Hair retention bonnet

Abstract

A hair retention bonnet comprises a unitary piece of knitted fabric, the bonnet having elasticated edges and at least one cinch point and being adapted to conform closely to a wearer's head, wherein the knitted fabric comprises both non-textured and textured yarns. Hair retention articles are selected from a beard cover, a neck shield, an arm cover and a hair retention cap. There is also provided a plurality of connected bonnets. The bonnets may stretch to an appropriate size and shape to snugly fit the user's head, enabling a single size of bonnet to be worn by all users, allowing a uniform expansion or contraction of the bonnet, having a relatively large surface contact area to the user's hair regardless of head size or hairstyle and effectively gripping and holding any protruding hairs to prevent shedding. The changes to the abstract are shown below: A hair retention bonnet comprises a unitary piece of knitted fabric, the bonnet having elasticated edges and at least one cinch point and being adapted to conform closely to a wearer's head, wherein the knitted fabric comprises both non-textured and textured yarns. Hair retention articles are selected from a beard cover, a neck shield, an arm cover and a hair retention cap. There is also provided a plurality of connected bonnets. The bonnets may stretch to an appropriate size and shape to snugly fit the user's head, enabling a single size of bonnet to be worn by all users, allowing a uniform expansion or contraction of the bonnet, having a relatively large surface contact area to the user's hair regardless of head size or hairstyle and effectively gripping and holding any protruding hairs to prevent shedding.

1 . A hair retention bonnet comprising a unitary piece of knitted fabric, the bonnet having elasticated edges and at least one cinch point and being adapted to conform closely to a wearer's head, wherein the knitted fabric comprises both non-textured and textured yarns. 
     
     
         2 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , which has two cinch points. 
     
     
         3 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , wherein the weight ratio of non-textured to textured yarn is from about 5:95 to about 95:5. 
     
     
         4 . The bonnet according to  claim 3 , wherein the weight ratio of non-textured to textured yarn is from about 20:80 to about 80:20. 
     
     
         5 . The bonnet according to  claim 4 , wherein the weight ratio of non-textured to textured yarn is from about 30:70 to about 70:30. 
     
     
         6 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , wherein the textured yarn is a false twist yarn. 
     
     
         7 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , wherein the textured yarn is a synthetic yarn. 
     
     
         8 . The bonnet according to  claim 7 , wherein the synthetic yarn is polyester. 
     
     
         9 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , wherein the non-textured yarn is a synthetic yarn.  
     
     
         10 . The bonnet according to  claim 9 , wherein the non-textured yarn is polyester. 
     
     
         11 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , which further comprises wicking yarns. 
     
     
         12 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , which further comprises microfiber yarns. 
     
     
         13 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , which comprises a coloured indicator stripe. 
     
     
         14 . The bonnet according to  claim 1 , which further comprises a rear portion which, in use, covers the wearer's neck. 
     
     
         15 . A plurality of connected bonnets, each bonnet comprising a unitary piece of knitted fabric, the bonnet having elasticated edges and at least one cinch point and being adapted to conform closely to a wearer's head, wherein the knitted fabric comprises both non-textured and textured yarns, and the bonnets being connected together at junctions adjacent the at least one cinch point, such that a bonnet may be separated by severing the junction between two bonnets. 
     
     
         16 . A hair retention article selected from a beard cover, a neck shield, an arm cover and a hair retention cap, that comprises a unitary piece of knitted fabric, wherein the knitted fabric comprises both non-textured and textured yarns. 
     
     
         17 . The article according to  claim 16 , wherein the weight ratio of non-textured to textured yarn is from about 5:95 to about 95:5.  
     
     
         18 . The article according to  claim 16 , wherein the textured yarn is a false twist yarn. 
     
     
         19 . The article according to  claim 16 , wherein the textured yarn is polyester. 
     
     
         20 . The article according to  claim 16 , wherein the non-textured yarn is polyester. 
     
     
         21 . The article according to  claim 16 , which is a beard cover. 
     
     
         22 . The article according to  claim 16 , which is a neck shield. 
     
     
         23 . The article according to  claim 16 , which is an arm cover. 
     
     
         24 . The article according to  claim 16 , which is a hair retention cap. 
     
     
         25 . The article according to  claim 23 , which is produced using a cut/make/trim process.  
     
     
         26 . A method of manufacturing a bonnet, comprising the steps of
 a) providing a continuous piece of knitted fabric, the knitted fabric having parallel elasticated edges and comprising both non-textured and textured yarns;   b) pulling the knitted fabric along its length thereby stretching said elasticated edges and reducing the width of said fabric;   c) binding the elasticated edges of the extended fabric together at binding regions of said extended fabric, said binding regions occurring at measured distances along said extended fabric corresponding to the length of a bonnet; and optionally   d) severing the fabric at the binding regions to form individual bonnets.   
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein the fabric is dyed by jet dyeing in a continuous strip or by dying in a relaxed state in a static dye machine. 
     
     
         28 . (canceled)