The present invention relates generally to protective headwear. More particularly, the present invention relates to a durag allowing for a bump cap insert.
Bump caps are useful for protecting the wearer's head from bumps, cuts and bruises as a result of contact with objects such as overhead pipes, low ceilings and other objects. They are most often worn under a personal hat, uniform cap, baseball hat or other non-protective headwear.
The durag, which is headwear that is traditionally made of fabric, fits close to the head and provides some relief from the heat by the ability to absorb perspiration. (Garcia, Sandra E. (2018-05-14). “The durag, Explained”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331). Because of its soft fabric nature, the durag in particular provides no protection to a wearer from head impacts of any kind. There is a current and unfulfilled need for a bump cap insert that can be adjusted to accommodate insertion into a durag or other headwear, and the need for a durag that is able to receive a bump cap insert, and a bump cap insert that can also accommodate long hair.
The headwear assembly disclosed herein provides a durag that is configured to accept a bump cap insert. The bump cap insert is flexible, vented and trimmable to allow for variation in the user's head shape to allow for a comfortable fit while still providing some degree of safety from impacts to the head. The durag also comprises a hair shoot that will accommodate those with long hair, as it allows a user to funnel hair into the tube and away from direct contact with the users back, and retains the hair safely within the durag. The bump cap insert comprises a rear facing hinged section that is hinged proximate the crown of the bump cap insert. This allows for a user that desires to funnel hair into the hair shoot of the durag to push the hair through the hinged section of the bump cap insert and then into the hair shoot of the durag.
This summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, or describe each embodiment, implementation, feature or advantage of the invention.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, to those who have knowledge or experience in this area of technology that many uses and design variations are possible for the durag and bump cap disclosed herein. The following detailed discussion of the preferred embodiment will illustrate the general principles of the invention with reference to the disclosed durag and bump cap. Other embodiments suitable for other applications will be apparent to those skilled in the art given the benefit of this disclosure.
Though bump cap insert 100 is particularly suited for use in durag 10, it should be recognized that, because of its highly conformable design, it is a useful bump cap insert under a variety of headwear.
Bump cap insert 100 further comprises a plurality of flex joints 140. Flex joints 140 serve to permit deformation of bump cap insert 100 while maintaining a general protective shell. This allows the shape of bump cap insert 100 to safely conform to different head shapes and hair styles while still providing impact protection. The deformation is assisted by rear wings 170 and 175, the flexibility of which are enabled by flex joints 140. When used in a smaller hat or on a smaller head, rear wings 170 and 175 can come together, or even overlap, to conform bump cap insert 100 to smaller head shapes, hat styles or hair styles. Rear wings 170 and 175 may also overlap rear panel 104 for additional size adjustment. The flexibly of bump cap insert 100 is also enabled by flex joints 140 as they define substantial portions of front panel 110, allowing for any needed flexing of front panel 110 to accommodate a user's head shape, hair style or hat style.
Bump cap insert 100 preferably comprises trim notches 119, 120, 121, 122, 124, 126, 127, 129 and 130. These trim notches are located generally along the lower perimeter of bump cap insert 100 and allow for further size customization of bump cap insert 100. Each section defined by a trim notch can be trimmed off at the notch to shorten or modify bump cap insert 100 to accommodate the needs of a user. Trim notch 126, located on the lower perimeter of rear panel 104, is useful when trimmed off to allow more space for larger quantities of hair or headwear to exit bump cap insert 100. Trim notches 127-130 are particularly useful when trim notch 126 is trimmed by allowing the option to further increase the opening around rear panel 104 to allow more room for hair or headwear to exit bump cap insert 100, if needed.
Bump cap insert 100 further comprises a plurality of vent ridges 106, each vent ridge 106 comprising a plurality of vent apertures 108. It is preferred the vent ridges and vent apertures are distributed uniformly on bump cap crown portion 107 and rear panel 104 to allow for efficient ventilation of bump cap insert 100. The other portions of bump cap insert 100 are also preferably ventilated via vent apertures 105.
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Bump cap insert 100 also preferably comprises slots 180, 182, 184 and 186. These slots may be used to secure the bump cap insert 100 to an additional shell, a sweat band, a chin strap, or other accessory, via straps (not shown).
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments. It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and equivalent arrangements can be made thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, such scope to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims so as to encompass all equivalent structures and products. Moreover, features or aspects of various example embodiments may be mixed and matched (even if such combination is not explicitly described herein) without departing from the scope of the invention.
For purposes of interpreting the claims for the present invention, it is expressly intended that the provisions of Section 112, sixth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. are not to be invoked unless the specific terms “means for” or “step for” are recited in a claim.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/843,295, filed Jun. 20, 2022, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 29843295 | Jun 2022 | US |
Child | 17875403 | US | |
Parent | 29841475 | Jun 2022 | US |
Child | 29843295 | US |