U.S. patent application number 09/883408 was filed with the patent office on 2002-12-19 for adjustable ball cap.
Invention is credited to Porter, Thomas L..
Application Number | 20020189002 09/883408 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25382514 |
Filed Date | 2002-12-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020189002 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Porter, Thomas L. |
December 19, 2002 |
ADJUSTABLE BALL CAP
Abstract
A ball cap comprising a plurality of gores forming a body, a
sweat band having an elastic sweat portion, and an elastic gore
that is stretchable to provide a ball cap that is stretchable to
assume a variety of stretched conditions to accommodate a variety
of head sizes, comprising a stiffener assembly that continuously
supports the elastic gore in all stretched conditions, said
stiffener assembly comprising a main body portion sized to underlie
the elastic gore in its unstretched condition, a transverse channel
housing the sweat band elastic portion, and a pair of folded side
wings attached to the side edges of the elastic gore which unfold
as the ball cap stretches to its stretched conditions to
continuously support the elastic gore and the elastic sweat band
portion.
Inventors: |
Porter, Thomas L.; (Marion,
OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DAVID A. GREENLEE
P.O. BOX 340557
COLUMBUS
OH
43234-0557
US
|
Family ID: |
25382514 |
Appl. No.: |
09/883408 |
Filed: |
June 18, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/195.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A42B 1/22 20130101; A42C
5/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/195.3 |
International
Class: |
A42B 001/22 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A ball cap comprising a plurality of gores forming a body, a
sweat band, and an elastic gore that is stretchable to enable the
ball cap to assume a variety of stretched conditions to accommodate
a variety of head sizes, comprising a stiffener assembly that
continuously supports the elastic gore in all stretched
conditions.
2. The ball cap of claim 1, wherein the stiffener assembly includes
a main body portion having at least one folded side wing attached
to at least one edge of the elastic gore, thus enabling the at
least one stiffener wing to unfold as the elastic gore
stretches.
3. The ball cap of claim 2, wherein the stiffener assembly includes
two side wings, each attached to one side edge of the elastic gore
and to the side edge of an adjacent gore.
4. The ball cap of claim 2, where the sweat band comprises a
non-stretchable main portion and a stretchable portion underlying
the elastic gore, and the stiffener assembly includes a channel
surrounding the stretchable portion through which the stretchable
portion moves during stretching, the stiffener assembly also
supporting the sweat band stretchable portion in all stretched
conditions of the ball cap.
5. A ball cap comprising a plurality of gores forming a body, a
sweat band having an elastic sweat portion, and an elastic gore
that is stretchable to provide a ball cap that is stretchable to
assume a variety of stretched conditions to accommodate a variety
of head sizes, comprising a stiffener assembly that continuously
supports the elastic gore in all stretched conditions, said
stiffener assembly comprising a main body portion sized to underlie
the elastic gore in its unstretched condition, a transverse channel
housing the sweat band elastic portion, and a pair of folded side
wings attached to the side edges of the elastic gore which unfold
as the ball cap stretches to its stretched conditions to
continuously support the elastic gore and the elastic sweat band
portion.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] This invention relates to billed caps and, more
particularly, to such a cap that is self-adjusting to fit all head
sizes.
[0003] 2. Background Art
[0004] Originally billed caps, commonly referred to as "ball caps",
were produced in a variety of fixed sizes, which usually varied by
1/8 inch, to custom fit customers. This caused inventory and
manufacturing problems, which resulted in uniformly high cap
prices. Many attempts have been made to provide a
"one-size-fits-all" ball cap, so that only one size of hat need be
produced and inventoried. These include providing a cutout or gap
in the cap rear and an adjustable-length strap that can be sized to
various head sizes.
[0005] This type of hat has found great popularity and has effected
an explosion in novelty hat sales, as prices have plunged as
compared to the sized hats. These hats, of necessity, have an
inherent defect in that they cannot compare in appearance to sized
hats because of the rear gap, which causes a folding of material
when sized for all but the largest head. In a word, they look
"cheap". To overcome this, attempts have been made to provide a
more fitted look. One includes a flap to cover this discontinuity
in cap design, as shown in U.S. Pat. No.
4,815,148--Satterfield.
[0006] A more successful arrangement provides excessive material
which is gathered by an elastic sweat band that stretches to fit
all head sizes. This suffers from a bunching of material and looks
"cheap". Several more recent patents, U.S. Pat. No.
5,615,415--Beckerman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,540--Cho, and U.S. Pat.
No. 5,966,742--Cunliffe, illustrate variations of a cap having
stretchable rear gores and elastic sweat bands. These have found
little commercial success because they are difficult to manufacture
and do not provide the look of a fitted hat because the elastic
gores have no "body".
[0007] A more recent design of cap, as shown in U.S. Pat. No.
6,016,572--Park, provides an elastic gusset between gores, which is
expensive to manufacture and is limited in its ability to
stretch.
[0008] Finally, an attempt to combine the cutout and strap with
elastic gores, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,273--Cho, which
combines the worst features of elastic and strap, has severely
limited stretchability and, again looks "cheap".
[0009] None of these attempts to provide a "one size fits all", or
"free size" hat having the appearance of a fitted cap. Thus, there
is a need for a ball cap that has the appearance of a fitted cap,
but is capable of fitting many head sizes.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a
ball cap that has the appearance of a fitted cap, but is capable of
fitting many head sizes.
