Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FOLDABLE RAIN HAT
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention is related to headwear, and more particularly to a
foldable rain hat for keeping
hair dry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Various types of hats have been used by people for thousands of years
that offer protection
from the sun, wind and rain. In one common design, the hat has a wide brim for
protecting the wearer
from the sun and rain. Such a hat is useful for protecting the wearer from the
sun, but the ability of the
hat in keeping the user's hair dry depends on the hairstyle of the user.
[0003] For example, the hat may keep the user's hair almost completely dry
where the user has their
hair cut to a short length. The hat, however, offers little protection against
the rain where the user has
long hair. A user with long hair may choose to fold their hair up in a bundle
on top of their head and
place the hair under the hat to keep the hair dry, but creating the bundle is
both inconvenient and may
permanently ruin the hairstyle of the user.
[0004] Another commonly known type of headgear is a bonnet. Certain types of
bonnets are useful for
keeping long hair dry, but bonnets do not offer other advantages found in
other hats such as a semi-
rigid structure or the rain and sun protection offered by a brim. Furthermore,
bonnets are often
considered to be an unfashionable type of headgear from another era, and are
not particular appealing
to the fashion-conscious user.
[0005] There is therefore a need for a rain hat that mitigates one or more of
the defects of the prior
art.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In its broad aspect, the invention provides a foldable rain hat for
keeping hair dry. The rain hat
includes a body that has a rim defining the opening to a bowl, the bowl being
adapted to fit on a
person's head. The bowl is closed at its top by a crown. The rain hat also
includes a snood extending
downwards from the body. The snood has a pouch for receiving a portion of the
person's hair, the
snood being adapted to keep the person's hair dry as well as retaining the
person's hairstyle.
[0007] In another aspect, the invention provides that the body and the snood
are made out of a flexible
material so that the rain hat can be easily folded and stored.
[0008] In one other aspect, the rain hat comprises a waterproof breathable
fabric that is laminated. The
body may be made from a thicker fabric than the snood. The seams of the hat
are sealed with thermal
tape for total impermeability.
[0009] In one aspect, the rain hat comprises polyvinyl chloride.
[0010] In another aspect, one of the body and the snood includes a pocket
configured to receive the
snood and the body in a folded configuration.
[0011] In another of its aspects, the snood is detachable from the rain hat.
[0012] In one aspect, the pocket is adapted to be closed using a securing
device such as a zipper, fabric
hook and loop fasteners, or by fastening one or more buttons.
[0013] In another aspect, the invention provides a foldable rain hat for
keeping the hair of a person dry.
The rain hat includes a body that has a rim for defining the opening to a
bowl, the bowl being adapted to
fit on the person's head. The bowl is closed at its top by a crown. The body
has an inner surface which
is designed to be supported on the person's head and an outer surface that is
exposed to the elements.
The rain hat also includes a snood extending downwards from the inner surface
of the body. The snood
has a pouch for receiving a portion of the person's hair, the snood being
adapted to keep the person's
hair dry.
[0014] In yet another aspect, the body is made of a rigid material and the
snood is made out of a
flexible material.
