Patent Publication Number: US-2012023642-A1

Title: Garment for Retaining Long Hair Including Braids or Dreadlocks

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/369,210 filed Jul. 30, 2010. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     “Not Applicable” 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK 
     “Not Applicable” 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to garments that are arranged to be worn on the head, and more particularly to a garment for retaining long hair that may include portions configured as braids or dreadlocks. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Long hair that has been braided or arranged into dreadlocks or braids can become very unmanageable and can get in the way of daily activities. It can be very difficult for a person with such long or braided hair or dreadlocks to cook, clean, eat, and participate in sports or dancing. Such long hanging hair is very dangerous around stoves and grills. Many people with such long braids or dreadlocks have problems at the dinner table, where hair can get into food. Long hair can get in people&#39;s eyes during windy days. Long hair can become trapped when sitting in an upright position, or can easily become dirty upon contact with surfaces, such as walls or seat backs. 
     Scarves can come loose and slip off the hair. Rubber bands, barrettes, and scrunchies have a potential to break when holding large amounts of hair, such as dreadlocks and braids. This is even more of a problem when the hair is extremely thick. 
     Garments to fasten locks of hair in a pony tail, braids or dreadlocks are generally well known, but suffer from a number of drawbacks. Many hair ties have as their predominant tying feature some sort of elastic band that requires the wearer to loop and twist about a lock of hair. These hair ties are sometimes difficult to apply. In addition, some of the elastic band hair ties on the market have numerous small metal pieces on the elastic loop, which can pull out or damage the hair. Other hair ties require knots that must be tied by the wearer in order to properly secure the hair in a pony tail. Some are difficult to tie to the hair, and sometimes the wearer may need assistance from a second person to help attach the hair tie. In addition, certain hair ties are unreliable in that they fail to remain in place on the braids or dreadlocks. This drawback requires the wearer to adjust the hair tie intermittently. Some hair ties also provide limited flexibility to adjust and allow the wearer to choose different amounts of hair that may be fastened by a single hair tie at any one time. It is accordingly a primary objective of the present invention to provide a hair retaining garment which will avoid the drawbacks stated above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A garment for retaining long hair is disclosed and claimed. The garment includes a tubular sleeve formed of a lightweight flexible material. The tubular sleeve includes an open front, an open rear, a body therebetween, and an inside surface. The open front is configured to extend across a wearer&#39;s forehead. The body extends from the open front over substantially the entire region of the wearer&#39;s head. A pocket is attached to the inside surface of the tubular sleeve and includes an opening. The pocket is arranged for retaining long hair such as braids or dreadlocks. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the garment of the present invention shown in a final position over the head of a wearer having long hair, long braids or dreadlocks, the garment shown retaining the wearer&#39;s braids; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the garment of the present invention being held in the hands of a wearer prior to the inventive garment being placed in position on the wearer&#39;s head; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating the wearer beginning the process of placing the garment of the present invention onto the wearer&#39;s head; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the wearer continuing to place the garment of the present invention onto the wearer&#39;s head; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating the wearer extending a pocket of the garment of the present invention and tucking his or her braids into the pocket; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 1 ; and, 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , wherein like numbers indicate like parts throughout the drawings, there is shown at  10 , a garment for retaining long hair  34  having hanging portions configured as braids or dreadlocks.  FIG. 1  shows the hair retaining garment  10  placed on the head  14  of the wearer. As best shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the garment includes a sleeve  18  that is generally tubular in shape and hollow and includes a front opening  22  and a rear opening  26 , the openings being substantially circular. The tubular shape of the sleeve  18  may be formed by folding a single generally rectangular-shaped piece of a relatively thin, pliant, stretchable, and resilient material such as fabric onto itself and then attaching the fabric to itself at its opposite edges by any suitable means. For example, the fabric may be attached to itself at opposite edges by stitching at  16   a  and  16   b  to form a central fold  17  that runs the length of the tubular sleeve  18  from the front opening  22  to the rear opening  26 . 
     The garment  10  including the tubular sleeve  18  and pocket  42  are preferably made of a lightweight, flexible material which is fairly wrinkle resistant. A preferable material is nylon, such as Spandex®. The material should be breathable to allow air transfer between a wearer&#39;s head and the surrounding air. By utilizing this type of material, the garment  10  can be folded, rolled up or bunched into a compact package and carried in one&#39;s pocket or purse. Since the material of the garment  10  is wrinkle resistant, the garment  10  can simply be shaken out and worn when needed. The material of the garment  10  is comfortable to wear upon a head and soft when contacting the wearer&#39;s skin. Other suitable fabrics include, but are not limited to, cotton and terrycloth. The material of the garment  10  may be absorbent to soak up water or other liquids to prevent them from wetting or contacting the wearer&#39;s hair  34 , for instance, if wearer is washing her face  38 . Alternatively, the garment  10  may be made of other fabrics such as leather, rubber such as latex or silicone, polyester, cotton blends, satin, silk, velvet, wool, etc. Alternatively, the sleeve  18  can be manufactured in a tubular shape using a thermal molding process. 
