Abstract:
The present invention provides a cap and a manufacturing method thereof having advantages of high elasticity, easiness in wearing, and an enhanced productivity due to a simplified manufacturing process. A cap of the present invention includes a crown portion formed by overlapping of at least one stretchable fabric piece, wherein the at least one fabric piece is made of a run-proof material for preventing a run at a seam portion of the at least one fabric piece, the seam portion being directly contactable to a head of a wearer.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     (a) Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a cap and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a highly elastic and easily wearable cap and a manufacturing method thereof having a simplified manufacturing process so as to provide enhanced productivity.  
         [0003]     (b) Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     A typical cap includes a crown portion of a hemispherical shape to cover a head portion and a visor portion combined with the crown portion to block sunlight.  
         [0005]     The cap is usually manufactured by the following process. That is, a cloth is firstly cut into a plurality of fabric pieces for a crown portion. Then, the fabric pieces are disposed to partially overlap, and are then connected by a presewing. A seam portion formed by the presewing is cut at a margin of about 5 mm, and an end of the seam portion is wrapped by, and stitched together with, a strip of a predetermined width such that a run may be prevented there. A run may also be prevented by an overlock with threads.  
         [0006]     Such a process to form a crown portion is complicated, and accordingly, productivity of a cap is deteriorated. Moreover, according to such a manufacturing method of a cap, even if the fabric pieces forming the crown portion originally have sufficient elasticity, elasticity of the crown portion is substantially deteriorated because of sewing at various positions.  
         [0007]     The elasticity of a cap may be further deteriorated for another reason, for example, by a run preventing structure (a wrapping with a cloth or an overlock) at the seam of the fabric pieces of the crown portion. Such a run preventing structure of the seam of the fabric pieces of the crown portion also deteriorates tightness of the cap when worn by a wearer.  
         [0008]     The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore, unless explicitly described to the contrary, it should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a cap and a manufacturing method thereof having advantages of an enhanced productivity due to a simplified manufacturing process and an enhanced commercial grade due to preservation of sufficient elasticity of an original fabric while forming a crown portion.  
         [0010]     In addition, the present invention has been made in an effort to provide a cap and a manufacturing method thereof having advantages of reduction of required parts and simplification of a manufacturing process by preserving sufficient elasticity of a crown portion without employing an stretchable band to an inside of the crown portion.  
         [0011]     An exemplary cap according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a crown portion formed by overlapping of at least one stretchable fabric piece, wherein the at least one fabric piece is made of a run-proof material for preventing a run at a seam portion of the at least one fabric piece, the seam portion being directly contactable to a head of a wearer.  
         [0012]     The at least one fabric piece is provided with an incision portion, and it preserves its shape by combining the incision portion in a partially overlapped manner.  
         [0013]     Another exemplary cap according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first fabric piece, a second fabric piece, a crown portion, and a visor portion. The first fabric piece has a plurality of incision portions formed along a central direction in a partial region of the first fabric piece. The second fabric piece is combinable with the first fabric piece, and it has a plurality of incision portions formed along the central direction in a partial region of the second fabric piece. The crown portion is formed by partially overlapping the first and second fabric pieces and by partially overlapping the incision portions. The visor portion is combined with the crown portion, and it blocks sunlight.  
         [0014]     An exemplary method for manufacturing a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: forming a plurality of fabric pieces for a crown portion by cutting; forming incision portions to the fabric pieces after the forming of the plurality of the fabric pieces, wherein the incision portions are formed along central directions in partial regions of the fabric pieces; combining the fabric pieces by partially overlapping the fabric pieces after the forming of the incision portions, and combining a visor portion with the crown portion.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  illustrates an underneath view of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view of  FIG. 2  along the line A-A.  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the drawings.  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 2  illustrates the underneath view of the cap shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0021]     The cap includes a crown portion  1  for covering a head of a wearer. The cap also includes a visor portion  3  combined with the crown portion  1 .  
         [0022]     The crown portion  1  includes two fabric pieces  5  and  7 . Cloth, which is stretchable in the directions of circumference and height of a head of a wearer (refer to the directions shown in solid arrows), may be used as a material for the fabric pieces.  
         [0023]     Firstly, as an embodiment of the present invention, a cap manufactured from the two fabric pieces  5  and  7 , and a manufacturing method thereof, are described in detail.  
         [0024]     A plurality of incision portions  5   a  and  5   b  are formed in the first fabric piece  5  in a central direction (i.e., toward a center of the crown portion of a generally circular shape). Similarly, a plurality of incision portions  7   a  and  7   b  are formed in the second fabric piece  7  in a central direction. The first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  are of the same shape such that a combination of the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  may form a hemispherical shape.  
         [0025]     When combined, the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  form a dome shape of the crown portion  1  for comfortably covering a head of a wearer.  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view of  FIG. 2  along the line A-A, and it illustrates a combination of first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7 . The first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  are disposed to partially overlap each other, and then the overlapped portion is stitched by a sewing thread  9 .  
         [0027]     Subsequently, the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  are disposed to partially overlap, and are then stitched by the sewing thread  9 . That is, the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  provided at the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  are combined by the sewing thread  9 , and the combination of the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  forms the crown portion  1  for covering a head of a wearer.  
         [0028]     Although an embodiment of the present invention has been exemplarily described in connection with the case that the crown portion  1  is made of two fabric pieces, the present invention is not limited thereto. The number of fabric pieces may be variously changed.  
         [0029]     The first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  are preferably formed as a knitted fabric that includes polyurethane and has a single weft structure. However, the fabric pieces are not limited to the above-mentioned examples of the present invention. To the contrary, any material (textile fabric, cloths, and so forth) that has high elasticity and shows run-proof characteristics at an incision portion (refer to the seam portion  10  of  FIG. 3 ) may be used for such fabric pieces.  
         [0030]     In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a run-proof material is used for preventing a run at the seam portion, and it does not necessitate a separate strip to be applied to the seam portion. Therefore, deterioration of stretchability of a cap due to the strip may be resolved, and a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention shows an enhanced stretchability.  
         [0031]     On the other hand, according to an embodiment of the present invention, seam portions are concentrated at a portion above a head of a wearer. Therefore, a seam portion is not formed at a position contacting a forehead or a circumference of a head of a wearer, and accordingly, comfort may be enhanced. In addition, an overall increased elasticity may enhance tightness of the cap.  
         [0032]     In addition, it is preferable that the knitted fabric is of single weft material including 94% to 98% of polyester and 6% to 2% of polyurethane. Such a range of materials has been chosen to promise sufficient warmth retaining property and a sufficient stretchability.  
         [0033]     Such a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention may be manufactured in the following exemplary method.  
         [0034]     Firstly at step S 1 , the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  for forming the crown portion  1  are prepared by cutting an original fabric.  
         [0035]     Subsequently at step S 3 , a plurality of incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  are formed in the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  in centralized directions such that a dome shape may be formed when combining the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7 . The incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  may be formed by a conventional cutting device.  
         [0036]     Preferably, the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  are formed in partial regions of the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7 , such that the crown portion  1  may easily form a dome shape.  
         [0037]     Subsequently at step S 5 , the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  are arranged to overlap, and then are combined by the sewing thread  9 . In addition, the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  are also arranged to overlap, and then combined by the sewing thread  9 . Although different sewing threads may be used for combining of the fabric pieces  5  and  7  and for combining of the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b , they are referred to herein with the same reference number for the purpose of better comprehension of the spirit of the present invention.  
         [0038]     After the crown portion  1  is formed in the dome shape, a visor portion  3  is combined with the crown portion  1  by, e.g., stitching, at step S 7 .  
         [0039]     According to a cap of an embodiment of the present invention, a process of attaching a strip to a seam portion combining the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  as well as to a seam portion (refer to the reference number  10  in  FIG. 3 ) combining the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  is not required.  
         [0040]     In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the seam portion of the first and second fabric pieces  5  and  7  and the seam portion of the incision portions  5   a ,  5   b ,  7   a , and  7   b  may become spread and contactable to a head of a wearer.  
         [0041]     Such a cap may be manufactured by a simple process, and accordingly, manufacturing cost may be reduced. In addition, a crown portion may be immediately formed by presewing with a sewing thread, and accordingly, an stretchability of a crown portion may be preserved without deterioration.  
         [0042]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, a crown portion may be completed by simply sewing stretchable fabric pieces, and therefore, the manufacturing process is simplified such that productivity may be enhanced. Moreover, a commercial grade may be enhanced, since an stretchability of a cap may be preserved.  
         [0043]     While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.