Hair Retaining Device

Abstract

A hair retaining device is provided. The hair retaining device includes a tubular base member which defines an interior volume. When the hair retaining device is worn the tubular base member surrounds a length of a wearer's hair. The tubular base member has a first terminal end and a second terminal end. A flexible opening on the first terminal end can be widened to allow a wearer to pass their hair therethrough. A strap is disposed outwardly from the second terminal end of the tubular member with a clip disposed on a distal end of the strap. The clip can be utilized to secure the hair retaining device to an article of the wearer's clothes. The hair retaining device can contain a wearer's hair while still allowing the wearer to move around in an unrestricted fashion.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/853,427 filed on May 28, 2019. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to hair accessories. More particularly, the present invention provides for a hair restraining device which can be worn around a length of a wearer's hair, thereby containing the hair while still allowing the wearer to move around in an unrestricted fashion.

Many people with long hair need to be very careful with their hair while working; whether they happen to work in a restaurant, grocery store, industrial plant, construction site, or other similar environments. These individuals must secure their hair in order to avoid serious injury or contamination. For example, when the individual is working around heavy machinery, their hair could become entangled with the machines moving parts. This can lead to serious injury as the individual's hair is pulled by the machine resulting in the individual being pulled along with it. In another example, where the individual is working around food, it is unsanitary to have the individual's hair come into contact with food and kitchen equipment. Similarly, in the medical field, long hair can lead to unsanitary conditions as well as medical complications from contamination.

Devices have been disclosed in the known art that relate to hair accessories. These include devices that have been patented and disclosed in patent application publications. However, the devices in the known art have several drawbacks. Some people utilize hair ties and hair nets in an attempt to isolate their hair from the environment. However, hair ties only loosely hold the individual's hair together, and are not adequate for preventing the hair from contacting items such as food or the moving parts of a machine. Despite being relatively contained, hair can still make its way into such things. Hairnets gather the individual's hair in one place, but where the individual has a lot of hair, some of the hair may fall out of the hairnet as the individual moves around. Additionally, hair nets are not aesthetically pleasing and may be the source of ridicule from the individual's peers.

The present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing hair containment devices. In this regard the present invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of hair accessories now present in the art, the present invention provides a hair restraining device wherein the same can be worn around a length of a wearer's hair, thereby containing the hair while still allowing the wearer to move around in an unrestricted fashion. The present hair retaining device comprises a tubular base member which defines an interior volume. When the hair retaining device is worn the tubular base member surrounds a length of a wearer's hair. The tubular base member has a first terminal end and a second terminal end. A flexible opening on the first terminal end can be widened to allow a wearer to pass their hair therethrough. A strap is disposed outwardly from the second terminal end of the tubular member with a clip disposed on a distal end of the strap. The clip can be utilized to secure the hair retaining device to an article of the wearer's clothes. The hair retaining device can contain a wearer's hair while still allowing the wearer to move around in an unrestricted fashion.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the hair restraining device.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the hair restraining device.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the hair restraining device in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the hair restraining device. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, a preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for the hair restraining device. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of an embodiment of the hair restraining device. In the shown embodiment, the hair restraining device comprises a tubular base member 100 which defines an interior volume 110. In one embodiment, the tubular base member 100 is a textile such as a cloth or woven fabric. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the textile can be a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers that is formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, braiding, or other such physical manipulation of the fibers to form a continuous base member. The tubular base member 100 is configured to surround a length of a wearer's hair. In some embodiments, the tubular base member 100 is configured to prevent the strands of a wearer's hair from becoming entangled within the material of the tubular base member 100. In some embodiments, the tubular base member 100 is sized to surround the wearer's hair from their scalp to the end of their strands of hair when the hair is gathered together into a ponytail hairstyle. In other embodiments, the tubular base member 100 is sized to surround a portion of the wearer's hair, such that the tubular base member 100 gathers the strands of the wearer's hair together but does not encapsulate the entire length of the wearer's hair to the tip. In these embodiments, the wearer is able to contain and retain some of their hair within the interior volume 110, while the remainder of their hair is able to pass through and out the bottom of the tubular base member 100.

