Tool for Simultaneously Attaching Multiple Hair Extensions

Abstract

A hair extension tool simultaneously attaches multiple hair extensions to a recipient's hair. The tool has upper and lower handles that are mechanically coupled at one end via a hinge joint. The handles are moveable, and the coupling has a quiescent state in which the handles are spaced apart. The tool includes an upper arc and a lower arc that have substantially the same shape. The upper and lower arcs are attached to the handles on their convex sides. The upper arc includes multiple teeth, and each tooth has a substantially semicircular concave opening. The lower arc includes teeth that fit into the openings in the teeth of the upper arc when the upper and lower handles are brought together. Each tooth in the lower arc includes a groove for holding a group of strands of the recipient's hair. The upper arc includes a heating element that is activated by a button.

Claims

1. An apparatus for simultaneously attaching a plurality of hair extensions to a recipient's hair, comprising: an upper handle and a lower handle that are mechanically coupled to each other at one end, wherein: the upper and lower handles are moveable with respect to each other; the mechanical coupling is a hinge joint that creates a scissor-like mechanism for opening and closing the apparatus; and the mechanical coupling has a quiescent state in which the upper and lower handles are spaced apart; an upper arc and a lower arc, each having a convex side and a concave side, wherein: the upper arc is attached to the upper handle on the convex side of the upper arc; the lower arc is attached to the lower handle on the convex side of the lower arc; the upper arc includes a first plurality of teeth, wherein each tooth of the first plurality of teeth has a semicircular concave opening; the lower arc includes a second plurality of teeth that fit into the semicircular concave openings of the first plurality of teeth in the upper arc when the upper and lower handles are brought together by user action, wherein each tooth of the second plurality includes a groove for holding a group of strands of the recipient's hair; and the upper arc includes a heating element that is activated by a button on the upper handle or the lower handle.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the upper and lower arcs are detachable from the upper and lower handles.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the upper and lower arcs are a first pair of matching arcs of a plurality of pairs of matching arcs.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein a second pair of matching arcs of the plurality of pairs of matching arcs has teeth that are spaced further apart than the teeth in the upper arc.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein a second pair of matching arcs of the plurality of pairs of matching arcs has teeth, consisting of fewer teeth than the teeth in the upper arc.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein a second pair of matching arcs of the plurality of pairs of matching arcs has an arc radius that is different from an arc radius of the upper arc.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the upper arc is an integrally formed portion of the upper handle, and the lower arc is an integrally formed portion of the lower handle.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the semicircular concave openings in the first plurality of teeth are sized to fit keratin tips pre-attached to hair extensions.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the semicircular concave openings in the first plurality of teeth are sized to hold keratin beads.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each groove in the second plurality of teeth is formed by a respective pair of vertical prongs.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a heating element in the lower arc that is activated by the button.

12. A method for simultaneously attaching a plurality of hair extensions to a recipient's hair, comprising: laying out groups of strands of the recipient's hair into a plurality of grooves of a lower arc of a hair extension tool; placing a plurality of preformed hair extensions with keratin tips into semicircular concave openings in an upper arc of the hair extension tool, wherein the grooves with groups of strands of the recipient's hair correspond to the preformed hair extensions in the upper arc; bringing together the upper and lower arcs of the hair extension tool by squeezing upper and lower handles attached to the upper and lower arcs, thereby bringing each preformed hair extension in the upper arc into contact with a respective group of strands of the recipient's hair in the lower arc; activating a heating element in the upper arc, thereby melting the keratin tips of the preformed hair extensions and attaching the preformed hair extensions to the recipient's hair; and releasing pressure on the upper and lower handles to bring the upper and lower arcs apart, and removing the recipient's hair with attached hair extensions from the upper and lower arcs of the hair extension tool.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the upper and lower arcs of the hair extension tool are detachable from the upper and lower handles.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the upper and lower arcs are a first pair of matching arcs of a plurality of pairs of matching arcs.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a second pair of matching arcs of the plurality of pairs has teeth that are spaced further apart than the teeth in the upper arc.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein a second pair of matching arcs of the plurality of pairs of matching arcs has fewer teeth than the teeth in the upper arc.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein a second pair of matching arcs of the plurality of pairs of matching arcs has an arc radius that is different from an arc radius of the upper arc.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the semicircular concave openings in the upper arc are sized to fit the keratin tips of the preformed hair extensions.

