Patent Application
20160015108
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wearable headgear and, more particularly, to a waterproof hat having a foldaway brim and neck/ear protectors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use hats and other wearable headgear for protection from the elements while outdoors is well known. Conventional hats commonly protect the crown area (as opposed to the face or whole skull) of the head, and often times include structures to additionally protect the ears and back neck. A problem which still exists, however, is that conventional hats typically lack a selectively deployable covering for a wearer's face in order to protect it from rain and/or snow. Thus, there remains a need for a selectively extendable brim hat which can be folded down over a wear's face to cover and protect the face. It would be helpful if such a selectively extendable brim hat included a brim that could be set in a deployed position and a retracted position, without requiring user attention to stay in either position. It would be additionally desirable for such a selectively extendable brim hat to additionally include conventional ear and neck flaps to enable complete protection of a wearers head.
The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a selectively extendable brim hat adapted to allow a user to position an oversized brim in a retracted position against the top of the hat and a deployed position covering the user's face. The primary components in Applicant's selectively extendable brim hat are a hat body and an extendable brim. When in operation, the selectively extendable brim hat enables a user to cover his face and protect it from the elements, such as rain, snow, and/or wind, without having to carry a separate covering. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by prior art structures are removed.
A selectively extendable brim hat for enabling a wearer to extend coverage and protection from the elements over his face. The selectively extendable brim hat comprises a hat body defined as a wearable head covering shaped as a conventional driver's cap and having a front end, a back end, and a bottom rim extending around its perimeter edge, ear flaps which extend downward from the bottom rim, spanning from one side of the hat body all the way around the back end to the other side of the hat body, and an extendable brim defined by two discrete brim flaps which are hingedly attached to the bottom rim, each spanning from one side of the to selectively extendable brim hat 100 to the area of the front end. The ear flaps enable the selectively extendable brim hat to provided coverage the ears and neck of a wearer, while the flaps of the extendable brim extend coverage over a users face. In the deployed position the flaps of the extendable brim additionally include an auxiliary flap which also can be flipped down to further extend such coverage.
It is an object of this invention to provide an extension bar for a need for a selectively extendable brim hat which can be folded down over a wear's face to cover and protect the face.
It is another object of this invention to provide a selectively extendable brim hat which includes a brim that could be set in a deployed position and a retracted position, without requiring user attention to stay in either position.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a selectively extendable brim hat that additionally includes conventional ear and neck flaps to enable complete protection of a wearers head.
These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art.
Referring now to the drawings and in particular
The ear flaps 120 extend downward from the bottom rim 113, spanning from one side of the hat body 110 all the way around the back end 112 to the other side of the hat body 110. In this regard, the ear flaps 120 are configured to cover the ears and neck of a wearer of the selectively extendable brim hat 100.
The extendable brim 130 is defined by two discrete brim flaps 131 which are hingedly attached to the bottom rim 113, each spanning from one side of the to selectively extendable brim hat 100 to the area of the front end 111. In this regard, the flaps 131 of the extendable brim 130 can be flipped down into extended flaps 131′. Once placed in the deployed position as extended flaps 131′, an auxiliary flap 131″ is revealed which also can be flipped down to extend coverage over a users face.
It is contemplated that in the preferred embodiment, the selectively extendable brim hat 100 is constructed out of wool with a waterproof/breathable fabric membrane (such as Gore-tex) layer.
In one embodiment, the ear flaps 120 are defined by two discrete flaps which each are disposed on one side of the hat body 110.
In one embodiment, the extendable brim is defined by a single brim which spans from one side of the hat body 110 all the way around the back end 112 to the other side of the hat body 110.
In one embodiment, the extendable brim 130 is attached to the hat body 110 slightly above the bottom rim 113.
The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.
