New or Improved Article of Wearing Apparel, adapted for Conversion into and capable of being Utilised as a Pillow and Life Preserver.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 20th Jan., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Article of Wearing Apparel, adapted for
Conversion into and capable of being Utilised as a Pillow
and Life Preserver.
A communication by FRANÇOIS FRANK, of Chicago, in the County of Cook and
State of Illinois, United States of America.
1, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and 323 High Holborn in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same. is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved air tight bag adapted to be worn as a cap,
utilised as a pillow, or employed as a life preserver, as occasion may require, and
consists of a construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, and is
illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a vertical section of Figure 1, of the
article of wearing apparel in the form of a cap; in which are embodied these
improvements.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the article arranged in the form of a pillow or life
preserver.
Figure 4 is a plan view of the air valve and casing therefor.
Figure 5 is a vertical section, on a larger scale, of Figure 4, on line o w.
Figures 6 and 7 are, respectively, detached vertical sections of the valve casing
and valve from Figure 5.
Figure 8 shows, respectively, an elevation and a vertical section, ou line y, of
a portion of the sweat band for the interior lining of the cap.
Similar letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.
The material of this article of wearing apparel is usually made of some flexible
air tight waterproof material, of which A is the outer crown section, and B the
visor of the cap, while D is the guard strap with adjusting slides E, the strap being
secured at the rear of the cap at a loop F instead of at the sides of the cap, as
usual. The lining or inside section G of the crown of the cap is almost as large
as the outside section A, the two sections being connected by means of the outer
crown band C and the inner crown sweat band H, to form an air tight bag. Sweat
band H is made of a material which is formed into permanent corrugations J, which
permit air to pass between them into and out of the inside of the cap, when on the
head of the wearer.
A special means for the inlet and outlet of air into the space between the crown
of the cap and its lining is the valve K, which consists of a light disc having a
stem M which terminates at the outer end of a light disc L having several per-
forations S. The casing N for the valve is a hollow cylinder which screws into a
ring O, which ring is cemented air tight into the top of the crown section A. The
valve disc K guards an opening Q in the bottom end of the casing, which opening
is the air inlet and outlet.
A helical spring R serves to lightly hold the valve against its rubber seat P.
When the cap is inflated to form a bag, the mouth is applied around the projecting

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casing N, Figure 1, and, by blowing, the valve K is pressed inward, the air passing
into the bag through openings S, thence down through opening Q past the valve,
and, as soon as the blowing is stopped, spring R closes the valve against the egress
of the air. By pressing upon perforated disc L with the end of a finger and
squeezing the bag, the air will pass out.
Perforated disc L serves as a guard to hold the valve in a central position, and
also to form the outer cover for the helical spring of large diameter and short
length, which is best adapted for the necessarily contracted space for an efficient
spring to operate.
By removing the guard strap D from its usual position around the cap, so as to
appear as in Figure 3, it may be adjusted around the body of the wearer and hold
the inflated bag in any position for use as a life preserver in the water, or for a
pillow, the side clasps and the elasticity of the strap permitting adjustment to any
required size.
The bag, as shown in Figure 3, has a depressed circumferential portion near the
centre of the length, which permits the visor of the cap to lie close to the bag, out
of the way of injury, because of the visor being secured to the band of the outer
crown section of the bag.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. An article of wearing apparel in the form of a cap which is adapted to con-
version into a pillow and life preserver, consisting of an outer crown section, and an
inner lining section which is adapted to fold into and out of said crown section, said
sections connected to form an air tight bag, and means for the inlet and outlet of
air attached to one of said sections, substantially as described.
2. An article of wearing apparel in the form of a cap which is adapted to con-
version into a pillow and life preserver, consisting of an outer crown section, and an
inner lining section which is adapted to fold into and out of said crown section, said
sections connected to form an air tight bag with a circumferential depression
midway the length thereof, substantially as shown and described.
3. In an article of wearing apparel in the form of a cap having
a crown section
and an inner lining attached thereto, which, with the crown section, is adapted to
be inflated and form a bag with a circumferential depression midway the length
thereof, the visor of the cap attached to the band of the outer crown section thereof,
and adapted to lie within said depression in contact with the inflated lining of said
cap, substantially as shown and described.
4. In an article of wearing apparel in the form of a cap, which is adapted to be
converted into a pillow and life preserver, the guard strap D attached to the rear
portion of said cap, and as a means of attaching the article as a pillow or life
preserver to the body of the wearer, substantially as described.
5. In an article of wearing apparel in the form of a cap which is adapted to
conversion into a pillow and life preserver, consisting of an outer crown section, and
an inner lining section which is adapted to fold into and out of said crown section,
said sections connected to form an air tight bag by means of circumferential bands,
the inner one of said bands having corrugations projecting inwardly which are
formed in the manner and for the purpose described.
6. In an article of wearing apparel in the form of a cap, which is adapted to
conversion into a pillow and life preserver, and consisting of an outer crown section,
and an inner lining section adapted to fold into and out of said crown section, said
sections connected to form an air tight bag, the combination therewith of a means
for the inlet and outlet of air consisting of a hollow cylindrical casing removably
attached to said bag, an air passage way into said bag through an end of said
cylinder, an inwardly opening disc valve guarding said passage way, a stem of the

page_text: valve projecting outward through the air passage way and terminating in a per-
forated disc fitted to move loosely within the casing, and a helical spring between
the perforated disc and the bottom of the cylinder serving for the purpose
described.
Dated this 11th day of December 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.