US145934A - Improvement in machines for ironing hats - Google Patents

Description

' 3Sheets--Sheet1. R. El GKEMEY ER. Machines for Ironing Hats.

[WHW mim 3 Sheets--Sheet 2.

Hats.

n. EIDKEMEYER. Machines for Ironi ng Painted Dec. 30,1873.

AM PHOIU -l/ THM/PA Fil/f: Ca. M rasgos/ws M0055! 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLF nIOKnMnYi-ln, or YONKEns, New YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR IRONING HATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,934, dated December 30, 1873; application led April 4, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RUDOLF EIOKEMEYER, of Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have made an invention of certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Ironing Hats and for other purposes; and that the following is a full, clear, and exact description and-'specification of the same.

The object of this-invention is to enable the whole of a hat to be ironed automatically without removing it from the machine, the tip and square being ironed, according to my invention, by means of one or more traversing irons, which change their positions so as to adapt their faces to the portions of the hat upon which they are to operate, and the brim being ironed upon both sides simultaneously without beig'- wrinkled or strained.

The invention consists of certain mechanical constructions and combinations, which are specified in detail at the close of this schedule.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, I have represented in the accompanying drawings, and will proceed to describe, an ironing-machine in which I have embodied them all.

In the said drawings, Figure l represents a side view of the machine. Fig. 2 represents a top view of the same. Fig. 3 represents a side view of certain portions of the machine with the traversing irons and their appurtenances operating upon the square of the crown. Fig.

4 represents a top view of said portions at that' Fig. 5 represents a vertical section of time. the machine at the line a; a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 represents a view of certain parts of the machine detached frorn the residue. Figs. 7 represent various views of the irons which I have devised and which I prefer to use in the machine.

The same parts are denoted by the same letters throughout all the gures.

The machine represented in the said drawings has a strong frame, A, which supports the moving parts of the machine and sustains the driving-shaft B. At about the center of this frame there is an upright shaft, C, which is constructed to revolve in suitable bearings, and carries at its upper end the block-holder D, to which the hat-blocks are applied. These hat-blocks are of the shape to which the crown of the hat is to bei'roned, and may be made of wood, in the usual manner, the block E being in one piece whenthe crown is to be of such form that a solid block can be readily shaft B through the intervention of the cogwheels b b b b and the shaft C.

In order that. the brim of the hat may be ironed simultaneously on both sides, two brimirons, F F1, are provided. One, F, of these irons is constructed to press upon the upper side of the brim, with the corner of the iron against the adjacent band of the hat. The other iron, F1, is constructed to support the brim against the pressure of the upper brimiron F, and also to iron the under side of the brim. The upper brim-iron F is connected by pivots e c with a yoke, d, so that this iron may rock upon its longitudinal axis, or thereabout, and the yoke d is pivoted to a movable arm, G, so that the brim-iron may rock upon its vtransverse axis, or thereabout, the practical effect of this double pivoting being that the upper iron can adapt itself to any peculiarity of the brim. The movable arm Gr is connected with the frame of the machine by a species of universal joint, which permits said arm and the brim-iron connected. with it to be raised and moved laterally. The said joint is formed by the T-headed rest H, which is constructed to turn in a socket of the frame A, and by the pivot which connects the hub h of the arm G with said rest. As this pivot is at right angles to the stem of the rest, the movement of the arm and upper brimiron in all directions is permitted. The weight of the upper brim-iron and its appurtenances is generally sufiicient to furnish the requisite pressure for ironing; but additional weight may, if necessary, be applied to the arm G. rlhe upper brim-iron is held toward the band by means of a weight, K, which is connected with over the square toward the side crown, or passthe hub of the arm by means of a cord, j.

As the hat is revolved in contact with the upper brim-iron, and there is more or less friction produced by this movement, there is a tendency to ruck up, strain, or wrinkle the brim. In previous hat-ironing machines this tendency has been counteracted more or less by supporting the brim upon a block which revolved with the hat-block; but the use of such a brim-block rendered the ironing of the under side of the brim simultaneously with the ironing of its upper side impracticable. t

