HAIR EXTENSION WITH REDUCED DETECTABILITY

Abstract

A hair extension includes a section of hair and a substrate. Hair strands of the section of hair are affixed together at a first end by a solidified liquid polymer such that ends of the hair strands are retained within the polymer across a width of the section of hair. The substrate is attached to the polymer on one side (e.g., a rear side) of the section of hair across at least part of a width of the hair section. According to one exemplary embodiment, the substrate is also a solidified polymer. The width of the substrate, as measured along a length of the extension's section of hair, is substantially greater than a width of the polymer, as similarly measured. The wider substrate facilitates reliable attachment of the extension to the user's hair, while the narrower polymer enables the installed extension to remain virtually undetectable.

Claims

1. A hair extension, comprising: a section of hair including a plurality of hair strands affixed together at a first end by a solidified liquid polymer, ends of the plurality of hair strands being retained within the polymer across a width of the section of hair; and a substrate attached to the polymer on one side of the section of hair across at least part of the width of the section of hair, wherein a width of the substrate is substantially greater than a width of the polymer.

2. The hair extension of claim 1, further comprising: an adhesive attached to an outward-facing surface of the substrate to facilitate attachment of the substrate to natural hair of a user.

3. The hair extension of claim 2, wherein the adhesive is double-sided adhesive tape, wherein a first side of the adhesive tape is attached to the outward-facing surface of the substrate and wherein a second side of the adhesive tape is attachable to natural hair of the user.

4. The hair extension of claim 3, further comprising: a removable liner attached to the second side of the adhesive tape, the removable liner protecting the second side of the adhesive tape until removal of the liner from the adhesive tape.

5. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the substrate is attached to the polymer across an entire width of the section of hair.

6. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the substrate is attached to the polymer across a substantial portion of the width of the section of hair, but less than an entire width of the section of hair.

7. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the width of the polymer is less than one-half the width of the substrate.

8. The hair extension of claim 7, wherein the width of the polymer is approximately one-third the width of the substrate.

9. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the substrate is of a sufficient width to support attachment thereto of one or more hair clips across the width of the substrate.

10. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the polymer is solidified liquid polyurethane.

11. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the section of hair has a width in a range of approximately one inch to approximately four inches.

12. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the width of the polymer is in a range of approximately one-sixteenth of an inch to approximately one-quarter of an inch.

13. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the polymer is attachable to an adhesive on a side of the section of hair that is not attached to the substrate.

14. The hair extension of claim 1, further comprising: one or more hair clips secured to the substrate.

15. The hair extension of claim 14, wherein the one or more hair clips comprises a plurality of spaced-apart hair clips secured to the substrate substantially in a row across at least part of the width of the substrate.

16. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the substrate and the polymer are thin and pliable.

17. The hair extension of claim 1, further comprising: an adhesive attaching the substrate to the polymer.

18. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the substrate is solidified liquid polyurethane.

19. A hair extension, comprising: a section of hair including a plurality of hair strands affixed together at a first end by a solidified liquid polymer, ends of the plurality of hair strands being retained within the polymer across a width of the section of hair; a substrate attached to the polymer on one side of the section of hair across at least part of the width of the section of hair, wherein a width of the substrate is substantially greater than a width of the polymer; an adhesive attached to a surface of the substrate to facilitate attachment of the substrate to natural hair of a user; and a removable liner attached to the adhesive, the removable liner protecting the adhesive until removal of the liner from the adhesive.

20. The hair extension of claim 19, wherein the width of the polymer is less than one-half the width of the substrate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages of the disclosed hair extension.

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of an exemplary hair extension.

[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a rear view of the hair extension of FIG. 1.

[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a back view of an alternative exemplary hair extension.

[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates the hair extension of FIG. 1 as viewed in exaggerated form from a left end thereof.

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative exemplary hair extension as viewed in exaggerated form from a left end thereof.

