Hat Storage and Protection Container

Abstract

A hat container comprises a top component, having a crown portion in communication with a bill portion, as well as a bottom component releasably engaged to the top component. A rear door hingedly engages the crown portion. The top component, bottom component, and rear door define an interior of the hat container, wherein the interior is dimensioned to contain one or more hats. An upper mating component is positioned on the crown portion and a lower mating component is positioned on the bottom portion. Each mating component facilitates stacking of two or more hat containers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to the field of garment preservation devices and more specifically to containers that retain and protect hats.

2. Description of Related Art

A hat is a common accessory that is worn to achieve a certain stylistic look, show support for a team or group, or to simply shade ones eyes. When not in use, hats are often stored in a closet, in a drawer or on a shelf where they are vulnerable to dirt, dust, being smashed by other items. This causes the material and structure of the hat to degrade over time.

Perhaps the most common hat is the baseball cap. This design comprises a visor extending generally perpendicular from a crown. The crown is configured to cover the users head with a series of woven panels that are sewn together to form a semi-dome. In many designs, a buckram is positioned on the front facing panels to provide a more resilient structure for the profile of the hat. The structural integrity of the buckram is crucial to the favorable profile of the hat, and along with the crown, should be protected from being smashed to preserve the hats appearance.

Currently, protective dome inserts are available and can be inserted into the inner semi-dome of the hat. This protects the hat from losing its structure when not in use. This system has a few drawbacks, such as not allowing for more than one hat to be used with each device, as well as not protecting the hat from dust and dirt.

Based on the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a hat-protecting device, wherein the device has the ability to protect multiple hats from structural decay, dirt, dust, and other hazardous agents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A hat container comprises a top component. The top component comprises a crown portion and a bill portion. A bottom component is releasably engaged to the top component by one or more male and female locking members. A rear door is hingedly engaged to the crown portion. Engagement of the top component, bottom component, and rear door defines an interior, dimensioned to receive on or more hats.

An upper mating component is positioned on the crown portion, while a lower mating component is positioned on the bottom component. Each mating component facilitates stacking of two or more containers. In an embodiment, the upper mating component comprises an upper surface and lower surface separated by a recessed channel. The recessed channel facilitates frictional engagement of the upper and lower mating components.

In an embodiment, the rear door is latchingly engaged to the crown portion. Further, the rear door comprises a concave depression.

The foregoing, and other features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following, more particular description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the objects and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the ensuing descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings briefly described as follows.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the components of the hat storage and protection device, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the front of the hat storage and protection device, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the back of the hat storage and protection device, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the hat storage and protection device, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the hat storage and protection device, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention and their advantages may be understood by referring to FIGS. 1-5, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements.

In general the invention described herein relates to a hat storage and protection device having an elongated housing having an interior defined by a frame that is shaped like a hat. The interior comprises a front region sized to receive the brim of a hat and a back region sized to receive the crown of a hat. In a preferred embodiment, the hat storage and protection device is made of a structurally resilient and transparent material, however, the device can be composed of other plastics and likewise suitable material. In an embodiment, one or more hats are stacked in a shingled array and disposed within the interior of the container.

In reference to FIG. 1, the hat storage and protection device components are shown in an embodiment of the present invention. A brim portion 5 of the device is configured to receive the brims or bills of one or more hats within its hollowed interior. The brim portion can comprise one or more panels and have one or more beveled portions. In an embodiment the brim portion 5 is one integrally molded piece of material extending from the crown portion. A crown portion 10 of the device is configured to receive the crown of one or more baseball hats. In a preferred embodiment, the crown portion 10 has the general shape of a semi-dome. The crown portion 10 comprises one or more panels configured to form its semi-dome shape.

In further reference to FIG. 1, the brim portion 5 and crown portion 10 each comprise a top component 12 of the device. In an embodiment, a bottom component 15 releasably engages with the top component 12. The top and bottom components have a plurality of male and female locking members 20,21, allowing for the releasable engagement of the device. A rear door 17 is pivotally engaged with the crown portion 10 by one or more hinges 16. The rear door 17 is latchingly engaged with a side of the crown portion 10 by a latch-like component. In an embodiment, the rear door 17 has a central portion protruding inwardly into the interior of the device, in the form of a concave depression.

In a preferred embodiment, the top component 12 and bottom component 15 are releasably engaged by each of the plurality of male and female locking members 20. The rear door 17 is hingedly engaged with a side of the top component 12 and latchingly engaged by a latch-like component to an opposing side. With the components releasably engaged, a housing is made which contains the one or more hats in an interior 40 of the device, wherein the rear door 17 serves as an access panel to the hats stored therein. Each of the male locking members

In an embodiment, the top component 12 comprises an upper mating component 22 that is configured to releasably engage a lower mating component 24 positioned on the bottom component 15. As the bottom component 15 rests on a surface, the upper mating component 22 is positioned to receive a lower mating component 24 on the bottom portion 15 of a separate device. This allows multiple devices to be releasably engaged to, and stacked on top of one another.

