Expandable cap rack
A cap rack is designed for storing and/or displaying baseball style caps in either a horizontal or vertical orientation on a vertical surface. The cap rack is designed to have a cap support unit comprising a hemispherically-shaped cap support section continuous with a base attachment section. The cap support unit is secured to a single base unit or expandable base unit by insertion of base attachment hooks into base unit apertures. A plurality of cap racks having expandable base units can be interconnected in a vertical and/or horizontal orientation using a 4-way connector, a 90 degree connector, or a linear connector.
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIXNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCollecting and displaying baseball style caps, i.e., soft-head, hard brim caps, is a popular hobby. Baseball style caps, worn during sporting and leisure activities, display information including names, logos, and other such indicia. The baseball style caps are constructed to comprise a soft-head component having a button at its crown, an adjustable strap along its back, and a hard brim component. Such construction of the baseball style caps allows for a variety of cap rack designs for storage and/or display of the caps. In general, baseball style caps can be placed on the racks using sections of the soft-head component of the cap or using the hard brim component of the cap. With regard to using the hard brim component, U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,073 discloses a cap holder apparatus in which the hard brim is clamped to the rack. To generate or maintain curvature of the hard brim component, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,758,779, 6,311,879 B1, and 6,422,401 B1 disclose cap holders with apertures (U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,779), slots (U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,879 B1), or sleeves (U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,401 B1); the hard brim is rolled and inserted into the aperture, slot, or sleeve. With regard to using the soft-head component of the cap for placement of a baseball style cap on a cap rack, U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,123 discloses a baseball style cap holder wherein the cap is attached to the rack by means of the crown button. U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,144 discloses placement of a baseball style cap on a rack by means of a slot, wherein the soft-head component of the baseball style cap is folded such that the rear portion is reversed and retained within the front portion forming a planar fold line; this planar fold line is received within the slot in the rack. U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,206 discloses a rack comprising a plurality of hooks, wherein placement of the baseball style cap is by means of hanging the adjustable strap of the soft-head component of the cap over a hook. U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,588 discloses an expandable display type rack with cap body supporting pairs of vertical rods and horizontal rods, which are perpendicular to the vertical rods. The cap is displayed by hanging the soft-head component over a rod. U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,909 discloses a rack comprising a base, a cap support having a hemispheric shape to maintain the shape of the soft-head component of the cap and which is sized to securely hold and display the cap, and a base/cap support attachment rod. An additional feature of this rack is the ability to attach the base/cap support attachment rod to the base in either a vertical or horizontal orientation. This feature provides flexibility in mounting the rack on a surface, such as a door or wall, either vertically or horizontally. U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,894 also discloses a cap rack comprising a base and a cap support having a hemispheric shape. Other features of this cap rack include the ability to expand the cap rack horizontally and/or vertically on a horizontal or vertical surface.
The above-mentioned cap racks, and cap racks in general, are designed to have a plurality of cap supports fixed in permanent positions at predetermined intervals along the length of a rack base. In addition, the caps racks are typically designed for attachment to a vertical surface, such as a wall or door, and accommodation of additional caps for storage and/or display is typically limited to linear expansion of cap racks. In the above-mentioned cap racks which do allow for flexibility in positioning of the cap along the length of the rack base, the cap racks require numerous components to provide for this flexibility.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTo overcome the aforementioned limitations, the present invention cap rack is comprised of two components, a cap support unit and a base. The cap rack is designed for attachment to a flat vertical surface, such as a door or wall, in a horizontal and/or vertical orientation. In addition, the cap rack is expandable horizontally and/or vertically, and the cap support units can be removed and repositioned along the length of the base of the rack at a desired position. In a first embodiment, the cap rack of the present invention comprises the following basic components:
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- a) a single base unit having a rectangular surface, said rectangular surface having screw sleeves for securement to a vertical surface, apertures for receiving the cap support unit, top and bottom end surfaces, and left and right end surfaces, and
- b) a cap support unit comprising a hemispherically-shaped cap support section continuous with a base attachment unit.
In a second embodiment, the cap rack of the present invention comprises the following basic components:
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- a) an expandable base unit having a rectangular surface, said rectangular surface having screw sleeves for securement to a vertical surface, apertures for receiving the cap support unit, top and bottom end surfaces, and
- b) a cap support unit comprising a hemispherically-shaped cap support section continuous with a base attachment unit.
It is a first object of the invention to provide a cap rack for storing and displaying a baseball style cap in a manner that retains the hemispherical shape of the soft-head component of the cap. It is a second object of the invention to provide a cap rack in which a plurality of baseball style caps can be stored and displayed at desired positions along the length of the base of the cap rack. It is a third object of the invention to provide a cap rack that can be mounted to a vertical surface in a horizontal and/or vertical orientation. It is a fourth object of the invention to provide a cap rack which can be expanded in vertical and/or horizontal orientations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 3A-B are perspective views of the front of the single base unit and the front of the expandable base unit, respectively.
FIGS. 4A-B are perspective views of the rear of the single base unit and the rear of the expandable base unit, respectively.
FIGS. 6A-C are perspective views of connectors used in interconnecting cap racks horizontally and/or vertically.
FIGS. 7A-B show front elevational views of interconnected cap racks.
