Patent Publication Number: US-10779668-B2

Title: Collapsible hat rack

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/798,792, filed Mar. 15, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a collapsible hat rack for storing a plurality of hats. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     For many people, hat storage is increasing problematic especially in today&#39;s society where homes are becoming more compact. Since homes are becoming more compact, organization has become a key component in household efficiency and use. One well known storage solution for hats is a hat rack. Hat racks have been used for centuries as a free standing structure that stands on the floor of one&#39;s home. However, in smaller homes there is often no place for hat racks, since floor space and living space is limited. 
     As a result, some individuals hang their hats on fixed hooks on the wall to reduce the amount of floor space occupied by a hat racks. However, typically, since each hook can efficiently and neatly hold no more than one hat, the wall space often becomes cluttered and unsightly. Similarly, storing hats on shelves is untidy and an inefficient use of space. Many loyal baseball fans collect various baseball caps, and have a tendency to leave them strewn about. Thus, there is a need for an efficient hat storage solution which is capable of neatly storing a plurality of hats while at the same time taking up the smallest amount of space possible. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention relates to a collapsible hat rack for efficiently and neatly storing a plurality of hats in a confined location. In particular, the collapsible hat rack may be made up of a base unit, a pivotable arm, a plurality of rungs, and a stopping mechanism. More specifically, the base unit may be mounted on a surface such as a wall or door; and a pivotable frame may be hingedly mounted to a bottom portion of the base unit. Hats may be clamped between pivotable clamping mechanisms that are attached to each of a plurality of rungs disposed between side portions of the pivotable frame. When a top portion of the pivotable frame is rotated away from the top portion of the base unit, the pivotable frame is rotated about an axis at the bottom of the base unit until a stopping mechanism suspends the pivotable frame at an predetermined angle from the base unit. 
     Advantageously, a plurality of hats may be clamped between each clamping end of each clamping mechanism so that when the collapsible hat rack of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is in the opened position, the hats can be easily seen and identified by the user. When the collapsible hat rack is fully collapsed/closed, the hats are rotated in the direction of gravity and efficiently folded together one on top of the other to form a compact row of hats that are neatly folded one on top of the other. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are intended to provide further explanation of the present invention, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective collapsed view of the collapsible hat rack in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the collapsible hat rack in a fully collapsed position in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the collapsible hat rack in a fully opened position in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view in an exploded view of an exemplary clamping mechanism movably positioned around a rung in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an alternative collapsible hat rack in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6A-B  is a perspective view of the collapsible hat rack in an opened and closed position respectively with a plurality of hats attached thereto in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     The present invention relates to a collapsible hat rack for efficiently and neatly storing a plurality of hats in a confined location. In particular, the collapsible hat rack may be made up of a base unit, a pivotable arm, a plurality of rungs, and a stopping mechanism. More specifically, the base unit may be mounted on a wall; and a pivotable frame may be hingedly mounted to a bottom portion of the base unit. Hats may be clamped between pivotable clamping mechanisms that are attached to each of a plurality of rungs disposed between side portions of the pivotable frame. When a top portion of the pivotable frame is rotated away from the top portion of the base unit, the pivotable frame is rotated about an axis at the bottom of the base unit until a stopping mechanism suspends the pivotable frame at an predetermined angle from the base unit. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective collapsed view of the collapsible hat rack  100  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the base unit  10  is mounted vertically on a structure such as a wall. The wall may be any structure capable of fixedly supporting the base unit  10 . The base unit may be secured to the wall by, for example, screws or a hanging mechanism. 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 1 , the base unit  10  is provided in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as a rectangular frame wherein the structural components of the base unit  10  are formed around the outer perimeter of the base unit  10  and the center of the base unit  10  is hollow. However, in alternative embodiments of the present invention the base unit  10  may be solid slab or board formed, for example, in the same rectangular shape, although, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention is not limited as such. 
     The base unit  10  may be made up of four sides (side structures) in some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited as such. For instance the base unit  10  may be made up of a top, and two side structures, with a bottom portion omitted. A pivotable frame  20  may be hingedly attached to the bottom portion of the base unit  10 . As can be seen from  FIG. 2 , the pivotable frame  20  is configured to be rotated about an axis  25  at the bottom of the base unit  10 . For example, the pivotable frame  20  may be attached to the base unit via a pin (wherein the pivotable frame rotates around the pin) or a hinge. 
     The pivotable frame  20  may be, in some embodiments, a size and shape corresponding to the base unit  10  so that when the pivotable frame  20  is rotated to a collapsed position (i.e., a position parallel to the base unit  10 ), the pivotable frame  20  lays aligned with an outer surface of the base unit  10 . That is, the base unit  10 , attached to the wall, may be configured so that when the collapsible hat rack is in a closed position, the pivotable frame  20  and the base unit  10  are parallel to each other. 
     Alternatively, when the pivotable frame  20  is rotated to a predetermined angle about the axis  25 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , a stopping mechanism  60  may be configured to stop the pivotable frame  20  at said predetermined angle relative to the base unit  10 . This stopping mechanism  60  may be for example, an elastic mechanism, such as a spring, string or a hinge. For example, the pivotable frame  20  may be suspended by the stopping mechanism  60  at an angle of 90° from the base unit  10 . This stopping mechanism prevents the pivotable frame  20  from being over-extended while at the same time allowing the user to easily chose a hat from the rack. Furthermore, the pivotable frame  20  may be suspended perpendicular to the base unit  10  when fully opened up as can be seen in  FIG. 3  so that the user may easily view a plurality of hats stored on the collapsible hat rack  100 . 