[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates another alternative exemplary hair extension as viewed in exaggerated form from a left end thereof

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates yet another alternative exemplary hair extension as viewed in exaggerated form from a left end thereof.

[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a further alternative exemplary hair extension as viewed in exaggerated form from a left end thereof.

[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a back view of the substrate for the hair extension of FIG. 8 showing exemplary application of an adhesive to the substrate.

[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a back view of a substrate for an alternative exemplary hair extension showing attachment of exemplary hair clips to the substrate.

[0024] FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary attachment of the hair extension of FIG. 8 to natural hair of a user.

[0025] Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures have been exaggerated alone or relative to other elements to help improve an understanding of the various disclosed embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0026] In this document and the appended claims, relational terms, such as first and second, top and bottom, front and rear or back, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical, logical, or directional relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terms comprises, comprising, includes, including, contains, containing, has, having, and/or any other variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive and non-exhaustive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, apparatus, device, or anything else that comprises, includes, contains, or has a list of elements, characteristics, or features does not include only those elements, characteristics, or features but may include other elements, characteristics, or features not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, apparatus, device, or thing. The term plurality of as used in connection with any object or action means two or more of such object or action. The term liquid is intended to refer to any form of matter that is not in its final, generally cured, dried, or otherwise solidified form. A claim element proceeded by the article a or an does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, apparatus, device, or thing that includes the element.

[0027] Various embodiments of the disclosed hair extension may be best understood with reference to FIGS. 1-11, wherein like elements are indicated by like reference numerals. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one exemplary embodiment of such a hair extension 100. The hair extension 100 includes a section of hair 102 and a substrate 201. The section of 102 includes a plurality of hair strands 108 affixed together at one end 104 (e.g., a top end) by a solidified liquid polymer 106. The hair strands 108 hang freely at a desired or predefined length at the other end (e.g., free end) of the section of hair 102, which is not affixed together with the polymer 106. The hair strands 108 may be straight, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, or may curled, wavy, or in any other desired or preset form. The hair strands 108 may be fabricated from human hair, synthetic fibers, or a blend, as is known in the art. For example, the hair strands 108 may be manufactured from a polyester that is capable of being styled with a blow drier, flat iron, hot rollers, or other heat appliances and behaves much like natural human hair. Additionally, the hair strands 108 may be of the same color or a combination of colors (e.g., to provide blending, highlighting, low-lighting, or any combination thereof). The hair extension 100 may have any width as desired by a user or the user's stylist, but extensions with widths in the range of approximately one inch to approximately four inches or more are typical.

[0028] The polymer may be a liquid polyurethane or any other appropriate liquid polymer-based adhesive, and may be clear (when applied or solidified) or colored to generally match the color of the hair strands 108. The liquid polymer may be applied to the hair strands 108 of the extension 100 by brushing the polymer onto the hair strands 108 along top end 104 of the section of hair 102, such as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 20090120451 A1, which publication is incorporated herein by this reference as if fully set forth herein. With this approach, layers of polymer and layers of hair strands 108 are interleaved and intermingled so that the hair strands 108 are embedded in the solidified polymer 106. Alternatively, the polymer may be in a gel or paste form and applied with an appropriate tool or applique, or from a tube or pouch. During application of the liquid polymer, a form, mold, or other device may be used to limit the width of the polymer as measured along the length of the section of hair 102. According to another alternative embodiment, the liquid polymer may be applied to the front side of the section of hair 102 while the back side of the section of hair 102 rests upon the substrate 201. In such a manner, the solidified polymer 106 may not only bond to the hair strands 108, but may also bond or adhere directly to the substrate 201, as generally illustrated in the edge view of FIG. 6.