     As best shown in  FIG. 6 , when the garment  10  is positioned over the wearer&#39;s head  14 , the front opening  22  is arranged to fit snugly over the wearer&#39;s forehead and extend downwardly and around the back of the wearer&#39;s neck just below the hairline. As best shown in  FIG. 6 , at the front opening  22 , the fabric of the garment  10  is folded onto itself and stitched to create a brim  28 . The brim  28  serves as a casing for an elastic band  30  disposed therein. The elastic band  30  also enables the garment  10  to be adjustable to heads of various sizes. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2 ,  3 , and  4 , to place the garment  10  onto the head, the garment is first held in the wearer&#39;s hands in a gathered condition as shown in  FIG. 2  with the front opening  22  facing away from the wearer and the rear opening  26  positioned closer to the wearer. The garment is raised over the head and to the back of the head where long hair  34  or braids may have been collected. The hair  34  is passed through the tubular sleeve  18  so that the hair extends out the rear opening  26 . The brim  28  of the front opening  22  of the garment  10  is pulled over and positioned on the wearer&#39;s forehead. Referring again to  FIG. 6 , at the rear opening  26 , the fabric is stitched to create a finished end. Alternatively, the rear opening  26  could be folded in a manner similar to the brim  28  of the front opening  22 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , with the front opening  22  positioned snugly around the wearer&#39;s face  38 , the wearer may pull back on the rear opening  26  to extend the tubular sleeve  18  to its full length over the wearer&#39;s head. Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a pocket  42  is shown as being integral with or attached, e.g., sewn, to the inside surface of the tubular sleeve  18 . Referring now to  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7 , the pocket  42  is shown as including a folded open end  46  that is elasticized. A portion of the open end of the pocket is attached, e.g., sewn, to the inside surface of the tubular sleeve  18 .  FIGS. 1 and 5  best illustrate the stitch line  50  attaching the pocket  42  to the inside surface of the sleeve  18 . Another portion of the open end of the pocket  42  remains unattached to the inside surface of the sleeve  18 . 
     As best shown in  FIG. 5 , once the tubular sleeve  18  has been placed over the wearer&#39;s head with the wearer&#39;s long hair extending through the rear opening  26 , the wearer&#39;s long hair  34  may be gathered into a ball or bun at the rear of the head and held in one hand. Again, as shown in  FIG. 5 , at the same time, the wearer may stretch the unattached portion of the elasticized open end  46  of the pocket  42  to create a large cavity into which the hair may be placed for retention therein. Upon release of the pocket  42  after the hair has been deposited, the elasticized open end  46  contracts around the wearer&#39;s long hair  34  including braids or dreadlocks, so as to encapsulate the hair  34  but not disturb or crush the hair  34  or disturb the braids or dreadlocks. The pocket may then be pulled up to meet or extend within the rear opening  26  so as to completely cover the wearer&#39;s hair  34 . 
     Because the open end  46  of the pocket is elasticized, varying lengths of hair arranged in braided hair, dreadlocks, or not arranged may be retained within the pocket  42 .  FIG. 1  shows the wearer&#39;s long hair including braids or dreadlocks contained within the pocket after the wearer has released the elasticized open end  46 . A breakaway section in  FIG. 1  illustrates the elasticized open end  46  of the pocket  42  retaining the wearer&#39;s long hair  34  and tucked within the open end  26  of the tubular sleeve  18 . Once in place on the head with the long hair gathered in the pocket  42 , the garment  10  serves to keep long hair  34  off the wearer&#39;s face  38  so that make-up may be applied, the face  38  may be washed, or for other purposes when one would need to keep long hair  34  away from the face  38 . The garment also serves to protect long hair  34  including long hair that has been arranged into braids or dreadlocks from becoming soiled or dirty during normal everyday activities. 
     A method of wearing or using the garment of the present invention is described. First, the garment of the present invention is provided. The garment  10  includes the tubular sleeve  18  for fitting over the wearer&#39;s head  14  and an attached or integral pocket  42  to accommodate the hanging portions of the wearer&#39;s hair  34 , which may be in the form of a pony tail, braids, extension braids, hair extensions, or dreadlocks. The garment  10  is held in the user&#39;s hands in a condition as best shown in  FIG. 2  with the front opening  22  facing away from the user. At the next step, the tubular sleeve  18  is placed over the wearer&#39;s head  14  with the brim  28  positioned over the wearer&#39;s forehead. At the next step, the wearer pulls the rear opening  26  of tubular sleeve  18  back to cover the remaining portion of the wearer&#39;s head  14 . Next, the wearer gathers the hanging portions of the hair  34  and forms the hanging portions into a bun at the rear portion of the head  14 . At the next step, the wearer pulls the elastic opening  46  of the pocket  42  out from within the tubular sleeve  18  to create a cavity and then deposits the bun or rolled up hair  34  into the pocket  42 . Once the hair  34  has been deposited, the elasticized open end  46  of the pocket  42  contracts around the wearer&#39;s hair  34  to encapsulate the hair  34 . The pocket  42  may then be pulled up over the hair  34  to enable the garment  10  to completely cover the hair  34 . 
     In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, while preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention.