The present disclosure relates to a hair accessory, and more particularly to a luminous hair accessory.
Hair accessories are likely the most common articles carried with females. If additional function can be provided with the hair accessories, the applicability of the hair accessories is further enhanced.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a luminous hair accessory. The luminous hair accessory includes a light module and a main body for holding hair. At least a portion of the main body is made of light guide material and has a light entrance and a light extraction structure. A fixed light path from the light entrance to the light extraction structure is formed in the light guide material. The light module is coupled to the main body and configured to emit light to the light entrance on the main body. The light travels over the portion of the main body and is then extracted from the portion of the main body through the light extraction structure.
In an embodiment, the light guide material is polycarbonate, poly(methyl methacrylate), polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or a combination thereof. The light is guided in the light guide material by total internal reflection.
In an embodiment, the light extraction structure includes embossing, V-cutting groove(s) or micro dots formed by etching, injection molding or printing.
In an embodiment, a notch is formed on the portion of the main body to indicate the light entrance receiving the light from the light module.
In an embodiment, the light module is an internal light module to be embedded in the portion of the main body. The internal light module includes a resilient cover defining therein an accommodation space and having an opening connected to the accommodation space. A light source, a battery device and a push switch are disposed in the accommodation space. The light source is configured to emit the light. The battery device is configured to power the light source. The push switch is electrically connected between the light source and the battery device and disposed close to a touch surface of the resilient cover for switching on and off the light source in response to a pressing action on the touch surface.
In an embodiment, a positioning hole is formed on the portion of the main body for supporting the internal light module.
In an embodiment, the light module is an external light module detachably coupled to the main body. The external light module includes a deformable cover defining therein an accommodation space and having an opening connected to the accommodation space. A portion of the deformable cover deforms in response to a pressing action. A securing member is formed on the deformable cover to secure the external light module to the main body. A light source, a battery device and a push switch are disposed in the accommodation space. The light source is configured to emit the light. The battery device is configured to power the light source. The push switch is electrically connected between the light source and the battery device and disposed close to the deformed portion of the deformable cover for switching on and off the light source in response to the pressing action.
In an embodiment, the main body includes two handle portions pivotally coupled to each other and the external light module is secured between the two handle portions. The external light module is switched on or off when the handle portions are pressed together in response to the pressing action to open the main body to receive or relieve the hair and squeeze the external light module.
In an embodiment, the securing member is an elastic catch loop formed on a lateral surface of the deformable cover. The external light module is secured to the main body by fitting the elastic catch loop to one of the handle portions. A groove is formed on the handle portion to accommodate a portion of the elastic catch loop when the elastic catch loop is fit to the handle portion to secure the external light module to the main body.
In an embodiment, the pressing action is directly performed on the deformed portion of the deformable cover.
In an embodiment, the securing member is a hook and a corresponding catch, a hook and loop fastener or a magnet pair.
In an embodiment, the main body includes a hair-sectioning piece to be inserted into hair; and a hair-clamping piece pivotally coupled to the hair-sectioning piece for cooperating with the hair-sectioning piece for clamping a bundle of hair. The hair-clamping piece is integrally formed and made of the light guide material. The hair-clamping piece has the light entrance and the light extraction structure. The light emitted from the light module enters the hair-clamping piece through the light entrance and is extracted from the hair-clamping piece through the light extraction structure.
In an embodiment, the hair-sectioning piece is integrally formed and made of the light guide material. The hair-sectioning piece has another light entrance and another light extraction structure. The light emitted from the light module enters the hair-sectioning piece through the corresponding light entrance and is extracted from the hair-sectioning piece through the corresponding light extraction structure.
In an embodiment, the main body includes a first clamping piece integrally formed and made of the light guide material and has a first light entrance and a first light extraction structure; and a second clamping piece integrally formed and made of the light guide material and has a second light entrance and a second light extraction structure. The second clamping piece is pivotally coupled to and cooperates with the first clamping piece for clamping a bundle of hair. First light emitted from the light module enters the first clamping piece through the first light entrance and is extracted from the first clamping piece through the first light extraction structure. Second light emitted from the light module enters the second clamping piece through the second light entrance and is extracted from the second clamping piece through the second light extraction structure.
In an embodiment, the main body includes a decorative portion not covered by the hair and has thereon at least one positioning hole for supporting at least one light module in a one-to-one manner.
In an embodiment, the main body has a form of a hair clip, an alligator hair clip, an arch clip, a butterfly hair clip, a claw clip, a barrette clip, a headband, a teeth comb, hairband, a ponytail barrette, an updo barrette, a tortoise shell barrette, a hair comb, a hair stick or a hair tie cuff.
The above objects and advantages of the present disclosure will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
The present disclosure will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this disclosure are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
The present disclosure provides a luminous hair accessory. The luminous effect of the hair accessory can be activated at night for safety consideration. For example, riders or drivers of vehicles can notice the pedestrian or bicycle rider carrying the luminous hair accessory in subdued lighting or dark streets. Since the hair accessory is almost the necessary attachment to a woman or a girl, it is convenient for her to not carry or wear other luminous attachment with her. Furthermore, the hair accessory put at the height of one's head is easily noticed to effectively increase the safety of the wearer.
