NOVELTY BANDANNA

Abstract

A bandanna for use at sporting events, for example is disclosed. One or more graphics are located on a piece of material such that when the piece of material is properly formed into a bandanna and worn on the head of a wearer, the graphics are properly oriented. In one embodiment of the invention, the graphics and the location of the graphics are selected so that when the bandanna is properly worn on the head of the wearer, the bandanna emulates a football helmet of a sports team with the graphics orientated the same as on the sports team's football helmet. In addition to football events, the novelty bandanna can be adapted to virtually any sport as well as non-sporting events as well and may include various corporate logos as well as other graphics.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bandanna and in particular to a bandanna formed from a piece of material with one or more graphics located thereupon wherein the location of the graphics on the bandanna are selected so that the graphics are properly oriented when the bandanna is worn on the head of a wearer.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Bandannas are becoming increasingly popular headpieces. Examples of such bandannas are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,058,211; 6,032,292; 6,319,090 and U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2003/0011741 A1. Such bandannas normally consist of a generally square piece of fabric, for example, cotton, silk, rayon, or other fabric folded in half forming a triangle. The longest edge of the triangular piece of fabric is placed against the forehead of a wearer. The free end of the fabric is draped over the top of the head. When the two other ends of the fabric are tied over the free end of the fabric, a cap is formed on the head of the wearer, which loosely conforms to the shape of the wearers head.

Bandanna-like headwear is also known which emulates a bandanna on the head of a wearer. Examples of such bandanna-like headwear are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,776; U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2003/0070208 A1 and International Patent Application Publication No. WO 98/41120. This bandanna like headwear is generally preformed into bandanna so that a wearer can have a bandanna look without the need to tie piece of material into a bandanna. Unfortunately, such bandanna like headwear is much more expensive to manufacture than scarves used for conventional bandannas, thus driving up the cost of such bandanna like headwear.

Such bandannas are worn for various purposes, including protection of the wearers head from the sun as well as for purely fashion reasons. Bandannas have not heretofore been known to be associated with sporting events. Instead, spectators of sporting events often wear other headwear which sometimes includes the logo of the spectator's favorite sports team participating in the sporting event. For example, baseball spectators often wear baseball caps to baseball games which carry the logo of their favorite baseball team. Similarly, spectators of football games are often known to wear stocking caps which include the logo of their favorite football team. However, there are some spectators which do not like stocking caps or baseball caps and would prefer to wear a bandanna, but would still like to encourage their favorite team by wearing another type of headwear which includes their favorite team's logo. Thus, there is a need for a bandanna for use in sporting events, which, when secured to the head of the wearer, properly displays a logo or other graphic.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a piece of material with one or more graphics located thereupon configured to be formed into a bandanna for use at sporting events, for example. The one or more graphics are located on the bandanna such that when the bandanna is worn on the head of a wearer, the graphics are properly oriented. In one embodiment of the invention, the graphics and the location of the graphics are selected so that when the bandanna is properly worn on the head of the wearer, the bandanna emulates a football helmet of a sports team with the graphics orientated the same as on the sports team's football helmet. In addition to football events, the novelty bandanna can be adapted for use with virtually any sport as well as non-sporting events and may include various corporate logos. In this way, wearers have the option of wearing bandannas which incorporate the logo of their favorite sports team or various other corporate logos or other graphics.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily understood with reference to the following specification and attached drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a bandanna in accordance with the present invention shown with an exemplary logo within an exemplary graphics box in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bandanna illustrated in the FIG. 1 shown folded in half to form a triangular piece of fabric.

FIGS. 3-6 illustrate the various steps required for a user to tie the generally triangular piece of fabric into a bandanna.

FIG. 7 is a prospective view illustrating the bandanna on the head of a wearer with the graphic properly oriented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a bandanna that can be formed from a piece of material with one or more graphics located thereupon. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the graphics are located such that when the bandanna is properly worn on the head of a wearer, the graphics are properly oriented. In one embodiment of the invention, the bandanna may be configured to emulate a football helmet. In this embodiment, the graphics are located so that when the bandanna is properly tied in the head of a wearer, the graphics on the bandanna are orientated such that the bandanna resembles, for example, the football helmet of a particular sports team.

Although the present invention is described and illustrated in terms of a bandanna for emulating football helmets of various sports teams, the concept of the present invention is applicable to bandannas for use as other types of sporting events as well as non-sporting events. For example, the bandanna may be configured with logos or other graphics. The graphics may include corporate logos as well as non-corporate logos. For example, the graphics may be selected so that the bandanna when properly worn on the head of a wearer, emulates various sporting items, such as pool balls, basketballs, soccer balls, and the like. Virtually any graphic can be used on the bandanna and located such that the graphic is properly oriented when the bandanna is properly configured on the head of a wearer.

FIG. 1 illustrates a bandanna in accordance with the present invention with an exemplary graphic located in an exemplary location thereupon. As shown, the bandanna 20 is formed from a generally square piece of material defining four corners, 24, 26, 28 and 30. For illustration purposes, two diametric axes, 32 and 34, are superimposed on the fabric in FIG. 1. In particular, the axis 32 generally bisects the corners 24 and 30 while the axis 34 generally bisects the corners 28 and 26.

For the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-7, an exemplary graphics box is superimposed on the bandanna 22 as well as a pair of generally perpendicular diametric axes. It is to be understood, the diametric axes 32 and 34 as well as the graphic box or boxes 36, are not physically imprinted on the fabric 22. They are simply used herein for illustration and description purposes only.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-6, an exemplary bandanna 20 is illustrated and described and is configured to emulate a football helmet with a pair of wings, 38, 40, for example. When the material is properly configured in a bandanna and worn on the head of a wear, the graphics are located with the proper orientation as shown in FIG. 7. In the embodiment illustrated, the graphics box 36 is located generally symmetrically relative to the diametric axis 32 and disposed above the diametric axis 34. By so locating the graphics box 36 and thus the graphic in this example, the pair of wings 38,40 will be located on one side of the fold when the fabric 20 is formed into a triangle as generally illustrated in FIG. 2, and yet somewhat symmetrical with respect to the diametric axis 32.

As shown, in FIG. 2, folding the material into a triangle defines a long edge 42, generally parallel with the diametric axis 34. Turning to FIG. 3, a user initially grabs the ends 26 and 28 with opposite hands and positions the bandanna 20 such that the long edge 42 is against the wearer's forehead, as generally shown. In addition, the end 24, 30, is simply draped over the top of the wearer's head as generally shown in FIG. 5. By placing the long edge 42 of the bandanna 20 against the forehead of the wearer, the wings 38 and 40 are oriented as generally shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIGS. 4-6, the ends 26 and 28 are tied into a simple knot 44. The free end 24, 30 (FIG. 5) is slipped underneath the knot 34, as generally shown in FIG. 6, to form the bandanna shown in FIG. 7, which emulates, for example, a football helmet with the wings 38 and 40 properly oriented.

FIGS. 1-6 illustrate the principles of the present invention as applied to a conventional bandanna in which a generally square or rectangular piece of cloth is folded in half to form a generally triangular shape. The principles of the invention are also applicable to other types of headwear, such as a generally square or rectangular piece of material folded, for example, into a square or rectangular shape, which, in turn, is tied on the head of the wearer. In such an embodiment, the graphics are located on the material so as to be properly oriented when the headwear is worn by a wearer. As used herein, such headwear is also considered to be a bandanna.

The bandanna 22 may be made from virtually any material, such as a fabric, such as, cotton, rayon, nylon and even non-fabric materials, such as paper. In addition to the square piece of material, as generally shown in FIG. 1, the bandanna in accordance with the present invention may simply be formed from a generally triangular piece of fabric, thus eliminating the step of the user folding the bandanna in half. In addition to the square and rectangular shape for the fabric 22, the bandanna can be configured into other shapes other than square and triangular, such as various rounded or arcuate shapes.

Obviously, many modifications and various of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Thus, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than is specifically described above.

Claims

1. A bandanna comprising:

a generally square piece of material having one or more graphics located thereupon that can be folded into a triangle defining three corners and having two of said three corners tied together by an individual forming a bandana that is configured as a cap on the head of a wearer, the location of said one or more graphics selected so that said one or more graphics are properly oriented when said bandanna is worn on the head of a wearer.

2. The bandanna as recited in claim 1, wherein said piece of material is made from cloth.

3. The bandanna as recited in claim 2, wherein said piece of material is made from paper.

4. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

6. The bandanna as recited in claim 1, wherein said one or more graphics are sports related.

7. The bandanna as recited in claim 6, wherein said one or more graphics are graphics selected to emulate the helmet of a football helmet.

8. The bandanna as recited in claim 1, wherein said one or more graphics are non sports related.

9. The bandanna as recited in claim 1, wherein said one or more graphics are corporate logos.

10. A method for forming a bandanna comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a generally square piece of material that can be folded into a triangle defining three corners and two of said three corners tied together by an individual forming a bandana that is configured as a cap on the head of a wearer; and

(b) locating one or more graphics on said generally square piece of material such that said one or more graphics are properly oriented when said bandanna is worn on the head of a wearer.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein step (a) comprises: providing a piece of cloth.

12. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein step (a) comprises providing a piece of paper.

13. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein step (a) comprises: providing a piece of generally rectangular material.

14. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein step (a) comprises: providing a piece of generally non-rectangular material.

15. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein step (b) comprises: locating one or more sports related graphics on said piece of material.

16. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein step (b) comprises: locating one or more non-sports related graphics on said piece of material.

17. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein step (b) comprises: locating one or more corporate logos on said piece of material.

18. The bandanna as recited in claim 1, wherein said bandanna when worn on the head of a wearer emulates a football helmet.

19. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein said bandanna when worn on the head of a wearer emulates a football helmet

20. An emulated cloth football helmet comprising:

a generally square piece of material having one or more graphics located thereupon that can be folded into a triangle defining three corners and having two of said three corners tied together by an individual that emulates a football helmet on the head of a wearer, the location of said one or more graphics selected so that said one or more graphics are properly oriented when said cloth football helmet is worn on the head of a wearer.

21. The emulated cloth football helmet as set forth in claim 20, wherein said one or more graphics are configured to be visible from opposing sides of a wearer's head.