US2439347A - Hat clamp - Google Patents

Description

Patented Apr. 6, 1948 ()FFICE'.

HAT CLAMP Henry M. Pernini', Chicago, and Nano F; Gontardl, Highland Park, Ill.

Apnlica nn A gl s 1946, SerlalNa. 685,933.

12 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to hat clamps for use in the process of blocking hats and; more particularly to the type of clamp utilizing a. circular expansibl-e strip to engage the sweatband of a hat, 4

It is an object of' the invention to provide an improved form of clamp having a compressible handgrip, in which the force i outward expansion varies with the pressure exerted" on the hand-- grip and in which means are provided which act automatically as an incident to the release of; manual pressure to maintain the clamp in its expended-condition.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved hat clamp having a centrally mounted handgr-ip which is effective both to apply clamping pressure andto enable single banded positioningthereof and which further includes means for; enabling sing-1e handed release and; withdrawal.

It is a further objectof; the invention to produce a hat clamp which enables the maintenance of large clamping forces as long as desiredbutwhich at the same time is simple and straightforward in construction and operation and inex; pensive to manufacture.

It is a still further object to produce a hat clamp for use with a forming flange which insures that a cleaned and blocked hat is accuratelysized;

In; one of 'its aspects it is an object of the invention to provide an expansible hat clamp which. is automatically locking in an infinitely adjustable condition of" expansion.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds; taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawin s; in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a preferred form of" hat clamp embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 isa sectional view reduced in scale showing the hat clamp ofFig. 1. in its inserted position adjacent the sweatband of a hat.

Fig. 31s an enlarged sectional' view taken along line 3 --3 of Eig. 1.

Fig. 4- is an enlarged s ectionalview'taken along line 4-4- of Fig 1,.

Fig. 5' is a plan view of another form of hat clamp embodying the invention in somewhat reduced scale as compared to Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 66 of Fig. 5.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, we have shown in the drawing and will herein describe in detail the preferred embodiment; but it is to be understood that we do not thereby in tenci to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed but intend to cover all modifications a d. a ernat ve. ons uc ns l W thi the spirit and; scope. of the invention as, expressed in heahp dadi aims.

Referring now to the drawing it will be seen; in Fig. 1' that the clamp indicated; generally atconsists r tw p rtion t t b a e ibl str p. 1 5.. h h s. b int circular Q1 ptical form and" an expanding and locking portion [41; which is mounted centrally therein. In use. the clamp is inserted into a, hat l-S- positlonedin fiaaging, i g. *3: asshown, in g... y e n Q t e amendin a d; loc ng; po Qft e deice e str p i o ced: adial y Outward an nt eful a men wi h. he s cat nd or the hat. This serves both to hold; the hat securely: for the steaming and hanging; operation and to smooth the surface of the sweatbandand form it to the proper size.

As to the details of'ou improved construction disc o ed. n i i l be seenthat t e st i 2. s orm of. a o ledp 'ece offlatstock a g. ter ov app n and 0 llan inner overlapping. e 2.2 oth o which a normally aused, o i n close. li ng. en ag m t th he inte me iate po ti n f: he s rip. h st d near t e e ds fthe s rip I! are bracket 1 and. 26 pivotally engaging the divergent movable ends of ssnerally -shapad an grip he andrip inc ude two. e s 30 and 3.2 ti y hi h a e h tch d. to. each. ot r by mea s Q i a p vot pin and. i w s pivoted to. the bra kets a d 2 y pi pi s a d .a p t eh?- It will" be understood, however that in place of' the p o p ns, i l st t d. me h al n ing or pivoting means may be used which will allow a substar tial-ly equivalent movement.

