US3496574A

US3496574A - Folding hat and integral hat crown-shaping and hat-storing device

Info

Publication number: US3496574A
Application number: US686133A
Authority: US
Inventors: Irvin Liverant
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-11-28
Filing date: 1967-11-28
Publication date: 1970-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 1987-02-24

Description

FOLDING HAT ANU INTEGRAL HAT CROWN-SHAPING. AND

HAT-STORING DEVICE Filed Nov. 28, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l l6 26 7 I I I IIIIIIIIIIIIIII I I4 4 FIG 2 INVENTOR. IRVIN LIVERANT ATTORNEY Feb; 24, 1910 l. LIVERANT 3,496,574 FOLDING HR! AND INTEGRAL HAT CROWNSHAPING .AND

HAT-STORING DEVICE Filed Nov. 28, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. IRVI-N LIVERANT ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3 496,574 FOLDING HAT AND INTEGRAL HAT CROWN- SHAPING AND HAT-STORING DEVICE Irvin Liverant, 201 S. 18th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103 Filed Nov. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 686,133 Int. Cl. A42c /00 US. Cl. 2180 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hat which is foldable for compact storage when not in use, and which automatically assumes an expanded use position and a combined hat-storing and hat crownshaping and erecting device which is contained within the hat when the hat is in use and which receives and stores the folded hat. The hat-storing device is connected to the'hat to ensure that the hat and the storing device are always available together.

THE BACKGROUND Conventional hats are unneeded when it is fair and warm and they are too bulky to carry around as insurance against a sudden change in the weather. Furthermore, upon entering a restaurant, or theatre, etc., hats must be checked or left on a hatrack accessible to the public, because they are too clumsy to carryin ones lap during a meal or a show.

To be sure, collapsible hats, such as English visored caps, French berets, and Russian Kulpacks have always been available, but these are not the general types which most people can wear on most occasions. Nor do they have the appearance, or the advantages of a regular hat.

It is therefore one object of the invention to produce a foldable hat which will look like, and can be worn in place of, a regular hat.

To be foldable to a very small size, the hat must be made of thin, non-shape-retaining material, and its crown must be free of all rigidity. The crown of such a hat will be shapeless and will greatly detract from the appearance and utility of the hat.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to produce ahat wherein the crown is supported by a rigid frame only when the hat is in use and wherein the crown is free of all rigidity when the hat is not in use, and whereby the hat will be shaped when in use and can be fully collapsed when not in use.

Envelopes for storing folded rainhats or raincoats are known. But, as far as I am aware, when the rainhat is in use, its storage envelope has to be carried around until it is needed.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to produce an improved arrangement wherein the hat-storing envelope forms part of the hat when the hat is worn, and whereby the hat is stored in the envelope when the hat is not in use.

THE INVENTION A collapsible hat having a brim and a crown, an envelope having a resilient peripheral frame insertable into the crown of the hat to shape and support the same and strap connecting the hat and the envelope.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a hat embodying the invention.

FIG. 1A is an enlargement of the upper left-hand corner of FIG. 1 and shows details of construction.

FIG. 2 shows the storage envelope being inserted into the crown of the hat.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of crown-shaping and hat-storing envelope.

3,496,574 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 FIG. 4 and 5 are sectional views looking in the direction of lines 4-4 and 55 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows the first step in folding the hat.

FIG. 7 shows the second, and last, step of folding the hat. For clarity, the frame only is shown.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the fully folded hat at the left, the combined crown-reinforcing and hat-storing device at the right, and the connecting strap in between.

FIG. 9 shows the folded hat being inserted into the hatstoring device.

