SHAPE-ADJUSTABLE HEADGEAR VISOR AND HEADGEARS THEREOF

Abstract

Shape-adjustable brims or visors for headgears made from a shape-memory plastic composite material and headgears, such as hats and caps, comprising such shape-adjustable brims or visors are disclosed. The present disclosure also provides methods for manufacturing the shape-adjustable brim or visor and headgears thereof.

Claims

1. A shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear, comprising an elastic flat plate that can be manually adjusted into a curved shape and readjusted back to the original flat shape, wherein the elastic flat plate is made from a shape-memory plastic composite material.

2. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 1, wherein the shape-memory plastic composite material comprises a low-density high-pressure polyethylene and a high-density low-pressure polyethylene.

3. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 2, wherein the shape-memory plastic composite material further comprises at least three or more components independently selected from Nano powder, active calcium, plastic lubricant, polyethylene (PE) compound modifier, pigment, titanium dioxide, antioxidant, AC foaming powder, zinc stearate, stearic acid, and diffusion powder.

4. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 1, wherein the headgear is a hat or a cap.

5. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 3, wherein the headgear is a hat or a cap.

6. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 4, wherein the hat or cap comprises a crown with a size and shape substantially matches a person's head for comfortable wearing, wherein the brim or visor is deposited along bottom edge of the crown extending outward from the crown.

7. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 1, wherein the brim or visor plate is covered by an outer cover.

8. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 5, wherein the brim or visor plate is covered by an outer cover.

9. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 7, wherein the outer cover comprises an upper cover on the upper side of the brim or visor and a lower cover on the lower side of the brim or visor.

10. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 9, wherein the upper cover and the lower cover are sewed together with the brim or visor plate to become one integral brim or visor.

11. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 9, wherein there is a liner inserted between the upper cover and brim or visor plate and/or between the lower cover and the brim or visor plate.

12. The shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear according to claim 11, wherein the upper cover, the lower cover, and the liner, if any, are of the same or substantially same size as that of the brim or visor plate.

13. A headgear comprising a brim or visor according to claim 1 and a crown portion for covering head of a wearer, wherein the brim or visor is sewed onto the crown alongside bottom edge of the crown and projects outward from the crown portion.

14. The headgear of claim 13, which is a cap comprising the visor and the crown, wherein the visor comprises a substantially flat shape-memory plate so that the visor can be manually bent by a wearer to form a curved shape as desired and subsequently changed back to the original flat shape as desired.

15. The headgear of claim 14, wherein the shape-memory plastic composite material comprises a low-density high-pressure polyethylene and a high-density low-pressure polyethylene.

16. A method of preparing a shape-memory plastic composite brim or visor plate, comprising: (a) high-speed mixing HDPE, LLDPE and nano-modified material; (b) adding proportional excipients, heating the mixture to about 80 C. while stirring; (c) drying the resultant material and allowing it to stand at about 50 C. to obtain a mixture for release; (d) transferring the mixture to an extruder hopper, screw heating to about 185 C., following by low speed extrusion; (e) shaping the extruded material of step (d) into a plate; (f) cooling the plate in a U-tank with natural air for about 25 minutes to obtain a U-plate; (g) after the U-plate is cooled, ejecting and framing the material, and allowing it to stand for more than 48 hours; and (h) punching the cooled U-plate to obtain a flat shape-memory brim or visor plate.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step shaping (e) further comprises: (i) die head initial shaping, accurate to about 0.1 mm thickness; (ii) natural air cooling and shaping for about five 5 minutes; (iii) heating to about 195 C., then plasticizing the material for the second time; (iv) punching and cutting to standard width, accurate to about 0.5 cm; and (v) shaping into a U-channel bending plate at about 100 C.

18. A method of preparing a headgear comprising a shape-memory visor, the method comprising: (a) providing a shape-memory brim or visor plate manufactured according to the method of claim 16 and covering the brim or visor plate with a desired cover cloth to prepare a brim or visor, optionally inserting a liner between the cover cloth layer and the shape-memory brim or visor plate; (b) providing a crown with a size matching that of the brim or visor plate, and sewing the brim or visor onto the crown alongside bottom edge of the crown to obtain the brim the headgear.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the headgear is a hat comprising a shape-memory brim.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the headgear is a cap comprising a shape-memory visor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The following nonlimiting drawings illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure:

[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a cap with a shape-adjustable visor that remains to be in a curved shape on a flat surface after manual adjustment.

[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the cap with a shape-adjustable visor in which the visor remains to be in the flat shape after manual adjustment from the curved shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0021] The present disclosure provides an inventive shape-memory plastic composite material to achieve the object of shape-adjustable visors or brims for headgears. The plastic composite material has a shape-memory property so that the visor or brim of the headgear manufactured originally in a flat shape can be manually adjusted to a curved shape, and the extent of curve can be adjusted manually as the wearer chooses before wearing. After use, the wearer can readily adjust the visor or brim back to the original flat shape.

