CA2970870A1

CA2970870A1 - Hair tie

Info

Publication number: CA2970870A1
Application number: CA2970870A
Authority: CA
Inventors: W. John Hamilton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-06-14
Filing date: 2017-06-14
Publication date: 2018-12-14

Abstract

Herein is disclosed a hair tie for tying a bundle of hair on a person's head.
The hair tie consists an elongated wire having opposite first and second ends, a length, a gauge and an outside surface. The outside surface of the elongated wire is entirely enclosed by a rubber sheath having a thickness. The wire is made of a metal having a high malleability. The gauge of the wire and the malleability of the metal are selected such that the hair tie can be twisted onto itself into a spiral twist knot which will not unravel unless the user manually untwists the hair tie.

Description

TITLE: Hair Tie FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to hair ties for tying back long hair.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hair ties for tying long hair into a bunch date back to ancient ties. They usually consisted of a piece of string or long piece of leather which was used to tie multiple strands of hair into a bundle, either as a single bundle at the back of the head, often called a "pony tail", or a plurality of bundles at the sides of head, often called "pig tails". Eventually, inexpensive elastic loops (elastic bands) were used in place of string or leather to make hair ties.
While elastic bands are convenient and inexpensive, they do have several disadvantages. Firstly, while often more convenient to use than string because they do not require a knot, they do require the elastic band to be looped around the bundle of hair repeatedly until the band forms a tight loop securing the hair. The action of looping the band around the bundle of hair requires the elastic band to be repeatedly stretched open and twisted over the bundle of hair until the band binds the hair sufficiently tightly. The pliant and resilient surface of the elastic band often causes strands of hair to be entrapped within the loops of the elastic band as the band is tightened onto the hair.
This often results in damage to the strands of hair and tangling of the hair in the bundle.
Furthermore, the repeated looping of the band onto the bundle of hair can be awkward, particularly if many looping steps are required. Finally, if the band is very tight and several individual strands of hair are entrapped in the loops of the elastic band, removing the hair tie can be very difficult and even painful. In many cases the only way to remove the hair tie is by cutting it to release the tension, in which case the hair tie can no longer be used. An improved hair tie which overcomes these disadvantages is therefore desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hair tie for tying a bundle of hair on a person's head. The hair tie consists an elongated wire having opposite first and second ends, a length, a gauge and an outside surface. The outside surface of the elongated wire is entirely enclosed by a rubber sheath having a thickness.
The wire is made of a metal having a high malleability. The gauge of the wire and the malleability of the metal are selected such that the hair tie can be twisted onto itself into a spiral twist knot which will not unravel unless the user manually untwists the hair tie.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figurel is a perspective view of a hair tie made in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line A-A in figure 1.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the hair tie shown in figure 1 twisted into a first type of spiral knot and tying a bundle of hair.

2 Figure 3a is a perspective view of the hair tie shown in figure 1 immediately before being placed in the spiral knot orientation shown in figure 3.
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to figures 1, a hair tie made in accordance with the present invention is shown generally as item 10 and consists of elongated flexible member 12 having opposite ends 14 and 16 with nubs 18 and 20 formed there on, respectively. The length of flexible member 12 will be selected to permit the user to wrap a bundle of hair by wrapping the bundle with the hair tie by looping the hair tie around the bundle of hair two or three times. For most hair tying applications, the length of member 12 will range from 8 cm to 30 cm, most likely in the 15 cm to cm range. Nubs 18 and 20 are provided to make it easier to handle the hair tie, but if flexible member 12 is made thick enough, the nubs may not be necessary.
15 As better seen in figure 2, elongated flexible member 12 consists of an elongated metal wire 22 having an outside surface 24 which is completely enclosed in a rubber sheath 26 which has an outer surface 28. Wire 22 is made from a highly malleable metal which can be repeatedly bent and twisted into a variety of shapes without developing metal fatigue and breaking. The metal must also allow wire 22 to retain its shape after it has been bent into a spiral or twist.
20 Metals with suitable malleability include copper, gold, silver, aluminum, iron, lead, zinc and tin and alloys made with such metals. Wires made of metals having sufficient malleability are commercially available in a variety of gauges. The gauge (diameter) of wire 22 is selected such that the wire can be easily wound around a bundle of hair (as illustrated in figure 3) or looped

3 around the bundle of hair in some other configuration without flexible member 12 unwinding by itself. The metal used to form wire 22 and the gauge of wire 22 must be selected such that the hair tie can only be unwound or untwisted by the user physically manipulating the hair tie by hand. Depending on the metallurgy of the wire, the gauge of the wire can range from 0.5 mm to several mm. For most practical applications, a gauge of 1 or 2 mm will be sufficient.
Wire 22 is surrounded by a rubber sheath 26 such that the entire outer surface 24 of wire 22 is covered by the rubber sheath. The thickness of the rubber sheath can be selected to ensure that elongated member 12 is soft and subtle and to provide sufficient resilience so that the elongated flexible member can be gripped tightly by the user's hand. The outer surface 28 of sheath 26, being made of rubber, will have a relatively high level of friction. This high friction surface helps the hair tie to stay in place and helps prevent the hair tie from slipping off the bundle of hair. If the hair tie did not have a higher friction surface and instead used a bare metal wire with a smooth surface, then it is quite possible that the hair tie would be less effective because it would more easily slip off the hair. Also, the rubber surface allows for a higher friction contact when elongated flexible member 12 contacts itself, making it more likely the hair tie will remain twisted in a twist knot as illustrated in figures 3 and 4.
Rubber sheath 26 also effectively increases the diameter of flexible member 12, allowing for a thinner gauge wire to be used. The thicker elongated flexible member 12 is, the easier it is to handle and the easier it is to wrap around the hair and twist into shape. For example, if a hair tie having an elongated flexible portion with a thickness of 4 mm is desired, a suitable tie could be made with a copper or iron wire having a diameter of 1 mm and a rubber sheath with a thickness of 1.5 mm.
If the same hair tie was made without a rubber sheath, the wire would have to have a diameter of 4 mm making it much more expensive (more copper or iron would be required) and also making the hair tie

