Patent Publication Number: US-2004040067-A1

Title: Cap with assemble rail for accessory

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to a cap, and more particularly to a cap with an assemble rail for a cap accessory, wherein an elongated guiding rail is affixed along a bottom brim of a cap body in such a manner that the cap accessory, such as a cap peak or a sunglasses, is capable of sliding along the guiding rail to selectively adjust a position of the accessory with respect to cap body.  
       [0003] 2. Description of Related Arts  
       [0004] Caps are known in art and become necessities to people during outdoor activities. Conventionally, a cap comprising a cap body having a cap cavity and a cap peak outwardly extended from a bottom brim of the cap body in such a manner that when the cap body is put on a wearer&#39;s head, the cap peak is capable of blocking the sunlight directly towards the wearer&#39;s eyes so as to provide a shading purpose. Therefore, many sportsmen would like to wear a cap during the outdoor activities.  
       [0005] For example, baseball players would like to wear a baseball cap for shading because they have to catch the baseball flying in the sky. However, when they run from one direction to another direction, the sunlight may directly shines on their faces. Therefore, they have to turn the cap around their head for shading the sunlight. Sometime, it is a hassle for them to switch the cap peak to block the sunlight so that they may throw the cap away to prevent missing of the catch of the ball.  
       [0006] Moreover, the cap body is constructed by a plurality of fabric made cap leaves connected with each other edges to edges. Since different wearers have different head shapes, the cap cavity of the cap body is capable of deforming its shape to fit the head shape of the wearer after a period of time. Therefore, when the wearer needs to turn the cap around his or her head at the time, the shape of the cap body will be distorted.  
       [0007] In addition, it is a hassle for the wearer that he or her must initially take off the cap from his or her head and put it back on in order to turn the cap around the head. For example, a quick adjustment of the cap peak is required for the wearer during driving. However, the procedure of turning the cap around will disturb the wearer who is driving.  
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0008] A main object of the present invention is to provide a cap with an assemble rail for an accessory, wherein an elongated guiding rail is affixed along a bottom brim of a cap body in such a manner that the cap accessory, such as a cap peak or a sunglasses, is capable of sliding along the guiding rail to selectively adjust a position of the accessory with respect to cap body.  
       [0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap with an assemble rail for an accessory, wherein the cap accessory is capable of quickly sliding along the guiding rail for shading purpose. In other words, the wearer does not require to take off the cap and turn the cap around the wearer&#39;s head.  
       [0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap with an assemble rail for an accessory, wherein since only the accessory is slidably turned with respect to the cap body, the cap body will be stayed at the same position on the wearer&#39;s head, so as to prevent the cap body from being distorted.  
       [0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap with an assemble rail for an accessory, wherein the guiding rail is adapted to built-in with the cap body at the bottom brim thereof, so as to keep the aesthetic appearance of the cap.  
       [0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap with an assemble rail for an accessory, wherein more than one cap accessory is capable of slidably mounting to the cap body without distorting the shape of the cap.  
       [0013] Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a cap, comprising:  
       [0014] a cap body having a cap cavity and a bottom brim;  
       [0015] a cap accessory having a corresponding coupling edge; and  
       [0016] a sliding rail assembly, comprising:  
       [0017] an elongated guiding rail extended along the bottom brim of the cap body; and  
       [0018] a sliding guider which is affixed to a portion of the coupling edge of the cap accessory and slidably engaged with the sliding rail in such a manner that the cap accessory is capable of selectively sliding along the bottom brim of the cap body.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cap with a sliding rail assembly according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0020]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the sliding rail assembly of the cap according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0021]FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the sliding rail assembly of the cap according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0022]FIG. 4 illustrates a first alternative mode of the sliding rail assembly of the cap according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0023]FIG. 5 illustrates a second alternative mode of the sliding rail assembly of the cap according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0024]FIG. 6A illustrates a third alternative mode of the sliding rail assembly of the cap according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0025]FIG. 6B illustrates a fourth alternative mode of the sliding rail assembly of the cap according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0026]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cap with a sliding rail assembly according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0027]FIG. 8 is an alternative mode the sliding rail of the cap according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0028]FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative mode of the size adjuster of the sliding rail of the cap according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0029] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a cap according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the cap comprises a cap body  10  having a cap cavity  11  and a bottom brim  12  and a cap accessory  20  having a corresponding coupling edge  21 .  
