Headwear

Abstract

A novel piece of headwear such as a baseball style cap that has means to hold a person's hair in place while the headwear is being worn. The means to hold a person's hair in place include a clasp featuring a plurality of teeth that is integrated into the headwear itself. The clasp is integrated into the cap such that it flanks an opening or slit in the covering of the cap. In use, a person pulls their hair through the clasp as they place the cap on their head and engages the closure means on the clasp to hold their hair in place without compressing or pulling it.

I claim: 
     
         1 : An article of headwear, said headwear comprising:
 a slit extending away from an apex of the headwear and traversing a back of the headwear thereby creating an opening; and   teeth integrated into the back of the headwear and positioned to extend laterally into the opening created by the slit.   
     
     
         2 : The article of headwear of  claim 1  wherein the teeth are featured by a clasp that is integrated into the headwear. 
     
     
         3 : The article of headwear of  claim 2  wherein the clasp has two sides, each side featuring teeth that extend laterally away from each side of the clasp and extend into the opening created by the slit. 
     
     
         4 : The article of headwear of  claim 3  wherein each side of the clasp is arc-shaped such that a middle portion of each side of the clasp extends away from the other middle portion of the opposite side of the clasp. 
     
     
         5 : The article of headwear of  claim 4  wherein the two sides of the clasp are joined by a hinge. 
     
     
         6 : The article of headwear of  claim 5  wherein the slit is between a separate opening in the back of the covering of the headwear and the apex of the headwear. 
     
     
         7 : The article of headwear of  claim 6  wherein each side of the clasp has an end terminating in a hook. 
     
     
         8 : The article of headwear of  claim 7  wherein the teeth featured by each side of the clasp overlap when the clasp is closed. 
     
     
         9 : The article of headwear of  claim 4  wherein the teeth featured by each side of the clasp overlap when the clasp is closed. 
     
     
         10 : A clasp integrated into a back or a top of a piece of headwear, said headwear featuring a first opening used to accommodate the user's head and a second opening separate from the first opening, said clasp comprising:
 a first arm and a second arm of the clasp, each arm featuring a plurality of teeth extending away from the arm to which they are attached;   a plurality of teeth featured by each side of the clasp such that when the clasp is closed, the teeth of each side of the clasp overlap with each other; and   wherein the clasp is integrated into the piece of headgear such that it secures the second opening.   
     
     
         11 : The clasp of  claim 10  wherein the headwear features a third opening and the second opening extends from the third opening to the top of the headwear. 
     
     
         12 : The clasp of  claim 11  wherein the clasp features two opposing arms, each arm having a plurality of teeth that overlap with each other when the two arms of the clasp are closed. 
     
     
         13 : The clasp of  claim 12  wherein the two arms of the clasp feature a hinge at one end and closure means at the opposite end. 
     
     
         14 : The clasp of  claim 12  wherein the hinge is located proximate to the top of the headwear. 
     
     
         15 : The clasp of  claim 10  wherein the second opening is oval shaped. 
     
     
         16 : A baseball cap featuring a first opening to accommodate a user's head, a second opening in the back of the cap and a vertical slit, extending away from the second opening and a clasp integrated into each side of the slit. 
     
     
         17 : The baseball cap of  claim 16  wherein the clasp features a plurality of teeth that extend into the slit. 
     
     
         18 : The baseball cap of  claim 17  wherein the clasp and the slit are both oval shaped.