Combination wetness prevention cape / neck guard

Abstract

A cape/neck guard that does not cover the entire upper body and only the back and a portion of the sides of the neck of a customer about to undergo shampooing or other beauty care treatment, comprising: a) a unitary fabric comprised of structural means to provide imperviousness to liquid water and permeability to water vapor or perspiration; the fabric having a raised collar section semi-circular in shape and a planar section in front of the collar capable of being tucked inside of a customer's clothing, and a planar section in back of the collar capable of being folded outside of a customer's clothing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

I. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard used to prevent the collar, blouse and neck of a customer from getting wet during shampooing or other treatments in a beauty salon.

II. The Prior Art

It is the practice and custom, when hair is washed in a beauty salon to have the customer seated in a chair that is reclined to the rear so that the hair is washed over a sink utilizing a sprayer nozzle. However, to prevent the customer's neck and clothing from getting wet due to splashing or dripping of water during the washing and grooming process, a towel is fastened around the customer's neck and upper body to prevent the neck and clothing from getting wet. Nevertheless, during the shampooing and rinsing operations, due to the wick effect of the towel, water is transmitted from the towel onto the customer's neck and clothing. Further, because the shampooing and rinsing process is fairly lengthy, wrapping a towel about the customer is uncomfortable as it makes the customer unduly warm.

On the other hand, when some type of water proof covering is utilized, such as plastic, it does not “breathe”, and the customer typically begins to perspire or get wet underneath the clothing—thereby defeating the attempt to prevent the customer's clothing from getting wet.

Further, fully covering the customer's neck and upper body to prevent water from getting on the customer's neck and clothing has the disadvantage of over protecting the customer to the point of discomfort—again, because of the tendency of the customer to get over heated.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,100 disclose the use of a cloth comprising a single strip of terry cloth fabric that absorbs liquid and stops cut hair from running down the neck of a person during washing or cutting hair in a beauty salon.

A shampoo cape that includes a splash guard that bridges the cape shoulder portions when the cape is placed on a user and is received within a sink in which the hair of a customer is being washed is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,420.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,364 disclose a disposable towel for use in beauty shops essentially constituted of a support of synthetic material carrying an intermediate layer of defibered ground cellulose, and a non-woven material covering the intermediate layer and secured to the latter on the support by gluing, and which is provided on one side of the neck recess with one or more tabs for securement to the other side.

There is a need in the art of salon shampooing to provide a unitary non-fastening means for prevention of neck and clothing wetting that lacks the wick effect of a towel, does not fully cover the upper body and neck of a customer, and is not an impermeable plastic that causes perspiration due to overheating of the customer because the plastic or synthetic material does not “breathe”.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a unitary non-fastening means for preventing a customer's neck and clothing from getting wet during shampooing and rinsing operations in a beauty salon, while avoiding the wick effect of a towel normally used in an attempt to prevent getting wet.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a unitary, non-fastening means for preventing wetting of a customer's neck and clothing during shampooing without utilizing a plastic or synthetic covering that does not “breathe”.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a unitary, non-fastening means to prevent a customer's neck and clothing from getting wet during washing and shampooing in a beauty salon without overprotecting the customer with garments that would cause discomfort because of the tendency of the customer to get overly warm when the garment is wrapped about the neck and upper body.

These and other objects of the invention will become more fully apparent by reference to the BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS and DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard to prevent the neck, collar, upper garment and skin from getting wet during shampooing or other treatments in a beauty salon.

FIG. 2 depicts the unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard on a customer prior to reclining the customer for shampooing.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard showing the semi-circular raised collar portion thereof.

FIG. 4 is a view looking along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there can be seen a perspective view of the unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard. The ellipse-like shape cape/neck guard does not cover the entire upper body of the customer during shampooing, is impervious to water from the exterior or outside and “breathes” from the interior or inside, to prevent the customer from getting wet and over heated. Neither will the customer get wet due to any perspiration from underneath.

