CONVERTIBLE TRAVEL ACCESSORY
A convertible travel accessory in accordance with one embodiment includes a main body that in a first state assumes a hoodie form for being worn on a head of a user and in a second state assumes a storage pouch form. The travel accessory also includes a chin pillow that is coupled to and adjustable relative to the main body for placement beneath a chin of a user, wherein in the second state, the chin pillow is inserted into the storage pouch. An optional blanket can also be provided as part of the travel accessory and can be permanently attached to the chin pillow (e.g., along a bottom edge thereof) or it can be detachably coupled to the chin pillow.
This application is based on and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/803,839, filed Feb. 11, 2019 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/820,545, filed Mar. 19, 2019, all of which are incorporated by reference, as if expressly set forth in their respective entireties herein.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates to travel accessories and more particularly, relates to a travel accessory that is convertible between a pouch and a hoodie that that has a chin pillow along with an optionally blanket.
BACKGROUNDThere are a wide assortment of accessories that are available to travelers with many of the more popular accessories incorporating a pillow, such as a neck pillow, that can be worn as during a flight on an airplane. This very popular travel accessory is essentially a U-shaped pillow that is worn around the traveler's neck with coverage being along the back of the neck and the sides of neck. This is intended to allow the traveler to relax his or her head backwards and have neck support due to the presence of the pillow. If the traveler's head nods to the left or right, the neck pillow provides some support as well. However, these neck pillows provide no support when the traveler's head nods forward. In this forward nod position, the head is not supported by the pillow.
It is therefore desirable and there is a need for a travel accessory that not only provides coverage over the eyes to allow rest by the traveler but also provides support to the traveler's head in the event that the head nodes forward during sleep.
SUMMARYA convertible travel accessory in accordance with one embodiment includes a main body that in a first state assumes a hoodie form for being worn on a head of a user and in a second state assumes a storage pouch form. The travel accessory also includes a chin pillow that is coupled to and adjustable relative to the main body for placement beneath a chin of a user, wherein in the second state, the chin pillow is inserted into the storage pouch. An optional blanket can also be provided as part of the travel accessory and can be permanently attached to the chin pillow (e.g., along a bottom edge thereof) or it can be detachably coupled to the chin pillow.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the first part 110 comprises a piece of fabric having a first edge 112 and an opposite second edge 114. The first edge 112 is a folded edge in that the fabric at first edge 112 is folded over on top of itself and secured to itself, as by stitching, so as to define a first channel 115 defined within the first folded over edge 112. Similarly, the second edge is a folded edge in that the fabric at second edge 114 is folded over on top of itself and secured to itself, as by stitching, so as to define a second channel 117 defined within the second folded over edge 114.
In the closed storage position of the first part 110, the first and second edges 112, 114 are drawn to one another so to generally define a circular shaped peripheral edge that completes the interior space and defines the pouch like structure in the storage position.
The first part 110 not only defines the body of the pouch in the storage position, but when the first part 110 is inverted to a second (in-use) position, it defines a hood (hoodie) that can be worn over the traveler's head. When the first part 110 is in the form a hood, the first folded edge 112 represents a front edge of the hood and the second folded edge 114 represents a bottom edge of the hood. The front edge being the U-shaped edge that extends along the sides of the traveler's head along the top of the head, while the bottom edge is the edge that extends along the back of the neck of the traveler.
Open ends of the first channel 115 and the second channel 117 are proximate one another in the second (in-use) position shown in
The travel accessory 100 has a second part 200 that is in the form of a chin pillow or chin support structure that is configured to placed under the chin of the user. The second part 200 is thus defined by a chin support body 210 such as a chin pillow that can have come in any number of different shapes and sizes. For example, and as illustrated, the chin support body 210 can be a rectangular shaped pillow that has a first end 212 and a second end 214. The first end 212 can be considered to be the side for placement on the left side of the user's chin and the second end 214 can be considered to be the side for placement of the right side of the user's chin.
The chin support body 210 (pillow) can also have a contoured shape such as having a concave shaped top edge on which the user's chin rests.