[0022] Thus, in one aspect, the present disclosure provides a shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear, comprising an elastic flat plate that can be manually adjusted into a desired curved shape and readjusted back to the original flat shape, wherein the elastic flat plate is made from a shape-memory plastic composite material.

[0023] In one embodiment, the shape-adjustable brim or visor of a headgear is made from a shape-memory plastic composite material comprising a low-density high-pressure polyethylene and a high-density low-pressure polyethylene.

[0024] In one embodiment, the shape-memory plastic composite material further comprises one or more components independently selected from Nano powder, active calcium, plastic lubricant, polyethylene (PE) compound modifier, pigment, titanium dioxide, antioxidant, AC foaming powder, zinc stearate, stearic acid, and diffusion powder.

[0025] In one embodiment, the headgear is a hat or cap.

[0026] In one embodiment, the hat or cap comprises a crown with a size and shape substantially matches a person's head for comfortable wearing, wherein the brim or visor is deposited along bottom edge of the crown extending outward from the crown.

[0027] In one embodiment, the brim or visor plate is covered by an outer cover.

[0028] In one embodiment, the outer cover comprises an upper cover on the upper side of the brim or visor and a lower cover on the lower side of the brim or visor.

[0029] In one embodiment, the upper cover and the lower cover are sewed together with the brim or visor plate to become one integral brim or visor.

[0030] In one embodiment, there is a liner inserted between the upper cover and brim or visor plate and/or between the lower cover and the brim or visor plate.

[0031] In one embodiment, the upper cover, the lower cover, and the liner, if any, are of the same or substantially same size as that of the brim or visor plate.

[0032] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a headgear comprising a brim or visor according to any embodiment disclosed and a crown portion covering head of a wearer, wherein the brim or visor is sewed onto the crown alongside bottom edge of the crown and projects outward from the crown portion to block sunlight or protect from weather conditions.

[0033] In one embodiment, in the cap comprising the visor and the crown, the visor comprises a substantially flat shape-memory plate so that the visor can be manually bent by a wearer to form a curved shape as desired and subsequently reverted back to the original flat shape as desired.

[0034] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of preparing a shape-memory plastic composite brim or visor plate, comprising: [0035] (a) high-speed (e.g., about 1200 RPM) mixing HDPE, LLDPE and nano-modified material; [0036] (b) adding proportional excipients, heating the mixture to about 80 C., then stirring (e.g., about 720 RPM) for 2 hours; [0037] (c) drying the resultant material completely and allowing it to stand at about 50 C. for release; [0038] (d) transferring to an automatic loading machine equipped with strong magnetic and filtering (for example, to remove debris, such as iron chippings); [0039] (e) transferring to extruder hopper, screw heating to about 185 C., following by low speed (e.g., 600 RPM) extrusion; [0040] (f) die head initial shaping, accurate to about 0.1 mm thickness (the tolerance (left, middle, right) should also be controlled); [0041] (g) natural air cooling and shaping for about five 5 minutes; [0042] (h) heating oven to about 195 C., then plasticizing the material for the second time; [0043] (i) punching and cutting to standard width as needed, for example, about 22 cm, accurate to 0.5 cm; [0044] (j) shaping into a U-channel bending plate at about 100 C.; [0045] (k) cooling under strong air in U-tank with natural air for about 25 minutes to obtain a U-plate; [0046] (l) after the U-plate is cooled, ejecting and framing the material, and allowing it to stand for more than 48 hours; and [0047] (m) punching the cooled U-plate using an automatic punching machine to obtain the flat shape-memory brim or visor plate.

[0048] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides method of preparing a headgear comprising a shape-memory brim or visor, the method comprising: [0049] (a) providing a shape-memory brim or visor plate manufactured according to the method disclosed herein and covering the brim or visor plate with a desired cover cloth to prepare a brim or visor, optionally inserting a liner between the cover cloth layer and the shape-memory brim or visor plate; [0050] (b) providing a crown with size matching that of the brim or visor, and sewing the brim or visor onto the crown alongside bottom edge of the crown to obtain the brim the headgear.

[0051] In one embodiment, the headgear is a hat comprising a shape-memory brim.

[0052] In one embodiment, the headgear is a cap comprising a shape-memory visor.

[0053] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a plastic composite material that is elastic and possess a shape-memory property.

[0054] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for producing the plastic composite material that is elastic and possess a shape-memory property.

[0055] The plastic composite material can be produced as a flat plate in a thickness suitable for making a visor or brim of headgear as desired. The flat plate is cut into the shape of a visor or brim according to the design and size of headgear. The visor or brim can be made according to the any conventional method known in the art by incorporating the cut-out plate as an integral member to enable the visor or brim to possess the shape-memory property after it is deposited along the bottom edge of the crown of headgear.

