US2577167A - Hat expander - Google Patents

Description

Dec 4, i951 Gi vLAsls HAT EXPANDER FiledJuly 25, 1949 sii.:

INVENTOR,

GEORGE VLASS ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 4, 1951 UNITED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE l HAT .EXPANDER lGeorge Vlasis, Milwaukee, Wis. Application July '1245, 1949, Serial o. 106.512

Vinserted interiorly of the hat band and "which vengages the hat with outwardly directed radial pressure. In this manner, the hat may be conveniently handled in the blocking, stretching or other renovating operations. The 'instant 'former preferably involves a four section construction, the outside periphery o'f the 'assembly 'providing a smooth oval contour capable of fitting the inside conguration of most hats Without deformation thereof. In order to accommodate various sized hats, and to be useful as a hat stretcher, the former is made expansible. vIn a construction of thisV type, however, it is highly desirable that the ovularperipheral .form of the vise be maintained for all adjust'rnents.

It is the principal object-of this invention to provide equalizing guide means at the Yjuncture of the adjoining hat Yengaging sections .ot the h at expander which will positively insure that the ovular form assumed by the hat .engagingsecf tions for one adjustment will be substantially maintained in each other yselected adjustment. It is a further object of the invention to provide an indicating means to facilitate the adjustment of the hat engaging sections to the proper and desired hat size.

vide a hat expander which Will, by positive acetion, maintain and equalize hat engaging 'sections in relatively perfect rigid'oval alignmentfor any selected and visibly indicated hat size.

Other objects will be more apparent upon an examination of the following disclosures.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of the hat expander, por' tions of the hat engaging sections being broken away to show details of the equalizing mecha- Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view .of the indicating mechanism which is incorporated Within the turnbuckle handle.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken ,along the line 3-3 of Fig. l. l y I Fig. 4 is a cross sectional vi'evv taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Y Y

Like parts are identified by the same referente characters throughout `the several views.

-45 degrees to the axis or" the turnbuckle;

2 The expansible former comprises a pair of en'd sections I and a pair of side sections II.` These hat engaging sections may be made of wood, plastic or metal or the like, and have their peripheral surfaces so shaped as vto present an oval hat engaging surface broken only at the juncture of the sections with one another. The contiguous portions of the sections are 'imposi- ,y tively joined by equalizers shown generally atV `l0 I2 and `which will be hereinafter described in more detail.

Two opposed section-s VIl! are provided vv'ith bores 9 in which are anchored axially Aaligned screws I and I6 which are held in place Within the bores 9 by pinsy I'I. Screws I5 `and I6 each bear oppositely pitched threads vand lare in complementary threaded engagement with interior-ly threaded turnbuckle handle I8., Manual rotation ofthe .turnbuckle handle I8 will result in longitudinal extension or retraction of the screws I5 yand It?Y which motion is vimpar-ted to theend sections I0, and through the equalzers I2 to the lside sections Il. The 4equalizers I2 are disposed obliquely -Wi-th respect to the vouter periphery of thesections at about forty-five degrees ment II of the expander. Thisstructure isidu-plicated at each corner of the expander, it being immaterial, obviously, which of the' .expander elements carries the' sleeve and which the bar.

.40 In any case, only the sleeve is visible to the oper#u ator between the elements of theexpander. The axis vof relative telescopic movement between the bar and sleeve `of the equalizer is desirably, alL though not necessarily, at ran angle Vof forty-live At this angle, the sections ofthe expander tend to main-'- .tain their relative positions in all expansion and contraction of the end elements Il).k Atan `angle greater than lforty-five degrees, the equalizers will tend to -increasejthe relative movement of the lateral elements II respecting the end Yelements I0, whereas at an angle of less than fortyfive degrees, the lateral elements 'will `have .less relative movement than the end .elements inthe adjustment of the latter.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to pro- 35 the bottom 0f the -SOCKBG 25 0f the .lateral ele'- `and five-eighths (6%) It is the function of the equalizers not only to effect in and out movement of the lateral elements in correspondence with the in-and-out movement of the end elements, but to regularize the movementl of the side elements l l and to prevent any of the elements from tipping or becoming misaligned respecting the others. For this purpose, it might be assumed that there should be a tight iit between the sleeves 33 and the bars 38, but an unduly tight nt between these parts causes binding which tends toproduce irregularities of movement, rather than to prevent these. I have discovered that by using the compression springs to supplement such guidance as is provided by the relatively loose fit of the bars in the sleeves, great uniformity of movement is achieved with little or no tendency of the parts to bind. Thus, when the hat size is being enlarged, the spring 35, by pressure engagement with the end surface 33, will force the end and side sections apart in a uniform manner and prevent any binding of the slidable parts. As this action takes place at all four junction points of the side and end sections, a uniform equalization is effected. Also because of the use of the coil spring 35, clearances between the various sliding parts may be made smaller than heretofore possible and thus a more rigid and accurate positioning may be accomplished even at extended positions of the device.

In order that the operator may know at all times the exact hat size to whch the expander is adjusted, the following construction is desirably employed.

The screws l5 and l5 are axially bored at 2B and I9 (see Fig. 2) respectively. An indicator rod 2l is iixed in bore i3 but is permitted to slide freely in bore 2B. The turnbuckle handle i8 is provided with one or more apertures 22 whereby the operator may observe hat size indications which are engraved on the rod 2i as shown at '.313

in Fig. 1. It has been found convenient to make the pitch of the screw threads such that one complete revolution of the turnbuckle handle i8 will result in a concentric change of position of y the hat engaging sections equal to one hat size; hat sizes being accommodated ranging from six to seven and seveneighths (7 78).

From the foregoing description, it is seen that by the use of the illustrated equalizers, the relative alignment of the end and side sections lil and Il is substantially constant for all hat size positions. This is accomplished by means of a novel structure and organization of the equalizer elements whereby the adjacent hat engaging sections are under positive pressure produced bythe spring 35. This construction prevents misalignment of the various sections by eliminating binding between the equalizer elements and permits smaller clearances between such elements and thus produces a more accurately guided adjustment. In addition, these advantages are further enhanced by the employment of a novel indicating device which enables the operator to predetermine and select the proper alignment of the various sections to accommodate the size of hat about to undergo renovation.

I claim:

1. In a hat expander having a turnbuclrle including a pair of axially aligned and oppositely threaded screws having distal ends, an indicator comprising a calibrated rod fixed with respect to one of said screws, and a turnbuckle handle in complementary threaded engagement with each of said screws, the turnbuckle handle having an internal bore in which the indicator rod is disposed and having a viewing aperture intermediate its ends through which the calibration of the indicator rod may be viewed.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the axially aligned screws are each provided with bores, and wherein the calibrated rod is xed in one of said bores and axially slidable in the other of said bores.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein the rod has a ilattened portion intermediate its ends and upon which its calibrations appear.

4. The device of claim 1 in further combinationwith oppositely disposed expander end sections to which the distal ends of said screws are anchored, and oppositely disposed side sections in expansible connection with said end sections.

5. Ina hat expander, the combination with end sections and side sections having adjacent ends provided with axially aligned oblique bores, of a sleeve xed in one 'of saidsections and having an end extending telescopically into the bore of the other, a bar fixed in said other section and reciprocable telescopically in the sleeve, and a compression spring within said sleeve and seated against said bar.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with an end section of a hat expander and a side section of a hat expander, said end section and side section being each provided with axially aligned oblique bores Vof different diameters, the section having the bore of larger diameter being provided with a shoulder and a bore of reduced cross section extending axially beyond said shoulder and to a greater depth into the section, a bar seated into said bore of reduced cross section and extending appreciably into said bore of larger diameter, a sleeve seated into the bore of smaller diameter and in which the bar is telescopically reciprocable, and a coil spring within said sleeve and bearing against said bar.

'7. In a hat expander, the combination of a turnbuckle having a nut and oppositely pitched internal threads at the end portions thereof, axially aligned screws having proximate ends in complementary threaded engagement with the turnbuckle and extending from either end thereof and having distal ends anchored in expander end sections whereby rotary turning of the turnbuckle nut will cause the end sections to move toward and away from each other, expander side sections disposed between said end sections and spaced therefrom, and equalizers spanning the spaces between end and side sections, whereby motion of the end sections is equally and uniformly transmitted from said end sections to said side sections, causing them to move toward and away from each other complementary with like movement of the end sections, the adjacent ends of said end and side section being provided with axially aligned oblique bores and each equalizer comprising a sleeve xed in one of said bores and having an end extending telescopically into the other of said bores, a bar ixed in said other of said bores and reciprocable telescopically in the sleeve, and a compression spring within said sleeve and seated against said bar.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein a size indicator comprising a calibrated rod is fixed in one of said turnbuckle screws and wherein the turnbuckle nut is provided with a viewing aperture through which the calibrations of the rod may be viewed. Y

9. The device of claim '7 wherein the axially 5 6 aligned turnbuckle screws are each internally UNITED STATES PATENTS bored, and a. calibrated indicator rod is xed in Number Name Date one of said screw bores and movable in the other 1 903 912 Papadcpoulos Apr 18 1933 screw bore, the turnbuckle nut being provided 2075626 Schlesinger Mal.: 30 1937 with a viewing aperture through which the cali- 5 2434184 Vlass an 6 1948 bration of the rod may be viewed.

GEORGE VLASIS. FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date REFERENCES CITED 15,661 Great Britain 1885 The following references are of record in the 10 le of this patent:

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