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.

What is claimed is: .[. 
     
       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°..]. .Iadd.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..Iaddend.