Ice Cap Or Ice Hat

Abstract

A cap or hat having a pocket accessible from the inside or outside of the cap or hat for holding a cold or hot gel pouch. The pocket has a top layer of a top outer ply and a top inner ply where the top inner ply has UV rays reflecting properties and a bottom layer of at least one ply where the bottom layer is a layer of insulation that partially insulated the cold or heat from the gel pouch from the head of a person wearing the cap. To accommodate the pocket which is provided to hold a soft sided gel pack that is especially designed to conform to the upper part of the wearers head, the cap has an extra deep dome which is obtained by providing side panels of the cap which are longer than the side panels of a prior art baseball type of cap.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a specially constructed insulated hat or a cap and more specifically to a hat or a cap that protects the wearer from the sun and includes an insulated pocket or receptacle for receiving a replaceable custom made gel pack that is designed to conform to the upper part of the wearers head. This helps and controls the temperature beneath the crown of the hat or cap and provides cooling or warming effect to the wearer and keeps a person wearing the hat warm on cold days or cool on hot days while working outdoors or participating in or viewing as a spectator an active sport game such as tennis, golf or team sports. In combination with the hat or cap, there is a storing pouch of soft sided insulating material for receiving at least one heated or pre-cooled gel filled pack that can be easily replaced with a gel pack in the hat or cap when it looses its heating or cooling effect.

2. Description of Related Art

Hats or caps that have pockets for receiving means for controlling the temperature of a wearer's head is known in the prior art. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2010/0,132,094 to Mullen discloses a removable washable liner system for head gear having a liner body with a base layer and a moisture layer that is attached to the inner surface.

U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2010/0083421 to CHO discloses a flexible plated cooling pack for headwear. The flexible plated cooling pack has an inner and outer synthetic resin film sheet bonded to each other and a coolant filled therein, wherein the outer synthetic resin film sheet has a shape respectively corresponding to a piece of the crown portion and a sweatband and the coolant is a gel. The flexible plated cooling pack may be disposed in an inner portion of the crown portion and the sweatband of the headwear or may be inserted in a pocket formed at an inner portion of the crown portion and the sweatband of the headwear.

U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2006/0277951 to Herr discloses a spacer-fabric sweatband for headwear which has an inner, skin-contact fabric layer, and an outer, headwear-facing fabric layer connected by a multiplicity of hydrophobic monofilament-pile spacing elements.

U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2006/0005291 to Bedford discloses a headwear which has inner and outer impact resistant parts nesting one with respect to the other and shaped to hold between them a replaceable pouch with a gel cooling or otherwise of a user.

U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2002/0035745 to Spell discloses a headwear that has a pouch portion which may be charged with ice. The ice drips from the pouch onto the neck of a person.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,807 to Hujar, et al., discloses a hat, cap, or helmet, including coolant means for cooling the head of the wearer. The coolant means is contained in one or more pouches comprised of two layers of different materials, the first or outer material being a thin material having good thermal transmissive properties, and the second or inner material having thermal insulative properties. The layers have an effect of absorbing heat from the head of the wearer.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,363 to Varanese discloses a hat having an inverted pocket adapted to receive and store a sealed container filled with a coolant, so as to provide a cooling effect to the forehead.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a cap or hat having a pocket accessible from the inside or outside of the cap or hat for holding a cold or hot gel pouch. The pocket has a top layer of a top outer ply and a top inner ply where the top inner ply has UV rays reflecting properties and a bottom layer of at least one ply where the bottom layer is a layer of insulation that partially insulated the cold or heat from the gel pouch from the head of a person wearing the cap. To accommodate the pocket which is provided to hold a soft sided gel pack that is especially designed to conform to the upper part of the wearers head, the cap has an extra deep dome which is obtained by providing side panels of the cap which are longer than the side panels of a prior art baseball type of cap.

The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a baseball type cap having a pocket located in the crown of the cap which is accessible from the inside of the cap on the head of a person for holding a cold/hot pack in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 looking from the center of the cap toward the back of the cap showing the gel pack located in the pocket of the cap;

