Hood With a Concealing Face Mask

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a hood with a concealing face mask. More particularly, it relates to a hood with a face mask that covers and conceals the face while allowing the wearer to see out through the face mask.

2. The Prior Art

Face masks according to the prior art typically cover the wearer's face and are attached by an elastic band passing around the head. Other more extensive masks cover the entire face and head. Typically, the face mask is constructed from an opaque material with decorative feature provided on the external surface thereof. Eye slits are formed in the mask in order to permit the wearer to see while wearing the mask. These eye slits have a tendency to detract from the overall appearance of the mask as they reveal a characterizing feature of the wearer which may give away the wearer's identity. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a hood and face mask that completely covers the wearer's head and face while still allowing the wearer to see through the face mask.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a hood with a concealing face mask that completely covers the wearer's head and face.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide the wearer with the ability to see through the concealing face mask.

These and other related objects are achieved according to the invention with a device for covering a wearer's head and face consisting of a hood adapted to be worn over the head with a tailpiece proximate a rear portion of the head. The hood is made from a non-shrink material. A mesh face mask is attached to the hood and adapted to cover and conceal the face while allowing the wearer to see therethrough. A cowl is formed along a portion of the junction between the hood and the face mask and extends over the face mask. The tailpiece extends outwardly from the hood in a first direction and the cowl extends outwardly from the hood in the second direction, generally opposite the first direction. The hood optionally includes an elongated lower section extending approximately to the wearer's shoulder with a frayed edge.

The junction between the hood and the face mask includes an upper portion, side portions, and a lower portion. The cowl is formed along the upper portion and the side portions only. The cowl is formed by a folded over section of the hood. The non-shrink material is a woven, polyester material. Connection means are provided at the lower portion for removably attaching the face mask to the hood, whereby the face mask is detached from the hood to permit the wearer to eat and drink. The connection means comprises a hook and loop fastener.

The cowl alternatively includes an outer layer formed by a section of the hood and a separate inner layer made from the material having a different color than the hood. The cowl further includes a central padded layer disposed between the inner and outer layers. The central padded layer provides added thickness and shape to the cowl. A cape is optionally attached to a rear portion of the hood and is adapted to extend down along the wearer's back.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which disclose an embodiment of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a front, top, left-side perspective view of a hood with a concealing face mask according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front, top, right-side perspective view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a front, top, left-side perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the hood which includes an elongated lower section;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4--4 from FIG. 3;

FIG. 5A is a front, side-elevational view of a further embodiment of the hood including a partially detachable face mask;

FIG. 5B is a right, side-elevational view thereof; and

FIG. 6 is a front, side-elevational view of another embodiment of the hood, including a cape.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, and in particular FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a garment 10a according to the invention consisting of a hood 12 having an integrally formed tailpiece 14. Hood 12 consists of a left hood panel 13a and a right hood panel 13b. Each hood panel 13a and 13b has a pointed tip along a rear extent thereof. Tailpiece 14 has a generally conical shape. In use, tailpiece 14 folds downwardly proximate a rear portion of the wearer's head providing an attractive and decorative feature to the garment.

Hood 12 covers the entire head and neck of the wearer and includes an oval opening generally corresponding to the wearer's face. A face mask 16 is attached to the hood to completely fill the opening to cover and conceal the wearer's face. The face mask is made from a woven mesh material which totally conceals the wearer's face to prevent identification of the wearer. However, since the face mask is disposed fairly close to the wearer's eyes, it is possible to see clearly through the mask. The face mask appears almost completely opaque for an outside viewer while appearing substantially translucent for the wearer.

The junction where the face mask is attached to the hood includes a top portion, two side portions, and a lower portion. A cowl 18 is formed along the top and side of this junction. Cowl 18 extends forwardly of face mask 16. Face mask 16 is recessed within hood 12 by virtue of forwardly extending cowl 18. Cowl 18 is not present along the lower portion of face mask 16. Along the lower portion, face mask 16 flows smoothly into hood 12. By recessing face mask 16, the top and sides of the junction are further concealed adding to the overall hooded effect provided by garment 10a.

Hood 12 is made from a non-shrink jersey or woven material, for example, preferably polyester or other suitable fabrics. Face mask 16 is preferably made from a dark or black mesh or woven material that is semi-transparent or sheer material such as used on a woman's stocking, for example, sheer nylon or LYCRA brand elastic material. The LYCRA brand elastic material or nylon material is typically a 4-15 g./denier material that includes closely spaced horizontal ribbing in face mask 16. The LYCRA brand elastic material or nylon material can also be a knitted material as well.

Tailpiece 14 extends outwardly from the hood in a rearward direction. Cowl 18 extends outwardly from hood 12 in an opposite forward direction. Cowl 18 is formed by a folded over section of hood 12. More specifically, hood panels 13a and 13b extend forwardly beyond face mask 16 and are then folded back. A line of stitching 20 extends through the outer layer of hood panels 13a and 13b, the folded over layer of the hood panel and face mask 16. Cowl 18 is thus formed in front of stitching 20 by a folded over section of hood 12. Along the bottom section of face mask 16, face mask 16 is stitched directly to hood panels 13a and 13b without the foldover, cowl-forming section.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an alternate embodiment of garment 10b with an elongated lower section 24. At a lower periphery thereof, there is provided a frayed or saw-tooth edge 26. While garment 10a extends down to cover the wearer's neck, elongated lower section 24 extends even lower to drape over the wearer's shoulders, upper chest and upper back. Elongated lower section 24 may be tucked into another garment, or worn exteriorly of another garment to add to the overall aesthetics of the costume. Garment 10b has a modified cowl 28 which is shown in cross section in FIG. 4. As with garment 10a, garment 10b includes hood panels 30a and 30b. As can be seen in FIG. 4, hood panel 30b only forms the outer surface of cowl 28. A separate cowl panel 32b is attached thereto to form the inner surface of cowl 28. Cowl panel 32b is attached between face mask 16 and hood panel 30b by stitching 34a, 34b, and 34c. A padded layer 36 may be disposed between hood panel 30b and cowl panel 32b. In addition, padded layer 36 may be attached to the panels at stitching 34c or an additional row of stitching adjacent stitching 34c. Padded layer 36 may also be attached to the panel at stitching 34b. By attaching the padded layer to the panels, padded layer 36 remains in place and is prevented from bunching up or sliding out of position.

In place of stitching 34a and 34b, a single line of stitching may pass through the edge of face mask 16, the edge of cowl panel 32b, the edge of padded layer 36, and through hood panel 30b. The edge of face mask 16, the edge of cowl panel 32b, the edge of padded layer 36, and hood panel 30b may also be connected together with a combination of one or more lines of stitching, as will be well known to those skilled in the art. Padded layer 36 is foam rubber, for example, which provides added thickness and shape to cowl 28. In a slightly modified construction, stitching 34c may be eliminated and hood panel 30b could extend continuously around padded layer 36, in place of cowl panel 32b. The advantage of using a separate cowl panel 32b is a differently colored material may be used compared to hood panels 30a and 30b. For example, hood panels 30a and 30b could be red or purple. Face mask 16 could be made from a black mesh with cowl panels 32b made from a black non-shrink material. By making the cowl panel the same color as the face mask, the features behind the face mask are further obscured. As is somewhat shown in FIG. 4, all of the stitching is done from the inside of the mask so that none of it is visible when the garment is worn. For example, an overlock stitch or other suitable stitches may be used to join the various panels together, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a further garment 10c with a face mask 16 which is detachable along the lower half thereof. Connection means 40 is provided to removably attach face mask 16 to the corresponding region on garment 10c. Connection means 40 consists of a hook portion 42 and a loop portion 44. The hook and loop portions are located along the bottom half of face mask 16 and the corresponding regions on garment 10c. When face mask 16 is lowered and connected, its appearance is indistinguishable from the mask shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. When the lower half of mask 16 is detached and lifted, as shown in FIG. 5B, the wearer can eat or drink before closing face mask 16.

As can be seen in FIG. 6, a cape 50 may be attached to garment 10a, 10b or 10c. Cape 50 can be attached to the hood shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or it may be attached to elongated lower section 24, shown in FIG. 3.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.