The tubular base member 100 has a first terminal end 101 and a second terminal end 102. The tubular base member 100 has a flexible opening 120 on the first terminal end 101. In the shown embodiment, the flexible opening 120 is configured to widen in order to allow the wearer's hair to pass therethrough. The flexible opening 120 is biased to a partially closed configuration, wherein the diameter of the flexible opening 120 is less than the diameter of the tubular base member 100. By flexing, and thereby enlarging, the flexible opening 120, the wearer can more easily thread their hair into the interior volume 110 of the tubular base member 100. Once the wearer's hair is threaded into the interior volume 110, the flexible opening 120 can retract back to the partially closed configuration. In such a manner, the wearer's hair can be held together, and in place, by friction between the flexible opening 120 and the wearer's hair.

In some embodiments, the tubular base member 100 has a second flexible opening on the second terminal end 102. The second flexible opening provides the same advantages of the flexible opening 120, in that the second flexible opening can be enlarged to allow a portion of the wearer's hair to pass therethrough, and the second flexible opening can also retract against the wearer's hair to provide another point at which the wearer's hair is retained. In some embodiments, the second terminal end 102 is closed in order to fully contain the wearer's hair down to the tips. In further embodiments, the second terminal end 102 includes a fastener, such that a user can select whether to allow the tips of their hair to pass through the second terminal end 102, or to be retained within the interior volume 110. In some embodiments, the tubular base member 100 comprises an elastic material. In such embodiments, the tubular base member 100, itself, can expand and compress in order to accommodate different amounts of the wearer's hair, and further retain the hair in the interior volume 110.

A strap 130 is disposed outwardly from the second terminal end 102 of the tubular base member 100. In one embodiment, the strap 130 is flexible in order to provide freedom of movement when the strap 130 is secured, as detailed below. In one embodiment, a length of the strap 130 is selectively adjustable. In a further embodiment, the strap 130 further comprises a buckle in order to selectively adjust the length of the strap 130. When the hair is contained within the interior volume 110, the strap 130 can be adjusted such that the device is not putting any strain on the hair. In the shown embodiment, the strap 130 is a planar band that is secured to the tubular base member 100 on a bottom rear portion of the tubular base member 100. Further, in the shown embodiment the strap 130 is folded over itself on a distal end.

A clip 140 is disposed on a distal end of the strap 130. The clip 140 enables a wearer to secure the hair retaining device to a desired surface. In one embodiment, the clip 140 is configured to attach to a wearer's clothing. For example, in the shown embodiment, the clip 140 is utilized to secure the strap 130, and therefore the hair retaining device, to the waistband of a wearer's pants. In a further embodiment, the clip 140 is spring biased to return to a closed position.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the hair restraining device. In the shown embodiment, the hair restraining device comprises a planar base member 200 having a first side 201 and a second side 202. The first side 201 and the second side 202 are opposing lateral edges of the planar base member 200. The planar base member 200 can be the same material as the tubular base member, as described above. In one embodiment, the planar base member 200 comprises an elastic material and can be folded or rolled onto itself without damaging the planar base member 200. In a further embodiment, the planar base member 200 is a textile such as a cloth or woven fabric. The planar base member 200 has an interior surface 210 and an exterior surface 220. The interior surface 210 is configured to contact a length of a wearer's hair and surrounds the hair when the first side 201 of the planar base member 200 is fastened to the second side 202, as further detailed below. The planar base member 200 provides the advantage of being lower profile and having the ability to lay flatter than the tubular base member. This lower profile is desirable in that it is easier to conceal the hair restraining device beneath the clothing of a wearer without an unseemly mass or lump showing under the clothes.

In some embodiments, the planar base member 200 is configured to prevent the strands of the wearer's hair from becoming entangled within the material of the planar base member 200. In the shown embodiment, a hair tie clip 250 is disposed on a top inner surface of the planar base member 200. The hair tie clip 250 is an annular clip that can secure between a hair tie and the wearer's hair. The hair tie clip 250 can removably secure to a hair tie in order to keep the planar base member 200 in place (as shown in FIG. 3, below).