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of a baseball type cap having a pocket located in the crown of the cap which is accessible from the outside of the cap for holding a cold/hot pack in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a ten gallon cowboy hat where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hat;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a floppy beach hat where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hat;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a hard hat where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hat; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of a snap brim fedora hat where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is disclosed a side perspective view of a baseball type cap having a pocket for holding a cold/hot pack located in the crown of the cap which is accessible from the inside of the cap on the head of a person in accordance to an embodiment of the invention. The baseball type of cap 10 includes a pocket which is located within the crown of the cap and is accessible from the inside of the cap. The opening to the pocket can be located at the front, back or at either side on the inside of the cap and can have a closure member such as a snap, a button or a hook and loop type of closing member to prevent a cold/hot pack in the pocket from falling out. The cold/hot pack can be heated to a temperature of between one hundred and two hundred and twelve degrees F. when the cap is to be worn on a cold day. In another embodiment, the cold/hot pack can be chilled to a temperature of between minus ten degrees to thirty four degrees F. when the cap is to be worn on a hot day.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a sectional view along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 looking from the center of the cap toward the back of the cap showing the gel pack 11 located in the pocket 12 of the cap. The pocket is made by attaching panels of cloth and insulation together at their edges by either stitching the edges together or using an adhesive to lock the edges together. An opening may be located at the front, a side or the back on the inside of the cap for receiving a cold/hot pack. A closing means such as a zipper, a button, snaps or a hook and loop type of closure can be used to close the opening to prevent the cold/hot pack from falling out of the pocket when the cap is taken off a user's head.

The pocket consists of a bottom layer 14 of at least one ply 16 and preferably two plies, a bottom inner ply 16, and a bottom outer ply 18, and the top layer 20 consists of at least two plies, a top inner ply 22 and a top outer ply 24. When the bottom layer has only a single ply, the ply may be a layer of insulation such as a sheet of foam insulation which has sufficient thickness to partially insulate the wearer's scalp from direct contact with a gel pack that is either hot or cold. In the embodiment where the bottom layer has two plies, the bottom outer ply 18 can be the cloth layer of the cap that contacts the wearer's head.

The top layer 20 consists of at least two plies 22, 24 where the top inner ply 22 is a layer of insulation which it thicker than the insulation layer 16 on the bottom layer and the top layer which is located above the top outer ply 24 is the outer cloth layer of the cap. The top outer ply 24 of insulation has UV rays reflecting properties.

To accommodate the pocket 12 which is provided to hold a soft sided gel pack that is especially designed to conform to the crown of the hat, the cap has an extra deep dome which is obtained by providing side panels 26 of the cap which are longer than the side panels of a prior art baseball type of cap (see FIG. 1).

The pocket 12 in the dome of the cap can have an opening along its front, back or at a side where an opening which faces the front of the cap is preferred. To provide an opening that can be selectively closed to prevent a gel pack from falling out of the pocket when the cap is not being worn, a zipper, button, snap, loop and hook type of fastener, etc. can be used.

An insulated soft sided container can be provided for storing at least one previously cooled or heated soft sided hot/cold gel pack which can be placed in the pocket when the current gel pack becomes exhausted to allow a cap or hat to be use for an extended period of time.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a side perspective view of a baseball type cap having a pocket located in the crown of the cap which is accessible from the inside of the cap for holding a hot/cold pack in accordance with the principles of the invention. In this embodiment the pocket 12 located in the crown of the cap is accessible from an opening which is located within the cap. A zipper, or a hook and loop type of closure can be used to selectively open and close the opening to the pocket.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown is a side view of a ten gallon cowboy hat 30 where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hat and the selectively closable opening to the pocket is located within the hat.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a side view of a floppy beach hat 40 where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hat and the selectively closable opening to the pocket is located within the hat.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a side view of a hard hat 60 where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hard hat and the selectively closable opening to the pocket is located within the hard hat.

Referring to FIG. 7 is a side view of a snap brim fedora 70 where a pocket for holding a replaceable gel pack is located in the crown of the hat and the selectively closable opening to the pocket is located within the hat.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.

Claims

1. A cap or hat for holding a cold or hot gel pouch comprising:

a pocket having a top layer of at least a top outer ply and a top inner ply; and

a bottom layer of at least one ply;

wherein the top inner ply has UV rays reflecting properties; and

wherein the bottom layer is a layer of insulation that partially insulated the cold or heat from the gel pouch from the head of a person wearing the cap or hat.

2. The cap or hat of claim 1 wherein the cap has an oversize deep dome.

3. The cap or hat of claim 2 wherein the side panels of the cap are longer than the side panels of a prior art baseball type of cap.

4. The cap or hat of claim 2 wherein the inner ply of the top layer is a sheet of insulation.

5. The cap or hat of claim 4 wherein the sheet of insulation is foam insulation.

6. The cap or hat of claim 2 wherein the top outer ply of the top layer is the outer layer of the cap or hat.

7. The cap or hat of claim 2 wherein the pocket has an opening that is accessible from the inside of the cap or hat.

8. The cap or hat of claim 2 wherein the pocket has an opening that is accessible from the front of the cap.

9. The cap or hat of claim 2 wherein the bottom layer has a bottom outer ply of cloth attached to the layer of insulation.