AU2005100107A4 - Hat - Google Patents

Description

P001 Section 29 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: Hat The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:

HAT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates hats and more particularly to hats for small children for protecting the wearer from damage from the sun.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Young children spending time in the sun are increasingly at risk of sun damage to their skin and eyes. It is possible, that time spent in the sun as a young child may lead to permanent skin damage as an adult. Various forms of sun protection are available, including sunscreen and similar formulations applied to the skin, sunglasses and garments. Amongst the range of sun-protective garments are hats.

There are many hats on the market which include visors or brims to shade the face, ears or neck of a wearer. However, while the brim shades the eyes, often this type of protection is not adequate enough and therefore, the eyes of a wearer are still at risk of sun damage.

In order to minimise sun damage, a child may wear both a hat and sunglasses. However, this requires separate hat and sunglasses purchases which may be expensive. Further, the sunglasses may be lost, forgotten or left behind when children remove them for playing or when the sun intensity decreases.

Another problem with children wearing sunglasses is that children are often reluctant to wear the sunglasses and constantly remove these from their face thereby exposing their eyes to damage. Constant removing and wearing of sunglasses may also lead to the sunglasses being broken.

To address this problem of children constantly removing the sunglasses, specialised children's sunglasses have been manufactured. Such glasses include a rubberised band extending around the child's head to hold the glasses in place and make the glasses more difficult to remove. However, these types of children's glasses do not solve the problem of separate purchases or the glasses being removed and lost when the weather becomes dull. Further, such glasses do not solve the problem of children disliking wearing the glasses and protesting or refusing to wear them.

It is desirable to provide a hat with improved sun protection for the wearer.

It is also desirable to provide a hat which overcomes or ameliorates one or more of the above problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a hat including a first portion for fitting on a wearer's head; a second portion depending from the first portion for shading at least part of the wearer's face from direct sunlight and covering at least the wearer's eyes; and at least one transparent portion incorporated in the second portion to enable the wearer to see through the depending portion whereby the depending portion and transparent portion protect the wearer's eyes from the sun.

Preferably, the second portion is moveable from a position covering the wearer's eyes to a position adjacent the first portion to uncover the wearer's eyes.

This advantageously allows the wearer to continue wearing the hat in dim or low sunlight conditions. This will reduce the chance of losing the hat as the wearer does not need to remove the hat to improve visibility in low light conditions. The hat may be made from a heavy cotton, canvas or denim such that when the brim is folded to expose the wearer's eyes, the brim remains adjacent the first portion.

Alternatively, the hat may include fasteners to releasably fasten the brim to the first portion.

A further advantage of the present invention is that it may be used by people who wear prescription glasses. Wearing a hat according to the present invention overcomes the need for clip on sun glasses, or prescription sun glasses as the transparent portion is able to shade the wearer's eyes.

The second portion may take the form of a visor or brim depending from the first portion. The brim may partially shade the wearer's neck and ears, such as the brim on a 'bucket' style hat to further protect the wearer's neck and ears from sun damage.

O The at least one transparent portion may be tinted to further protect the C wearer's eyes from the sun. The tint may vary from a very light tint to a darker tint afor particularly bright conditions.

The fasteners may take the form of hook and loop fasteners (such as Velcro®), press studs or buttons to secure the brim of the hat to the first portion to expose the wearer's eyes.

0The hat may further include a tie(s) or ties and toggle to fasten that hat to the wearer's head with an aim to preventing the hat from being blown off the head, or the child wearer removing the hat. This is particularly useful where the wearer is a young child and requires time to become used to wearing the hat. The tie may be in the form of an elastic strap which may be placed under the wearer's chin.

The at least one transparent portion may be square, rectangular, circular or any other suitable shape, and of an appropriate size to shield the hat wearer's eyes from the sun. The hat may include a single large lens, two smaller lenses or the entire brim may form the transparent portion to protect the wearer's eyes from the sun. Preferably, the at least one transparent portion is formed from a lightweight, flexible material which is able to withstand the general play activities of a child.

The hat may further include an adjustable first portion so that the hat may fit various head sizes. The hat may be adjusted by a strap or drawstring cord on the inside of the hat. It will also be appreciated that the drawstring could be on the outside of the hat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the hat according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the hat in the folded position according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a further alternative embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a further embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the figures, Figure 1 shows a hat 10 for use by a child. It will also be appreciated that the hat may be made in larger sizes suitable for use by an adult. The hat 10 includes a first portion in the form of a crown 11 formed from panels 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d to fit on a wearer's head. The second portion in the form of a brim 14 depends from the crown 11 for substantially protecting the wearer's face from direct sunlight and covering the wearer's eyes. The brim 14 preferably extends from the crown to between the bridge of the wearer's nose and the tip of the wearer's nose to cover the wearer's eyes. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the brim 14 is a continuation of the crown 11 and sits approximately one to three centimetres from the wearer's face.

The brim 14 includes two square transparent portions in the form of lenses 16a and 16b located towards the edge of the brim and spaced apart to allow viewing through each lenses 16a, 16b by the left and right eyes of a wearer respectively. The lenses are preferably tinted to limit or block UV rays being transmitted to the wearer's eyes. The tint of the lens may vary from a very dark lens, to a lesser tint.

