U.S. patent application number 13/093704 was filed with the patent office on 2011-11-24 for blunt force protection ball cap technology.
This patent application is currently assigned to Guardian Protective Technologies Inc.. Invention is credited to Scott Alford, John Divine.
Application Number | 20110283430 13/093704 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44971165 |
Filed Date | 2011-11-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110283430 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Divine; John ; et
al. |
November 24, 2011 |
BLUNT FORCE PROTECTION BALL CAP TECHNOLOGY
Abstract
Headgear having a cap portion configured to fit the head of a
user and cover a top portion of the user's head, the cap portion
including a layer of a fabric material, and at least one piece or
layer of impact absorbing material attached to the layer of fabric
material, wherein the impact absorbing material provides enhanced
protection from impact to the user's head.
Inventors: |
Divine; John; (Martinez,
CA) ; Alford; Scott; (Martinez, CA) |
Assignee: |
Guardian Protective Technologies
Inc.
Walnut Creek
CA
|
Family ID: |
44971165 |
Appl. No.: |
13/093704 |
Filed: |
April 25, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61327573 |
Apr 23, 2010 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
2/6.6 ;
2/411 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A42B 1/08 20130101; F41H
1/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/6.6 ;
2/411 |
International
Class: |
A42B 1/00 20060101
A42B001/00; F41H 1/00 20060101 F41H001/00 |
Claims
1. Headgear wearable by a user, the headgear comprising: a cap
portion configured to fit the head of a user and cover a top
portion of the user's head, the cap portion including a layer of a
fabric material; and at least one piece of impact absorbing
material attached to the layer of fabric material, wherein the
impact absorbing material provides enhanced protection from impact
to the user's head.
2. The headgear of claim 1, wherein the at least one piece of
impact absorbing material includes a plurality of triangular shaped
pieces secured to the layer of fabric material.
3. The headgear of claim 2, wherein the plurality of triangular
shaped pieces are secured to the fabric material layer in one or
more pockets formed by or coupled with the fabric material.
4. The headgear of claim 1, wherein the at least one piece of
impact absorbing material is removably attached to the layer of
fabric material.
5. The headgear of claim 4, wherein the impact absorbing material
is removably attached using Velcro attachments.
6. The headgear of claim 4, wherein the impact absorbing material
is removably attached by insertion into pockets in the fabric
material.
7. The headgear of claim 1, further including a visor portion
attached to the cap portion.
8. The headgear of claim 1, wherein the impact absorbing material
includes a material selected from the group consisting of Y-20 foam
and SHOCKtec.TM. foam.
9. The headgear of claim 1, wherein the at least one piece of
impact absorbing material is formed by a thermoforming process to
match an inner part of the cap portion.
10. The headgear of claim 1, wherein the headgear includes one of a
baseball cap or a military cloth cap.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 61/327,573, filed Apr. 23, 2010, the disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present invention relates generally to headgear, and
more particularly to headgear with improved impact resistant
properties.
[0003] Most caps and hats are made of a cloth or fabric or soft
material that offers little in the way of protection from blunt
force impact such as might occur when a baseball, golf ball or
other projectile strikes the hat, or when the wearer's head impacts
a solid object.
[0004] It is therefore desirable to provide caps and hats with
improved blunt force protection qualities.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0005] Embodiments include impact absorbing material incorporated
into a cap or hat, or that creates a cap within a cap. The caps of
the present invention provides increased blunt force protection in
the event the wearer falls or is struck with an object, such as a
baseball or golf ball. For baseball cap embodiments, the pie shaped
pieces that typically make up a baseball cap have an inner liner
sewn into the cap, creating pie piece shaped pockets between the
two layers of fabric. The inner liner could be the same type of
fabric as the outer layer, or could include a different material,
such as a moisture wicking layer, that will come in contact with
the scalp. The caps and hats typically are lightweight so as to not
detract from the wearability factor of conventional hats or caps;
the added materials typically do not increase the weight or balance
of the hat in a detractable manner.
[0006] According to one embodiment headgear is provided that is
typically wearable by a user. The headgear typically includes a cap
portion configured to fit the head of a user and cover a top
portion of the user's head, the cap portion including a layer of a
fabric material, and at least one piece or layer of impact
absorbing material attached to the layer of fabric material,
wherein the impact absorbing material provides enhanced protection
from impact to the user's head. The impact absorbing material in
certain aspects includes Y-20 foam, Shocktec.TM. foam or other
material that absorbs an impact event (and, e.g., distributes the
momentum across a wider area), such as a foam, plastic, rubber,
etc. In certain aspects, the at least one piece of impact absorbing
material includes a plurality of triangular shaped pieces secured
to the layer of fabric material. The impact absorbing layer may
include multiple types of impact absorbing materials and/or other
types of materials such as moisture-wicking materials. In certain
aspects, the at least one piece of impact absorbing material is
removably attached to the layer of fabric material.