[0029] After the polymer has solidified (e.g., cured, dried, hardened, etc.) to its final state, a very thin layer of the polymer 106 (e.g., less than about one-twentieth of inch thick and more preferably less than about one-thirty second of an inch thick) may be exposed on the front side of the section of hair 102 across a width 109 of the section of hair 102. According to one embodiment, the width 110 of the polymer 106, once solidified, may be limited to a range of approximately one-sixteenth of an inch to approximately one-quarter of an inch, although even smaller widths may be used so long as the hair strands 108 are properly bound and sealed. For the remainder of this disclosure, the front side of the section of hair 102 or any hair extension embodiment described herein will be the side illustrated in FIG. 1, and the back or rear side of the section of hair 102 or any hair extension embodiment described herein will be the side illustrated in FIG. 2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, which side of any extension described herein is deemed to be the front side or back side is not critical for purposes of the present disclosure.

[0030] As illustrated in exemplary form in FIGS. 2 and 4, the substrate 201 is attached to the section of hair 102 on a back side of the extension 100. The substrate 201 may be a thin and flexible or pliable material, such as a flexible polymer, plastic, rubber, linen, cotton, polyester, or any other suitable substrate material. For example, according to one embodiment, the substrate 201 may be the same material as the polymer 106, such as, for example, a solidified liquid polyurethane. Alternatively, the substrate 201 may be a thin, but more rigid material, such as, for example, a rigid or generally inflexible polymer, plastic, rubber, or other suitable material. The substrate 201 may be attached either directly to the hair strands 108 along a narrow strip at the the top end 104 of the section of hair 102 or, more preferably, to the exposed polymer 106, either directly as illustrated in FIG. 4 or through use of an optional adhesive 501 as illustrated in the hair extension 500 of FIG. 5. Alternatively, where a slightly more resilient or robust feel is desired to be achieved after installation, the substrate 201 may be attached directly to the hair strands 108 across its entire width 203, instead of just across the width 110 of the polymer 106, as illustrated in the hair extension 600 of FIG. 6.

[0031] To further reduce the detectability of the hair extension, at least some of the hair strands 108 of the section of hair 102 (e.g., the lastly-applied layer of hair strands 108 during fabrication of the hair extension) may cover the polymer 106 on the front side of the extension and be sealed only to the back side of the extension as illustrated by the extension 700 of FIG. 7. In other words, layers of polymer and hair strands 108 may be interleaved as described above, with the last layer of hair strands being laid on top of the polymer and wrapped around to the back side of the extension 700, where the hair strands 108 of the last layer are sealed with polymer on the back side of the extension. When the polymer 106 solidifies, little to no polymer 106 is viewable from the front side of the extension 700. In this embodiment, the substrate 201 may be attached to the polymer 106 on the back side of the extension 700 using an adhesive 501, such as was described above with respect to FIG. 5.

[0032] Irrespective of how the substrate is secured to the polymer 106 and/or the section of hair 102, the width 203 of the substrate 201 is much larger than the width 110 of the solidified polymer 106 to facilitate reliable attachment of the substrate 201, and accordingly the hair extension 100, to natural hair of a user. According to one embodiment, the width 203 of the substrate may be at least twice the width 110 of the polymer 106 or, equivalently, the width of the polymer 106 may be less than one-half the width 203 of the substrate 201. By way of example and not limitation, the width 110 of the polymer 106 may be approximately one-third the width 203 of the substrate 201. While the width 110 of the polymer 106 is substantially less than the width 203 of the substrate 201, the width 110 of the polymer 106 may still be sufficient to permit attachment to an adhesive on the front side of the section of hair 102, such as to enable the extension 100, 300, 500, 600 to be attached to a user's natural hair which is placed against the front side of the extension 100 and the polymer 106 during installation of the extension 100 in the user's hair.

[0033] In an alternative embodiment, the substrate 201 may be formed or constructed at or about the time that the liquid polymer is applied to the hair strands 108 of the section of hair 102. In such a case, a blocking agent or device may be applied to or positioned on the back side of the section of hair 102 just below a desired width 110 of the hair strand-securing polymer 106 to prevent the applied polymer intended to form the substrate 201 from adhering to and between the strands of hair 108. In other words, the hair strand-securing polymer and the substrate-forming polymer may be contemporaneously applied using the same liquid polymer, while insuring that the width 110 of the solidified hair strand-securing polymer 106 is much narrower than the width 203 of the substrate 201.

[0034] In a further alternative embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 6, the substrate 201 may be similarly formed or constructed at or about the time that the liquid polymer is applied to the hair strands 108 of the section of hair 102, but without use of a blocking agent or device. In this case, the polymer intended to form the substrate 201 may adhere to and between the strands of hair 108. However, to prevent the substrate 201 from showing through to the front side of the extension 600, the polymer used for forming the substrate 201 would stop being applied before the last group of hair layers were added and sealed just using the much narrower width polymer on the front side of the extension 600.

[0035] The substrate 201 may be attached across an entire width 109 of the section of hair 102, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the substrate 301 may be attached across only part of the width 109 of the section of hair 102, for example as shown on the hair extension 300 illustrated in FIG. 3. The length of the substrate 301, as measured across the width 109 of the section of hair 102, may be selected based upon the needs of the user and/or the amount of surface area needed to securely and reliably attach the hair extension 300 to the user's natural hair, as determined by the user and/or the user's stylist.

[0036] Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, an alternative exemplary hair extension 800 may include a section of hair 102 in which hair strands 108 are affixed together at a first or top end by a solidified liquid polymer 106 such that the top ends of the hair strands 108 are retained within the polymer 106 across a width of the section of hair 102. According to this exemplary embodiment, the substrate 201 is directly attached to the polymer 106 on the back side of the section of hair 102 and an optional adhesive 801 is attached to an outward-facing surface (e.g., the surface facing away from the section of hair 102) of the substrate 201. The adhesive 801 attached to the outward-facing surface of the substrate 201 facilitates attachment of the substrate 201, and therefore the hair extension 800, to natural hair of a user. According to one embodiment, the adhesive 801 attached to the outward-facing surface of the substrate 201 may cover most or all of the substrate's surface area, as shown in FIG. 9, to provide a strong, reliable adhesion to a user's natural hair. Alternatively, the adhesive 801 attached to the outward-facing surface of the substrate 201 may cover a substantial portion of the substrate's surface (e.g., 50% or more of the substrate's surface area), depending on the particular design and intended use of the hair extension 800.

[0037] The adhesive 801 attached to the outward-facing surface of the substrate 201 may be any type of adhesive used in the hair styling industry, but more preferably is a double-sided adhesive tape. Thus, the adhesive 801 may be brushed on, stuck on, or otherwise applied as is conventional in the art. Where an adhesive 501 is used to attach the inward-facing surface of the substrate 201 to the polymer 106 (e.g., as in the embodiment of FIG. 5), the adhesive 801 attached to the outward-facing surface of the substrate 201 may be the same as, or different than, the adhesive 501 securing the inward-facing surface of the substrate 201 to the polymer 106.

[0038] A removable liner 803 may be optionally attached to the exposed side of the adhesive 801 to protect the adhesive 801 from contacting any objects and potentially losing some or all of its tackiness prior to installation of the hair extension 800 into a user's hair. The liner 803 may be removed (e.g., peeled off) and discarded prior to attaching the adhesive 801 and its associated hair extension 800 to a user's hair.

[0039] According to yet another alternative exemplary embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 10, the substrate 1001 attached to the polymer 106 on the back side of the hair extension may be of a sufficient width to support attachment thereto of one or more hair clips 1003-1005 (three hair clips being shown for illustrative purposes). The hair clips 1003-1005 may be of any conventional or future-developed form and material, and may be spaced apart across all or part of the width of the substrate 1001. Where multiple hair clips 1003-1005 are included, the clips 1003-1005 may be arranged in a row horizontally across the substrate 801, such as illustrated in exemplary form in FIG. 10.

[0040] The hair clips 1003-1005 may be secured to the substrate 1001 using any conventional or future-developed means, including sewing, gluing, strapping, or any combination thereof. For example, as illustrated with respect to hair clip 1003, the clip 1003 may include a frame 1007 and a set of prongs 1009 connected to the frame 1007. The frame 1007 may include a pair of side members 1011, 1012 and a transverse member 1014 interconnecting the side members 1011, 1012. The side members 1011, 1012 may include one or more holes 1016. The hair clip 1003 may be attached to the substrate 1001 by sewing or stitching the clip 1003 to the substrate 1001 through one or more of the clip's holes 1016 and around the clip's side members 1011, 1012 and/or around the clip's transverse member 1014. Alternatively or additionally, as illustrated with respect to hair clip 1004, the hair clip's frame 1007 may be attached to the substrate 1001 using an adhesive 1018, which may be a solidified liquid adhesive, double-sided adhesive tape, or any other acceptably strong adhesive. Still further, as illustrated with respect to hair clip 1005, the hair clip's frame 1007 may be attached to the substrate 1001 by sewing or stitching the clip 1005 to the substrate 1001 using vertical stitching through and between the holes 1016 in the clip's side members 1011, 1012. The use of such vertical stitching enables the clips 1005 to maintain a lower profile than when the clip's frame 1007 is sewn onto the substrate 1001 as illustrated with respect to hair clip 1003.

[0041] The hair clip or clips 1003-1005 may be attached to the substrate 1001 before or after the substrate 1001 is attached to the extension's solidified polymer 106. For example, according to one exemplary embodiment in which the hair clips 1003-1005 are attached to the substrate 1001 before the substrate 1001 is attached to the extension's solidified polymer 106, the substrate 1001 containing the hair clips 1003-1005 may be attached to the polymer 106 using an adhesive 501, such as described above with respect to FIG. 5. Exemplary methods for securing hair clips to hair extensions are also disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0253165 A1, which publication is incorporated herein by this reference as if fully set forth herein.

[0042] Referring now to FIG. 11, there is shown an exemplary attachment of the hair extension 800 of FIG. 8 to natural hair 1101 of a user. The extension 800 may be secured to the user's hair 1101 by removing the protective liner 803 (when included) and attaching the underlying adhesive 801 to the user's hair 1101 either above or below a part (not shown) previously formed in the user's hair 1101. Alternatively or additionally, the hair extensions 100, 300, 500, 600, 700 of FIGS. 1-7 may be attached to natural hair 1101 of a user using any other conventional attachment method, as well as any of the attachment methods disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 20090120451 A1 or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/752,976, which application is incorporated by this reference as if fully set forth herein. Where hair clips 1003-1005 are attached to the substrate 1001 instead of an adhesive 801, the hair clips 1003-1005 are used to secure the hair extension to the user's natural hair 1001.

[0043] According to one exemplary embodiment where the substrate 201 is intended to be attached to the user's hair 1101 using only an adhesive 801, the substrate 201 may be preferably attached to the back side of the section of hair 102 using the process as described above with respect to FIG. 6. On the other hand, where the substrate 1001 includes attached hair clips 1003-1005, the substrate 1001 may be attached to the polymer 106 or the back side of the section of hair 102 in any manner described above.

[0044] The foregoing disclosure describes various hair extension embodiments that are virtually undetectable when installed in a user's natural hair. Certain embodiments of the disclosed extensions also enable the extensions to feel very comfortable to their users, especially where the extensions do not include any hair clips. Further, various embodiments of the disclosed hair extensions facilitate flexibility and movement, such that when they are installed in a user's hair, the extensions substantially emulate the motion and feel of the user's own hair.

[0045] In the foregoing disclosure, a hair extension has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

[0046] Benefits, advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific hair extension embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause or result in such benefits, advantages, or solutions to become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The present invention is defined solely by the appended claims and all legally-permissible equivalents of those claims and/or their constituent elements as issued.