US3423763A - Wind protective headgear - Google Patents

Description

3 Jan. 28, 1969 P. SCHWARTZ WIND PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR Filed July 15, 1966 y A TTOR/VEYS United States Patent 3,423,763 WIND PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR Natalie Pels Schwartz, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Countess Natalie, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed July 15, 1966, Ser. No. 565,575 U.S. Cl. 2-171 Int. Cl. A42b 1/20 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DICLOSURE This invention relates generally to headgear and is more particularly concerned with the provision of a novel protective structure adapted to be worn over the wearers head entirely to enclose same particularly to protect the wearers head and hair arrangement from wind and other inclement Weather conditions.

Although the structure provided by the invention may be used with advantage by men or women, it is intended particularly to protect the rather elaborate hair arrangements often worn by women from becoming disarranged upon exposure to wind conditions such as encountered when traveling in an open top automobile, at airports, etc.

Also, in some instances, particularly in the motion picture and television industry, careful attention is given to make-up and hair-styling for the various actors and actresses to the extent that the arrangement of the hair is carefully coordinate-d with the story or script line for each scene of the motion picture as same is filmed. Under these circumstances the desired make-up and hair-styling are applied at a location remote from the actual filming area. When the participant, with hair styled as planned, travels to the filming location, the hair may well become disarranged necessitating the employment of adjustments in situ to repair any damage thereto departing from the intended appearance. Thus, it would be highly advantageous to provide a protective device which can be easily fitted over the wearers head without disturbing the hair arrangement and likewise be easily removed without disturbing said arrangement.

Prior efforts to provide such a protective device have failed to come up with one that is truly practical. Generally, inadequate space is provided therein for accommodating, without disturbance, the elaborate hair styling arrangements; yet further, which can be easily donned or remove-d likewise without disturbing the hair arrangement. Many prior structures of this general type have failed to give due consideration to the provision of adequate ventilation for comfort while the device is being worn and likewise to enable communication by the wearer to others. A further disadvantage encountered in some prior devices relates to the general aerodynamic instability of the device, when worn, under the wind conditions encountered, say at airports or when riding in an opentopped conveyance. Comfort while worn as well as the ease of fabrication and storage are also important criteria in providing a practical wind-protective device of the character concerned herein. As heretofore stated, prior devices have failed to provide for a means other than 'ice an enlarged bottom opening to permit donning of the headgear. Of necessity prior headgear of this type were required to be slipped over the wearers head. Like any other garment that is slipped over the head, it generally is predictable that a hair arrangement, particularly an elaborate one, will be disarranged in the art of donning the headgear and thus the principal purpose of the structure would be defeated.

Accordingly it is a principal object of this invention to provide a protective headgear structure of the character described which eliminates the above described disadvantages of prior structures and can be worn with comfort yet afford protection for the wearers head and hair arrangement against wind conditions.

An important object of this invention is to provide a protective hair gear adapted to be worn over the head as a wind protector, said headgear structure having a body of hollow, ovoidal configuration and is formed of a pair of shell-like dished members of rigid transparent plastic material one of which is slightly smaller than the other, said members being secured one to the other at one edge thereof by a pivot connection and are movable along a vertical pivot axis, each dished member has an end portion thereof removed at a location diametrically opposed to the pivot connection so that the body has an opening at its narrow end functioning as a neck opening and provided with a collar formation therealong.

A further object of the invention is to provide a windprotective headgear of the character described formed of a pair of nested dished plastic members pivotally secured one to the other on a vertical pivot axis and one of said members adapted to be rotated relative to the other along said axis to form a hollow, ovoidal body, cooperable fastening means being provided to lock the headgear assembly in place when donned by the wearer and ventilation openings are provided at strategically located areas to permit comfortable wearing of said headgear by the wearer.

A still further object of the invention is to provide collapsible fin means on the inner one of said dished members and locking means therefor to provide aerodynamic stability to the protective headgear when same is being worn.

A preferred embodiment of a protective headgear in accordance with the invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing. It is believed that many additional objects and advantages of the invention become evident to the skilled artisan as the detailed description proceeds.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the headgear in accordance with the invention illustrating the same being worn.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the headgear of FIG. 1 illustrated in partially opened condition.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the pivot connection of the headgear illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section illustrating the collardefining portions of the headgear shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a reduced fragmentary detail of the protective headgear shown in FIG. 1 and illustrates the harness provided to enable detachment of the headgear to the wearer.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the headgear illustrated in FIG. 1 shown in the extended condition.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to that of FIG. 6 but showing the headgear device in its nested condition.

FIG. 8 illustrates further embodiment of the invention having collapsible fin means thereon.

