Hair Covering That Protects Both Hair and Hairstyle

Abstract

A hair covering for protecting the hair from external insults while substantially maintaining the shape of the wearer's hair is described. In some exemplary embodiments, the hair covering includes a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head, the band having a width between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm and a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm. The band is circumferentially attached to a hair covering body having a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm. In some more particular embodiments, the hair covering body has at least one single pleat, at least one double pleat, or at least one single pleat and at least one double pleat.

Description

1 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1.1 Field of the Invention

The present invention provides manufactured head coverings for the protection of a wearer's hair and the shape, or “style”, of their hair. More specifically, the present invention provides swim- and shower-caps that keep the wearer's hair substantially dry and their hairstyle substantially unaltered. The invention has applications in the fields of personal hygiene, cosmetology, sports, and exercise.

1.2 The Related Art

The poet and philosopher Goethe wrote, “Beware of her fair hair, for she excels all women in the magic of her locks; And when she winds them round a young man's neck, she will not ever set him free again.” The sentiment was echoed by the actress Joan Crawford, who confided, “I think that the most important thing a woman can have—next to talent, of course—is her hairdresser.”

Indeed, hair—for both sexes—is an important aspect of beauty, and therefore of one's self-image and confidence. Not surprisingly, then, men and women spend much time—and money—on the care and styling of their hair. Hair styling can take hours and cost hundreds of dollars for stylists and the myriad of preparations used to produce a desired color, texture, and shape of the thousands of strands of keratin that extend from the scalp of the human head. Also not surprising then, are the efforts people take to retain their styled hair as long as possible. Several representative examples are described by the following patents.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,076,972 describes (lines 11-16) a covering to protect “a carefully arranged, artistic coiffure”, which “can be badly disarranged overnight and even completely ruined” by “[t]he rubbing action of the bedding displaces and deforms the curls and strands of the coiffure, and the pressure of the head against an underlying pillow crushes and flattens the coiffure.” The patent describes (lines 26-30) a hair covering comprising “a sheet of thin, soft, pliable paper . . . adapted to form an oversized hood” having sides having of “at least two thicknesses of paper.” The hood includes an elastic band that is attached to two straps at the back. The wearer inserts their hair into the hood and ties the straps at the front of the hood to form a turban-like hair covering. Although the covering described in the '972 patent may provide some protection for the wearer's hair while sleeping, any covering made from paper will not stand the stress of exposure to water, such as from a shower stream or during swimming.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,521 describes (lines 11-15) a bathing cap that includes a waterproof inner cap to which can be attached to a decorative outer covering (e.g., using snaps). Thus, the cap provides both utility, by keeping the wearer's hair dry, and style, by providing a means to attach various decorative outer coverings. However, although the inner cap will protect the wearer's hair from water or other similar external insults, the inner cap tightly conforms to the shape of the user's head (see FIG. 1), and therefore cannot be expected to preserve the shape of styled hair. Furthermore, the mechanical action of the inner cap moving closely against the wearer's hair combined with perspiration from the wearer's scalp, can degrade the affects of any hair coloring or other treatments (e.g., hair texturing agents), and become uncomfortable.

U.S. Design Pat. No. D448,917 describes a shower cap design that includes a band attached to a billowing spherical bag-like hair covering. Although such a device may offer a wearer's hair some protection from external insults, the amorphous shape of the hair covering will likely cause the hair to shift too freely and lose its shape. Also, the shape of the covering is not suitable for swimming.

U.S. Design Pat. No. D569,831 describes a surgical team leader cap, having a hair covering attached to a narrow band. The covering also includes a flap at the back of the cap. The cap is not likely to offer good protection in a shower or while swimming.

U.S. Design Pat. No. D627,954 describes a protective hair cap having a hair covering attached to an adjustable band. The covering also includes a flap at the back of the cap. The cap is not likely to offer good protection in a shower or while swimming.

U.S. Design Pat. No. D641,140 describes a protective hair cap having a snood-shaped hair covering gathered at an elastic band. The snood-shape of the covering is not suitable for protecting many hair styles that are shaped upward from the head, rather than extending down the back of the head. The cap is not likely to offer good protection in a shower or while swimming.

