Patent Publication Number: US-8121335-B2

Title: Accentuated headwear

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to novelty headwear and, more particularly, to accentuated headwear for sports team apparel such as hats. 
     Sports apparel has been an expanding market for many years. Headwear such as baseball type caps is a popular means for sports fans to express their team loyalty. In fact, each sports team seems to have multiple styles and varieties of caps bearing their names, logos, or even likenesses of popular players. Some headwear seems to be designed to draw particular attention to the wearer or to the institution that it promotes. Headwear and other apparel often provides enhanced revenue production for the university or professional team. 
     Various devices have been proposed in the art for drawing attention to a hat, its wearer, or simply to vigorously promote a respective team. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, these devices do not provide a multi-media experience or promotional presentation. 
     Therefore, it would be desirable to have accentuated headwear, such as a ball cap, having a visual display and audio output device attached thereto. Further, it would be desirable to have accentuated headwear having a processor and at least a picture or audio track stored therein for output by the display or audio output device. In addition, the accentuated headwear may include an array of LED&#39;s or other indicia associated with a respective institution or team for the purpose of promoting that institution or team. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an article of accentuated headwear according to the present invention includes an attire portion configured for attachment to a wearer&#39;s head. An electronic visual display and an audio output device are operatively coupled to the attire portion. The headwear includes an electronic memory. A processor is in data communication with the electronic visual display, the audio output device, and the electronic memory. The processor includes programming to actuate the electronic visual display and the audio output device. The headwear includes a user interface for controlling the processor. The headwear includes a power source for powering the processor, the electronic visual display, the audio output device, and the electronic memory. 
     Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide an article of accentuated headwear for wear by a sports fan so as to promote a respective team, school, club, or institution. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide an article of accentuated headwear, as aforesaid, having visual and audio display devices capable of presenting pictures, video, and audio tracks, respectively, while the headwear is worn by a user. 
     Still another object of this invention is to provide an article of accentuated headwear, as aforesaid, having a USB interface such that audio and video files may be obtained by the headwear from a computer. 
     Yet another object of this invention is to provide an article of accentuated headwear, as aforesaid, that may be activated by a switch positioned under the bill of the cap. 
     A further object of this invention is to provide an article of accentuated headwear, as aforesaid, that is cost-effective to manufacture and user-friendly to use. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an article of accentuated headwear according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the headwear as in  FIG. 1  taken from another angle; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the headwear as in  FIG. 1  taken from a bottom angle; 
         FIG. 4   a  is an elevated perspective view of the headwear as in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4   b  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the headwear taken from  FIG. 4   a ; and 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the electronic components of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Articles of accentuated headwear will now be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 5  of the accompanying drawings. More particularly, an article of accentuated headwear  100  includes an attire portion  110  configured for attachment to a wearer&#39;s head. The attire portion  110  may be a cap (as shown throughout the drawings), a visor, a cowboy hat, a stocking hat, a headband, or any other article of headwear, and may include static non-electric indicia  112 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 5 , an electronic visual display  120  is operatively coupled to the attire portion  110 , and an audio output device  130  is operatively coupled to the attire portion  110 . A processor  140  is in data communication with the electronic visual display  120 , the audio output device  130 , and electronic memory  150  (i.e., an electronic data storage device). The electronic memory  150  may include at least one picture (i.e., at least one still picture and/or at least one motion picture), audio track, and/or LED actuation pattern stored therein (i.e., electronically), and means may be included for changing the contents (e.g., pictures, audio tracks, LED actuation patterns) of the electronic memory  150 . For example, the electronic memory  150  may be accessible through a data port  152  ( FIGS. 2 and 4   b ), removable (denoted  154  in  FIG. 4   b ), or otherwise altered by adding or removing data. It should be appreciated that multiple processors  140  and/or electronic memory devices  150  may optionally be used. 
     A user interface  160  (e.g., one or more button, switch, etc.) may be included for controlling the processor, and means for powering the electronic devices in the accentuated headwear  100  (e.g., electronic visual display  120 , audio output device  130 , processor  140 , electronic memory  150 ) may be included. For example, one or more battery  165  ( FIG. 5 ), solar panel, etc. may be in communication with the electronic devices. The user interface  160  may be operatively coupled to a bill  118  of the attire portion  110  (e.g., on an underside  118   a  of the bill  118 , as shown in  FIG. 3 ), or may otherwise be included in an accessible location. 
     The electronic visual display  120  may include an electronic display screen  122  (e.g., a LCD display, plasma display, etc.) for showing at least one picture (i.e., a still picture and/or a motion picture) and/or may include an array of LEDs  124 , as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 5 . The array of LEDs  124  may surround the electronic display screen  122  ( FIG. 1 ), may surround static non-electronic indicia  112 , or may be otherwise positioned. Programming in the processor  140  may cause the processor  140  to actuate the display screen  122  to show the one or more picture stored in the electronic memory  150  upon receiving input from the user interface  160 . Additionally, or alternately, programming in the processor  140  may cause the processor  140  to actuate the LEDs  124  (e.g., in accordance with an LED actuation pattern stored in the electronic memory  150 ) upon receiving input from the user interface  160 . 
     The audio output device  130  includes an electromechanical transducer that converts an electrical signal to sound. Acceptable output levels for the audio output device  130  may vary widely, and multiple audio output devices  130  may be included. Programming in the processor  140  may cause the processor  140  to actuate the audio output device  130  to perform, i.e. emit, the audio track(s) stored in the electronic memory  150  upon receiving input from the user interface  160 . 
     A housing  170  ( FIG. 1 ) may contain the electronic visual display  120  (i.e., the display screen  122  and/or the array of LEDs  124 ), the audio output device  130 , the processor, and the electronic memory  150 , and the housing  170  may be operatively coupled to the attire portion  110 . Such a configuration may lower manufacturing costs when compared to directly (and separately) coupling the electronic visual display  120  and the audio output device  130  to the attire portion  110 , for example. 
     In use, the accentuated headwear  100  may be customized for various applications. For example, for sports fans, the attire portion  110  may be a cap and the indicia  112  may be team indicia. The electronic memory  150  may include various pictures that are team related, such as venue pictures (i.e., still pictures and/or movies), personality (e.g., player, coach, etc.) pictures (i.e., still pictures and/or movies), mascot pictures (i.e., still pictures and/or movies), etc. Similarly, the electronic memory  150  may include various audio tracks that are team related, such as team fight songs, school songs, opponent taunts, etc. The LED actuation pattern(s) stored in the electronic memory  150  may cause the LEDs  124  to appear to rotate, blink, etc., and may correspond to one or more audio track. The contents of the electronic memory  150  may be changed as set forth above. The user may wear the attire portion  110  and may cause the processor  140  to actuate the display screen  122 , the LEDs  124 , and the audio output device  130  by using the user interface  160 , as set forth above. 
     It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.