WO2003013296A2

WO2003013296A2 - Hair extension kits

Info

Publication number: WO2003013296A2
Application number: PCT/GB2002/003508
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rebecca Helen Jessup
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-08-03
Filing date: 2002-07-31
Publication date: 2003-02-20
Anticipated expiration: 2004-02-03
Also published as: WO2003013296A3

Abstract

A hair extension kit comprises at least two strands (10, 11, 12) of hair each containing a plurality of hair filaments, the strands being secured at one end to a central portion of an elongate flexible tie (13) such that the ends of the tie can be brought together and tied around a sectioned portion of the user's natural hair. The strands (10, 11, 12) are then platted with corresponding strands of the sectioned portion to extend the length of the user's hair.

Description

HAIR EXTENSION KITS

This invention relates to a hair extension kit, and to a method of securing a hair extension to a wearer's natural hair.

Platted and woven hair extensions are well known but suffer from the disadvantage that the current methods of applying such hair extensions to the head are by weaving, winding and platting the hair extensions into the subject's own hair and then retaining the extensions with the aid of hair wax or hair clips. This may involve the subject spending up to 9 hours in a beauty salon.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a hair extension kit comprising at least two strands of hair each containing a plurality of hair filaments, the strands being secured at one end to a central portion of an elongate flexible tie such that the ends of the tie on either side of the central portion can be brought together and tied around a sectioned portion of the user's natural hair, the strands then being platted with corresponding strands of the sectioned portion to extend the length of the user's hair.

The strands can be formed of natural or synthetic hair filaments and are preferably of approximately equal length and/or width. Preferably the kit includes means for sectioning the user's hair into a plurality of the sectioned portions, each sectioned portion originating from an area of the user's scalp not exceeding 10cm². In one embodiment of the invention the sectioning means for each sectioned portion comprises an elastic band which, in use, is positioned close to the user's scalp. The flexible tie may then be secured either between the elastic band and the user's scalp or directly to the elastic band. Using a kit embodying the present invention, the user is able to extend his or her hair at home without having to visit a beauty salon.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of securing a hair extension to a user's natural hair, the hair extension comprising at least two strands of natural or synthetic hair each secured at one end to a central portion of an elongate flexible tie, the method comprising looping the flexible tie around a sectioned portion of the user's natural hair, tying the ends of the tie together to secure the strands to the sectioned portion of the user's natural hair, and platting the strands of hair with corresponding strands divided from the sectioned portion of the user's natural hair.

By way of example only, a hair extension kit embodying the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a front view of a three strand hair extension forming part of a hair extension kit;

Figure 2 illustrates the attachment of one strand to a flexible tie;

Figure 3 illustrates the sectioning of the user's natural hair prior to attaching the hair extension; Figure 4 illustrates the attachment of the three strand hair extension to one of the sectioned portions shown in Figure 3; and

Figure 5 illustrates the platting of the hair extension.

Referring to these drawings, the hair extension kit includes a number of individual hair extensions each consisting of loose filaments of natural or synthetic hair divided into three strands 10, 11, 12, the strands being of approximately equal length and width. The strands are secured to a central portion of a flexible tie 13 by looping one end of each strand around the tie to form an eyelet 14 (Fig.2). The loop may be secured by tying a short length of flexible line 18, such as cotton, around the overlapping filaments, and trimming the ends. However, if the filaments are synthetic, the loop is preferably secured by heat sealing the overlapping filaments together. Other bonding techniques using adhesives or chemicals could also be used.

The flexible tie 13 may be knotted at each end to prevent it passing through the eyelet.

It preferably consists of an elasticated thread, particularly elasticated cotton thread, but it may consist of elastic or non-elastic cord, line or wire, such as elastic beading wire, and can be formed of a plastics material. It may be either colourless or coloured to match the artificial hair colour. Up to around 100 such hair extensions may be provided in the hair extension kit.

The kit also includes a corresponding number of small elastic bands 15 having an outside diameter not exceeding 1 cm and preferably around 0.6 cm.