U.S. Design Pat. No. D658,853 describes a protective hair cap having a box-shaped hair covering gathered using a pull string that ties at the back. The stiff, box-like shape of the covering is not suitable for protecting many hair styles that do not fit well into the box-like shape. The tied string will likely come loose during active head motions, such as shower use or while swimming; therefore the cap is not likely to offer good protection in a shower or while swimming.

U.S. Design Pat. No. D669,663 describes a protective hair cap having a snood-shaped hair covering gathered using a tied ribbon. The snood-shape of the covering is not suitable for protecting many hair styles that are shaped upward from the head, rather than extending down the back of the head. The cap is not likely to offer good protection in a shower or while swimming.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,437 describes (column 1, lines 43-45) a “hair protection bag that may provide protection to skin from chemicals used to treat human hair, such as, for example, permanent wave solution.” The Abstract of the '437 patent describes that the bag may include two openings having two different types of fasteners, and uses a cotton band to prevent leakage from the bag. The shape of the bag is very amorphous, which as described above, is not effective for protecting hair shapes during activities such as showering and swimming.

Finally, all of the foregoing patents describe hair coverings that lack the use of negative ease in securing the covering to the head.

Thus, there remains an unsatisfied need to provide hair coverings that are effective to protect hair styles during activities such as swimming and showering. The present invention meets these and other needs.

2 SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior by providing a hair covering that is effective to protect hair styles under a variety of active situations, such as showering and swimming, and relatively passive conditions, such as sleeping.

In a first embodiment, the present invention provides a hair covering for protecting the hair from external insults while substantially maintaining the shape of the hair. The hair covering comprises a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head, with a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm. The band is circumferentially attached to a hair covering body having a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm.

In more specific examples of the first embodiment, the hair covering body is made from a substantially water-proof material. In still more specific embodiments, the band also is made from a substantially water-proof material. In yet more specific embodiments the substantially water-poof material is a polyurethane-coated fabric.

In other more specific examples of the first embodiment, the hair covering body include at least one single pleat. In some more specific embodiments, the hair covering body includes at least one double pleat. In other more specific examples of the first embodiment, the band is attached to the hair covering body by a zig-zag stitch. In still other more specific examples of the first embodiment, the width of the band is between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm.

In a second embodiment, the present invention provides a hair covering for protecting the hair from external insults while substantially maintaining the shape of the hair, comprising a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head having a width between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm and a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm. The band is circumferentially attached to a hair covering body.

In more specific examples of the second embodiment, the hair covering body is made from a substantially water-proof material. In still more specific embodiments, the band also is made from a substantially water-proof material. In yet more specific embodiments the substantially water-poof material is a polyurethane-coated fabric.

In other more specific examples of the second embodiment, the hair covering body include at least one single pleat. In some more specific embodiments, the hair covering body includes at least one double pleat. In other more specific examples of the second embodiment, the band is attached to the hair covering body by a zig-zag stitch. In still other more specific examples of the second embodiment, the width of the band is between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm.

In still more specific examples of the second embodiment, the hair covering body has a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm.

In a third embodiment, the invention provides a hair covering for protecting the hair from external insults while substantially maintaining the shape of the hair, comprising a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head having a width between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm, and a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm. The band is circumferentially attached to a hair covering body, the hair covering body having a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm, and the hair covering body has at least one single pleat, at least one double pleat, or at least one single pleat and at least one double pleat.

In other more specific examples of the third embodiment, the hair covering body include at least one single pleat. In some more specific embodiments, the hair covering body includes at least one double pleat.

These and still other features and advantages will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art when the following Detailed Description is read in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings.

3 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate the hair covering of the invention as worn. FIG. 1A is front view of a subject wearing a hair covering in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1B is a side view of a subject wearing a hair covering in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is bottom view of a hair covering in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a band and a hair covering body in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

4 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides hair coverings that both protect the hair and the hair style. The hair coverings of the invention can be worn with useful effect while in relatively vigorous activities such as showering and swimming, or in more passive activities like sleeping. Without wishing to be bound to any particular theory of action, the hair coverings of the present invention makes beneficial use of providing a band that holds the hair covering body relatively securely to the wearer's head; the band having negative ease while the hair covering body having a positive ease. Such a unique combination is not shown or suggested in the prior art; yet this combination provides a hair covering with very useful properties of enabling protection for the wearer's hair and hair style.

FIG. 1A at 100 shows a wearer (104) wearing a hair covering of the invention (108). FIG. 1B shows a side view of the wearer and invention at 150. Referring to both figures, the hair covering 108 includes a hair covering body 112 that is attached to a band 116. The hair covering body also includes one or more pleats 120, shown generally. The pleats may be single pleats or double pleats (i.e., a twice folding-over of material in the same location to provide quadruple layer of material sewn to the base material), and provided either individually or in any combination. In some embodiments, the pleats are arranged such that the front of the hair covering have few or no pleats (see also, FIG. 2), and so presents a relatively smooth appearance at the front (157) as opposed to the back (154), to provide a more stylish appearance overall. Those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such an arrangement will provide more room at the back to accommodate a large amount of hair, especially curly, teased, hair-sprayed, or hair processed in other ways, without too much stretchiness. However, the pleats can be located in any arrangement long the circumference of the hair covering.

The combination of the band and hair covering body with pleats and fabric as described herein provides a uniquely useful hair covering. Referring to FIG. 1B and FIG. 2, the location of pleats, especially double pleats, towards the back of the hair covering provides enough room to protect both the wearer's hair and hair style while providing relative comfort. In some embodiments, each single pleat provides about 2.5 cm of expansion. In some embodiments, the hair covering of the invention includes between about six and about 12 pleats; in more specific embodiments, between about seven and about ten pleats; and in still more specific embodiments, about nine pleats. The pleats can be either single pleats, double pleats, or any combination thereof that provides a useful degree of hair freedom, i.e., is not so snug as to crush or compress the hair nor so loose as to allow the hair to become tangled from motion. In some embodiments nine pleats are provided, including as many as seven double pleats; such embodiments are useful for wearers having long hair. In other embodiments, nine single pleats are provided; such embodiments are useful for wearers having short hair. Those having ordinary skill in the art will understand how to determine useful numbers and combinations of single and double pleats, and their locations.

FIG. 2 shows a bottom view of a hair covering of the invention at 200. Hair covering 204, including pleats 208, is attached to band 212 to define a volume as described above 216 into which the user introduces the hair.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram (300) of the hair covering body (304, with pleats 308) and band (312) separated. In some embodiments, the band is dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of the wearer's head and has a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm. The hair covering body has a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm. The choice of ease for each element will depend on the size of the wearer's head and the desired pressure on the surface of the wearer's skull. In some more specific embodiments, the width of the band is between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm. Regarding the dimensions of the band, examples of useful negative eases for a variety of wearers are provided below (Table 1):

TABLE 1
Negative Ease Values for Some Wearers
	Wearer	Head (cm)	Band (cm)	Ease (cm)
	Preemie	32	30	2
	Infant	35	32	3
	Toddler	46	43	3
	Child	48	44	4
	Adult small	48	44	4
	Adult medium	49	45	4
	Adult large	50	46	4
	Adult XL	54	50	4
	Adult Male	58	54	4

In more specific embodiments, the band and hair covering body are both made from substantially waterproof materials with suitable elasticity. The band and the hair covering body can be either of the same material or different materials. In more specific embodiments, the materials are polyurethane-based, and, still more particularly, polyurethane laminate materials. One particular example of a useful material is sold under the tradename BABYVILLE BOUTIQUE® (Spartanburg, S.C., USA). Other suitable materials will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art.

In other embodiments, the hair covering comprises a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head, and has a width between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm, and a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm. The band is attached circumferentially to the hair covering body. The hair covering body also includes one or more pleats. The pleats may be single pleats or double pleats, and provided either individually or in any combination. In more specific embodiments, the hair covering body has a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm.

In still other embodiments, the invention the hair covering comprises a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head, having a width between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm and a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm. The band is circumferentially attached to a hair covering body having a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm, and at least one single pleat, at least one double pleat, or at least one single pleat and at least one double pleat. More specific embodiments include those with at least one single pleat. Other more specific embodiments include at least one single and one double pleat. Still other more specific embodiments include at least one double pleat.

