Removable washable cover for visor

An improved visor includes a C-shaped band which fits around the head of the user and includes a brim attached to the band. A pliable cloth sleeve is provided which removably fits over the visor. The sleeve is removed for washing when soiled.

This invention relates to head wear. 
More particularly, the invention relates to a visor which has a cloth 
surface. 
Visors are well known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,212 
to Huffman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,639 to White, U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,545 to 
Tapia, U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,995 to Oates, U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,548 to 
Dotzenrod, U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,810 to Minton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 
5,197,150 to Bedient, U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,099 to Lin, and U.S. Pat. No. 
5,373,586 to Brosnan. 
A visor ordinarily comprises a resilient, C-shaped plastic band which fits 
around and engages a portion of the circumference of the head of a user. 
The band ordinarily extends over the forehead and the sides of the user's 
head above the user's ears. Since the band is resilient, the ends of the 
band are ordinarily, but not necessarily, resiliently spread apart from 
their normal position when the band is worn on the user's head. After the 
ends of the band are spread apart, they attempt to return to their normal 
position and press against the sides of the user's head. The pressure of 
the ends of the band against the user's head helps maintain the visor in 
position on the head. A visor can, if desired, include a band which extend 
completely around the head of user like the band of a baseball cap. 
A brim is attached to and extends outwardly away from the band and the 
forehead of the user when the visor is worn. The brim functions to shade 
the face of the user from the sun. The visor ordinarily does not cover the 
top of the user's head. A baseball cap and most other hats do, in 
contrast, cover the top of the user's head when worn. The visor and 
C-shaped band are typically made from a hard, resilient plastic, but can 
be constructed from any desired material. 
Cloth is glued or otherwise permanently affixed to the C-shaped band and 
brim. 
A particular problem encountered during use of the visor is that the cloth 
covering the visor becomes soiled. This is particularly the case with the 
cloth which covers the inside of the C-shaped band and which presses 
against the user's head. Attempting to wash the visor by hand is 
difficult. Putting the visor in a washing machine is not desirable because 
the forces generated on the visor by the washing machine may cause the 
brim or band to break, particularly when the brim or band are constructed 
of plastic. As a result, when the cloth clover on a visor become dirty, it 
often times cannot be conveniently cleaned without damaging the visor and, 
the visor is simply discarded. 
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved visor 
which could be readily thoroughly cleaned while minimizing the likelihood 
that the visor would be broken. 
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved 
visor and method for cleaning the visor. 
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved visor of the type 
including a C-shaped head band, a brim attach to the band, and cloth 
covering the brim and head band. 
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved visor of the 
type described which facilitates cleaning the cloth cover when soiled. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method for cleaning a 
visor of the type described which reduces the risk that the visor will be 
broken or damaged during the cleaning process.

These and other, further and more specific objects and advantages of the 
invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following 
detailed description thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in 
which: 
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a visor with a C-shaped head band 
and a brim attached to the head band; 
FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating a pliable cloth visor sleeve or cover 
constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention to be 
removably slid over and tensioned and secured on the visor of FIG. 1; 
FIG. 3 is a front view further illustrating the cloth sleeve of FIG. 2; 
FIG. 4 is a section view of the cloth sleeve of FIG. 2 further illustrating 
the construction thereof and taken along section line 4--4; 
FIG. 5 is a section view of the cloth sleeve of FIG. 2 illustrating the 
construction of the opening in the sleeve which permits the visor of FIG. 
1 to be slid into the sleeve and taken along section line 5--5 thereof; 
FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the pliable sleeve of FIGS. 2 to 
5 after one end of the visor band is lid through the opening of the sleeve 
and installation of the sleeve over the visor is begun; 
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the pliable sleeve of FIGS. 2 to 
5 after it is completely installed over the visor and the opposing Velcro 
strips in the sleeve opening are pressed together to close the sleeve 
opening; 
FIG. 8 is a top view illustrating a pliable visor cover constructed in 
accordance with an alternate embodiment of the invention; 
FIG. 9 is a front view further illustrating the visor cover of FIG. 8; 
FIG. 10 is a section view of the cover of FIG. 8 further illustrating 
construction details thereof and taken along section line 10--10 thereof; 
and, 
FIG. 11 is a section view illustrating one of the pockets on the pliable 
brim cover of FIG. 6. 