In the machine represented in the drawings, the tendency of the ironing to wrinkle, ruck up, or strain the brim is counteracted by con-l structing one of the brim-irons (in the present case the lower one, F1) to revolve in the same direction as the hat-block, but at greater speed; and to this end the under brim-iron Fl has the form of a disk, and is mounted upon the shaft -The speed at which the revolving brim-iron is moved may be varied to suit circumstances; but it has been found by experiment that the best arrangement for the machine represented in the drawings is that the forward speed of the under brim-iron, at the middle of the brim, should be about twice as great as the speed of the brim at the same place. The surface of the revolvingbrim-iron F1 is in the same plane, or thereabout, as the brim of the hat when in the machine; consequently the surface of the part of the iron in contact with the brim moves outward from the axis of the block-holder as that surface leaves the brim; andas the hatbrim is carried round by the revolution of the block-holder, the resultant action is to draw the nap of the brim radially outward from the band, and to assimilate the ironing to that done by hand. The under brim-iron might be arranged concentrically with the block-holder, and consequently with the hat thereon, and might be caused to revolve at a higher speed than the block-holder; but the arrangement of the revolving brim-ironlaterally to the blockholder, as represented in the drawings, is preferred, because its'tendency in this position is to cause the nap of the brim to lie approximately radially to the crown of the hat.

In order that the side crown, square, Aand tip of the hat may be ironed, two traversing irons, F2 F3, are provided. One of these irons, F2, is constructed to iron the tip of the hatbod y, and the other iron to iron the side crown, while the two traverse or move over the square so as to iron it, the same iron in such traversing movement passing from the tip crosswise ing from the side crown crosswise over the square toward the tip, with its ironing-surface always bearing flatwise against the surface of the hat upon which it is acting. The tip-iron F2 is pivoted to ayoke, d2, by whichit is connected with a holder, J, which supports the iron through the intersection of its yoke, and the crown-iron F3 is pivoted to a similar yoke, cl3, by which it also is connected with the same iron-holder J. The iron-holder has the general form of a T, and its stem is constructed to turn in a hub, f, so that the iron-holder, and

the irons connected with it, may be turned to v cause the irons to traverse over the square m of the hat, and thereby iron it.

In order to turn the iron-holder and the traversing irons connected with it, the stem of the iron-holder is fitted with a cog-segment, b2, and a corresponding segment, b3, is arranged to turn upon an arm, g, projecting from the hub j', and to engage with the first cog-segment, b2. The second segment, b3, is connected by a rod, l, with a lever, L, which is moved by a cam, M, the lever being iitted with a friction-wheel, which runs in the groove of the cam. The cam is secured to a cam-shaft, C2, which is driven from the driving-shaft G through the intervention of the cog-wheels b4 b4, the belt-pulleys N N1, and a belt whose position is indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The rotation of the cam M causes the ironholder J, and the irons F2 F3 connected with it, to turn to and fro, so as to carry the faces of the irons across the square of the hat and back again. The time during which the irons are operating upon the square depends upon the form of the cam, the speed at which it is revolved, and the time during which it moves, These may all be varied, as required; and as it may be expedient to cause the hat to revolve at times without the irons F2 F3 being in operation upon it, the belt-pulley N1 is arranged to run loose upon the driving-shaft, and a clutch-lever, m, and clutch n are provided to throw it either in or out of gear.

In order that the tip and crown irons F2 F3 may be readily removed from the hat and applied to it, the hub f, in which the iron-holder turns, is connected with a swinging bar, O, which is pivoted at its lower end upon the shaft C2, so that its upper end,with the traversing irons, may be moved from or toward the hat-block on the revolving block-holder. The movement is effected by means of a handlever, G', which is pivoted to a standard of the main frame, and is connected with the swinging arm Q by means of a link, p. Inorder that the traversing irons may press upon the hat with the requisite force, a weight, K1, is

provided. This weight is suspended from the' longer arm of an elbow-lever, P, whose shorter arm, q, is slotted to receive a stud, s, that is secured to the swinging arm O, so that the force of the weight K1 forces the swinging arm toward the revolving block-holder and the hatblock, and. causes the crown -iron to bear against the hat thereon. As the yokes to which the irons F2 F3 are pivoted are inclined to the direction in which the swinging arm is forced by the weight, and as the square of the hat intervenes between the faces of the irons' form of a screw, in order that the relative po` sitions of the two irons may be adjusted to suit hats with crowns of dierent forms. or sizes. The pivoting of the yokes d2 d3 to the iron-holder J permits them to move-so as to adjust their faces to the square of the hat during the turning` of the irons across it, and the extent of this self-adjustment is regulated by means of two adjusting-screws, t2 t3, which screw through ears of the cross-bars of the yoliesd2 cl3, and bear against a lug, u, projecting from the iron-holder J.