The legs ofthe handgrip which may be fiormfid by a casting process, preferably arescailoped out to provide a gripping recess 40 for the thumb, and; recesses 42 for the fingers, oi, the operator, u h ecesse over omin a y tendency to; the p o han o. d ali ns. h t p r d sur ace. s. g ipp n p ssure is. p d. t i l h note that the legs of the handgrip are quite long, occupying nearly all the available diametralspace and providing a, maximum of leverage for expanding the strip. In addition to providing a means f or expanding the. strip it will be apparent that the handgrip may also be employed to allow' single handed placement and adjustment of the clamp within the-hat.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated, means are provided for keeping the ends 20, 22 of the strip in close sliding contact with the intermediate portion thereof so that the force exerted on the ends of the strip by the handgrip is tangential in nature. An enlarged detail View of the structure providing a slide and associated with the bracket 26 is shown in Fig. 3. Here it will be observed that the end 22 of the strip is fixed to the bracket 25 by screws 44 which preferably have fiat tapered heads for riding in a longitudi nal slot 46 extending along the intermediate portion of the strip [2. The portions of the strip adjacent the edges of the slot are preferably tapered to register with the taper of the screwhead and thereby to enable the screwhead to be completely below the level of the outwardly presented surface of the strip. This construction, although keeping the end 22 of the strip in intimate sliding engagement with the strip body, completely avoids the danger of marring the sweatband material during the process of adjustment and applying clamping pressure.

A somewhat similar arrangement is used at the overlapping end 29 attached to the leg 38 (Fig. 4.). Here, however, the bracket 24 is solidly connected to the outer one of the two sliding portions of the strip by flatheaded screws 43, and a longitudinal slot 50 is formed in the body of the strip to provide access between the end of the strip 23 and the associated leg of the handgrip. As an additional means for insuring alignment of the relatively movable portions of the strip, bent-over registering edges 52 are used. Such edges are formed on the edge of the clamp which are designed, in use,.to lie above the level of the sweatband so as not to groove it. Then, too, the edges 52 serve as a limit stop for insertion and protect the stitching at the edgev f the band from the effects of steam.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention means are provided for biasing the legs 30 and 32 of the handgrip away from one another, the latter position corresponding to a condition of minimum diameter of the strip and enabling ready insertion of the clamp Within even the smallest sizes of hats. In the present embodiment the latter is accomplished by constructing the strip l2 of springy material and prestressing it so that it tends normally to assume a minimum diameter. Fig. 1 shows the clamp in the latter condition.

I It is apparent from the foregoing that manual pressure on the grip 28 will cause the strip to expand outwardly, To hold the strip in its position of maximum expansion and to prevent retrograde movement between the legs of the grip while the hat is being treated, we provide, in the preferred embodimentfa friction ratchet. The latter may include an arcuate rod or bar 54 which is circular in section and attached near the end of leg 30 by means of a pivot pin 55. The rod is freely slidable with respect to the remaining leg 32 of the handgrip and is lockingly engaged by means of a locking tab 58. The latter is pivoted for movement in the plane of the bar 54 since it is mounted on a pivot pin 60 on the central portion of the leg 32. At its outer end the locking tab has an aperture through which the rod 54 is passed and which is just slightly larger than the outer diameter of the rod. The locking tab 58, or at least the portion thereof surrounding the aperture, is preferably constructed of metal of extreme hardness and theedges of the aperture are preferably sharp so that under flogzked 4 conditions such edges may bite into or seize the relatively softer arcuate rod 54. Means are included in the ratchet for biasing the locking tab 58 outwardly from the leg 32 so that the sharp edges of the aperture 62 are at all times in a position to produce a locking engagement. In the present instance a simple compression coil spring 64 bridging the leg 32 and the locking tab is used. 7

