REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.

62/432,850, filed December 12, 2016, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

While participating in strenuous activity, people often wear headphones to listen to music or to block out loud noises. For example, skiers, snowboarders, skaters, climbers, and construction workers may wear headphones when engaging in these activities.

However, over-the-ear style headphones are often insecure and susceptible to shifting or being dislodged when used during a strenuous activity. A system that holds headphones in place during activity would be beneficial.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Described herein is a headwear for releasably securing an ear gear to a user's head, comprising a circumferential portion configured to extend circumferentially around a human head, and at least one fastening element coupled to the headwear; wherein the fastening element is configured to releasably secure an ear gear band extending over the top of the head transverse to the circumferential portion of the headwear to retain the ear gear band in an alignment transverse to the circumferential portion. Preferably, the headwear is configured to substantially conform to the user's head, so that it can be worn under the ear gear and the ear gear band can extend over the headwear to engage both of the user's ears.

In some embodiments, the fastening element is coupled to the circumferential portion of the headwear. The circumferential portion typically has an inner surface for contacting the user's head and an opposite outer surface, and the fastening element is preferably coupled to the outer surface. The fastening element may retain the ear gear band substantially perpendicular to the circumferential portion of the headwear. In some embodiments, the fastening element is positioned on the headwear such that when the headwear is worn by the user, the fastening element is situated above the user's ear (e.g., to engage the ear gear band). The headware may comprise one or two fastening elements, e.g., situated on one or both sides of the user's head. Alternatively or additionally, a fastening element may be positioned at the top of the headwear, e.g., to engage the ear gear band as it crosses the top of the user's head. In this position, the fastening element may be secured to parts of the headware other than the circumferential portion, such as the top of a hat or helmet.

In certain embodiments, the fastening element comprises a fastening means, such as an attaching element, to releasably secure the fastening element to the headwear. The fastening means may be, for example, a hook, button, thread, a rivet, or a hook and loop type fastener.

In some embodiments, the fastening element comprises a strap or cord for engaging the ear gear band, the strap or cord having a first end coupled (e.g., fixedly or reversibly) to the headwear and a second end having an attaching element to reversibly secure the strap or cord to the circumferential portion, thereby restricting motion of the ear gear band relative to the headwear.

In some embodiments, the attaching element reversibly couples with a retaining element that is coupled (e.g., fixedly or reversibly) to the circumferential portion of the headwear. For example, the retaining element may be a clip capable of slidably engaging the circumferential portion of the headwear. In other embodiments, the retaining element may be fixedly coupled to the circumferential portion by being sewn or riveted to the headwear. In some embodiments, the attaching element comprises metal or plastic. In some embodiments, the retaining element comprises metal or plastic.

In certain embodiments, the fastening element comprises two linked attaching elements (e.g., a first attaching element and a second attaching element), which may be reversibly coupled to the headwear across (e.g., over) the ear gear band. The attaching elements may be linked by a strap, cord, chain, or other connection, preferably a flexible and/or elastic material. In some such embodiments, the first attaching element and second attaching element are substantially identical. The attaching elements may couple with retaining elements on the circumferential portion.

In some embodiments, the headwear comprises two fastening elements (e.g., a first fastening element and a second fastening element) which may be disposed on opposite sides of the headwear, e.g., positioned such that a fastening element is located in a region above each of the user's ears when the headwear is worn. In some embodiments, the first fastening element and second fastening element are substantially identical.

The headwear may be a helmet, a headband, a visor or a hat. The ear gear may be a pair of headphones or ear muffs. The invention further provides a method of securing ear gear, the ear gear comprising an ear gear band and at least one earpiece, on a head, comprising: wearing a headwear as described above, positioning the ear gear over the headwear such that the ear gear band extends over the top of the head, and securing at least one fastening elements over the ear gear band. For example, the user may secure the fastening element by pulling a strap linked to an attaching element over the ear gear band and engaging the attaching element with a retaining element located on the headwear, thereby securing the ear gear to the head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically shows a headwear for releasably securing an ear gear, according to an illustrative implementation.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a headwear for releasably securing an ear gear, according to another illustrative implementation.

FIG. 3 schematically shows an attaching element and a retaining element, according to an illustrative implementation.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a further operational view of the headwear of FIG. 2, illustrating the release of the ear gear.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a headwear for releasably securing an ear gear, according to yet another illustrative implementation.

FIG. 6 schematically shows a fastening element, according to an illustrative implementation.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a retaining element, according to an illustrative implementation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous details are set forth for the purpose of explanation. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the implementations described herein may be practiced without the use of these specific details and that the implementations described herein may be modified, supplemented, or otherwise altered without altering the scope of the headwear described herein.

FIGS. 1-7 schematically show various aspects of headwear for releasably securing an ear gear to a user's head. When worn by the user, the headwear will help to stabilize the ear gear and restrict its motion relative to a user's head. Generally, the user will wear the headwear in its normal orientation; the headwear will retain the ear gear in substantially this position, e.g., by engaging the ear gear band above the ear of the user. The headwear described herein reduces movement of the ear gear when worn by the user during a physical activity including, but not limited to, running, jogging, biking, working out, skiing, snowboarding, military exercises, and manual labor.

FIG. 1 schematically shows one embodiment of a headwear for securing an ear gear to a user's head. The headwear shown in FIG. 1 includes headwear 1, here depicted as a pair of ski goggles, positioned circumferentially around a human head and fastening element 3 coupled to the headwear. The circumferential element of the headwear 1 is configured to engage the user's head in order to retain the headwear 1 on the user's head. Ear gear band 2 extends over the top of the head 4 and across the outer surface of the headwear 1, transverse to the circumferential portion of the headwear 1. The fastening element 3 secures ear gear band 2 in an alignment transverse to the circumferential portion by extending over ear gear band 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the fastening element 3 may be coupled to the circumferential portion of the headwear 1 (e.g., the outer surface of the headwear 1) on either side of the ear gear band 2, and may frictionally engage the ear gear band to dampen its motion. Furthermore, the points at which the fastening element 3 is coupled to the headwear 1 physically block the ear gear band 2 from shifting beyond these points. Thus, when secured to the headwear 1 by the fastening element 3, the ear gear band

2 is held substantially perpendicular to the circumferential portion of the headwear 1.

For illustrative purposes, FIG. 1 depicts headwear 1 as a pair of goggles.

Alternatively, the headwear may be a head band, a helmet, a visor or a hat (e.g., baseball cap, ski hat, hard hat, trucker hat, bucket hat), preferably without a brim on the sides of the head (so as to be substantially contoured with the head above the wearer's ears).

The ear gear used herein may be any suitable ear gear, such as headphones, headset, or ear muffs (e.g., safety ear muffs), having one or two earpieces coupled to an ear gear band. For example, one type of ear gear is a typical pair of headphones that comprises two (one left and one right) ear cups in which the sound-generating speaker elements are located. The ear cups are coupled to an ear gear band that normally rests on the top of a user's head, allowing the ear cups to be positioned about the user's ears. In another example, a type of ear gear may be safety ear muffs used to suppress noise such as those worn by a construction worker or airport worker (e.g., a baggage handler). In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, headwear 1 is depicted as a headband. As shown, fastening element 3 comprises a strap 5 having a first end 6 fixedly coupled to the headwear 1 and a second end 7 having an attaching element 9. Headwear 1 includes retaining element 8 that when joined with attaching element 9 secures the ear gear band 2 by engaging the strap 5 with the ear gear band 2. First end 6 may be coupled to the headwear 1 by, for example, being sewn into the headwear 1. In certain other

embodiments, the first end 6 may be fixedly coupled to the headwear 1 by any suitable fastening means including, but not limited to, ultrasonic welding, a rivet, and an adhesive.

Attaching element 9 and retaining element 8 may join together via any suitable fastening means. Suitable fastening means include but are not limited to a hook, ring, snap hook, buckle, clip, latches, button, or hook and loop fasteners (e.g., Velcro). For example, the attaching element may include a hook pad of hook and loop type fastener coupled to the outer surface of the headwear and the retaining element includes the complementary mating loop pad of hook and loop type fastener. When the mating loop pad is pressed together with the hook pad, the strap may frictionally engage the ear gear band to secure the ear gear in a desired position on the user's head when the headwear is worn by the user. The hook pad may be coupled to the headwear by any suitable means, including but not limited to, ultrasonic welding, use of an adhesive, and being sewn to the headwear. It will be appreciated that the hook and loop pads of the hook and loop type fastener may be interchanged such that the attaching element comprises a loop pad and the retaining element comprises a mating hook pad.

Similarly, where the retaining element is a button or hook, the attaching element may be a button hole, eyelet, or grommet on the fastening element through which the button or hook can pass to releasably secure the fastening element to the headwear.

For example, attaching element 9 and retaining element 8 may hook together to couple the fastening element to the headwear. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 attaching element 9 is a hook that interacts with retaining element 8. In some embodiments, retaining element 8 may be coupled to the headwear (e.g., the circumferential portion ) by any suitable means including, but not limited to, sewn, ultrasonic welding, a rivet, and an adhesive. For example, a thread may pass through hole 40 to sew retaining element 8 to a headgear. In some embodiments, the attaching element and retaining element may comprise metal or plastic. As shown in FIG. 4, when retaining element 8 is separated from attaching element 9, strap 5 no longer engages ear gear band 2 allowing release of ear gear 10.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, headwear 1 is depicted as a hat. As shown, fastening element 3 comprises two linked attaching elements. Specifically, fastening element 3 comprises a strap 5, a first end 20 having a first attaching element comprising first hook 21 and a second end 22 having a second attaching element comprising second hook 23. First retaining clip 25 is coupled to the headwear and includes notch 26 capable of receiving first hook 21 to join first end 20 to the headwear 1. In a similar fashion, second retaining clip 27 is coupled to the headwear and includes notch 28 capable of receiving second hook 23 to join second end 22 to headwear 1. The joining of the first end 20 and second end 22 to the headwear allows the engagement of strap 5 with ear gear band 2 to restrict its motion relative to the user's head when the headwear and ear gear are worn by the user. Additionally, in some alternate embodiments, first retaining clip 25 may be linked to second retaining clip 27.

FIG. 6 depicts an expanded view of the fastening element shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 6, retaining clip 27 is a contiguous U-shaped plate which forms space 30. Second retaining clip 27 includes notch 28 capable of receiving second hook 23 to join second end 22 to the headwear when second retaining clip 27 is coupled to the headwear. However, it will be appreciated that second retaining clip 27 may have other suitable configurations, for example retaining clip 27 may be spring-based and may comprise a single or multiple pieces hinged together. To couple retaining clip 27 to a headwear, the circumferential portion of the headwear is positioned in space 30, optionally into a slot or other receiving element in the circumferential portion that would retain the clip in a fixed position along the circumferential portion (e.g., so as to limit sliding of the clip along the circumferential portion).

FIG. 7 depicts another embodiment of a retaining element disclosed herein. Similar to retaining clip 27, as shown in FIG. 6, retaining clip 31 is a contiguous U-shaped plate which forms space 32 to assist in coupling retaining clip 31 to a headwear. For example, the circumferential portion of a hat or a visor, or the band of goggles may be located within space 32 when retaining clip 31 is slid onto the circumferential portion of a headwear. Retaining clip 31 also includes button 33 that may engage a complimentary attaching element. For example, an attaching element may comprise a complimentary button hole or loop to join an attaching element to retaining clip 31. In some embodiments, the headwear comprises a first fastening element and a second fastening element. The first and second fastening elements can be substantially identical. In some embodiments, the first fastening element and second fastening element are positioned on the headwear such that when the headwear is worn by a user, the two fastening elements are disposed on opposite sides of the user's head. In some

embodiments, the first and second fastening elements are positioned on the headwear such that when the headwear is worn by the user, the fastening element engages the ear gear band above a user's ear.

In certain other embodiments, the fastening element comprises a first attaching element and a second attaching element coupled to two ends of a flexible strap or cord. In such embodiments, the fastening element may be partially enclosed by a passage, such as a tube or pocket, in the circumferential portion of the headwear, the ends of the fastening element extending through two holes (e.g., a first hole and second hole) situated in the outer surface of the circumferential portion on opposites sides of the headwear. For example, the continuous tube may be formed from folding over the circumferential portion and sewing a seam along the circumferential portion. The tube may begin on one side of headwear and continue along the circumferential portion to end on the other side of the headwear.

Additionally, the tube may be continuous such that the fastening element can be inserted into the first hole and slidably pass through the tube through to the second hole on the opposite outer side of the headwear. The first and second holes may be positioned such that the fastening element exits at a hole in a region above each of the user's ears when the headwear is worn. Two retaining elements (e.g., a first retaining element and a second retaining element) are also disposed on opposite sides of the circumferential portion such that the first attaching element may engage the first retaining element to allow the strap or cord to retain the ear gear band. Similarly, the second attaching element may engage the second retaining element to allow the strap or cord to simultaneously retain the ear gear band on both sides of the user's head. For example, if the passage extends through a rear section of the circumferential portion, the first and second holes may be positioned rearward of the user's ears, and the first and second retaining elements may be positioned frontward of the user's ears, so that the first and second attaching elements can be pulled frontward over an ear gear band to engage the retaining elements, thereby securing the ear gear band, optionally while tightening the circumferential portion around the user's head. In certain such embodiments, the first and second attaching elements are larger than the first and second holes, to block passage of the attaching elements through the holes and into the passage.

Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein with reference to the drawings. Of course, variations, changes, modifications and substitution of equivalents of those preferred embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations, changes, modifications and substitution of equivalents as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than specifically described herein. Those of skill in the art will readily recognize a variety of non-critical parameters that could be changed, altered or modified to yield essentially similar results. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

While each of the elements of the present invention is described herein as containing multiple embodiments, it should be understood that, unless indicated otherwise, each of the embodiments of a given element of the present invention is capable of being used with each of the embodiments of the other elements of the present invention and each such use is intended to form a distinct embodiment of the present invention.

Incorporation by Reference

All publications and patents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if each individual publication or patent was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. In case of conflict, the present application, including any definitions herein, will control.

Equivalents

While specific embodiments of the subject invention have been discussed, the above specification is illustrative and not restrictive. Many variations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of this specification and the claims below. The full scope of the invention should be determined by reference to the claims, along with their full scope of equivalents, and the specification, along with such variations.