US1824785A - Felt hat and process of making it - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 29, 1931. v F. J. MUHLFELD 1,824,735

FELT HAT AND PRCSCESS OF MAKING IT Filed July 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESS INVENTOR F/m/v/r J. fi/l/f/LFELD A ITO/(NE VS Sept. 29, 1931. F. J. MUHLFELD 1,324,785

FELT HAT AND PROCESS OF MAKING IT Filed July 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ImmL L [N VENT 0R [RAW/f d MUf/L FELD WITNESS A 77011 NE YS Patented Sept. 29, .1931

FELT nArnnn: rnoonss or" mkme 1r iapplieation fi led Jlulyi, 1529. m, in. 376,132;

The object a my messes-1st mated of producing a perforated felt hat and the article produced by'sujch method-. lThe hat produced by my novel methodhasthe advan- Z finished; Fig. 2 shows the hat ofjFig. 1 after cuts have been made therein; 1F ig. 3 showsthe hat of F ig 2 aftr'it hasf'bee'n stretched over a block of a size whichi'sto correspond with the interior of the finished hat ;}Fig; A shows the hat of Fig. 3 after itjhas b en subjected to .asteaming process; and Fig.,.5 showsthe hat of Fig; 4 finished and given the conventional- Fedora shape.- d 6 illustrates 'a "womanls hatof the type known as clipped velours havi g, .-the invention rappliedflthereto;Fig. 7

shows a velours hat; not clipped having the invention applied thereto, and Figs.'-8 and 9, the latter; a section yalon'githe line- 9 9 of'Fig. 8, illustrate a hat having the invention applied thereto in a difiere'nt manner and with the apertures closed rneans of: an orna mentalbraid.

The following a "brief Summary of the steps to which I submit a hat body in accordance with my invention in order to produce a commercial hat: a 1

1. Shapingthe hat body on a block somewhat smaller than the one by which I give it its final shape (Fig. 1).

2. Cuttingslits into the hat body without,-

however, removing any material from such hat body (Fig. 2)

3. Blocking is to give it its final shape, thus stretching the L material and enlarging the slits out there into into apertures (Fig. 3).

the hat body on a block which "f. I s ibj6cting the that to the" usual steam mg process; thus causing'the material to shrink and' further enlarge [the apertures 5 Finishingthe. hat, in a suitable manner "to give itf-it's' finallan'd marketable form for instancqclipping vit if it is a velours hat (Fig., 6)f 'ojr ornamenting. it"with ribbon k on Or ig.' 5 or applying braid on r "Figflillustrates a hat body d' whichhas had its crown portion'stretched over ablock smaller than theinterior which "the; finished hat crown isto have "For instance, if the finished hat is to be of a 7 4 size theblockj would be approximateW/g size, For the urpose of manufacturing?convenience the rim b is shaped atthat'stage of theproces's;

beeniremoved from'the' first block and after t has been providedwith cuts'or' slits a" provided byineans of a sharp knife 'e'dge, The'se cuts mayjbearranged in any desired manner Fig; ZYilLus'tratesthe'hat body after it h s i if? igive" such ornamental e'fiect as the 1mm:

facturer desires to: produce: and may. within reasonable limits be appliedin anygdesire'd Fig. 3 shows the .hatof Fig. 2 stretched over a block dwhich gives'the crown its. final 1 shape and size {for instance; a block of a7% size if'the first block usedis of a, size of approximately 6 vThe amount offstret ch ing ,would be, determined by the nature and tightness go'f 'the felt used. The apertures e 'arenow larger than the slits c of Fig. because the edges of the slits: have pulled away fromeaeh other. o f r Thereafter the hat is subjected toxthe steaming process, thus causing the material of thehat. to shrink. In the manufacture of theordinary, i e. unperforated hat; the ma terial in shrinkingibecomesthinner but in my' hat the material shrinks in such'a-manner as to "become thicker as the presence of the slits '0 compels it to shrink in such manner. I This-thickness approaches the thickness :of the original hatb'ody. The material whichordinaril'y gwould be inthe spaces delimited bythe H edges of the apertures ehas served to thicken and to strengthen the material of the crown is made. p

' Fig. 5 illustrates the hat of Fig. 4 after it has been finished so as to conform to style standards, being shown in such figure in the conventional form of a Fedora hat. The

' larger the number of apertures in such hat the more material is contained er unitof surface area of the felt in the hish'ed hat and therefore the stronger is the hat, or, con

' versely, the greater thenumberof apertures the thinner may be the material of the hat body a is originallymad'e.

