HEADWEAR FITTING SYSTEM

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM

This U.S. non-provisional application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit and priority to U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 18/904,801, filed Oct. 2, 2024. The above referenced application is incorporated herein as if restated in full.

SUMMARY

Described herein is a novel headwear fitting system, the parts of which operate to achieve a perfect fit for a wearer's head. The headwear fitting system may be coupled or incorporated into any relevant article of apparel which may be worn on at least the head of a wearer, such as baseball caps, beanies, berets, fedoras, chef's hats, nurse's caps, scrub caps, tichels, headscarves, ushankas, sheitels, snoods, or turbans, etc.

The headwear fitting system comprises a front side, which might be seen from the same angle as the front of the wearer's face, and a back side, a left side, and a right side. Accordingly, there is also a front left side, which is between the front and left side, a front right side, a right back side, and a left back side.

The headwear fitting system comprises an outer portion, which is visible when worn, and an inner liner, which is in contact with the wearer's head. The outer portion and the inner liner may be sewn together or otherwise attached along the circumferential edge. The circumferential edge is the terminal edge of the headwear that may be positioned or situated around the frontal region of a person's head, down to the occiput portion of a person's head. Thus, the headwear, except in the case of a visor, would completely cover the mid-scalp region as well as the crown. The circumferential edge may or may not cover or encompass the ears, or be positioned just above the ears, depending on the type of headwear. The conceptual line along which the circumferential edge runs from the frontal region to the occiput will be referred to as the “front-to-occiput” line.

The headwear fitting system may in a first embodiment feature a circumferential channel formed by the material comprising the circumferential edge.

This circumferential channel may span around the entirety of the circumferential edge, or may be limited to a portion thereof. In one variation, the circumferential channel spans from the left side, along the back side, to the right side. In another variation, the circumferential channel spans along the back side only. In yet another variation, the circumferential channel spans from the right back side, along the back side, to the right back side. In yet another variation, the circumferential channel spans from the front right side, along the right side, the right back side, the back side, the left back side, the left side, to the front left side.

The circumferential channel may be formed by a bias bound hem, a single fold hem, a double fold hem, a blind hem, a bias tape finish, a faced neckline, binding, or any other suitable combination thereof. The circumferential channel may be formed along the circumferential edge and between the outer portion and the inner liner. In one variation, the circumferential channel may be formed by the outer portion and the inner liner.

In this embodiment, the circumferential channel may comprise one or more passive members for controlling the tightness of the headwear vis-à-vis a wearer's front-to-occiput line. The one or more passive members may be slightly or substantially elastic, and may accordingly be understood as elastic members. The elastic members may be cords, strings, straps, bands, or any other shape or size or style of relatively thin, long, and string-like things. The elastic members may be round or, in a preferred embodiment, relatively flat, in the manner of a linguine. The elastic members may be elastic in nature in the sense that they have a resting length, but can be pulled to a longer length when a force is applied. This force may be applied actively, as when a wearer pulls the headwear over the wearer's head, causing them to stretch due to the increasing relative diameter of the front-to-occiput line than the resting length, and then it may be applied passively, as when a wearer simply wears the headwear around the wearer's front-to-occiput line, causing a low-level of stretch due to the greater relative diameter of the front-to-occiput line than the resting length. The elastic members may be sewn or otherwise attached along its disposition within the circumferential channel. The attachment of the elastic members to the circumferential channels may be merely at the ends of the elastic members, or additionally in a segmented fashion throughout, in order to distribute the stretching force throughout the elastic members when being worn. In one variation, the passive members form the circumferential channel.

The headwear fitting system may in a second embodiment feature an active channel formed by the material comprising the front-to-occiput line. This active channel may be merged with the circumferential channel to form a single channel, or it may be disposed within, adjacent to, or alongside the circumferential channel. Therefore, the active channel may also be considered a circumferential channel.

