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Cap for hearing protectionRelated Patent Categories: Apparel, Head CoveringsCap for hearing protection description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070157365, Cap for hearing protection. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE [0001] This is a continuation-in-part of PCT application PCT/SE2005/000924 filed 16 Jun. 2005 which claimed priority from Swedish patent application No. 0401537-6 filed 16 Jun. 2004. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to a cap intended for use as hearing protection by blocking environmental noise and is adapted to press against enclose the external ear of a user. The cap comprises a cap shell which is at least partly made of a substantially transparent material. Moreover the present invention relates to a method of producing a cap intended for use as hearing protection. BACKGROUND ART [0003] A common type of hearing protection comprises two caps which are connected by a headband. The headband is adapted to be placed over the head of the user and the two caps are adapted to be arranged one on each side of the user's head so as to enclose both external ears of the user. The cap in turn comprises a cap shell, which usually is made of plastic, a sealing ring, which is adapted to fit the head of the user, and some kind of sound-absorbing material arranged inside the cap. It is also common for a so-called bottom plate to be arranged which is located between the cap shell and the sealing ring and which keeps the sound-absorbing material in place inside the cap. [0004] Hearing protectors are manufactured by specialized companies and are sold to other companies, which for instance have a production plant in which it is necessary to use hearing protectors, and to individuals. Other people who frequently use hearing protectors are, for instance, the staff at airports, motor races, roadworks etc. The companies buying hearing protectors often have various requirements concerning appearance or function. In many cases they want, for instance, the hearing protectors to carry the company's own logotype or some other type of information. Whether there are specific customer requirements or not, the company producing the hearing protector frequently wants to provide it with a picture of its own logotype. [0005] To provide the hearing protectors with the desired pictures, the producers of hearing protectors use basically two alternatives which can be used either separately or in combination. [0006] In a first alternative, special injection molds are manufactured, in which cap shells with the raised logotype of the customer company involved are produced. After that, optionally different colors are applied in order to provide a correct reproduction of the logotype intended. Since the tool cost is a considerable part of the cost of producing the hearing protectors, it is necessary for the customer company to purchase a large number of hearing protectors to make this alternative economically justifiable for the provision of customer-specific information. [0007] In a second alternative, the logotype or some other specific information of the customer company is applied after injection molding of the cap shell. Such subsequent application may consist of, for instance, printing or painting the logotype on the outside of the cap. The subsequent application may also involve gluing a printed decal to the outside of the cap. A drawback of this alternative is that the print or decal applied afterwards has a tendency to be worn off in connection with use and storing of the hearing protector in the user's locker. Above all the print or decal is worn when the user puts away the hearing protector or carries it hooked to his belt. Other occasions when the print or decal is worn is, for instance, in connection with the performance of certain welding, grinding and blasting operations and in the subsequent cleaning of the hearing protector. Exposure to the sun in outdoor work may also accelerate the reduction of the quality of the print or decal. [0008] Thus, there is currently no satisfactory solution of how to provide, in a cost-effective and technically suitable manner, hearing protectors with information that is specific to the customer or the manufacturing company. [0009] U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,717 should be mentioned in the context. This publication discloses a hearing protector which is produced focusing on a very specific requirement. The publication discloses a cap provided with a window portion made of an optical material which lets through rays of light in such a manner that the human eye can see through the material to such an extent that an earplug inserted into the ear can be discovered visually. The requirement in this case is that a foreman, safety representative or like person should be able to discover whether the user of the hearing protector provided with a window also uses earplugs in the cases where this is stipulated by laws or other rules, without the user having to remove the outer hearing protector, which would mean that the user would have to interrupt his work and besides run the risk of hearing impairment. It should be noted in the context that this publication does not offer a solution to the above problem regarding how to provide, in a cost-effective and technically suitable manner, hearing protectors with information that is specific to the customer or the manufacturing company. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] It is thus an object of the invention to provide a solution to the above-mentioned problem concerning how to provide, in a cost-effective and technically suitable manner, hearing protectors with information that is specific to the customer or the hearing protector manufacturing company. [0011] According to the invention, this object is achieved by a cap of the type stated by way of introduction and given the characteristic features that the cap is arranged to support at least one object or layer on the side of the cap shell which, in use of the cap, is arranged to face the user, and that said object or layer is visible through the cap shell. [0012] In this way a cost-effective solution is achieved since the cap shells can be mass-produced without a customer-specific distinction between them and a technically suitable manner of applying the specific information is achieved since the information, for instance in the form of a printed logotype or