The chin pillow 200 is coupled to the first part 110 (hoodie) in such a way that the user can easily adjust the chin pillow 200 and more specifically, the user can easily pull the chin pillow 200 away from the user's face to create a more than adequate space for the user's head to be received between the hoodie 110 and the chin pillow 200 as shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the chin pillow 200 is coupled to the first part 110 by a first chin strap 220 and a second chin strap 230. The first chin strap 220 includes a first end 222 that is fixedly attached to the first end 212 of the chin support body 210 and a second end 224 that is fed through the second channel 117 and exits the second channel 117 proximate the second end 224 of the chin support body 210. In other words, the first chin strap 220 enters the second channel 117 on the left side of the user's face and passes through the second channel 117 along the rear of the user's neck until it exits the open end of the second channel 117 that is at the right side of the user's face. The second end 224 thus represent a free end of the first chin strap 220 can be knotted to prevent the second end 224 from being accidently pulled into the second channel 117. This knotted second end 224 can thus be pulled in an outward direction away from the user' face (and chin) to cause the length of the first chin strap 220 that is exposed beyond the second channel 117 to increase. The result of this outward puling action of the first chin strap 220 is that the left side of the chin support body 210 where the first end 222 of the first chin strap 220 is attached to be drawn inward toward the user's face.
The second chin strap 230 includes a first end 232 that is fixedly attached to the second end 224 of the chin support body 210 and a second end 234 that is fed through the second channel 117 and exits the second channel 117 proximate the first end 222 of the chin support body 210. In other words, the second chin strap 230 enters the second channel 117 on the right side of the user's face and passes through the second channel 117 along the rear of the user's neck until it exits the open end of the second channel 117 that is at the left side of the user's face. The second end 234 thus represent a free end of the second chin strap 230 can be knotted to prevent the second end 234 from being accidently pulled into the second channel 117. This knotted second end 234 can thus be pulled in an outward direction away from the user' face (and chin) to cause the length of the second chin strap 230 that is exposed beyond the open end of second channel 117 to increase. The result of this outward puling action of the second chin strap 230 is that the right side of the chin support body 210 where the first end 232 of the second chin strap 230 is attached to be drawn inward toward the user's face.
When the user wishes to remove the travel accessory 100, the user simply pulls the chin pillow 200 in a direction away from the face, thereby increasing the space between the chin pillow 200 and the hoodie 110 allowing the user's head to pass through this space as the travel accessory 100 is raised relative to the user's head for removal thereof.
It will be appreciated that the free second ends 224, 234 of the fist chin strap 220 and the second chin strap 230 are used to convert the hoodie 110 into the pouch storage position shown in
The travel accessory 100 also includes an optional blanket 300. The blanket 300 can be permanently attached to the chin pillow 200 as shown in
The optional blanket 300 can also be provided in the form of an openable and closable pouch (outer shell) 310 as shown in
It will be appreciated that the fastener 315 is illustrated as facing away from the user's head (body); however, this is merely one location of the fastener 315 and instead, the fastener 315 can be on the opposite face of the pouch 310 in that it can face inward toward to the user's body.
During use when the travel accessory 100 is worn on the user's head with the chin pillow 200 positioned below the chin, the blanket 300 will unfold out over the user's lap for providing travel comfort.
Once the use of the blanket 300 is complete, the blanket 300 is folded back into the inside of the pouch 310 and then the fastener 315 is fastened to close up the pouch 310.
It will also be appreciated that other features can be incorporated into the chin pillow 200 such as battery powered heating elements, massage elements, etc. Also, the chin pillow can be formed of two or more materials, such as a core and an outer covering.
One part of the fastener 315 is formed along one side edge (at a first end) of the pouch, while the other part of the fastener 315 is formed at the other side edge (at a second end) of the pouch. When these two fastener parts are joined, an enclosure structure is formed (since both ends of the fabric are folded over toward each other). As shown, the pouch includes a pair of second fasteners 330 with one second fastener position proximate one fastener part 315 and the other second fastener 330 being proximate the other fastener part 315. The pair of second fasteners 330 can be hook and loop patches or any number of other types of fasteners. This pair of second fasteners 330 do not mate with each other but mate with a pair of third fasteners 340 also provided on the pouch 310. The pair of second fasteners 330 is formed on one surface (e.g., outer blanket pouch surface shown in
The second and third fasteners 330, 340 are not limited to being hook and loop material but can be any of the fasteners mentioned herein and other conventional ones.