In this embodiment, the active channel may comprise or contain one or more inner members for actively controlling the tightness of the neckline vis-à-vis a wearer's neck. The inner members may be slightly or substantially elastic, and may accordingly be understood as elastic members. The elastic members may be cords, strings, straps, bands, or any other shape or size or style of relatively thin, long, and string-like things. The elastic members may be flat or, in a preferred embodiment, relatively round, in the manner of a spaghetti. The elastic members may preferably be minimally elastic in nature in the sense that they have a resting length, but despite the application of a pulling force, not substantially change in their length. The minimal elasticity here may be due to the elastic members being drawstrings, and therefore providing the minimal elasticity due to being constructed of a series of entwining cords, with the elasticity specifically being provided through the entwining cords tightening against each other, and then diminishing when the entwining cords are let to rest. The elastic members may be sewn or otherwise attached along their disposition within the active channel. The attachment may be merely at the ends of the elastic members, or additionally in a segmented fashion throughout, in order to distribute the stretching force throughout the elastic members when being worn.

In this second embodiment, the active channel may comprise an opening at the back side allowing access to the elastic members from outside the active channel, with the opening being “raw”, or maintained via a metal clamping eyelit or through a sewn enclosure. The elastic members here desirably protrude out of the opening allowing them to be grabbed and pulled by a wearer. The portion protruding through the opening may be maintained in its externalized condition by means of a fastening tab, which may be a small clamp, toggle, stop slider, or barrel cord lock. Such components typically feature a spring loaded inside a cannister, with the spring engaged between a bottom of the cannister and a plunger and configured to press the plunger at least partially outside of the cannister. However, the spring can be compressed through the application of the plunger back into the cannister, thereby causing gaps in the cannister to align with gaps in the plunger through which the elastic members slide more freely in and out. When the spring compression ceases, the alignment is annulled and the elastic members are pressed between the plunger and side walls of the cannister, thereby locking them in place. In one version, the fastening tab is simply a tight silicon widget that must be squeezed or otherwise deformed in order to expand the opening through which the elastic members may slide in and out.

“Elastic members” is used in the plural form here, even though they may comprise merely two portions or a single continuous elastic member, to refer to the portion of the elastic member that spans from the opening (disposed at the back side) to the left back side, left side, or front right side, or along the left back side, left side, front left side, to the left side, and the portion of the elastic member that spans similarly along the right. The single continuous elastic member may feature two ends attached somewhere along the active channel, or may be a true circle with no end, though with some segment nonetheless attached somewhere along the active channel, ideally at the front side. In this sense, “elastic members” will be used singularly as an “elastic member” from hereon.

In a preferred variation of this second embodiment, the fastening tab fastens a middle portion of the elastic member, specifically a loop formed by the middle portion, such that two continuous strand-portions are fixed by the fastening tab. The wearer may pull at the portion of loop between these two continuous strand-portions in order to pull the elastic member more fully out of the active channel's opening, and then press the fastening tab's plunger down so that the gaps align, move the fastening tab closer to the opening, and then release the plunger in order for the fastening tab to clamp at the new length, thereby tightening the neckline. In one variation, there are a plurality of fastening tabs.

In another variation of this second embodiment, the active channel is in fact occupied by two separate elastic members (or alternatively, the two ends of the single elastic member) which protrude out through the opening, and the fastening tab fastens these separate ends of the elastic member(s), such that each end can be separately pulled by the wearer in order to tighten the left side of the neckline more than the right, or the right side more than the left. In another version, each end of the elastic member(s) is/are coupled to its/their own dedicated fastening tab.

The active channel may be formed by a bias bound hem, a single fold hem, a double fold hem, a blind hem, a bias tape finish, a faced neckline, binding, or any other suitable combination thereof. The active channel may be formed along the circumferential edge and between the outer portion and the inner liner. The active channel may be formed by the outer portion and the inner liner. The active channel may be formed by one side of the circumferential channel and either the inner liner or outer layer. The active channel may be formed by one or two sets of passive members.

In a third embodiment, as mentioned previously, the circumferential channel and active channel, with their respective and separate elastic members, may be incorporated into a single headwear fitting system. In a preferred version of this third embodiment, the circumferential and active channels may be treated as a front channel and a back channel, or vice versa (i.e., with one disposed along the front side of the circumferential edge and the other disposed along the back side).

In another embodiment, in lieu of, or in addition to a circumferential channel, the passive members are simply sewn along the front-to-occiput line along the perimeters of the passive member, specifically the upper and lower perimeters, onto the interior (hidden) portion of the circumferential edge along the front-to-occiput line. In this embodiment, the front-to-occiput may lack a bias bound hem; instead, the front-to-occiput line, as seen from the exterior, is continuous of the material forming the main body of the article of headwear. This may be achieved through a single fold (in which the material is folded over once onto the interior side of the circumferential edge but the edge of the material is exposed) or a double fold hem (in which the material is folded over first onto the interior side of the circumferential edge, and then folded a second time so that the edge is tucked away behind between the fold and the main body of the material, thereby concealing the edge of the material. Here, the upper perimeter of the first passive member is sewn to the upper perimeter of the folded-over portion of the hem. Using the single fold technique, the upper perimeter of the folded-over portion is near the fold-line itself and on the interior of the circumferential edge. The lower perimeter of the passive member is sewn through the exposed edge and into the exterior portion of the circumferential edge so that the (lower perimeter) sew lines may be seen when the headwear is worn. Using the double fold technique, the upper perimeter of the folded-over portion is near the first fold line, and also on the interior of the circumferential edge. The lower perimeter in this case is sewn through the second fold, and further into the exterior portion of the circumferential edge so that, again, the (lower perimeter) sew lines may be seen when the headwear is worn. In one variation, in order conceal the lower perimeter sew lines, a blind hem stitch technique may be used. In another variation, the first perimeter is sewn through the edge of the folded-over portion, and the lower perimeter is sewn only through the exterior portion of the circumferential edge and not the folded-over portion. In this variation, the folded-over portion is contained, as it were, between the exterior portion of the circumferential edge and the passive member. In this variation, the very small fold may function as a rolled hem.

In one variation of this embodiment, the passive member extends around the entire (interior portion) of the circumferential edge—the front as well as the back.

In a fifth embodiment, the passive channel may be in part formed by, or used in conjunction with the relatively flat, linguine-shaped elastic member that is used as the passive member. Thus, this “third” elastic member may partially form the channel through which the elastic member passes through. Alternatively, this third elastic member is simply sewn into the active channel along the upper and lower perimeters, as described previously.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary human head.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary headwear fitting system.

FIG. 3 shows a cut-away view of a active channel of the exemplary headwear fitting system.

FIG. 4 shows a view of the passive channel of the exemplary headwear fitting system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1, a person's head 1 can be understood to comprise a frontal region 2, a mid-scalp region 4, a crown 6, an occiput 8, and a front-to-occiput 9. The front-to-occiput line surrounds the crown of the head and passes from the frontal region, along the left side of the mid-scalp region, down to the occiput, and then back up along the right side of the mid-scalp region, and returning to the frontal region, thereby forming a loop.

As shown in FIG. 2, a headwear fitting system may comprise a front side 100, a left side 200, a right side 300, a back side 400, a front left side 130, a front right side 160, a right back side 330, and a back left side 360. It may additionally comprise an outer portion 10, a inner liner 20, a circumferential edge 30, a circumferential channel 32, one or more passive members 40, one or more active members 50, a toggle 52, an opening 60, and one or more tails 70.

As shown in FIG. 3, The active members 50, pass through the circumferential channels 32 along at least the back side 400 of the circumferential edge 30 and protrude through the opening 60. The length by which the active members protrude through the opening may be controlled by the toggle 52, with the toggle designed to fasten or tighten the active members at a given point and prevent the protruding portion from being pulled back into the circumferential channels by colliding with the opening via the toggle's bulk.

As shown in FIG. 4, passive members 40 may be disposed along portions of the circumferential edge 30. They passive members may be disposed anywhere along the circumferential edge, including the back side 400, around the opening 60, and may be situated within or sewn into the circumferential edge in a layer above, below, and/or within the circumferential channels. In one variation, the passive members may form the circumferential channels through which the active members pass.