US1257675A - Machine for pressing and forming hats. - Google Patents

Description

H. COHN.

MACHINE FOR PRESSING AND-FORMING HATS.

APPLICAfION FILED JUNE 25, I917- Patemted Feb. 26, 191%.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS H. (JOHN.

MACHINE ron PRESSING AND FORMING HATS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, I917- Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

//V 5 IV TOR HERMAN COHN, OF NEW YGRK, N. Y.

IVIACHINE FOR PRESSING AND FORMING, HATS;

earners.

Specification of Letters-Patent.

Patented Feb, 26, 191..

7 Application filed. June 25, 1917. Serial No. 176,807.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, HERMAN COHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Pressing and Forming Hats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for pressing and cutting out hats made of fabric, such as velvet or the like, in which it is customary to first press and shape the brim of the hat from a suitable blank or piece of material and then cut out a space in the center of the hat for attaching the crownthereof, which is made of a separate piece of material. It is customary to leave a flange of about an inch in height around the central 1 opening of the piece of material, so as to 1elnable the sewing on of the crown of the It has heretofore been customary in press ing and shaping the brim of the hat, to provide two pressing dies, one above the other, which were suitably heated so as to facilitate the pressing of the material. These dies had their adjacent surfaces of the shape of the brim of the hat and the lower die had at or near its center, a depression of about an inch in height, this depression corresponding to the shape of the opening for receiving the crown of the hat. Instead of providing a depression inthe lower die, it could also be cut away at this point so as to leave an opening in its surface corresponding to the opening for receiving the crown of the hat. Theupper die had, at its bottom, a projection corresponding in shape to the depression or opening in the lower die.

In the operation of this device, two workmen would take an unperforated piece of material of suflicient area to provide for the brim of the hat and they would hold it at the top of the lower die. Then the upper die would be caused to descend upon the material held on the lower die, by any suitable means, such as a foot press or the like. The upper die would press the material on the 7 lower die, thus shaping it, and it would also force the material above the depression or opening in the lower die, into this depression or opening. When the upper die was removed, the line where the material had been forced into the depression or opening in the lower die, could be seen by the operator,

because the heating and pressing left a mark at that point.

After this was done, the operator would cut away the center of the pressed piece of material, leaving a flange of about an inch to receive the crown of the hat which was then sewed on.

This method has led to a waste of material in that the upper die would always force the fabric into the opening or depression in the lower die, so that instead of using a piece of material of the exact size of the brim of the hat, it was always necessary to allow for at least an inch more all around the brim of the hat. This has been a considerable item of loss in working with expensive velvets, especially since hundreds of hats are usually made by a single manufacturer. In addition, the operation of this device was not always reliable because the men who were feeding the material to the dies had to hold it against the pull that was exerted by the upper dies forcmg'the material into the opening of the lower die.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved construction of pressing and shaping dies that shall be uniform and reliable in operation, economical of mate rial, shape and press the hat more efiectively, and permit the operators to see at all times the condition of the material.

(lther objects of my invention are to provide a simple and efficient construction for carrying out the above mentioned purposes, and these objects shall be set forth in the following description and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of myrinvention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved construction, the pressing dies being shownin the position suitable for pressing the material.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the construction of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top view of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a perspective view of the supplemental cutting die, seen from below, and showing the tapering cutting knives, which are widest at their outer ends, so that their outer ends act as piercing points.

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the cutting of the fabric.

The framework of my improved construction consists of two triangular frame-pieces 1, connected by a horizontal bar 3 and having other bar 8 at their upper ends,

they always move horizontal members connected thereto, such as a table 2e. To the cross-bar 8 a lever 41 is pivoted which can be downwardly actuated by the foot and held down- Wardly by member 5, and which is upwardly urged by the springs 6, fastened to the crossand fastened at their lower ends to a short cross-bar 7 connected to the lever 4L.

A vertical jointed link 9 is pivoted to the lever 4c at 10. At its upper end, the link 9 carries a fork 38 to which vertical rods 12 are connected by means of the yoke 13. -hese' vertical rods 12 slide up and down in suitable guides provided in the table 2 1 and at the top of the frame-pieces, so that in a vertical direction.

The vertical rods 12 are threaded at their upper ends'where they are adjustably connected to a frame 16 by means of nuts 80 and 31. 'By suitably rotating these nuts 30 and 31, the frames 16 can be adjustably held on the rods 12. The frame 16 has connected thereto threaded vertical-supporting rods 17 which are adjustably connected thereto by means of the nuts28.

The vertical supporting rods 17, carry at their lower ends an upper pressing die a which is of the exact shape of the portion of the brim of the hat, and has an opening in the center of the exact shape of the portion of the brim to which the crown 1S to be attached.

Hence, by

a if desired, by any suitable means, and which nected tothe table by the fastening menidies are pressed together.

hers 26. The lower pressing die 1%. is of substantially the exact shape of the brim of the. hat and of the upper pressing die 15,

there being just enough difference of taper between the adjacent surfaces of dies l i and 15, which generally speaking, are of frustoconical shape, to stretch the fabric over the lower die 1 1, without injuring it, when the This difference of taper or contour uniformly stretches the fabric (outwardly, or radially from the center of the dies, as well as downwardly. Of course, theadjacent surfaces of the dies could have the same contour. When the upper die first contacts with the fabric, since this fabric has a certain thickness, the upper die will not, at the moment of the said contact, coincide with the adjacent surface of the lower die, if these dies are properly dimensioned. The upper die will move downwardly and also carry. the fabric 7 suitably moving the lever l down, the upper die 15, which may be heated as shownin Figs. I land 2 and by"releasing to the table 2a is a stand 32' with it, thus stretching it, until the movement of the upper die is stopped. If sullicient pressure is applied, the dies themselves will slightly yield, which would assist this action. The hollow frame 16 has two crossmembers 27 connected thereto. At the center of these two cross-members 27 is a threaded opening into which a vertical screw 18 is iitted. This screw 18, which is rotated by means of the hand-wheel 19 has fastened thereto, at its lower end, a carrier 22, whose periphery is of such shape that it its into the opening in the upper die 15.

