Patent Application
20050193467
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains, in general, to visor caps, and more specifically, to a visor cap, comprising a crown covering the heads of users with a sun visor made of a semi-transparent material to shade their faces from ultraviolet rays.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a visor cap is used so as not to directly irradiate the rays of the sunshine into the eyes of users or not to burn the skin of their faces due to the sunshine irradiated directly, at beaches, or upon outdoor activities, for example, mountain climbing, fishing, exercising or viewing the sport games. Such a visor cap is composed of a hair band to wear the cap on the head of the user, and a sun visor pivotally attached to both sides of the hair band of the cap.
However, in the cases of using such a visor cap, since the head of the user is exposed, it is irradiated with direct rays of sunlight, which is harmful to the user.
Thus, there is proposed a cap having a crown and an opaque sun visor, however, it cannot function to effectively shield the sunlight without impeding the visual field at the same time.
Further, a rear adjustable band positioned at a back portion of the cap is generally formed with plastics, or a belt-type fastening loop made of cloth, which is inconvenient in use.
Upon wearing the above proposed cap which covers the head of the user, there is a low circulation of air. Hence, larger amounts of the sweat is generated on the forehead of the user, attributed to the temperature differences inside and outside the cap, and also, a variety of skin diseases may be caused on the skin of the head of the user. For prevention of such phenomena, a sweatband made of various materials and having a predetermined width is sewn integrally along a lower end of the inner surface of the cap. However, after the cap is worn for longer periods, the sweatband of the cap is wet with sweat and may be contaminated by various bacteria propagating thereon, which negatively affects the user. Therefore, although the cap is frequently washed, such washing results in the deformation of the cap. After all, the users will wear so dirty a cap which is not washed. Moreover, as for workers wearing the visor cap all through the days of summer, although the sun rays are shielded by the visor cap, the sweatband of the cap that absorbs their sweat cannot be easily dried and becomes dirty. Eventually, the cap has an offensive odor, on which various bacteria may propagate. Thus, the user wearing the cap may suffer from headache, skin diseases, or bad circulation of blood. Upon wearing such a dirty cap, the cap gives the user an unpleasant feeling while being harmful to the user.
In addition, while the cap is long worn, marks by the contact with the sweatband of the cap may remain at the forehead portion of the user. Also, the user suffers inconvenience due to the wearing for longer periods.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to alleviate the problems encountered in the related art and to provide a visor cap, provided with a crown, and a semi-transparent sun visor made of a material shading ultraviolet rays to shade the face of the wearer from the rays without impeding the visual field of the wearer, as well as a rear adjustable band to easily control the size of the cap. Further, a sweatband, which is removably attached to an inner surface of the cap, is formed with an elastic material, and thus, there are no marks in contact with the sweatband of the visor cap upon wearing the cap for longer periods, and the cap can be conveniently used.
To achieve the above object of the present invention, there is provided a visor cap, for use in shading a face of a user from ultraviolet rays without impeding a visual field, and protecting a head of the user, comprising a crown; a sun visor coupled to the crown of the cap to freely pivot to predetermined angles by use of a pair of pivotal coupling units provided to both side ends thereof, and made of a synthetic resin film of a semi-transparent ultraviolet material having flexibility; a sweatband having an elastic material therein and removably attached to an inner surface of the cap by use of an attaching unit to cover an elastic frame fixed to the inner surface of the crown of the cap; and a rear adjustable band having male and female Velcro fasteners provided to a back portion of the cap.
As for the visor cap according to a first embodiment of the present invention, the attaching unit of the sweatband comprises a connecting clip having a head portion inserted into the sweatband and an elastic coupling end fitted into a coupling hole that is formed to the elastic frame.
As for the visor cap according to a second embodiment of the present invention, the attaching unit of the sweatband comprises a plurality of female snaps attached to a lower end of the inner surface of the cap, and a plurality of male snaps attached to a lower portion of the sweatband.
As for the visor cap according to a third embodiment of the present invention, the attaching unit of the sweatband comprises a female Velcro fastener attached to a lower end of the inner surface of the cap, and a male Velcro fastener attached to a lower portion of the sweatband.
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given of a visor cap of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings.
As shown in the above drawings, a visor cap is composed of a crown 21, a sun visor 22, a sweatband 23 attached to a lower end of an inner surface 28 of the cap, a pair of pivotal coupling units 10 provided to both side ends of the sun visor 22, and a rear adjustable band 27.
The sun visor 22 of the cap is formed with a synthetic resin film mixed or coated with a semi-transparent ultraviolet material having flexibility, for example, a colored acryl film or a soft polyethylene film.
In such cases, the visor cap functions to shade ultraviolet rays without impeding the visual field of the user, by the sun visor 22 made of the synthetic resin film of flexible and semi-transparent ultraviolet material, and as well, acts to protect the head of the user by means of the crown 21.
Further, one surface of the sweatband 23 of the cap is removably attached to the inner surface 28 of the cap by use of an attaching unit. Hence, upon washing the cap, such a sweatband 23 may be easily detached from the inner surface 28 of the cap, after which it may be attached again thereto for use.
Additionally, the sweatband 23 is filled with an elastic material 24, whereby the user can wear the visor cap of the present invention for longer periods without being inconvenienced, compared to conventional caps having a sweatband with an inner stiff surface without elastic material. Also, sweat of the user is absorbed well by such a sweatband 23.
In the visor cap according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the sweatband 23 has an attaching unit as shown in
That is, a connecting clip 25, usable as the attaching unit of the sweatband 23, includes a head portion at an end thereof, which is inserted to an inner part of the sweatband 23, and the other end of the clip 25 is fitted into a coupling hole 26 which is formed to an elastic frame 20. As such, the connecting clip 25 is provided in plural numbers in regular intervals. On the other hand, the elastic frame 20 is positioned between the inner surface 28 of the cap and the sweatband 23, to regularly maintain the shape of the cap, and is fixed to the cap by a coupling clip 15 of the pivotal coupling unit 10 which serves to connect both side ends of the sun visor 22 of the cap to both side ends of the crown 21 thereof.
Further, as shown in
Furthermore, as in
The male and female snaps 29 and the male and female Velcro fasteners 30, which are provided between the lower end of the inner surface 28 of the cap and the lower portion of the sweatband 23, function to allow the sweatband 23 to be easily attached to or detached from the cap.
In addition, as seen in
Meanwhile, as for the inventive visor cap, the pivotal coupling unit 10 of the sun visor 22 consists largely of a visor coupling part 11 and a base coupling part 12, which is shown in
The visor coupling part 11 includes an upper plate and a lower plate each having a circular shape, in which the upper and lower plates are partially connected to each other along edges thereof. Thus, an open portion is formed between edges of the upper plate and the lower plate of the visor coupling part 11 which are not connected to each other. The open portion allows the sun visor 22 to be inserted into the pivotal coupling unit 10 therethrough. Further, a screw inserting hole is formed in a center of the upper plate of the visor coupling part 11, and a passage hole is formed in a center of the lower plate thereof, through which a screw fixing protrusion 18 of the base coupling part 12 passes to allow the visor coupling part 11 and the base coupling part 12 to be coupled together. Around the passage hole of the lower plate of the visor coupling part 11, a plurality of elastic slits 13 are provided. Also, a plurality of projection receiving recesses 16 are formed around the slits 13 while drawing a circle at a lower surface of the lower plate of the visor coupling part 11.
The elastic slits 13 are individually formed at the inside and outside of the circle drawn by the recesses 16.
The base coupling part 12 has the screw fixing protrusion 18 protruding from a center of an upper surface thereof, in which a threaded hole is formed in the center of the screw fixing protrusion 18. Further, a plurality of projections 14 are formed on the base coupling part 12 around the screw fixing protrusion 18. A coupling clip 15, which extends from a center of a lower surface of the base coupling part 12, is fitted into a hole of the elastic frame 20 of the cap.
In this case, the coupling clip 15 having a quadrangular cross section is fitted into a quadrangular hole of the elastic frame 20 by being compressed before passing through the opening and widened again after passing therethrough. Therefore, after completion of the fitting, the base coupling part 12 cannot be rotated with respect to the elastic frame 20.
To combine the visor coupling part 11 and the base coupling part 12 together, inserting parts formed at both side ends of the sun visor 22 of the cap are inserted into the open portions of the visor fixing part 11, after which the screw fixing protrusion 18 of the base coupling part 12 passes through the passage hole of the lower plate of the visor coupling part 11 and a passage hole of the inserting part of the sun visor 22, and thus, is in contact with the upper plate of the visor coupling part 11. Then, a screw 17 having a round head is screwed into the threaded hole of the base coupling part 12 through the screw inserting hole of the visor fixing part 11, thereby completing the combination of the visor fixing part 11 and the base coupling part 12.
As described above, the present invention provides a visor cap comprising a crown and a sun visor, which is advantageous in terms of protecting the head of the user, and shading the sunlight without impeding the visual field of the user. Further, the removably attachable sweatband, which is formed of the elastic material, can act to allow the cap portion in direct contact with the forehead of the user to be soft. Also, the sweatband is easily detached from the cap for washing, and thus, dirt and any offensive odor of the cap due to the absorbed sweat can be removed. Moreover, a pair of Velcro fasteners are provided to the rear adjustable band of the cap, and the size of the cap can be easily controlled according to the size of the head of the user.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
