Patent Application
20110004971
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a fashionable garment primarily developed for the purpose of keeping a user's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face insulated from the cold weather and for the purpose of being able to fold flat and compact enough to fit inside a conventional purse or handbag when not in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Scarves are usually made from a single piece of fabric having a square, rectangular, or triangular configuration. Known scarves are made from a wide variety of styles, including conventional neck scarves, head wraps, head bows, shoulder wraps, and as shawls or stoles. These scarves are accessory items. However, the fashion world of accessory items has been long void of providing a piece that enhances and economically extends the wardrobe while providing greater protection and insulation from the cold weather than typical scarves.
Conventional garments, such as, coats, jackets, and sweaters that insulate or protect a person's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face from the cold weather are typically large and bulky items that cannot be folded flat and compact enough to fit inside a typical sized purse or handbag. Accessory items, such as, scarves and hoods, are typically not sufficient to insulate a person's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face from the cold weather.
Scarves, such as, the one disclosed on U.S. Design Pat. No. D314,080, do not have hoods to insulate the head and ears. Such scarves simply hang from the wearer's shoulders and do not offer complete coverage and insulation of the wearer's full front body. Combined hood and scarf garments, such as, those disclosed on U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,211,807 and 3,555,566, are small and only cover the head, ears, and neck. Such garments are not sufficient to provide coverage over the upper back and full front body. A more recent U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,266 discloses a head gear system that provides insulation to the head, ears, full neck, and face. However, even such head gear system does not additionally provide insulation to the upper back and full front body.
Other garments that can serve to insulate the wearer from cold weather can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 593,954, 746,586, 837,143, 866,752, 905,270, 1,016,214, 2,269,491, 2,346,918, 3,449,766, 3,479,667, 4,495,660, 4,718,123, and 6,397,403.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a combination hood and scarf garment that allows insulation and coverage of the wearer's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face from the cold weather while being able to fold flat and compact enough to fit inside a conventional sized purse or handbag when not in use.
In this respect, the combination hood and scarf garment according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides a fashionable garment primarily developed for the purpose of keeping a user's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face insulated from the cold weather and for the purpose of being able to fold flat and compact enough to fit inside a conventional purse or handbag when not in use.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a fashionable garment primarily developed for the purpose of keeping a user's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face insulated from the cold weather and for the purpose of being able to fold flat and compact enough to fit inside a conventional purse or handbag when not in use. As will be seen, this improved garment achieves these objectives and advantages in a novel, nonobvious, and useful combination.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned disadvantages occurring in the prior art, and it is the object of the present invention to provide a combination hood and scarf garment which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which will provide the wearer fashionable insulation and protection from the cold weather.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a combination hood and scarf garment that provides coverage of the wearer's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment that can be configured to serve as a blanket when the wearer is sitting or lying down and as a scarf when the wearer is standing or walking about.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment that can be folded flat and compact enough to fit inside a standard sized purse or handbag when not in use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment with a hood that covers the wearer's head without interfering with her peripheral vision.
The present invention is a hood scarf, a combination hood and scarf garment, made of woven material. The hood scarf can be easily configured to insulate the wearer's full front body, upper back, shoulders, full neck, ears, full head, and face. The design and material used in the hood scarf allows the wearer to effortlessly change configuration to suit the changing cold weather. The hood scarf is a head cover attached to a neckpiece having strips of fabric extending out on both sides of the head cover to serve as scarves that can be wrapped around the wearer's upper body, shoulders, neck, and face or that can be allowed to hang down from the wearer's shoulders and attached together to form a blanket that covers the wearer's front portion of her body.
More importantly, the hood scarf of the present invention can be designed with special curvatures that ensure that the wearer's peripheral vision is not blocked or hindered in any manner. Maintaining an aesthetically clean look without interfering with the vision of the wearer is important for the hood scarf to be fashionable and become an integral part of the wearer's overall wardrobe or outfit.
The above and other objects, features, advantages, and alternative aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in combination with the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functional similar elements. A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
a and 5b show a combination hood and scarf garment with pockets according to the second embodiment of the present invention;
Reference will now be made to the drawings in which the various elements of the present invention will be given numerical designations and in which the invention will be discussed so as to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention.
The head cover 10 is preferably made of two side panels 12 and 13 seamed together along the side and top edges thereof as by means of the seam 14 whereby said head cover 10 may be folded into a flat member of little thickness when not in use. In making the seam 14 along the top edges, the side panels 12 and 13 are rounded off to create a head curvature 16 that follows the contours of the head of the wearer. The head cover 10 also has a neck curvature 17 that follows the contours of the back of the wearer's neck. Both the head curvature 16 and the neck curvature 17 help the hood scarf 100 in following the curvature of the wearer's head and neck so as to maintain an aesthetically clean and fashionable look.
As shown in
Hereinafter, an explanation on the use of the state of the hood scarf 100 of the present invention. When the hood scarf 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is properly worn by the user, the head cover 10 is placed over the user's head to cover the entire head and ears of the user. The neckpiece 20 is then wrapped around the shoulders of the user so that it covers the entire shoulders and upper back of the user, as shown on
When the user wears the hood scarf 100 of the present invention while laying down on her back or sitting down, the long strips of fabric 21 are attached to each other with the buttons 30 and serve as a blanket that provides coverage over the front side of her body, upper back. shoulders, neck, head, and ears. The user can remove the head cover 10 from her head and still maintain coverage over her front side of her body, upper back, and shoulders. As the user stands to walk, she can undo the buttons 30 to detach the long strips of fabric 20 from each other and use them as scarves to wrap around her shoulders, neck, and face, as shown on
As the weather warms up, the user can easily remove the hood scarf 100 and fold it flat and compact. Since the hood scarf 100 does not have a full back side or sleeves, it can be folded flat and compact enough to fit inside a standard sized women's purse or handbag.
An alternative embodiment is shown on
Another alternative embodiment is shown on
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Another alternative embodiment is shown on
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It is understood that the described embodiments of the invention are illustrative only, and that modifications thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, this invention is not to be regarded as limited to the embodiments disclosed, but to be limited only as defined by the appended claims herein.