While the judgment of the operator as to the pressure to be applied enables the above described clamp to be effectively used, nevertheless it will be noted that additional means are provided for insuring that the sweatband is expanded to exactly the proper size. In the present embodiment this is accomplished by indicia it which are stamped or otherwise applied to the arcuate bar 54. Such indicia may read directly in terms of the hat size desired, generally increments of eighths of an integral hat size. Any desired type of cooperating pointer may be used to cooperate with the indicating marks; however, we prefer to use the right-hand edge '1! of the leg 32 for this purpose. This means for indicating the exact size to which a sweatband has been expanded is particularly advantageous since heretofore it has been necessary to depend upon the internal diameter of a selected forming flange for performing this function. Thus if a given hat happened to have a particularly thick felt body, hat band, and sweatband, the blocked size was likely to be too small. Conversely, if the felt and associated bands were thinner than average, the hat returned to the customer after blocking would, in all probability, be too large. In our improved construction, however, the size of the blocked hat is determined directly and with absolute accuracy as an incident to clamping the hat within the flange. The concept of direct rather than indirect determination of a proper hat size in addition to greatly speeding up the blocking process and enabling it to be accomplished by an unskilled operator has the advantage that the customer is invariably satisfied with the work returned to him.

Although the operation of the device will be apparent from the foregoing description, it will be helpful to summarize it briefly. Initially the strip It will be in a condition of minimum diameter due to the prestressing or coiling of the strip in manufacture, such condition corresponding to maximum separation of the legs 38, 32 comprising the grip. The handgrip is grasped lightly and the clamp inserted into its position within the sweatband. Upon applying a greater gripping force, the ends of the strip 12 are forced toward one another and the band expands outwardly, flexibly adjusting itself to the oval shape of the hat and hanging ring. The gripping pressure is increaseduntil the desired size is indicated by the indicia "ill or alternatively until the operator can feel that proper clamping pressure is being applied, whereupon manual pressure is released. Any tendency toward retrograde movement of the arcuate rod '55 results in further cocking of the locking tab 58 and consequent seizing of the rod by the sharpened edges of the aperture 62.

In order to remove 'the clamp from the hat after the flanging and steaming have been completed, it is merely necessary for the operator to again apply gripping pressure which disengages the ratchet. While such pressure is being applied, the operator need only press the tip of manner one. oi. his. gripping fin er against. the. lockin tab 5.8 direction to compress; the coil spring 6141. Subsequent release of" gripping pressure. will then cause the clamp to automatically assume a condition of minimum. diameter and the clamp may. be removed from the hat.

Alternate construction Although he; p ef rred form of: the hat clamp discussed immediately above has b en. found. to be; extremely well. suited for its. intended usa. the modification. show-n Figs... 5. and 61 possesses the. same primary advantages while having the fiurther advantage of being simpler and cheaper to manufiacture. Here. a strip. of springy mate.- rial i211 is used which, asin. the previous. embodia iszprererably. prestresscd so. thatit. is nor mally ofa minimum diameter producingv maximum overlap of the ends 20a; and 22a; The handgrip. includes legs. dilaand 32a which are divergently arranged and which are preferably formed of light gauge metallic. channel.

The legs 36a. 32a are-mutually. pinned at their inner ends by a pivot pin 3.6a and are further pivotedat their outer ends to brackets Na and 26a by pins 36d and 38a respectively. The brackets are joined to. the overlapping ends 200: and: 22a respectively of the strip, the cross section ofbracket Ella being shown in the sectional View of Fig. 6 There it will be seenthat the bracket consists merely of a pair of integral ears which are cut from the strip itself and bent inwardly along anonsevered edge to present a mounting which allows passage of the pin 38a. It will be understood that the remaining bracket 25a may be formed in the same manner from the overlapping portion 29a of the strip. In the latter case, however, a longitudinal groove must be out in theintermediate portion of the strip 12a for passage of the bracket 240. into the circular confines of the strip. Although; the

latter detail has not been specifically illustrated, the manner of accomplishing such construction will be obvious since completelyanalogous to thatshown in Fig. l in connection with the previous embodiment.

In order to keep the legs of the grip in a locked condition after they are compressed; a ratchet arrangement is used consisting of an arcuate bar fidohaving teeth oriented to the left as viewedin Fig. 5. The bar is pivoted to one of the. legs 3 .11 y a p n 55a, While the opposite or toothed end is, received in an aperture in the remainingl'eg, The lower edge ofthe, aperture is preferably sharpened and constructed of hard material for cooperation with the ratchet teeth. A tension spring 64a, which in the present embodiment is shown anchored to theleg 36a, normally maintains, the ratchet teeth, in en ement. The ratchet. may be released, however, by one of the fingers of the gripping hand of th operator merely by applying upward pressure to a small knob. or projection 59 on the arcuate bar.