In order that the traversing irons may adjust themselves to the oval form of the hatcrown as its shorter and longer diameters are successively revolved past their faces, the hub f, that carries the iron-holder of the traversing irons, is pivoted to the swinging arm by being connected with it by a journal which turns in a bearing in that arm; and as the weight of the irons and yokes is all at 011e side of this journal, the irons tend to drop, the effect of which tendency, if not counteracted, would be to cause the tip-iron to press too strongly upon the tip, and the crown-iron to press too lightly against the sidecrown. The irons also would tend to drop when swung back from the hat, unless the tendency were counteracted. In order to counteract such tendency,a second weight, K2, is provided, and is arranged to operate upon the stock and irons through the intervention ofthe lever-arm P', which is secured at its inner end to the hub f, which carries the iron-holder J, so that this weight tends to rock the hub f on its journal, and thus raise the head of the iron-holder J and the traversing ironsconnected therewith, thereby eounterbalancin g their weight, preventing excessive pressure upon the tip, and applying the requisite pressure to the side crown. This counter-weight K2 is also so arranged as to modify the pressure of the traversing irons upon the hat while they are operating upon the square, at which time the pressure should be less, because of the less extent of surface upon which the irons operate at the time. To this end 'the lever-arm P is fitted with a pin, v, which projects from it laterally behind the swinging arm O, and at a short distance therefrom, when the irons are operating upon the tip and side crown, so that during the ironing of these portions the counter-weight K2 does not relieve the pressure of the irons. lVhen, however, the irons are turned crosswise upon the square,they and the swinging arm are pushed back by the square of the hat-block, which then bears simultaneously against the faces of the irons transversely to their length; and, as the square does not, in this position, tend to prevent the rise of the irons by the action of the counter-weight, this weight descends yuntil the pin c of the leverarm P comes in contact with the bac-k of the swinging bar O, and thus applies any excess of force in the weight K2 to that arm, thereby facilitating its backward movement, counteracting partially the tendency of the weightK1 to bear the irons against the hat, and reducing the pressure of the traversing irons. The weights K K1 K2 are, by preference, made up of disks suspended upon rods, and the disks are slotted at one side, that they may be readily applied to or removed from the suspendingrods, for the purpose of varying the force with which the irons are pressed against the hat, as required, in practice, for hats of dierent forms or different sizes or qualities. The pivoting of the tip and side-crown irons to their yokes, and the pivoting of the latter to the iron-holder J, permit the irons to sway for the purpose of adapting their faces to the varying positions of the surfaces of the hat upon which they act,

,such variation in the positions being due to the fact that hat-crowns are oval, and that the irons traverse'across the square of the hat; and, in order that the connecting yoke-screw t may not prevent this swaying, it is connected with the cross-bar of one yoke, d2, by means of a bearing which turns in that cross-bar, and its nut is constructed to turn in the cross-bar of the other yoke d'2.

The irons which I prefer to use are made hollow, and are heated by gas-jets. They are represented in detail at Fig. 7. Each iron is hollow, to permit of the introduction of the gaspipe w, and each iron is constructed with a chimney, x, so as to create a current of air in a specific direction, and thuslcause the hot products of combustion to traverse the cavity of the iron. The cavity in each iron is par-` tially divided by a partition, as represented in dotted lines at y, so that the hot current ofthe products of combustion is caused to traverse the iron twice, the result of which is considerable economy in the .consumption of gas required to heat the irons. The lower brimiron, F1, also, is hollow below, and is heated by gas -jets supplied by the pipes w w. The driving shaft B is fitted with two loose beltpulleys, N2 N3, either of which may be engaged with the driving-sliaft by means of a double clutch, m', which is operated by means of a clutch-lever, R. These pulleys-are of different dimensions, and receive the drivin g-belt which transmits power from the line-shafting of the factory. The use of two belt-pulleys enables the driving-shaft to be driven at either of two different speeds, the smaller pulley N3 being caused to revolve with the greater speed.

