1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a hat having a brim or visor which rotates with respect to the crown portion of the hat. Specifically, the invention is directed to improved means for attaching and detaching the rotatable brim or visor from the crown portion of the hat.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,471,684; 5,715,534; RE38,774; 6,789,267 and 7,240,373 teach hats having a movable brim. These patents are representative of the level of ordinary skill in the art and are incorporated by reference.
In embodiments, a hat according to the invention consists of a crown portion having a lower periphery, a headband located inside the crown portion at the lower periphery of the crown portion, and a rotatable, removable brim. A track system attaches the brim to the crown portion of the hat. The track system comprises a first track (the “crown track”) which extends around the circumference of the crown portion of the hat and has an inside wall attached directly to the headband, while an outer wall of the track system is attached directly to an interior side of the crown portion of the hat without an intermediate fabric layer. A slot in which the visor slides is formed between the inside wall and the outer wall. The visor is supported in the slot on a runner which extends from the inside wall. The bottom runner is preferably a lip which is formed integrally with the inside wall. A gap formed between the bottom runner and the front wall extends the length of the crown track (preferably around the entire circumference of the crown portion) in which the visor slides to rotate about the crown portion.
As described below in connection with
A headband is attached to the inside surface of the crown portion and the inside wall 10 of the crown track is attached to the headband by adhesive, fusing or other means.
The gap 60 in track 100 is formed between a bottom runner 32 on the crown track and outside wall 20 of the track. The bottom runner 32 extends in the distal direction, i.e., away from the wearers head, from the inside wall 10. Preferably, the bottom runner is perpendicular to the inside wall and formed integrally therewith. The bottom runner 32 supports the visor in the gap 60, which is an improvement over the prior art in which the visor was sometimes made so as to hang from the crown.
The visor 40 has a visor track with a lip 42 extending about perpendicularly from the visor. The lip 42 of the visor track is received in a slot formed between the inside wall 10 and the outside wall 20 of the crown track. The lip 42 may have teeth, as shown in
Outside wall 20 of the track system 100 is situated parallel to the inside wall 10, forming a slot. This slot is substantially closed, except that an ejection port 50 is formed by a gap between opposite longitudinal ends of the outer wall 20 of the track system. This gap allows a first end of visor track 42 (shown in
In the embodiment of
The above description of the preferred embodiments is not to be deemed limiting of the invention and variations and modifications that would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art are encompassed within the invention.