Headgear with Eyewear Attachment

Abstract

The headgear with eyewear attachment is a device that allows a user to wear and interchange eyewear that is attached to a headgear. The eyewear is attached to the visor of the headgear by a removably attachable fastener that can be separated when desired. The headgear may be any sort of hat or headband having a visor. The eyewear may be prescription glasses, or ultraviolet eyewear. The headwear and eyewear combination would also have an envelope to hold personal possessions such as money, credit cards, identification cards. The envelope would be disposed in the visor where a top brim portion and a bottom brim portion of the visor would define the envelope. The envelope would be accessed from the inside of the headgear where the user's forehead meets the visor. The entire headgear could be waterproof being made of buoyant material to keep the headgear afloat if dropped in water.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to headgear, such as a cap or visor, having an eyewear attachment, such as sunglasses, integrated with the headgear.

BACKGROUND ART

People who are active in the outdoors must protect their eyes from the damaging effects of the sun. Many people who work or play outdoors find it difficult to maintain their active lifestyles when encumbered by eyewear, such as prescription glasses or ultraviolet (UV) eyewear. Devices have been developed or proposed for supporting eyewear on headgear. However, an adjustable, portable and easily exchangeable device is needed that is comfortable, safe and provides maximum ease in use. It would further be desirable that the headgear be waterproof and have a pocket to hold small essential articles, such as identification cards or money.

Numerous headgear combined with eyewear have been developed where the eyewear can rest against a visor. U.S. Patent Publication Number 2002/0129433, published on Sep. 19, 2002, describes a reconfigurable eyewear apparatus for headwear visor. The eyewear apparatus comprises a support member securable to the headwear visor, an eyewear assembly adjustably coupled to the support member and at least one fastening assembly coupled to the eyewear assembly and the support member.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,004,701, issued to Livengood on Jun. 11, 1935, describes a goggle support. The support comprises at least one channel member joined to the under side of a visor, a member positioned within the channel that is then attached to eyewear. A spring is used in the support to hold the member under pressure as the eyewear is positioned on the headwear.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,280, issued to Feldman on Mar. 14, 1950, describes a combination cap and sunshade. The shade is joined to the underside of the cap by stud posts that have ball portions at an opposite end. The eyewear has brackets that are joined to the ball portions of the posts and cooperate to move the eye shield around.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,091, issued to Jones on Aug. 11, 1953, describes a fastening assembly for attaching an eye shield to a visor. The assembly uses a stud and socket snap fastener. The stud is attached to the eye shield and the socket is attached to the visor. The snap fastener cooperates in a snapping fashion to allow the shield to tilt against the underside of the visor.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,089, issued to Tannenbaum on Oct. 6, 1953, describes a combination cap and eyeshield. The eyeshield is attached to a visor portion of the cap by a track member and a pair of universally inter-engaging members that is slide and rotates within the track member.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,725,560, issued to Feldman on Dec. 6, 1955, describes a combination cap and eyeshield. A track or channel member is attached to the underside of the cap's visor by rivets. The shield is attached to the cap by a mounting means that comprises an inter-engaged ball and socket member cooperating with a track member to slide the eyewear in a desired position.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,585, issued to Chung on Sep. 26, 1989, describes a cap and sunglasses combination. A frame of the sunglasses has an assembly comprising a fixing shaft at each of its sides for fitting within a fixer. The fixer has a hole at one end to receive the fixing shaft and a slot at an opposite end to slide onto a visor. The fixer is ultimately fixed on the sides of the visor to hold the sunglasses in an adjustable position on the cap.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,655, issued to Garrett on Sep. 20, 1994, describes an eyewear and visor combination. The eyewear has a frame with posts extending from each end of the frame. The visor has scalloped edges extending from the sides of the visor within which the posts rest to adjustably hold the eyewear.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,208, issued to Tonoyan et al. on Jul. 9, 1996, describes a cap and glasses combination. The glasses are attached to a rim of the cap by an assembly, which includes an attachment rail, an attachment member having a cylindrical member and a hexagonal support member that is joined to a lens support structure for the glasses.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,420, issued to Chong on Nov. 18, 1997, describes a device for fixing sunglasses to a cap. The device comprises of a left and right clip element mounted on left and right sides members of an anchoring means that then clips onto a rod-like left and right side portions on the sunglasses. The sunglasses are then rotated upward or downward about the rod-like portions.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,827, issued to Ryder on Nov. 25, 1997 describes a fastener assembly for a combination visor and eyeshield. The eyeshield is coupled to a connector that is then connected a base disposed on the underside of the visor. The eyeshield may be pivoted to any position, vertical or horizontal, as desired by the user.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,234, issued to Yuen on Dec. 2, 1997, describes a clip body for attaching glasses to a bill of a cap. U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,570, issued to Flynn on Apr. 29, 2003, describes a cap and glasses combination. A mounting assembly hinges the glasses to the underside of the cap.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,992, issued to Bondy on Aug. 21, 2001, describes an eye shield assembly. A pair of C-clips is attached to the underside of a hat brim. The eye shield has a frame to which a pair of spaced posts protrudes up from the top of the frame. A ball is located at the top of the frame. The ball is positioned within a spherical recess in the C clip to allow the eye shield to pivot under the brim of the hat.