At its underside the carrier 22 has four detachable blades fastened thereto, by any suitable fastening means 29.

The operation of my improved device is as follows:

Two operators place a piccc of velvet on the lower die 1% and one of them depresses the lever -1 thus bringing the upper die 15, down upon the lower die let. The carrier 22 and the blades 23 are carried down with the frame 16, but the screw 18 has been raised suliiciently so that the tapering knives or blades 23 and the carrier 22 do not touch the fabric. By this operation the fabric is tightly stretched over the lower die 14:, and the central part thereof, which is to be cut away to leave an opening for sewing on the brim of the hat, is tightly stretched over the opening in the lower die 14;. As a result a minimum amount of material is present between the dies 14: and 15 and there is no drawing in of the material for an inch or more, which took place under the old construction of the dies, in which the flange for the sewing-on of the crown was shaped simultaneously with the pressing of the brim.

While the upper die 15 is thus pressed against the lower die 14-, it irons the brim as one or both of these dies are suitably heated by any well-known means, not shownin the drawings, and which in themselves form no part of my lnvention. The ironing is accomplished upon the tightly and uniformly stretched fabric so that a superior effect is secured.

Now the operator rotates the hand-wheel 19 and lowers the carrier 2L- which is guided by the rods 21, so that the knives or blades out a flange for sewing on the crown of the hat.

Fig. 5 shows how the material has the two slits cut therein. The superfluous portions of the four angular pieces of material thus formed are trimmed away by hand.

Essa...

I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention but it is clear that numerous changes and modifications could be made without departing from its spirit. Some of the parts might be caused to move automatically and some of the details might be omitted, without departing from the essence of my invention as defined in the following claims.

1. In a machine for forming the brims of hats, the combination of an upper annular die and a lower annular die, the said dies having superposed alined surfaces of substantially ring-like, frusto-conical shape, and means for bringing together and separating the said dies, the adjacent surfaces of the said dies being so dimensioned and alined, that when they are brought together they downwardly and radially stretch and press the piece of material placed between them, and only operate on that portion of said piece between the ring-like operating surfaces of the said :dies.

2. In a machine for forming the brims of hats, an upper annular die and a lower annular die, the adjacent surfaces of said dies being of different contour, so as to downwardly and radially stretch a piece of material between them when they are forced together, an independently movable supplemental die adapted to fit into the opening of said upper annular die, means for bringing together the said annular dies and means for then moving the said supplemental die toward the said annular dies.

3. In a machine for forming the brims of hats, an upper annular die, a lower annular die, an independently movable supplemental die adapted to fit into the opening of said upper annular die, means for bringing together and separating said dies, and cutting means adapted to operate in the opening of said upper die before said supplemental die enters said opening.

4. In a machine for forming the brims of hats, an upper annular die, a lower annular die, an independently movable supplemental die adapted to fit into the opening of said upper die, means for bringing together and separating said dies, and means adapted to first pierce and then cut the fabric within the said opening of said upper die, before said supplemental die enters said opening.

5. In a machine for forming the brims of hats, an upper annular die, a lower annular die, an independently movable supplemental die having cutting knives at its under side and adapted to fit into the opening of said upper die, and means for bringing together and separating said dies.

6. In a machine for forming the brims of hats, an upper annular die, a lower annular die, an independently movable supplemental die adapted to fit into the opening of said upper die, having four cutting knives at its under side, said knives having piercing points at their outer ends and being arranged at right angles to each other, and means for bringing together and separating said dies.

7. In a machine for forming the brims of hats, an upper annular die, a lower annular die, an independently movable supplemental die adapted to fit into the opening of said upper annular die, and having cutting knives at its under side, the cutting edges of said knives tapering downwardly from their inner to their outer, ends, and means for bringing together and separating said dies.

8. In a machine for forming the brim of a hat, pressing dies having their adjacent surfaces of different contour so as to downwardly and radially stretch-the peripheral portion of said brim, and a supplemental and independently movable pressing die adapted to thereafter press and form the crown portion of said brim.

9. In combination, a frame, cross-members in said frame having a threaded opening at their center, a screw fitting into said opening, a wheel for rotating said screw, an upper annular die carried by said frame, a second annular die adapted to coiiperate with said first-mentioned die to clamp a piece of fabric, the adjacent surfaces of said dies being of slightly different inclination to the vertical in order to stretch the fabric clamped between them, a supplemental die adapted to fit into the opening in said upper die and having on its under side four knives of the same dimensions radiating from the center of said. supplemental die, said knives being at right angles to each other and having their cutting surfaces tapering downwardly and outwardly from the center of said supplemental die and means for raising and lowering said frame.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affiX my HERMAN COHN.

signature.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the flommissioner of Eetents, Washington, D. G.

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