WO1992002198A1

WO1992002198A1 - Combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade

Info

Publication number: WO1992002198A1
Application number: PCT/US1991/000876
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cynthia Navis
Original assignee: Cynthia Navis
Priority date: 1990-07-27
Filing date: 1991-02-11
Publication date: 1992-02-20

Abstract

A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade (10) having a shade member (12) with ties (16, 18) for securing to a wearer's head, with the shade (12) comprising a fabric covered plastic material that is relatively wide throughout its curved length to provide shade for the front and sides of a wearer's face, and which shade support (14) and tie members (16, 18) all lay flat when not in use, and being rollable into a compact package for being carried, and which bonnet (10) returns to its original substantially flat condition upon being unrolled.

Description

COMBINED TIE-ON BONNET AND EYESHADE

I. Background of the Invention

There are many forms of hats, caps, bonnets, eyeshades and the like. These apparel generally rest upon the wearer's head and provide eye shade to the degree of the size or shape of the hat, cap or the like. The eye shade is usually provided by a bill that projects with some rigidity out over the wearer's face. This bill is normally limited to shading just the forward part of the wearer's face, leaving the rest of the wearer's head not covered by hair, subject to direct sunlight. Further the bill often is made of material that can be bent, crushed, damaged by water, or is subject to being ruined by sweat, water or the like. Still further, such hats and caps will not lay flat for packing, but rather are subject to being crushed by packing, and in any case, cannot be rolled or folded effectively without damaging the bill or sunshading portion of the hat or cap. Still further, such articles of wear have to be sized to the wearer's head, so that the cap, hat or head apparel will fit the wearer's head.

Therefore it is an advantageous to have a wearing apparel for a user's head in which a shade member that is fabric covered and pleasing in appearance, may be secured by ties to the wearer's head providing a universal size, and which has a shade portion that projects outwardly from all sides of the head in a pleasing appearance to provide shade for the person's face, ears, neck and the like, with the ties tying to the back of the head, and which wearing apparel will lie flat in non-use, and yet may be rolled into a compact parcel for being carried or transported, and which may be unrolled to the flat condition in preparation for being sutured to a user's head, and which wearing apparel like water, in that it washes easily, drys quickly, and retains its shape after being wet.

5 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a tie-on bonnet and eyeshade having a curved shape member with inner and outer curved edge surfaces. These surfaces are shaped to flexibly 0 fit around the upper portion of the wearer's head, while providing an outwardly projecting shade over the front, sides, and back parts of the user's head. The shade member is supported by a shade support that is affixed to a fabric covering an internal member in the shade member. The ends of 5 the shade support are integral with tie members for tying the entire bonnet and eyeshade to a user's head, providing universal sizing. The internal member comprises a semi-rigid, flexible, resilient material that lays flat in its normal condition, but which adopts a curved shape when tied to a 0 user's head. This internal member, which preferably is made of a plastic material, may be rolled along its circular length into a rolled compressed article that may be tied into a compact package by the tying members. In this condition, the combined bonnet and eyeshade may then be carried in a person's 5 pocketbook, or placed into a small bag, and may be unrolled when desired to its relatively flat coplanar condition in preparation for being secured by the tying members to a user's head.

The fabric and the shade support are affixed to the =.. internal member of the shade member, so that the internal member is secured in position, supported in its projected curved condition when on the user's head, and yet may be tied to the user's head while holding the internal member and thus the shade member in the projected condition. Fabric is secured at the outer curved edge of the internal member, but not at the inner curved edge of the internal member. This allows for flexibility of movement of the fabric relative to the internal member, allowing the entire bonnet and eyeshade to be rolled or unrolled, and to lie flat for packing or storing in the non-use condition. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved tie-on bonnet and eyeshade that is capable of being flat with its parts coplanar when not in use, and may be rolled into a compact package for carrying and then be unrolled at time of use, and which bonnet is easily washed, drys quickly and retains its shape.

Other objects and many attended advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and an examination of the drawings, wherein like parts define like structures throughout and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the bonnet as typically worn;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the bonnet in wearing configuration;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the bonnet extended in a flat position for storage; FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of the flattened bonnet; FIGURE 5 is a perspective view illustrating the bonnet rolled up for carrying or storage;

FIGURE 6 is ari enlarged sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 3; and FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 7-7 of FIGURE 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGURE 1, a combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade 10 is shown positioned in operative use on a user's head. The bonnet 10 comprises a shade member 12 that is connected to a shade support 14 having continuous ends that form the respective tie straps 16 and 18. The shade 12 has a front edge 61 and a rear edge 63, with the rear edge 63 abutting the shade support 14. The front 61 and rear 63 curved surfaces of the shade 12 generally have a curved, cylindrical shape with a wider spacing 70 at the front of the bonnet 10, which surface narrows down to an intersecting end 22 at the rear of the bonnet, see FIGURE 3. It may be noted that the width of the shade 12 is relatively wide throughout the curved length of the shade portion, providing a wide outwardly projecting shade to the side of the face, see Figure 1. The shade portion 12 of the bonnet 10 has an internal member 62 that in the preferred embodiment is a plastic material, preferably high-density polyethylene, which has a thickness of about .03". This plastic material is semi-rigid and flexible, and is bendable in a curved bend, and has an internal memory that returns the material to substantially its original condition upon being released. This internal member is secured within the fabric cover 44 and 46, as illustrated in Figure 6. The fabric, which may be of any suitable material and preferably is shrink resistant, has a top cover 44 and a bottom cover 46. The outer curved edges 56 of the fabric cover are folded over, with the outer edge of cover 44 extending over the outer end 60 of the internal member 62. The abutting circular connection 56 is sewed 58 to the internal member 62 adjacent the outer end of the shade 12. This provides a relatively positive connection of the fabric cover over the internal member 62, with the outer edge 60 abutting against a side of the fabric cover material.

