Tubular head covering with flexible visor

Abstract

A head covering includes a tube of elastic fabric having an upper open circumferential edge and a lower open circumferential edge. A visor made of an elastic deformable material has a curved inner edge, the curved inner edge having a pair of opposite ends. The visor is attached to and extends partly around the lower open circumferential edge of the tube.

Description

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates in general, to hats or caps, and in particular, to a new and useful tubular head covering with a flexible visor.

[0002] Sport caps with visors are known. The visors are made of a stiff material which may be synthetic or natural. There are also visors made of cardboard which are then covered with cap material. If the visor of well-known sport caps is to have a good form stability, the stiffness is so great that it has only limited pliability. In a situation of impact stress, the visor will bend or even break. In sport games involving balls these types of caps can even cause head injuries.

[0003] The inventor of the present invention is also the inventor of the sport cap disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No . 5,754,983 which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0004] A light-weight tubular head covering called the BUFF (a trademark) head covering is also known. This product, which is distributed by Caviro SL of Igualada (Barcelona) Spain, can be viewed at www.originalbuff.com. It comprises a tube of elastic fabric, e.g. of nylon, rayon, spandex, polyester, or the like, or blends thereof, which has open opposite ends. One end is expanded and placed around the wearer's head to act like a brim or head band. The opposite end can be left loose to fall back over the wearer's head, or it can be tucked under the brim at the back or side of the wearer's head, or it can be worn in a variety of other modes.

[0005] The BUFF head covering has the limitation of having no visor, however.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a head covering which associates the versatility, elasticity and light-weight of the BUFF product with the advantages of a visor, such as shade over the eyes and a handy structure for dawning and removing the head covering, but without adversely effecting the advantages of either. To this end a flexible visor such as that disclosed in the inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,983, is attached around the front portion at one end of the tube.

[0007] A stiff visor of the prior art would not be appropriate since it would greatly increase the weight of the head covering and make it difficult to fold up and store, ease and compactness of storage being one of the many advantaged of the BUFF product.

[0008] The visor is made of an elastic deformable, e.g., foam material as used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,983 (e.g. neoprene). The visor has an inner edge having a pair of opposite ends. The visor is attached to the lower edge of the elastic tube by aligning the visor with the edge and attaching visor, e.g. by sewing.

[0009] An especially advantageous characteristic of the invention lies in the fact that the visor, although flexible, seems to be stiff and holds its arcuate shape, because it is stiffened by being curving around the wearer's head. In use, therefore, the visor looks well formed and rigid, but is actually soft and flexible.

[0010] The visor is cut out or punched out of a normal neoprene or other foam rubber plate, or other soft material. The visor is crushable any number of times and always returns to its original smooth form without leaving any traces of fold or wrinkle marks. Once the head covering is placed on the head, as seen from the top, the visor takes on a convex curvature in such a way that the front edge of the visor is curved into an arch.

[0011] This gives the visor a sufficiently high form stability but it remains pliably elastic so that at impact or hitting against a resistance it can flip up or downwardly without causing any injury to the head of the wearer. Once the stress impact on the visor ceases, the visor springs back to its arched original position.

[0012] Although the visor as described in the invention can have an especially long length, i.e. extending out a long distance from the front of the head, it cannot collapse due to its curvature. The head covering can be crunched together into a very small package size and put into a trouser pocket, for example without leaving any folds or creases when it is placed on the head again. The neoprene foam rubber material also has the advantage of being absolutely water resistant making it especially suitable for all types of outdoor activities.

[0013] The sewing-on procedure may be done in two steps, whereby the sewing should be started in the middle and the first half, up to the end of the inner edge of the visor, is sewn onto the lower open edge of the tube. The other half of the inner edge of the visor is then sewn on the same way starting from the middle point.

[0014] Accordingly, another object of the invention is to provide a head covering that includes a tube of elastic fabric having an upper open circumferential edge and a lower open circumferential edge. A visor made of an elastic deformable material has a curved inner edge, the curved inner edge having a pair of opposite ends. The visor is attached to and extends partly around the lower open circumferential edge of the tube.

[0015] The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In the Drawings:

[0017] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a head covering according to the present invention, show folded flat on its side and as if it is lying flat on a surface, before it is placed on the head of a wearer;

[0018] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the head covering of FIG. 1, folded flat at its front;

[0019] FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the head covering of the invention, shown on a wearer in one mode of use; and

[0020] FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, of the head covering of the invention shown in another mode of use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0021] Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows head covering 10 of the present invention which comprises a tube of light-weight, flexible and elastic fabric 12, with an upper open circumferential edge 14 and a lower open circumferential edge 16. The fabric 12 is show lying on its side and flat on a surface so that it look rectangular. If opened it forms a “stove pipe” shape with open circular top and bottom openings.

[0022] A visor 18, made of an elastic deformable material such as neoprene, has a curved inner edge 20 shown for example, in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The curved inner edge has a pair of opposite ends 22 and 24 and the visor is attached to, and extends partly, e.g. ½ the way around the lower open circumferential edge 16 of the tube 12 at the inner edge 20 of the visor and between the opposite ends of the visor.

[0023] The visor is attached to the lower open circumferential edge of the tube by sewing or any other known attachment mechanism.

[0024] The tube has at least one longitudinal seam 26 extending between the lower open circumferential edge 16 and the upper open circumferential edge 14 of the tube 12. One end 22 of the visor 18 is aligned with the seam 26. Alternatively a pair of seams 26 are provided on opposite sides of the tube 12, or, in another alternative, no seams are present. In this case the tube 12 can be knit on a circular knitting machine and requires no longitudinal seam.

[0025] The visor has a thickness of at least 3 mm to provide sufficient apparent stiffness and so that the visor is self-supporting and retains its shape while being worn as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0026] In FIG. 3, the top part of the tube 12 is simply allowed to flow over the top and back of the wearer's head and left loose. In the mode of FIG. 4, the top part of the tube is tucked under the brim or head band formed by the lower open edge 16 of the tube.

[0027] The fabric of the tube 12 is sufficiently elastic to stretch and allow the edge 16 to be placed around the wearer's head in a one-size-fits-all manner.

[0028] While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

Claims

1. A head covering comprising:

a tube of elastic fabric having an upper open circumferential edge and a lower open circumferential edge; and

a visor made of an elastic deformable material, the visor having a curved inner edge, the curved inner edge having a pair of opposite ends, the visor being attached to and extending partly around the lower open circumferential edge of the tube at the inner edge of the visor and between the opposite ends of the visor.

2. The head covering of claim 1, wherein the visor is attached to the lower open circumferential edge by sewing.

3. The head covering of claim 1, wherein the visor is made of neoprene.

4. The head covering of claim 1, wherein the tube has at least one longitudinal seam extending between the lower open circumferential edge and the upper open circumferential edge of the tube.

5. The head covering of claim 4, wherein one end of the visor is aligned with the seam.

6. The head covering of claim 1, wherein the visor has a thickness of at least 3 mm.