Abstract:
Headgear having a cap portion configured to fit the head of a user and cover a top portion of the user&#39;s head, the cap portion including a layer of a fabric material, and at least one piece or layer of impact absorbing material attached to the layer of fabric material, wherein the impact absorbing material provides enhanced protection from impact to the user&#39;s head.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/327,573, filed Apr.  23 ,  2010 , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to headgear, and more particularly to headgear with improved impact resistant properties. 
         [0003]    Most caps and hats are made of a cloth or fabric or soft material that offers little in the way of protection from blunt force impact such as might occur when a baseball, golf ball or other projectile strikes the hat, or when the wearer&#39;s head impacts a solid object. 
         [0004]    It is therefore desirable to provide caps and hats with improved blunt force protection qualities. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Embodiments include impact absorbing material incorporated into a cap or hat, or that creates a cap within a cap. The caps of the present invention provides increased blunt force protection in the event the wearer falls or is struck with an object, such as a baseball or golf ball. For baseball cap embodiments, the pie shaped pieces that typically make up a baseball cap have an inner liner sewn into the cap, creating pie piece shaped pockets between the two layers of fabric. The inner liner could be the same type of fabric as the outer layer, or could include a different material, such as a moisture wicking layer, that will come in contact with the scalp. The caps and hats typically are lightweight so as to not detract from the wearability factor of conventional hats or caps; the added materials typically do not increase the weight or balance of the hat in a detractable manner. 
         [0006]    According to one embodiment headgear is provided that is typically wearable by a user. The headgear typically includes a cap portion configured to fit the head of a user and cover a top portion of the user&#39;s head, the cap portion including a layer of a fabric material, and at least one piece or layer of impact absorbing material attached to the layer of fabric material, wherein the impact absorbing material provides enhanced protection from impact to the user&#39;s head. The impact absorbing material in certain aspects includes Y-20 foam, Shocktec™ foam or other material that absorbs an impact event (and, e.g., distributes the momentum across a wider area), such as a foam, plastic, rubber, etc. In certain aspects, the at least one piece of impact absorbing material includes a plurality of triangular shaped pieces secured to the layer of fabric material. The impact absorbing layer may include multiple types of impact absorbing materials and/or other types of materials such as moisture-wicking materials. In certain aspects, the at least one piece of impact absorbing material is removably attached to the layer of fabric material. 
         [0007]    Reference to the remaining portions of the specification, including the drawings and claims, will realize other features and advantages of the present invention. Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with respect to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIGS. 1-8  illustrate a baseball cap embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0009]      FIGS. 1-8  illustrate an embodiment of the present invention. It will be appreciated that  FIGS. 1-8  illustrate a baseball cap embodiment, however, one skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments are equally applicable to other types of headgear, such as beanies, caps, or other headgear for use in various applications including military applications, sporting events, etc. As shown in  FIG. 1 , headgear  10  according to one embodiment includes a cap portion  20  that is configured to cover a wearer&#39;s head. Cap portion  20  is typically made of a fabric material, such as a stitched cotton fabric. Cap portion may include various mechanisms as are well known to adjust the size of the perimeter to allow better coupling/attachment with different size heads, such as an elastic portion, Velcro, a belt and clasp mechanism, etc. Visor portion  30  is coupled with the cap portion. Visor portion  30  is optional in certain embodiments, e.g., beanies and other caps. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, a layer of shock mitigating material is attached or otherwise coupled with the cap portion to provide additional impact protection to the wearer&#39;s head. For example, in the embodiment shown, one or multiple pieces  40  of shock mitigating material are inserted and enclosed within one or multiple pockets of the cap portion. These pieces  40  of “protective” layer can either be sewn securely into the cap, or they can be removable, for cleaning or replacement as needed. For example, to install or remove the pieces  40 , a sweatband within the cap can be unrolled (unfolded), exposing each of the pocket openings as shown in  FIGS. 5-7 . 
         [0011]    For baseball cap embodiments, the pie shaped pieces that typically make up a baseball cap have an inner liner sewn into the cap, creating pie piece shaped pockets between the two layers of fabric. The inner liner could be the same type of fabric as the outer layer, or could be a different material, such as a moisture wicking layer, that will come in contact with the scalp. According to one embodiment, a heat and moisture wicking fabric, called orthowick is used. 
         [0012]    Rate sensitive materials, such as impact absorbing foam products are formed, e.g., cut, to the same shape and size as the pockets in the cap, whether pie shaped pockets or other shapes. In one embodiment, Kemmler&#39;s SHOCKtec material is used. Typically a baseball cap or a military cloth hat has 5 or 6 pie piece shaped triangles, which make up the overall shape of the cap. In the case of adjustable fitting caps, the rear two triangular pieces will have a portion of the back inner side of the triangle removed, to accommodate the opening at the back of the hat. The shock mitigating material slices will fit within the pocket openings, creating a “shock layer,” sandwiched between the two layers of fabric, which make up the hat. 
         [0013]    Another material that can be used with embodiments disclosed herein is the foam Y-20, either in addition to the other materials described herein, or as a replacement thereof. Thermoforming the various pads and pad structures can be performed, for example instead of cutting pad portions. For example, in one embodiment, a single pad of rate sensitive material is thermoformed to match the cap portion, and the formed pad is attached to or coupled with the inside portion of the cap portion. In other embodiments, multiple pad pieces are formed by a thermoforming process and then attached to or coupled with the cap portion. 
         [0014]    The finished product is a baseball cap, which provides some level of increased blunt force protection. Although the finished cap may not provide the same level of protection as a hard shelled helmet, the product provides additional levels of protection in the event the wearer falls or is struck with an object, such as a baseball or golf ball. 
         [0015]    One skilled in the art will appreciate that other types of caps, hats or helmets can be modified similar to the baseball cap embodiment as described herein, such as scrum caps for rugby and ski caps/beanies, to incorporate rate sensitive material to provide enhanced blunt force protection to a wearer of the cap or hat. 
         [0016]    While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.