     [0030] The cap further comprises a sliding rail assembly  30  which comprises an elongated guiding rail  31  extended along the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10  and a sliding guider  32  which is affixed to a portion of the coupling edge  21  of the cap accessory  20  and slidably engaged with the sliding rail  31  in such a manner that the cap accessory  20  is capable of selectively sliding along the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10 .  
     [0031] According to the preferred embodiment, the guiding rail  31  is an elongated strap having a C-shaped cross sectional defining a longitudinal sliding slot  311  having an opening facing outwardly to the coupling edge  21  of the cap accessory  20 , wherein the guiding rail  31  has a length at least shorter than a length of the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10 .  
     [0032] The sliding guider  32  comprises an elongated guiding arm  321  which is securely affixed to the portion the coupling edge  21  of the cap accessory  20  and extended into the sliding slot  311  through the opening thereof, and an enlarged guider head  322  extended from the guiding arm  321  to a position within the sliding slot  311  for retaining the sliding guider  32  in position, so as to slidably engage the sliding guider  32  with the guiding rail  31 , as shown in FIG. 3. Therefore, the wearer is able to slide the cap accessory  20  along the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10 .  
     [0033] Accordingly, the guider head  322  is preferably made of silicone adapted to provide an adequate friction between the guider head  322  and the sliding slot  311  to hold the cap accessory  20  in position with respect to the cap body  10 . However, the wearer is able to easily slide the cap accessory  20  along the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10  while a sliding force is applied on the cap accessory  20 .  
     [0034] Moreover, the guiding rail  31  further comprises at least a sliding stopper  312  provided at an end portion of the sliding slot  311  to stop the sliding movement of the guider head  322  along the sliding slot  311  so as to prevent the sliding guider  32  sliding out of the guiding rail  31 .  
     [0035] It is worth mentioning that in order to ensure the support between the cap body  10  and the cap accessory  20 , more than one sliding guider  32  can be spacedly affixed to the coupling edge  21  of the cap accessory  20  to slidably engage with the guiding rail  31  so as to substantially support the cap accessory  20  at the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10 . Otherwise, a width of the sliding guider  32  can be substantially increased to slidably engage with the guiding rail  31  so as to rigidly support the cap accessory  20  at the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10 .  
     [0036] As shown in FIG. 1, the cap accessory  20  is embodied as a cap peak wherein the coupling edge  21  is formed at an inner edge of the cap peak of the cap accessory  20 , in such a manner that the wearer is able to turn the can peak of the cap accessory  20  along the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10  for shading purpose.  
     [0037] As shown in FIG. 2, the sliding rail assembly  30  further comprises an alignment arrangement  33  to guide the cap accessory  20  in position wherein the alignment arrangement  33  has a plurality of guiding indentions  331  spacedly formed on upper and lower walls of the sliding slot  311  respectively and comprises at least two corresponding guiding protrusions  332  opposedly projected from a circumferential surface of the guider head  322  in such a manner that when the sliding guider  32  is slid along the guiding rail  32 , the guiding protrusions  322  are respectively engaged with the corresponding guiding indentions  331  so as to retain the cap accessory  20  in position.  
     [0038] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the cap body  10  is constructed by a plurality of cap leaves  101  connected in edge to edge manner to form the cap cavity  11  and an elongated brim strap  102  encircling around bottom edges of the cap leaves  101 , wherein an upper portion of the guiding rail  31  is affixed to the bottom edges of the cap leaves  101  and a lower portion of the guiding rail  31  is affixed to an upper edge of the brim strap  102  while the brim strap  102  is inwardly flipped to attached to inner sides of the cap leaves  101  to form the bottom brim  12  in such a manner that the sliding slot  311  is indented on the cap body  10 , about 2 mm depth, around the bottom brim  12  thereof, so as to keep the aesthetic appearance of the cap.  
