Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CAP WITH BACK SUNSHADE
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to caps for wearing outdoors, and in particular, to
caps having a shade for shading a
portion of the user from the sun.
BACKGROUND ART
The prior art includes a number of cap and shade combinations. U.S. Patent No.
6,131,201, for example,
discloses a cap having an openable top cover for retaining the shade in an
inner space. The sunshade in that patent,
however, suffers from, among other things, the fact that the shade is attached
to the outside surface of the cap, and is
thereby awkward to use and fails to provide the additional support that could
be provided had the shade instead been
attached to the inside of the cap where the band of the cap tightly fits
around the wearer's head. That patent also
suffers from the ill placement of the opening from which the sunshade is
released. The zipper for the opening is in
plain sight, detracting from the aesthetics of the cap.
Also, the opening is far from the attachment features, which means the
sunshade must be entirely detached
from the cap before placing in the inner space. This increases the chances
that the sunshade will be removed by
accident and also increases the chances that the sunshade and the cap will be
separated and one of the two will be lost.
What is needed is a cap and shade combination that may be made of a one-piece
construction so the shade is less
likely to be separated from the cap and lost. Alternatively, what is needed is
a two-piece construction that is much
20 less likely to allow the shade to be accidentally removed, such as where
the removable attachments of the shade are on
the inside of the cap where the tight fit to the wearer's head can aid in
forcing the two pieces together.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention is a cap and shade combination in which the shade may be
folded inside an attached
a pouch which is permanently attached or detachable when not in use. The shade
comprises a central portion and two
wing portions such that it may be unfurled both down away from the cap and
laterally in both directions around the
rim of the cap. Each wing portion has an upper edge comprising one or more
shade attachment members configured
and positioned to removably attach to mating attachment members on the inner
surface of the cap near the front visor
when in use for maximum coverage of the user's neck, ears, etc.
3o In one embodiment, the pouch may be stitched into the cap. In another
embodiment, it may be removably
attached to the inner surface of the crown of the cap, such as by using a hook
and loop attachment configuration or
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using snaps, buttons, clasps, latches, or other common fasteners. In another
embodiment, the pouch may be sewn into
or as part of the band or sweatband of the cap. The pouch may further have a
zipper or other fastening means for
alternatively enclosing and releasing the shade. Where the pouch is sewn into
or as part of the band, the opening for
the shade may open to the inside surface, the outside surface, or the bottom
edge of the band.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent from a review of the following
specification and accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a bottom view of a cap in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention.
Figure 4 is a side vide of the backside of a shade in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the present invention showing a
pouch and cap combination in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the present invention showing a
pouch and cap combination in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of the
invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
MODES) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended
drawings is intended as a description
of presently preferred embodiments of the invention and is not intended to
represent the only forms in which the
present invention may be constructed and/or utilized. The description sets
forth the functions and the sequence of
steps for constructing and operating the invention in connection with the
illustrated embodiments. However, it is to be
understood that the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be
accomplished by different embodiments that
are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the
invention.
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention, in which
there is a cap 8 comprising a
crown 10 that is generally convex in shape to fit over and around a portion of
the wearer's head. The crown 10 has
an outer surface 11, an inner surface 12, and a bottom portion 18. In this
embodiment, there also is a visor 50
3o attached to a front portion 16 of the crown 10, which may be of any
standard length and curvature to help shade the
wearer's eyes from the sun's rays. In this embodiment, the cap 8 itself
appears much like a standard baseball cap
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when viewed from the outside.
The inner surface 12 of the crown 10, however, comprises one or more
connecting structures 14 as shown in
Figure 3 for securing a pouch 20 to the inner surface 12 of the crown 10 as
shown in Figure 5. The connecting
structures 14 shown in Figure 3 represent one half of a common hook and loop
arrangement, and the mating hook and
loop structures 24 are located on the backside of the pouch 20 as shown in
Figure 4. The inner surface 12 of the
crown 10 also has two or more shade attachment members 30 for receiving mating
attachment members 45 as
discussed below.
The pouch 20 may be attached to the inner surface 12 of the crown 10 by a
number of other connecting
structures. The pouch 20 and crown 10, for example, may be stitched together.
In such an embodiment, the pouch
n 20 may not be easily removed from the crown 10. This may be preferable in
applications where there is no
foreseeable reason to want the pouch 20 to be easily removable from the cap 8
or where easy removal of the pouch 20
from the cap 8 even may be undesirable. In other applications, the pouch 20
may be removably connected to the inner
surface 12 of the crown 10 by one or more fastening means, such as buttons,
snaps, clasps, latches, or the like, as an
alternative to the hook and loop arrangement illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.
.5 The pouch 20 has an opening 28 defined by one or more edges 25. In one
embodiment, a'zipper 26 is
disposed along edges 25 so that the opening 28 may be closed when desired as
shown in Figure 5. Alternatively, one
or more other fastening means may be employed along the edges 25 of the pouch
20, such as one or more buttons,
snaps, clasps, latches, hook and loop fasteners, or the like, for closing the
opening 28 of the pouch 20.