The ellipse-like shaped cape/neck guard 10 is characterized by a raised semicircular collar 11 positioned about ⅓ of the area of the article from the front most portion 13. The inside section of the raised portion 11 covers all of the back of the neck and about half way over the sides of the neck when the rear most portion 12 of the guard is folded over the exterior portion of a customer's blouse. The front most portion 13 of the article is tucked inside of the inner portion of a customer's blouse against the skin.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard folded in place on a customer so that the raised semicircular collar portion 11 covers the entire back of the neck but only about half of the area of the sides of the neck, while the rear most portion of the cape/neck guard 12 is folded outside of the customer's blouse and the forward most portion 13 of the cape/neck guard is folded inside of a customer's blouse 14.

Reference is now made to a top view, as shown in FIG. 3 of the unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard. The back portion or outside section of the raised collar portion 11 as well as the rear most portion 12 of the cape/neck guard form the exterior part of the article when folded over a customer's blouse. The exterior part of the collar 11 is made from a material which is water proof or water repellent, and the interior part or layer is made of a material capable of “breathing”.

The interior portion or the underside of rear most portion 12, when viewed along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 is the material that breathes.

FIG. 4 is a view looking along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3, and shows the innermost portion of the raised collar and the outermost portion of the raised collar a. The innermost layer is characterized by breathability and the outermost layer is characterized by waterproofness. Because the inner most layer breathes, the customer will not get a “clammy” feeling about the neck and since the outermost portion of the raised collar is not permeable, the customer will not get wet. Innermost layer is permeable by water vapor, whereas the outside layer is impervious to liquid water.

In general, any fabric material that is impervious to liquid or water from its exterior but is permeable to gases and moisture such as water vapor or perspiration from its interior will suffice as the material for the raised neck and exterior portion of the cape-neck guard of the invention. For example, the fabric may be a fabric elastomer composite assembly comprising at least two sections of fabric elastic composite joined together by a watertight joint, each section of the fabric elastomer composite being composed of a stretchable fabric material joined to a vulcanizable silicone elastomeric membrane layer, the elastomeric membrane layer being sufficiently thin to permit passage of water vapor therethrough while preventing flow of water in liquid form therethrough, and the watertight joint being formed at least in part by a bond between the elastomeric component of one of the sections being bonded to an elastomeric component of another section of elastomer fabric composite.

Claims

1. A cape/neck guard that does not cover the entire upper body and only the back and a portion of the sides of the neck of a customer about to undergo shampooing or other beauty care treatment, comprising:

a) a unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard fabric comprised of structural means to provide imperviousness to liquid water and permeability to water vapor or perspiration; said fabric having a raised collar section semi-circular in shapes, a planar section in front of said collar capable of being tucked inside of a customer's clothing, and a planar section in back of said collar capable of being folded outside of a customer's clothing; wherein said fabric is an elastomer composite assembly comprising at least two sections of fabric elastic composite joined together by a watertight joint, each section of the fabric elastomer composite being composed of a stretchable fabric material joined to a vulcanizable silicone elastomeric membrane layer, the elastomeric membrane layer being sufficiently thin to permit passage of water vapor therethrough while preventing flow of water in liquid form therethrough, and the watertight joint being formed at least in part by a bond between the elastomeric component of one of the sections bonded to an elastomeric component of another section of elastomer fabric composite.

2. A method of preventing a customer's clothing from getting wet during shampooing or other beauty salon treatments employing a cape/neck guard, comprising:

placing a unitary non-fastening prevention cape/neck guard fabric comprised of structural means to provide imperviousness to liquid water and permeability to water vapor or perspiration, said fabric having a raised collar section in a semi-circular shape around the back and sides of the neck of a customer, a front planar section of said fabric inside of the back of the clothing and a back planar section of said fabric outside of the back of the clothing; wherein said fabric is an elastomer composite assembly comprising at least two sections of fabric elastic composite joined together by a watertight joint, each section of the fabric elastomer composite being composed of a stretchable fabric material joined to a vulcanizable silicone elastomeric membrane layer, the elastomeric membrane layer being sufficiently thin to permit passage of water vapor therethrough while preventing flow of water in liquid form therethrough, and the watertight joint being formed at least in part by a bond between the elastomeric component of one of the sections bonded to an elastomeric component of another section of elastomer fabric composite.

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. The cape/neck guard of claim 1 in the shape of an ellipse.

6. The process of claim 2 wherein the cape/neck guard is in the shape of an ellipse.