     [0039] It is worth mentioning that the guiding rail  31  should be made of flexible material and the thickness of the guiding rail  31  should be relatively thin with respect to the thickness of the cap body  10  such that when the wearer wears the cap of the present invention, the wearer feels comfortable even though the guiding rail  31  is mounted along the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10 . Moreover, the guiding rail  31  can further enhance the shape of the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10  so as to prevent the distortion of the cap body  10 .  
     [0040] Preferably, the guiding rail  31  is affixed to the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10  by sewing the upper and lower portions of the guiding rail  31  along the bottom brim  12  of the cap body  10 .  
     [0041]FIG. 4 illustrates a first alternative mode of the sliding rail assembly  30 A according to the first embodiment, wherein the sliding guider  32 A comprises an elongated guiding arm  321 A which is securely affixed to the coupling edge  21 A of the cap accessory  20 A and extended into the sliding slot  311  A through the opening thereof, and an enlarged guider head  322 A rotatably mounted to a rear end of the guiding arm  321  at a position within the sliding slot  311 A for retaining the guider head  322 A in position, so as to slidably engage the sliding guider  32 A with the guiding rail  31 A.  
     [0042] In other words, when the wearers turns the cap accessory  20 A along the bottom brim  12 A of the cap body  10 A, the guider head  322 A is driven to rotate within the sliding slot  311 A for reducing a friction therebetween, so as to enhance a smooth sliding movement of the cap accessory  20 A.  
     [0043] In addition, the alignment arrangement  33 A has a plurality of guiding indentions  331  A spacedly formed on an inner wall of the sliding slot  331 A and comprises a corresponding guiding protrusion  332 A outwardly projected from a rear wall of the guider head  332 A and arranged to engage with one of the guiding indentions  331 A when the guider head  332 A is rotatably slid along the sliding slot  311 A so as to retain the cap accessory  20 A in position with respect to the cap body  10 A.  
     [0044]FIG. 5 illustrates a second alternative of the sliding rail assembly  30 B wherein the guiding rail  31 B comprises an elongated guiding arm  311 B encirclingly extended along the bottom brim  12 B of the cap body  10 B and an enlarged guider head  312 B extended from the guiding arm  311 B.  
     [0045] The sliding guider  32 B, having a C-shaped cross sectional, has a sliding slot  321 B having an opening facing towards the guiding rail  31 B wherein the guiding arm  311 B is arranged to extend to the sliding slot  321 B through the opening thereof while guider head  312 B is slidably disposed in the sliding slot  321 B so as to slidably engage the sliding guider  32 B with the guiding rail  31  B, as shown in FIG. 5.  
     [0046] In addition, the attachment of the guiding rail  31  B is that an upper portion of the guiding rail  31 B is affixed to the bottom edges of the cap leaves  101 B and a lower portion of the guiding rail  31 B is affixed to an upper edge of the brim strap  102 B while the brim strap  102 B is inwardly flipped to attached to inner sides of the cap leaves  101 B to form the bottom brim  12 B in such a manner that the guider head  312 B is protruded along the bottom brim  12 B of the cap body  10 B, so as to keep the aesthetic appearance of the cap.  
     [0047] It is worth mentioning that in comparison with FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, the sliding engagement of the sliding rail assembly  30 B according to the second alternative is a reversed configuration of the first embodiment. Therefore, the alignment arrangement  33  and its alternative should be incorporated with the second alternative mode without departing the spirit of the sliding rail assembly  30 B, as shown in FIG. 5.  
     [0048]FIG. 6A illustrates a third alternative mode of the sliding rail assembly  30 C wherein the guiding rail  31 C has two sliding slots  311 C parallelly extended along the bottom brim  12 C of the cap body  10 C, wherein each of the sliding slots  311 C has a C-shaped cross section to slidably engage with the sliding guider  32 C in such a manner that two cap accessories  20 C are adapted to slidably mount to the bottom brim  12 C of the cap body  10 C. Moreover, the guiding rail  31 C is mounted on an inner side of the cap body  10 C such that the two sliding slots  311 C are indented on an outer side of the cap body  10 C along the bottom brim  12 C thereof.  