     In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the stopping mechanism  60  is illustrated as a single cord attached to at least one side of the base unit and at least one side of the pivotable frame. In this illustrative embodiment, the length of the cord is determined based where the pivotable frame should stop in relation to the base unit when the collapsible hat rack  100  is fully opened. However, in alternative embodiments the stopping mechanism may be any device capable of suspending the pivotable frame in mid-air, such as a chain, a spring, lockable hinges, etc. Additionally, more than one stopping mechanism may be installed thereon to further support larger sized collapsible hat racks which may heavier in nature. 
     The pivotable frame  20  may also include a plurality of rungs  30  traversing the center portion of the pivotable frame  20 . The plurality of rungs  20  may be orientated in a direction horizontal to the ground and have a clamping mechanism  50  pivotably attached thereto. The clamping mechanisms  50  preferably pivot about the rungs in the direction of gravity applied due to a mass of a hat clamped between the clamping mechanism  50 , or in some cases the clamping mechanisms  50  themselves. The clamping mechanism  50  may be pivotably positioned around the each rung  30  so that the clamping mechanisms  50  pivot in a downward direction when the collapsible hat rack  100  is collapsed and opened accordingly. 
       FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view illustrating an exemplary clamping mechanism  400 ( 50 ) in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the clamping mechanism may be embodied as a squeezable clip  410  configured to open and close when wings  420  of the clip is squeezed together. The clamping mechanisms  410 ( 50 ) preferably are movably positioned around each of the rungs  30  such that each of the clamping mechanisms may rotate around its associated rung. The squeezable clips  410  may be any squeezable clip that includes, for example, a springing or locking mechanism that is capable of clamping on to an object when pressure is not being applied to, for example in case of squeezable clips  410 , wings  420 . 
     In the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of hats may be clamped between each clamping end of each clamping mechanism. Accordingly, when the collapsible hat rack is in the opened position, the hats can be easily seen and identified by the user as shown in  FIG. 6A . When the collapsible hat rack is fully collapsed/closed, the hats are rotated in the direction of gravity and efficiently folded together one on top of the other to form a compact row of hats that are neatly folded one on top of the other as shown in  FIG. 6B . 
     Additionally, as a means for securing the collapsible hat rack of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a securing mechanism may be applied to one or more of the side portions of the base unit  10  such that the collapsible hat rack  100  stays securely closed when the collapsible hat rack  100  in a closed position. For example, an illustrative embodiment of the present invention may be secured in a closed position via a securing mechanism  80 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The securing mechanism  80  may be embodied as a magnetic latch, a hook, a clasp, etc. Furthermore, although the securing mechanism is illustrated as being on the inner side of the base unit and the outer side of the pivotable frame (not shown), however, any other location may be feasible as well. Other mechanisms may be used to secure the pivotable frame in the closed position, such as a clasp positioned at the top of the base unit for affixing to a corresponding mechanism on the pivotable frame when in the closed position. 
     Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 5 , in some embodiments, a pivotable frame  520  may be configured to fold into a center portion of the base unit  510 , by aligning the axis  525  of a pivoting joint between two side portions of the base unit  510 . In this embodiment, the base unit  510  and the pivotable frame  520  may be two different sizes. In particular, the base unit  510  may be structured such that an inside width W 1  of the base unit  510  is slightly larger than the outer width W 2  of the pivotable frame  520  so that when the collapsible hat rack  500  is completely collapsed, the pivotable frame  520  folds into the base unit  510 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . Furthermore, as can be seen in  FIG. 5 , the side portions of the base unit  510  may have a non-uniform width with a larger width at the bottom of the base unit  510  than at the top of the base unit  510 . 
     Alternatively, different mechanisms for stopping and holding the pivotable frame may be used, such as a board  535  positioned between the side portions of said base unit, as can be seen in  FIG. 5 . The pivotable frame may also be spring loaded and latched in the open position. The rungs of the collapsible hat rack may also be sufficiently wide such that a plurality of clamping mechanisms may be pivotably attached to the same rung such that a plurality of hats may be held on each rung. Additional side portions of said pivotable frame and additional rungs may also be included such that a plurality of hats may be held on each row comprising multiple rungs. 
     The base unit, pivotable frame and rungs are preferably made of a hard material, such as wood or metal, and held together as a unified assembly with any one of a plurality of different securing mechanisms known to those skilled in the art, such as pins, screws, nails, adhesives, etc. Additionally, although a preferred embodiment is envisioned as being made of wood or metal, the base unit, pivotable frame and rungs may be made of any material capable of holding the above described shape and structure, such as aluminum, stainless steel, plastic, etc. Accordingly, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention is not limited to wood or metal per se. 
     Advantageously, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides a collapsible hat rack which is able to efficiently and neatly store a plurality of hats in a confined space, for example, on a wall or door. In particular, a plurality of hats may be clamped between each clamping end of each clamping mechanism so that when the collapsible hat rack of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is in the opened position, the hats can be easily seen and identified by the user. However, when the collapsible hat rack is fully collapsed, the hats are rotated in the direction of gravity and efficiently folded together one on top of the other to form a compact row of hats that are neatly folded one on top of the other. 
     Thus, the illustrative embodiment allows individuals to maximize floor space while at the same time de-cluttering a storage area, such as a closet, wall space, or shelf. Furthermore, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention is preferably for use with brimmed hats but is not necessarily limited thereto. 
     The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings, or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and their equivalents.