The size to whiohthe band l2a is expanded is indicated accurately by indicia lilo on the arcuate rod 54a, the selected size being alined with any desired indicating pointer such as the right-hand edge 1 I'd of the leg 32a.

The operation of this embodiment will not be discussed sinceit is completely analogous to that already discussed. Suffice it to. say that rctrograde movement is prevented by means of the toothed ratchet and that in this embodimentthe adjustment is limited to finite steps depending upon the spacing of the teeth in the ratchet.

Although the use of the clamp has. been dc,

scribed in connection with. the clamping of a.

hat in. aflanging ring, itwil-l: be obvious that the clamp. is similarly well suited for use as a hat stretcher. I'f'itis desired tostretch a hat: to size it. is merely necessary to. insert the clamp and apply gripping pressure to an extent dependent.

upon: the type of headgear and the amount ofenlargement desired. Due to the improved loclza ing means, the exact amount of expansion. may be maintained for extended periods of time.

With regard to the materials of construction, we prefer to use stainless steel. It will be ap parent, however, that other metals or alloys may be used which are'corrosion resistant and which further have the required strength and elasticity.

We claim asour invention: 1. A clamp for use in the blocking of hats comprising a. circular sWeatband-engaglng strip having inner and outer overlapping ends. a generally V-shaped grip having legs pivoted for movement toward one another and lying within said circular strip, means connecting the diverging ends of said legs to said overlapping ends respectively of' said strip so that manual inward pressure on aid ss caus s. n in reas in the. av ra e diameter. of sa d circu ar. tr p. and. locking m ans to main ain said strip in its expanded condition as an incident to the release of manual. pressure therefrom.

2. A clamp for use in, the blocking of hats comprising; a. generally circular sweatband-engaging strip having overlapping ends, a grip having legs pivoted for movement toward one another and lying within said circular strip, means connecting themovable ends of said legs tosaid overlapping ends respectively of; said: strip so. that manual gripping pressure on said legs causes an increase in the average diameter of, said. circular strip; looking; bar pivoted to one of, the legsahd'slidable transversely with respect tothe other and means acting on the slidable end of said locking-barior maintaining said legs in the position of closest.

ppr ach up n release or manual pressure there-- from.

A. clamp for use in the blocking of hatsoomprising a generally circular sWeatband-engaging strip having flatly overlapping ends, a handgrip length ofsaid circular strip, an arcuate bar pivoted on one of said legs and slidably received in the other nearthe movable ends respectively of said legs, ratchet means associated with the slid aible end of said arcuate barcausing locking of the legs against separating movement upon the release of manual pressure therefrom, and means manipulable by the fingers of the hand while grasping said grip for disengaging said ratchet means.

4. A clamp for use in the blocking of hats comprising a, generally circular sweatband-engaging strip having flatly overlapping ends, a handgrip lying within the confines of said strip and having legs pivoted for movement toward one another, means connecting the movable ends of said Iss5.

to said overlapping ends respectively of, said oted on one of said legs and slidably received in the other near the movable ends respectively of said legs, ratchet means associated with the slidable end of said arcuate bar causin locking of the legs against separating movement upon the release of manual pressure therefrom, and means for manually disengaging said ratchet means, said strip being prestressed to assume a condition of minimum average diameter and maximum divergence of said legs upon release of said ratchet means.

5. A clamp for use in the blocking of hats comprising a generally circular strip having inner and outer overlapping ends, a handgrip including two mutually pivoted and diverging legs lying within the circular confines of said strip, means for attaching the ends of said legs respectively to the overlapping ends of said strip so that gripping of said legs causes radial expansion of said strip, a rod bridging the movable ends of said legs, said rod being in engagement with one of said legs and slidable with respect to the other, and friction ratchet means associated with said other leg to engage said bar and prevent retrograde movement thereof upon release of manual pressure from said grip.

