After the caps or bodies of hats, &c. are formed in the above described machine, they are folded in wet cloths, and placed upon heated plates, where they are rolled under pressure, for the purpose of being hardened. [Fig. 539.] represents the front of three furnaces a a a, the tops of which are covered with iron plates b b b. Upon these plates, which are heated by the furnace below, or by steam, the bodies wrapped in the wet cloths c c c, are placed, and pressed upon by the flaps or covers d d d, sliding upon guide rods, to which flaps a traversing motion is given, by means of chains attached to an alternating bar e e. This bar is moved by a rotatory crank f, which has its motion by pulleys from any actuating power. When any one of the flaps is turned up to remove the bodies from beneath, the chains hang loosely, and the flap remains stationary.
These caps or hat bodies, after having been hardened in the manner above described, may be felted in the usual way by hand, or they are felted in a fulling mill, by the usual process employed for milling cloths, except that the hat bodies are occasionally taken out of the fulling mill, and passed between rollers, for the purpose of rendering the felt more perfect.
Mr. Carey, of Basford, obtained a patent in October, 1834, for an invention of certain machinery to be employed in the manufacture of hats, which is ingenious and seems to be worthy of notice in this place. It consists in the adaptation of a system of rollers, forming a machine, by means of which the operation of roughing or plaiting of hats may be performed; that is, the beaver or other fur may be made to attach itself, and work into the felt or hat body, without the necessity of the ordinary manual operations.
The accompanying drawings represent the machine in several views, for the purpose of showing the construction of all its parts. [Fig. 540.] is a front elevation of the machine; [fig. 541.] is a side elevation of the same; [fig. 542.] is a longitudinal section of the machine; and [fig. 543.] is a transverse section; the similar letters indicating the same parts in all the figures.
