Shape-maintenance cap

Abstract

Disclosed is a shape-maintenance cap which has features in that the exterior of a cap transformed by an external impact can be recovered to its original shape. The present invention comprises a body part of a cap formed of at least one molded sheet and a brim part which is attached to a front side of the body part, by which it is possible to maintain the shape of a cap without using a shape-maintenance member like a wire or something.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shape-maintenance cap which can maintain a shape of a body part of a cap, and in particular to a shape-maintenance cap which makes it possible to continuously maintain the exterior of a crown which used to be easily transformed.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally speaking, a cap represents a baseball type cap and comprises a crown part corresponding to a body part of a cap made with a plurality of panels, a brim part which is attached to a front lower side of a crown part, a headband which is attached to a lower surrounding portion of an inner portion of a crown part, and a size adjusting part which is provided at a back lower side of a crown part and has a cap size adjusting function depending on the size of a user's head. A user wears a cap so as to protect his face from a sunshine in an outdoor space. In recent years, many people regard caps as fashion items so as to express their fashions in daily lives in all ages.

However, the conventional cap has a problem in that when a user carries a cap in a hand or a certain impact is applied to an outer side of a cap, a crown part covering the top of a user's head easily sinks, as a result of which the whole portions of the crown part of a cap fails to keep its original shape, which makes the cap look bad. The user who regards the cap as part of his fashion urgently needs a new cap which can maintain an original shape of a crown part.

In order to improve the above mentioned problems, a new cap is developed, in which a shape-maintenance member is added to an inner side of the crown part or a wire is inserted into between the panels which form the crown part.

In case that a shape-maintenance member is provided in the crown part, a user may feel an increased load in a head and a neck because the shape-maintenance member is further added, and it takes a longer time to manufacture such caps along with complicated manufacture processes.

In case that a wire is inserted into between the panels, the inserted wire may protrude out of the panels, which increases dangers.

As another improvement, a new cap is developed, the shape of which can be maintained in an original form with the aid of a press molding which uses a foamed sponge. However, the above mentioned cap has problems in that the exterior may look bad because of the increased thickness of the sponge, and it is impossible to satisfy the user who regards the cap as part of the fashion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shape-maintenance cap which improves the problems encountered in the conventional art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a shape-maintenance cap which makes it possible to recover the exterior of a cap which is transformed by an external impact to its original shape.

It is further another object of the present invention to provide a shape-maintenance cap which can enhance the esthetic sense of a cap which is made with a foamed sponge without manufacturing a cap in a thicker form.

To achieve the above objects, there is provided a shape-maintenance cap comprising a molded sheet 10 formed in such a way that a TPU (Thermo Plastic Polyurethane) film is disclosed between an upper fabric 11 and a lower fabric 13; a body part of a cap formed of at least one molded sheet 10; and a brim part 20 which is attached to a front lower portion of the body part.

The shape-maintenance cap according to the present invention has advantages in that a user's head and neck feel lighter when wearing the cap thanks to the decreased weight of the cap since a wire or a shape-maintenance member is not used in the present invention.

In addition, the shape-maintenance cap according to the present invention makes it possible to enhance an esthetic sense of a cap thanks to a shape-maintenance function by which the transformed cap can be recovered to its original shape even when an external impact is applied because the cap is made from a material which is thin like an EVA or a sponge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given only by way of illustration and thus are not limitative of the present invention, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a shape-maintenance cap according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plane view illustrating a shape-maintenance cap according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cut-away cross sectional view illustrating a molded sheet according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plane view illustrating a shape-maintenance cap according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The shape-maintenance cap according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shape-maintenance cap according to the present invention comprises a body part of a cap made with at least one molded sheet 10, and a brim part 20 which is attached to a front portion of the body part. Since the molded sheet 10 belongs to the whole portions or part of the body part which is placed on the head of a user, the molded sheet 10 can be formed depending on the shape of the user's head. The above mentioned formation can be part or the whole portions of the semicircular configuration, one side of which is open, depending on the shape of the user's head.

As shown in FIG. 3, the molded sheet 10 belonging to the body part of the cap is formed as an upper fabric 11, a TPU (Thermo Plastic Polyurethane) film 12 and a lower fabric 13 are adhered together and molded. Here, the TPU has a high elastic force and a good anti-abrasion performance with respect to an external impact. Since it has a low brittleness temperature, the product made from the same can be used under an extreme temperature environment. It also has a good oil resistance and a good elongation thanks to an increased elastic force as compared to other materials. According to the known data, the TPU has above 600% elongation and can be molded in various methods. The molded sheet 10 is formed of an upper fabric 11 positioned at the upper side, a TPU film 12 positioned at an intermediate portion, and a lower fabric 13 positioned at the lower side. It is preferred that the upper fabric 11 is made from a flexible woven fabric.

The polyurethane (PU) may be used instead of the woven fabric. It is preferred that the lower fabric is formed of a flexible woven fabric; however it can be formed of a knitted fabric. In the molded sheet 1 with a certain pattern, the pattern determined depending on the shape of the user's head and the sheet are previously made using a mold, and the heat from a heat is supplied to the sheet, and the mold is placed on the sheet to which heat is supplied, and they are compressed by a press machine, so a molded sheet 10 with a desired pattern and a certain size can be manufactured.

The procedure that the above described molded sheet is manufactured will be described as follows.

The upper fabric 11, the TPU film 12 and the lower fabric 13 are sequentially adhered together, and heat of 100-150° C. is supplied for 3 minutes to them so as to make the TPU film 12 transformable, and the materials are compressed using the mold with a pattern. When the mold is removed, the upper fabric 11, the lower fabric 13 and the molten TPU film 12 harden for thereby forming a desired pattern.

As best seen in FIG. 4, the molded sheet 10 with the pattern can belong to part or the whole portions of the body part of the cap.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described examples are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalences of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A shape-maintenance cap, comprising:

a body part of a cap which is formed of at least one molded sheet; and

a brim part which is attached to a front lower side of the body part of the cap, the molded sheet comprising:

an upper fabric;

a TPU film (Thermo Plastic Polyurethane) film; and

a lower fabric, and

the molded sheet is molded as heat is supplied hereto, so the shape of a crown of the cap can be maintained even when an external impact is supplied thereto.