6. A hat clamp comprising a generally circular strip having flatly overlapping ends, a handgrip including two legs pivoted to one another for movement in theplane of said circular strip, means for attaching the ends of said legs to the overlapping ends of said strip so that gripping of said legs causes radial expansion of said strip, a rod bridging the movable ends of said legs, said rod being in engagement with one of said legs and slidable with respect to the other, and friction ratchet means on said other leg including a locking tab pivoted thereon for movement in the plane of said rod and having an aperture therein for the free admission of said rod, said tab being arranged so that the passage of said rod therethrough upon application of gripping force may readily occur but so that any retrograde movement of said rod causes cooking of said tab and consequent locking engagement 1 between the edges of said aperture and said rod.

'7. A hat clamp comprising 'a strip bent into circular form and having overlapping ends, an operating handgrip lying inside said strip and having opposed legs mounted for movement toward one another, means for respectively attaching the ends of said legs to the ends of said strip so that grasping of said handgrip causes radial expansion of said strip, a rod bridging the movable ends of said legs, means mounting said rod in engagement with one of said legs but slidable with respect to the other, and friction ratchet means on said other leg including a looking tab pivoted thereon for movement in the plane of said rod and having an aperture therein to freely receive said rod, said tab being movable into a cooked position with respect to said rod in which any tendency toward retrograde movement causes the opposed edges of said aperture to seize said rod, and biasing means for maintalning said tab in its cocked position.

8. A hat clamp comprising a generally circular strip having overlapping ends, a. generally V- shaped handgrip lying within the confines of said strip, said handgrip including two legs mutually pivoted at one end and having their other ends attached to the ends respectively of said strip so that manual pressure on said grip expands said circular strip radially outward, a

, oriented in a direction to prevent retrograde movment of said bar upon release of manual pressure from said grip.

9. A hat clamp comprising a generally circular strip having inner and outer overlapping ends, a handgrip lying within said strip, said handgrip including two legs mutually pivoted at one end and having their other ends attached to the ends of said strip respectively so that manual pressure on said grip expands said strip outwardly, means including a toothed ratchet bridging said legs for preventing retrograde movement of said legs upon release of manual pressure on said grip, resilient means for maintaining said ratchet in engagement, and means manipulable with the fingers of the gripping hand of an operator for releasing said ratchet.

10. A hat clamp comprising a circular sweatband-engaging strip having flatly overlapping ends, a handgrip lying within said strip and having less pivoted for movement toward one another, means connecting the movable ends of said legs to the overlapping ends respectively of said strip so that manual gripping pressure causes said strip to expand outwardly, said strip being prestressed so that it normally assumes a position of minimum diameter, andmeans maintaining at least one end of the strip in intimate sliding engagement with the flatly adjacent intermediate portion of said strip.

11.A clamp for use in cooperation with a forming flange in the blocking of hats comprising a generally circular sweatband-engaging strip having inner and outer overlapping ends, means including a compressible handgrip for increasing the average diameter of said strip upon applicationof increased gripping pressure, and indicating means operating as an incident to compressing said handgrip for indicating the hat size to which the strip is expanded.

12. A clamp for use with a-forming flange in the blocking of hats comprising a generally circular sweatband-engaging strip having overlapping ends, a generally V-shaped grip having legs pivoted for movement toward one another and lying within said circular strip, means connecting the movable ends of said legs to said overlapping ends respectively of said strip so that manual gripping pressure on said legs causes an increase in the average diameter of said circular strip, a locking bar pivoted to one of said legs and slidable transversely with respect to the other, means acting on the slidable end of said locking bar for maintaining said strip in a condition of selected average diameter, and means including indicia on said locking bar for indicating the selected average diameter of said strip directly in terms of hat size.

HENRY M. PERNINI. NANO F. CONTARDI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date 1,639,331 Diamond Aug. 16, 1927 2,118,392 Appel May 24, 1938

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