British Patent Number 2,337,443, published on Nov. 24, 1999, describes a hat having spectacles mounted to the underside of the hat. The spectacles are supported under the brim of the hat by a magnet, frictional means or a clip.

W.I.P.O. Patent Number 03/048842, published on Jun. 12, 2003, describes glasses for use with a cap. The glasses have gear-fixing grooves on its upper ends to receive gears that are coupled to a clip. The clip has a slot to receive a brim of the cap.

Headgear having pockets is disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. 456,118, issued to Hill on Apr. 30, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,678, issued to McCallum et al. on Mar. 10, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,788, issued to McCallum et al. on Feb. 15, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,892, issued to Galigani on Nov. 20, 2001; British Patent Number 2,295,307, published on May 29, 1996 and European Patent Number 1,151,683, published on Nov. 7, 2001.

None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, an article of headgear with an eyewear attachment solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure is directed to an article of headgear with an eyewear attachment. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment includes a headgear article that has a visor extending from the article. The visor has a top brim portion and a bottom brim portion. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment further includes an eyeglass attachment fastener that has a track member, a slidable track-engaging member, an eyeglass attachment end and means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end in an upward or downward direction.

The track member is attached to the bottom brim portion of the visor. The track member defines a longitudinal slot extending through the track member. The longitudinal slot receives the track-engaging member. The eyeglass attachment end is connected to the track-engaging member. The eyeglass attachment end is adapted to attach to an eyeglass frame. The eyeglass frame is slidable toward and away from a user wearing the headgear article. The eyeglass frame is rotatable against the bottom brim portion of the headgear article and is adjustable vertically in an upward or downward direction.

This disclosure is also directed to an article of headgear with an eyewear attachment. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment includes a headgear article that has a visor extending from the article. The visor has a top brim portion and a bottom brim portion. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment also includes an eyeglass attachment fastener that has a track member, a slidable track-engaging member, an eyeglass attachment end and means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end in an upward or downward direction. The track member is attached to the bottom brim portion of the visor. The track member defines a longitudinal slot extending through the track member. The longitudinal slot receives the track-engaging member. The eyeglass attachment end is connected to the track-engaging member. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment additionally includes an eyeglass frame that has a pair of lenses mounted therein. The eyeglass attachment end of the eyeglass attachment fastener is adapted to attach to the eyeglass frame. The eyeglass frame is slidable toward and away from a user wearing the headgear article. The eyeglass frame is rotatable against the bottom brim portion of the headgear article and is adjustable vertically in an upward or downward direction.

This disclosure is further directed to an article of headgear with an eyewear attachment. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment includes a headgear article that has a visor extending from the article. The visor has a top brim portion and a bottom brim portion. The top and bottom brim portions define a storage envelope. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment further includes an eyeglass attachment fastener that has a track member, a slidable track-engaging member and an eyeglass attachment end. The track member is attached to the bottom brim portion of the visor. The track member defines a longitudinal slot extending through the track member. The longitudinal slot receives the track-engaging member. The eyeglass attachment end is connected to the track-engaging member. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment also includes an eyeglass frame that has a pair of lenses mounted therein. The eyeglass attachment end of the eyeglass attachment fastener is adapted to attach to the eyeglass frame. The eyeglass frame is slidable toward and away from a user wearing the headgear article. The eyeglass frame is rotatable against the bottom brim portion of the headgear article.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon consideration of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of a headgear with eyewear attachment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmented, exploded perspective showing details of the eyewear attachment mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear section view of the headgear with eyewear attachment according to the present invention, showing the storage envelope in the interior of the headgear.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The headgear with eyewear attachment is an article of headgear with an interchangeable eyewear attachment that is removably attached to the headgear. The headgear may be any sort of hat or cap having a visor or bill. The eyewear may be prescription glasses, or eyewear for protection from ultraviolet light, such as sunglasses. The eyewear is attached to the visor of the headgear by a removably attachable fastener. The fastener used with the headwear and eyewear combination allows a user to remove and exchange eyewear for other types of eyewear. For instance, different users can use the headgear with their own individual prescription eyewear or UV sunglasses, provided that the eyewear has the fastener member that corresponds to the fastener member disposed on the headgear.

The fastener may comprise a track member used in conjunction with a ball and socket fastener, with the socket member disposed on the visor and the ball member disposed on the eyewear, or vice-versa. The ball and socket fastener permits the eyewear to rotate about a horizontal axis to lie flat against the visor. The fastener may additionally be adjusted to the wearer's face by pushing the ball and socket portion of the fastener up or pulling it down according to the needs of the user.

The socket has an end that is disposed within a longitudinal slot of a track member. The track member can be any length and is disposed on a bottom brim portion of the visor. The socket can slide from one end of the longitudinal slot to a second end, allowing the eyewear to be positioned at a selectable distance from a user's eyes once the eyewear is attached to the visor. The longitudinal slot is lined with bristles to prevent particles from becoming lodged in the slot and causing premature deterioration and possible malfunction. The bristles are made of a flexible material that can easily bend when the socket is pulled within the longitudinal slot.

The headgear may have a pocket or envelope to hold personal possessions, such as money, credit cards, identification cards, etc. The envelope may be disposed in the visor where a top brim portion and the bottom brim portion of the visor define the envelope. The headgear may be waterproof, and may be made of buoyant material to keep the headgear afloat if dropped in water.

The present invention is a headgear article having an eyewear attachment. As shown in FIG. 1, the headgear with eyewear attachment comprises a headgear article 30 that may be a hat, cap, or the like, and an eyewear accessory 20 attached to the headgear article 30. The headgear article 30 may also simply comprise a band with a bill or visor extending therefrom, without a crown. The headgear 30 has a bill or visor 32, which has a top brim portion 34 and a bottom brim portion 36. The eyewear 20 is removably attached to the visor 32 of the headgear 30.

Referring now to FIG. 2, eyewear 20 is removably attached to the bottom brim portion 36 of the visor 32 by a fastener 60. The fastener 60 comprises a socket member 40, a ball member 46 mating with the socket member 40, and a track member 50. The socket member 40 is a track-engaging member that has a shaft 43 having a ball 42 or other slidable piece at the top end that is adapted to engage the track member 50 and a bottom end forming the socket 44 and defining a ball-receiving aperture 45. The ball member 46 comprises a stem 48 having a ball 47 or any other type of piece that is engagable with the shaft 43 at one end and an eyeglass attachment end 49 disposed at the opposite end of the stem 48. The eyeglass attachment end 49 of the ball member 46 may comprise a fork having a multi-pronged end or other appropriate structure that attaches to a frame 22 of the eyewear 20 with a screw 41 or other similar fastener. The eyeglass attachment end 49 of the ball member 46 may alternatively have a clip at the eyeglass attachment end 49 to allow the ball member 46 to be attached to the frame 22 of the eyewear 20. The fastener 60 may also be attached to the frame 22 of the eyewear 20 with rivets or magnets. The eyeglass attachment end 49 of the fastener 60 may be magnetized and may be adapted to attach to an eyeglass frame 22 having a mating magnet connected to the frame. This will allow the user to adjust the height of the eyewear accessory 20 to any point comfortable for the user, while maintaining the eyewear accessory 20 to the fastener 60. The mating magnet may additionally be incorporated into the material of the eyewear accessory 20 itself. The socket member 40 attaches to the visor 32 of the headgear 30 by inserting the ball 42 into the track member 50, which is fixed to the bottom brim portion 36 of the visor 32. The eyeglass attachment end 49 is not directly incorporated into the eyewear frame 22 itself and allows for the exchange of multiple types of eyewear 20, including glasses, sunglasses or the like.

While a ball member 46 and a socket member 40 are shown attached to each other, the socket member 40 having a ball 42 or other slider that engages the track member 50 may be used without the addition of the ball member 46. The socket 44 of the socket member 40 would alternatively be constructed as an eyeglass attachment end, allowing the socket member 40 to directly connect to the eyewear accessory 20. Further, the ball member 46 and socket member 40 may be interchangeable, with a ball hanging from the end of a stem connected to a track-engaging piece and a socket attached to the ball at one end and attached to an eyeglass attachment end 49 at the other end of a shaft.

The fastener 60 may be adjusted to better position the eyewear accessory 20. The stem 48 of the ball member 46 may be notched, allowing the eyeglass attachment end 49 to be adjusted up or down at the discretion of the user. The shaft 43 of the socket member 40 may be notched so that the socket 44 may be moved up or down the shaft 43 to adjust the height of the eyewear accessory 20. Alternatively, the track member 50 may include notches along the height of the track member 50 to allow the socket member 40 to be pushed up or pulled down and “locked” into the track member 50.

The track member 50 has apertures 52 defined in opposite ends thereof, a longitudinal slot 54 defined through the track member 50 and bristles 56 or other gasket material lining the longitudinal slot 54. The track member 50 may be any length that fits under the visor 32. The longitudinal slot 54 is dimensioned and configured to receive the ball 42 or other slider at the top end of the socket member 40. The bristles 56 border the longitudinal slot 54 to prevent particles or debris from becoming lodged in the slot 54, causing premature deterioration and possible malfunction of the track member 50. The bristles 56 will be made of flexible material that can easily bend when the socket fastener 40 is slid within the longitudinal slot 54. The bristles 56 can be made of polypropylene or nylon material. The track member 50 may be secured to visor 32 by rivets extending through apertures 52, or by any other attachment means. The track member 50 may be integrated within the visor 32 itself, being placed between the visor base material and the external covering of the visor 32. A slot would be defined within a portion of the external covering of the headgear 30 adjacent the longitudinal slot 54 of the track member 50 so that the socket member 40 may still be able to be inserted within the longitudinal slot 54 of the track member 50.

The fastener 60, specifically the socket member 40 and the ball member 46, is not critical, and any fastener that is a removably attachable fastener that allows the eyewear 20 to flip up against the visor 32 can be substituted for the fastener 60. The fastener 60 should also be able to allow the user, or different users, to remove and exchange eyewear 20. The headgear permits use by different users at different times by allowing the user to replace the eyewear with their own prescription eyewear or sunglass type of eyewear. The eyewear 20 may include a frame and lenses attached to a frame or may alternatively be one continuous piece with lenses and omitting the frame. The exchange of eyewear 20 is made easy by requiring the fastener member that is attached to the frame 22 of the eyewear 20 to correspond to the fastener member attached to the visor 32.

The fastener 60 may be attached to the bottom brim portion 36 of the visor 32 by any of a number of methods, including attachment by molding or riveting the fastener 60 to the bottom brim portion 36. The fastener 60 may also be attached using adhesive to affix the fastener 60 to the visor 32. The fastener 60 may be made from metal, plastic, any moldable material, or any combination thereof.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a pocket or storage envelope 70 is formed in the visor 32 of the headgear 30. The top brim portion 34 and the bottom brim portion 36 of the visor 32 define the envelope 70 cavity. Both the top brim portion 34 and the bottom brim portion 36 of the visor 32 should be rigid permanent portions of the headgear 30 that can separate when desired by the user. The envelope 70 is accessed from inside the headgear 30 at a point where the user's forehead meets a back end of the visor 32. The envelope 70 is sealed by a closure such as hook and loop fastening material, or an interlocking bead and groove closure that snaps the entire length of the opening of the envelope 70 shut. The envelope 70 may be used to hold money M, credit cards, identification cards or any other flat article. The entire headgear with eyewear attachment may be made from waterproof material, and may be made from buoyant material keeping the headgear afloat if dropped in water.

While the pocket 70 has been described as being formed in the visor 32 of the headgear 30, the pocket 70 may be built into any section of the headgear 30, including the portion of the headgear 30 that is situated on the head of the user.

The external covering of the headgear 30 may be made from any type of material typical to hats, visors and the like, including cotton, polyester, rayon or any combination thereof. The external covering material may be made with UV protecting material to protect against burning due to sun exposure. The visor 32 may have non-reflective material affixed to the bottom brim portion 36 of the visor 32. The visor 32 may be of any length or width appropriate to shield the eyes from sun glare.

A buckle may be incorporated into the headgear 30 to allow for adjustment of size of the headgear 30. A bottle-opening device may be attached to the buckle of the headgear 30 or may be incorporated into the design of the buckle itself.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. An article of headgear with an eyewear attachment, comprising:

a headgear article having a visor extending therefrom, the visor having a top brim portion and a bottom brim portion; and

an eyeglass attachment fastener having a track member, a slidable track-engaging member, an eyeglass attachment end and means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end in an upward or downward direction, the track member being attached to the bottom brim portion of the visor and defining a longitudinal slot extending through the track member, the longitudinal slot receiving the track-engaging member, the eyeglass attachment end being connected to the track-engaging member, the eyeglass attachment end being adapted to attach to an eyewear accessory;

whereby the eyewear accessory is slidable toward and away from a user wearing the headgear article, is rotatable against the bottom brim portion of the headgear article and is adjustable vertically in an upward or downward direction.

2. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the eyeglass attachment end comprises a fork having a multi-pronged end adapted to grip the eyewear accessory.

3. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the eyeglass attachment end comprises a clip.

4. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the eyeglass attachment fastener is affixed to the eyewear accessory with rivets.

5. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the eyeglass attachment end is magnetized and adapted to attach to an eyewear accessory having a mating magnet connected to the accessory.

6. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end is a plurality of notches defined within the track member and spaced along a vertical axis of the track member, the notches being adapted to receive the track-engaging member.

7. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the track-engaging member comprises a socket member having at least a slot-engaging piece and a shaft, the slot-engaging piece being receivable into the longitudinal slot of the track member, the eyeglass attachment end being connected to the shaft of the socket member.

8. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 7, wherein the means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end comprises a plurality of notches along the shaft of the socket member, the eyeglass attachment end being adjustable vertically in an upward or downward direction along the shaft of the socket member.

9. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the track-engaging member comprises a first member having at least a slot-engaging piece and a shaft and a second member having a stem and an engagement piece adapted to be attached to the shaft of the first member, the slot-engaging piece of the first member being receivable into the longitudinal slot of the track member, the eyeglass attachment end being connected to the stem of the second member.

10. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 9, wherein the means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment member comprises a plurality of notches along the stem of the second member, the eyeglass attachment end of the second member being adjustable vertically in an upward or downward direction along the stem of the second member.

11. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal slot is lined with a plurality of bristles.

12. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 1, wherein the top brim portion and the bottom brim portion of the visor define a storage envelope.

13. An article of headgear with an eyewear attachment, comprising:

a headgear article having a visor extending therefrom, the visor having a top brim portion and a bottom brim portion;

an eyeglass attachment fastener having a track member, a slidable track-engaging member, an eyeglass attachment end and means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end in an upward or downward direction, the track member being attached to the bottom brim portion of the visor and defining a longitudinal slot extending through the track member, the longitudinal slot receiving the track-engaging member, the eyeglass attachment end being connected to the track-engaging member; and

an eyewear accessory, the eyeglass attachment end of the eyeglass attachment fastener being adapted to attach to the eyewear accessory;

whereby the eyewear accessory is slidable toward and away from a user wearing the headgear article, is rotatable against the bottom brim portion of the headgear article and is adjustable vertically in an upward or downward direction.

14. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 13, wherein the means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end is a plurality of notches defined within the track member and spaced along a vertical axis of the track member, the notches being adapted to receive the track-engaging member.

15. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 13, wherein the track-engaging member comprises a socket member having at least a slot-engaging piece and a shaft, the slot-engaging piece being receivable into the longitudinal slot of the track member, the eyeglass attachment end being connected to the shaft of the socket member.

16. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 15, wherein the means for vertically adjusting the eyeglass attachment end comprises a plurality of notches along the shaft of the socket member, the eyeglass attachment end being adjustable vertically in an upward or downward direction along the shaft of the socket member.

17. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 13, wherein the track-engaging member comprises a first member having at least a slot-engaging piece and a shaft and a second member having a stem and an engagement piece adapted to be attached to the shaft of the first member, the slot-engaging piece of the first member being receivable into the longitudinal slot of the track member, the eyeglass attachment end being connected to the stem of the second member.

18. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 13, wherein the longitudinal slot is lined with a plurality of bristles.

19. The article of headgear with an eyewear attachment according to claim 13, wherein the top brim portion and the bottom brim portion of the visor define a storage envelope.

20. An article of headgear with an eyewear attachment, comprising:

a headgear article having a visor extending therefrom, the visor having a top brim portion and a bottom brim portion, the top and bottom brim portions defining a storage envelope;

an eyeglass attachment fastener having a track member, a slidable track-engaging member and an eyeglass attachment end, the track member being attached to the bottom brim portion of the visor and defining a longitudinal slot extending through the track member, the longitudinal slot receiving the track-engaging member, the eyeglass attachment end being connected to the track-engaging member; and

an eyeglass frame having a pair of lenses mounted therein, the eyeglass attachment end of the eyeglass attachment fastener being adapted to attach to the eyeglass frame;

whereby the eyeglass frame is slidable toward and away from a user wearing the headgear article and is rotatable against the bottom brim portion of the headgear article.