US20100154101A1

US20100154101A1 - Method for elastic sweatband and headgear using the same

Info

Publication number: US20100154101A1
Application number: US12/342,955
Authority: US
Inventors: Tai-Kuang Wang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-12-23
Filing date: 2008-12-23
Publication date: 2010-06-24

Abstract

The present invention is an elastic sweatband including a fabric surface, a peak portion and a trough portion, wherein the peak portion and the trough portion are formed in a longitudinal direction of the fabric surface. The peak portion and the trough portion are paralleled and connected to each other. The peak portion and the trough portion are across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface respectively. When a force is exerted on the elastic sweatband, a partial of vertical height of the peak portion will be converted into the extension length in the longitudinal direction, so as to provide the extension length in the longitudinal direction of the elastic sweatband.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elastic sweatband and, more particularly, to an elastic sweatband having a peak portion and a trough portion, such that an extension longitudinal length of the elastic sweatband is provided.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Caps are becoming part of human being's life. In occasions such as exercises or going-out, people often utilize a cap/headgear to shade the from sunlight, to absorb sweat or to prevent their hairs from interfering with eyesight. Generally, a cap usually has a cap visor to shade from the sunlight and a crown portion to enclose the head. The cap is generally made of fabrics with good absorption and provided with a stretchable elastic band, so that the cap may fit the wearer's head properly and comfortably. Such a cap allows the wearer to easily put on and to avoid the tense feeling of having something tied to his/her head.
Caps serve the purposes of shading from rain or sunlight, but also can be used to match clothing of various styles, thus becoming an essential part of the clothing among consumers.
Accordingly, there is a desire to improve the extensibility of the elastic bands which allows the wearer to wear the elastic band products, such as headbands or headgears comfortably, without feeling restrained or stressed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an elastic sweatband that includes at least one peak portion and trough portion to expand in a longitudinal direction.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide an elastic sweatband with increased ventilation, sweat absorption and sweat drain.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a headgear/cap of adjustable size for different wearers.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a method for forming an elastic sweatband with one or more peak portions and trough portions at any desired location of the longitudinal direction.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide an elastic sweatband with peak portions and trough portions in a variety of shapes.
The present invention provides an elastic sweatband including a fabric surface, a peak portion and a trough portion, wherein the peak portion and the trough portion are formed in a longitudinal direction of the fabric surface. The peak portion and the trough portion are parallel and connected to each other and are across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface respectively. When a force is exerted on the elastic sweatband, a partial of vertical height of the peak portion will be converted into the extension length in the longitudinal direction, so as to provide the extension length in the longitudinal direction of the elastic sweatband.
In a preferred embodiment, the cross sectional shape of the peak portion includes, but not limited to, a dome shape, a rectangular shape, a trapezoid shape, a triangular shape and an irregular form, while the cross sectional shape of the trough portion includes, but not limited to, a line segment parallel to the horizontal plane. In an exemplary embodiment, the cross sectional shapes of the trough portion and the peak portion both include a dome shape and each of the dome shapes has an arc and two edges. One of the edges of the peak portion is connected to one of the edges of the trough portion, and the arc of the peak portion is oppositing to the arc of the trough portion. In addition, the fabric surface may be formed of one or more layers of stretchable and/or non-stretchable fabrics enclosing at least one soft material by means of knitting or weaving. The soft material mentioned above may include sponge, stretchable/non-stretchable fabric, cotton, or the like. Further, if the material of the fabric surface is made from stretchable fabrics or the like, the extension length of the elastic sweatband is longer than that made from the non-stretchable fabrics.
The present invention further provides a method for an elastic sweatband including the steps of: providing a fabric surface having a longitudinal direction; hot-pressing the fabric surface to from at least one trough portion, such that the trough portion is across two ends in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface; forming at least one peak portion on the fabric surface, wherein the peak portion is parallel and connects to the trough portion and the peak portion is across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface.
The foregoing objects and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings, where a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a partial perspective view of the elastic sweatband according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, 2 d, 2 e and 2 f are cross sectional views illustrating the elastic sweatband according to different embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 3 c and 3 d are cross sectional exemplary views illustrating the elastic sweatband according to other different embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a state view when no external force is exerted on the elastic sweatband of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a state view illustrating the elastic sweatband is stretched under an external force according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a schematical view of the elastic sweatband applied to the headgear according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a schematical view of the elastic sweatband applied to the headgear according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows a schematical view of the elastic sweatband applied to the headgear according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows a schematical view of the elastic sweatband applied to the headgear according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 a is a status view when no external force is exerted on the headgear of the present invention;