[0007] Reference to the remaining portions of the specification,
including the drawings and claims, will realize other features and
advantages of the present invention. Further features and
advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and
operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are
described in detail below with respect to the accompanying
drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate
identical or functionally similar elements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIGS. 1-8 illustrate a baseball cap embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] FIGS. 1-8 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention.
It will be appreciated that FIGS. 1-8 illustrate a baseball cap
embodiment, however, one skilled in the art will appreciate that
embodiments are equally applicable to other types of headgear, such
as beanies, caps, or other headgear for use in various applications
including military applications, sporting events, etc. As shown in
FIG. 1, headgear 10 according to one embodiment includes a cap
portion 20 that is configured to cover a wearer's head. Cap portion
20 is typically made of a fabric material, such as a stitched
cotton fabric. Cap portion may include various mechanisms as are
well known to adjust the size of the perimeter to allow better
coupling/attachment with different size heads, such as an elastic
portion, Velcro, a belt and clasp mechanism, etc. Visor portion 30
is coupled with the cap portion. Visor portion 30 is optional in
certain embodiments, e.g., beanies and other caps.
[0010] In one embodiment, a layer of shock mitigating material is
attached or otherwise coupled with the cap portion to provide
additional impact protection to the wearer's head. For example, in
the embodiment shown, one or multiple pieces 40 of shock mitigating
material are inserted and enclosed within one or multiple pockets
of the cap portion. These pieces 40 of "protective" layer can
either be sewn securely into the cap, or they can be removable, for
cleaning or replacement as needed. For example, to install or
remove the pieces 40, a sweatband within the cap can be unrolled
(unfolded), exposing each of the pocket openings as shown in FIGS.
5-7.
[0011] For baseball cap embodiments, the pie shaped pieces that
typically make up a baseball cap have an inner liner sewn into the
cap, creating pie piece shaped pockets between the two layers of
fabric. The inner liner could be the same type of fabric as the
outer layer, or could be a different material, such as a moisture
wicking layer, that will come in contact with the scalp. According
to one embodiment, a heat and moisture wicking fabric, called
orthowick is used.
[0012] Rate sensitive materials, such as impact absorbing foam
products are formed, e.g., cut, to the same shape and size as the
pockets in the cap, whether pie shaped pockets or other shapes. In
one embodiment, Kemmler's SHOCKtec material is used. Typically a
baseball cap or a military cloth hat has 5 or 6 pie piece shaped
triangles, which make up the overall shape of the cap. In the case
of adjustable fitting caps, the rear two triangular pieces will
have a portion of the back inner side of the triangle removed, to
accommodate the opening at the back of the hat. The shock
mitigating material slices will fit within the pocket openings,
creating a "shock layer," sandwiched between the two layers of
fabric, which make up the hat.
[0013] Another material that can be used with embodiments disclosed
herein is the foam Y-20, either in addition to the other materials
described herein, or as a replacement thereof. Thermoforming the
various pads and pad structures can be performed, for example
instead of cutting pad portions. For example, in one embodiment, a
single pad of rate sensitive material is thermoformed to match the
cap portion, and the formed pad is attached to or coupled with the
inside portion of the cap portion. In other embodiments, multiple
pad pieces are formed by a thermoforming process and then attached
to or coupled with the cap portion.
[0014] The finished product is a baseball cap, which provides some
level of increased blunt force protection. Although the finished
cap may not provide the same level of protection as a hard shelled
helmet, the product provides additional levels of protection in the
event the wearer falls or is struck with an object, such as a
baseball or golf ball.
[0015] One skilled in the art will appreciate that other types of
caps, hats or helmets can be modified similar to the baseball cap
embodiment as described herein, such as scrum caps for rugby and
ski caps/beanies, to incorporate rate sensitive material to provide
enhanced blunt force protection to a wearer of the cap or hat.
[0016] While the invention has been described by way of example and
in terms of the specific embodiments, it is to be understood that
the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the
contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar
arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the
broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications
and similar arrangements.
* * * * *