The protective headgear in accordance with the invention comprises a hollow body of ovoidal configuration,

similar to an egg wherein one of the ends is wider and is formed of a pair of transparent rigid dish-shaped plastic members, one of which is slightly smaller than the other so that the pair may be nested one Within the other for carrying, storage, etc. The members are secured pivotally for relative rotation on a vertical axis so that, in the extended condition the edge of the inner member telescopically is engaged within the first dish member along the edge thereof. Fastening means are provided for said members at a location spaced from said pivot connection to lock the helmet in its expanded position. Each dish has a section removed at the narrow end thereof so as to define when the dished members are in their expanded condition, a narrow opening, hereinafter called a neck opening and collar means are provided therealong to enable comfortable seating of the protective headgear upon the shoulders of the wearer immediately below the neck. Harness means are provided to engage under the arms of the wearer so as to prevent involuntary dislodgement of the headgear. A port or mouth opening is provided in one member and suitable secondary openings are also provided at suitable locations on dish members to afford ventilation openings, some of these openings being located adjacent the ears of the wearer when the headgear is donned so that hearing is unimpaired during wearing of the headgear.

The protective headgear according to the invention is characterized by hollow ovoidal configuration thereof when worn, with the wider end uppermost, thereby to provide a substantial area above the horizontal or minor axis to accommodate the elaborate type hair such as the bouffant type arrangements for protection thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, in FIG. 1 the protective headgear in accordance with the invention generally is designated by reference character and is illustrated in use, entirely surrounding the head of the wearer. Headgear 10 is formed as a hollow, transparent body 10' of ovoidal configuration, and having a top end which is wider than the bottom end. As shown in FIG. 2, the body 10' is formed of a pair of similar shell-like dished members 12 and 14, member 14 being slightly smaller than member 12. Each member 12 and 14 forms one-half of the ovoidal body 10'. Both members 12 and 14 have a section thereof removed at the narrow bottom end thereof whereby to define arcuate edge 16 and corner edges 22, 22. The peripheral edge of member 12, which is the larger or outer member, is bent outwardly to define a flange 18. Members 12 and 14 are nestable one with the other as shown in FIG. 2, and are joined at pivot connection 20 and are rotatable one relative the other along the vertical axis of pivot 20. Pivot 20 is located approximately midway between the corner edges 22 of both members.

The inner member 14 is rotatable 180 from its fully nested condition as shown in FIG. 7, to assume the overall ovoidal form of headgear 10. The body 10' may be considered as having major and minor axes indicated by lines AA and BB of FIG. 1, with the major axis being vertically oriented and the minor axis, being the horizontally oriented axis. The greater area within body 10' is located above the minor axis and comprises the upper end of headgear 10 while the lower or narrow portion below said minor axis BB carries the neck-opening formed by edges 16 and is adapted to rest on the shoulder closely adjacent the base of wearers neck.

As shown in FIG. 4 a strip of plastic foam material is adhesively engaged over edge 16 of each dish along the length thereof so as to define a collar 19 when the members 12 and 14 are placed in the expanded condition. Harness means 24 is attached to the said lower edge portions 16 of both members at 26 and 28 and function firmly to support the headgear when worn. Cooperable fastening means such as snaps 30 or slot and key connection means (not shown) is provided adjacent the corners 22 of said dished members so that when the inner dish 14 i rotated 180 from its nested condition to the expanded condition,

the fastening means can be engaged and thus secure the body 10' to form headgear 10 as shown in FIG. 1. A suitable port 32 is formed in the outer dish member 12 below the axis BB of the headgear 10. This port 32 is located so as to function as a mouth opening.

A plurality of ventilation openings 34 are provided in the pair of rigid members 12, 14 spaced inwardly along the edge 16 thereof. Also, secondary ventilation openings 36 are provided in the outer member 12 closely adjacent the flanged arcuate edge thereof. These openings 36 are arranged and located so that, on assembly to the headgears expanded condition, the openings 36 are closely adjacent the minor axis BB of body 10' in the lower portion thereof approximately adjacent the ears of the wearer whereby to prevent hearing from being impaired while the protective headgear is being worn. The openings 36 are preferably angled downwardly when formed in member 12. Suitable decoration 38 may be provided along the flange portion 18 of the member 12 as well as along the length of collar 19. Note that both outer and inner members 12 and 14 may be provided with ventilation openings 34.

In FIG. 3 the pivot connection 20 utilized so illustrated in greater detail and comprises a bifurcated pin 21 passing through suitable aligned openings 23 formed in the walls of members 12 and 14 at the selected location. A washer 27 is utilized, the pin 21 being passed through openings 23 and the washer and the ends bent to secure pin 21 in place. Other suitable pivot connections may be advantageously used.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown another embodiment of the invention generally designated by reference numeral 40. Headgear 40 has inner and outer shell-like dished members 42, 44 respectively which are substantially identical to members 14, 12 of headgear 10. The expanded body 40' of headgear 40 is identical in configuration to body 10' of headgear 10. The inner member of headgear 40 is secured at a pivot connection 46 and is rotatable 180 on a vertical pivot axis to form the ovoidal body 40'. Also said members 42 and 44 have the identical section removed from each to define edge 48 similar to edge 16 of body 10'. The collar 50 and harness 51 likewise are similar to those headgear 10.

Headgear 40 differs from headgear 10 in that the inner dish-shaped member 42 is provided with a vertically oriented slot 52 and a blade or fin member 54 is pivotally connected to molded journal means 56 at ball end 58 thereof. Said fin or blade 54 slidably is arranged for retraction within the concavity of the member 42 for nesting and withdrawal when the inner member 42 is rotated on the vertical axis of pivot 46 to form body 40' of headgear 40. Thus defined fin or blade 54 provides aerodynamic stability to the headgear 40 when conditions of high wind velocity are encountered. Suitable stop means 62 may be provided in the form of a flange 64 along the inner edge 66 of the blade 54 to limit the outward movement of the blade 54. The blade 54 as stated above, is pivoted on journal means 56 which is shown as a ball and socket connection formed in member 42 adjacent slot 52 at the upper end thereof and a snap-in connection 70 defined by tongue 72 and groove 74 engages with the member 42 at the lower edge 53 of slot 52.

In order to don the headgear 10, the same is taken from its nested condition and the wearer places her head facing the mouth opening 32 in member 12. Member 14 is then rotated relative to the outer portion 12, at pivot 20 along the vertical axis AA of body 10' so as to envelop the head and the snaps 30 at both corners 22 are engaged. The harness then is properly engaged under the wearers arms. Because of the substantial upper area of headgear 10, there is enough space to accommodate a hair arrangement of the wearer, even if elaborate, so that same is not disturbed on donning of the protective headgear. To remove the headgear, one simply reverses the steps. Again since the pair of members 12, 14 pivot along a vertical pivot axis, the body is side-opening and there is no need for the neck opening to accommodate the head therethrough. Also, the area on which the bottom edge or collar rests is not large and is located close to the base of the neck so that the helmet rests more secure with less discomfort than is encountered in use of prior structures where a bottom opening of substantial size must be provided to accommodate the head therethrou-gh. The latter prior devices thus usually rest much lower along the chest. This is hardly practical.

Instead of the particular harness means 24 illustrated comparable elastic bands may, as well, be advantageously substituted.

Thus, in summary, the invention has been shown as providing a protective headgear comprising a hollow ovoidal body having a narrow end section removed therefrom to define a neck opening, a mouth opening and ventilation openings formed in said body, said body comprising a pair of similar members of semi-ovoidal configuration formed of rigid, transparent plastic material, each member having a section removed at the narrow end thereof to define a pair of corners, means pivotally securing said members one to the other located at the wide end thereof substantially midway between said corners, said members being rotatable one relative to the other substantially 180 to form said body and fastening means securing said members in a condition entirely surrounding the head of the wearer.

I claim:

1. A protective headgear comprising:

a pair of similar semi-ovoidal shells having a top end and a narrower bottom end;

one of said shells being of smaller dimension than the other and nestable therein;

means pivotally securing said shells together at their top ends whereby said shells are rotatable about a vertical axis between the nested condition and a hollow ovoid erected condition;

each of said shells having a segment removed from its bottom end to afford a neck opening for said ovoid; and

fastening means on said shells adjacent the bottoms thereof for releasably retaining said shells in said erected condition.

2. The headgear of claim 1 in which said shells have formed therein at least one opening adapted to facilitate ventilation, speech and hearing for the wearer thereof.

3. The headgear of claim 1 in which harness means depends from said shells for releasably retaining said erected ovoid on a wearer thereof.

4. The headgear of claim 1 in which collapsible fin means is connected to one of said shells, said fin means being retractable into an inoperative position within said one shell.

5. The headgear of claim 1 in which flexible material covers the bottom edges of each of said shells to provide a collar for said neck opening in said erected ovoid.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 544,832 8/1895 Senior 2-5 606,379 6/1898 Dallinger. 1,163,247 12/1915 McGrew 2-6 1,280,684 10/1918 Dornanski 26 2,935,985 5/1960 Andrews et al. 3,137,859 6/1964 Zbikowski 23 3,213,823 10/1965 Levy et al. 2-199 XR 603,306 5/1898 Weil 24 1,684,670 9/1928 Ha'bib 22093 XR 2,428,937 10/ 1947 Lazarus 2209.3 XR 2,515,959 7/1950 Johnson 268 2,988,749 6/ 1961 Crouzet 2-205 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 2--9, 205

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