In a preferred embodiment, the crown portion 10 comprises a panel 25 having a parallel plane with a plane of the bottom component. The upper mating component 22 is positioned on the panel 25, wherein the upper mating component 22 protrudes from the panel 25. The lower mating component is recessed into the bottom component 15, such that it receives the protruding upper mating component 22 of the top component 12. In an embodiment, each mating component comprises one or more lock components, allowing for each container to have a locking engagement when stacked with another container, via the mating components.

In reference to FIG. 2, the hat storage and protection device having each component engaged is shown. The upper mating component 22 comprises a mount and the lower mating component 24 comprises a recessed channel 33. The recessed channel 33 permits sliding engagement with the lower male mating component 24 of the bottom portion of a separate device, thereby allowing the user to stack numerous devices atop one another. In a preferred embodiment, the upper mating component 22 extends over left and right buckram panels 26, 27. Left and right brim panels 28,29 are separated from the buckram panels 26,27 by one or more beveled panels 30.

In further reference to FIG. 2, each of the plurality of male and female locking members 20 are engaged, thus facilitating a water, dust, dirt, and shock resistant housing.

In reference to FIG. 3, a perspective rear view of the device is shown, wherein the rear door is disengaged from the back portion to depict the interior 40 of the device. The interior walls of the brim portion, crown portion, bottom component, and rear door define the interior of the device upon engagement of each component. In use, a user inserts a hat brim into the interior of the device. The brim of the hat is disposed within the interior 40 of the front portion, while the crown of the hat is disposed within the interior of the back portion. The user can insert more than one hat into the device by stacking the hats onto one another. Once the hats are positioned within the interior 40 of the device, the user can engage that rear door and to contain the hats within the device.

In reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, top and bottom plan views of the device are shown. In specific reference to FIG. 4, a lower mating component 24 is positioned on the bottom 15 of the device. Male locking members 20 are positioned about a first perimeter 38 of the top component and female locking members 21 are positioned about a second perimeter 39 of the bottom component.

In a preferred embodiment, each upper mating component has an upper and lower surface 44,45 respectively (see FIG. 3). A recessed channel 33 separates each surface of the mating components 22. The lower mating component 24 comprises a clasping portion that slidingly engages with the recessed channel 33 of the upper mating component 22.

In an embodiment, the plurality of panels releasably engage one another. This allows for panels having different shapes to be engaged to facilitate the containment of numerous hat shapes and sizes. For example, the front region 5 of the device may be replaced with an extension of the back region to facilitate the containment of larger hats without a brim such as a bucket-style hat.

In an alternate embodiment, magnets are positioned within the top surface and bottom surface of each mating component. In this regard, a plurality of devices can be stacked on top of one another. In alternate embodiment, devices can be stacked by other means known in the art such as hook-and-loop components, friction engagement, latching engagement, clips, and other mechanisms positioned on the mating components.

The invention has been described herein using specific embodiments for the purposes of illustration only. It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, however, that the principles of the invention can be embodied in other ways. Therefore, the invention should not be regarded as being limited in scope to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but instead as being fully commensurate in scope with the following claims.

Claims

1. A hat container comprising: a. a top component having a crown portion in communication with a bill portion;b. a bottom component, wherein the bottom component releasably engages with the top component;c. a rear door, wherein the rear door is hingedly engaged to the crown portion, wherein the top component, the bottom component, and the rear door define an interior of the hat container, wherein the interior is dimensioned to receive one or more hats; andd. an upper mating component positioned on the crown portion and a lower mating component positioned on the bottom portion.

2. The hat container of claim 1, wherein the upper mating component and the lower mating component facilitate stacking two or more hat containers.

3. The hat container of claim 2, wherein the upper mating component and lower mating component comprise an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein the upper surface and lower surface are separated by a recessed channel, wherein the recessed channel facilitates frictional engagement of the upper and lower mating components.

4. The hat container of claim 2, wherein the upper mating component and lower mating component comprise one or more hook-and-loop components, wherein each of the hook-and-loop components facilitate stacking of two or more of the hat containers.

5. The container of claim 2, wherein the one or more magnets are disposed within each of the upper and lower mating components, wherein each of the magnets facilitate stacking of two or more devices.

6. The container of claim 1, having one or more male locking members and one or more female locking members, wherein the male locking members releasably engage the female locking members.

7. The container of claim 6, wherein the one or more male locking members and the one or more female locking members releasably engage the top component and the bottom component.

8. The container of claim 6, wherein the one or more male locking members are positioned on a first perimeter of the top component, and wherein the one or more female locking members are second positioned on a perimeter of the bottom component.

9. The container of claim 1, wherein the rear door is latchingly engaged to the crown portion.

10. The container of claim 1, wherein the rear door comprises a concave depression.