HAT MANUFACTURE 



791 



Fig. 1138 shows one method of constructing the apparatus, a a is a semi-cylindrical 

 shaped copper vessel, with flat ends, in which the dyeing process is carried on. b b b 

 is a wheel with several circular rims mounted upon arms, which revolve upon an axle 

 c. In the face of these rims a number of pegs or blocks are set at nearly equal dis- 

 tances apart, upon each of which pegs or blocks it is intended to place a hat, and as 

 the wheel revolves, to pass it into and out of the dyeing liquor in the vat or copper. 

 This wheel may be kept revolving with a very slow motion, either by gear connecting 

 its axle, c, with any moving power, or it may be turned round by hand, at intervals of 

 ten minutes ; whereby the hats hung upon the pegs will be alternately immersed for 

 the space of ten minutes in the dyeing liquor, and then for the same space exposed to 

 the atmospheric air. In this way, the process of dyeing, it is supposed, may be greatly 



1138 



1139 



facilitated and improved, as the occasional transition from the dye-vat into the air, 

 and from the air again into the bath, will enable the oxygen of the atmosphere to 

 strike the dye more perfectly and expeditiously into the materials of which the hat 

 is composed, than by a continued immersion in the bath for a much longer time. 



A variation in the mode of performing this process is suggested, and the apparatus 

 fig. 1139 is proposed to be employed, a a is a square vat or vessel containing the dye- 

 ing liquor ; b b is a frame or rack having a number of pegs placed in it for hanging 

 the hats upon which are about to be dyed, in a manner similar to the wheel above 

 described. This frame or rack 



is suspended by cords from a 1HO 



crane, and may in that way be 

 lowered down with the hats into 

 the vat, or drawn up and ex- 

 posed in the air; changes which 

 may be made every 10 or 20 

 minutes. 



Mr. William Hodge's patent 

 improvements in hat - dyeing, 

 partly founded upon an inven- 

 tion of Mr. Bowler, consist, first, 

 in causing every alternate frame 

 to which the suspenders or 

 blocks are to be attached, to 

 slide in and out of grooves, for 

 the purpose of more easily re- 

 moving the said suspenders 

 when required. Fig. 1140 re- 

 presents the improved dyeing 

 frame, consisting of two circular 

 rims, a a, which are connected 

 together at top and bottom, by 

 three fixed perpendicular bars 

 on the frame-work b b b. Two 

 other perpendicular frames, c c, 

 similar to the former, slide in grooves, d d d d, fixed to the upper and lower rims. 

 These grooves have anti-friction rollers in them for the purpose of making the frames 

 c c, to slide in and out more freely. The suspenders or substitutes for blocks, by 