The construction and use of the hair covering of the invention will be familiar to those having ordinary skill in the art. The chosen materials for the hair covering body and band are dimensioned to provide a comfortable, yet secure, fit on the wearer's head using the dimensions and discussion herein as a guide. For example and not limitation, the fit should be snug enough to be secure, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable, given the use of the hair covering (e.g., use in a pool to protect the hair from random splashing vs. swimming or diving). The materials are then cut to proper dimension and shape. The pleats are sewn into the hair covering body; and the band and the hair covering body are sewn together, e.g., using a zig-zag stitch or a straight stitch. Generally, since the fabric is both elastic and waterproof no additional elastic is needed.

To use the hair covering, in one non-limiting example, put on the hair covering of the invention as follows: For wearers with longer hair lengths, gather the hair loosely, and turn the head over to spill the hair into the hair covering body; With both hands on sides of hair covering of the invention, and still with head upside down, pull hair covering over head to come to rest on forehead; Tuck any loose hair strands into hair covering body; Adjust the top to one side of head to lay like a beret. For shorter hair, pull the hair covering over head starting at the back and laying the front on forehead; Position the hair covering to lay like a beret to one side of head. Enjoy use, knowing that the hair is protected from water and sun, and the hair style is protected from rearrangement. To remove the hair covering, pull the hair covering by the top up and off of the head. The hair curled or straightened will remain as styled and as dry as before use.

5 CONCLUSION

The above description of the embodiments, alternative embodiments, and specific examples, are given by way of illustration and should not be viewed as limiting. Further, many changes and modifications within the scope of the present embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the present invention includes such changes and modifications.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention provides a comfortable, secure, and useful device for protecting hair and hair style. Using the present invention, the wearer can be confident to maintain dry, unsullied hair that substantially maintains the same shape after use as before use.

Claims

1. A hair covering for protecting the hair from external insults while substantially maintaining the shape of said hair, said hair covering comprising: a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head, said band having a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm, said band being circumferentially attached to a hair covering body, said hair covering body having a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm.

2. The hair covering of claim 1, wherein said hair covering body is made from a substantially water-proof material.

3. The hair covering of claim 2, wherein said band is made from a substantially water-proof material.

4. The hair covering of claim 3, wherein said substantially water-poof material is a polyurethane-coated fabric.

5. The hair covering of claim 1, where in said hair covering body include at least one single pleat.

6. The hair covering of claim 5, where in said hair covering body include at least one double pleat.

7. The hair covering of claim 1, where in said hair covering body include at least one double pleat.

8. The hair covering of claim 1, wherein said band is attached to said hair covering body by a zig-zag stitch.

9. The hair covering of claim 1, wherein the width of said band is between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm.

10. A hair covering for protecting the hair from external insults while substantially maintaining the shape of said hair, said hair covering comprising: a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head, said band having a width between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm and a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm, said band being circumferentially attached to a hair covering body.

11. The hair covering of claim 10, wherein said hair covering body is made from a substantially water-proof material.

12. The hair covering of claim 11, wherein said band is made from a substantially water-proof material.

13. The hair covering of claim 12, wherein said substantially water-proof material is a polyurethane-coated fabric.

14. The hair covering of claim 10, where in said hair covering body include at least one single pleat.

15. The hair covering of claim 14, where in said hair covering body include at least one double pleat.

16. The hair covering of claim 10, where in said hair covering body include at least one double pleat.

17. The hair covering of claim 10, wherein said band is attached to said hair covering body by a zig-zag stitch.

18. The hair covering of claim 10, wherein said hair covering body having a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm.

19. A hair covering for protecting the hair from external insults while substantially maintaining the shape of said hair, said hair covering comprising: a band dimensioned to fit substantially the circumference of a wearer's head, said band having a width between about 6.3 cm and about 9.0 cm and a negative ease of between about 5.7 cm and about 9.0 cm, said band being circumferentially attached to a hair covering body, said hair covering body having a positive ease of between about 6.3 cm and about 27.0 cm, and said hair covering body having at least one single pleat, at least one double pleat, or at least one single pleat and at least one double pleat.

20. The hair covering of claim 18, where in said hair covering body include at least one single pleat.

21. The hair covering of claim 19, where in said hair covering body include at least one double pleat.

22. The hair covering of claim 18, where in said hair covering body include at least one double pleat.