decal, is protected by the cap shell and thus is not worn off in the manner as is a print or decal subsequently applied to the outside. By information is meant different types of information, such as text, numerals, figures, patterns, color coding or some other type of visual distinction that is visible through the cap shell and that can be used to communicate a message to the user and to other people in the surroundings of the user. It should also be noted that the different types of information can also be combined with each other; advantageously it is possible to use, for instance, some kind of raised pattern from the molding of the cap shell in combination with a partly translucent decal which contains text and picture and the colors of which are intensified by a colored varnish which is applied to the inside of the cap shell and the decal so that the color of the varnish is visible through the decal and the cap shell and respectively through the cap shell itself in areas outside the decal. The inventive cap can also be designed significantly more freely with regard to considerations of the design compared with conventional caps where any prints that are desirable in terms of design are quickly worn off. By considerations of the design are meant not only the aesthetical appearance but also, for instance, different types of color coding of different sorts of hearing protector or color coding that can be used to distinguish different groups of users, such as employees and visitors. By enabling mass-production of the cap shells without a customer-specific distinction, it will also be possible to offer more shapes or sizes of the cap for sale since within every such shape or size a larger volume is achieved compared with the case that the number of caps of a certain size must also be divided into a number of different customer-specific production series. Compared with the previously known caps as described above, there also occurs the option of arranging a luminous object, such as a diode, light bulb or the like or a chemically luminous object or the like, in the cap if, for some reason, it is important for the user to be actually seen. This could be the case, for instance, in outdoor work at night where it may be difficult to ensure satisfactory main lighting. Other occasions when it may be important to be seen involve roadworks, motor races or airports. With conventional caps, it would be necessary to make a compromise between providing the cap with an unwieldy encapsulation of the diode and other electronics on the outside of the cap and being forced to accept that the diode and the electronics are easily damaged in careless handling of the caps. Said objects or layers may also comprise reflectors or light-reflecting material in the cap. Since different types of reflectors can be arranged in the cap, it is possible to maintain large series of cap shells and nevertheless supply small series of special caps with reflectors of different colors. [0013] Preferred embodiments of the inventive cap are defined by the dependent claims. [0014] The cap shell including its see-through portion is advantageously made of a polymer material. In this manner, it is possible to use in a simple way conventional techniques to mold the cap shell to the desired shape. [0015] According to a preferred embodiment, said object or layer carries information, such as text, picture, color coding, luminous object or light-reflecting material. As mentioned above, it is possible to advantageously use the above-described invention to display different types of information, such as a company's name, logotype, classification of hearing protector or the like. [0016] Advantageously, said object or layer is supplied to the cap shell on the side of the cap shell which, in use of the cap, is arranged to face the user. This results in a reduced risk of disadvantageous light refraction phenomena occurring since the object and the cap shell will fit tightly to each other. In addition, by arranging said object or layer on the cap shell, it is possible to construct the remaining parts of the cap in a conventional manner without having to take into great consideration, if at all, how said object or layer is arranged on the cap shell. [0017] In a preferred embodiment, said object is attached to the cap shell by said object being at least partly molded into the cap shell. In this way, the object will be securely attached. Moreover, since the object and the cap shell will fit tightly to each other, there will be a reduced risk that disadvantageous light refraction phenomena occur. Thus, the molding into the cap shell helps to make the object distinctly visible through the cap shell. [0018] Moreover, the cap advantageously comprises a pad of a sound-absorbing material, which is made up of one or more elements and is arranged in the cap so as to substantially cover the user's external ear. In this way, a good sound-absorbing function of the cap is obtained. [0019] In a preferred embodiment, said object comprises at least one vibration-damping weight element of the cap, said weight element being arranged so as to at least partly block an audio mode of vibration that would have existed in the cap in the absence of said weight element. To block an audio mode of vibration means reducing or fully eliminating a resonance peak in the sound frequency spectrum. In this way, it is possible to drastically improve the damping capacity of the hearing protector for certain critical frequencies for which the cap otherwise runs the risk of having a relatively poor or even unsatisfactory damping. Moreover the transparent cap shell results in extra safety for the user since he can check that the vibration-damping weight elements are properly attached to the cap shell. [0020] According to the invention, the above object is also achieved by a method of producing a cap intended for use as hearing protection, comprising the steps of providing a cap shell at least partly made of a substantially transparent material, arranging at least one object or layer in the cap on the side of the cap shell which, in use of the cap, is arranged to face the user, said object or layer being visible through the cap shell. Continue reading about Cap for hearing protection... Full patent description for Cap for hearing protection Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Cap for hearing protection patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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