EP1610635B1 - Hat part made of synthetic material - Google Patents

Abstract

A hat part made of a plastic material, which maintains its form below a first temperature and is deformable above the first temperature, characterised in that the plastic material has a softening temperature of from 60° C. to 140° C., the material being formable above the softening temperature and remaining in its formed shape below the softening temperature.

Description

The present invention relates to a hat part, in particular a hat brim or a canopy, made of a plastic material.

From German Utility Model G 19 26 448 a protective hood with a plastic cap umbrella is known. The cap shield is made with a Stirnschweißband and a front part in one piece. The front part is angled 90 ° relative to the horizontal part of the cap.

From DE 31 00 095 a hat with a replaceable Krempenteil is known. Hat and Krempenteil are connected by a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, so that the Krempenteil is releasably connected to the hat.

From DE 1 946 478 a cap shield made of plastic is known in which a perpendicular angled end part is attached to a screen part. Shade part and end part are made in one piece from Acrylnitributadienstyrol by plastic injection molding.

From US 5,131,094 a sun visor is known, which can be worn in the manner of a headband. The sun visor consists of a screen part and an end part, which is formed integrally with the screen part together.

From US 2,057,915 a cloth cap is known whose screen is made of a thick, heavy canvas.

From US 1,964,919 a canopy is known whose screen is made of a rigid material.

From US 6,138,279 a canopy is known in which a screen insert is covered on both sides with textile material. The shielding insert is made of a plastic material that permanently retains its set shape during the manufacturing process.

US 2002 / 0073478A1 describes an insert for the shield of a cap. The insert is plastically deformable and holds the cap screen in a desired shape. In one embodiment it is described that the plastic material resists after the application of heat. For this purpose, for example, with a hair dryer, the element can be heated while the screen is in the desired shape. After the plastic material has cooled down, it keeps the screen in the desired shape.

The invention has for its object to provide a hat part that can be adapted by the user without difficulty to a desired shape.

According to the invention the object is achieved by a hat part with the features of claim 1.

The hat part according to the invention is made of a plastic material which has a reversible shape memory and below a first temperature retains its shape and is deformable above the temperature. The plastic material has a softening temperature of 60 ° C to 140 ° C. Above the softening temperature, the material softens and can be shaped by hand as desired. When the material then cools again, the material remains in the formed shape and retains it until reheating. The softening temperature allows non-destructive deformation and adaptation of the hat part to the needs and desires of the user. Such plastics are also referred to as reversible thermoplastic materials. The advantage of using such plastic for parts of hats, caps or other headgear, is that the hat wear this part very specific to his Can adapt needs. For the hat wearer, it is possible to heat the hat part, to bring it into the desired shape and then to cool it down in the desired shape. This process can be repeated without damaging the material.

For such a plastic, a thermoplastic polyurethane based on polyether or polyester is preferably used. Especially in view of the processability and the durability of the plastic material, thermoplastic polyurethanes have proven to be particularly advantageous. These materials also have a good impact and tear resistance, so that they can be used without danger to the user, for example, in sports caps. It has also been found that with thermoplastic polyurethane an impact resistance to -60 ° C is present, so that even at very low temperatures no breakage of the hat part occurs. In addition, thermoplastic polyurethanes are generally odorless and recyclable.

Preferably, a hat brim is provided as a hat part, which has a voltage applied to the head of a hat wearer portion and a protruding therefrom brim portion, wherein the hat material is attached to the adjacent portion.

Here, the hat wearer can redefine the shape of the adjacent portion of the head by heating, as well as the position of the brim can be re-formed by heating.

In another embodiment which proves to be very advantageous, a screen part for a canopy is provided as the hat part. Under umbrella cap is here below any type of cap provided with a cap and / or cap understood, in particular sports caps, such as baseball caps and the like. As Hutteil also a protective visor with or without tinting can be provided.

The plastic material is preferably completely or partially mirrored. In order to achieve special optical effects, colored films can be wholly or partly injected into the plastic material, and in the case of printed films, so-called in-mold labels (IML) are also used. It is also possible to achieve special effects in the hat part by incorporating pigments, in particular color pigments, effect pigments, phosphorescent and / or fluorescent pigments, metallic and / or glitter pigments and Irodin (R) pigments. Furthermore, light can be provided in the UV absorber for UV-A, UV-B and / or UV-C, so that protection according to UV400 is also achieved.

In a preferred embodiment, the plastic material is completely or partially transparent. A very special effect is achieved in the plastic material by this is injection molded. In contrast to known Hutteilen of plastic materials, the injection molding allows the production of hat parts with a special thickness. The thickness may be, for example, 0.2 to 20 mm. It is also possible to produce the hat part in different thickness, creating special visual and aesthetic effects. The design with different thicknesses and wall thicknesses allows the hat part to give a certain basic shape, which limits the deformation of the plastic material in the softened condition.

For practical use, it has proved to be advantageous that the plastic material is flexible and / or elastic even below the first temperature, so that breaking or other destruction of the hat part is not possible.

In practical experiments it has been found that a plastic material with a VICAT softening temperature, in particular the softening temperature for VICAT A with 50 N, 60 ° C to 140 ° C, preferably 70 ° C to 95 ° C is particularly suitable. Especially at these temperatures, it has been found that these can be easily achieved by a water bath, so that the user can redefine the shape without a change in shape occurs in normal use.

Also, it has been found for practical use that a plastic material having a heat distortion temperature, especially at a bending stress of 0.45 MPa in the range of 50 ° C to 170 ° C, preferably between 62 ° C and 101 ° C has particular advantages.

The above-described hat parts are transported after their production to a cap or hat maker who provides the hat part with a hood part. The finished headgear is subsequently transported again. When using the thermoplastic material described above, it has been found to be advantageous to use a transport container with at least one receiving compartment, in which at least one hat part is used and in the inserted state wholly or partially rests against the inside of the walls. In this way, the hat part is held by the walls in the desired shape.

• Fig. 1 eine Schirmkappe in der Ansicht von vorne,
• Fig. 2 ein Stirnband mit Schirmteil,
• Fig. 3 ein Hut mit Krempen- und Haubenteil,
• Fig. 4a und 4b ein Krempenteil in zwei unterschiedlichen Konfigurationen,

Preferred embodiments of hat parts of thermoplastic material are explained in more detail with reference to the following examples. It shows:

• 1 is a screen cap in the front view,
• 2 a headband with screen part,
• 3 a hat with brim and hood part,
• 4a and 4b, a Krempenteil in two different configurations,

Fig. 1 shows a canopy 10 with a hood part 12 and a transparent screen 14. The hood part 12 may be provided on the back (not shown) with a closure device to adapt the hood part to different head sizes.

The shield member 14 is made of a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer based on polyester or polyether. This material is elastic and flexible. It can be reversibly deformed, so that the screen cap 14 can be adapted in shape as desired by the wearer. Polyurethane elastomers have excellent impact and tear resistance as well as sufficient cold flexibility and low-temperature impact strength down to -60 ° C. Thus, such a cap can be used even in extreme weather conditions, without the risk that the screen becomes brittle or brittle.

The screen part 14 is preferably made of a transparent plastic. The card-transparent plastic is dyed with a dye, so that the translucent light is colored.

Fig. 2 shows a headband 16 which is provided with a screen 18. As in the case of the cap shown in FIG. 1, the screen may again preferably be made of a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer. For the umbrellas typical thickness of 1 to 8 mm, it has been found to be advantageous to produce the shield parts by injection molding.

Fig. 3 shows a conventional hat 20, which is constructed separately from a Krempenteil 22 and a hat member 24. Hutteil 22 and Krempenteil 24, for example, as shown via a hook and loop fastener 26 are connected to each other. However, it is also possible to sew Krempenteil and Hutteil together or stick together.

Figures 4a and 4b show the crimping part 24 in two different configurations. The configuration in Fig. 4a shows the neck part of the brim folded over while Fig. 4b shows the corresponding part of the brim folded down. In order to bring the brim from the configuration in Fig. 4a to the configuration 4b, it is necessary to heat the crimping part. If the corresponding temperature is exceeded, the Krempenteil can be brought into the appropriate configurations.

As a particularly suitable plastic material, the thermoplastic polyether polyurethane company Elastogran GmbH 1100 series have been found. In particular, suitable for injection molding Elastollan 1174 D with the following properties has been found to be particularly advantageous. property Unit of measurement DIN ISO 1174 D Suitable for
Injection molding ▲ extrusion ■ blow molding ● ▲ hardness Shore A 53505 868 hardness Shore D. 53505 868 73 density g / cm ³ 53479 1183 1.20 tensile strenght MPa 53504 37 50 elongation at break % 53504 37 300 Stress at 20% elongation MPa 53504 37 25 Tension at 100% elongation MPa 53504 37 30 Tension at 300% elongation MPa 53504 37 45 E-modulus from tensile test MPa DIN EN ISO 527 560 Tear strength N / mm 53515 34 220 abrasion mm ³ 53516 4649 20 Compression set at room temperature % 53517 815 50 Compression set at 70 ° C % 53517 815 55 Tensile strength after storage for 42 days in water at 80 ° C MPa 53504 37 35 Elongation at break after storage for 42 days in water at 80 ° C % 53504 37 400 Notched impact strength (Charpy) + 23 ° C KJ / m ² 53453 no breakage -30 ° C 6

On the basis of polyester, the following thermoplastic polyester-polyurethane has been found suitable from the type series 600: property Unit of measurement DIN ISO 1174 D Suitable for
Injection molding ▲ extrusion ■ ▲ hardness Shore A 53505 868 hardness Shore D. 53505 868 60 density g / cm ³ 53479 1183 1.23 tensile strenght MPa 53504 37 55 elongation at break % 53504 37 450 Stress at 20% elongation MPa 53504 37 8th Tension at 100% elongation MPa 53504 37 14 Tear strength N / mm 53515 34 140 abrasion mm ³ 53516 4649 35 Compression set at room temperature % 53517 815 30 Compression set at 70 ° C % 53517 815 40 Tensile strength after storage for 21 days in water at 80 ° C MPa 53504 37 40 Elongation at break after 21 days storage in water % 53504 37 500

The deformation behavior of the plastic materials under heat is described by defined technical tests. These tests include the VICAT softening temperature (VICAT softening temperature, VST) according to ISO 306 and the determination of heat deflection temperature (HDT) according to ISO 75. In testing the VICAT softening temperature, the material is loaded with a needle having a round cross section of 1 mm ² has. The material to be tested is located on a level surface in a temperature transfer medium, such as oil or air. The medium is heated at a constant heating rate of 50 K / h or 120 K / h. The VICAT temperature is the temperature at which the needle penetrates 1 mm deep into the material under test. In other words, the VICAT softening temperature thus describes from which temperature the plastic material has reached a certain softness. Here, a distinction is made between the so-called VICAT A test and the VICAT B test, whereby in VICAT A the needle is loaded with 50 N and in VICAT B with 10 N.

The preferred plastic materials have a VICAT temperature at 50 N of 82 to 85 ° C. However, plastic materials with a VICAT temperature between 60 ° C and 140 ° C can also be used.

Similar to the VICAT test, at the heat distortion temperature, the material to be tested is heated in a heat transfer medium at 50 K / h or 120 K / h. The arrangement is carried out by a 3-point bending test, the sample is subjected to a constant load, which is 0.45 MPa, 1.80 MPa or 8 MPa, depending on the method. The temperature at which a rod bends by 0.2 to 0.3 mm is reported as HDT. For the preferred materials, at a flexural pressure of 0.45 MPa, the HDT is in the range of 50 ° C to 170 ° C.

Claims (11)

1. A hat part (14; 18; 24) made of a plastic material which maintains its shape below a first temperature and is deformable above the first temperature, characterised in that the plastic material has a softening temperature from 60° C to 140° C, the material being formable above the softening temperature and remaining in its formed shape below the softening temperature. A hat part according to any one of claims characterised in that the plastic material is injection moulded.
2. A hat part according to claim 1, characterised in that the plastic material is a thermoplastic urethane, based on polyether or polyester.
3. A hat part according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the hat part is provided as a hat flap, which has a portion resting against the head of a person bearing the hat and a distant portion, a hat material being attached to the resting portion.
4. A hat part according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that a visor part for a cap with visor is provided as the hat part.
5. A hat part according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the plastic material is realised as being partially or completely transparent.
6. A hat part according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the plastic material is partially or completely covered with a reflective surface from one side and transparent from the other.
7. A hat part according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that foils are completely or partially injected into the plastic material, which are preferably imprinted.
8. A hat part according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that pigments are incorporated into the plastic material, particularly dye pigments, effect pigments, phosphorescing and/or fluorescing pigments, metallic and/or glittering pigments and Irodin^®-pigments.
9. A hat part according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the plastic material is flexible and/or elastic even below the first temperature.
10. A hat part according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the plastic material has a VICAT-softening temperature, in particular the softening temperature for VICAT A with 50 N, of from 60° C. to 140° C., preferably from 70° C. to 95° C.
11. A hat part according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the plastic material has a heat deflection temperature, in particular at a bending stress of 0.45 Mpa, between 50° C. and 170° C., preferably between 62° C. and 101 ° C.

Images