The cap rack of the present invention is designed to allow a plurality of baseball style caps to be store and/or displayed such that the hemispherical shape of the soft-head component is maintained. In addition, the present invention is designed to provide flexibility in positioning the caps along the length of the cap rack base and flexibility in spatially orienting the cap rack horizontally and/or vertically on a vertical surface. All components of the cap rack can be manufactured using metal, plastic, or wood materials. Most preferably, the components of the cap rack are manufactured using plastic materials.
The cap rack is comprised of a cap support unit and either a single base unit or an expandable base unit. Referring to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention and not limiting same,
Illustrations of the single base unit 40 and expandable base unit 50 are shown in
Similar to the single base unit, the expandable base unit 50, shown in
FIGS. 4A-B are perspective views of the back of the rectangular surface of the single base unit 40 and expandable base unit 50, respectively. The back of the rectangular surface 41 of single base unit, as shown in
Because there are no end surfaces on the expandable base unit, a plurality of cap racks having expandable base units can be interconnected horizontally and/or vertically by means of 4-way connectors (
Interconnecting two cap racks 10 at a 90 degree angle from each other is by means of a 90 degree connector. As shown in
For linear extension of cap racks 10 in either a horizontal or vertical orientation, a linear connector, as shown in
The insert projections of the 4-way connector, 90 degree connector or linear connector can be constructed as solid or hollow projections. Other configurations of the insert projections of the connectors can be utilized for expansion of the cap racks of the instant invention.
As discussed above, the cap rack is designed to accommodate up to five cap support units. To increase the number of baseball style caps stored and/or displayed, the cap racks are interconnected by means of 4-way connectors, linear connectors, or 90 degree connectors. Expansion of the cap rack by means of connectors provides flexibility in the design and configuration of cap racks mounted on vertical surfaces.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it will be understood that the preferred embodiments are provided by way of example only. Variations, changes, and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. An expandable cap rack, said expandable cap rack comprising a plurality of individual cap racks, said individual cap racks each comprising
- a) an expandable base unit, said expandable base unit having i) a rectangular surface, said rectangular surface comprising five attachment sets equidistant along the length of said rectangular surface, and wherein each attachment set is comprised of four apertures surrounding a screw sleeve, ii) an upper edge surface, and iii) a lower edge surface;
- b) a cap support unit, said cap support unit having a hemispherically-shaped cap support section and a base attachment section; and
- c) a means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical and/or horizontal orientation, said means selected from the group consisting of a) a 4-way connector, b) a 90 degree connector, and c) a linear connector.
2. The expandable cap rack of claim 1 wherein said means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical and horizontal orientation is a 4-way connector.
3. The expandable cap rack of claim 1 wherein said means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical and horizontal orientation is a 90 degree connector.
4. The expandable cap rack of claim 1 wherein said means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical or horizontal orientation is a linear connector.
5. An expandable cap rack, said expandable cap rack comprising a plurality of individual cap racks, said individual cap racks each comprising
- a) an expandable base unit, said expandable base unit having i) a rectangular surface, said rectangular surface comprising five attachment sets equidistant along the length of said rectangular surface, and wherein each attachment set is comprised of four apertures surrounding a screw sleeve, ii) an upper edge surface, and iii) a lower edge surface;
- b) a cap support unit, said cap support unit having a hemispherically-shaped cap support section and a base attachment section wherein said base attachment section is continuous with the cap support section, and wherein the base attachment section is comprised of two parallel plates, each parallel plate having a hook extending outward and upward therefrom, and wherein said hook is dimensioned for insertion into the aperture of the expandable base unit; and
- c) a means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical and/or horizontal orientation, said means selected from the group consisting of a) a 4-way connector, b) a 90 degree connector, and c) a linear connector.
6. The expandable cap rack of claim 5 wherein said means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical and horizontal orientation is a 4-way connector.
7. The expandable cap rack of claim 5 wherein said means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical and horizontal orientation is a 90 degree connector.
8. The expandable cap rack of claim 5 wherein said means for interconnecting a plurality of said individual cap racks in a vertical or horizontal orientation is a linear connector.
9. A cap rack, said cap rack comprising
- a) a single base unit, said single base unit having i) a rectangular surface, said rectangular surface comprising five attachment sets equidistant along the length of said rectangular surface, and wherein each attachment set is comprised of four apertures surrounding a screw sleeve, ii) upper and lower edge surfaces, and iii) right and left edge surfaces; and
- b) a cap support unit, said cap support unit having a hemispherically-shaped cap support section and a base attachment section.
10. A cap rack, said cap rack comprising
- a) a single base unit, said single base unit having i) a rectangular surface, said rectangular surface comprising five attachment sets equidistant along the length of said rectangular surface, and wherein each attachment set is comprised of four apertures surrounding a screw sleeve, ii) upper and lower edge surfaces, and iii) right and left edge surfaces; and
- b) a cap support unit, said cap support unit having a hemispherically-shaped cap support section and a base attachment section, wherein said base attachment section is continuous with the cap support section, and wherein the base attachment section is comprised of two parallel plates, each parallel plate having a hook extending outward and upward therefrom, and wherein said hook is dimensioned for insertion into the aperture of the single base unit.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 20, 2005
Publication Date: Feb 22, 2007
Inventor: Scott Aiken (Georgetown, DE)
Application Number: 11/207,699
International Classification: A47G 25/10 (20060101);