VENTILATION INSERT FOR HEADWEAR
The present invention relates to a ventilation insert or liner for headwear. The ventilation insert or liner is comprised of a top edge, bottom edge, a backside extending between the top edge and bottom edge, and a front side opposite the backside. The front side has at least one ventilation structure, such as a tube, extending between the top edge and the bottom edge that increases air flow (i.e., ventilation) from a cool area (e.g. below the brim of a hat) to the inside of the headwear. The ventilation insert or liner may comprise a plurality of ventilation structures. The plurality of ventilation structures may comprise a plurality of apertures to increase air flow. The back side may comprise a connection material to affix the vent insert or liner to the inside of the headwear. The ventilation insert or liner may alternatively be inserted into a sweatband found on the inside of most hats.
The present invention generally relates to a ventilation for headwear, and, more particularly, to a vent insert for headwear to provide increased ventilation to a user.
Background InformationHeadwear, such as, for example, hats, caps and visors, are often fitted with a sweatband to prevent head sweat from rolling down a user's forehead and soiling the fabric of the headwear. Typically, the sweatband is permanently affixed to the inside of the headwear, but some are removable and replaceable with the headwear. Without the sweatband, the sweat will be absorbed by the fabric of the headwear and will, overtime, stain and eventually destroy the headwear. Even with a sweatband, sweat caused by heat may still persist because of a lack of proper ventilation within the headgear.
Thus, a need exists for headwear that provides increased ventilation to a user's head while protecting the user and the attached headwear from the effects of accumulated sweat.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONBriefly, the present invention satisfies the need for providing increased ventilation to a user's head. In short, a ventilation insert or liner for headwear constructed in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention is provided to improve ventilation to a user's head.
In accordance with the above, it is an object of the present invention to improve headwear ventilation through at least one vent structure attached to an insert or liner for headwear to increase airflow.
The present invention provides, in a first aspect, a device for increasing the ventilation capabilities of a hat.
The present invention provides, in a second aspect, reduced perspiration that accumulates on a hat wearer's forehead through a headwear insert or liner that improves ventilation.
These, and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given hereinafter and from the accompanying drawings of the certain embodiments of the present invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention, but are for explanation, illustration and understanding only.
The present invention will be discussed hereinafter in detail in terms of various exemplary embodiments according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures are not shown in detail in order to avoid unnecessary obscuring of the present invention.
Thus, all implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” or “example”, and derivatives thereof, means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” or “example”, and derivatives thereof, is not necessarily and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Moreover, in the present description, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. It is also understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise. While this invention is satisfied by embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, one or more embodiments of the present invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as exemplary of the principles and aspects of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.
Referring now to
Various examples of existing baseball or golf hats 100, 200 and 300 are illustrated in
Existing hats provide various types of limited ventilation for a user's head. In one example, back panels are made with, for example, a net-like mesh for extra ventilation, as shown in
Bill 120 is generally constructed of two pieces of fabric with a piece of cardboard or plastic sandwiched in between. Most bills 120 can be curved to a user's liking and to their face. However, some bills are intended to remain flat based on style or preference.
Crown 130 is the front portion of a hat that touches a user's forehead. A typical crown 130 includes a base 132 that connects to a bill 120 and extends upwardly around or close to the contour of a user's forehead. There are, generally, two types of crowns 130, structured or unstructured. A structured hat has backing on the inside portion of the crown so that it holds its shape. An unstructured cap doesn't have any stiff backing so that the crown sits low and fits more to the shape of a user's head.
Most hats also include a sweatband (e.g. 160 in
There are some sweatbands available that may be removably attached to the inside of a hat. These types of sweatbands are focused on catching or absorbing more sweat or moisture than the typical sweatbands permanently affixed to the inside of hats. These sweatbands are inserted into the front portion of a hat and used to further reduce the amount of sweat running down the forehead and into a user's eyes or sunglasses. However, these existing sweatbands are not concerned with improving the ventilation within the interior of a hat to, for example, assist in reducing the amount of sweat created in the first place.
Referring to
In one embodiment, ventilation insert or liner 400 may include a plurality of vertical vents 420 extending from bottom 406 to top edge 408. In one example, vertical vents 420 may be tubular in shape. As illustrated in
As shown in
Referring to
As shown in
Ventilation insert may be removably coupled to the inside of a hat as, for example, a standard crown insert between the existing sweatband 160 permanently affixed to the bottom edge and inside of hats and a user's forehead. In one example illustrated in
In another example, ventilation insert or liner 400 could be tucked in between the front crown panels and the existing sweatband permanently affixed to the bottom edge and inside of a hat. In an alternative embodiment, headwear insert may be removably coupled to the inside of hat by an adhesive. In this example, a backing paper is peeled off from at least a portion of back side to expose an adhesive affixed to back side. In this example, back side has an adhesive material to affix to, for example, a sweatband or headband or a hat. In other examples, ventilation insert may be removably coupled to the inside of a hat by, for example, a plurality of male/female snaps, different shaped hook and loop fasteners, button and hole fasteners, tacky attachment tape with adhesive on both sides, magnetic attachments, or any other known means of releasably or removably attaching headwear insert to the inside surface of a hat.
In another example, ventilation insert or liner 400 may include a sweatband 820 (as illustrated in
In another example, ventilation insert or liner 400 may noticeably display a hat's logo, symbol, trademark, or design positioned on a hat's crown. The ventilation insert or liner 400 allows for a structural vertical support for a hat that is positioned upright relative to the hat without the headwear insert or liner 400. The upright position increases the aesthetic appeal of the hat and increases air-flow through the headwear insert or liner 400. In this example, the headwear insert or liner is positioned such that the crown of the hat is formed to the structure of the ventilation insert or liner. As a result, the crown of the hat has a structure that may remove wrinkles, creases, or otherwise increase the appeal of the hat.
In another example, ventilation insert or liner 400 has a thickness that reduces any gaps between the hat and a wearer's forehead. In this example, the hat is loosely fit to the wearer's head without the headwear insert or liner 400. Ventilation insert or liner 400 bridges the gap between any discrepancies in dimensions of a person's head and the hat to create a snug fit for the hat wearer. Different thickness dimensions of the headwear insert or liner 400 may be useful to accommodate different size hats or desired fitting of a hat owner.
In another example, ventilation insert or liner 400 may contain additional features such as being crack resistant, odorless, durable, dust resistant, and/or weather resistant. The additional features may apply individually or in combination based, at least in part, on the materials used or the preferences of the hat owner.
A ventilation insert constructed in accordance one or more aspects of the present invention may be constructed and configured to restore, maintain or renew the crown shape or integrity of a hat. In other examples, ventilation insert may be include one or more of the following features and/or characteristics: environmentally friendly, odorless, dust proof, and/or weather resistant.
While several aspects of the present invention have been described and depicted herein, alternative aspects may be effected by those skilled in the art to accomplish the same objectives. Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such alternative aspects as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A ventilation insert for headwear, said ventilation insert comprising: a top edge, a bottom edge, a back side extending between the bottom edge and the top edge, a forehead side opposite the back side, the forehead side extending between the bottom edge and the top edge, and at least one vertical vent extending from the bottom edge to the top edge.
2. The ventilation insert for headwear of claim 1, wherein said vertical vent includes a first opening at the bottom edge, a second opening at the top edge and a passageway extending therebetween.
3. The ventilation insert for headwear of claim 1, said vent insert comprising a plurality of vertical vents extending from the bottom edge to the top edge.
4. The ventilation insert for headwear of claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of vertical vents including a first opening at the bottom edge, a second opening at the top edge and a passageway extending therebetween.
5. The ventilation insert for headwear of claim 1, wherein said vent insert is configured to removably couple to said headwear, said headwear including a lower rim and an interior surface defining an interior space, wherein the first opening of said vertical vent is proximate the lower rim and the second opening is in fluid communication with the interior space of said headwear.
6. The ventilation insert for headwear of claim 5, wherein the back side of said vent insert is configured to be removably coupled to at least the portion of the interior surface proximate the lower rim of said headwear.
7. The ventilation insert for headwear of claim 6, wherein the back side of said vent insert is removeably coupled to the portion of the inner circumference of the base of the crown of said headwear by hook and look fasteners.
8. A ventilation insert for aftermarket insertion into a hat of various kind, the hat including a plurality of panels forming an outer surface and an interior space having an inner surface, a crown formed by one or more of the plurality of panels in front of the hat, the crown including a base with a bottom rim and an inner circumference on the inner surface, and a bill extending from the bottom rim of the crown, said ventilation insert comprising:
- a top edge;
- a bottom edge;
- a back side extending between the bottom edge and the top edge, said back side configured to removeably couple to the inner circumference on the inner surface of the base of the crown of the hat;
- a forehead side opposite the back side and facing the interior space of the hat, said forehead side extending between the bottom edge and the top edge;
- a plurality of vertical vents, each of said plurality of vertical vents including a first opening at the bottom edge, a second opening at the top edge and a passageway extending therebetween.
9. The ventilation insert of claim 8, wherein the first opening is positioned proximate the bottom rim near the bill of the hat.
10. The ventilation insert of claim 9, wherein the second opening is positioned within the interior space of the hat.
11. The ventilation insert of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of vertical vents are tubular.
12. The ventilation insert of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of vertical vents are tubular straws.
13. A ventilation insert for headwear to increase ventilation, the vent insert comprising:
- a top edge;
- a bottom edge;
- a back side;
- a front side; and
- at least one ventilation structure, said at least one ventilation structure extending between said tope edge and said bottom edge.
14. The ventilation insert of claim 13, wherein the at least one ventilation structure is cylindrical and has at least one aperture along the length of the cylinder.
15. The ventilation insert of claim 13, wherein the at least one ventilation structure is positioned on the front side and the back side is comprised of a connection material to connect the back side of the vent insert to an inside crown of headwear.
16. The ventilation insert of claim 13, wherein the vent insert is interchangeable between two or more headwear devices.
17. The ventilation insert of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of ventilation structures that are aligned parallel to each other and positioned on the front side, wherein the plurality of ventilation structures substantially extends between the top edge and bottom edge.
18. The ventilation structure of claim 17, wherein the plurality of ventilation structures are spaced apart to flex evenly around any forehead shape.
19. The ventilation insert of claim 13, wherein the at least one ventilation structure is comprised of a first opening in fluid communication with a second opening.
20. The ventilation insert of claim 19, wherein the first opening is positioned proximate to the brim of a hat, and the second opening is positioned within the headwear.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 9, 2020
Publication Date: Jan 13, 2022
Inventor: Allan Bo ANDERSSON (Cambridge, NY)
Application Number: 16/924,705