known.
The application of leather to the manufacture of hats caps, kepis and other
products of hattery, is extremely ancient and of general use.
This application may be divided into two classes, first that which consists in
the employment of leather as an accessory in the manufacture of hats, such as
the linings, bands, ornaments, rims, guard-bands, stiffening, visors and the like,
that is to say, any part other than the main body or crown of the hat; and
secondly, where the leather forms the whole or a part of such body or crown.
It is of the latter class that I propose to treat in this description, as connected
with my invention.
From time immemorial hatters have attempted the use of leather in the manu-`
facture of their products, but the results obtained have always been unsatisfac-
tory. The helmets of the ancient warriors were made of skins either raw or
imperfectly tanned and formed of pieces which were united by wooden pegs, or
by thongs, and strengthened by the addition of pieces of metal. In the middle
ages helmets or casques were also made of leather cut into sections and sewed
together, the result being at the best a clumsy article of such great weight that
a modern soldier could scarcely wear it.
The modern industry has also made use of leather, principally the enamelled
article, in the making of military helmets, but these helmets are formed of pieces
of special shape which are sewed together and reinforced by ornamental pieces
of brass or other metals, because hitherto it has been impossible to form the
main body or crown from a single piece. The reason for this difficulty lies in
the fact that leather tanned by the usual methods is easily broken during the
operation of stretching it over the form or mould, so that the use of light leathers
has been impossible in this industry, while that of heavier or thicker grades which
might withstand the strain has not been attempted to any extent industrially
as the hats made from them would be too heavy for use. For this reason, up to
the present time the hat making industry has only employed hair or wool felt,
vegetable fibre, silk and other cloths, india-rubber and the like, all of which
are much lighter than leather in the form in which the latter has been used.
As a consequence, there is no such article known to commerce as a hat made from
light leather which has been stretched, pressed or ironed into the desired form
from a single piece as is the custom in the manufacture of felt hats.
I have discovered that light leather tanned by one of the modern
processes

page_text: acquires special qualities which permit its application to the hat-making industry,
being capable of manipulation with the same facility as hair or wool felt.
The light leathers which are adaptable as material for hats are those which are
tanned by means of baths of mineral salts or acids, principally those of chromium,
although this may be substituted by other mineral substances.
The inventors of these modern tanning processes have only sought to make
leather as rapidly as possible with the object of reducing the loss of interest
on the investment caused by the former protracted methods of tanning, and
with the intention of selling such leather for the usual purposes of the manufac-
ture of foot wear, harness, saddlery, belting and the like, but no one has yet
discovered that this new tanning process may, revolutionize the hat making
industry from the fact which I have discovered, that these skins while in a moist
state have. such a degree of elasticity that they can be stretched over any kind
of mould for hats, helmets and the like without breaking, augmenting enormously
their surface so that they become at the same time very thin and light, preserving
the form in which they have been moulded even when exposed to rain, and
possessing also the advantage of being almost entirely water-proof.
In short, a light skin tanned by one of the mineral processes, possesses such
elastic and stretching properties as to permit it to acquire any desired form
while still moist, and to preserve the same perfectly after being dried. Sheep-
skins especially, when tanned by the mineral method, become so light after
being well stretched, dried, and scraped on the flesh side, that a military helmet
made from such leather so treated is much lighter than one of cork or aloes wood
fibre, which is the lightest military helmet heretofore known.
The special qualities which I have discovered in leather tanned by the mineral
process enable to make a military helmet sufficiently ventilated in the upper
part without the necessity for the usual metallic device for that purpose, avoiding
thus the use of heavy materials such as brass, iron and the like, and preserving
at the same time equal advantages as to ventilation and form. My helmet may
also be made of one piece, including a projecting upper part with ventilating
holes like those used at present in various countries, but very much lighter, as
it weighs only about 5 ounces avoirdupois.
"Equally good results are produced by my system in the manufacture of top
hats which I also make from a single piece of leather, a result never before
achieved in this industry.""
"
The method which I employ is to make use of the skins in a moist state, just
as they are when they come from the tanning vats, stretching them upon special
separable moulds by the means generally employed in this industry, except that
the operation requires greater care than is usually taken in the process of mould-
ing felt.
My invention gives two distinct and evident results hitherto undiscovered,
that is the application of light leather worked while in a moist state to the
manufacture of the main part or body of hats and helmets, and the construction
of the same from a single piece of light leather, constituting an industrial product
hitherto unknown, which on account of its lightness, cheapness and durability,
will be of great public utility as a substitute for the military helmets and hats
for coachmen, sailors, labourers, and the like, which are in vogue at present.
Besides the use of such light leathers as those made from the skins of goats,
sheep, dogs, calves and the like, heavier leather such as cow's hide may also
be employed by reducing it to the required thickness by scraping, or by making
it into split-leather.
'
'
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In the manufacture of hats, helmets, caps and the like, the use of light
skins or of split leather tanned by a mineral process and stretched, moulded,

page_text: pressed or ironed while in a moist state into the shape desired to form the main
part or body of the same.
2. A hat, helmet, cap or the like, made of leather from light skins or split
leather, tanned by a mineral process and stretched, moulded, pressed or
ironed while in a moist state into the form desired.
3. A hat, helmet, cap or the like, made of a single piece of light skin or of split
leather tanned by a mineral process and stretched, moulded, pressed or ironed
while in a moist state into the form required.
Dated this 18th day of July 1900
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.