FIG. 10 b shows a status view when an external force is exerted on the headgear to stretch the headgear according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 a shows a first embodiment of the elastic sweatband of the present invention;

FIG. 11 b shows a second embodiment of the elastic sweatband of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart of manufacturing the elastic sweatband according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides a method for an elastic sweatband and a headgear using the same, in which a peak portion is provided with a vertical height to achieve the extension length in the longitudinal direction of the elastic sweatband. In a preferable embodiment, the present invention is applied to various caps/headgears or headbands to accodomate a variety of head sizes. In other embodiments, however, the present invention may be also applied to clothing, dresses, adornments, accessories, or the likes. Moreover, the fabric surface may be formed of stretchable or non-stretchable fabrics or a mix of the both, wherein the material of the fabric surface includes cotton, linen, wool, silk, polyester, nylon, eye-lun, spandex, rayon and other elastic fibers, or a combination thereof. In order to illustrate the present invention, various embodiments and structures thereof are described below and accompanied with drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an elastic sweatband of the present invention. The elastic sweatband 100 includes a fabric surface 110, at least one peak portion 120 and at least one trough portion 140. The peak portion 120 and the trough portion 140 are disposed in a longitudinal direction D of the fabric surface 110. The fabric surface 110 encloses at least one soft material (not illustrated) along the longitudinal direction D and is made by means of knitting or weaving. The fabric surface 110 may be formed of one layer or multiple layers of stretchable and/or non-stretchable fabrics or a mix of the both, such as sponge, cotton or linen. In other embodiments, however, the fabric surface 110 may also include only one peak portion 120 and only one trough portion 140 in the longitudinal direction D of the elastic sweatband 100. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the peak portions 120 are preferably parallel to and respectively connected to the trough portions 140. The peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 are respectively across both ends 110 a and 110 b perpendicular to the longitudinal direction D of the fabric surface 110.
When the peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 are disposed on the fabric surface 110, the peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 are randomly or unrandomly distributed over the entire longitudinal direction D between the two ends 110 a and 110 b of the fabric surface 110. As FIG. 1 shows, the cross sectional shape of the peak portion 120 is preferably a dome shape while the trough portion 140 is a line segment parallel to the horizontal plane. The line segment of the trough portion 140 connects to two ends 110 a and 110 b of the peak portion 120 respectively. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 a, however, the peak portion 120 includes a half circle formed with an arc 122 and two ends 122 a and 122 b. The half circle are further connected two line segments 124 (that connects to two ends 122 a and 122 b) perpendicular to the horizontal plane. Thus, the peak portion 120 together with the trough portion 140 form a wave-like portion. Accordingly, the fabric surface 110 includes at least one wave-like portion to form the elastic sweatband 100.
In other embodiments, such as shown in FIGS. 2 b, 2 c, 2 d, 2 e and 2 f, the cross sectional shape of the peak portion 120 further includes rectangular shape, trapezoid shape, triangular shape and irregular form, while the cross sectional shape of the trough portion 140 includes line segment parallel to the horizontal plane, dome shape or other suitable shapes. As shown in FIG. 2 b, the cross sectional shapes of the peak portion 120 and the trough portion 140 both include a dome shape formed with an arc and two ends. One end of the arc of the peak portion 120 connects to one end of the arc of the trough portion 140, such that the arc of the dome shape of the peak portion and the arc of the trough portion face opposite directions. Please refer to FIGS. 2 c, 2 d, 2 e and 2 f, the cross sectional shape of the trough portion 140 is a line segment parallel to the level and further connects to one end of the peak portion 120 to form, for example, rectangular shape, trapezoid shape, triangular shape or irregular form, thus the combination the peak portion 120 and the trough portion 140 to form various of wave-like portions. The wave-like portions may have other cross sectional shapes under different design or other considerations.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 a, 3 b and 3 c, the peak portion 120 in each wave-like portion may include a set of two peak portions 120. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 d, however, the wave-like portion includes a set of three or more than three of the peak portions 120. As shown in FIG. 3 a, one set of two peak portions 120 includes an arc disposed between each two rectangular shape peak portions 120, and then connects to a line segment of the trough portion 140. As shown in FIGS. 3 b and 3 c, however, one set of two peak portions 120 may include a tip disposed between each two rectangular/trapezoid shape peak portions 120. In the present embodiment, the tip is preferably disposed on the bottom end of the wave-like portion and parallel to the line segment of the trough portion 140. However, in other embodiments, the tip may be disposed higher or lower than the line segment of the trough portion 140. As shown in FIG. 3 d, a triangular wave shape includes a set of three peak portions 120. The set of three peak portions 120 include two tips disposed there between and are parallel to the line segment of the trough portion 140. Please be noted, the length of the peak portion 120 is generally greater than the length of the trough portion 140 because the peak portions 120 are mostly contributed to the conversion of the extension length in the longitudinal direction of the elastic sweatband 100 than the trough portion 140.
As shown in FIG. 4, the peak portion 120 has a vertical height B, a width A and a total length L when no external force is exerted on the elastic sweatband 100. As show in FIG. 5, the vertical height B of the peak portion 120 contributes to the extension length in the longitudinal direction when a force is exerted on the elastic sweatband 100. In other words, the fabric surface 110 of a non-stretchable fabric is stretched under an external force, such that the vertical height B decreases X, and the width A is increased to A+X. In the present embodiment, after the stretch, the vertical height of the peak portion 120 becomes B−X of the peak portion 120, and the width become A+X. Obviously, partial vertical height B of the peak portions 120 is converted into the extension length in the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface 110, thus the length of the fabric surface 110 is extended to “L+λX” in the longitudinal direction (λ is the number of the peak portions 120.) However, in other embodiments, the fabric surface 110 of a stretchable fabric is stretched under the external force. Either the trough portion 140 or the peak portion 120 can contribute to the extension length, thus, the total extension length of the fabric surface 110 will greater than the total extension length “L+λX.” Accordingly, the total extension length of the elastic sweatband 100 made of stretchable fabric or the like will greater than the total extension length of the elastic sweatband 100 made of non-stretchable fabric or the like.
FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9 show several embodiments of the elastic sweatband applied to headgears/caps according to the present invention. Generally, the headgear/cap includes a visor 510, at least one crown portion 520 and the elastic sweatband 100. The elastic sweatband 100 is enclosed the fabric surface 110 by means of weaving, kitting or other proper methods. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the elastic sweatband 100 is wove on the inner edge of the crown portion 520 of the headgear 500 in a ring shape. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, however, the elastic sweatband 100 may only be wove in a segment on the rear of the inner edge 150 of the crown portion 520. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, a wave-like portion combine the peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 is preferably only disposed on the rear of the headgear 500, and the peak portions 120 preferably face the crown space of the headgear 500. As shown in FIG. 9, however, the peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 may be distributed over the entire elastic sweatband 100. In particularly, the elastic sweatband 100 is woven between the visor 510 and the crown portion 520, such that the size of the headgear 500 is adjustable to fit different wearers without feeling restrained or stressed.
FIG. 10 a shows a status view of the elastic sweatband of the present invention when no external force is exerted. As show in FIG. 10 a, the radius of the headgear 500 is D when no external force is exerted. In other words, the peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 will not change their forms. On the contrary, when a force is exerted on the headgear 500, the radius of the headgear 500 becomes D′, as shown in FIG. 10 b. The peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 of the elastic sweatband 100 will expand respectively along the longitudinal direction to enlarge the size of the crown portion 520. The radius D′ of the headgear 500 is obviously greater than the radius D. Therefore, the size of the headgear 500 will finally accomnodate the wearer's head size when the wearer wears the headgear 500. Accordingly, the elastic sweatband 100 disposed on the headgear 500 can be automatically adjusted to fit different wears by means of the peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140.
