Apparel – Guard or protector – For wearer's head
Reexamination Certificate
1997-11-13
2001-01-16
Worrell, Danny (Department: 3741)
Apparel
Guard or protector
For wearer's head
C002S219000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06173447
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to protective eye and eyeglass shields, and more particularly to a demountable protective eye shield which is mountable to the visor of baseball cap and other headgear that includes a visor of the general type found on baseball caps.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Numerous shield devices have been designed for shielding persons' eyes and/or eyeglasses from foreign matter such as rain, sand, dust, mud, and water from sources other than rain. Some of these devices have been stand-alone devices such as goggles, which are complete for use within themselves and may be attached directly to a user's head for use. Others have been adapted for attachment to headgear which is placed on a user's head. The present invention relates generally to the latter type of shield. Some of these devices have been the subject matter of United States patents. Three patented devices relevant to the instant invention are briefly discussed below.
Preliminarily, as is discussed in the background of the invention section of U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807, there has been inconsistent use of the term “visor” in the art to which that invention and the present invention pertains. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807, the specification defines an extension of the crown of a hat or cap that extends generally forward, and for example casts shade on the eyes, as a “bill” or a “brim”. A “visor”, as defined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807, is restricted to a transparent lens or shield to be operatively positioned in front of the eyes of the user. For the sake of clarity, in this patent, the term “visor” refers to the forwardly extending portion of a hat, cap, or other headgear (i.e., that portion referred to as a “bill” or “brim” in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807), while the lens or shield referred to as a “visor” in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807 is referred to as a “shield,” “eye shield,” or “eyeglass shield” in this patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,124 issued to Sheng-Tong Day on Nov. 16, 1993 discloses perhaps the closest configuration to the present invention. It includes a clip body for clipping onto the visor of a cap and an eye shield that is pivotally attached to the clip body so that it can be pivoted into a downward, protective position in which it is in front of the eyes and an upward, nonprotective position. The eye shield's pivoting motion between operative and nonoperative positions is where the similarity with the present invention lies. However, as will be appreciated further in the description, the present invention differs in the way it is attached to the visor of a cap and further provides additional features to prevent water from dripping from the visor into the user's eyes or onto the user's eyeglasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,778 issued to Bell on Dec. 12, 1995 is only remotely related to the present invention in that is provides for a shield that is carried by a baseball-type cap which slides between a first position in which it is adjacent the crown of the cap and hidden from view therebehind, above the visor of the cap, and a second position in which it is below the cap visor (i.e., “bill”) where it shields the eyes of the user. The shield translates vertically in linear fashion through a slot which is disposed between the crown and bill of a specially designed cap; there is no pivotal attachment or movement of the shield with respect to the cap or its bill.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807 issued to Peterson on Dec. 10, 1996 is more closely related to the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,778 in that its shield portion is adapted to be received within the crown of the headgear to which it is attached. However, as will be appreciated, like the present invention, the eye shield (i.e, what is referred to as the visor in U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,807) has ends and is co-extensive around part of the circumference of the headgear to which it is attached.
One disadvantage shared by all three of the prior inventions discussed above is that none provides a means for preventing water, such as rain water, that lands on the visor portion of the cap or other headgear, from draining off the front portion of the visor where it may distract the wearer as it flows or drips in his or her field of vision or, worse, lands in his or her eyes or on his or her eyeglasses if the shield is being worn to prevent water from impinging on the wearer's glasses. Fresh water contacting ones eyes or eyeglasses directly can be annoying and even dangerous, particularly if one is concentrating on an activity which requires unobstructed vision. Once particularly hazardous, annoying, and sometimes damaging scenario is the impinging of salt-water spray into the eyes, or onto the eyeglasses of a person while piloting a boat in rough seas. Where a person in this situation has no glasses on, salt water spray contacting the eye directly can be uncomfortable and, in many situations, extremely distracting and therefore dangerous. Where a person wears eyeglasses, either regular prescription glasses or regular or prescription sunglasses, and allows salt water spray to come into direct contact with the same, the salt water often dries on the lenses leaving behind a salt residue which obstructs vision or, if the user attempts to wipe the residue away, leaves scratches in the lenses thereby destroying them over time.
While it seems no shield can be kept completely free of water under the circumstances described, the elimination of the water that collects on a cap visor and then drains into a person's field of vision, onto a protective shield, or into their eyes or onto their glasses in extremely useful and a function which is not performed by any known prior devices.
The instant invention alleviates the difficulty discussed above and provides further advantages and objectives which are stated explicitly below or will be implicit to a user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a protective shield for covering and protecting the eyes and/or eyeglasses of a user, which shield may be clamped onto the visor portion of a cap or other headgear having a visor of the general type found on baseball caps.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shield which is pivotally attached to a clamp body which body may in turn be clamped to the visor portion of a cap or the like so that the shield portion may be pivotally moved between a downward, operative position in which it is generally in front of the user's eyes or eyeglasses to protect his or her eyes and/or eyeglasses from rain water, salt water spray and the like, and an upward, inoperative position in which the shield portion is substantially out of the user's field of vision.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a gutter means included on the clamp body, which gutter means is in substantially water tight engagement with the visor portion of the headgear so that water accumulating on the visor and draining forwardly down the visor may be collected and directed off to either side of the gutter, out of the user's field of vision.
The above and other objects are achieved in accordance with the present invention which, according to a first embodiment provides a clamp body which in most cases, as viewed from the top or bottom, is substantially C-shaped and co-extensive with the outermost edge of a visor extending from a cap or other headgear. The clamp body extends from a right end to a left end. The clamp includes an upper jaw and a lower jaw, each of which includes an inner and outer surface, and is best made of a resilient material so that the jaws can be opened slightly and clamped onto the outermost edge of the visor to which the assembly is to be attached. When the clamp body is properly placed on the visor, at least the inner surface of the top jaw is in substantially water tight engagement with the top surface of the visor along the entire length of the jaw. Extending substantially perpendicularly upward from the outer surface of the upper jaw, along substantially its entire length, is
Gugliotta John D.
Worrell Danny
LandOfFree
Demountable protective eye shield assembly for cap visor does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Demountable protective eye shield assembly for cap visor, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Demountable protective eye shield assembly for cap visor will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2517884