U.S. patent application number 11/362345 was filed with the patent office on 2006-08-31 for hat/beret with opening for wearer's hair or synthetic hair.
This patent application is currently assigned to TAMI LYNN PRODUCTIONS. Invention is credited to Tami Lynn.
Application Number | 20060191057 11/362345 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36930699 |
Filed Date | 2006-08-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060191057 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lynn; Tami |
August 31, 2006 |
Hat/beret with opening for wearer's hair or synthetic hair
Abstract
A hat comprising dome shaped elastic material sized to fit over
a user's head and one or more holes in the dome shaped material to
allow a user's hair to pass through. An elastic band is included
around the lower edge of the dome shaped elastic material, the
elastic band being made of a material having a higher elasticity
than the elastic material, and the elastic band allowing the hat to
be worn as a hat or beret. In another embodiment synthetic hair
passes through at least one of the one or more holes to give the
appearance that the. synthetic hair originates from a user's head.
Synthetic hair can also extend from the lower edge of the
dome-shaped material. This synthetic hair embodiment is
particularly useful for those loosing their natural hair through
medical treatment.
Inventors: |
Lynn; Tami; (Woodland Hills,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KOPPEL, PATRICK & HEYBL
555 ST. CHARLES DRIVE
SUITE 107
THOUSAND OAKS
CA
91360
US
|
Assignee: |
TAMI LYNN PRODUCTIONS
|
Family ID: |
36930699 |
Appl. No.: |
11/362345 |
Filed: |
February 23, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60593946 |
Feb 25, 2005 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/171 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41G 5/0093 20130101;
A42B 1/225 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
002/171 |
International
Class: |
A42B 1/04 20060101
A42B001/04 |
Claims
1. A hat, comprising: dome shaped elastic material sized to fit
over a user's head; one or more holes in said dome shaped material
to allow a user's hair to pass through; an elastic band around the
lower edge of said dome shaped elastic material, said elastic band
being made of a material having a higher elasticity than said
elastic material, said elastic band allowing said hat to be worn as
a hat or beret.
2. The hat of claim 1, wherein said holes are arranged to allow a
user's hair to pass through and remain in said one or more holes
when said hat is worn as a hat or beret.
3. The hat of claim 1, wherein each of said one or more holes has a
band of higher elasticity material around its edge to hold said
hair.
4. The hat of claim 1, wherein said one or more holes comprises a
one hole near the top of said dome shaped material.
5. The hat of claim 1, wherein said one or more holes comprises one
hole near the lower edge of said dome shaped material.
6. The hat of claim 1, wherein said one or more holes comprises two
holes, each of which is on an opposing side of the dome shaped
material.
7. The hat of claim 1, wherein said user's hair comprises synthetic
hair.
8. The hat of claim 7, wherein said synthetic hair is attached to
the inside of said dome shaped material and passes through said one
or more holes.
9. The hat of claim 7, further comprising synthetic hair attached
to said dome shaped material and extending from the lower edge of
said dome shaped material.
10. A hat, comprising: dome shaped elastic material sized to fit
over a user's head; one or more holes in said dome shaped material
to allow a user's hair to pass through; synthetic hair passing
through at least one of said one or more holes to give the
appearance that said synthetic hair originates from a user's
head.
11. The hat of claim 10, wherein said synthetic hair is attached to
inside surface of said dome shaped material.
12. The hat of claim 10, wherein said synthetic hair further
comprises side hair extending from the lower edge of said dome
shaped material.
13. The hat of claim 13, wherein said side hair is attached to the
inside surface of said dome-shaped material.
14. The hat of claim 10, further comprising an elastic band around
the lower edge of said dome shaped elastic material, said elastic
band being made of a material having a higher elasticity than said
elastic material, said elastic band allowing said hat to be worn as
a hat or beret.
15. The hat of claim 10, wherein each of said one or more holes has
a band of higher elasticity material around its edge to hold said
hair.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 60/593,946 to Lynn, filed on Feb. 25,
2005.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention relates to head covering and more
particularly to a head covering that can be worn as a hat or beret
that can either have openings for the wearer's hair or can be
arranged with synthetic hair.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] A number of hats have been developed with holes for the
wearer's hair to pass through. U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,509 describes an
accessory item including a baseball type cap having a cut-out
through which the wearer's hair may rearwardly extend. A strap
extends across the opening or cut-out generally aligned with the
lower edge peripheral edge of the cap, with the strap providing
adjustment for different head sizes. A decorative hair band is
attached to the rear of the cap at or near the cut-out. In use, the
wearer's hear extends through the cut-out and through the hear
band. In an alternate embodiment, a hair piece can be removably
attached to the hair band by Velcro to simulate a natural braid or
ponytail.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,854 discloses a baseball cap type
headwear piece having a crown defining an opening to accept the
head of a wearer, with the crown having a top and bottom, front and
back, and a peripheral wall having an annular configuration. An
opening is provided through the peripheral crown wall to allow
passage therethrough of an accumulation of hair on the head of a
wearer with the headwear piece in place on the wearer's head.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,799 also discloses a headgear accessory
adaptable to an existing baseball type cap, hat, hood, or other
article worn on the head, to cover a hole or passage formed therein
to provide for the passage of the hair of the wearer therethrough.
Using the present headgear accessory, a hole may be placed in the
headgear at a location comfortable for the passage of longer hair
(e.g., ponytail, braid, etc.) therethrough, and the accessory sewn
or otherwise secured to the headgear to provide a decorative
closure for the hole. The accessory is preferably formed of a
resilient, flexible material such as neoprene sheet, with a
synthetic fabric overlay for additional strength and to provide a
more attractive appearance. A series of slots are formed in the
neoprene/fabric sheet, through which the wearer's hair is passed.
The resilient nature of the sheet material biases the material to
each side of each of the slots against the hair, thereby providing
greater security for the headgear on the wearer's head and yet
providing for ease of removal of the headgear. The periphery and
edges of the slots of the accessory may be stitched for greater
durability and to provide an attractive appearance, if desired. The
accessory may be provided separately, or in combination with
various types of hats, caps, hoods, and/or other headgear of
virtually any type.
[0008] Other types of hats with opening have been described in U.S.
patent applications Ser. Nos. 2002/0162155, 2003/0009813,
2004/0006809 and 2005/0066421.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] One embodiment of a hat according to the present invention
comprises a dome shaped elastic material sized to fit over a user's
head. One or more holes are provided in the dome shaped material to
allow a user's hair to pass through. An elastic band is included
around the lower edge of the dome shaped elastic material, the
elastic band being made of a material having a higher elasticity
than the elastic material, and the elastic band allowing the hat to
be worn as a hat or beret.
[0010] Another embodiment of a hat according to the present
invention comprises dome shaped elastic material sized to fit over
a user's head. One or more holes are included in the dome shaped
material to allow a user's hair to pass through. Synthetic hair
passes through at least one of the one or more holes to give the
appearance that the synthetic hair originates from a user's
head.
[0011] These and further features and advantages of the invention
will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following
detailed description, taken together with the accompanying
drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of one embodiment of a
hat/beret according to the present invention having a high pass
through hole and being worn as a hat;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the hat in FIG. 1, worn
as a beret;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of another embodiment of a
hat/beret according to the present invention having a low pass
through hole;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of
a hat/beret according to the present invention having two pass
through holes for pigtails;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the hat shown in FIG.
4;
[0017] FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of
a hat/beret according to the present invention having two pass
through holes for pigtails; and
[0018] FIG. 7 is a side perspective view of another embodiment of a
hat according to the present invention having rear and side hair
attachments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] The present invention generally relates to head covering
arranged such that it can be worn as a hat or a beret, with the
head covering either having one or more openings for the user's
hair to pass through, or having hair attached to give the
appearance that the wearer's hair is passing through the one or
more openings or extending from beneath the head covering ("hat").
The hat generally comprises a dome shaped elastic material sized to
fit over a user's head. The hat can be made of many different
materials and fabrics, with a preferred hat being made of soft knit
or fur knit fabric that is stretchy to enable the hat to stretch.
This allows the wearer's hair to be pulled through the desired
openings providing the wearer with a unique, trendy hair style,
and/or a way to keep a hairstyle undisturbed while wearing the hat.
The hat can be sized to be worn by babies, toddlers, children,
teens and adults, and be constructed with various styles such as
with fur knits or ear flaps, and can be provided with other
matching clothing such as scarves or gloves.
[0020] The hat can comprise a soft ribbing in the area covering the
wearer's forehead. This in combination with the stretchy openings
for the user's hair to pass through creates a hat that is both
convenient and comfortable to wear. The hat can also provide a
stretchy band along its lower periphery that allows the hat to be
worn both as a hat or a beret.
[0021] FIGS. 1 and 2 show one embodiment of a hat 10 according to
the present invention that can be worn both as a hat or a beret.
The hat 10 generally comprises a stretchy material formed in a dome
shape to fit a user's head 11 and to allow the hat 10 to be worn
over the top of a user's head 11, The hat 10 also has an
opening/hole 12 for the user's hair 13 to pass through, although it
is understood. that the opening 12 can be in different locations
and the hat 10 can have more than one opening.