As shown in FIGS. 11 a and 11 b, the present invention further provides a method for the elastic sweatband. The elastic sweatband 100 is disposed inside the mold 200 of a manufacturing machine. The mold 200 includes an upper die 210 and a lower die 260, wherein the machine mentioned-above preferably includes hot-pressing mechanism, high frequency heating mechanism, ultrasonic weave mechanism or other proper mechanisms. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 a and 11 b, one side of the upper die 210 preferably has a plurality of protrusions 220 while the lower die 260 has a plurality of contacting pillars 280. A plurality of grooves 250 disposed between two protrusions 220 correspond to the contacting pillars 280. In other embodiments, however, the upper die 210 may has only one protrusion 220 while the lower die 260 may has one contacting pillar 280 to make a single peak portion 120 and a single trough portion 140. In the present embodiment, the contacting pillars 280 and the grooves 250 are preferably matched each other to form the trough portions 140, and the protrusions 220 are preferably shorted to leave some spaces between the contacting pillars 280 when upper die 210 and are pressed together the lower die 260. In other words, the shapes of the contacting pillars 280 and the grooves 250 together define the shape of the trough portion 140, and the shape of the protrusions 220 defines the shape of the peak portion 120. In other embodiments, however, the protrusions 220 may match the inner surface of the lower die 260 to form the shape of the peak portion 120, and the contacting pillar 280 may not perfectly match the groove 250 to form the trough portion 140. In addition, the shape of the mold 200 can be modified to form different peak portions 140 and/or trough portions 140 shown in the mentioned above embodiments.
When the mold 200 generates heat after electrified, the protrusion 220 of the upper die 210 presses one side of the sweatband 100 into the spaces between the contacting pillars 280, in the meantime, the groove 250 and the top surface of the contacting pillar 280 fit in to each other for a period of time, such that the peak portions 120 and the trough portions 140 are formed. In this embodiment, the shape of the protrusion 220 is preferably designed to form a peak portion 120 with a dome shape (the dome shape includes a half-circle with two vertical edges.). The contacting pillars 280 and the grooves 250 together form the line segment of the trough portions 140. In other embodiments, however, the shapes of the peak portion 120 and the trough portion 140 of the elastic sweatband 100 may be formed utilizing different molds 200 under different demand or other considerations.
Moreover, if the wave-like portion including one set of two or more than two peak portions 120, the shape of corresponding protrusion 220 of the upper die 210 may include three or more shapes (not illustrated) to form the set of peak portions 120. Likewise, the wave-like portion including one set of two or more trough portions 140, the combination shape of the contacting pillars 280 and the grooves 250 may include three or more shapes (not illustrated) to form the set of the trough portions 140. In the present embodiment, the peak portions 120 and the trough potions 140 are formed by the press-protruding method of the mold 200. However, in other embodiments, the peak portion 120 and the trough portion 140 may be formed by press-concaving method or other methods.
As FIG. 12 shown, the method of the elastic sweatband 100 includes the steps of: Step 710, a fabric surface 110 having a longitudinal direction is provided. In this step, the fabric surface 110 is preferably enclosed at least one soft material (not illustrated) in the longitudinal direction by meaning of knitting, weaving or the like to form the elastic sweatband 100. The soft material may include sponge, stretchable fabric, non-stretchable fabric, cotton or other proper materials. In other embodiments, however, the fabric surface 110 may be made of stretchable fabric, non-stretchable fabric, single layer or multiple layers of fabric beforehand without enclosing the soft material. Step 730 is hot-pressing the fabric surface 110 to form at least one trough portion 140, such that the trough portion 140 is across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface 110. Step 740 is forming at least one peak portion 120 on the fabric surface 110, wherein the peak portion 120 is parallel and connects to the trough portion 140 and the peak portion 120 are across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface 110. In the present embodiment, the fabric surface 110 is preferably hot pressed to form a plurality of similar shapes of peak portions 120 or trough portions 140. In other embodiments, however, the peak portion 120 and the trough portion 140 may be formed by high frequency machines, ultrasonic weave machines or other proper machines to form different shapes of the peak portions 120 or the trough portions 140 arranged on a portion of the sweatband 100 or the entire sweatband 100. In addition, the present embodiment further includes a step 720 of pre-pressing one side surface of the peak portion 120 so as to form vertical height of a peak portion 120. The vertical height is preferably concaved under the line segment of the trough portion 140. In other embodiments, the vertical height of the peak portion 120 may also protrude form the line segment of the trough portion 140.
The shape of the protrusion 220 of the upper die 210 and the contacting pillar 280 of the lower die 260 may be formed and arranged in shape to form a plurality of similar or dissimilar wave-like portion include the peak portion 120 and the trough portion 140. The design of the shape of the mold 200 is not limited to the present invention.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. An elastic sweatband, comprising:

