Patent Application
20210153584
The present invention relates to hair devices or pieces, and more particularly, to a hair extension and method of using the hair extension with natural hair styles such as a natural ponytail to increase the length of the natural ponytail to enhance the cosmetic appearance of a person's hair.
Individuals often employ the use of various hair devices to manage and beautify the appearance of a person's hair in order to coordinate different hair configuration, enhance the thickness of hair, or supplement damaged or missing natural hair. A variety of hair devices often range from hair wraps, wigs, braids, and individual hair strands, to other popular pieces including hair extensions. Conventional hair extensions typically come in a variety of different lengths, and include colors that typically match the natural hair color of wearers. In some examples, hair extensions come in different colors including brown, blonde, black, or dirty blonde. Hair extensions are generally employed to enhance the cosmetic appearance of a person's natural hair by providing contrasting colors, wave-like appearances, or establishing a layered look in hair. There are also circumstances in which certain genetic characteristics of individual cultures make it difficult to manage or configure their natural hair, thus needing to supplement the use of additional hair. Some individuals may have natural, short curly hair, or short brittle hair, or hair that simply does not grow to desired lengths. In those circumstances, individuals often employ the use of hair extensions to acquire certain hair styles or configurations.
Traditional hair extensions are generally affixed to a wearer's head of hair using one or more mechanical fasteners, hair ties, or crimping techniques where the ends of individual hair strands are directed attached to existing hairs using pliable metal bands. Hair extensions often include a bundle of hair strands that are sewn or glued to one or more combs, clips, or barrettes, that are used to secure the hair extension on a person's head. The use of such combs, clips or barrettes provides various drawbacks. For instance hair extensions including barrettes or combs are awkward to use, uncomfortable and difficult to manage, often slip or slide through a person's fingers when holding, and compromise the natural overlay or appearance of hair when attached to existing hair configurations such as ponytails, bonnets, or pigtails. Some conventional hair extensions often include hair wefts including a plurality of hair strands having proximate ends directly attached to an elongate member, and to each other, or that are wrapped around the elongate member to provide hair loops that are sewn, glued, or stitched together forming a hair extension. Weft hair formations often provide less naturally looking hair that are rigid to manage, undermine the continuous natural flow or hair, or limit movement of hair as a result of the hairs being attached together, thus making it hard to manage or manipulate into various hairstyles. In addition, wefted hair loops tend to break over time and detach from the elongate member as a result of the hair loops being exposed to heat from sun, salt water when swimming, or from harsh chemicals such as chlorine. The rigid attachment of looped wefts makes it difficult and often impractical to wrap the hair extension around natural ponytails, pigtails, or doughnuts. The stiff structure of the wefted hair makes it difficult for encircling such pigtails o ponytails while providing an appealing, cosmetic look. The encircled wefted hair extension generally does not blend in well with the wearer's natural look of hair, and fails to provide a look of continuity in hair.
Properly handling and attaching conventional hair extensions to a wearer's natural hair has also proven to be a challenge. For example, many hair extensions include miniature fasteners such as clips, or clasps that attach together, or are inserted within a wearer's hair to securely affix the hair extension in place on a wearer's head. The small dimensional size of such fasteners makes it difficult for users to adequately grasp, and handle the clips when manipulating the hair extension in position by hand. Further, hair extensions generally entail hair strands that extend freely in such a way that the hair remains loose and flimsy and does not provide some form of structural support to help retain a formed hair configuration such as a pony tail. For example, individuals may wish to use hair extensions to extend the length of natural ponytails which provide an esthetic appearance including a curved bow that the hair extension as a ponytail. Conventional hair extensions generally include strands of hair that simply extend downwards and flat against the back of the person's head.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a solution to at least one of the aforementioned problems. There remains a need for a hair extension that is easily and securely attachable to a person's natural ponytail, and includes fasteners with larger surface areas for effectively holding and manipulating the fasteners when attaching the hair extension to a wearer's hair. There is also a need for a hair extension that includes structural support to properly configure the hair extension into a ponytail, and is designed to camouflage the connecting region of the hair extension to the person's natural hair to emulate the contiguously flow of natural hair enhancing the cosmetic appearance of a person's hair.
The present invention is directed to a hair extension including a ribbon having a hollow channel extending the length of the ribbon, a support panel attached to the ribbon and including a plurality of hair strands that extend downwards a predetermined length, a stretchable band extending through the hollow channel of the ribbon and having opposite distal ends, and a pair of fasteners each attached to the opposite distal ends of the stretchable band for readily securing the hair extension to a person's natural hair, such as a natural ponytail. Each fastener includes a J-hook having a first curvature integral with a hook curvature adapted for inserting within apertures provided on opposite ends of the stretchable band, and secured in place with respective slide covers.
A first embodiment provides a hair extension attachable to a natural hair style formed on a person's head, where the hair extension comprises: a ribbon including a hollow channel extending a length of the ribbon, a support panel having a lateral edge attached to the ribbon and including a plurality of openings formed through the support panel, a plurality of hair strands attached to, and extending downwards from the plurality of openings on the support panel, where each of the plurality of hair strands have a same or different length, a stretchable band extending through the hollow channel and including opposite distal ends that extend beyond opposite edges of the ribbon predetermined length, a pair of fasteners each attached to the opposite distal ends of the stretchable band, and wherein the stretchable band and the ribbon are removably wrapped around said natural hair style such that the ribbon is scrunched together to replicate a look of a hair tie and camouflages a connecting region of the hair extension with said natural hair style where the fasteners are removably secured within a wearer's hair.
In one aspect, the natural hair style includes any of a pigtail, a ponytail, a doughnut, bun, braid, French braid, plait, or French plait.
In one aspect, the support panel includes a semi-rigid or rigid mesh or lattice panel having an arcuate edge. In one non-limiting embodiment, the support panel includes any of an oval, round, square, oblong, rectangular, diamond, or triangular shape.
In one aspect, the stretchable band includes an elastic material, a rubber material, a bungee cord, a sport elastic, a cord elastic, or a fabric covered single or multiple elastic strands or bands.
In another aspect, each of the pair of fasteners includes a J-hook having a first curvature integral with a hook curvature. In one non-limiting embodiment, each J-hook is ½ to 1 inch in length, and includes a curved body that is 1 to 4 cm wide.
In one aspect, each of the pair of fasteners includes a J-hook having a first curvature that includes a first end and a curved body that begins from the first end and tappers down into a pointed second end, and a second curvature that extends outwards from the first end and terminates into a hook curvature.
In one aspect, each of the opposite ends of the stretchable band includes an aperture sized to removably receive the hook curvature of each respective J-hook. In one embodiment, each fastener includes a slide cover that extends over the attachment configuration of the hook curvature and aperture to retain attachment of the J-hook to the stretchable band. The slide cover may be constructed from plastic, ceramic, or a metal material such as aluminum, and may comprise a tubular, rectangular, or square shape.
In another aspect, the plurality of hair strands comprise any color including black, brown, blonde, grey, white, dirty blonde, light blonde, red, green, yellow, orange, blue, indigo, violet, or any combination, and/or shade. The plurality of hair strands may comprise straight hair, wavily hair, or curled hair.
In one aspect, the opposite ends of the stretchable band extend beyond the opposite edges of the ribbon a predetermined length.
In another aspect, each J-hook may be constructed from a ceramic, wood, plastic, or metal, nylon, or hard rubber material.
In yet another aspect, the ribbon may be constructed from a cloth, fabric, or textile woven or non-woven material including any of polyester, polycotton, silk, linen, Lycra, spandex, micro-fiber, terrycloth, wool, cotton, satin, rayon, denim, or chiffon.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the attached drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which follow.
The Preferred Embodiments of the Invention Will Hereinafter be Described in Conjunction with the Appended Drawings Provided to Illustrate and not to Limit the Invention, where Like Designations Denote Like Elements, and in which:
Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
Shown throughout the figures, the present invention is directed to a hair extension comprising a ribbon having a hollow channel, a support panel extending from the ribbon for fixedly accommodating a plurality of hair strands having predetermined lengths, a stretchable band extending within the hollow channel of the ribbon, and a pair of fasteners provided at opposite distal ends of the stretchable band to readily secure the hair extension to a person's existing natural head of hair, or to a natural ponytail to extend the length of the ponytail.
Referring now to
The soft, pliable ribbon 102 is generally constructed from a cloth, fabric or textile, woven or non-woven material including for example, polyester, nylon, spandex, rayon, wool, silk, linen, silk, lycra, polycotton, denim, chiffon, terrycloth, micro-fiber, or any combination thereof. The soft, fabric is designed to scrunch or bunch together when wrapped around a pigtail hair configuration to replicate the look a standard hair tie often worn by females when tying or managing their hair. In depicting one exemplary form of fabrication, the ribbon 102 may comprise a square or rectangular piece of material that is rolled into a tubular member and sewn or stitched along a designated seam to define the hollow extending channel 104.
The support panel 108 includes a mesh or lattice panel 116 having an arcuate edge 118, and a lateral edge 120 affixed along the outer surface, or along the sewn seam of the ribbon 102. The mesh or lattice member 116 includes a plurality of openings for attaching a plurality of hair strands 110 to the panel 108. The support panel 108 may be constructed from any durable material including a thin plastic, or may be constructed from a cloth, fabric or textile material that is reinforced or coated with a stiffening agent, compound, or element. The support panel 108 retains the structural integrity of the hairpiece 100, and helps shape various hair configurations when attached to a wearer's natural hair. For example, support panel 108 helps give the natural appearance of a ponytail having a bow-extension that appears to flow contiguously with the wearer's natural hair, as better illustrated in
The plurality of hair strands 110 may comprise real, natural hair, synthetic hair, or any combination thereof. The hair strands 110 may include any number of different colors that correlate to a person's natural looking hair color. As such, the plurality of hair strands 110 may include any color including black, blonde, dirty blonde, grey, white, brown, or light blonde. It is sometimes the case where individuals desire to enhance the cosmetic colored appearance of existing hair by adding highlights. A younger generation often desires brighter, or more pronounced colors such as a bright green, florescent blue, hot pink or fire engine red. Thus, the hair extension 100 may include a plurality of hair strands 110 that include pronounced, bright, and/or florescent colors, such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, or any combination thereof. The plurality of hair strands 110 may comprise the same length, or come in a variety of different lengths and styles including braided hair, wavy hair, curled hair, or other configurations. In one example, the hair strands 110 may be designed to provide a layered cut. The hair strands 110 are preferably susceptible to styling by permitting use of hot irons, hair dryers, and other hair styling tools. Thus, the hair extension 100 may include any number of hair strands 110 that includes the same or different length, the same of different color, and comprise natural or synthetic hair or any combination thereof.
The hair extension 100 further includes a stretchable band shown at 106. The stretchable band 106 preferably comprises a stretchable material that is capable of withstanding repeated bending, and stretching over time, and durability when exposed to chemicals or sunlight. In one non-limiting embodiment, the stretchable band 106 may include an elastic or rubber band material, fabric covered single or multiple elastic band or strands, a bungee material, or other stretchable material such as braided elastic, sport elastic, or cord elastic. The stretchable band 106 may comprise any dimensional length, width, thickness, and/or diameter if round in shape. In one non-limiting example, the stretchable band 106 comprises of length of 6 to 9 inches when in a non-stretched, relaxed state, and 14 to 18 inches when in a stretched or non-relaxed state. The size of the stretchable band 106 is selected to accommodate entering the hollow channel 104 of ribbon 102. As depicted in
With reference made to
Slide covers 134, 135 are configured to slide over the outer surface of the stretchable band 106 and into position over the attachment configuration 128 of the hook curvature 124 and aperture 126 to prevent the hook curvature 124 from detaching from the aperture 126 during use. The slide cover 135 provides a similar arrangement as shown in
With reference made to
Tubular slide covers 234, 235 are adapted to slide over the outer surface of the stretchable band 106 and into position over the attachment configuration 226 of the hook curvature 224 and aperture 126 to prevent the hook curvature 224 from slipping out of aperture 126 during use. The slide cover 235 provides a similar arrangement as shown in
As illustrated in
In turning to
Various modifications can be made to the hair extension 100 to improve function and aesthetic appearance. The hair extension 100 may include any design, pattern, or color, and include a plurality of hair strands 110 that comprise straight hairs, wavily hairs, curled hairs, or any combination. The ribbon 102 may include lace, ruffles, beads, stiches, or other decorations and/or ornaments. In circumstances where the J-hooks 112, 114, 212, 214 are attachable together, the J-hooks 112, 114, 212, 214 may be replaced by hook and loop fasteners such as Velcro™, snaps, buttons, magnets, or other attachment fasteners. Each J-hook 112, 212, 114, 214 may be stitched to opposite distal ends of the stretchable band 106 if preferred.
Since many modifications, variations, and changes in detail can be made to the described preferred embodiments of the invention, it is intended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Furthermore, it is understood that any of the features presented in the embodiments may be integrated into any of the other embodiments unless explicitly stated otherwise. The scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/939,042, filed on Nov. 22, 2019, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62939042 | Nov 2019 | US |