[0022] The hat 10 preferably has a band 14 around its edge that is
made of a material that has a greater elasticity and stronger
holding force around the user's head 11 than the remainder of the
hat 10. The band 14 can be made of a material different from the
remainder of the hat 10, or it can be made of the same material,
such as a knit or fabric, woven to give the band its different
characteristics. The band 14 in combination with the remainder of
the hat 10, provide certain important features. The band 14 holds
that hat 10 firmly in place on the user's head 11, which allows any
hair 13 passing through the hole 12 to be remain securely within
the hole 12.
[0023] Referring now to FIG. 2, the band 14 also allows the hat 10
to be worn as a beret by arranging the band 14 higher on the user's
head. This portion of the head 11 has a smaller diameter than the
lower portion of the head 11 and the greater elasticity of the band
14 causes it to close on this smaller diameter portion of the head
11 while the remainder of the hat 10 does not. This allows the hat
10 to be worn in different beret styles while still allowing the
hair 13 to remain in the hole 12. For example, a portion of the hat
10 above the band 14 can be folded over at least part of the band
14 so that the hat at least partially covers part of the band. This
allows the hat be worn with the like a beret, with the hole 12
still holding hair that passes through it.
[0024] In other embodiments of the hat 10 according to the present
invention, the hole 12 can have a band 15 of higher elasticity
material that the remainder of the hat. This allows the hair 13 to
be firmly held within the hole 12.
[0025] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of hat 30 according to the
present invention having a low opening/hole 32 to accommodate hair
33 from lower on a user's head 31 to have a hole to pass through.
This is most useful for those who prefer a low "pony tail" or for
men who are balding and only have hair lower on their heads. The
hat 30 also comprises a band 34 similar to the band 14 shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2 and described herein.
[0026] FIGS. 4 and 5 show another embodiment of a hat 50 according
to the present invention having two side holes 52a and 52b on the
upper part of the user's head 51. This is most useful for those who
prefer to wear their hair in more than one sections 53a, 53b and
high on the head 51. This hair arrangement is commonly referred to
as "pigtails". The hat also comprises a band 54 similar to band 14
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described herein, with the band 54
arranged so that is can be higher on the head 51 to allow the hat
50 to be worn as a beret.
[0027] FIGS. 6 shows still another embodiment of a hat 70 according
to the present invention having two side holes 72a and 72b on the
lower part of the user's head 71. This is most useful for those who
prefer lower "pigtails". The hat 70 also comprises a band 74
similar to band 14 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described herein.
[0028] FIG. 7 shows still another embodiment of a hat 80 according
to the present invention, having a band 82 similar to the band 14
described above. The hat 80, however, does not have holes for the
user's hair to pass through similar to the holes described in the
other embodiments of the hats described herein. Instead, the hat 80
has a hole 84 with synthetic hair 86 attached to the hat 80 and
passing through the hole 84 giving the appearance that it is that
of the users. The hair 86 can be attached to the hat in many
different ways, with the preferred hair attached to the inside of
the hat to the hair 86 passes through the hole from the inside of
the hat. This gives the appearance that the hair actually
originates from the user's head.
[0029] The hat 80 also has side hair section 88 attached to and
hanging down from the lower edge of the hat 80. Like the hair 86
described above, the side hair 88 can also be attached to the hat
in many different ways, but is also preferably attached to the
inside of the hat 80 giving the appearance that the side hair 88
originates from the user's head. This hat 80 can comprise other
hair pieces similarly attached to the hat 80 such as in the front
or back or to provide additional side hair. The hat 80 can also
have additional holes located in different areas with all or some
of the holes having synthetic hair attached similar to hair 86.
[0030] Synthetic hair can be made of any material that gives the
appearance that it is the user's, and in some embodiments the
synthetic hair can actually be human hair attached to the hat. The
hair can be braided as shown, and many different types (such as
straight or curly) and colors of synthetic hair 86 can be used in
hat 80. In still other embodiments, different colors and materials
can be used to create novelty hats, with one example being brightly
colored hair. It is also understood that the synthetic hair can be
attached using many different methods, such a glue, hook and loop
(Velcro.RTM.), threat, snap, etc.
[0031] The hat 80 is particularly applicable to user's who have
lost their hair or are in the process of loosing their hair. For
example, patients undergoing chemotherapy often experience hair
loss, which can lead to embarrassment for the patient, particularly
women. The hat 80 can be giving the appearance that the wearer's
hair is extending through hat hole and from the lower edge of the
hat.
[0032] Although the present invention has been described in
considerable detail with reference to certain preferred
configurations, other versions are possible. For example, the hat
can be made of many different materials, the holes can be in many
different locations, and the synthetic hair can be attached to and
extend from many different locations on the hat. Therefore, the
spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to
the preferred versions described above.
* * * * *