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[0015] In one other aspect, the outer surface of the body is circumscribed by
a band that is adapted to
provide additional structural support to the rain hat.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The invention will be better understood with reference to the drawings,
in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary rain hat of the invention being worn by a
person;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a front view of one embodiment of the rain hat of the
invention;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a rear view of the rain hat of Fig. 2;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a side view of the rain hat of Fig. 2
[0021] FIG. 5 is a top view of the rain hat of Fig. 2;
[0022] FIG. 6 is a front view of another embodiment of the rain hat of the
invention;
[0023] FIG. 7 is a rear view of the rain hat of Fig. 6;
[0024] FIG. 8 is side view of the rain hat of Fig. 6;
[0025] FIG. 9 is a top view of the rain hat of Fig. 6;
[0026] FIG. 10 shows a snood of the rain hat being pulled out of a pocket
according to one
embodiment;
[0027] FIG. 11 shows the snood of FIG. 10 fully pulled out of the pocket
according to one embodiment;
[0028] FIG. 12 shows the snood being folded in preparation of inserting the
snood and body into the
pocket of the rain hat according to one embodiment;
[0029] FIG. 13 shows the snood being rolled up into the pocket according to
one embodiment;
[0030] FIG. 14 shows the snood of an exemplary rain hat fully inserted into
the pocket according to one
embodiment;
[0031] FIG. 15 shows one side of the pocket containing the rain hat according
to one embodiment;
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[0032] FIG. 16 shows the other side of the pocket containing the rain hat
according to one
embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0033] Reference is first made to FIGS. 1-5 to describe an embodiment of a
rain hat for keeping a
person's hair dry in accordance with the invention indicated generally by the
numeral 100. Preferably,
the rain hat 100 includes a body 114 which provides the overall structure of
the rain hat 100. The body
has a rim 104 that defines the opening of bowl-shaped cavity (not shown) that
is adapted to fit on the
person's head. The bowl is closed at its top by a crown 102, the crown 102
being adapted to protect the
top of the head from the sun and rain. It will be appreciated by one skilled
in the art that the shape of
the bowl and/or the crown 102 can vary in many ways to accommodate different
head sizes and to
appeal to different tastes in fashion. In one embodiment, the rim 104 and/or
the bowl are made out of
an elastic material that will fit snugly on a person's head. The rain hat 100
further includes a snood 106
extending downwards from the body 114. The snood 106 has an opening 108 for
receiving a portion of
the wearer's hair and a pouch 109 for keeping the portion of hair dry. For
example, a woman with
longer hair may wish to keep her hair in the pouch 109 after she goes to a
hairdresser. The pouch 109
operates to both keep the hair dry and also to keep the integrity of hairstyle
while the woman goes
about her day. In one embodiment, the pouch 109 is made out of an elastic
material and is therefore
able to house and protect different volumes of hair. It will be appreciated by
one skilled in the art that
the body 114 and the snood 106 can be made out of a variety of materials
commonly found in
headwear, including waterproof materials. The body 114 and the snood 106 may
be made out of the
same material or may be fashioned from different materials.
[0034] In some embodiments, the rain hat (body 114 and/or snood 106) is made
from a waterproof
breathable fabric. The fabric may be laminated. The body 114 may be made from
a thicker fabric than
the snood 106. The seams of the hat 100 are sealed with thermal tape to ensure
complete
impermeability. The rain hat 100 may be made from any suitable fabric for hats
including polyvinyl
chloride.
[0035] In one embodiment of the invention, the body 114 and the snood 106 are
constructed out of a
flexible material that can be folded. The rain hat 100 is designed such that
the body 114 and the snood
106 can be neatly folded and stored in a pocket as shown in Figs. 10-16. The
pocket 220 (shown in Fig. 7
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on rain hat 200) is a sleeve located in either the snood 106 or the body 114
and includes an opening 222
into which the snood 106 and body 114 may be folded. In a folded state, the
rain hat 100 can be stored
neatly in a small space such as a pocket, a purse, a briefcase, or in another
storage device. In one design
of the rain hat 100, the snood 106 is detachable from the body 114 so that the
user can choose to wear
the rain hat 100 either with or without the snood 106 in place depending on
their preference for the day
or occasion. The snood 106 can be connected to the body 114 using one of
several fastening devices
such as buttons, fabric hook and loop fasteners, zippers, etc. as are commonly
known in the art. Any
one of multiple snoods 106 can be used with the same body 114, which gives the
user the choice of
which snood 106 to use with the rain hat 100 depending on the hairstyle, the
volume hair, color and
design preferences, etc.
[0036] In another embodiment of the rain hat 100, the snood 106 is made out of
a flexible material
while the body 114 is formed from a rigid material. In this design, the snood
106 may be detached from
the body 114 and stored in a pocket, purse, or another suitable place. The
rigidity of the body 114
allows the rain hat 100 to employ design elements found in other rigid hats
such as uniquely designed
rigid crowns and brims.
[0037] In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-5, the snood 106 extends downward
from the body 114.
The snood 106 is attached either permanently or temporarily to the body 114 on
the inside of the bowl
(i.e. - the interior surface that is in contact with the user's head). It will
be appreciated that where the
snood 106 is attached to body 114 permanently, the snood 106 may be affixed to
the body 114 by
threading, glue, or may be integrally formed with the body 114.
