TECHNICAL FIELD
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The present invention relates to headwear such as baseball caps and brimmed hats, and more specifically to headwear having a means for retaining a pair of eyeglasses and for enabling a user to releaseably apply and remove patches having logos, slogans and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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Sunglasses conveniently keep sun glare out of a user's eyes and improve a user's visibility for such tasks as driving and playing sports. However, when a wearer enters a dimly lit building, or when nightfall arrives, the wearer must search for a place to put his sunglasses. It is also common for a wearer to take his sunglasses off during an activity, set them down on a conveniently nearby surface, and forget about them as time passes. This forgetful habit leads to millions of sunglasses being lost annually and also necessitates that the absent minded wearers continuously purchase new sunglasses. This cycle of losing sunglasses and having to purchase new ones can become expensive, as many quality brands of sunglasses cost well over $100.
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One solution to this problem is for the wearer to place the sunglasses into a pants or shirt pocket until they are needed again, but pocket articles, such as keys, or even the coarse fabrics of many pant pockets can lead to scratching the sunglass lenses.
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Another solution is presented by inventions which place a pair of keepers for retaining a pair of sunglasses upon a headwear article, such as a baseball cap. This arrangement is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,159 (Martin); U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,554 (Yan) and U.S. Design Pat. No. D503,261 (Pedersen). This solution of placing sunglasses on a hat in this manner serves the dual purpose of keeping a pair of sunglasses in the possession of the wearer, while keeping the lenses safe from damage U.S. Pat. No. 7,484,845 (Douglas) refines this arrangement yet further by providing for keepers which press the sunglass lenses against the brim thus resisting the glasses from falling from the headgear when a user tips his head forward
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All inventions which provide for keepers in conjunction with brimmed headgear, such as baseball caps, provide patches or loops which have a sole function, that is, to receive temple pieces of eyewear and to thus retain the eyewear above the brim of the hat when the glasses are not in use.
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It is also well recognized that a significant appeal to those in the market for headgear is the application of indicia to the cap to enable a wearer to express one's personal preferences, such as a strong allegiance or affiliation to a local sports club. Without such indicia, sales of caps would be but a fraction of what the market currently enjoys
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One drawback to current headgear is that once a logo has been applied thereto, it is basically applied for the life of the cap. If the user wishes to change affiliations or no longer feels it appropriate to wear a cap displaying the particular indicia or logo, oftentimes the cap is discarded or put in storage, never to be worn again. This happens even though there is nothing wrong with the cap and, as a piece of functioning headgear, it may be as good as the day it was purchased.
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It is thus an object of the present invention to provide headgear in which various distinguishing logos or indicia can be releaseably applied thereto enabling a user to change such indicia routinely.
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It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a cap containing keepers for sunglasses and other eyewear and which provides a user with a dual purpose of presenting a surface capable of releaseably accepting and retaining patches displaying distinguishable indicia thereto.
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These and further objects of will be more readily appreciated when considering the following disclosure and appended claims
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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The present invention is directed to headgear comprising a hat or cap having a crown for residing upon and coveting a substantial portion of the user's head and a brim connected to said crown for extending forward and above the user's face when worn, further comprising a pair of keepers, each keeper being located on opposite sides of said crown, said keepers being positioned and sized to releaseably retain temples of a pair of glasses when lens frames of said glasses are in contact with said brim, said keepers comprising hook and loop surfaces facing outwardly of said crown and at least one patch having a first side and second side, said first side having a hook and loop surface and said second side having indicia, said first side being releaseably attachable to each of said keepers whereupon said indicia is visible when said head gear is being worn.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
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FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a cap or hat embodying the present invention.
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FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a keeper taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 for use in practicing the present invention.
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FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cap or hat of FIG. 1 showing the alternative application of various patches on the keeper of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
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Novel features which are characteristic to the invention, as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments in the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustration description only and axe not intended as definitions of the limits of the invention. The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are recited with particularity in the claims.
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There has been broadly outlined the more important features of the invention in the summary above and in order that the detailed description which follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form additional subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
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The present invention is directed to novel headgear, and in this regard, reference is made to FIG. 1. Headgear 10 is shown as a six panel hat, three of said panels, identified as panel members 11, 12 and 13 are visible as drawn. Panel 12 that would reside at the side of a user's head and proximate a user's ears is shown bisected by phantom line 14. These various panels constitute the crown of cap or headwear 10 which further includes brim 16 connected to the crown for extending forward and above a user's face when worn. Keepers 20 are located on the sides of headgear 10 and, ideally, forward of bisecting line 14 noting that keeper 20 has its counterpart on the opposite side of headgear 10 as a mirror image of that shown in FIG. 1. The eyeglass keeper 20 retains eyeglasses 30 having frames 24 containing lenses 26 and a pail of hinged temples 28 extending rearwardly of frames 24 terminating in an end piece 38 as temple pieces 28 pass through keeper 20. In doing so, the bottom edge 24 a of frame members 24 resides upon brim 16 thus retaining sunglasses 30 upon headgear 10 as shown.
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Uniquely, keepers 30 are shown in cross section along line 2-2 in FIG. 2. As shown, keeper 20 is provided with a hook and loop surface 19 which faces outwardly of the crown of headgear 10 (panel 12). As a preferred embodiment, keeper 20 is further provided with a high friction surface 18 facing inwardly of the crown of headgear 10 to resist dislodgement of temple pieces 28 therefrom. Ideally, high friction surface 18 is comprised of rubber, although any other high friction coating or layer can be used herein while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
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As stated previously, one of the principal reasons why users opt for headgear such as shown in FIG. 1 is to display logos or indicia which advertise or promote a user's preference, such as an allegiance or affiliation with a local sports team. Alternatively, many such caps are produced by a company or corporation which puts their own messaging, such as its corporate logo thereon, and provides them to employees to enable the employees to advertise the company whenever the headgear is being worn Whatever the reason, having patches displaying such preferences represents a strong motivation for using headgear of this variety.
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Logos or indicia can be placed upon headgear in several ways. Traditionally, patches displaying indicia or logo are permanently sewn to the crown of the cap. When this occurs, if one's affiliation changes, the cap ceases to be of interest as a piece of headgear to be worn regardless of its functionality.
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It is thus proposed that the keepers 20 which have been applied to headgear 10 for the purpose of retaining temple pieces 28 of eyeglasses 30 be provided with yet another function to thus increase their value while yet not increasing the manufacturing costs in the production of headgear 10. This is accomplished by providing hook and loop surface 19 to the outside surface of keeper 20 to enable it to selectively and releaseably receive a patch thereon. In this regard, reference is made to FIG. 3.
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As noted previously, an important aspect of the present invention is to enable one to take advantage of keepers 20. Pursuant to the present invention, these keepers perform a dual function, that is, to both receive and retain the temples of a pair of glasses as well as releasably receive patches enabling a user to selectively exchange these patches to display different logos or indicia on headwear 10 thus dramatically increasing the appeal of this product to consumers. Graphically, this is shown in FIG. 3.
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Turning to FIG. 3, keeper 20 is shown positioned forward of bisecting line 14. Keeper 20 is shown having a hook and loop outer surface 19 for receipt of any of patches 51, 52 and 53. Patch 51 has outer surface 51 a showing a first logo. Patch 51 is selectively and removably appended to surface 19 through the use of its own hook and loop surface 51 b. Once a user, for any personal reason, wishes to remove patch 51 from keeper 20, it can simply be pulled from the keeper thus releasing the hook and loop surfaces from one another and replacement patch 52 inserted upon keeper 20 by engaging hook and loop surface 19 with hook and loop surface 52 b. Outer surface 52 a is shown having a second logo displayed thereon. Similarly, patch 52 could be removed by simply applying thumb and forefinger pressure to a corner of patch 52 thus disengaging the complimentary hook and loop surfaces and patch 53 placed upon keeper 20 by engaging hook and loop surfaces 53 b and 19 A third logo is shown on outer surface 53 a. As will be quite apparent to anyone contemplating the present invention, virtually any logo, be it a team emblem or message can be employed while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
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The above disclosure is sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention, and provides the best mode of practicing the invention presently contemplated by the inventor. While there is provided herein a full and complete disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction, dimensions, relationships or operations as described Various modifications, alternative constructions, changes and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be employed as suitable without department from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve alternative materials, components, structural arrangements, sizes, shapes, forms, functions, operational features or the like.
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Therefore, the above description and illustrations should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.