In addition, the blanket itself can be removable from the blanket pouch 310 as for example, by having fasteners at a top end of the blanket that removably mate with fasteners on the pouch. Any of the fasteners described herein can be used, such as hook and loop material. This allows the blanket to be detached from the pouch 310 and the hoodie and chin pillow. In an alternative embodiment, the blanket can have hook and loop fasteners that mate with complementary hook and loop fasteners that are inside the blanket pouch.
Claims
1. A convertible travel accessory comprising:
- a main body that in a first state assumes a hoodie form for being worn on a head of a user and in a second state assumes a storage pouch form;
- a chin pillow that is coupled to and adjustable relative to the main body for placement beneath a chin of a user, wherein in the second state, the chin pillow is inserted into the storage pouch.
2. The travel accessory of claim 1, wherein the hoodie includes a first enclosed channel and a second enclosed channel, wherein the chin pillow is coupled to the main body through the second enclosed channel.
3. The travel accessory of claim 2, wherein in the first state, the first channel is formed so as to extend along sides of the head and along a forehead of the head and the second channel is formed so as to extend from the two sides of the head and along a rear of the head.
4. The travel accessory of claim 2, wherein the first enclosed channel includes a main strap that has free first and second ends that are positioned outside respective first and second open ends of the first channel.
5. The travel accessory of claim 2, wherein the chin pillow has a first chin strap that is fixedly attached to a first end of the chin pillow and enters a first end of the second enclosed channel and passes through the second enclosed channel until exiting from a second end thereof, wherein the chin pillow has a second chin strap that is fixedly attached to a second end of the chin pillow and enters the second end of the second enclosed channel and passes through the second enclosed channel until exiting from the first end thereof.
6. The travel accessory of claim 1, further including a blanket that is coupled to the chin pillow and configured to be folded into the storage pouch in the second state of the main body.
7. The travel accessory of claim 6, wherein the blanket is detachably coupled to a bottom edge of the chin pillow.
8. The travel accessory of claim 7, wherein the blanket is detachably coupled to the bottom edge with a first fastener.
9. The travel accessory of claim 8, wherein the first fastener is selected from the group consisting of: a zipper, snaps, button, and hook and loop material.
10. The travel accessory of claim 6, wherein the blanket has an outer shell portion and a main blanket portion that is contained within the outer shell portion in a storage state.
11. The travel accessory of claim 10, wherein the outer shell portion has a second fastener for closing the outer shell portion, whereby when the outer shell portion is closed, the main blanket portion is fully contained within the outer shell portion.
12. The travel accessory of claim 11, wherein the second fastener is selected from the group consisting of: a zipper, snaps, button, and hook and loop material.
13. A convertible travel accessory comprising:
- a main body that in a first state assumes a hoodie form for being worn on a head of a user and in a second state assumes a storage pouch form; a chin pillow that is coupled to and adjustable relative to the main body for placement beneath a chin of a user, wherein in the second state, the chin pillow is inserted into the storage pouch while maintaining its coupling to the main body; and a blanket that is coupled to the chin pillow and can be positioned between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the second state, the blanket is inserted into the storage pouch while maintaining its coupling to the chin pillow.
14. The travel accessory of claim 13, wherein the blanket is disposed within a blanket pouch that is detachably coupled to the chin pillow, the blanket pouch having an open position in which the blanket can be removed and a closed position.
15. The travel accessory of claim 14, wherein the blanket pouch includes a foldable body with an open bottom end, the blanket pouch including a main fastener for joining two sides of the foldable body and a secondary fastener for closing the open bottom end of the foldable body.
16. The travel accessory of claim 15, wherein the main fastener comprises a zipper and the secondary fastener comprises a first set of hook and loop patches formed along an inside face of the foldable body and a second set of hook and loop patches formed along an outside of the foldable body for mating with the first set of hook and loop patches to close off the bottom end.
17. The travel accessory of claim 14, wherein the blanket is free of fixed attachment to the blanket pouch and can be freely removed therefrom.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 10, 2020
Publication Date: May 5, 2022
Inventor: William Diaz (Sleepy Hollow, NY)
Application Number: 17/429,972