In one embodiment, a plurality of fasteners 230 are disposed on the first side 201 of the planar base member 200. In the shown embodiment, the plurality of fasteners 230 is disposed along a length of the first side 201 in a linear manner. A plurality of complementary receivers 240 are disposed on the second side 202 of the planar base member 200. Each of the receivers 240 is configured to receive one of the fasteners 230. By selectively securing the fasteners 230 to the receivers 240, a wearer is able to removably secure the two sides 201, 202 to each other in order to obtain a tubular formation. In the shown embodiment, the fasteners 230 are snaps and the receivers 240 are complementary receivers to the snaps. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the fasteners 230 and receivers 240 can be snaps, buttons, hook and loop material, or a variety of similar fasteners.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a perspective view of an embodiment of the hair restraining device in use. In use, an individual can prepare their hair 300 by gathering it together in preparation to utilize a hair restraining device. In the embodiments with a flexible opening, the flexible opening 120 can be stretched in order to allow for the individual's hair 300 to be passed therethrough and into the interior volume. In the embodiments with a planar base member, the planar base member can be un-fastened, and the individual's hair 300 placed against the interior surface of the planar base member. The hair tie clip 250 can be secured to a hair tie 320 in order to maintain the planar base member in a desired position. The fasteners and receivers can be utilized to attach the first and second sides of the planar base member to each other thereby encircling the hair 300 of the individual. Once the individual's hair 300 is retained within the hair restraining device, the individual can thread the hair retaining device beneath their clothing 310, if so desired. The clip 140 can be utilized to attach the device to a desired surface such as a belt or waistband 311 of the individual's clothing. The length of the strap 130 can then be adjusted in order to secure the hair restraining device, while still providing freedom of movement to the individual. In this manner, the hair retaining device can contain a wearer's hair 300, thereby preventing the hair 300 from contaminating items such as food. The hair retaining device can also aid in preventing the hair 300 from getting caught by heavy machinery, while still allowing the wearer to move around in an unrestricted fashion.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1) A hair retaining device, comprising:

a tubular base member defining an interior volume;

the tubular base member configured to surround a length of a wearer's hair;

the tubular base member having a first terminal end and a second terminal end;

the tubular base member further comprising a flexible opening on a first terminal end;

the flexible opening configured to widen to allow hair to pass therethrough;

a strap disposed outwardly from the second terminal end of the tubular base member;

a clip disposed on a distal end of the strap.

2) The hair retaining device of claim 1, wherein the strap is flexible.

3) The hair retaining device of claim 1, wherein the tubular base member comprises an elastic material.

4) The hair retaining device of claim 1, wherein the tubular base member is a textile.

5) The hair retaining device of claim 1, wherein a length of the strap is selectively adjustable.

6) The hair retaining device of claim 1, wherein the clip is configured to attach to a wearer's clothing.

7) A hair retaining device, comprising:

a planar base member having a first side and a second side, wherein the first side and the second side are opposing lateral edges of the base member;

a plurality of fasteners disposed on the first side of the planar base member;

a plurality of complementary receivers disposed on the second side of the planar base member;

wherein each of the plurality of complementary receivers is configured to receive one of the plurality of fasteners;

a strap disposed outwardly from a lower longitudinal edge of the planar base member;

a clip disposed on a distal end of the strap.

8) The hair retaining device of claim 7, wherein the strap is flexible.

9) The hair retaining device of claim 7, wherein the planar base comprises an elastic material.

10) The hair retaining device of claim 7, wherein the planar base is a textile.

11) The hair retaining device of claim 7, wherein a length of the strap is selectively adjustable.

12) The hair retaining device of claim 7, wherein the clip is configured to attach to a wearer's clothing.

13) The hair retaining device of claim 8, wherein the planar base is configured to surround a length of a wearer's hair.