Patent Application
20200163431
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of hair covers. More specifically, embodiments of the disclosure relate to an apparatus and methods for a water-resistant hair pouch that is secure, lightweight, easy to use, and capable of preventing tangles and damage to hair often encountered due to recreational swimming in swimming pools, water parks, lakes, oceans, and the like.
Inconveniences due to water exposure typically include having to painfully comb through tangled, snarled hair as well as attempting to repair the effects of chlorine-damaged hair. Often times, damage due to chlorine in swimming pools necessitates cutting off damaged portions of hair, such as split ends and discolored hair, while leaving the hair dry, brittle, and unhealthy.
A possible option to preventing water damage to hair, caused by both chemical (chlorine) and natural (salt water) elements, is to wear a conventional swimming cap. Unfortunately, conventional swimming caps tend to be heavy, uncomfortable, and aesthetically lacking for recreational water activities other than competitive swim meets. As such, conventional swimming caps typically are not water resistant and not designed or intended to keep hair dry and prevent tangles, but rather swimming caps are configured primarily to keep the hair out of the face and reduce drag to assist with faster swimming during competition. Drawbacks to conventional swimming caps include pronounced heating of the head, as well as painfully constricting the head and forehead area. Removal of swimming caps typically causes undesirable pulling of the scalp, often leading to painfully tearing loose portions of the hair. Further, conventional swimming caps typically are silicone-based or include latex, which are known to cause potential allergic reactions in many swimmers.
Attempting to avoid the use of conventional swimming caps, many swimmers manipulate or treat their hair prior to entering the water. For example, long hair is often braided before swimming in an attempt to keep longer strands in place and reduce the likelihood of tangling. Unfortunately, braiding hair is a time-consuming process and poses a relatively high degree of difficulty when braiding one's own hair. In addition to a general lack of knowledge on various braiding techniques, many parents find attempting to braid a child's hair prior to swimming to be a painful, frustrating experience. Further, many parents find it difficult to undo the braids after swimming without causing severe tangling of the hair and significant discomfort to the child.
Another attempt to prevent damage has been the use of leave-in conditioners. One drawback to leave-in conditioners is that the hair must be wetted prior to application of the conditioner. Other drawbacks to leave-in conditioners include releasing chemicals into the water during swimming and leaving the hair with a greasy feeling after swimming.
Moreover, neither the use of leave-in conditioners nor braiding the hair protects the hair from the potentially damaging effects of exposure to saltwater or chlorinated swimming pools. As such, there is an unaddressed need for hair covers that are water resistant, secure, lightweight, and capable of preventing tangles and water damage often encountered due to recreational swimming in pools, water parks, lakes, oceans, and the like.
An apparatus and methods are provided for a water-resistant hair pouch that is secure, lightweight, easy to use, and capable of preventing tangles and water damage often encountered due to recreational swimming in pools, water parks, lakes, and oceans. The water-resistant hair pouch comprises a pouch that tapers from an opening to an apex. The opening provides access to a water-resistant cavity inside the pouch. An elastic loop coupled with the pouch, adjacent to the opening, is configured to be wrapped around a ponytail that is inserted through the opening into the water-resistant cavity. A drawstring facilitates cinching the opening around the base of the ponytail to minimize water exposure to the hair, or maintain a dry state of the hair, during immersion in water. Straps are attached to opposite sides of the pouch to enable a practitioner to secure the ponytail within a folded configuration of the pouch.
In an exemplary embodiment, a water-resistant hair pouch for protecting long hair from tangles and water damage during recreational swimming comprises: a pouch that tapers from an opening to an apex; an elastic loop coupled with the pouch adjacent to the opening; a drawstring configured to cinch the opening; and at least one strap attached to the pouch.
In another exemplary embodiment, the opening is configured to provide access to a water-resistant cavity inside the pouch. In another exemplary embodiment, the pouch is comprised of a pliable, lightweight, water-resistant material capable of minimizing water exposure to hair during immersion. In another exemplary embodiment, the elastic loop is configured to be wrapped around a group of hair, such as a ponytail that is inserted through the opening into a water-resistant cavity within the pouch.
In another exemplary embodiment, the drawstring is retained within an elongate passageway that extends around the perimeter of the opening. In another exemplary embodiment, the elongate passageway comprises a peripheral portion of the pouch adjacent to the opening that is folded over and attached to the body of the pouch. In another exemplary embodiment, the elongate passageway includes at least one opening that allows the drawstring to be looped outside of the elongate passageway. In another exemplary embodiment, the elongate passageway includes a first opening and a second opening that allow the drawstring to loop outside the elongate passageway on opposite sides of the opening roughly equidistant from the elastic loop. In another exemplary embodiment, the first and second openings are arranged around the opening to facilitate a practitioner grasping and pulling the drawstring to place the opening into a cinched state around the base of a ponytail that is wrapped in the elastic loop and inserted into the pouch.
In another exemplary embodiment, the at least one strap is constructed of a material similar to the material comprising the pouch. In another exemplary embodiment, the at least one strap is configured to enable a practitioner to secure a ponytail within a folded configuration of the pouch. In another exemplary embodiment, the at least one strap is configured to be wrapped around the pouch and secured to maintain folded configuration of the pouch. In another exemplary embodiment, the at least one strap comprises a first strap and a second strap that are configured to be tied into a bow or any form of knot suitable to secure the folded configuration of the pouch.