Then the machine is not in operation, the

upper brim-iron F is removed from the vicinity of the rotating block-holder E by lifting this brim-iron by means of the handle z, formed upon the arm Gr, and by moving it outward and resting the arm upon a rest, S, whence the arm is prevented from moving by a stud, r, projecting from said rest. The tip and sidecrown irons F2 F3, also, are thrown back from the vicinity of the revolving block-holder by the movement of the swinging arm O and its appurtenances, by means of the hand-lever G. A hat-block, with the hat fitted upon it, is then applied to the pins e e, and, if the hat is to be pounced or s 7,on ged preliminary to ironing it, rthe clutchever R is moved so as to throw the driving-shaft in gear with the fastermoving belt-pulley N3, so t-hat thc hat is caused to revolve rapidly. When ironing is to be performed, the clutch-lever is shifted so as to throw the drivin g-shaft in gear with the slowermoving driving pulley N2. Then the upper brim-iron F is brought into action by means of the lever G, and, as the brim is then pressed between the opposing faces of the two brimirons, it is ironed on both sides simultaneously. The tip and side-crown irons F2 F3 are brought into action by means of the lever Gr', and are caused to traverse over the square and back again by throwing the beltpulley N into gear with the pulley N2 by means of the clutchlever fm. The employment of a clutch and clutch-lever permits the operator to keep the tip and side-crown irons bearing upon the hat without traversing over the square as long as lle deems expedient. Vhen the hat is sufficiently ironed, the levers G and G are moved so as to remove the irons, the hat, with the hatblock, is lifted from the pins e of the revolving block-holder, and a new hat, previously fitted to a hat-block, is put in its place, the machine being stopped or not during the shifting of the hat-blocks, as found expedient.

In the machine thus described, the revolving block-holder is the instrumentality by means of which the hat-block and the hat thereon are supported, and by means of which the hat is turned so as to present every part of it in succession to the irons. This revolving hat-block is combined with the several irons and their appurtenances by means of the frame of the machine, the gearing, and the appurtenances Y ofthe irons, all of which may be greatly varied without materially changing the combina tions. Thus, for example, the swinging arm O may be replaced by a sliding instrumentality, by which the traversing iron or irons may be moved, or permitted to move, from or toward the revolving block-holder. So, also, a single iron may be arranged to traverse the square of the hat, and the work of ironing the tip and side crown may be mainly done by means of irons which do not traverse across the square. These and other modifications may be adopted to suit the views of different constructors.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the revolving block-holder with a revolving brim-iron having its ironing-surface arranged to revolve in the plane of the hat-brim when supported by the block-holder.

2. The combination of the revolving blockholder, the revolving disk-formed brim-iron, and the stationary brim-iron, the said two irons being arranged to operate simultaneously upon the opposite sides of the brim of the hat carried by the revolving block-holder, substantially as before set forth.

3. The combination of the stationary brimiron and the revolving brim-iron, having their faces arranged opposite to each other, substantially as before set forth.

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the revolving block-holder with a traversing iron, by mechanism, in such manner that the said iron is caused to move crosswise over the square of the hat, when the said hat is caused to revolve with the blockholder.

5. The combination of the traversing iron, the turning iron-holder, the rocking hub of said holder, and the swinging arm, substantially as before set forth.

6. The combination of the traversing iron, the turning iron-holder, the rocking hub, and the counter-weight, substantially as before set forth.

7. The combination of the traversing iron, the turning iron-holder, the swinging arm, the pressure-weight, and the counter-weight, substantially as before set forth.

8. The combination of the two traversing irons, the yokes for said irons, and the screw by means of which the said yokes are connected, substantially as before set forth.

9. The combination of the two traversing irons, the pivoted yokes thereof, the ironholder, and the adjusting-screws which control the sway of said yokes and irons, substantially as before set forth.

10. The combination of the revolving blockholder with two traversing irons, arranged so as to operate upon the tip and side crown, and to traverse the square of the hat, substantially as before set forth.

l1. The combination of the revolving blockholder with a traversing iron,the turning ironholder, and the swngin g bar, by means of which the said traversing iron can be moved from or toward the block-holder, substantially as before set forth.

12. The combination of the revolving blockholder, the traversing iron, the pivoted yoke of said iron, and the turning iron-holder, sub stantially as before set fort 13. The combination of the revolving block holder, the traversing iron, the turning ironholder, the swinging bar, and the weight by means of which the traversing iron is pressed toward the block -holder, substantially as before set forth.

14. The combination of the revolving blockholder with the traversing iron and the turning iron-holder through the intervention of a clutch, which permits the traversing iron to' be operated simultaneously with the blook- Witness my hand this 19th day of March, holder, or not7 aslrequired, substantially as be- A. I). 187 3. fore set forth.

15. The combination of the revolving blockholder with two driving-pu11eys and the clutch, Witnesses: so that the block-holder may be made to re- JAS. G. WooDWoRTH, volvo a-t eithel` of two different speeds, sub- EDWARD W. KUSTER. stantially as before set forth.

RUDOLF EICKEMEYER.

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