Headwear with Hair Bundling Assembly for Accommodating Variable Hairstyles

Abstract

A headwear piece or hat is provided that includes a hair bundling assembly for receiving, gathering and/or accommodating a thickness or bundle of user's hair. The hair bundling assembly includes an opening extending longitudinally in a cap portion of the headwear; a pair of flexible closure flaps lining edges of the opening, which are configured to cover a surface of the opening when the closure flaps overlap one another; and a plurality of magnets located along edges of the closure flaps, each of which having a polarity selected to attract an opposite magnet on an edge of the opposite closure flap, to assist in maintaining the overlap between the closure flaps. The closure flaps are moveable relative to one another in a lateral direction, to receive therebetween the user's hair, and the polarity of the magnets is selected to encourage the closing of the hair bundling assembly around the hair.

1 . A headwear piece comprising:
 a cap portion for placement over a user's head, the cap portion comprising:
 an opening extending longitudinally in said cap portion; and 
 a hair bundling assembly for receiving, gathering and/or accommodating a thickness or bundle of the user's hair, the hair bundling assembly being disposed substantially within said opening and comprising:
 a pair of flexible closure flaps lining longitudinal edges of the opening, the closure flaps being configured to cover substantially an entirety of a surface of the opening when the closure flaps overlap one another in a closed position; and 
 a plurality of magnets located along respective edges of the closure flaps, wherein each of the plurality of magnets has a polarity selected to attract an opposite said magnet located along an opposite said respective edge of the closure flaps, such as to assist in maintaining the closure flaps in the overlapping closed position; wherein 
 
   the closure flaps are moveable relative to one another in a lateral direction, in order to receive therebetween the thickness or bundle of the user's hair, and   the polarity of each of the respective magnets is selected so as to resiliently return the closure flaps to their overlapping condition, substantially closing the hair bundling assembly around the thickness or bundle of hair.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The headwear piece according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein   a first magnet of said plurality of magnets is located along a first said respective edge of the closure flaps, and has a bottom surface having a selected magnet polarity;   a second magnet of said plurality of magnets is located along a second said respective edge of the closure flaps opposite the first said respective edge, and has a top surface having a selected magnet polarity that is opposite the selected magnet polarity of the bottom surface of the first magnet; and   the first and second magnets are each located at substantially similar heights along the respective first and second edges of the closure flaps, such that they are substantially aligned in a longitudinal direction, thereby enabling an attractive force between the bottom surface of the first magnet and the top surface of the second magnet.   
     
     
         4 . The headwear piece according to  claim 3 , wherein
 a third magnet of said plurality of magnets is located along the first said respective edge of the closure flaps, beneath and spaced from the first magnet, and has a bottom surface having a selected magnet polarity similar to the selected magnet polarity of the top surface of the second magnet;   a fourth magnet of said plurality of magnets is located along the second said respective edge of the closure flaps, beneath and spaced from the second magnet, and has a top surface having a selected magnet polarity that is opposite the selected magnet polarity of the bottom surface of the third magnet and similar to the selected magnet polarity of the bottom surface of the first magnet;   the third and fourth magnets are each located at substantially similar heights along the respective first and second edges of the closure flaps, such that they are substantially aligned in a longitudinal direction, thereby enabling an attractive force between the bottom surface of the third magnet and the top surface of the fourth magnet; and wherein   a first repulsive force is achieved between the similar selected magnet polarities of the bottom surface of the third magnet and the top surface of the second magnet, and   a second repulsive force is achieved between the similar selected magnet polarities of the bottom surface of the first magnet and the top surface of the fourth magnet.   
     
     
         5 . The headwear piece according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein   the plurality of magnets are substantially equally spaced from one another along the respective edges of the closure flaps; and   each said magnet located along one said respective edge is paired with an opposite said magnet located along the other said respective edge at a similar longitudinal height.   
     
     
         6 - 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The headwear piece according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each of the closure flaps is held taut at said longitudinal edges of the opening and at top and bottom edges of the opening by means of glue or stitching.   
     
     
         10 . The headwear piece according to  claim 1 , wherein
 said plurality of magnets consists of exactly three magnets located along each respective edge of the closure flaps.   
     
     
         11 . The headwear piece according to  claim 1 , wherein
 each of the plurality of magnets are held in place along said respective edges of the closure flaps within fabric folds or seams located along said edges.   
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The headwear piece according to  claim 11 , wherein
 at least one of the plurality of magnets is selectively moveable within said folds or seams along the respective edges of the closure flaps.   
     
     
         14 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The headwear piece according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein   the opening in the cap portion is generally rectangular in shape and measures between about 4 and 15 cm long and between about 0.5 and 5 cm wide, more preferably between about 12 and 14 cm long and between about 3 and 4 cm wide.   
     
     
         22 . The headwear piece according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein   an apex of the opening, located substantially near to or at a top of the cap portion, is pointed or tapered in shape.   
     
     
         23 - 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . A headwear piece comprising:
 a flexible cap portion for fitting to a user's head, the cap portion comprising:
 an opening extending longitudinally in said cap portion; and 
 a hair bundling assembly substantially disposed within said opening, the hair bundling assembly comprising a pair of selectively sealable and flexible closure flaps bordering the opening, the closure flaps having a plurality of magnets located along respective interior edges thereof; 
   wherein, absent an outside force, said magnets act to keep the closure flaps biased in a partially overlapping configuration, substantially closing said opening, with said interior edges substantially overlapping one another; and   wherein said closure flaps are moveable relative to one another in a lateral direction to an orientation selected to enable a thickness or bundle of said user's hair to pass through said opening and whereby said closure flaps are able to then return to their biased partially overlapping configuration, substantially closing around said thickness or bundle of hair.   
     
     
         26 . The headwear piece according to  claim 25 , wherein the plurality of magnets comprise 3 to 5 magnets fixed at equally spaced and corresponding positions to one another along each of said interior and overlapping edges of said pair of closure flaps. 
     
     
         27 . The headwear piece according to  claim 26 , wherein the magnets are flat and generally rectangular in shape, and wherein the closure flaps comprise a flexible fabric having a flexibility selected for conformability around the thickness or bundle of said user's hair. 
     
     
         28 - 35 . (canceled) 
     
     
         36 . A headwear piece comprising:
 a flexible cap portion for fitting to a user's head, the flexible cap portion defining a rear opening; and   a hair bundling assembly disposed in said opening, the hair bundling assembly comprising a pair of longitudinally elongated flexible closure flaps, the closure flaps being movable from a closed position, wherein an edge portion of a first said closure flap is in overlapping juxtaposition with an adjacent edge portion of the second other said closure flap, and a displaced position, wherein said edge portions of the first and second closure flaps are spaced from one another so as to receive therethrough a thickness or bundle of the user's hair;   the first closure flap including a first array of a plurality of longitudinally spaced magnets, each magnet of the first array having a magnet polarity that is fixedly oriented relative to the edge portion of the first closure flap;   the second closure flap including a second array of said plurality of magnets, each magnet of the second array having a magnet polarity that is fixedly oriented relative to the edge portion of the second closure flap and which is opposite in polarity to an associated respective magnet of said first array; whereby   in the closed position, opposing polarities of the first and second array of magnets maintain said first and second closure flaps in the closed position under a force selected to be less than a predetermined threshold force; and on application of the predetermined threshold force, the first and second closure flaps being moveable to the displaced position.   
     
     
         37 . The headwear piece according to  claim 36 , wherein the opposing polarities of the first and second array of magnets bias the edge portions of the first and second closure flaps in the overlapping juxtaposition. 
     
     
         38 . (canceled) 
     
     
         39 . The headwear piece according to  claim 36 , wherein the first closure flap includes a longitudinal fold along its respective edge portion, and each magnet of the first array is housed within said longitudinal fold. 
     
     
         40 . The headwear piece according to  claim 36 , wherein the second closure flap includes a longitudinal fold along its respective edge portion and each magnet of the second array is housed within said longitudinal fold. 
     
     
         41 - 44 . (canceled) 
     
     
         45 . The headwear piece according to  claim 36 , wherein
 at least one of the magnets of the first array comprises an inside edge oriented towards the edge portion of the first closure flap that magnetically repels an inside edge of an associated respective magnet of the second array that is oriented towards the edge portion of the second closure flap.   
     
     
         46 . The headwear piece according to  claim 36 , wherein the overlapping juxtaposition of said edge portions of the first and second closure flaps is a non-abutting overlapping juxtaposition, wherein said edge portions overlap in a lateral direction relative to the longitudinally elongated closure flaps. 
     
     
         47 . The headwear piece according to  claim 36 , wherein the pair of longitudinally elongated flexible closure flaps are secured within said opening with substantially the same radial curvature as adjacent portions of the cap portion which define the opening. 
     
     
         48 - 50 . (canceled)