In use, the user first sections his or her own hair to provide a strand 17 which can be split into three narrower strands of approximately the same width as the extension strands 10, 11, 12. An elastic band 15 is secured around the strand 17 as close as practicable to the user's scalp (Fig.3). The strand 17 originates from an area of the scalp not exceeding 10cm . The flexible tie 13 is then looped around the strand

17 between the elastic band 15 and the user's scalp as shown in Fig.4, and the ends of the tie are then tied together and trimmed as shown in Fig.5. The elastic band 15 not only retains the sectioned portioned of the user's hair but also prevents or resists slippage of the tie 13 along the strand 17. The portion of the strand 17 extending beyond the band 15 is then split into its three narrower strands which are woven and platted with the three artificial strands 10, 11, 12 to extend the length of the strand 17. This can be repeated for as many strands of the user's hair as required, with around 80-100 strands providing a complete head of hair.

The flexible tie 13 can be tied directly to the elastic band 15 if a particularly strong attachment is required, and the elastic band 15 can be omitted if only a relatively weak attachment is required. If the elastic band 15 is omitted, the flexible tie may be finally tied to the synthetic hair rather than the natural hair after wrapping the tie several times around the sectioned portion of natural hair. The tie is then less likely to slip.

The hair extension is attached without the need for wax or clips, and can be attached at home by the user rather than as at present spending up to 9 hours in a hair beauty salon. The attachment is firmly anchored and can withstand washing of the hair without slipping. Moreover it can be removed and replaced without the discomfort and problems associated with removal of wax from the hair when using traditional hair extensions.

The strands 10, 11, 12 can consist of synthetic hair that matches the colour of the user's own hair but additional and/or alternative strands may consist of other decorative materials, such as ribbons, rope or beads, and may be brightly coloured or tinted, for example, to reflect the user's personality. The strands may also include springy wire causing the strands to kink when platted with the user's own hair.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A hair extension kit comprising at least two strands of hair each containing a plurality of hair filaments, the strands being secured at one end to a central portion of an elongate flexible tie such that the ends of the tie can be brought together and tied around a sectioned portion of the user's natural hair, the strands then being platted with corresponding strands of the sectioned portion to extend the length of the user's hair.

2. A hair extension kit according to claim 1 further comprising sectioning means for sectioning the user's natural hair into a plurality of the said sectioned portions.

3. A hair extension kit according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of the said flexible ties each having at least two strands of hair secured thereto, each of the sectioned portions having an associated flexible tie.

4. A hair extension kit according to any one of the claims 1-3 wherein the strands are secured to the central portion of the or each tie by passing the tie through respective loops formed at one end of each strand.

5. A hair extension kit according to claim 4 wherein the loops are formed by looping the respective ends of each strand around the central portion of the tie and securing the overlapping ends of the loop together.

6. A hair extension kit according to claim 5, wherein the strands are formed of synthetic hair filaments and the overlapping ends of the loop are secured together by heat sealing.

7. A hair extension kit according to claim 2 wherein the sectioning means for each sectioned portion is adapted to section hair originating from an area of the user's scalp not exceeding 10cm².

8. A hair extension kit according to claim 2 or claim 7 wherein the sectioning means comprises a plurality of elastic bands.

9. A hair extension kit according to claim 8 wherein the elastic bands each have an outer diameter not exceeding 1cm.

10. A hair extension kit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the or each flexible tie comprises a length of elasticated thread.

11. A hair extension kit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one additional strand of a decorative material is secured to the or each flexible tie for platting with the strands of natural hair.

12. A hair extension kit according to claim 11 wherein the additional strand or strands consist of ribbons, rope or beads.

13. A method of securing a hair extension to a user's natural hair, the hair extension comprising at least two strands of natural or synthetic hair each secured at one end to a central portion of an elongate flexible tie, the method comprising looping the flexible tie around a sectioned portion of the user's natural hair, tying the ends of the tie together to secure the strands to the sectioned portion of the user's natural hair, and platting the strands of hair with corresponding strands divided from the sectioned portion of the user's natural hair.

14. A method according to claiml3 further comprising initially sectioning the user's hair with respective sectioning means to form a plurality of the said sectioned portions, then looping respective ones of a plurality of the flexible ties around the respective sectioned portions.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the sectioning means comprise elastic bands and each flexible tie is tied either to the respective elastic band or around the sectioned portion of natural hair between the elastic band and the user's scalp.

16. A method according to any one of the claims 13-15 wherein the strands are formed of synthetic hair and each strand is secured to the flexible tie by looping one end of the strand around the central portion of the tie and then heat sealing the overlapping ends of the loop together.

17. A method according to any one of the claims 13-16 in which each sectioned portion of the user's natural hair originates from an area of the user's scalp not exceeding 10cm .