Means for moveable bills or brims of caps and hats
A unique fashion or sports hat or cap assemblage having a brim or bill/visor, distinctly designed with a sliding mechanism to rotate the brim or bill/visor up to 360 degrees without detachment from the crown of the cap or hat, including interchangeable and multiple options for the crown, body and visor portions and in which the sliding mechanism is attached to a headband and the headband in turn attached to an intermediate elastic material also attached to the periphery of the crown.
This Appln claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional No. 60/137,551 filed Jun. 4, 1999.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to hats and caps used as headwear, and more specifically to hats and caps having one or more bills or brims that also may be moved or rotated to various positions around the circumference of the crown of the headwear without detaching the bill or brim from the headwear.
This invention is an improvement over that described in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,534 issued Feb. 10, 1998 (Mobley), which describes headwear having a detachable bill or even a full brim that can be repositioned relative to the crown of the headwear while wearing the headwear and without detaching the brim or bill from the crown. It also describes unitary headwear that can give the appearance of being at least two separate hats and in which two or more bills or brims can be repositioned relative to balance of the headwear, such that neither the headwear nor the bills or brims need be removed from the headwear to be repositioned. As described in that patent, the ability to position easily one or more bills or fuller brims on a hat allows the wearer to adjust them to optimize their shading effect and protection from elements of weather such as rain or hail. Mobley also describes these uses of hats for self-expression, shading, and protection by freeing the wearer from the necessity of removing the hat or of detaching the bill or brim of the hat whenever the wearer wants to change its position. Again in Mobley, the means of attachment and detachment of the bills and brims to the headwear facilitates the creation of a unitary hat design that, when in place on the wearer's head, can give the appearance that two or more hats being worn.
Given that the bill or brim is capable of installation, removal and smooth repositioning as in Mobley, the present invention achieves the goal of improving the comfort, flexibility, durability and ease of change of the bill or brim portion of a cap or hat, by separating the bill or brim from the rest of the cap or hat with a unique arrangement for attachment of the bill or brim. This arrangement relieves mechanical strain, permits greater airflow, facilitates changes of one bill or brim for another, simplifies manufacture, and allows more flexible movement of the cap or hat in relation to the supporting structure for the bill or brim.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the present invention, there can now be provided comfortable, durable, and easily-fabricated headwear having an easily-detachable bill or even a fill brim that, as in Mobley, can be repositioned relative to the crown of the headwear while wearing the headwear and without detaching the brim or bill from the crown. In addition, my invention preserves all of the features and advantages of Mobley as summarized and described in the aforementioned Mobley patent.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a hat or cap including a crown, at least one T-channel and at least one U-channel, one of which channels is attached to the crown by the unique arrangement and circumscribes at least a substantial portion of the periphery of the crown, a brim or bill which is attached to the other of the channels, the U-channel and the T-channel engaging each other such that the T-channel slides along the interior surface of the U-channel. If preferably one or more removable and/or replaceable bills or brims are desired, the channels can be constructed to permit ready attachment and detachment but are securely in place when attached to the crown.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to improve the means by which the bills or brims can be repositioned relative to the body of the headwear without detaching the bills or brim from the headwear or removing the headwear from the wearer's head.
It is yet another object of the present invention, as in Mobley, to hide or mask from view the means by which the brims or bills may be repositioned in order not to detract from the appearance of the headwear.
It is a further object of the invention to simplify the manufacture of the repositioning apparatus, and facilitate its assembly with the hat.
It is another object of the present invention, as in Mobley, to provide headwear having an attachment means so that the bills or brims of the headwear are easily detachable and reattachable, enabling the headwear to be worn with any of a number of bills or brims, or with no bill or brim at all.
It is another object of the invention to increase the wearer's comfort through provision of improved ventilation between the sweatband and the crown of the hat.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings in which like numbers represent like elements and wherein:
With reference to the preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in
As shown in
If the cap 10 is of a known adjustable type having plastic or leather adjustable straps (not shown) at the rear of crown 12, the terminal ends of headband 13 then are sewn vertically to the ends of crown 12 adjacent to the straps, and T-channel 17 preferably cut just short of the sewn ends, say about ½ inch, alternately to enable U-channel 16 to be attached at those end points.
For a firm construction, the inner edge portion 26 of the bill 12 preferably is permanently affixed to and covering the leg portion 29 of U-channel 16 from both sides by an adhesive or stitching, either directly (
Referring to
Referring to
Although in the preferred embodiment U-channel 16 is affixed to bill 12 and T-channel 17 is affixed to crown 11, it also is possible for the T-channel 17 to be affixed to the bill 12 and the U-channel 16 to be affixed to the crown 11.
As can thus be seen, the invention of the embodiment of
An alternative preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in
Although not shown in the drawings, a headband on the interior of crown 41 may take the form of a conventional headband or may be a full or partial lining for crown 41. As with the first embodiment, the headband is attached via a linking band to the crown 41 so that an accessible space is created between crown 41 and the headband to receive the sliding mechanism.
A third and further embodiment of my invention is shown in
The manufacture and assembly of a cap or hat according to this invention is now substantially simplified, in that quantities of bills 12 and crowns 11 can be manufactured in their traditional manner, while the sliding mechanisms separately manufactured and supplied in long lengths cut to size as needed. To accomplish this, the crown portion of the sliding mechanisms is assembled by sewing lengths of headband 13 material at one side (seam 14a) to lining band linking band or intermediate web 14, and lengths of T-channel 17 sewn to the headband 13 material at its other side (seams 17a). Similarly, lengths of U-channel 16 are sewn to an intermediate web material or or binding 12a at seam 12b . For final assembly, the crown portion of the sliding mechanism is then cut to length to fit crown 11 and linking band 14 sewn to crown 11 at seam 14b, while the bill portion of the mechanism is also cut to length and the intermediate web material binding 12a sewn to bill 12 as shown. If the cap is of the adjustable type, the ends of headband 13 are also vertically sewn to crown 11 at its lower periphery.
Although the invention is described by reference to specific preferred embodiments, it is clear that variants can be made and other materials used without departing from the spirit of the invention as described and claimed.
Claims
1. Headwear comprising a crown having a substantially circumferential body to fit on a wearer's head, at least one bill or brim extending substantially laterally away from the crown body and the wearer's head, and at least one slide means for connection of the bill or brim to the crown and for rotation of the bill or brim relative to the crown, the improvement in which the slide means comprises a first slide subassembly attached to the periphery of the crown body and extending at least a substantial portion around the circumference of the crown body, and a second subassembly attached to the bill or brim adjacent the crown body, the first and second subassemblies each having a channel member with means for interlocking and slidable engagement of the channel members relative to each other, the first subassembly comprising a headband having upper and lower sides with its channel member attached to the lower side, and an intermediate web having upper and lower sides with the upper sides of both the headband and the intermediate web attached to each other and the lower side of the intermediate web attached to the periphery of the crown body.
2. Headwear according to claim 1 wherein the intermediate web comprises an elastic fabric.
3. Headwear according to claim 1 wherein one of the channels members comprises a T-channel and another of the channels members comprises a U-channel, one of which channels is attached to the headband and is positioned between the crown body and the intermediate web, and the other channel is attached to the brim or bill and is detachably engaged with the one channel to enable both sliding engagement with and detachment from the one channel.
4. Headwear according to claim 3 wherein both channels are made of a flexible semi-rigid material such as extruded polyvinyl chloride, and the T-channel circumscribes substantially the entire circumference of the headband.
5. Headwear according to claim 3 wherein the T-channel forms a continuous track and the U-channel comprises a pair of inwardly extending spring-like lips which releasably retain a portion of the T-channel.
6. Headwear according to claim 1 wherein the channel members are positioned between the headband and the intermediate web such that channel members do not touch the wearer's head.
7. Headwear according to claim 1 wherein the intermediate web is a ventilated material to enable ventilation between the headband and the crown body.
8. Headwear according to claim 1 wherein the intermediate web comprises a linking band of elastic fabric with sufficient stiffness to support the headband and the first subassembly channel member and with sufficient flexibility and elasticity to conform to the wearer's head with access to the sliding mechanism for purposes of changing and adjusting the bill or brim, and with sufficient porosity to permit passage of air and ambient moisture.
9. Headwear according to claim 1 wherein intermediate web as attached to the crown body and headband defines a covered space between the crown body and the headband and by which the lower edge of crown body and intermediate web together form a circumferential flap under which is positioned the slide means for hiding the slide means from view.
10. Headwear according to claim 1 wherein the crown body is comprised of at least two sections, and further comprising at least one other slide means for detachably connecting the two sections for enabling the sections to rotate relative to each other and to be detached from each other.
11. Headwear according to claim 1 and further comprising at least one other slide means and at least a second bill or brim detachably and slidably engaged to the crown body by the other slide means.
12. Headwear comprising a crown having a substantially circumferential body to fit on a wearer's head, at least one bill or brim extending substantially laterally away from the crown body and the wearer's head, and at least one slide means for connection of the bill or brim to the crown and for rotation of the bill or brim relative to the crown, the improvement in which the slide means comprises a first subassembly attached to the periphery of the crown body and extending at least a substantial portion around the circumference of the crown body, and a second subassembly attached to the bill or brim adjacent the crown body, the first and second subassemblies each having a channel member with means for interlocking and slidable engagement of the channel members relative to each other, the first subassembly comprising a headband having upper and lower sides and an intermediate web having upper and lower sides with the upper sides of both the headband and the intermediate web attached to each other and the lower side of the intermediate web attached to the periphery of the crown body, the channel member of the first subassembly positioned between the headband and the intermediate web such that the channel members do not touch the wearer's head.
Type: Grant
Filed: Oct 4, 2002
Date of Patent: Aug 16, 2005
Inventor: Gwennette Q. Davis (Rochester, NY)
Primary Examiner: Katherine Moran
Attorney: Jaeckle Fieischmann & Mugel, LLP
Application Number: 10/264,925