US2040354A - Hat brim and method of constructing the same - Google Patents

Description

F F O C T H w E HAT BRIM AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME Filed April 2, 1934' Patented May 12, 1936 UNITED STATES HAT BRIM AND DIETHOD OF CONSTRUCT- ING THE SAllIE Edward Wittcoff, University City, Mo., assignor to Caradine Hat Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application April 2, 1934, Serial No. 718,553

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to the manufacture of hats. More particularly, my present invention has to do with a certain new and useful improvement in the brims of hats constructed of fabricated strand bodies and to the method of constructing the same and has for its chief object the production, in a simple, economical, and convenient manner, upon the brim of a hat of the type stated, of an attractive, durable, stiff, waterproof and strong rim-finish capable of withstanding considerable wear and hard usage.

And with the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts and the method and process presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 shows a fabricated paper-strand hatbody in its rough or original state or condition;

Figure 1a shows the hat-body following preliminary shaping or blocking;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view through a forming-fixture employed in the structural development of the brim of the finished hat, the view also illustrating several successive steps of such development;

Figure 3 is a view of the hat-body illustrating the partially finished brim thereof as appearing subsequent to the several development steps illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a trimmingmachine, showing the manner of carrying out another step of the process of finishing the brim; and

Figure 5 illustrates in front elevation a completed or finished hat embodying a brim constructed and finished in accordance with and embodying my invention. Referring now more in detail and by reference characters to the drawing, A designates a socalled toyo hat-body preferably either of the bangkok or jami type, in its raw or original condition as when received from the manufacturer. Such hat-body A is constructed or fabricated by weaving or plaiting of preferably paper-strands coated or impregnated with a collodion solution and in its original condition embodies an excessively wide brim l, is soft and pliable, and is unsightly and unattractive in appearance, merely approximately, as shown, conforming to the desired shape and contour of the finished hat shown in Figure 5.

Now, for the production of the finished hat in accordance with my present invention, the hatbody A is first subjected to pressure in a suitable press (not shown) and is thereby given a preliminary shaping or blocking, the crown 2 of the soblocked hat-body B preferably being formed with a longitudinal depression, as at 3, for re-enforcing and strengthening the hat-structure and immore than, the final desired width of the brim of the finished hat. The so reduced brim is designated 4 in Figure 3.

Next the hat-body B is placed in a forming-fixture C, which comprises a torus-like block or support 5 having a flat upper surface, as at 6, and being provided with a central suitably enlarged recess or pocket I.

The fixture C also includes a former or shield 8, which comprises a preferably fiat annular plate or disk having in plan a marginal contour of less dimensions than the roughly trimmed brim 4 for, in fact, defining the final desired brim shape and contour, the former-plate 8 being provided with a central depending annular cup 9 dimensioned to fit within the crown 2 of the hat-body B," as best seen in Figure 2.

The hat-body B is operably disposed with respect to the fixture C with its crown 2 within the recess 1 and its brim 4 rested or supported on the sm'face 6 of the block 5. The former-plate 8 is next flatwise mounted on the brim 4 with its cup 9 disposed in the crown 2 and then manipulated, manually or by any suitable means not shown, for causing the brim i to be firmly pressed or clamped therebetween and the block 5 with the outer marginal portion 4a of the brim 4 projecting outwardly of and exposed beyond the annular margin of the former 8, as is clearly shown in and as will be understood from the left-hand portion of Figure 2.

The hat-body B being thus clamped in the fixture C, by means of a suitable distributing implement, as a liquid-absorbent sponge or the like ID, a coating of a suitable solvent of the sizing material or solution, which, if the latter be of the nitro-cellulose or cellulose-gum-lacquer type, may comprise alcohol or the like, is applied or wiped upon the exposed brim marginal-portion do, for the purpose of dissolving the'sizing solution from, or softening the same to a large extent upon, the brim marginal-portion 4a, the resulting semi-finished hat then having its brim marginal-portion 4a, in a softened, plastic, and readily pliable or flexible condition, the sizing solution upon the remainder'of the hat-body B, however, being unaffected and the hat-body B ginal-portion 4a is then carefully curled or folded,

as by a flap I I, inwardly'over the edge and overlapped upon the margin of the-plate 8, the flap I I extending entirely around the circumference of the plate 8 and hence also of the brim 4. Then a suitable pressure and heat-applying device, as an electric-iron I2 or the like, is employed, as will be understood from the right-hand portion of Figure 2, for heating and pressing the turned or folded flap-portion I I flatwise upon the former 8 for both evaporating the solvent andpressing and flattening the strand-fibers for imparting to the brim acircumferential crease or fold, as at I3, at the junction of the flap II with the brimproper 4, which crease or fold I3 eventually constitutes the edge-finish of the brim I4 of the completed hat D, shown in Figure 5.

