Patent Publication Number: US-7895672-B2

Title: Bonnet with spandex elastic strip

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a bonnet with an elastic strip and more particularly to an improved elastic strip for a bonnet so as to preserve the hair. 
     Many people sleep with bonnets on their head to protect their hairstyle or hairdo against becoming messed from contact and from rubbing on a pillow or sleep surface. Such bonnets may be worn while the wearer is awake to preserve the hairstyle against being messed. A typical sleep bonnet includes a bonnet covering that is shaped to extend over the head and has an opening through which the head is installed in the bonnet. In order to hold the bonnet in place on the head, a relatively narrow elastic strip is attached typically around the inside of the bonnet at or just above the opening. After the bonnet is placed on the head, the elastic strip closes the edge of the bonnet opening around the head to hold the bonnet in place. 
     A typical bonnet includes a strip of an elastic material. The strip of elastic material is not smooth, especially when it is stretched, because the strip then develops a rough or abrasive surface. As elastic is stretched, its material pulls apart and the surface of the elastic becomes rough. 
     Hair on the head, especially hair of persons of African descent, is brittle and may break when localized pressure is applied to it or it is subject to rubbing by abrasive material. Bonnets for wearing over the hair to hold a hairdo in place, such as sleep bonnets, are typically not designed to avoid a problem produced by the elastic closure strip around the opening into the bonnet. The elastic strip is narrow in width, so that it applies concentrated and higher pressure where it contacts the hair. The elastic strip is not smooth and, especially when stretched, its surface may be abrasive. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is to as much as possible avoid possible damage to a wearer&#39;s hair and hairdo resulting from the elastic band of a hair bonnet or a sleep bonnet. 
     Another object of the invention is to distribute the force that is applied by the elastic strip of the bonnet over a wider area, thereby reducing localized pressure on the hair, and to cause the elastic applied to the hair to be smooth, not rough, and not abrasive. 
     According to the invention, at and below the margin or edge of the opening into a bonnet, a wide spandex elastic strip is attached at the open end of the bonnet. When the spandex strip stretches, as the bonnet is placed on the head and as the strip remains stretched as the spandex strip tightens over the hair, the spandex strip does not develop a rough surface and is less abrasive than a normal elastic at the opening in the bonnet and possibly on the inside of the bonnet. Because the spandex strip is wider than a conventional non-spandex elastic strip used in a bonnet, the spandex strip does not apply as elevated localized pressure on the hair as would a conventional, narrower elastic strip. In addition, the spandex retains a smooth surface, not abrasive, when it is stretched. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a sleep bonnet with an elastic strip according to the prior art; 
         FIG. 2  shows a detail thereof in cross section; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a sleep bonnet with a spandex elastic strip according to the invention; and 
         FIG. 4  shows a detail thereof in cross section. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a conventional hair bonnet  10 , particularly a sleep bonnet. It includes a flexible material, hair covering  12  which is generally shaped to cover a head. The bonnet is shaped to have an open end  14  into which a wearer&#39;s head is inserted. A conventional thin width elastic material strip  16  is attached to and around the open end  14  of the bonnet. Typically, the elastic strip  16  is placed on the inside of the bonnet at or slightly above the open end  14  so that the open end region is drawn tightly against the head. The illustrated strip is relatively narrow, typically being in the range of about one-quarter inch to three-quarter inch in width, and usually about one-quarter inch or one cm in width. It is typically of a material comprised of an elastic material such as a natural or synthetic rubber or latex covered with knit or braided synthetic fiber. 
     In addition, because the elastic strip  16  is stretchable and the open end of the bonnet expands and because the elastic strip narrows the opening when the elastic relaxes and shrinks in length, while the fabric of the bonnet covering  12  at the opening does not change size, the bonnet hair covering fabric outward of the elastic strip  16  is pleated or shirred at  18  and is not smooth, and that pleated area  18  outward of the elastic strip  16  can rub on or irregularly press on the hair. 
     When conventional elastic material of the strip  16  is stretched, as when the bonnet is placed on the head and while the elastic pulls the open end at  14  toward the closed condition tightened around the hair, the elastic strip  16  applies localized pressure on the hair, possibly causing breakage of the hair due to the pressure applied and also due to the not smooth and abrasive characteristic of an elastic material, particularly when it is stretched. Even if the strip is widened somewhat, its pressure may break the hair. Typically, the elastic strip is on the inside of the bonnet so that it touches the hair. While the direct contact with the roughened surface of the elastic helps hold the bonnet to the hair, it has the undesirable effect of causing breakage of hair. Also, the shirred or pleated area  18  of the bonnet outward of the elastic strip and extending both above and below the strip  16  may rub the hair and break it. 
     A bonnet  20  according to the invention shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  might have the same type of head covering  22  and also has an open bottom end  24 . A different spandex fiber elastic material band is attached at the open end  24  and extends below the open end to develop a separate elastic band  28 , not inside the bonnet, but below it. The spandex band  28  has a width sufficient that the band does not apply a localized pressure to the hair that is likely to break the hair. For example, a minimum width of 1 inch or 2.5 cm is recommended for the spandex band and a maximum width for comfort and ability to place the bonnet on the head would generally be 2 inch or 5 cm. Spandex has the characteristic that it continuously maintains a smooth outer surface as it is stretched, so that the band has no rough surface parts that press on or can be rubbed across the hair which might cause breakage of the hair. Stretched spandex is not abrasive. Consequently, application of a spandex tightening band  28  below the open end  24  of the bonnet hair covering  22  has the beneficial effect of preserving the wearer&#39;s hairstyle and reducing, if not preventing, breakage of the hair. There is a stitch line  30  along which the band is stitched to the open end. Because the spandex band is wide, that stitch line does not press on the hair sufficiently to change the hairstyle or break the hair. 
     For convenience, the spandex band  28  may be doubled over on itself, as seen in  FIG. 4 , and the folded up free edges of the band  28  may be stitched to the bonnet at the open end  24 . 
     Although the present invention has been described in relation to a particular embodiment thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.