Briefly, in accordance with my invention, I provide an improved visor. The 
visor includes a resilient C-shaped band shaped and dimensioned to extend 
over the forehead and over the sides of the head of a user, and includes a 
brim attached to and extending outwardly from the C-shaped band to shield 
the face of the user from light when the visor is worn on the head of a 
user. A pliable C-shaped sleeve is included with the visor. The sleeve is 
shaped and dimensioned to be removably slid over and secured on the band 
and brim of the visor. 
In another embodiment of my invention, I provide an improved visor. The 
visor includes a resilient C-shaped band shaped and dimensioned to extend 
over the forehead and over the sides of the head of a user and having a 
pair of opposing end normally each positioned against a side of the user's 
head when the visor is worn, and includes a brim attached to and extending 
outwardly from the C-shaped band to shield the face of the user from light 
when the visor is worn on the head of a user. A C-shaped cover is provided 
with the visor to facilitate cleaning of the visor when soiled. The 
C-shaped cover is shaped and dimensioned to removably engage each of the 
end of the band and extend from end of the band over the brim and the 
band. 
In a further embodiment of the invention, I provide an improved method for 
cleaning a visor. The visor includes a resilient C-shaped band shaped and 
dimensioned to extend over the forehead and over the sides of the head of 
a user and having a pair of opposing end normally each positioned against 
a side of the user's head when the visor is worn, and includes a brim 
attached to and extending outwardly from the C-shaped band to shield the 
face of the user from light when the visor is worn on the head of a user. 
The method includes the steps of removably mounting on the visor a pliable 
C-shaped cover; removing the cover from the visor when soiled; washing the 
cover; and, removably mounting the cleaned C-shaped cover on the visor. 
Turning now to the drawings, which depict the presently preferred 
embodiments of the invention for the purpose of illustrating the practice 
thereof and not by way of limitation, and in which like reference 
characters refer to corresponding elements throughout the several views, 
FIG. 1 illustrates a visor 15 including a C-shaped band 19 and a brim 16. 
Band 19 normally is resilient, is shaped and dimensioned to conform to and 
extend over the forehead and sides of the head of a user, and is made from 
a hard, substantially rigid plastic. When the visor 15 is mounted on the 
head of a user, band 19 flexes so that the opposed, spaced apart ends 23 
and 24 are forced apart by the head of the user, i.e., the user's head has 
a width greater than the normal distance between ends 23 and 24 
illustrated in FIG. 1. Band 19 includes inner arcuate surface 21, outer 
arcuate surface 20, and upper edge or lip 22. Brim 16 includes upper 
arcuate surface 17 and outer edge 18. Visor 15 can be fabricated from any 
desired material, but ordinarily is produced from a substantially rigid, 
but resilient, material. 
A pliable C-shaped sleeve 25 to cover visor 15 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 
5. The sleeve 25 includes a brim covering segment including an upper 
C-shaped cloth section 26 attached to a lower C-shaped cloth section 27 by 
a stitch line 37. Sections 26 and 27 generally have the same shape and 
dimension. The sleeve 25 also includes a ridge portion for covering the 
C-shaped band 19. The ridge portion includes a front cloth section 29 
attached to cloth section 26 by a stitch line 28. The ridge portion also 
includes an inner cloth section 31 attached to cloth section 29 by a 
stitch line 30. Section 31 is also attached to section 27. 
Stitched together cloth sections 26, 27, 31, and 29 enclose and bound a 
C-shaped inner area which generally corresponds in shape and dimension to 
visor 15. The C-shaped inner area is accessed only by opening cloth 
portions 32 and 33 in the manner shown in FIG. 2. 
Cloth section 31 includes a portion 32 having a strip 34 of "hook" VELCRO 
(Trademark) fastener material secured to the inner surface of portion 32. 
Cloth section 29 includes a portion 33 having a flap 39 attached thereto 
and pivotable along a stitch line 30. A strip 35 of "loop" VELCRO 
(Trademark) fastener material is secured to flap the inner surface of 
portion 33. Strips 35 and 34 normally oppose one another. When strips 34 
and 35 are pulled and spaced apart in the manner shown in FIG. 2, then one 
end 23 of visor 15 is slid into sleeve 25 by inserting end 23 between 
portions 32 and 33 and between strips 34 and 35 in the manner illustrated 
in FIG. 6. Strips 34 and 35 and portions 32 and 33 bound and define an 
opening in sleeve 25. If desired, instead of the opening defines by strips 
34 and 35 and portions 32 and 33, another opening or openings can be 
formed in sleeve 25 at any other location(s) to facilitate mounting sleeve 
25 on visor 15. 
After sleeve 25 is partially pulled onto visor 15 in the manner shown in 
FIG. 6, the remainder of sleeve 25 is slid over the exposed portion of 
visor 25 in FIG. 6, including over end 34, and strips 34 and 35 are 
pressed together to produce the configuration illustrated in FIG. 7. In 
FIG. 7, cloth pocket 42 fits over and conforms to end 24, and cloth pocket 
23 fits over and conforms to end 43. Sleeve 25 completely covers visor 15 
in FIG. 7. When desired, sleeve 25 is removed from visor 15 by separating 
strips 34 and 35 and pulling end 24 and the remainder of visor 15 out 
through the opening or mouth formed by opposing portions 32 and 33. Sleeve 
25 is preferably sized such that when it is installed on visor 15 in the 
manner shown in FIG. 7, the cloth or other material comprising sleeve 25 
is tensioned such that the cloth smoothly and tautly conforms to the 
contours of at least some, preferably all, of the portions of visor 15, 
particularly the upper surface 17 of the brim of the visor. Typically, 
cloth in sleeve 25 positioned over and contacting surface 17 is tensioned 
in the directions indicated by arrows E, F, G, and H in FIG. 7. 
An alternate embodiment of a visor cover utilized in the practice of the 
invention is illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 11. The visor cover 55 includes a 
brim segment including an upper C-shaped cloth section 56 attached to a 
lower C-shaped lip section 57 by a stitch line 66. Section 57 can, if 
desired, comprise an elasticized cloth strip or an elasticized "bias tape" 
strip. The brim segment covers the upper surface 17 and edge 18 of a visor 
15. The visor cover 55 also includes a ridge portion for covering the 
C-shaped band 19. The ridge portion includes a front cloth section 59 
attached to an inner lip section 61 by a stitch line 60. Cloth pockets 72 
and 73 are formed at the distal ends of sections 56 and 59. Pocket 72 is 
shaped and dimensioned to conform to and fit over end 24 of visor 15. 
Pocket 73 is shaped and dimensioned to conform to and fit over end 23 of 
visor 15. Lip section 61 is shaped to fit over the upper edge 22 of band 
19. Lip section 57 is shaped and dimensioned to fit over and conform to 
the C-shaped edge 18 of brim 16 of a visor 15. 
To install cover 55 on a visor 15, pocket 42 is slipped over end 24, pocket 
73 is slipped over end 23, lip section 61 is fit over C-shaped upper edge 
22, and lip section 57 is fit over C-shaped edge 18 of brim 16 of a visor 
15 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11. The back 90 of pocket 72 
is enclosed or stitched such that end 24 cannot slip out through pocket 72 
in the direction of arrow E. The backs of each of pockets 73, 42 and 43 
are similarly closed or stitched together. Pockets 72 and 73 completely 
cover ends 24 and 23, respectively, when cover 55 is installed on a visor 
15. As shown in FIG. 10, however, cover 55 does not completely cover the 
underside of brim 16 nor the inner surface 21 of C-shaped band 19. 
Both the cover 55 and the sleeve 25 are preferably shaped and dimensioned 
such that each snugly and tautly fits over a visor 15. 
In use, sleeve 25 and cover 55 are each mounted on a separate visor 15 in 
the manner described. When soiled, sleeve 25 and cover 55 are removed from 
visor 15 and are washed or otherwise cleaned. The cleaned sleeve 25 and 
cover 55 are then remounted on their respective visor 15.