Patent Abstract:
There is provided a one-size-fits-all hat that requires no size adjustment, the hat being able to sufficiently protect a head, offering no uncomfortable fit to tightly press the head, and causing no headache from long hours of wearing, the hat offering a soft fit and being prevented from moving on the head, and further the hat being able to sufficiently absorb sweat. In the hat, a slip is provided in a forehead portion in a lower end of the inside of a crown, a notch is provided in a lower end of a rear head portion and/or a side head portion of the crown, and a stretchable member having the same shape as the notch is connected to the notch.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a hat, and more particularly to a one-size-fits-all hat that fits any head without size adjustment.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     A conventional one-size-fits-all hat is configured so that a semicircular notch is provided in a rear portion of a crown, a non-stretchable belt having a buckle or a hook and loop fastener spans the notch, and the belt is adjusted to adjust the size of the hat. Such a hat, however, requires troublesome adjustment of the belt for size adjustment. Further, the buckle or the hook and loop fastener is rough and uncomfortable, and may damage the head when a wearer falls or bumps his/her head, which is a negative aspect of the hat in protecting a head.  
         [0005]     Thus, as a one-size-fits-all hat, a hat configured so that a semicircular notch is provided in a rear portion of a crown, and an elastic band spans the notch, a hat having a slip made of stretchable fabric (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-129322), and a hat provided with a stretchable sweatband on the inside of an opening periphery of a crown (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-124285) have been proposed.  
         [0006]     Such conventional hats, however, offer an uncomfortable fit to tightly press the head, and long hours of wearing may cause a headache. Also, the hats do not fit the entire head and are apt to move. Further, all the conventional one-size-fits-all hats insufficiently absorb sweat.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a one-size-fits-all hat that requires no size adjustment, the hat being able to sufficiently protect a head, offering no uncomfortable fit to tightly press the head, and causing no headache from long hours of wearing.  
         [0008]     And it is another object of the present invention to provide a one-size-fits-all hat that offer a soft fit and being prevented from moving on the head.  
         [0009]     And it is another object of the present invention to provide a one-size-fits-all hat that is able to sufficiently absorb sweat.  
         [0010]     In order to achieve the above described objects, the present invention provides a hat having a stretchable member connected to a lower end of a crown.  
         [0011]     In the hat, the stretchable member is connected to a lower end of a rear head portion and/or a side head portion of the crown.  
         [0012]     Further, in the hat, a notch is provided in the lower end of the rear head portion and/or the side head portion of the crown, and the stretchable member is connected to the notch.  
         [0013]     Further, in the hat, the stretchable member has the same shape as the notch.  
         [0014]     Further, in the hat, a vertical width of the notch is not uniform.  
         [0015]     Further, in the hat, the notch has inclined portions at least at upper edges of both ends thereof.  
         [0016]     Further, in the hat, a slip is provided in a forehead portion in a lower end of the inside of the crown.  
         [0017]     Further, in the hat, the stretchable member is knitted fabric.  
         [0018]     Further, the hat is a cap type hat having a brim connected to the forehead portion of the crown.  
         [0019]     According to the present invention, the one-size-fits-all hat that requires no size adjustment can sufficiently protect a head, offers no uncomfortable fit to tightly press the head, and can prevent a headache caused by long hours of use. Also, the hat offers a soft fit, is easy to wear, and is prevented from moving on the head. Further, the hat can sufficiently absorb sweat. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]      FIG. 1  is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a bottom view of the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view from below of the embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0023]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view from above of the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]     Now, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A hat  1  includes a crown  2 , a stretchable member  3  connected to a lower end of a rear head portion and/or a side head portion of the crown  2 , a slip  4  provided in a forehead portion in a lower end of the inside of the crown  2 , and a brim  5  connected to the forehead portion in a lower end of the outside of the crown  2 .  
         [0025]     The crown  2  is formed into a generally semi-spherical shape by sewing together pie-shaped pieces  21  to  26  of generally triangular fabric or synthetic resin, or the like. The pie-shaped pieces  21  to  26  are made of non-stretchable material, and the crown  2  itself is non-stretchable. In the shown embodiment, the rear head portion of the crown  2  generally corresponds to the pie-shaped pieces  24  and  25 , the side head portion of the crown  2  generally corresponds to the pie-shaped pieces  23  and  26 , and the forehead portion of the crown  2  generally corresponds to the pie-shaped pieces  21  and  22 .  
         [0026]     The stretchable member  3  is not limited as long as it is stretchable at least in a circumferential direction of the crown  2 , and may be stretchable in the direction of the depth of the crown  2 . The stretchable member  3  may be knitted fabric such as rib-nit or tricot-nit using cotton, silk, wool, synthetic fiber, or the like, more specifically, fraise or smooth, elasticized fabric, an elastic band covered with fabric, a synthetic resin sheet, or the like. In particular, the knitted fabric is preferable because it offers a soft fit, has high water absorbency, and sufficiently absorbs sweat. A lateral width of the stretchable member  3  (a length in the circumferential direction of the crown  2 ) is not limited, but may be about ⅙ to 4/6 of the periphery of the crown  2 . The shape of the stretchable member  3  is not limited, and the stretchable member  3  may be of any appropriate shape such as a rectangular strip shape or a shape with a linear upper side and an arcuate lower side. When the lateral width of the stretchable member  3  is about 4/6 of the periphery of the crown  2 , the stretchable member  3  may be sewn and connected to the lower ends of the rear head portion and the side head portion of the crown  2 , that is, the lower ends of the pie-shaped pieces  23  to  26 . When the lateral width of the stretchable member  3  is about 2/6 of the periphery of the crown  2 , the stretchable member  3  may be sewn and connected to the lower end of the rear head portion of the crown  2 , that is, the lower ends of the pie-shaped pieces  24  and  25 .  
         [0027]     Preferably, a notch  27  is provided in the lower end of the rear head portion and/or the side head portion of the crown  2 , and the stretchable member  3  having the same shape as the notch  27  is sewn and connected to the notch  27 . The notch means a portion cut and removed from a crown without a notch. A lower end of the crown is generally in one plane, and a lower end of the notch is flush with the lower end of the crown. With such a form, the lower end of the stretchable member  3  is flush with the lower end of the crown  2  without the notch  27 , and the connected stretchable member  3  does not increase the depth of the hat, thereby causing no change in the depth of the hat and offering no uncomfortable fit. With such a form, no through hole is formed in the rear head portion of the crown  2  unlike a conventional hat having a belt or an elastic band spanning a notch. The stretchable member  3  connected to the notch  27  may have a different shape from the notch  27 .  
         [0028]     A lateral width of the notch  27  (a length in the circumferential direction of the crown  2 ) is not limited, but may be about ⅙ to 4/6 of the periphery of the crown  2 . When the lateral width of the notch  27  is about 4/6 of the periphery of the crown  2 , the notch  27  may be provided in the lower ends of the rear head portion and the side head portion of the crown  2 , that is, the lower ends of the pie-shaped pieces  23  to  26 . When the lateral width of the notch  27  is about 2/6 of the periphery of the crown  2 , the notch  27  may be provided in the lower end of the rear head portion of the crown  2 , that is, the lower ends of the pie-shaped pieces  24  and  25 . The notch  27  may be placed in the lower end of the rear head portion and/or the side head portion of the crown  2 , and generally, the center of the notch  27  along the lateral width is aligned with a seam between the pie-shaped pieces  24  and  25 , that is, the rearmost portion of the hat  1 . The center of notch  27  may be, however, shifted from the rearmost portion of the hat  1  so that when the lateral width of the notch  27  is about 2/6 of the periphery of the crown  2 , the center of the notch  27  is aligned with a seam between the pie-shaped pieces  23  and  24 .  
         [0029]     The shape of the notch  27  is not limited, and the notch  27  may be of any appropriate shape such as a rectangular strip shape, a shape with a linear lower side and an arcuate upper side, a triangular shape, or a trapezoidal shape. In any case, the notch  27  preferably has a varying vertical width with downwardly inclined portions at upper edges of both ends thereof, or the like. If the notch  27  has a uniform vertical width across the lateral width, the stretchable member  3  stretches only in a fixed direction. On the other hand, with the notch  27  formed as described above, the stretchable member  3  stretches in a plurality of directions to relieve an uncomfortable fit to tightly press the head in the fixed direction, and also offer a neat appearance. The notch  27  may be formed into various shapes to provide new designs of the hat.  
         [0030]     Two or more notches  27  may be provided in the lower end of the rear head portion and/or the side head portion of the crown  2 , and stretchable member  3 ,  3  . . . having the same shapes or different shapes as or from the notches  27 ,  27  . . . may be connected to the notches  27 ,  27   
         [0031]     The slip  4  is sewn to the forehead portion in the lower end of the inside of the crown  2 . The slip  4  is not exclusively provided in the forehead portion of the crown  2 , but may be extended so as to come in contact with the notch  27  according to the lateral width and the position of the notch  27 . The slip  4  is non-stretchable. The slip  4  is useful for smoothly wearing the hat  1 . In the shown embodiment, both ends of the slip  4  are connected to the both ends of the notch  27 , and the notch  27  is of the rectangular strip shape with the downwardly inclined portions at the upper edges of the both ends thereof, thus the both ends of the slip  4  are upwardly inclined. The brim  5  protruding forward is sewn and connected to the lower end of the forehead portion of the crown  2 , that is, the lower ends of the pie-shaped pieces  21  and  22 .  
         [0032]     The hat according to the present invention described above is the cap type hat. However, the hat according to the present invention is not limited to the cap type hat, but may be various kinds of hats such as a hat with a brim round it or a hat without a brim.  
         [0033]     The lateral width of the stretchable member  3  or the lateral width of the notch  27  may be 4/6 or more of the periphery of the crown  2  including the entire periphery, and extended to the forehead portion besides the rear head portion and the side head portion. For the hat having the brim, the brim may be connected to the lower end of the stretchable member  3 .

Technology Classification (CPC): 0