Baseball cap travel case

A hat travel case including an elongated container body defining a main body portion, the back plate portion, the bill portion and a first enclosed space therein. The main body portion has a main body chamber therein and dimensioned to receive a plurality of billed hats arranged in a shingled array. The billed portion having a bill chamber therein and dimensioned to receive the bill portion of a billed hat. The back plate portion is pivotally connected to the main body portion and allows access to the interior of the travel case so that the plurality of billed hats can be inserted therein. The back plate portion further includes a form preserving means such as a reversed dome attached thereto. The form preserving means secures the plurality of the billed hats and ensures that their shape is maintained.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a container for storing and transporting 
hats. More specifically, the present invention relates to a container for 
storing and transporting baseball style caps. 
2. Prior Art 
Containers to store and hold hats are common within the prior art. There 
are many different styles of hats and related containers. For example, 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,217 issued to Trudeau on Jun. 17, 1958 discloses a 
portable container which has been designed for the storage and transport 
of military caps. This device allows for the storage and transportation of 
a single cap per device and is designed for the sole purpose of military 
style headwear. 
With respect to billed or brim style caps, commonly referred to as baseball 
caps, storage containers are known in the prior art. Typically baseball 
caps are stored either singlely or in a shingled array. In order to align 
the baseball caps in a shingled array, the rear half of the crown portion 
is folded into the forward half of the crown portion and then is stacked 
upon another similarly folded baseball cap. 
Typically the bill portion of a baseball cap is relatively stiff due to it 
being constructed of material such as cardboard. The crown portion of 
baseball caps are generally fabricated from cloth and are usually avoid of 
stiffening or reinforcing material. 
Baseball cap storage devices disclosed in the prior art do not demonstrate 
a manner in which to prevent the crown portion of a baseball cap from 
being deformed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,023 issued to Puller on 
Jan. 2, 1996 discloses a cap container having an elongated body comprised 
of material such as cloth. Inside the elongated body baseball style caps 
can be inserted in a shingled array. Cloth material of the elongated body 
does not prevent the crown portion of the enclosed baseball caps from 
becoming deformed. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,515 issued to Agostine on Jun. 11, 1991 discloses a hat 
container for the storage of baseball style caps in a shingled array. This 
device is made of rigid outer walls defining an interior compartment. 
Within the interior compartment, baseball caps are loosely restrained. 
This device, while providing a rigid exterior, does not secure the 
baseball caps in the interior portion and, thus, does not provide an 
adequate means to prevent the deformation of the crowned portion of the 
baseball cap. 
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singlely or in 
combination, seem to describe the present invention as claimed. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The hat travel case of the present invention provides a container which 
conforms to the shape of a baseball-style cap. The container includes an 
elongated container body having an external configuration generally 
corresponding to an elongated hat of a traversely crown shape and having a 
bill on one end thereof. The elongated container body defines a main body 
portion, a back plate portion and a bill portion as well as a first 
enclosed space. The main body portion defines a main body chamber being 
dimensioned to receive a plurality of billed baseball caps arranged in a 
shingled array. The bill portion defines a bill chamber being dimensioned 
to receive a plurality of the bill portion of the billed caps arranged in 
a shingled array. 
The back plate portion includes a back plate and is pivotally connected to 
the main body portion to allow access into the main body chamber in order 
to insert the plurality of billed hats arranged in a shingled array. This 
back plate portion can be secured in a closed position by latch means to 
the main body portion. Further, a form preservation means is attached to 
the back plate means. The form preservation means is in a domed or curved 
shape and is used to prevent the crown portion of a baseball cap from 
becoming crushed or deformed during travel. 
As mentioned above, when storing a plurality of baseball-style caps in a 
shingled array, the back portion of the crown aspect of a baseball cap is 
folded toward the forward portion of the crown aspect of the baseball cap. 
This creates a concave surface along the rear portion of a baseball cap. 
The form preservation means has a reciprocal convex shape and is used to 
support the folded crown portion. Unlike the prior art, when a plurality 
of baseball-style caps are stored within the present invention, the form 
preservation means secures the hat in a medium to tight restriction 
manner. 
The form preservation means can either be solid or include an internal 
compartment in which items, such as keys, wallets, etc., can be stored. 
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a 
container for compact storage of caps in a shingled array. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a container for storage of 
caps to prevent the deformation of such caps. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a cap container for 
storage of baseball style caps which prevents the deformation of the crown 
portion of the baseball cap. 
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily 
apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings, the hat travel case 10 of the present 
invention includes an elongated container body 11 defining a main body 
portion 12, a back plate portion 40 and a bill portion 14. The elongated 
container body 11 fully comprises a plurality of walls 16 which enclose a 
first enclosed space 18. Elongated container body 11 has an external 
configuration which generally corresponds to an elongated billed hat 
having a traversely crown shape and having a bill on one end thereof. 
Hat travel case 10 is designed to transport and store a plurality of billed 
hats 30. Billed caps 30 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 are generally referred 
to as baseball caps and include a bill 32, a front portion 34 and a back 
portion 36. One manner in which to store hats 30 is to fold back portion 
36 forward into front portion 34 thereby creating a front portion having a 
convex shape and a back portion having a concave shape. While in this 
configuration, multiple hats may be stacked one on top of each other to 
form a shingled array 38. 
As shown in FIG. 7, first enclosed space 18 has a main body chamber 20 and 
bill receiving chamber 22. Main body chamber 20 is dimensioned to receive 
a plurality of hats 30 arranged in a shingle array 38. Bill receiving 
chamber 22 is dimensioned to receive a plurality of bills 32 arranged in a 
shingled array 38. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7, back plate portion 40 includes back plate 41 
which is pivotally connected by pivot means 42 to main body portion 12. 
Back plate 41 is pivotally moveable from an open position to a closed 
position. While in the open position, opening 56 is created by which 
access to first enclosed space 18 is made available. A plurality of hats 
30 aligned in a shingled array is able to be placed into the first 
enclosed space 18 through opening 56. Back plate 41 is able to be 
pivotally moved into a closed position, thereby, securing hats 30 therein 
by a first hinge means 42 and can be secured while in a closed position by 
a first latch means 44. 
In order to preserve the form of the plurality of hats arranged in a 
shingled array 38, form preserving means 46 is attached to the interior 
wall of back plate 41. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, one embodiment of form 
preserving means 46 is shown. Form preserving means 46 may be rigidly 
fixed to back plate 41 or it may be pivotally connected thereto. When form 
preserving means 46 is pivotally connected to back plate 41, it defines a 
second enclosed space 52 having an interior compartment 54 for the storage 
of personal items, such as keys and money. Within back plate 41 is plate 
53. Plate 53 is pivotally connected by hinge 50 and is secured by latch 
48. To gain access into space 52, plate 53 is placed in an open position 
creating opening 55. Items can then be inserted or removed. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 5, a front bill portion 14 is shown. Due to 
use, bill 32 of cap 30 typically obtains a curved shape in order to 
preserve the curve shape, bill portion 14 can be dimensioned in such a way 
as to preserve the curvature of bill 32. 
Whereas, the present invention has been described in relation to the 
drawings attached hereto, it should be understood that other and further 
modifications, apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made 
within the spirit and scope of this invention.