Elastic headwear
Elastic headwear has a head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof, and a sun shield connected to the head covering portion. The sun shield is stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion. The elastic headwear is capable of stretching throughout its whole portion since the sun shield as well as the head covering portion can stretch in the circumferential direction.
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- (a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to elastic headwear, and more particularly, to elastic headwear that can accommodate a wider range of head sizes.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Conventional elastic headwear, such as a cap and a hat, includes an elastic crown portion and a stiffened sun shield that is coupled to the elastic crown portion. The elastic crown portion of the headwear is composed of a plurality of pieces that can stretch in a circumferential direction to accommodate a variety of head sizes. However, because the stiffened sun shield is not stretchable, the amount that the elastic crown portion can stretch is limited. That is, since the stiffened sun shield encompasses a part of the circumference of the crown portion of a hat, the crown portion cannot be freely stretched. In a baseball cap, front pieces of the crown portion, to which the stiffened sun shield is coupled, are stiffened in order to retain the shape of the headwear, and therefore only the remaining pieces of the crown portion can stretch according to the head size.
Therefore, the conventional elastic headwear fits a somewhat limited range of sizes due to the sun shield, so it cannot cover head sizes from children to adults.
Further, the stiffened sun shield may reduce the wear comfort because its edge is likely to press against the head of a wearer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn view of the prior art described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide elastic headwear having an elastic head covering portion being capable of stretching throughout its whole portion to accommodate a wider range of sizes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide elastic headwear having a comfortable fit regardless of head size.
To achieve these and other objects, as embodied and broadly described herein, elastic headwear includes: a head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof; and a sun shield connected to the head covering portion. The sun shield is stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion.
The sun shield preferably has an elastic cover and at least one stretchable interlining having a shape retaining property. The interlining preferably has at least one non-woven fabric layer of polyester and at least one polyurethane layer.
The elastic headwear preferably has a stretchable back lining, stitched or adhered to an inside of the head covering portion, for retaining a shape of the head covering portion.
The elastic headwear preferably has a stretchable sweatband connected to an interior circumference of the head covering portion. The stretchable sweatband comprises a plurality of line cutting sections. Each line cutting section is formed perpendicular to the circumferential direction.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of forming elastic headwear includes:
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- forming a head covering portion to be worn on a head of a wearer, the head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof; and
- forming a sun shield connected to the head covering portion, being stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion.
Both the foregoing general description and the following Detailed Description are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention:
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, where like numerals of reference designate like elements throughout.
Referring first to
The crown portion 10 has stretchability in at least a circumferential direction thereof, and can be made of elastic fabric or any kind of elastic material.
The sun shield 30 is also stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the crown portion, which is an arrow direction of
The material of the interlining 80 is elastic fabric or any kind of elastic material which can retain the shape of the sun shield 30. As shown in
The polyurethane layer 80b has high elasticity to give the stretchability to the sun shield 30.
Therefore, the sun shield has an interlining 80 to retain the shape thereof as well as to be stretchable.
Although the interlining 80 as shown in
The sewing threads 50, 70, and 90 are preferably selected from elastic yarns such as polyurethane covered yarns, polyurethane yarns, textured yarns, and high-twist yarns.
The sewing threads 50 have an upper thread 50a having a relatively high stretchablility and a bobbin thread 50b having a high stretchability. The upper thread 50a is preferably made of nylon series yarns, such as nylon 210D. The bobbin thread 50b is preferably made of polyurethane yarns.
The sewing threads 90 have an upper thread 90a having a high stretchablility and a bobbin thread 90b having a high stretchability. The upper thread 90a is preferably made of polyester 50's/3 yarns, and the bobbin thread 90b is preferably made of polyurethane covered yarns with a high stretchability.
When a wearer wears the hat as shown in
Referring to
Stretchable back linings 5 and 7 are stitched or adhered to the inside of the front pieces 1a and 1b of the crown portion 1 in order to retain the shape of the crown portion 1. The stretchable back linings 5 and 7 have stretchability in at least a circumferential direction of the crown portion 1. The material of the back linings 5 and 7 may be selected from stretch fabric or stretch synthetic resin.
The sun shield 3 is also stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the crown portion, which is an arrow direction of
The cap preferably has a stretchable sweatband 9 connected to an interior circumference of the crown portion, as shown in
When a wearer wears the cap as shown in
Referring now to
The rim portion 11 can be provided as either a single piece or as several pieces, which are stretchable in at least the circumferential direction.
The sun shield 31 is also stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the crown portion, which is an arrow direction of
It is possible to apply a stretchable back lining that is stitched or adhered to the inside of the rim portion 11 in order to retain the shape of the rim portion 11. A stretchable sweatband is also applicable to the interior circumference of the rim portion 11, although is not shown in the drawing. It is possible to use the stretchable sweatband shown in
Similar to the cap as shown in
Although it is not shown in the drawings, it is possible to apply a stretchable back lining that is stitched or adhered to the inside of the crown portion of a hat in order to retain the shape of the crown portion 10. A stretchable sweatband of
The present invention is not limited to the caps and hat described above, which merely show examples of a kind of application, and it may be applied to various other kinds of headwear.
As described above, according to elastic headwear of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, elastic headwear is capable of stretching throughout its whole portion since the sun shield as well as the head covering portion can stretch in the circumferential direction. The headwear has a wider stretch range accommodating a variety of head sizes from children to adults.
While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. Elastic headwear comprising:
- a head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof;
- a sun shield connected to the head covering portion, being stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion.
2. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, wherein the sun shield comprises:
- an elastic cover being stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion; and
- at least one interlining formed in the elastic cover, the interlining being stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion and having a shape retaining property.
3. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 2, wherein the interlining comprises:
- at least one non-woven fabric layer of polyester; and
- at least one polyurethane layer.
4. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
- stretchable sewing threads being stitched to connect the head covering portion with the sun shield.
5. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 2, further comprising:
- stretchable sewing threads being stitched to connect the cover with the interlining.
6. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
- a stretchable back lining being stitched or adhered to an inside of the head covering portion and retaining a shape of the head covering portion.
7. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
- a stretchable sweatband connected to an interior circumference of the head covering portion.
8. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 7, wherein the stretchable sweatband comprises a plurality of line cutting sections, each line cutting section being formed perpendicular to the circumferential direction.
9. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 7, further comprising:
- stretchable sewing threads being stitched to connect the head covering portion and the sun shield with the sweatband.
10. A method of forming elastic headwear, comprising:
- forming a head covering portion to be worn on a head of a wearer, the head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof; and
- forming a sun shield connected to the head covering portion, being stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion.
11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising:
- forming a stretchable back lining, which is stitched or adhered to an inside of the head covering portion, for retaining a shape of the head covering portion.
12. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising:
- forming a stretchable sweatband connected to an interior circumference of the head covering portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 15, 2005
Publication Date: Jul 21, 2005
Applicant: Yupoong, Inc. (Seoul)
Inventor: Byoung-Woo Cho (Yongin-city)
Application Number: 11/079,387