Patent Application
20140304890
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to headwear and, more particularly, to a headwear piece that can be reconfigured between at least two different styles.
2. Background Art
The baseball-style cap has become one of the most popular headwear pieces worldwide. The crown and associated bill cooperatively protect a wearer's head, with the latter shielding primarily the wearer's face from sun, rain, etc.
While the bill of the cap has significant utility for both athletes and non-athletes, there are times when a user may wish to have only the protection afforded by the crown without the bill that may block desired sun exposure and obstruct vision over a certain field.
Those wishing to eliminate the obtrusive nature of the bill may do so by turning the cap backwards. This creates a look that may be unappealing to the wearer.
In one form, the invention is directed to a baseball-style cap having a crown with a front region and a bill at the front region of the crown. The bill has a top and bottom surface. The bill is joined to the crown through a hinge arrangement to be moved selectively between: a) a first position wherein the bill projects forwardly from the front region of the crown; and b) a second position wherein the top surface of the bill is against or adjacent the front region of the crown.
In one form, the hinge arrangement is an over-center hinge arrangement that causes the bill to be biased into each of the first and second positions.
In one form, the crown front region has a curvature and the bill has weakening structure that causes the bill to bend in a predetermined manner so as to conform to the curvature of the crown front region.
In one form, the weakening structure consists of at least one fold line.
In one form, there are holding components on the bill and crown that cooperate to releasably maintain the bill in the second position.
In one form, an elastic material connects between the bill and the crown.
In one form, the bill has spaced sides and the elastic material connects between the bill and one of the spaced sides.
In one form, the elastic material makes up separate elastic material pieces, one each at the spaced sides.
In one form, the elastic material urges the bill towards the second position.
In
The bill 14 is connected to the crown 12 in a manner whereby it can be conveniently moved from a first position, as shown in
A central hinge component 16 joins the rear edge 18 of the bill 14 to the crown front region. The hinge component may have a defined pivot axis and/or be in the form of a “live” hinge. The spaced, lateral sides of the bill 14, at the rear thereof, are joined to the adjacent lower edge region of the crown 12 through a stretchable/elastic material at 20, 22. The material may be highly stretchable with good memory. Two discrete pieces of the material 20, 22 are shown, with one at each side of the bill 14.
With this arrangement, and the cap 10 configured as in
Fold lines 36 or other weakening structure might be strategically incorporated into the bill 14 to make it more readily bend in a predetermined manner to nominally conform to the curvature of the crown 12 with the cap 10 configured as in
The holding components 30, 32 may be in the nature of magnets that could be embedded in the bill 14 and/or crown 12 or externally applied thereon. Alternatively, hook-and-loop type fastener components might be utilized. Snaps, buttons, etc. are contemplated as well. What is desirable is the ability to quickly and conveniently convert the cap back and forth between the configuration in
In the configuration of
The “hinge” between the bill 14 and the crown 12 preferably has an over-center construction, whereby the bill 14 will be biased into each of its first and second positions that produce the different configurations shown in
The foregoing disclosure of specific embodiments is intended to be illustrative of the broad concepts comprehended by the invention.