Every hat body by blocking, steaming finishing processes is subjected to various stresses-and it is the strains producedby these stresses in theinaterialwhich tend gradually to distort the finished'hat andto compel a rehlocking of the same from time to time in order to restore its original neat appearance. In my'hat the. majority of the strains present tend to be relieved" during the normal process of its manufacture by enlarging the V apertures, and therefore'my hat will keep its shape "better than an ordinary 'hatiiwhich has not been perforated or a hat which has been perforated merely by cutting away some of its material;' v i V g In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a Womans'hat provided with apertures 6"produe'edi in the manner hereinabove described and arranged groi'ip's'sof 'astof'pr'oduce" distinct patterns.

This hatma'y be of ordinary pounced felt or, as intended to be, illustrated, "of clipped ve 'lours, the body having originally beenmade themanner disclosed injmy United States Letters "Patent; No; 1,066,746; dated July 8, 1913,and- No. 1,117,886? dated" November 17,

11914,;and finished by a clipping operation.

IngFig, 7;' I have shown 'ahat madein'a c 'cordance with n y 'invention fromjajvel'ours hat-body-macle in'accordance with theinventions disclosed in said Letters Patent w-ithout,;h owever, having been clippedl- The apertures are coveredbut not entirely" concealed by the long velours'fibres' extending from the surface of the body. i 1 the shrinking of the body ner liereinabo've described, the surface area voffbody is' reducethwithout' of courselredu cing the number of upstanding or nap""(velours)- fibres, thus'resulting'" in" the production of a closer or fuller nap, thus enhancing the beauty-of thenap.

i Fig. 81 have illustratedanother method in which myinvention may be nfilized for which "in the inanf 7 ;apertures The brim; will, of course, have to be stretched, or stretched and steamed, in

order to enlarge the slits to form the apertures. The method of stretching the brim is so familiar to manufacturers of hats that the process of so doing need not be: described here,

" The edgeso'f the sl it s during, the stretchlag and steaming processes will be "ulled apart and will tend to assume 'an ovoi form so that even? the pointed ends .of the apertures wil'l gradually (assume a pleasantly rounded form.

Ic'l'ai'mflv .7 i i 1'. In the manufacture 'of'a felt hat the stretching the hat body and thensubjecting the hat bod'yt'o'st'eam while the hat is closely steps of cutting slits into the hat body,

fitted to ajblock, so as to shrink the material of such body. 7

M 2: "In'the manufacture of felt" hat the 1 steps'of blocking a hat bod-yon a block, out? ting slits into the'liat body, stretching the hat body one bloekof a size" largerthanthat of the first-mentioned block and then steaming the'ha't whileon thelas't-mentioned 'block so as to shrink the material of the-hat body. A hat body made of feltedf'ma'terial provided with one orimore ovoid. apertures, the opposite edges of each aperture being spaced from one another, the material on one side of each aperture containing alarge number of severed portions OfbrigiIIaI fibres and the material on the other side c0ntain= substantially in the: same plane and being ing substantially theenftilre 'rernainder'fof sueh original fibres, th'e apices of each ovoid aperture" being" slightly rounded to anl'outlline attainableonlybyi first cutting" a slit intothe' hat body, then stretching and'tlien shrinkingsuch hat body. r i 1 I I j FRANK J. MUHLFELDr the? purpose of ornamentingfa hat without I necessarily providing for ventilation. The sl-it'sje, f g and hare so long; thatbytheproces's' of: blocking and steaming their edgesrare be strengthened and the-hat ornamented by covering. such openings with ornamental material, 's'ucfh'as braid '1} or' any; other suitable mat ri l-1 ffi d to e n e m of; th ha separatechvery widely and such-edges may

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