[0038] It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the rain hat of
the present invention can
incorporate many design elements commonly found in headgear. For example, the
rain hat 100 shown
in Figs. 1-4 includes a brim 110 around the entire circumference of the rim
104. The brim 110 is useful
for providing protection from the sun and rain in addition to the protection
offered by the bowl 116.
The rain hat of the present invention may share similar design features with
or be substantially similar to
a cowboy hat, a baseball cap, a beret, a boater, a fedora, a Cloche hat, or
any other hat design.
[0039] In yet another embodiment, the rain hat 100 includes a band 112 that
circumscribes the body
114. The band 112 may be included for purely aesthetic reasons and/or may
provide additional
structural support to the body 114. In one embodiment, the band 112 is adapted
to keep the shape of
the body 114 even after the body 114 has been folded and unfolded several
times into the pouch 109.
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[0040] Figs. 6-9 show another embodiment of the rain hat of the present
invention, indicated generally
by the reference numeral 200. In this design, the rain hat 200 includes a body
214 and a snood 203. The
snood 203 is affixed to the outer surface of the body 214 and over the brim
210. The snood 203 may be
detachable from the body 214 or may be permanently affixed to the body 214.
The rain hat 200 also
includes stitching 204 on the body 214. The stitching 204 may simply offer
fashion appeal to the user or
it may offer additional structural support to the body 214. The rain hat 200
shown in Figs. 6-9 operates
similarly to the rain hat 100 described above, and is operable to be folded
into the pocket 220 so that
the rain hat 200 can take the form shown in Figures 14 - 16.
[0041] In use, the user of the rain hat 100 can choose to either wear the rain
hat 100,200 or keep it
stored in the pocket 220. If the rain hat 100 is currently in a folded state
(as shown in Figs 14 - 16) and
the user desires to wear the rain hat 100, the user first unlocks the securing
device (if a securing device
is included with the hat 100) and pulls out the body 114 and the snood 106.
After unfolding from the
pocket 220, the rain hat 100 is in a form substantially similar to the rain
hat 100 as shown in Figs. 1-4.
The user then places the bowl-shaped part of the body 114 onto their head
until it fits comfortably. If
the user so desires, the user can take a portion of their hair and place it
into the pouch 109 while they
go about their day. The pouch 109 is adapted to keep the user's hair dry and
also to protect the
integrity of the user's hairstyle. The rain hat 100 of the present invention
is therefore ideal for using
immediately after the user leaves the hairdresser. When the user is finished
wearing the rain hat 100,
the user simply retrieves the portion of their hair that is contained in the
pouch 109 and removes the
rain hat 100 from their head. If the user wants, he or she can then fold the
body 114 and the snood 106
into the pocket 220 and close the pouch 220 using the securing device (not
shown). When the rain hat
100 is in pocket form, the user is able to store the rain hat 100 conveniently
in a small place such as a
clothes pocket or a purse.
[0042] Referring next to Figures 10 - 16, the folding and unfolding process of
the rain hat of the
invention according to one embodiment is described in more detail. Figure 10
shows the snood 203
being removed from the pocket 300 (220) via opening 308 (222). Reference
numeral 500 indicates that
the pocket 300 is in a slightly unfolded state. As shown the pocket 300 may be
folded (or slightly
squeezed) into halves 304, 306 to facilitate removal of the snood 203.
[0043] Fig. 11 illustrates the process of folding and rolling the rain hat 100
into pocket form 300. The
body of the rain hat 401 is placed within snood 203 which has been turned
inside out. The top half of
the pocket 300 in inside out form is indicated by 402 and the bottom half of
the pocket 300 in inside out
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form is indicated by 403 (the terms "top" and "bottom" do not refer to a
preferred orientation but only
to opposing portions of the pocket 300).
[0044] Figures 12 and 13 illustrate the snood 203 and body 401 (in inside out
form) being rolled into
pocket 300. Reference numeral 400 indicates that the rain hat 100 is in the
process of being folded.
[0045] Figures 14 to 16 show the rain hat completely folded into the pocket
300. In pocket form, a user
can conveniently carry the rain hat in a storage device such as purse, bag,
clothes pocket and the like. In
some embodiments, the pouch half 306 includes a label 302 for branding and/or
washing purposes.
[0046] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention
can take many forms, and that
such forms are within the scope of the invention as claimed. Therefore, the
spirit and scope of the
appended claims should not be limited to the descriptions of the preferred
versions contained herein.