a fabric surface having a peak portion and a trough portion in a longitudinal direction, the peak portion and the trough portion paralleling and connecting to each other, wherein the peak portion and the trough portion are respectively across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface.

2. The elastic sweatband of claim 1, wherein the cross sectional shape of the peak portion includes a dome shape while the cross sectional shape of the trough portion includes a line segment parallel to the horizontal plane.

3. The elastic sweatband of claim 1, wherein the cross sectional shape of the peak portion and the trough portion include a half circle formed with an arc and two ends, one end of the peak portion are connected to one end of the trough portion, such that the arc of the peak portion and the arc of the trough portion face opposite directions.

4. The elastic sweatband of claim 1, wherein the cross sectional shape of the peak portion includes a rectangular shape while the cross sectional shape of the trough portion includes a line segment parallel to the horizontal plane.

5. The elastic sweatband of claim 1, wherein the cross sectional shape of the peak portion includes a trapezoid shape while the cross sectional shape of the trough portion includes a line segment parallel to the horizontal plane.

6. The elastic sweatband of claim 1, wherein the cross sectional shape of the peak portion includes a triangular shape while the cross sectional shape of the trough portion includes a line segment parallel to the horizontal plane.

7. The elastic sweatband of claim 1, wherein the cross sectional shape of the peak portion includes an irregular form while the cross sectional shape of the trough portion includes a line segment parallel to the horizontal plane.

8. The elastic sweatband of claim 1, wherein the fabric surface encloses a soft material in the longitudinal direction and is made by means of kitting or weaving.

9. An elastic headgear comprising an elastic sweatband comprising a fabric surface with a peak portion and a trough portion in a longitudinal direction, the peak portion and the trough portion paralleling and connecting to each other, wherein the peak portion and the trough portion are respectively across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface.

10. A method for an elastic sweatband, comprising the steps of:

providing a fabric surface having a longitudinal direction;

hot-pressing the fabric surface forming at least one trough portion, such that the trough portion is across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface; and

forming at least one peak portion on the fabric surface, wherein the peak portion parallels and connects to the trough portion and the peak portion is across two ends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fabric surface.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising pre-pressing one side surface of the peak portion so as to form a vertical height of the peak portion.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising forming a plurality of peak portions and a plurality of trough portions, each of the peak portions and each of the trough portions parallelly connect to each other and perpendicularly across two ends of the longitudinal direction.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein hot-pressing the trough portion includes hot-pressing the trough portions into different cross sectional shapes simultaneously.

14. The method of the claim 10, wherein the fabric surface further encloses a soft material in the longitudinal direction and is made by means of kitting or weaving.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the fabric surface further includes multiple layers of fabrics and is formed by means of kitting or weaving.