The lenses 16a and 16b are preferably large enough to allow for some differences in ages and/or sizes of the wearer, such that the child may grow and continue to use the same hat for sun protection. Further, the lenses 16a and 16b allow for movement of the hat 10 while the child is playing, without interrupting the child's vision. The lenses 16a, 16b are preferably formed from a durable material which is able to withstand normal use by a child.

The hat 10 may also include a cut out portion for the wearer's nose (not shown). In such an arrangement, the brim 12 may extend further down the wearer's face. Further, the crown 11 or brim 14 may include ventilation holes to increase the level of comfort of the wearer in hot weather.

Figure 2 shows the hat 10 arranged for use in dim conditions where it is not necessary for the wearer's eyes to be shielded. The brim 14 is movable from covering the wearer's eyes to a position adjacent the crown 11 by folding the brim on either side of the lenses. In this position, the hat 10 may still be worn and is easily able to be moved to the original position to cover the wearer's eyes should the lighting conditions change.

The hat 10 is preferably constructed from a form of heavy material such as cotton or denim such that the brim remains adjacent the first portion once folded.

Alternatively, the hat 10 may include fasters (not shown) on the brim 14 and crown 11 for fixing the brim in place. The fasteners may be in the form of pressstud, hook and loop fasteners (such as Velcro®) or any other releasable fastener which will maintain the brim away from the wearer's eyes such that the vision of the wearer is not interrupted.

It will also be appreciated that the brim 14 may be completely folded towards the crown 11 to expose the wearer's eyes in dim conditions.

Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which like features are denoted by like reference numerals. The difference between this embodiment and the embodiment depicted in Figure 1 is that the transparent portions or lenses 16 are circular. In a variation of this embodiment, the lenses may be oval in shape. However, it will be understood that the lenses 16 may take any form which allows the wearer's face and eyes to be protected from the sun, without interfering with the wearer's vision.

As shown in the first embodiment, the brim 14 of the hat 10 may be folded towards or otherwise secured to the crown 11 to expose the wearer's eyes in dim conditions.

Figure 4 shows a further alternative embodiment in which like features are denoted by like reference numerals. The brim 14 of hat 10 in Figure 4 includes a single rectangular transparent portion of lens 20. The single rectangular lens is preferably large enough to cover both eyes of a wearer and offers the advantage over the lenses of hat 10 shown in Figures 1 to 3 in that the lens may be aligned off-centre relative to the wearer's eyes without substantially affecting the vision through the lens 20. This is particularly advantageous if the wearer of the hat 10 is a young child, as this has the ability to greatly reduce the time taken to fit the hat 10 to the child's head. In an alternative embodiment, the entire brim 14 made from a tinted material and thus protect the wearer's eyes from the sun. The brim 14 may be folded towards the crown 11 to expose the wearer's eyes.

It will also be appreciated that the hat may take the form of a peaked cap or visor, wherein the peak or visor extends to substantially shade the wearer's face and may be formed of a transparent, tinted material which protects the wearer's eyes from the sun. In this embodiment, the first portion may take the form of a strap or band for securing the visor over the wearer's eyes.

Figure 5 shows a bucket style hat 50 including a first portion, a crown 52, and a second portion in the form of a brim 54 depending from and encircling the crown 51. The brim 54 is designed to extend over the ears and shade the neck of the wearer to prevent sunburn on these areas. The brim 54 includes two rectangular transparent portion or lenses 56a and 56b spaced apart to allow a wearer of the hat 50 to see through the lenses 56a and 56b. Although shown as rectangular, it will be appreciated that lenses 56a and 56b may be round, square or any other shape which allows a wearer to have uninterrupted vision.

It will also be appreciated that the eyes of the wearer may be protected by a single, larger rectangular lens, rather than the two lenses 56a and 56b shown.

Alternatively, the lens may be provided as the brim 54, wherein the brim 54 is constructed entirely from a transparent tinted material.

The brim 54 of the bucket hat 50 may also be folded towards the crown 51 to expose the wearer's eyes from the sun. Alternatively, the brim 54 may be fastened to the crown 51 by Velcro@, press studs or the like.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the preferred embodiments described above without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims (4)

1. A hat including a first portion for fitting on a wearer's head; a second portion depending from the first portion for shading at least part of the wearer's face from direct sunlight and covering at least the wearer's eyes; and at least one transparent portion incorporated in the second portion to enable the wearer to see through the depending portion whereby the depending portion and transparent portion protect the wearer's eyes from the sun.

2. A hat according to claim 1 wherein the depending portion is moveable from a position covering the wearer's eyes to a position adjacent the first portion to uncover the wearer's eyes.

3. A hat according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the depending portion is a visor or brim.

4. A hat according to claim 3 wherein the brim at least partially shades the wearer's neck and ears. A hat according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the at least one transparent portion is tinted to further protect the wearer's eyes from the sun. DATED this 2nd day of February 2005 NAOMI ENGELANDER WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA BMH/AJS