The other end 63 of the fabric cover is then drawn to an abutting connection, and is sewed by stitches 42 to the shade support 14. The shade support 14 comprises two longitudinal lengths 34 and 36 of fabric material with an inner liner 38 of flannel or other suitable material such as one formed of polyester fibers created with a needlepunch process. This material is formed into a band forming the shade support 14 with the respective ends of strips 34 and 36 and a midportion of the padding 38 being sewed together by the internal sewing stitches 40, and with the other ends being sewed together by the internal stitches 42. It is to be noted, that a foldover of the outer fabric strip 36 along the lower side thereof is doubled over and sewed to the inner curved edge of the lower fabric material 46, but the internal edge 64 of the internal member 62 is not sewed to the shade support. This allows some relative movement of the fabric as may be necessary in construction, use or operation of the bonnet. This further allows a support of the shade 12 by the shade support 14, which is not entirely binding upon the projected position of the shade 12. Accordingly, the shade 12 may be pulled around and formed to the shape of the user's head, with the resilience of the internal member 62 providing projected support of a smooth curved surface on the user's head.

The tie strips comprise two strips of material, see Figure 7, with the upper strip 26 and the lower strip 28 being sewed along their respective internal reversed abutting edges 30 by stitching 32. The ties 16 and 18 are extensions of the strips of fabric 34 and 36 that are integral with the upper tie fabric 26 and lower tie fabric strip 28. The bonnet 10 may be laid flat as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. Accordingly the bonnet does not have any raised projection other than that due to the bulk of the shade support 14. The shade, the shade support and the ties 16 and 18 all lie in the same plane. Thus the bonnet may be packed in a flat condition for transportation, without damaging the bonnet. The bonnet may also be rolled from one side to the other in the manner of a scroll, providing a compact package as illustrated in Figure 5, with the ties 16 and 18 extending around the rolled up bonnet to secure the package. In this condition the bonnet may be carried in a purse, bag, or the like, and can be withdrawn and unrolled to be used in a manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, from the unrolled condition as is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

The bonnet 10 likes water because it washes easily, drys quickly and retains its shape. So the bonnet can be taken into swimming areas, or even into the water safely. The parts made of fabric pieces 26, 28, 44, 46, 34, 36 and 38, all are constructed for being quick drying and their inner relationship assures shape and retention. In normal use, the bonnet is secured to a user's head as illustrated in Figure 1, with the ties 16 and 18 tied in the manner illustrated. Thus the bonnet has a universal size capability that is adjustable where the knot 24 of the ties 16 and 18 is made.

Having described my invention, I now claim:

Claims

1. A combination tie on bonnet and eyeshade comprising, a curved shade member with inner and outer curved edge surfaces shaped to flexibly fit around the upper portion of a wearer's head, a shade support affixed at the inner curved edge surface for supporting the shade member, said shade member having a fabric covered, semi- rigid, flexible, resilient internal member that is rollable with a shape returning memory, and said shade support having opposite ends, and ties connected with respective ones of said ends for securing said bonnet to a wearer's head.

2. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed in Claim 1 wherein, said inner and outer curved surfaces having substantially circular shapes with said circular edge surfaces mating and intersecting at the ends of said shade support, and the spacing between said respective curved surfaces being relatively large at the forward end and which spacing continuing around the shade member to provide large shading for a wearer from in front of the face to around behind the ears of the wearer.

3. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed in Claim 1 wherein, said shade member, shade support and ties being flat and coplanar in the untied condition.

4. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed in Claim 1 wherein, said internal member comprising a plastic material having a thickness of about .03^H, which plastic material is flexible, resilient, and has a shape returning memory.

5. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed in Claim 4 wherein, said fabric covering said internal member, being sewed at the outer curved edge in a doubled over connection at a slight spacing from the outer edge of the internal member with the fabric overlapping the outer edge of the internal member.

6. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed in Claim 5 wherein, said shade support being sewed to the fabric covering the internal member.

7. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed in Claim 6 wherein, εzϊύ shade support comprising a fabric material enclosing a padding of flannel or other suitable material, such as one formed of polyester fibers created with a needlepunch process, and said ties comprising top and bottom strips of fabric sewed at their outer sides without said padding being therein.

8. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed i Claim 4 wherein, said flat shade member and shade support bein rollable like a scroll with the ties being wrapped around th outer rolled surface, and said rolled shade member and shade support bein unrollable with the internal member substantially returning to its previous shape.

9. A combined tie-on bonnet and eyeshade as claimed in Claim 4 wherein, said curved shade member being curvable along its circular length to provide a projected support from said shade support to provide eyeshade over the front and sides of a wearer's head.