Apparel – Head coverings – Combined with diverse article
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-03
2003-11-18
Moran, Katherine (Department: 3765)
Apparel
Head coverings
Combined with diverse article
C351S155000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06647554
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to eyeglass or sunglass holders and more particularly to a sunglass retaining cap having oppositely opposed patches into which spectacle end pieces may be inserted in order for the cap to retain the glasses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Caps, such as baseball caps, are well known in the art and are often used for recreational purposes. The bowl, crown, or body of the cap provides means by which the head may be covered in order to keep it protected from the sun and the attached bill, brim, or visor stands generally horizontally from the crown in order to provide a shade for the eyes. The baseball cap as a whole is generally made of cloth with optional stiffening material such as cardboard or plastic used for the bill. The cap may be made in a number of sections and may have a stretchable headband in order to provide elastic engagement for the head of the wearer.
In order to further protect the eyes, many people wear sunglasses in conjunction with the baseball cap. Sunglasses generally provide protection from UV (ultraviolet) light that has a tendency to damage the eyes by radiation as absorption of such UV light by the retina, cornea, and other structures of the eye tend to damage them. Much like damage to the skin severed from exposure to ultraviolet light, the eye can also suffer damage from the absorption of such energetic light. Some sunglasses may also be polarized in order to transmit to the wearer's eye only light of certain polarization. Particularly, glare which arises from reflected sunlight can be reduced by polarized sunglasses.
Such sunglasses may be prescription or nonprescription sunglasses as such sunglasses are generally constructed in the same manner. Eyeglasses usually have a lens holding portion and a bridge that spans the nose between the two eyes. Temples are generally hingedly attached to the lens holding structure and extend backwardly away from the face to curve about the ear by means of an end piece. The glasses are then retained upon the face generally by frictional engagement at the bridge of the nose and the back of the ears. One specific advantage to wearing glasses is that they can be removed so the user or wearer can look out with his or her eye upon what is to be seen unaltered by the lenses of the glasses.
It has occurred to some, as evidenced by the prior art, that hats or caps may be used to retain glasses, including sunglasses. Several attempts have been made in the art previously, however they do not provide a number of advantages and generally have one or more drawbacks which may be addressed by an advance in the art:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,298,495, 6,282,721, 6,247,177, 6,237,159, 6,185,748, 5,887,287, 5,860,167, D.384,488, 4,179,753, 264,574, WO 02/46828, JP 09,228,133.
Some of the more pertinent prior glasses-retaining hats of the references above are described in additional detail below.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,159 discloses a hat having a sleeve attached to each side of the hat for retaining the earpieces of an eyeglass. FIG. 2 and column 2, line 60 et seq. are seen as pertinent, but describe a limited solution to the glass-retaining goal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,753 discloses an eyeglass supporting hat having a forward opening pocket sewn to each side of the hat and adapted to receive the ends of a temple of the eyeglasses. Furthermore, temple-retaining loops which are stitched to the sides of the hat are also disclosed. FIG. 1 (elements 16, 18 and 20) and FIG. 4 (elements 56, 60, 62 and 64) show pictorially some of these elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,495 discloses a hat having a hole on either side of the hat so as to retain the temples of an eyeglass as indicated at column 1, line 63 et seq.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,167 discloses headwear having a loop on both sides of the headwear for retaining a temple portion of an eyeglass. FIG. 1 (element 122), and column 4, lines 26-32 elaborate on this concept.
The following patents pertain to headwear having means for holding eyeglasses when not in use: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,247,177; 6,282,721; 5,887,287; 6,185,748; and 264,574.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 384,488 shows a design patent for a cigar-retaining hat having a similar concept to a glasses-retaining cap. Additionally, some foreign patent application activity is known as reflected by Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) International Application Publication No. WO 02/46828 which discloses a hat-mounted eyeglass holder as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 6. Also, Japanese Patent Publication No. 09228133A discloses a hat having holes for the attachment of eyeglasses.
Despite the fact that eyeglass- or sunglass-retaining members are known in the art, none of them provide versatile means by which such glasses (or other objects) may be held in a variety of dispositions and manners according to the convenience of the wearer. In fact, generally all of the glasses-retaining members are configured only to hold the glasses in one configuration only. Consequently, it would be an advance in the art to provide an eyeglass-retaining member that holds eyeglasses in a number of convenient positions so that the wearer may have a number of choices by which he or she may conveniently dispose the eyeglasses off the face and onto the accompanying hat or cap.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of glasses-retaining caps and hats as well as associated members thereof now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new cap having a versatile sunglass retainer as well as a new retaining member wherein the same can be used for retaining sunglasses when such glasses are taken off the face.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a means by which sunglasses may be retained in conjunction with the hat or other headgear which has many advantages of the glasses-retaining members mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new cap with a multi-faceted and versatile sunglass retainer which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, taught, or even implied by any other prior art glasses-retaining members, either alone or in any combination thereof.
A cap, such a baseball cap, has oppositely opposed patches generally located on the part of the cap residing above the ears of the wearer or otherwise according to the dictates of the glasses involved. Such patches are generally fastened, fixed, or attached to the cap in five places: the four corners of the patch (which is generally rectangular in shape) as well as the center of the top edge of the patch which may be slightly indented towards the interior of the rectangular patch.
This configuration of the patch provides a number of slots formed between the retaining members in the form of the fastenings attaching the patch to the hat so that the glasses (including eyeglasses and sunglasses) may be retained by the resulting cap-patch enclosure by engagement of the end piece of the temple. The specific configuration of the patch fastenings enable the eyeglass-retaining patch to hold the glasses either right side up, upside down, or positioned on the forehead, on the brow, over the head, and otherwise in a variety of convenient and useful positions by which the glasses may be readily retained by the cap yet kept safely out of the way and off the wearer's face.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cap that versatilely retains sunglasses and the like.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a means by which headgear including caps and hats may retain sunglasses.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide retrofitable means by which caps may be able to retain sunglasses in a versatile manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a glasses-retaining member that may be attached to a variety of different headgear.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cap that retains sunglasses in a variety
Cislo & Thomas LLP
Moran Katherine
LandOfFree
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