Cab brim shaping device

Apparel apparatus – Forming – pressing – molding – and stretching – Forms

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C223S024000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06315175

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a device for adding curvature to bendable structures. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices suitable for imparting additional and permanent curvature to the brim of a cap such as a baseball cap. In addition, the present invention relates to the reshaping of the brim of a cap while also providing a means for displaying or storing the cap being reshaped.
Caps are a well-known object with a fabric dome designed to be worn on the head and a brim section extending generally from the front thereof. The brim is usually fabricated from a cardboard or plastic insert over which a fabric covering is stitched. When manufactured and shipped, the brims of most caps are kept flat to facilitate packing, shipping and storage. After the cap is purchased, it is common for the brims of caps, such as baseball style caps, to be curled by the end user, to improve the ability of the brim to shade the users eyes from light and glare. In many cases, it is also highly desirable, from a fashion standpoint, to have a certain amount of curl to the brim of a cap.
Often the curl is added to the brim by manually manipulating the brim or wrapping it around a curved object with elastic bands so as to push on the edges of the brim, forcing it to bend. These methods generally produce inconsistent results and do not necessarily result in the addition of the smooth and permanent curvature that most cap wearers desire. Prior art devices, designed as an improvement over the manual shaping methods, commonly restrain the edges of the cap brim in slots while applying pressure to the top of the brim via and elasticized band. The drawback to all of those methods that apply forces to the edges of the cap brim is that those forces cause chaffing along the edges of the brim inducing premature failure of the fabric covering and frayed fabric edges at those locations.
In addition, in the prior art, several attempts have been made to create devices that impart a uniform curvature to the brim of a cap. These devices are made as metal molds, plastic frames or plastic clips with have a fixed curvature or a limited selection of preset curvature built into them and do not allow unlimited, variable curvature settings and are primarily focused on maintaining the shape of a cap brim. Since not all people desire the same amount of curvature in their cap brim and because many of these rigid devices are cumbersome, these prior art devices are undesirable to many people.
Many of the prior art devices also attempt to serve a purpose as a display device by installing several rigid frames into a larger frame thus causing an already cumbersome device to require yet more storage space.
In view of the foregoing, there is a demand for a cap brim-shaping device that creates permanent curvature in a cap brim. There is a particular demand for a cap brim-shaping device that can impart a varied amount of curvature to a cap brim without distressing the edges of the brim. In addition, there is a demand for a cap brim-shaping device that can also serve as a compact display and storage device for caps.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention performs the function of adding curvature to the brim of a cap and providing a compact means of cap storage and display, while overcoming many of the disadvantages and limitations inherent in the currently available devices.
The invention is generally directed to a novel and unique cap brim-shaping device that can be easily used to add a variable amount of curvature with tailored profile to the brim of a cap, such as a baseball style cap. The device includes four interconnected parts, resulting in three longitudinal members, connected in such a way as to impart a smooth, uniform curvature to a cap brim whose profile can be varied as a function of the degree to which the device is bent. The bottom member is composed of two rigid, semi-circular parts connected together by a hinge. The intermediate member is flexible and is attached to the bottom member at intermediate tangential points, along the left and right sides of the interconnected bottom member. The left and right ends of the top member are also attached to the bottom member, in a position above the intermediate member, at the bottom member's left and right ends respectively. This geometry allows the intermediate and top members to be maintained in a parallel relationship to one another, regardless of the relative degree of bend of the device. In operation the brim of a cap is inserted between the intermediate and top members and the device is bent around the hinge point causing the intermediate and top members to clamp onto the brim and further to cause the brim to bend in smooth curved profile.
In an effort to further control the profile of the curvature imparted to the cap brim, the top member of the device can be fabricated with periodic v-grooves across its width. The size, depth and spacing of these grooves can be varied so as to make the top member more flexible in some areas and less flexible in others, thereby creating the ability to fabricate top members for generating slightly different and tailored curvature profiles. For example, the center area of the brim could be maintained with relatively shallow curvature while the edges of the brim could be curled more sharply.
A ratchet device is included on the device at the hinge point between the two parts of the bottom member. This ratchet allows the device to be locked in a pre-selected, fixed position once the cap has been inserted and the device has been bent, so as to allow the cap to remain in the desired, curved position for a long enough period of time to cause the curvature to become permanent.
As a result of this new and unique geometry, the brim of the hat is clamped between two flat members, which span across the entire width of the brim. The forces then imparted to the brim, by the device, during the curling process, are necessarily spread uniformly over the surface of the brim and not directly to the brim's edges. This feature eliminates the stresses placed directly on the edges of the fabric covering of the brim, reducing or eliminating the possibility of premature fabric failure at these locations. In addition, this feature also results in a more uniform curvature profile as the forces being applied to the brim are applied incrementally across the entire brim surface rather than simply on its edges.
Since, over time the cap brims would tend to return to their flat profile, this device is also intended to be used for cap storage as well. When stored, the cap could be clamped into the device so that the brim curvature could be maintained. A mounting hook is also molded into one end of the device to allow it to be hooked into a display rack or hung in a closet. This hook is included so as to facilitate convenient storage and display of the caps as they are clamped into the device.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device that can reshape the brim of a cap such as a baseball cap.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cap brim-shaping device suitable for imparting additional curl to the brim of a cap.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cap brim-shaping device that is completely adjustable so as to allow the user to infinitely vary the amount of curl that is imparted to the brim of a cap.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap brim-shaping device that is self-contained and requires no additional bands or strapping to function.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cap brim-shaping device that is inexpensive to manufacture.
Another object of present invention is to provide a cap brim-shaping device that is easy to operate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap-shaping device that can be used to store and display cape while also functioning to add or maintain curvature of a cap brim.


REFERENCES:
patent: D. 368806 (1996-04-01), Sparco
patent: 4927063 (1

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