Please refer to
The hair-sectioning piece 101 and the hair-clamping piece 102 are coupled at a pivot point 13 near a tail end 151 of the main body 10. The hair-sectioning piece 101 and the hair-clamping piece 102 form handle portions 1011 and 1021 between the pivot point 13 and the tail end 151 of the main body 10. A coil spring (not shown) is mounted around the pivot point 13 and connected to the hair-sectioning piece 101 and the hair-clamping piece 102 at two ends to push against the two pieces 101 and 102 to provide elastic force for closing the main body 10. By pressing the handle portions 1011 and 1021 together, the elastic force is canceled out to make the main body 10 opened for receiving the bundle of hair. Then, after releasing the pressing force P on the handle portions 1011 and 1021, the main body 10 is closed due to the elastic force for clamping and holding the bundle of hair.
The main body 10 includes at least a rigid portion for providing the luminous effect. For example, at least the hair-clamping piece 102 of the main body 10 of the hair clip 1 is rigid and made of transparent material, especially light guide material. A light module 17 is disposed between the handle portions 1011 and 1021. The light module 17 can emit light toward the handle portion 1021 of the hair-clamping piece 102. Then, the light is guided in the hair-clamping piece 102 from the tail end 151 to the head end 152. The light is spread out through surfaces of the hair-clamping piece 102 and thus can be seen and noticed.
The light module 17 is activated or deactivated by pressing the handle portions 1011 and 1021 together to switch on or switch off the light module 17.
It is to be noted that any type of known securing member is applicable to the light module 17 and should be encompassed in the present disclosure. For example, at least one hook is mounted on the light module 17 and at least one corresponding catch is mounted on the back of the handle portion 1011 or 1021, and vice versa. The hook and the catch can fix the light module 17 to the handle portion 1011 or 1021 at the desired position and direction to make sure correct light path of the light source 171. In other embodiments, other securing members including a hook and loop fastener, a magnet pair and so on could be adopted in the present disclosure following the above-described concepts, and further description needs not be given here.
The light module 17 could be viewed as a replaceable part. For example, a first light module 17 having a red LED is fixed to the handle portion 1011 or 1021 to emit red light to the light entrance in a first situation; and a second light module 17 having a blue LED, in stead of the first light module 17, is fixed to the handle portion 1011 or 1021 to emit blue light to the light entrance in a second situation. The replaceability of the light module 17 can produce variety in the applications.
The light guide material for forming the hair-clamping piece 102 usually has higher refractive index (e.g. greater than 1.4) which are suitable to make successive total internal reflections in the hair-clamping piece 102. The light guide material may be, but not limited to, polycarbonate (PC), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or a combination of them. The hair-clamping piece 102 may be integrally formed to prevent loss of light across gaps. The light is extracted through specific positions (light extraction structure) of the hair-clamping piece 102, e.g. positions at upper surface or lateral surface, by any know technology such as embossing, V-cutting groove, micro dots formed by etching, injection molding or printing with any desired pattern. For example, a specific optical pattern (e.g. brand name or trademark) can be shown as the light source is activated. The light extraction technology mainly changes the incident angle of the light to frustrate the total internal reflection to allow the light to escape the hair-clamping piece 102. The rigid portion made of the light guide material is solid, not flexible and does not deform at any time no matter whether the hair accessory is put on someone's head, taken off, lit on or lit off so that the light path from the light entrance to the light extraction structure keeps unchanged (i.e. a fixed light path is formed in the light guide material). Since the light path should be controlled, a mark (e.g. notch, not shown) is formed on the handle portion 1011 or 1021 to indicate the correct position (light entrance) to be aimed so that the user can properly mount the light module 17 to the handle portion 1011 or 1021. The groove on the handle portion 1011 or 1021 described in the foregoing is also advantageous to positioning of the light module 17 on the handle portion 1011 or 1021. Besides, such design could be also applied to the hair-sectioning piece 101, if necessary or desired, even though the hair-sectioning piece 101 is usually hidden behind hair. In this case, the top opening 1701 or additional opening (not shown) should further allow the light to be emitted to the handle portion 1011 of the hair-sectioning piece 101. The handle portions 1011 and 1021 may correspond to a single light source 171 or respective light sources with different colors controlled by a single push switch 172.
The luminous hair accessory of the present disclosure can enhance personal protection in subdued lighting or dark streets, and further enhance aesthetics. The operation of the light module 17 is easy and convenient, and the luminous effect can be activated or deactivated as one wishes. In contract to the reflective clothing, the luminous hair accessory of the present disclosure is still highly visible with little or without ambient light.
The external light module may be modified to be embedded in the hair accessory to reduce negative influence on the exterior appearance of the hair accessory.
The detailed structure of the hair-sectioning piece 501 and the hair-clamping piece 502 is similar to those described with reference to
The concepts of the internal light module could be applied to various kinds of hair accessories, e.g. headband, teeth comb, hairband, ponytail barrette, updo barrette, tortoise shell barrette, hair comb, hair stick, hair tie cuff which has a rigid portion with or without resilience where a positioning hole is formed to accommodate the light module(s). The rigid portion is made of light guide material and processed with any known light extraction technology at desired positions.
In view of the foregoing, the present disclosure provides a luminous hair accessory having an internal or external light module. The colored light is guided in the hair accessory by total internal reflection and extracted through surfaces of the hair accessory. The internal or external light module is replaceable so as to enhance the flexibility and variety of the luminous effects of the luminous hair accessory. The luminous effect can be activated or deactivated as desired to enhance personal safety and aesthetics. Only one or few light sources are required to achieve uniform lighting effect. According to the present disclosure, additional function is given to the common-used hair accessories to significantly enhance the applicability of the hair accessories.
While the disclosure has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
The present application is a nonprovisional application claiming benefit from a prior-filed provisional application bearing a Ser. No. 62/847,350 and filed May 14, 2019, the entity of which is incorporated herein for reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62847350 | May 2019 | US |