Headwear construction

Abstract

A headwear and a method of manufacturing headwear providing 95 percent or greater ventilation while at the same time providing adequate shade protection are described. The headwear comprises a crown section of cellular honeycomb, the cumulative cross-sectional open cell area accounting for at least 90 percent of the total surface area, contoured in such a manner as to provide a progressive divergence of angularity between adjacent cells of the honeycomb. The method comprises spirally winding together an elongate flat strip and an elongate corrugated strip on a headwear shaped form. The flat and corrugated strips are thus disposed in alternating arrangement defining open cells therebetween to form a cellular honeycomb contoured to the shape of the form.

Description

This fo of the present invention, there is provided an elongate corrugated strip 34 and an elongate flat strip 36. Strips 34 and 36 are spirally wound together on form 30 to form a contoured section of open cell honeycomb in the shape of the desired headwear. Thus, the width of strips 34 and 36 corresponds to the desired cell depth. The cross-sectional shape and dimensions of the cells are determined by the shape and dimensions of the corrugations of strip 34.

In greater detail, strips 34 and 36 may conveniently be provided on supply rolls (not shown), and the ends thereof disposed at the center of the top of the crown, shown generally at 40. Shaft 32 is rotated, causing strips 34 and 36 to be drawn off the supply rolls and spirally wound together on form 30. The spiral configuration thus formed is best depicted in FIG. 7. It is apparent therefrom that the spiral configuration thus formed spirals outwardly from the top center 40 of the crown, with the corrugations in strip 34 cooperating with strip 36 to define a plurality of open cells 38 therebetween.

To facilitate the starting of the winding, a small cylindrical mandrel (not shown) may be provided at the top center 40 of the crown. The mandrel may comprise an upwardly extending portion of form 30 which will thus be removed from the headwear upon subsequent removal pf the headwear from form 30. Alternatively, the mandrel may comprise a separate structure which may remain in the headwear or may subsequently be removed.

A suitable adhesive is applied to either or both of the strips 34 and 36 prior to or during winding. Preferably, the adhesive is applied only to those surfaces of the corrugations of strip 34 which will directly abut strip 36 upon winding, to minimize the waste of adhesive on surfaces where it is unnecessary.

Referring specifically to FIG. 8, it is apparent that the spiral winding procedure thus described may be regarded as forming an alternation of flat strips 36 and corrugated strips 34, forming rows of honeycomb cells 38. The cross-sectional shape of each of the cells 38 is determined by the configuration of the corrugations of strip 34, as referred to briefly hereinbefore. As best shown in FIG. 8, corrugated strip 34 may typically comprise a series of folds, at equally spaced locations, of somewhat more than 90°, the folds alternating in direction. The cells 38, formed therefrom thus possess a generally trapezoidal cross-sectional shape. Cells of square cross section may be obtained by the use of a corrugated strip having equally spaced 90° bends or folds. It is thus apparent that a particular desired cell shape may be achieved by the judicious selection of the corrugated strip.

The thus described spiral winding is continued until the entire crown section, and brim if desired, of the headwear is formed. By maintaining the strips 34 and 36 substantially perpendicular to the surface of form 30 during winding, the honeycomb will be formed with the cell axes perpendicular to the surface of the headwear, to produce the headwear described hereinbefore, having the desired shade-providing properties. Upon completion of the procedures thus described, the honeycomb headwear thus formed is removed from form 30 to complete the fabrication.

Having thus described the foregoing invention in some detail by way of illustration for the purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of this invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A headwear construction so adapted as to continually deflect solar rays, yet provide maximum ventilation, comprising a continuous crown section of open celled honeycomb material having a compound curvature, each cell thereof hving a substantially equal cross-sectional dimension, the axes of adjacent individual cells diverging relative to one another to obliquely intersect said solar rays over the majority of the total crown area at any given moment, said open celled honeycomb material comprising a continuous elongate flat strip and a continuous elongate corrugated strip spirally wound together to form the continuous curved surface of said crown.

2. The headwear according to claim 1 wherein each of said axes are substantially perpendicular to that segment of the wearer's skull to which they are respectively contiguous.

3. The headwear according to claim 2, wherein the length of the side walls of said honeycomb is at least equal to the nominal diameter of the cells to limit the angle of transmittal of said cells, so that said solar rays will be deflected at any given instant.

4. The headwear according to claim 3 wherein the angle of transmittal θ of each said cell is less than about 45° as determined by the following equation: tan (90° - θ) = d/w, wherein w is the nominal diameter of said cells and d is the thickness of said cells.

5. The headwear of claim 1 wherein said open cell honeycomb material is contoured to define an arcuately shaped crown.

6. The headwear covering of claim 5 wherein the cumulative cross-sectional area of the open cell areas of the crown is at least about

90 percent.

7. The headwear of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the honeycomb measured in the direction of the cell axes and the nominal diameter of the cells are related to one another to limit the angle of incidence through which direct overhead sunrays can be transmitted through any given cell; the cumulative cross-sectional open cell areas of the crown amounting to at least 90 percent of the total surface area of the crown; the radius of curvature of the arcuately contoured honeycomb section being sufficiently tight to establish a progressive divergence of angularity between adjacent cell axes whereby to limit direct sunray transmittal through the crown to a minor fractional area thereof at any

given instant.

8. The headwear construction of claim 7 wherein the angle of incidence through which direct overhead sunrays can be transmitted is limited to an angle not substantially exceeding 45°.

9. The headwear of claim 7 so adapted as to deflect solar rays yet provide maximum ventilation wherein each cell of the honeycomb has a predetermined angle of sunlight transmitted (θ), said angle being a function of the ratio of cell thickness (d) to cell width (w) of each cell at its widest space as follows:

d/w = tan (90° - θ)", θ<45°. 10. A headwear construction having a shaped crown comprising an arcuately contoured section of cellular honeycomb having compound curvature and disposed with the axes of its opened cells extending radially therethrough; each cell of said honeycomb having a substantially equal cross-sectional dimension; the thickness of the honeycomb measured in the direction of the cell axes and the nominal diameter of the cells being related to one another to limit the angle of incidence through which overhead sunrays can be transmitted through any given cell; the cumulative cross-sectional open cell areas of the crown amounting to at least 90 percent of the total surface area of the crown; the radius of curvature of the arcuately contoured honeycomb section in each compound direction being sufficiently tight to establish a progressive divergence of angularity between adjacent cell axes in each said direction whereby to limit direct sunray transmittal through the crown to a minor fractional area thereof at any given instant.