Interchangeable Patch Hat Apparatus

Abstract

An interchangeable patch hat apparatus for providing variable designs for a single hat includes a hat body having a front portion with a patch aperture extending from an outer surface through an inner surface. A patch has an outer face, an inner face, and a patch edge. The patch is dimensioned to be larger than the patch aperture. A plurality of engagement members comprises a plurality of first engagement members coupled to the patch proximal the patch edge and a plurality of second engagement members coupled to the front portion of the hat body proximal the patch aperture. The first engagement members are selectively engageable with the second engagement members to couple the patch to the hat body and cover the patch aperture. The patch is thus interchangeable to offer a choice of logo or design displayed on the apparatus.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to hats and more particularly pertains to a new hat for providing variable designs for a single hat.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to hats offering an interchangeable component. Existing devices offer a variety of methods for adding and removing external decorative elements.

However, these devices do not offer a fully replaceable section of the hat.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a hat body including a front portion, a back portion, a left portion, a right portion, and a top portion. The hat body has an outer surface and an inner surface. The front portion has a patch aperture extending through the outer surface to the inner surface. A patch has an outer face, an inner face, and a patch edge. The patch is dimensioned to be larger than the patch aperture. A plurality of engagement members comprises a plurality of first engagement members coupled to the patch proximal the patch edge and a plurality of second engagement members coupled to the front portion of the hat body proximal the patch aperture. The first engagement members are selectively engageable with the second engagement members to couple the patch to the hat body and covering the patch aperture.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an interchangeable patch hat apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 5 thereof, a new hat embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the interchangeable patch hat apparatus 10 generally comprises a hat body 12 including a front portion 14, a back portion 16, a left portion 18, a right portion 20, and a top portion 22. The hat body 12 has an outer surface 24 and an inner surface 26. The front portion 14 has a patch aperture 28 extending from the outer surface 24 through the inner surface 26. A hat bill 30 may be coupled to a lower perimeter 32 of the hat body. The apparatus 10 may be a traditional hat style including, but not limited to, a baseball hat, a cowboy hat, a beanie, or the like.

A patch 34 has an outer face 36, an inner face, and a patch edge 40. The patch 34 is dimensioned to be larger than the patch aperture 28. The patch 34 may be attachable to the outer surface 24 or the inner surface 26 of the hat body. When attached to the inner surface 26, the outer face 36 of the patch 34 has an exposed portion 42 conforming to the patch aperture 28 and an attachment border 44 surrounding the exposed portion 42 and extending to the patch edge 40. The outer face 36 of the patch is adorned with a logo 46 or design the user wishes to display. The logo 46 or design may be stitched, printed, dyed, or otherwise applied on the patch 34. The patch 34 may be constructed of the same material as the hat body 12 or as a traditional sewn-on or iron-on patch. The patch aperture 28 and the patch 34 may have a rotationally irregular shape such as, but not limited to, ovular, obround, or rectangular to allow the user to easily place the exposed portion 42 within the patch aperture 28 such that the logo 46 or design displayed on the patch 34 is oriented correctly and not askew.

A plurality of engagement members 48 comprises a plurality of first engagement members 50 coupled to the attachment border 44 and a plurality of second engagement members 52 coupled to the inner surface 26 of the front portion 14 of the hat body proximal the patch aperture 28. The first engagement members 50 selectively engage with the second engagement members 52 to couple the patch 34 to the hat body 12 and cover the patch aperture 28. The plurality of first engagement members 50 and the plurality of second engagement members 52 may be a plurality of selectively engageable male and female fasteners, respectively, such as, but not limited to, snaps, hook-and-loop fasteners, and the like. As shown in FIG. 5, if the plurality of engagement members 48 comprises hook-and-loop fasteners they may be continuously disposed on the attachment border 44 and a corresponding portion of the inner surface 26 of the front portion 14 of the hat body surrounding the patch aperture 28.

The exposed portion 42 may be raised above the attachment border 44 such that the exposed portion 42 rests flush with, or extends beyond, the outer surface 36 of the hat body when the first engagement members 50 engage the second engagement members 52. The apparatus 10 thus appears to be of a traditional construction when the patch 34 is engaged with the hat body 12.

In use, the patch 34 is selected depending on the logo 46 or design desired. The first engagement members 50 are engaged with the second engagement members 52 and the apparatus 10 is then used as a traditional hat. When the user wishes for a change, the patch 34 is removed and replaced with another patch 34 displaying a different logo 46 or design. The user may thus own or travel with a single apparatus 10 for a variety of occasions rather than owning many traditional hats.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

Claims

1. An interchangeable patch hat apparatus comprising:

a hat body including a front portion, a back portion, a left portion, a right portion, and a top portion, the hat body having an outer surface and an inner surface, the front portion having a patch aperture extending from the outer surface through the inner surface;

a patch having an outer face, an inner face, and a patch edge, the patch being dimensioned to be larger than the patch aperture; and

a plurality of engagement members comprising a plurality of first engagement members coupled to the patch proximal the patch edge and a plurality of second engagement members coupled to the front portion of the hat body proximal the patch aperture, the first engagement members being selectively engageable with the second engagement members to couple the patch to the hat body and covering the patch aperture.

2. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 1 further comprising the plurality of first engagement members being coupled to the outer face of the patch and the plurality of second engagement members being coupled to the inner surface of the hat body.

3. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 2 further comprising the outer face of the patch having an exposed portion conforming to the patch aperture and an attachment border surrounding the exposed portion, the first engagement members being coupled to the attachment border.

4. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 3 further comprising the exposed portion being raised above the attachment border such that the exposed portion rests flush with the outer surface of the hat body when the first engagement members engage the second engagement members.

5. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 1 further comprising the patch aperture being a rotationally irregular shape such as, but not limited to, ovular, obround, or rectangular.

6. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a hat bill coupled to a lower perimeter of the hat body.

7. An interchangeable patch hat apparatus comprising:

a hat body including a front portion, a back portion, a left portion, a right portion, and a top portion, the hat body having an outer surface and an inner surface, the front portion having a patch aperture extending from the outer surface through the inner surface;

a patch having an outer face, an inner face, and a patch edge, the patch being dimensioned to be larger than the patch aperture, the outer face of the patch having an exposed portion conforming to the patch aperture and an attachment border surrounding the exposed portion; and

a plurality of engagement members comprising a plurality of first engagement members coupled to the attachment border and a plurality of second engagement members coupled to the inner surface of the front portion of the hat body proximal the patch aperture, the first engagement members being selectively engageable with the second engagement members to couple the patch to the hat body and covering the patch aperture.

8. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 7 further comprising the exposed portion being raised above the attachment border such that the exposed portion rests flush with the outer surface of the hat body when the first engagement members engage the second engagement members.

9. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 7 further comprising the patch aperture being a rotationally irregular shape such as, but not limited to, ovular, obround, or rectangular.

10. The interchangeable patch hat apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a hat bill coupled to a lower perimeter of the hat body.