19. A method for simultaneously attaching a plurality of hair extensions to a recipient's hair, comprising: laying out a plurality of strands of the recipient's hair into each of a plurality of grooves of a lower arc of a hair extension tool; placing a plurality of hair extension strands into each of the grooves that has strands of the recipient's hair; placing keratin beads into semicircular concave openings in the teeth of an upper arc of the hair extension tool, wherein the grooves in the lower arc correspond to the semicircular openings in the teeth of the upper arc; bringing together the upper and lower arcs of the hair extension tool by squeezing upper and lower handles attached to the upper and lower arcs, thereby bringing each keratin bead in the upper arc into contact with a respective group of strands of the recipient's hair and hair extension strands in a respective groove in the lower arc; activating a heating element in the upper arc, thereby melting the keratin beads and attaching the hair extension strands to the recipient's hair; and releasing pressure on the upper and lower handles to bring the upper and lower arcs apart, and removing the recipient's hair with attached hair extensions from the upper and lower arcs of the hair extension tool.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the semicircular concave openings in the plurality of teeth of the upper arc are sized to hold the keratin beads.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] For a better understanding of the aforementioned implementations of the invention as well as additional implementations thereof, reference should be made to the Description of Implementations below, in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

[0021] FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate using a tool for attaching multiple hair extensions simultaneously, in accordance with some implementations.

[0022] FIG. 2 shows some pre-formed hair extensions with adhesive tips in accordance with some implementations.

[0023] FIG. 3 illustrates an assortment of available hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations.

[0024] FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate a tool for simultaneously attaching multiple hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations.

[0025] FIGS. 5A-5F provide drawings of a tool for attaching hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations.

[0026] FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate a tool for simultaneously attaching multiple hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations.

[0027] FIG. 7 illustrates a tool for simultaneously attaching multiple hair extensions with an interchangeable handle, in accordance with some implementations.

[0028] FIG. 8 illustrates a semicircular concave opening of the first plurality of teeth in the upper arc of a tool for simultaneously attaching multiple hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations.

[0029] Reference will now be made in detail to implementations, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTATIONS

[0030] FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate using a tool for attaching multiple hair extensions simultaneously, in accordance with some implementations. Here a stylist has combed a recipient's hair 100 into grooves in a lower arc of a tool 400 that can be used to apply multiple hair extensions simultaneously. The recipient's hair 100 is positioned between the upper arc 406 and lower arc 408 of the tool, and between the upper handle 402 and the lower handle 404, as illustrated in FIG. 4A below. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the tool 400 is closed, thereby compressing the strands of the user's natural hair 100 with strands of the hair extensions. After the tool 400 is closed, the stylist (not shown) activates a heating element (e.g., in one or both the arcs 406 and 408), which melts the keratin tips of preformed hair extensions (or melts keratin beads when not using hair extensions with pre-attached keratin tips). The arcs include thermal protective elements to prevent heating or burning the recipient's scalp. After the keratin is melted, the user deactivates the heating elements and releases the compression on the handles to that the handles 402 and 404 return to the default open state. FIG. 1C illustrates the region 110 of the recipient's scalp after the tool 400 has applied the hair extensions. The tool 400 has created multiple locks of hair in one easy step, and the locks are in a uniform row.

[0031] FIG. 2 shows some pre-formed hair extensions with adhesive tips (e.g., keratin) in accordance with some implementations. Each hair extension unit includes a bundle 202 of individual hair or fiber strands and an adhesive tip 204 at one end. In some instances, the adhesive tip is made of keratin. In some instances, each tip 204 has a cross-section that looks like the letter C. When heated (e.g., to 150 C.), the adhesive tip melts, which enables a hair extension to be attached to a person's existing hair. The adhesive tips are commonly 4 or 5 millimeters across, and about 1 millimeter thick.

