US20060085891A1

US20060085891A1 - Headband with gripper

Info

Publication number: US20060085891A1
Application number: US10/972,010
Authority: US
Inventors: Shannon Larkin; Courtney Rovira
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-10-25
Filing date: 2004-10-25
Publication date: 2006-04-27

Abstract

A headband includes opposed end panels and a central panel. The interior surface of the central panel comprises a gripper formed of slip-resistant material.

Description

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to women's clothing. More particularly, this invention pertains to a headband that is reliably retained in place on a user' head.

Brief Description of the Prior Art

Headbands are currently a favored women's fashion item, finding application to both high fashion and casual, even sporting, uses.
A significant annoyance faced by wearers arises from the recognized difficulty of maintaining such apparel at its desired attitude on the head. This is due in part to the nature of its environment. Human hair contains oils that offer a relatively low coefficient of friction with the material, usually cloth, of the headband. The curvature of the skull of the wearer results in the existence of a radial, inwardly-acting retention force when the ends of the headband are secured, for example, by a knot.
The inwardly-acting retention force interacts with the inherently low coefficient of friction between the interior of the headband and the hair of the wearer to produce the annoying slippage. The frequent occurrence of slippage can often cause sufficient annoyance to make a wearer to discard her headband.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the preceding and other shortcomings of the prior art by providing a headband. Such headband includes an elongated member that includes a central panel. A gripper is fixed to the central panel.
The preceding and other features of the invention will become further apparent from the detailed description that follows. Such description is accompanied by a set of drawing figures. Numerals of the drawing figures correspond to numerals of the written description with like numerals referring to like features throughout both the written description and the drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the headband of the invention in use;
FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the headband of the invention;
FIG. 3 is an edge view of the headband of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the headband of the invention; and
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the headband of the invention taken at line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the headband 10 of the invention in use. The headband 10, secured to the head 12 of a wearer by a knot 14, interfaces directly with her hair 16. As is known, human hair contains natural oils, often supplemented by applied chemicals and oils, that frequently render the headband 10-and-hair 16 interface of insufficient coefficient of friction to resist the inwardly-acting force that “holds” the headband 10 in place. The resultant slippage is annoying and can even result in discarding of this otherwise-desirable item of apparel.
FIG. 2 is a front elevation view illustrating the exterior while FIG. 3 is an edge view of the headband 10. As can be seen, the headband 10 may be formed of three distinct exterior portions. A central panel 18, tapering from a centerline 20 toward opposed ends 22, 24 defines the most prominent exterior region of the headband 10 and is arranged to fit over the forehead and taper toward the rear of the wearer's head 12. Opposed end panels 26, 28 taper toward free ends 30 and 32 respectively. The central 18 and end 26, 28 panels are of materials chosen to present an attractive appearance when worn and may comprise, for example, fabric such as cotton, silk or synthetic fiber, leather or plasticized material. In a particularly favored embodiment of the invention, the central panel 18 comprises suede leather while the opposed exterior end panels 26, 28 comprise silk.
In the invention, the problem of slippage is addressed and overcome by the addition of a slip-resistant element to the interior of the headband 10. FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view illustrating the interior of the headband 10. The general shape of the headband 10 is as in the exterior view of FIG. 2. Primed numerals 26′ and 28′ indicate the interior surfaces of the end panels 26 and 28 illustrated in FIG. 2. Unlike the exterior view, the interior surface of the central panel 18′ of the headband 10 as shown in FIG. 4 includes a generally-planar gripper 34 consisting of material selected for its slip-resistant properties. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a cross-sectional view of the headband 10 taken at line 5-5 of FIG. 4, such gripper 34 is fixed to overlapping edges 36, 38 of the material forming the exterior central panel 18. Either stitching or an appropriate adhesive may be employed to secure the gripper 34 as shown.
The sheet-like gripper 34 may comprise any of a number of commercially-available non-adhesive, non-skid materials characterized by such desirable properties, in addition to a coefficient of friction with respect to human hair that offers substantially increased resistance to undesirable slippage, as color fastness, pliability, ruggedness and resistance to degradation by sweat or the by chemicals commonly found in hair treatments. Elastomeric materials of the open cell polyvinyl chloride (PVC) mesh and quilted PVC mesh cushion type are especially appropriate for the gripper 34. Examples of such materials comprise those commercially available from MSM Industries of Smyrna, Tenn. under the “GRIP-TAC” trademark and that manufactured by Pliant Solutions Corporation, a subsidiary of Pliant Corp. of Schaumburg, Ill. under the “GRIP LINER” trademark of its “CON-TACT” Brand. The gripper 34 is fixed to the edges 36 and 38 so that the roughened surface faces inwardly to contact the head of the wearer. This gives additional slip resistance without irritation due to the relative softness of the material.
In use, the presence of the gripper 34 at the interior of the headband 10 prevents the slippage that otherwise characterizes present-day headbands. As such, the wearer needn't be distracted or particularly aware of the attitude of the headband 10 on her head over time. This is often reflected in enhanced wearer confidence and attractiveness.
While this invention has been described with reference to its presently preferred embodiment, it is not limited thereto. Rather the invention is limited only insofar as it is defined by the following set of patent claims and includes within its scope all equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A headband comprising, in combination:

a) an elongated member;

b) said member including a center panel;

c) a gripper being fixed to said central panel.

2. A headband as defined in claim 1 wherein said gripper comprises a sheet-like element.

3. A headband as defined in claim 2 wherein said sheet-like element comprises elastomeric material.

4. A headband as defined in claim 1 further including:

a) said central panel having opposed exterior and interior surfaces; and

b) said gripper comprising said interior surface of said central panel.

5. A headband as defined in claim 4 wherein said gripper is fixed to edges of said exterior surface of said central panel.

6. A headband as defined in claim 5 wherein said elongated member additionally comprises a pair of end panels, each of said end panels being joined to opposed ends of said central panel.

7. A headband as defined in claim 6 wherein each of said end panels comprises fabric.

8. A headband as defined in claim 7 wherein the opposed surface of said central panel comprises leather.

9. A headband as defined in claim 8 wherein said central panel is further characterized by a wide center portion tapering to narrower end portions.