Contained within the pouch 20 is a shade or sunshade 40. One end of the shade
40 is attached to the inner
w surface of the pouch 20, and the shade further comprises a central portion
41, a left side portion 42, and a right side
portion 48 as shown in Figure 2. The left and right side portions each have an
upper edge 43 having one or more
mating shade attachment members 45. Each mating attachment member 45 is
configured and positioned to attach to
the shade attachment member 30 on the inner surface 12 of the cap 8. The shade
attachment members 30 and mating
attachment members 45 shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively, are made of a
common hook and loop configuration,
s but the present invention contemplates any number of other fastening
arrangement that would work equally as well,
provided that the fastening means allows for easy unfastening as well by the
user. Such is the case with many
commercially available fasteners, including for example, buttons, snaps,
latches, clasps, and the like.
In a preferred embodiment, the two or more mating attachment members 30 are
disposed on the inner surface
12 of the crown 10 of cap 8 near the front of the crown 10. The inner surface
12 is utilized in this embodiment to
3o reduce the chances that the shade 40 would be inadvertently unfastened
while it is unfurled and in use with the cap 8 is
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on the wearer's head. That is, whereas U.S. Patent No. 6,131,201 may suggest
that the shade can be attached to the
outer surface of the cap, a preferred embodiment of the present invention uses
shade attachment members 30 located
on the inner surface 12 of the crown 10. As a result, the mating attachment
members 45 and upper edges 43 of shade
40 are sandwiched between the crown 10 and the wearer's head. This
significantly improves that attachment between
the shade 40 and the crown 10 when the user is wearing cap 8.
Additionally, U.S. Patent No. 6,131,201 may suggest that shade attachment
members on the crown may be
placed on the side of the crown, but the shade attachment members 30 on the
crown 10 in one embodiment of the
present invention are instead located in the front portion 16 of crown 10 near
the left and right edges 52 and 54,
respectively, of the visor 50. This frontal placement of the shade attachment
members 30 maximizes the surface of
the user's head, neck, and shoulders that is shaded from the sun's rays by the
shade 40.
In Figures 3 and 4, the shade attachment members 30 and mating attachment
members 45 are illustrates as a
hook and loop arrangement, but other fasteners work equally as well, such as
buttons, snaps, clasps, latches, and the
like. The upper edges 43 of said right and left side portions 42 and 48,
respectively, may also comprise an elastic
portion for tightly conforming to a user's head or for further aiding the
mating of the shade attachment members and
the mating attachment members 30 and 45.
In another embodiment, shown in Figure 6, a band or sweatband 60 is attached
along the bottom edge 18 of
crown 10, and pouch 20' is sewn or otherwise attached to the band 60. The
pouch 20' of this embodiment is much
like the pouch 20 discussed above, and a preferred embodiment is configured
such that the opening 28 of the pouch
20' opens along the inside surface 62 of band 60, as shown in Figure 6.
Alternatively, pouch 20' could be configured
to open on the outside surface of band 60, or to open along the bottom edge of
band 60. Also, the pouch 20' shown in
Figure 6 may be integrally formed in the sweatband 60, but it may
alternatively be made as a separate unit sewn onto
or removably attached to the sweatband 60, either on its inside surface, on
its outside surface, or along its bottom
edge, depending on the needs of the particular application.
Referring to Figure 7 it will be seen that the cap 8 comprises a crown 10 with
a visor 50 and is thus far like
zs the cap previously described in being made up of gores 100 which are sewn
to each other by lines of stitching 102.
In this embodiment a pouch not seen is formed by reason of a gore shaped
fabric segment 104 being sewn
along the gore lines or stitch lines 102 on the interior of the cap 8 so as to
form an interior pouch not seen within
which the back shade 106 having what may be considered a dove-tail
configuration by reason of the inwardly cut 108
may be received.
3o It will be noted that the back shade 106 is as previously described with
respect to the attachment numbers on
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the lateral sides and differs only in that an exterior surface 110 may have a
design 112 as shown in dotted line. It will
be noted that the back shade 106 is secured to the free edge 112 of member 104
which is sewn along the opposed
edges 114 within cap 8 as previously described. By reason of the free edge 112
a pouch is formed by the reason of
the fabric segment 104 being slightly larger than the space between the seam
lines 102 of the gores 100 and thus there
is formed an enclosure or pouch by reason of co-action of the surface 120 of
segment 114 and the interior of the
crown 10 of cap 8.
Ideally, as indicated, the cloth segment 104 forming the pouch is of
lightweight material as is the back shade
106, preferably of silk or the like, so that the back shade as well as the
pouch forming segment 104 may be easily
received within the interior of the crown of cap 8. The provision of the split
tail or cut-in 108 of the lower edge 128
of back shade 106 makes for ease of folding so that the entirety of back shade
106 is easily received within the pouch.
While the present invention has been described with regards to particular
embodiments, it is recognized
that additional variations of the present invention may be devised without
departing from the inventive concept.
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