[0011] This invention is directed to a ball cap that has an elastic
gore and partially elasticized sweatband, both of which are
supported by a unique system of stiffeners that completely support
the elasticized portions to provide the appearance of a fitted cap
when stretched to any size.
[0012] In one aspect, this invention features a ball cap having a
front bill, a plurality of gores that meet at the cap crown,
wherein one of the gores is elasticized to enable circumferential
stretching of the cap to accommodate a plurality of different head
sizes, and including a folded stiffener assembly underlying the
stretchable gore which unfolds as the gore stretches to provide
continuous support for the gore at any head size.
[0013] In another aspect this invention features a self-adjusting
sweat band that includes a main non-stretchable segment underlying
all gores except the stretchable gore, and stretchable segment
underlying the stretchable gore, the stretchable segment being
attached at its ends to the main portion, wherein the minor portion
is sufficiently long to slide along the remainder of the sweatband
to provide a substantially continuous non-stretchable sweatband
around the circumference of the cap at all head sizes.
[0014] These and other objects and features of this invention will
become more readily apparent upon reference to the following
detailed description of a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in
the accompanying drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the adjustable cap
of this invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a top view of the cap of FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 3-3
of FIG. 1, showing the cap in unstretched condition;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the cap in
stretched condition;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG.
4;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG.
4; and
[0021] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cap interior.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a ball cap 10, comprises a
bill 12 that is attached to the body 14 of cap 10 in the usual
manner. Cap body 14 preferably comprises a front gore 16, side
gores 18, 20, 22 and 24, and a rear gore 26. Each gore includes the
usual vent hole 28 and all gores have a generally triangular shape
extending from their bases to their apexes at a crown button
30.
[0023] Bill 12 is formed of a stiffener covered by the usual cap
material, which can include wool, synthetic fibers or cotton twill.
Gores 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 are formed of a similar material which
is preferably lightweight. At least the front gore 16 is
sufficiently stiff or includes a stiffener to enable retention of
the shape of the cap under most conditions, while remaining
sufficiently flexible to the touch. The hat thus has what is
commonly termed "body". All gores are preferably sewn together and
cap 10 includes a sweatband 32 that is attached to the bottom of
gores 16, 18, 20 22 and 24, as shown in FIG. 7. Sweatband 32 is
bendable, yet stiff enough to enable hat 10 to retain its shape,
and sufficiently water repellant to endure the usual perspiration
emitted by a user's head.
[0024] Rear gore 26 is formed of a different material, one that is
elastic at least in the circumferential direction, but may be
elastic additionally in the vertical direction. Such a material is
readily available from any manufacturer; the source is unimportant
to this invention. Thus, rear gore 26 is stretchable and has little
"body", which, of itself, does not match the shape of the other
gores. However, gore 26 is the same color, or color scheme, as the
other gores, to give the hat uniformity of appearance.
[0025] To provide "body" to stretchable rear gore 26, this
invention provides a stiffener assembly 34, which will now be
described in reference to FIGS. 3-7. Stiffener assembly 34
comprises a pleated stiffener member 36, having a main portion 38
that is sized to match the size of gore 26 in its unstretched
condition, as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Stiffener member 36
includes folded wing portions 40 and 42 that have respective inner
and outer portions 40a, 40b and 42a, 42b. Inner portions 40a, 42a
are extensions of, or are sewn to the side edges of main portion
38. Outer portions 40b, 42b are extensions of inner portions 40a,
42a, and are sewn main portion 38. Outer portions 40b, 42b are
extensions of inner portions 40a, 42a, and are sewn to the side
edges of rear gore 26 and side edges of adjacent gores 20 and 22 at
seams 40c, 42c.
[0026] Stiffener main portion 38 is folded over and sewn along its
bottom edge to provide a transverse channel 44 that accommodates an
elastic sweatband extension 46, that is sewn adjacent its ends to
sweatband 32 at 46a, 46b. Sweat band portion 46, being elastic, has
much less stiffness than sweat band 32.
[0027] Preferably, ball cap 10 is sized to a small head size, such
as 6-1/2, in its unstretched condition. In this condition, FIG. 3,
rear gore 26 is supported by the main body portion 38 and both
folds of wings 40 and 42 of stiffener 36. Thus ball cap 10 has a
uniform outward appearance, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. When ball
cap 10 is fitted on a larger size head, such as 7 or 7-1/2, elastic
gore 26 stretches to accommodate the head, as shown in FIG. 4. In
this stretched condition, gore 26 is supported by, not only the
main stiffener portion 26, but also by wings 40 and 42. As can be
seen, wings 40 and 42 smoothly unfold, or unroll, to continuously
support elastic gore 26, no matter how far it is stretched. Also,
sweatband extension 46 also stretches and moves through channel 44.
In all positions of stretch, sweatband extension 46 is supported at
its center by stiffener main body portion 38 and, beyond, by wing
outer portions 40b, 42b. Thus, in any condition of stretch,
stiffener 36 provides support for and "body" to elastic gore 26 and
elastic sweats band extension 46.
[0028] Although only a preferred embodiment of this invention has
been shown and described, many modifications are contemplated
within the scope of the appended claims. For example, stiffener 36
may be formed of a single piece of material, or by several pieces
sewn or otherwise bonded together. Also, sweatband extension 46 can
be made of a non-elastic material with elastic strips attached to
one or both ends.
* * * * *