The crease or fold I3 having been thus formed and the former-plate 8 being suitably removed, the hat-body B is removed from the fixture C and is sewed with a'line of stitching I5, in the customary manner, the stitching I5 being applied to the brim a short distance, as an eighth of an inch, inwardly of the crease or fold I3 for flatwise securing the flap l I to the brim-proper 4 v ,I and thereby providing the brim 4 with a, two-ply or double thickness rim or edge I6, as best seen in Figures 3, 4, and 5. 7

The hat-body B is then processed in a suitable trimming-machine E, which, in the present instance, by means of a properly adjusted reciprocatory knife I'I, cuts through and neatly and smoothly trims off the rough inner-portion I8 of the flap II inside of seen in Figure 4.

As has been said, the brim marginal-portion 4a, for the formation of the finish-edge I6, has

the stitching I5, as best been largely divested of its sizing solution, and

for the purpose of restoring the stiffness of the rim of the brim of the finished hat, the same is re-coated, as by spraying, dipping, or other suitable application, with suitable sizing. solution preferably'similar to that previously employed for sizing the hat-body A.

The hat-body B is then, as by spraying'or in other suitable manner, again coated with a suitable finishing solution preferably also of the cel lulose-gum-lacquer type, which further stifiens and Waterproofs the hat-body B, similarly, with respect to the method and materials employed,

. as' set forth in said Letters Patent No. 1,

"The so treated and processed hat-body B is V then'subjected to pressure in'a suitable mold or press, not shown, and is thereby given its desired final shape and contour, the'stiffening crownrecess 3 in the final hat D being preferably further accentuated and the brim I4 being artistically shaped and formed, all as best seen in .Figure 5.

After the finishing-coating has dried and the hat finally blocked as described, the necessary findings or trimmings are applied to the hat-body D, and the same then becomes immediately available for consumers use, as will also be understood from Figure 5. r

I might add that, in the resulting final or finished hat, as constructed according to my invention, the brim with its evenly trimmed twoply andthereby strengthened edge, readily holds its. shape and presents a smooth, neat, and highly attractive appearance, most conducive to the the nature of the apparatus employed in the production of the hat may be made and substi tuted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. Those steps in finishing the brim of a hat constructed from a fabricated paper-strand hat body, which consist in sizing the brim with a cellulose-gum lacquer, trimming the brim to a dimension greater than the desired final dimension thereof, applying a solvent of the sizing to the marginal portion of the brim, folding the rim of such marginal portion inwardly upon the brimproper, heating and pressing the folded marginal portion overlappingly upon, and stitching the same to, the brim-body, trimming said overlapping portion inside the stitching, re-sizing the double brim-margin with a cellulose-gum-lacquer, and then applying to the doubled brimconstructed from a fabricated strand body, which consist in flatwise disposing on the brim a formerplate of lesser diameter than that of the brim, softening the exposed marginal portion of the brim, folding and pressing such marginal portion inwardly upon the plate to overlie the brim proper and form a circumferential crease, removing the plate, then by a line of stitching disposed inwardly of the crease, flatwise securing said overlying portion to the brim proper, and then trimming said overlying portion on a line disposd inwardly of said stitches,

3. Those steps in finishing the brim of a hat constructed from a fabricated strandbody, which consist in fiatwise disposing on the brim a formerplate of lesser diameter than that of the brim softening the exposed marginal portion of the brim, folding and pressing such marginal portion inwardly upon the. plate to overlie the brim proper and form a circumferential crease, removing the plate, then by a line of stitching disposed ming said overlying portion on a line disposed' inwardly of said stitches, and then applying a finish coating of waterproof material to and upon the doubled brim margin. 7 e

4. Those steps in finishing the brim of a hat constructed from a fabricated strand body, which consist in sizing the brim with cellulose-gum-lacquer, fiatwise disposing on the treated brim a former-plate of lesser diameter than that of the brim, softening by the application of a solvent the exposed marginal portion of the sized brim, folding and pressing such marginal portion inwardly upon the plate to overlie the brim proper and form a circumferential crease, removing the plate, then by a line of stitching disposed inwardly of the crease, fiatwise securing said overlying portion to the brim propen then trimming said overlying portion on a line disposed inwardly of said stitches, and then applying a finish coating of cellulose-gum-lacquer to and upon the doubled

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