     [0049] Accordingly, the sliding guider  32 C comprises an elongated guiding arm  321 C which is securely affixed to the coupling edge  21 C of the respective cap accessory  20 C and extended into the respective sliding slot  311 C through the opening thereof, and an enlarged guider head  322 C extended from the guiding arm  321 C to a position within the respective sliding slot  311 C for retaining the guider head  322 C in position, so as to slidably engage the sliding guider  32 C with the guiding rail  31 C.  
     [0050] As shown in FIG. 6A, the two cap accessories  20 C are embodied as the cap peak and a foldable sunglasses respectively. The foldable sunglasses, which is a conventional auxiliary sunglasses, comprises a lens frame for shading the sunshine and a pivot joint connected to an upper portion of the lens frame wherein the coupling edge  21 C is formed at an edge of the pivot joint in such a manner that when the sliding guider  32 C is mounted to the coupling edge  21 C of the foldable sunglasses of the cap accessory  20 C to slidably engage with the respective sliding slot  311 C of the guiding rail  31 C, the foldable sunglasses of the cap accessory  20 C is capable of sliding along the bottom brim  12 C of the cap body  10 C individually. In other words, the wearer is able to slidably adjust the foldable sunglasses to a position to effectively shade the sunshine. Moreover, the wearer is able to pivotally flip the foldable sunglasses at any desired shading angle. It is worth mentioning the foldable sunglasses of the cap accessory  20 C are adapted to be incorporated with the above first embodiment and its alternatives without altering the original structure.  
     [0051]FIG. 6B illustrates another alternative mode of the first embodiment, wherein the sliding rail assembly  30 D comprises two guiding rails  31 D parallelly and spacedly extended along the bottom brim  12 D of the cap body  10 D at an outer side thereof, wherein each of the sliding slots  311 D has a C-shaped cross section to slidably engage with the sliding guider  32 D in such a manner that two cap accessories  20 D are adapted to slidably mount to the brim  12 D of the cap body  10 D.  
     [0052] In addition, the two cap accessories  20 D are embodied as the cap peak and a foldable sunglasses respectively, wherein the cap peak of the cap accessory  20 D is slidably engaged with the guiding rail  31 D at an upper side of the bottom brim  12 D of the cap body  10 D while the foldable sunglasses of another cap accessory  20 D is slidably engaged with the guider rail  31 D at a lower side of the bottom brim  12 D of the cap body  10 D, in such a manner that the cap peak and the foldable sunglasses of the cap accessories  20 D are individually slid along the bottom brim  12 D of the cap body  10 D.  
     [0053] As shown in FIG. 7, a cap of a second embodiment illustrates an alternative mode of the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein the structure of the cap of the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment, except the sliding rail assembly  30 B.  
     [0054] As shown in FIG. 7, the guiding rail  31 ′ having a C-shaped cross sectional sliding slot  311 ′ extended along the bottom brim  12 ′ of the cap body  10 ′ at an outer side thereof. The sliding guider  32 ′ comprises an elongated guiding arm  321 ′ which is securely affixed to the coupling edge  21 ′ of the cap accessory  20 ′ and extended into the sliding slot  311 ′ through the opening thereof, and an enlarged guider head  322 ′ extended from the guiding arm  321 ′ to a position within the sliding slot  311 ′ for retaining the guider head  322 ′ in position, so as to slidably engage the sliding guider  32 ′ with the guiding rail  31 ′.  
     [0055] The sliding rail assembly  30 ′ further comprises a size adjuster  34 ′ which comprises a first adjuster  341 ′ integrally extended from one end of the guiding rail  31 ′ and a second adjuster  342 ′ integrally extended from another opposed end of the guiding rail  31 ′ and arranged to engage with the first adjuster  341 ′ to selectively adjust a circumferential size of the bottom brim  12 ′ of the cap body  10 ′.  
     [0056] As shown in FIG. 7, the first adjuster  341  ′ has an engagement slot  3411  ′ having a C-shaped cross sectional communicating with the sliding slot  311 ′ and a plurality of adjustment through grooves  3412 ′ spacedly provided at upper and lower walls of the engagement slot  3411 ′. The second adjuster  342 ′ comprises an elastic adjuster arm  3421 ′, having a V-shaped, having two engaging tips  3422 ′ opposedly and outwardly extending wherein the adjuster arm  3421 ′ is arranged to slidably insert into the engagement slot  3411 ′ so that the two engaging tips  3422 ′ are inserted into the adjustment through grooves  3412 ′ at the upper and lower walls of the engagement slot  3411 ′ respectively to outside, so as to retain the circumferential size of the bottom brim  12 ′ of the cap body  10 ′.  
     [0057] In other words, when the engaging tips  3422 ′ are engaged with the adjustment through grooves  3412 ′ at positions close to the end of the guiding rail  31 ′, the size of the circumference of the bottom brim  12 ′ of the cap body  10 ′ will be reduced. Likewise, when the engaging tips  3422 ′ are engaged with the adjustment through grooves  3412 ′ at positions away from the end of the guiding rail  31 ′, the size of the circumference of the bottom brim  12 ′ of the cap body  10 ′ will be increased.  
     [0058] In order to detach the second adjuster  342 ′ from the first adjuster  341 ′, the wearer is able to apply a compression force at the engaging tips  3422 ′ to push the engaging tips  3422 ′ into the engagement slot  3411 ′ so as to disengage the second adjuster  342 ′ from the first adjuster  341 ′.  
     [0059]FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative mode of the guiding rail  31 E which is mounted along the bottom brim  12 E of the cap body  10 F wherein an upper portion of the guiding rail  31 E is affixed to the bottom edges of the cap leaves  101 E and a lower portion of the guiding rail  31 E is affixed to an upper edge of the brim strap  102 E while the brim strap  102 E is inwardly flipped to attached to inner sides of the cap leaves  101 E to form the bottom brim  12 E in such a manner that the sliding slot  311 E is indented on the cap body  10 F around the bottom brim  12 E thereof, so as to keep the aesthetic appearance of the cap.  
     [0060] It is worth mentioning that the sliding rail assembly  30 E is capable of incorporating with the size adjuster  34 ′ as disclosed above second embodiment without altering the structure of the sliding rail assembly  30 E.  
     [0061]FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative mode of the size adjuster  34 ″ wherein the first adjuster  341 ″, which is integrally extended from one end of the guiding rail  31 ″, has an engagement slot  3411 ″ having a C-shaped cross sectional communicating with the sliding slot  311 ″ and a plurality of adjustment through grooves  3412 ″ spacedly provided on a front wall of the engagement slot  3411 ″ at an opening thereof.  
     [0062] The second adjuster  342 ′, which is integrally extended from another opposed end of the guiding rail  31 ″, has an elastic adjuster arm  3421 ″ having a V-shaped cross sectional, and at least an engaging tip  3422 ″ outwardly protruded from the adjuster arm  3421 ″ in such a manner that when the adjuster arm  3421 ″ is slidably inserted into the engagement slot  3411 ″, the engaging tip  3422 ″ is selectively engaged with the adjustment through groove  3412 ″ so as to retain the circumferential size of the bottom brim  12 ″ of the cap body  10 ″.  
     [0063] In order to detach the second adjuster  342 ″ from the first adjuster  341 ″, the wearer is able to compress the adjuster arm  3421 ″ at a free end thereof to push the engaging tips  3422 ″ into the engagement slot  3411 ″ so as to disengage the second adjuster  342 ″ from the first adjuster  341 ″.  
     [0064] It is worth mentioning that the alignment arrangement  33  of the first embodiment and its alternative can be applied on the second embodiment of the present invention without altering the original configuration thereof, so as to slidably guide the cap accessory  20 ″ at a desired position with respect to the cap body  10 ″.  
     [0065] While the forgoing description and figures describe the first and second embodiments and their alternatives of the present invention, it should be appreciated that certain obvious modification, variations, and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the size adjuster  34 ′ of the second embodiment can be employed in the first embodiment while the two parallel sliding slots  311 C of the first embodiment can be incorporated with the second embodiment.