[0056] As illustrated in the priority provisional application through the snapshots obtained from a video clip demonstrating a cap having the inventive visor, in operation, the shape of the visor can be adjusted by hands from the flat shape to a curved shape (see, e.g., FIG. 1) and then back to the original flat shape (see, e.g., FIG. 2) by a wearer at ease. A cap wearer can adjust the shape and curvature of the visor as desired depending on occasions, and the shapes can stay as long as the wearer wishes owing to the memory of the material which the visor is made of.

[0057] When the cap visor is in a curved position, it forms a concave arc from the left-side edge to the right-side edge of the visor (assuming a wearer wears it in the normal way, pointing the visor towards the front of the wearer). While not intending to be limited, the concave arc can typically have an arc angle in the range from about 1 (slightly curved) to about 180 (nearly half a circle, highly curved), sometimes preferably in the range of about 3 to about 120, sometimes preferably in the range of about 5 to about 90, sometimes preferably in the range of about 5 to about 75, sometimes preferably in the range of about 10 to about 50, sometimes preferably in the range of about 5 to about 15, and sometimes preferably in the range of about 15 to about 25, and sometimes preferably in the range of about 25 to about 50. For example, in some embodiments, the arc angle is in the range of 1 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15, 15 to 20, 20 to 25, 25 to 30, 30 to 35, 35 to 40, 45 to 50, 50 to 55, 55 to 60, 60 to 65, 65 to 70, 70 to 75, 75 to 80, 80 to 85, or the like.

[0058] Specifically, distinguished from regular cap visors that are usually made of low-density high-pressure polyethylene, the inventive visor or brim of the present disclosure is made of a special ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) with specific mixing ratios that make the visor or brim to possess the shape-memory property.

[0059] The present disclosure encompasses any feasible combinations of any embodiments disclosed herein, as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.

[0060] As used herein, the singular forms a, an, and the include plural reference, and vice versa, any plural forms include singular reference, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0061] The term about or approximately, unless otherwise defined, generally includes up to plus or minus 10% of the indicated number. For example, about 10% may indicate a range of 9% to 11%, and about 20 may mean from 18 to 22. Sometimes preferably, about includes up to plus or minus 5% of the indicated value. Alternatively, about includes up to plus or minus 5% of the indicated value. When about is used before a range, it is applicable to both the lower end and the upper end of a range.

[0062] The term substantially as herein used means for the most part or essentially, as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, and if measurable quantitatively, refers to at least 90%, preferably at least 95%, more preferably at least 98%.

[0063] The terms comprising, having, including, and containing, or the like, are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning including, but not limited to) unless otherwise noted.

[0064] The following non-limiting examples further illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure.

Example

Preparation of the Shape-Memory Plastic Composite Material

[0065] The shape-memory plastic composite material was prepared using a process described in the following illustrative process: Adding material (high density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), and nano-modified material)->High-speed mixing for 30 minutes->Add proportional excipients->Heating to 80, then regular stirring for 2 hours->dried the material completely and allowed to stand at 50 for release->Automatic loading machine with strong magnetic+filter->Transfer to extruder hopper->Screw heated to 185, then low speed extrusion->Die head initial shaping, accurate to 0.1 mm thickness->Natural air cooling and shaping 5 minutes->Heating the oven to 195, then plasticized for the second time->Standard width for punching and cutting, accurate to 0.5 cm->when the temp reached 100, shaped into the U-channel bending plate->Strong air in U-tank+natural air cooling for 25 minutes->After the U-plate is cooled, ejected and framed the material, stand for more than 48 hours->Fully automatic punching machine punching standard cap visor->QC+packaging.

[0066] To prepare 120 Kg of the composite material, the following raw materials were used: 75 kg of high density low pressure polyethylene, 25 kg of low density high pressure polyethylene, 11.6 kg of (nano powder+active calcium), 4 kg of plastic lubricant, 5 kg of polyethylene (PE) composite modifier, 0.6 kg of (Pigment+Titanium dioxide), 0.2 kg of antioxidant, 0.45 kg of AC foaming powder, 0.45 kg of zinc stearate, 0.3 kg of stearic acid, and 0.05 kg of diffusion powder.

[0067] The U-plate obtained from the process described above can be made into different shapes as desired for use in a visor of cap or a brim of hat using any method known to those of skill in the art, for example, as described in any of the aforementioned patent references. Although the present disclosure has described a cap as an example, the disclosure is not limited to caps, but may include, without limitation, hats, sun-visors, or other kinds of headgears having a visor or brim portion.

[0068] The foregoing embodiments and examples are provided for illustrative purpose only, and they are not intended to be limiting on the exact construction and operation shown and described. Numerous modifications and variations may be readily envisioned by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, which are encompassed by the present disclosure. All patent references cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes.