CAP SHAPING AND SECURING DEVICE

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. nonprovisional application Ser. No. 18/536,575, filed Dec. 12, 2023, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional application No. 63/539,001, filed Sep. 18, 2023. The contents of application Ser. No. 18/536,575 and 63/539,001 are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to graduation caps and, more particularly, to a cap shaping and securing device.

Graduation caps or academic caps generally comprise a skull cap with a square board fixed on top. The skull cap may be rigid or flexible. In either case, a graduation cap can interfere with hairstyles. Currently available devices that retain the shape of the graduation cap and attach the cap to headbands are complex to assemble. They use several components to attach the graduation cap to the “shaper” or they do not secure the graduation cap to the “shaper”. When multiple components are used to attach and secure the graduation cap to the shaper, they are expensive to produce and time consuming to detach for the ceremonial toss of the graduation cap. When the graduation cap isn't secured to the shaper with another component, the excess fabric of the graduation cap is loose around the shaper and prevents a clean look.

As can be seen, there is a need for a device that retains the shape of a graduation cap, secures the cap on the wearer's head without mussing the hair, and secures excess fabric.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a cap shaping and securing device comprises a shaper bowl having a concave inner surface, a convex outer surface and a double-sided self-adhesive material operative to detachably adhere to a portion of the cap, wherein the shaper bowl is configured to retain a shape of a cap and to mount on a wearer's head; and a headband fastened to the shaper bowl by an attachment means.

In another aspect of the present invention, a cap assembly comprises the cap shaping and securing device and a cap mounted on the cap shaping and securing device.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a securing device for caps, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view thereof, taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, one embodiment of the present invention is a graduation cap shaper reattachably adhered to a graduation cap with a self-adhesive strip. The shaper can be quickly and easily detached and quickly reattached to the graduation cap multiple times.

The cap shaper is fast to assemble and detach. It is cheaper to produce than currently available cap shapers as it has less components. The shaper disclosed herein can be used to secure other hats, such as military hats, fast food worker hats, decorative women's hats, etc.

The shaper bowl retains the shape of the graduation cap in a manner that allows it to sit on the head of the wearer without interfering with the wearer's hairstyle and negates the need of relying on an elastic band common with graduation caps, which is generally too loose or too tight. A re-adherable adhesive surface on the shaper bowl (inside, outside, or both) secures the graduation cap to the shaper bowl and also allows it to be quickly detached. For example, a double-sided self-adhesive material, such as nano tape or carbon nano tube tape, double-sided adhesive tape; poster tape; hook and loop closures; poster putty; and any combination thereof, etc. may be attached to the inside, outside, or both sides of the bowl. The adhesive material secures excess cap fabric around the shaper bowl.

A headband attached to the shaper bowl allows the wearer to secure the cap to the wearer's head. The means of attaching the headband to the shaper bowl may be selected from the group consisting of: a clip, Velcro® hook and loop fastener, self-adhesive tape, holes through which the headband hooks, and any combination thereof.

The shaper device may be used as follows. The headband is attached to the shaper bowl. The shaper bowl is placed inside the graduation cap. The excess fabric of the graduation cap is placed inside the shaper bowl and adhered to the re-adherable adhesive strip on the shaper bowl. The graduation cap, containing the shaper bowl and headband, is placed on the wearer's head. When it is time to toss the hat, the shaper bowl is quickly detached from the graduation cap.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, FIG. 1 shows a graduation cap 12 with a securing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprising an arcuate headband 18B.

As seen in FIG. 2, the securing device further comprises a shaper bowl 14 having a concave surface and a convex surface, with an adhesive strip 16A around the rim of the concave surface. The headband is fastened to a headband clip 18A which is adhered to the shaper bowl 14 by way of adhesive 16B.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the securing device 10 in a use position within the graduation cap 12, with fabric from the cap 12 folded into the mouth of the shaper bowl 14 such that it adheres to the adhesive strip 16A.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.