Patent Application
20220095729
The present disclosure generally relates to a patch for a hat and, more particularly, to a patch for a hat with a woven construction.
It is known that repeated use of a hat with a woven construction, such as a straw hat or a panama hat, can lead to cracking or tearing of the woven material. This problem is particularly pervasive at the crown of the hat where pinching of the hat can accelerate damage. The cracking or tearing can cause irreparable damage to the hat as the woven materials separate from each other.
In response, certain solutions have been proposed. However, known solutions suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, glue or other adhesives have been proposed to repair woven hats. Glues and adhesives are not only ineffective at repairing woven hats, but they also create an outward appearance that is not aesthetically pleasing. Further, known solutions can be difficult to apply and do not restore the appearance of the hat to its original condition. It would therefore be desirable to have a solution that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional hat repair devices, systems, and methods.
The present disclosure is generally directed to a hat patch that is particularly well suited for repairing the crown of a woven hat. The hat patch has a woven construction with a design that is adapted to be applied to the crown of a woven hat in some embodiments.
For example, a hat patch according to the present disclosure includes a generally semicircular shape with a first side that is straight and linear and a second curved side that is connected to the first side. The patch includes several layers of material with each layer having the same size and shape. The first or top layer is a layer of woven material corresponding to the material of the hat to be repaired. The second or middle layer is a layer of adhesive. The third or bottom layer is a removable backing that is coupled to the adhesive layer and removed before application of the patch to the hat. The patch further includes a first notch and a second notch. The first notch is in the first, straight side and the second notch is in the second, curved side. The first and second notches are aligned and have a triangular shape, with the pointed tip of each notch extending into the layers of material and toward each other. In some examples, the notches are aligned centrally with respect to the sides and the patch, such that the notches can be used to align the patch with a center of the hat to be repaired.
The present disclosure further describes a cutting board or stencil for cutting several patches from a sheet of material. The cutting board includes demarcations in the patch shape described above repeated in rows and columns to increase production efficiency.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more readily appreciated as the same become better understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements or acts. In some figures, the structures are drawn exactly to scale. In other figures, the sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the sizes, shapes of various elements and angles may be enlarged and positioned in the figures to improve drawing legibility.
The present disclosure is generally directed to a patch for a hat. While the disclosure will proceed with a specific implementation of a patch for a crown of a woven hat, it is to be appreciated that the concepts described herein can be applied to any number of different hats and hat patches and also outside of the hat repair context. As such, the present disclosure is not limited solely to patches for the crown of a woven hat.
Further, the patch 100 includes a first notch 112 in the first side 108 and a second notch 114 in the second side 110. The first notch 112 and the second notch 114 are aligned with each other on opposite sides of the patch 100 and in some embodiments, are located centrally with respect to the body 102 of the patch 100. In other words, the notches 112, 114 are aligned along a vertical line passing through a center of the patch 100, as indicated by dashed line “A” in
However, in one or more embodiments, the first and second straight edges 116, 118 are at any transverse angle to each other, meaning any angle not equal to 0 degrees and not equal to 90 degrees. The second notch 114 can have the same or similar features as the first notch 112. In some embodiments, there is only one notch 112, 114 on a selected side of the patch 100. Further, the notches 112, 114 may be offset from center or spaced from each other and from line “A” in
The layer of woven material 122 may be any number of different materials, such as canvas, cotton, jute, leather, wool, polyester, straw, nylon, or linen, as well as any other type of fabric. Further, the layer of woven material 122 can be selected to be any color and may have a selected weave density, such as less than 80 weaves per square centimeter, or 100, 140, 180, or 250-400 or more weaves per square centimeter in any selected weave pattern, such as Brisa, Cuenca, and others. As such, the layer of woven material 122 includes fibers that are interwoven in any selected pattern and in any selected color in order to match a variety of hats and styles. In some embodiments, the layer of woven material 122 does not include any stiffener and is instead, a sheet of linen made from any of the above materials. In one or more embodiments, stiffener is also applied to the layer of woven material 122.
The layer of adhesive 124 can be selected to be any adhesive and may include gel, putty, glue, tape, or other like compositions. For example, the layer of adhesive 124 may be reusable adhesive putty, reusable adhesive gel, removable or repositionable double-sided tape, laminating adhesive, or other like products. Some embodiments include the adhesive layer 124 manufactured by 3M®. The adhesive 124 is selected to have a long lasting and semi-permanent bond, meaning that the patch 100 can be removed without leaving behind adhesive residue on the hat. The removable backing 126 may be selected to be any removable backing. In some embodiments, the adhesive layer 124 and the backing 126 are a single unit, such as 300LSM adhesive backing manufactured by 3M®. As such, the adhesive layer 124 and backing 126 are applied to the layer of woven material 122 to create the multi-layer structure of the body 102.
In operation and with reference to
Thus, the patch 100 is applied to the inside of the hat with the adhesive layer 124 on the hat and generally facing outward toward the crown of the hat while the layer of woven material 122 faces inward towards the head of the user. Fixing a hat with the patch 100 from the inside of the hat is preferable to applying a patch on the outside of the hat because edges of an internal patch are not visible during normal use of the hat, and thus the aesthetics of the repair are improved. However, the present disclosure is not limited to solely repairing hats on the inside of the crown. Rather, the concepts of the present disclosure can be applied to patches for any area or surface of a hat, as well as outside the hat patching context, such as with a woven bag or other textiles.
In the foregoing description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures associated with hats and hat patches have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments.
Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, such as, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open, inclusive sense, that is as “including, but not limited to.” Further, the terms “first,” “second,” and similar indicators of sequence are to be construed as interchangeable unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or” is generally employed in its broadest sense, that is as meaning “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.
These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63085318 | Sep 2020 | US |