[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates an assortment of available hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations. Hair extensions have different colors, styles, textures, sheen, and lengths. FIG. 3 illustrates both natural hair extensions, obtained from hair donors, and artificial-fiber hair extensions. Hair extensions can be aggregations of individual hairs assembled into a weft, or can be pre-braided. Some of the hair extensions illustrated in FIG. 3 do not have adhesive tips. In this case, a user selects how many strands of the hair extension to use, and typically uses keratin beads to attach the hair extension strands to the recipient's own hair.

[0033] FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate a tool 400 for simultaneously attaching multiple hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations. In some implementations, the body of the tool is made of aluminum or other light weight metal. As shown in FIG. 4A, the illustrated tool 400 has an upper handle 402 and a lower handle 404, which are substantially parallel to each other. The two handles are held together by transverse bars 416. FIG. 4A shows the handles in the default open or quiescent position, with the two handles spaced apart. In some implementations, the handles are held in this position by one or more tension strings, which may be located in the handles or in the transverse bars 416. A user can squeeze the two handles together to overcome the force holding the handles in the default position. When squeezed, the handles move toward each other, and maintain a substantially parallel orientation with respect to each other during the movement.

[0034] In some implementations, one or both of the handles includes various controls or indicators. In the illustrated implementation, there is a power switch 410 at the rear of the upper handle 402. Typically, implementations also include a power cord, which is not illustrated in FIG. 4A. Other implementations use batteries for power, which may be placed inside the upper handle 402 and/or the lower handle 404.

[0035] The illustrated implementation also includes a heating button 412, which is used to activate a heating element in the upper arc 406. In some implementations, heating is initialized when the button 412 is pressed, and the indicator light 414 turns green when the heat reaches an optimal temperature (e.g., about 180 C.). When the button 412 is pressed again, the heating is decreased to a standby mode and the indicator light 414 turns red. Some implementations use a button that is active only while pressed (e.g., a momentary contact switch) so that the heating element turns off when the button 412 is not held. Some implementations also include an indicator light or LED 414, which indicates the status of the device (e.g., whether the device is on or off, or whether the heating element is on or off). In some implementations, the indicator light 414 uses color to indicate status (e.g., no light when the tool is turned off, red light when the tool is heating up, and green light when the heating element is at an optimal temperature).

[0036] Attached to the two handles are the upper arc 406 and the lower arc 408. The upper and lower arcs are also referred to as blades. In some implementations, the upper arc 406 is attached to the upper handle 402 by feet 418. Similarly, some implementations attach the lower arc 408 to the lower handle 404 by feet 420. In other implementations, the upper and lower arcs connect directly to the upper and lower handles without the use of connector feet.

[0037] Attached to the upper arc 406 is a row of teeth 422, each with a semicircular opening 424. In some implementations, the openings 424 are sized to fit keratin beads or to fit keratin tips (e.g., tips 204) of preformed hair extensions. The lower arc 408 includes a row of grooves 426, which fit into the openings 424 of the row of teeth 422 when the upper arc 406 and lower arc 408 are brought together. In some implementations, there is no spacing between the teeth 422 (e.g., there is a single piece of material). In some implementations, there are no openings 424 in the upper teeth 422. In some implementations, the grooves 426 are larger and/or or spaced closer together. In some implementations, the grooves 426 form a continuous sequence, each connected to the next (e.g., like a sequence of the letter v in vvvvvvvv or a sawtooth shape). In some implementations, the tool 400 includes multiple sets of arcs with different sized grooves. In some implementations, the groove sizes are micro, mini, standard, and large.

[0038] The portions of the upper and lower arcs that come into contact with the recipient's hair are coated with a non-stick surface, such as Teflon. In the illustrated implementation, the blades are about 2 millimeters wide. Typically, the width is larger, such as 3-10 millimeters.

[0039] FIG. 4B illustrates the tool 400 when the two handles 402 and 404 are brought together. Note that the indicator light 414 in this figure is green, indicating the heating element (or elements) are at the optimal temperature. When the upper and lower arcs 406 and 408 are brought together, each of the upper teeth 422 is aligned with one of the lower grooves 426.

[0040] FIG. 4C proves a close up rear view of a tool 400 according to some implementations. FIG. 4C illustrates that the opening 424 in each tooth 422 in the upper arc 406 is aligned with a respective groove 426 in the lower arc 408. In this implementation, there are spaces 430 between the individual teeth 422. However, individually separated teeth are not required. In some implementations, the teeth 422 are all combined as a single piece of material. FIG. 4D is the same view as FIG. 4C, but showing the upper and lower portions after being brought together.

[0041] FIG. 4E illustrates that in some implementations the upper and lower arcs 406 and 408 can be removed from the upper and lower handles 402 and 404. The upper and lower arcs 406 and 408 are shown here adjacent to the handles 402 and 404.

[0042] FIGS. 5A-5F provide drawings of a tool 400 for attaching hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations. The drawing in FIG. 5A corresponds to the tool image shown in FIG. 4A. FIG. 5B provides a side view drawing of the tool 400, with a portion 500 identified. The portion 500 in FIG. 5B is magnified in FIG. 5F. FIG. 5C provides a top view drawing of a tool 400, and FIG. 5D and 5E show the front and back.

[0043] Implementations of a tool 400 utilize various tooth and groove shapes and arrangements to accommodate a variety of uses. In some implementations, the tool can be used without heat, fusing strands of a user's hair with hair extension strands using cold fusion. Cold fusion uses micro link tubes. In this case, after strands of a recipient's hair and strands of the hair extension are inserted into tubes, compression alone is used for fusion. When performing cold fusion, some implementations have an upper arc that is flat (e.g., no openings 424), or an upper arc shape that matches the grooves in the lower arc.

[0044] Note that implementations of described hair extension tools can used both by people who are right-handed and by those who are left-handed. Also, the description of upper and lower arcs can be arbitrary. In some implementations, the upper and lower arcs 406 and 408 are interchangeable. That is, a lower arc 408 can fit into the upper handle, and an upper arc 406 can fit into the lower handle. In some instances, using an upper arc 406 with openings 424 on the bottom can be useful. For example, the semicircular openings 424 hold keratin tips 204 in place, and a recipient's hair is quickly laid out into the keratin tips without moving the hair extensions out of place.

[0045] Although specific steps of using a tool 400 to apply hair extensions have been described, one of skill in the art (e.g., a salon stylist) recognizes that many variations are possible with the disclosed versatile tool. For example, the strands of the recipients hair can be placed into the grooves 426 (or openings 424) before or after placing the hair extensions into the grooves 426 (or openings 424). In some implementations, a user specifically places individual groups of hair strands into grooves. Some implementations provide a tooth/groove structure that automatically groups the recipient's hair strands and/or the hair extension strands into the grooves or openings as the handles are brought together. For example, some implementations have a continuous row of v-shaped grooves that hold a keratin tip placed at the bottom of each groove, and as the upper arc is brought down, all of the recipient's hair in the groove is brought into contact with the hair extension.

[0046] FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate a tool 600 for simultaneously attaching multiple hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations. In some implementations, the body of the tool is made of aluminum or other light weight metal. As shown in FIG. 6A, the illustrated tool 600 has an upper handle 602 and a lower handle 604, which are attached at one end via a hinge joint 622. FIG. 6A shows the handles in the default open or quiescent position, with the two handles spaced apart. In some implementations, the handles are held in this position by one or more tension strings. A user can squeeze the two handles together to overcome the force holding the handles in the default position. When squeezed, the handles move toward each other.

[0047] Attached to the two handles are the upper arc 606 and the lower arc 608. The upper and lower arcs are also referred to as blades. In some implementations, the upper arc 606 is attached to the upper handle 602 by feet 618. Similarly, some implementations attach the lower arc 608 to the lower handle 604 by feet 620 as shown in FIG. 6C. In other implementations, the upper and lower arcs connect directly to the upper and lower handles without the use of connector feet.

[0048] Attached to the upper arc 606 is a row of teeth 622, each with a semicircular opening 624. In some implementations, the openings 624 are sized to fit keratin beads or to fit keratin tips (e.g., tips 204) of preformed hair extensions. The lower arc 608 includes a row of grooves 626, which fit into the openings 624 of the row of teeth 622 when the upper arc 606 and lower arc 608 are brought together. In some implementations, there is no spacing between the teeth 622 (e.g., there is a single piece of material). In some implementations, there are no openings 624 in the upper teeth 622. In some implementations, the grooves 626 are larger and/or or spaced closer together. In some implementations, the grooves 626 form a continuous sequence, each connected to the next (e.g., like a sequence of the letter v in vvvvvvvv or a sawtooth shape). In some implementations, the tool 600 includes multiple sets of arcs with different sized grooves. In some implementations, the groove sizes are micro, mini, standard, and large.

[0049] FIG. 6B shows the front view of the tool 600 with the handles in the default open or quiescent position, with the two handles spaced apart. The upper handle 602 and a lower handle 604 are attached at one end via a hinge joint 622. When the upper and lower arcs 606 and 608 are brought together, each of the upper teeth 622 is aligned with one of the lower grooves 626.

[0050] FIG. 6C shows the rear view of the tool 600 with the handles in the default open or quiescent position, with the two handles spaced apart, in accordance with some implementations.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 6D, the illustrated tool 600 has various controls and indicators. In some implementations, one or both of the handles include various controls or indicators. In the illustrated implementation, there is a power switch 610 and the indicator light 624 to show that the apparatus is turned on, on the lower handle 604. Typically, implementations also include a power cord 650. Other implementations use batteries for power, which may be placed inside the upper handle 602 and/or the lower handle 604.

[0052] The illustrated implementation also includes a heating button 612, which is used to activate a heating element in the upper arc 606. In some implementations, heating is initialized when the button 612 is pressed. In some implementations, three heating settings can be used (e.g., low, medium and high) and the user can adjust the setting by pressing button 612 more than once. As shown in FIG. 6D, the current heat setting can be shown through one of the indicator lights 614, each light indicating a different heat setting.

[0053] FIG. 6E shows the front view of the tool 600 with the handles in the default open or quiescent position, with the two handles spaced apart, in accordance with some implementations.

[0054] Although specific steps of using a tool 600 to apply hair extensions have been described, one of skill in the art (e.g., a salon stylist) recognizes that many variations are possible with the disclosed versatile tool.

[0055] FIG. 7 illustrates a tool 700 for simultaneously attaching multiple hair extensions, in accordance with some implementations. The illustrated tool 700 has an upper handle 702 and a lower handle 704, which are attached at one end via a hinge joint 722. Attached to the two handles are the upper arc 706 and the lower arc 708. The upper and lower arcs are also referred to as blades.

[0056] FIG. 7 illustrates that in some implementations the upper and lower arcs 706 and 708 can be removed from the upper and lower handles 702 and 704 by removing the entire interchangeable parts 732 and 734 of the lower and upper handles 702 and 704. The upper and lower arcs 706 and 708 are shown here as attached to the interchangeable parts 732 and 734 respectively. The user can replace the interchangeable parts of the handles to accommodate a flat iron, a curling iron, and the fusion wand with its attachable sizing blades.

[0057] In some implementations, the tool has various controls and indicator lights 710, 712, 714, and 724, as described above for FIG. 6D.

[0058] FIG. 8 illustrates a close up view 800 of an opening 824 within a tooth 822 of the upper arc (e.g., the teeth 622 in FIG. 6A), in accordance with some implementations. In some embodiments the openings 824 have one or more protrusions 830 to help keep hair strands in the opening 824. In some implementations, the protrusions 830 are placed at different locations and angles within the opening 824.

[0059] The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular implementations only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms a, an, and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term and/or as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms comprises and/or comprising, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0060] The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific implementations. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The implementations described herein were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various implementations with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.