In an exemplary embodiment, a method for a water-resistant hair pouch to protect hair from tangles and water damage during recreational swimming comprises: forming a pouch that tapers from an opening to an apex; coupling an elastic loop with the pouch adjacent to the opening; configuring a drawstring to cinch the opening; constructing at least one strap; and attaching the at least one strap to the pouch.
In another exemplary embodiment, forming the pouch includes attaching together two flat portions of a flexible cloth, such that the flat portions are attached along lower angled edges, the apex, and upper angled edges adjacent to the opening. In another exemplary embodiment, forming the pouch includes coating the flexible cloth with a thin layer of neoprene, urethane, or other similar material. In another exemplary embodiment, configuring the drawstring includes folding over a peripheral portion of the opening and attaching the peripheral portion to a body of the pouch to form an elongate passageway that retains the drawstring. In another exemplary embodiment, constructing the at least one strap includes forming an elongate strip of flexible cloth suitable for being secured around the pouch. In another exemplary embodiment, attaching the at least one strap includes fastening the at least one strap to the pouch near the apex.
The drawings refer to embodiments of the present disclosure in which:
While the present disclosure is subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. The invention should be understood to not be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention disclosed herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, specific numeric references such as “first strap,” may be made. However, the specific numeric reference should not be interpreted as a literal sequential order but rather interpreted that the “first strap” is different than a “second strap.” Thus, the specific details set forth are merely exemplary. The specific details may be varied from and still be contemplated to be within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The term “coupled” is defined as meaning connected either directly to the component or indirectly to the component through another component. Further, as used herein, the terms “about,” “approximately,” or “substantially” for any numerical values or ranges indicate a suitable dimensional tolerance that allows the part or collection of components to function for its intended purpose as described herein.
Water exposure typically causes hair to become snarled and tangled that is painful to comb through, as well as damaged hair caused by both chemical (chlorine) or natural (salt water) elements. Conventional swimming caps tend to be heavy, uncomfortable, and aesthetically lacking for recreational water activities other than competitive swim meets. Removal of swimming caps typically causes undesirable pulling of the scalp, often leading to painfully tearing loose portions of the hair. Non-accessory techniques often include either braiding the hair or applying leave-in conditioners prior to swimming. However, neither the use of leave-in conditioners nor braiding the hair protects the hair from the potentially damaging effects of exposure to saltwater or chlorinated swimming pools. Embodiments disclosed herein provide a water-resistant hair pouch that is secure, lightweight, easy to use, and capable of preventing tangles and water damage often encountered due to recreational swimming in pools, water parks, lakes, oceans, and the like.
The water-resistant hair pouch 100 includes a pouch 104 that generally tapers from an opening 108 disposed atop the pouch to an apex 112 at a bottom of the pouch 104. The opening 108 provides access to a water-resistant cavity 116 inside the pouch 104 that is configured to receive hair, as described herein. The pouch 104 preferably is comprised of any pliable, lightweight, water-resistant material capable of minimizing water exposure to hair, or even maintaining the hair in a dry state, during immersion, such as, by way of non-limiting example, neoprene, urethane, treated ripstop, and the like. In some embodiments, for example, the pouch 104 may be comprised of a flexible cloth that is coated with a thin layer of neoprene, or other similar material. In one embodiment, the pouch 104 is comprised of a neoprene sheet having a thickness of substantially 0.5 millimeters (mm).
In the embodiment of
It is contemplated that, in some embodiments, the elastic loop 120 may be wrapped around a ponytail 124 that is already formed by way of a rubber band, or other similar device, or the elastic loop 120 may be wrapped around the hair to form the ponytail 124 in lieu of the rubber band, as desired. In general, however, it is intended that the elastic loop 120 is understood to be exemplary in nature, and thus it should be recognized that the elastic loop 120 may comprise any of various fasteners capable of advantageously attaching the water-resistant hair cover 100 to the hair of the practitioner 128, without limitation. Further, in some embodiments, the elastic loop 120 may be omitted from the water-resistant hair cover 100 in instances wherein the hair is grouped into the ponytail 124 by way of a rubber band, or other similar device, as desired.
With reference again to
In the embodiment of
As shown in the embodiment of
It should be understood that the water-resistant hair pouch 100 is not limited to including the first and second straps 148, 152. For example, in some embodiments, the water-resistant hair pouch 100 includes only one strap that may be wrapped around the pouch 104, as described herein. In some embodiments, the water-resistant hair pouch 100 includes one or two straps that include Velcro to assist with securing the pouch 104 in a folded configuration, as discussed in connection with
Moreover, it is contemplated that the straps 148, 152 need not be attached to the pouch 104 near the opening 108, as shown in
The first and second straps 148, 152 enable the practitioner 128 to secure the ponytail 124 in a folded, or rolled up, configuration of the water-resistant ponytail pouch 100, as shown in
Referring, now, to
With continuing reference to
While the invention has been described in terms of particular variations and illustrative figures, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the variations or figures described. In addition, where methods and steps described above indicate certain events occurring in certain order, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the ordering of certain steps may be modified and that such modifications are in accordance with the variations of the invention. Additionally, certain steps may be performed concurrently in a parallel process when possible, as well as performed sequentially as described above. To the extent there are variations of the invention, which are within the spirit of the disclosure or equivalent to the inventions found in the claims, it is the intent that this patent will cover those variations as well. Therefore, the present disclosure is to be understood as not limited by the specific embodiments described herein, but only by scope of the appended claims.