A hat embodying this invention includes a brim 10, and a crown 12 which is formed of a sidewall 14 and a top wall 16 and which may be of a single, or of a multiply construction. The parts mentioned may be made of natural tertile fabric, such as silk, cotton, or wool, or of a mixture thereof, or of any available, flexible, elastic or non-elastic sheet material. The shapes and styles of this hat are optional and it is thought sufficient for the purpose of this disclosure to point out that the brim is provided with a pocket 18, or is so constructed as to receive, or to have secured thereto, and to confine a slightly tensioned spring wire frame 20 or its equivalent, which frame, when unrestrained, stretches the brim to a shape which is determined by the contour of the particular frame. For example, if the wire 20 is confined in an oval pocket 18, or if the wire is stitched, or otherwise secured to the periphery of the brim so as to take an oval form, the brim and the crown which will have been correspondingly contoured, will assume an oval shape, and so on. The width of the brim and the height of the crown are optional, and can be varied as desired. For example, for town wear the brim will be narrower and the colors will be more subdued, and for sport or beach wear, the rim will be wider and the colors rampant. The tension of the spring varies with the type of fabric used. For example, in the case of a light, non-elastic fabric, a light spring will suffice, and vice versa. Also, forcibly to stretch an elastic fabric, or for use with a heavier material, a heavier spring will be needed, and so on.

The hat so far described is folded by twisting it to cause the frame 20 to assume the form of a figure eight, as shown in FIG. 6, and by folding about the intersection of wire frame 20 as shown in FIG. 7, so that the opposite portions of the hat will overlie each other, in which position, the diameter of the hat will be about one-half of its diameter when the hat is in use. To allow the hat to be folded as described, the crown must be flexible and cannot have any wire such as wire 20 which shapes the brim. A shapeless crown will limit the use of the hat to rain wear and to sport and beach wear. In order to increase the utility of this hat, I have invented a device for shaping the crown of the hat only when the hat is in use, and for storing the heat neatly and compactly when the hat is not in use. The device referred to is in the nature of an envelope formed of two

walls

22 and 24 which may be made of natural or synthetic elastic or non-elastic material, and

' the peripheries of which are secured together from about point A to point B, and are left unsecured between said points to provide a mouth M. The peripheries of

sidewalls

22 and 24 are constructed to form a pocket which receives and confines a spring wire 28 which extends between points A and B. Spring 28 has enough tension to stretch the envelope out flatly. The size of the envelope, when unrestrained, is such as to fit snugly at the junction of the 5 When the hat is not in use, it is folded as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and is inserted into the envelope as shown in FIG. 9 to make a package small enough to be carried in a pocket, or a handbag. When this hat is to be used, it is withdrawn from the envelope and allowed to assume its shape as shown in FIG. 1, The envelope is now presented to the crown by upward motion, as shown in FIG. 2 until it reaches its uppermost position in which the wire 28 nest les in the angle formed at the junction of

walls

14 and 16, with the body of the envelope abutting the underside of top wall 16 of the hat as shown in FIG. 1A. In this position of the parts, connecting strap 30 is confined between the envelope and top wall 16, also as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a knockdown hat having a limp, shapeless crown and a resilient, permanently attached rim which is yieldably foldable upon itself, and

a combined hat-receiving and crown-shaping and supporting device comprising:

receptacle means associated with said hat including a mouth, and a rigid element carried by the periphery thereof,

the shape of said receptacle corresponding to the shape of said crown and its size being such as to fit snugly within said crown when the hat is in use, and the size of said brim and said crown being such that when said brim is folded, the knockdown hat fits within said receptacle means.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 and a flexible element connecting said device to said hat.

3. In combination, a hat having a limp crown and a resilient rim foldable to a first, non-use position of a relative small size, and expandable to a second, use-position of a larger size,

a combined crown-shaping and folded-hat enclosing receptacle means associated with said hat-and includmg a rigidity-imparting element at the periphery thereof,

said receptacle means fitting snugly in the crown of the hat to shape and supportthe same when the hat is in its second use-position, and receiving the folded hat when it is not in use.

4. In combination, a limp crown formed of a sidewall and a top wall connected to the upper edge of said sidewall,

a brim permanently attached to the lower edge of said sidewall,

a first rigidity-imparting means carried by the rim of said brim,

said means being yieldably foldable upon itself to form two superimposed portions when the hat is not in use,

receptacle means associated with said hat having a mouth for the insertion therethrough of the hat when folded, and including a second rigidity-imparting means at the periphery of said receptacle means, the shape of said receptacle corresponding to the shape of the top wall of the crown and its size being such as to fit snugly within said sidewall below said top wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,007,235 7/1935 Woodside 2 2,295,826 9/1942 Brav 2 1s7 FOREIGN PATENTS 968,542 4/1950 France.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner GEORGE H; KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner