Disposable caps

Claim 1

An improved disposable cap comprising a headband consisting of a flattened open-ended tube of paper or like sheet material formed by folding inwardly a strip of said paper or the like along two intermediate longitudinal creases so that one marginal longitudinal panel so formed overlaps the opposite marginal longitudinal panel and so as to form an outer panel and an uppermost marginal panel and a lowermost marginal panel, said overlapping marginal panels being secured by an adhesive, and said lowermost panel lying inwardly of said outer panel and said uppermost panel to form a headband, the uppermost panel being substantially wider than the lowermost panel and overlapped by said lowermost panel by a substantial amount so that a triple thickness of said panels is provided in the area of said headband, said tube being provided intermediate its length with transverse creases dividing the tube into three sections and enabling the tube to be folded into a closed annulus with one end of the flattened open-ended tube inserted within the outer end of said tube, and a crown composed of an accordion-pleated sheet of paper or like sheet material which is secured by an adhesive at the lateral edges thereof to and between two opposed overlapped uppermost outer marginal longitudinal panels of the folded headband tube, leaving a third section of said tube free and in overlapping relationship to the sections to which the crown is connected, whereby the annulus is maintained in shape solely by the force of friction between the layers of material from which the annulus is made, the second section of the headband, to which the third section is attached, being of greater length than the first section, and the pleated crown being of greater length than the second headband section and the surplus length of this crown being secured by an adhesive to the third headband section to provide crown material for expansion of the crown when the headband is expanded.