Patent ID: 9655396
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: A42B

Claim:
1. A hat, comprising: a hat body; a hat brim coupled to the hat body at a body junction, the hat brim having at least three preset positions, a first preset position being where the hat brim is downwardly-sloped; at least one generally flexible outer brim wire provided in the hat brim, the at least one generally flexible outer brim wire spaced from the body junction; at least one generally flexible inner brim wire provided in the hat brim in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the outer brim wire, the at least one generally flexible inner brim wire spaced from the body junction; a semi-rigid continuous brim substrate provided in the hat brim and attached to the at least one generally flexible outer brim wire and the at least one generally flexible inner brim wire, each of the outer and inner brim wires being sandwiched between the brim substrate and a brim cover; wherein the outer and inner brim wires are not connected to one another and divide the hat brim into a plurality of brim sections each of the plurality of brim sections comprising a portion of the semi-rigid continuous brim substrate, the at least three preset positions further including second and third positions comprising ratcheted positions of the hat brim, the second and third ratcheted positions each comprising a segmented or stepwise deflection of one of the plurality of brim sections relative to another of the plurality of brim sections; each of the at least one generally flexible outer brim wire and the at least one generally flexible inner brim wire having a middle wire portion and a first end wire portion extending from the middle wire portion and a complementary second end wire portion extending from the middle wire portion, for each outer brim wire, the first end wire portion of that outer brim wire terminating at a respective first position and the complementary second end wire portion of that outer brim wire terminating at a respective complementary second position, each respective first position being spaced from the respective complementary second position, and for each inner brim wire, the first end wire portion of that inner brim wire terminating at a respective third position and the complementary second end wire portion of that inner brim wire terminating at a respective complementary fourth position, each respective third position being spaced from the respective complementary fourth position, and each of the first and second end wire portions of each of the inner and outer brim wires terminating into one or more of a fabric material and the brim substrate, the at least one generally flexible inner brim wire being spaced from the body junction by a first distance at the middle wire portion and being spaced from the body junction by a second distance at the first and second end wire portions, the first distance being greater than the second distance, and the at least one generally flexible outer brim wire being spaced from the at least one generally flexible inner brim wire by a third distance at the middle wire portion and spaced from the at least one generally flexible inner brim wire by a fourth distance at the first and second end wire portions, the third distance being greater than the fourth distance; and wherein the downwardly-sloped hat brim is configured to ratchet upwardly with respect to the outer and inner brim wires operating independently one from the other, responsive to force applied to the hat brim thereby providing segmented or stepwise upward bending of the hat brim in a direction of the force being applied to the hat brim.