Patent Publication Number: US-6986166-B2

Title: Cap

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   (a) Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a cap and, more particularly, to a cap that is designed to improve esthetic appearance. 
   (b) Description of the Related Art 
   Generally, a cap has a crown portion and a visor portion coupled to the crown portion, for protecting and shading the face from sunlight. In recent years, it has been required that such a cap be made with an unusual design for persons of marked individuality and for the purpose of advertisement. To meet this requirement, the applicant has developed a cap that has an enhanced esthetic appearance for a person of marked individuality, while providing an advertisement effect. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Therefore, the present invention has been made in an effort to meet the above described need. 
   It is an objective of the present invention to provide a cap that can enhance the esthetic appearance for a person of marked individuality, while providing an advertisement effect. 
   To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a cap comprising a crown portion for disposing on a head; and a visor portion for shielding a face from sunlight, the visor portion being coupled to the crown portion, wherein the visor portion is provided with a symbol portion formed as an engraved shape or a hole. The symbol portion provides various esthetic appearances because of a cloth that also covers the visor portion so that the symbol portion is viewed through the cloth. 
   Preferably, the cloth is selected from the group consisting of mesh cloth, transparent cloth, and semitransparent cloth. Further preferably, the cloth contains luminous material. 
   Preferably, the symbol portion is filled with colored or colorless material, and has the shape of a letter, mark, or character. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a cap according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along line A—A in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a partial sectional view of a major part of a cap according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a view of a cap according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a view of a cap according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 6  is a view of a cap according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail in conjunction with the attached drawings. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a cap according to a first embodiment of the present invention has a crown portion  1  for mounting on a head, and a visor portion  3  connected to the crown portion  1 . The visor portion  3  may be connected to the crown portion by needlework, and the crown portion  1  is designed to cover all of the head, as shown in  FIG. 1 . However, it may be designed in a band or rim shape surrounding only the circumference of the head. 
   The visor portion  3  is for blocking sunlight from the face. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the visor portion  3  has a shape-maintaining member  31 , a top cloth  33  disposed on a top surface of the shape-maintaining member  31 , and a bottom cloth  35  disposed on a bottom surface of the shape-maintaining member  31 . 
   The shape-maintaining member  31  is preferably formed of synthetic resin or paperboard so as to maintain the predetermined shape of the visor portion  3 . The shape-maintaining member  31  is provided with a symbol portion  31   a  for such things as characters, letters, and trademarks formed by engraving a portion thereof. That is, the symbol portion  31   a  is formed as an engraved groove or a hole by a laser cutting process. 
     FIG. 3  shows a cap of the first embodiment, in which a portion of the top cloth is removed. 
   The top cloth  33  may be attached to the head-wearing portion  1 , the shape-maintaining member  31 , and the bottom cloth  35  by, for example, needlework or by adhesive, depending on the design or manufacturing process of the cap. 
   Particularly, it is preferable that the top cloth  33  is selected from the group consisting of mesh cloth, transparent cloth, and semitransparent cloth so that the symbol portion  31   a  can be exposed through the cloth. To improve the esthetic appearance, it is further preferable that the top cloth  33  is formed in a variety of colors so that the symbol portion  31   a  can be seen through the top cloth  33 . In addition, the top cloth  33  may be formed of cloth containing luminous material so as to further enhance the esthetic aspect and to improve the safety of the user at night. 
   The bottom cloth  35  is fixable to the top cloth  33  by needlework. When the bottom cloth  35  is formed in a variety of colors, the symbol portion  31   a  can be represented in a variety of colors, making it possible to design a cap capable of providing various esthetic appearances. The bottom cloth  35  may be made of material identical to the top cloth  33 , but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The bottom cloth  35  may also be formed of nontransparent cloth. 
   As described above, the shape-maintaining member  31  provided with the symbol portion  31   a  is coupled to the crown portion  1  by needlework of the top and bottom cloth  33  and  35 . However, needlework is only one embodiment, not limiting the present invention. The visor portion may be coupled to the crown portion by a variety of methods. In addition, the crown portion may be designed in a band shape. 
   In the above-described cap, when light passes through the symbol portion  31   a , the shape of the symbol portion  31   a  is represented so that it can be identified. The color of the shape represented by the symbol portion  31   a  can be varied according to the color of the top cloth  33  covering the symbol portion  31   a , improving the esthetic appearance. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a cap according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. As in the first embodiment, the visor portion  3  is provided with a symbol portion  31   a . The symbol portion  31   a  of this embodiment is formed of material having a different color to that of the shape-maintaining member  31 . A filler  37  having an identical shape to the symbol portion  31   a  may be filled in the symbol portion  31   a . In this embodiment, the top and bottom cloth  33  and  35  described in the first embodiment may be omitted. 
   The cap of this second embodiment further improves the esthetic appearance when compared with that of the first embodiment. 
     FIG. 5  shows a cap according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this third embodiment, a filler  37  formed of material having a different color to that of the shape-maintaining member  31  is filled in the symbol portion  31   a  and the top and bottom cloth covers the visor portion. The filler  37  may be formed by filling liquid material in the symbol portion  31   a  and hardening the same or by molding the filler  37  in an identical shape to the symbol portion  31   a  and fitting the same in the symbol portion  31   a.    
     FIG. 6  shows a cap according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
   The cap of this embodiment is similar to that of the second embodiment except that a symbol portion  31   a  is not filled with the filler  37  but remains empty. In this embodiment, since the shape-maintaining member  31  is not covered with additional top and bottom cloth  33  and  35 , manufacturing costs are reduced. 
   As described above, since a symbol portion including such things as characters and logos is provided on the shape-maintaining member constituting the visor portion, the esthetic appearance can be improved, while obtaining an advertisement effect. 
   In addition, when material having a different color is filled in a space defining the symbol portion, a cap having a variety of esthetic appearances can be manufactured. 
   Furthermore, by making the top and bottom cloth using mesh cloth, transparent or semitransparent cloth, or a cloth containing luminous material, the esthetic appearance may be further improved. 
   It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the cap of the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. The present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.