4 harder to wrap and twist into shape.
Rubber sheath 26 could be made from any suitable polymeric material such as natural rubber, neoprene, silicone rubber and the like. Ideally, the composition of the rubber sheath and the method of forming the sheath is selected to create a smooth outer surface 28 which is less likely to cause individual hairs to snag on the surface and be entrained within the coils of the hair tie as the hair tie is wrapped around the bundle of hair as shown in figure 3.
Multiple rubbers, both natural, silicone and synthetic are commercially available. There are also multiple suppliers who are well versed in coating wire with rubber at various thicknesses.
The thickness and composition of wire 22 and the composition of rubber sheath 26 is selected such that when the hair tie is wound around a bundle of hair in a spiral of only two or three loops, as illustrated in figure 3, the hair tie will stay in place and not slip off and will not unravel unless physically grasped and unwound. It has been discovered, for example, that a wire made of iron having a thickness of approximately 1 mm with a neoprene rubber coating of 1 to 2 mm or more in thickness produces a hair tie having adequate resilience and stiffness to be used as an excellent hair tie. When these dimensions are selected, the resulting hair tie will be easy to wrap around the hair without entraining strands of hair in the coil causing snags. Also, when these dimensions are selected, the resulting coiled hair tie can hold its shape all day long and still simply be pulled off the hair or uncoiled by hand without snagging or pulling on the hair excessively.
The use of the hair tie to tie back the hair shall now be discussed with reference to figure 3 and 3a. A bundle of hair 30 is set out for tying by simply grasping the hair as one would do with any other type of hair tie. The user grasps the hair and forms it into bundle 30 with one hand while bringing hair tie 10 up to the hair bundle with the other.
Elongated member 12 is

5 brought up to the bundle and ends 14 and 16 are manipulated by hand to essentially wind the elongated member into a tight helix or coil around the bundle. The user may grasp the hair tie by nubs 18 and 20 to tighten the helix coiled around the bundle of hair to form a tight helical coil 21. The hair tie can then be left in place. To release the hair tie, the user simply uncoils the elongated member by physically engaging the elongated member and either loosening the helical coil sufficiently so that it can be slipped off the hair, or alternatively, the user can manipulate the hair tie so as to substantially straighten it. Since the wire in the hair tie is made of a highly malleable metal, the hair tie can be repeatedly coiled and uncoiled around the hair over and over again without breaking. Furthermore, since the cross-sectional diameter of elongated member 12 is preferably greater than 3 mm, it is unlikely to snag individual strands of hair between the coils making it easy to remove the hair tie without pulling on the hair.
The present invention has many advantages over the prior art. Firstly, the act of wrapping the hair tie on a bundle of hair is achieved very easily and quickly because of the physical size of the hair tie. It is a relatively thick (preferably between 3 mm to 5 mm in thickness) allowing for easy manipulation. The thickness of elongated member 12 and diameter of nubs 19 and 20, combined with the helical nature of the installation make it less likely that any hairs will be trapped between the loops of the hair tie. Only moderate care upon installation is required to avoid any hair damage upon removal, which can then be accomplished by simply sliding the hair tie off the bundle of hair. The hair tie can be used over and over again without breaking due to the use of a highly malleable metal wire, and the hair tie can be decorated with patterns and bright colors simply by applying a suitable pattern of paint, ink or dye onto the outer surface of the hair tie. The end nubs can be made in any shape, include the shape of flowers or even three dimensional representations of people or fictional characters;
therefore, the hair tie

6 can be made in a wide variety of decorative shapes, patterns and colors. Also, if the hair tie is made long enough, the hair tie can be placed into a variety of other orientations suitable for holding hair in place, such as a bow or series of coils. While one physical orientations is illustrated in figure 3, it will be appreciated that since the metal wire in the hair tie is highly malleable, the physical orientations the hair tie is capable of being placed into is limited only by the users imagination.
A specific embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed; however, several variations of the disclosed embodiment could be envisioned as within the scope of this invention.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims ,

7

Claims

Therefore, what is claimed is:

1. A hair tie for tying a bundle of hair on a user's head, the hair tie comprising an elongated wire having opposite first and second ends, a length, a gauge and an outside surface, the surface of the elongated wire being entirely enclosed by a rubber sheath having a thickness, a first and second nub member formed at the first and second end of the wire, the wire being made of a metal having a high malleability, the malleability of the metal and the gauge of the wire being selected such that the hair tie can be twisted onto itself into a spiral knot which will not unravel unless the user manually untwists the hair tie.

2. The hair tie of claim 1 wherein the length of the wire is between 8 to 30 cm.

3. The hair tie of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the rubber sheath is between 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

4. The hair tie of claim 1 wherein the gauge of the wire is between 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

5. The hair tie of claim 1 wherein the highly ductile metal is selected from the group of metals comprising gold, silver, lead, copper, aluminum, iron, zinc, tin and alloys thereof.

6. A hair tie for tying a bundle of hair on a person's head, the hair tie comprising an elongated wire having opposite first and second ends, a length, a gauge and an outside surface, the surface of the elongated wire being entirely enclosed by a rubber sheath having a thickness, a first and second nub member formed at the first and second end of the wire , the length of the wire being at least 8 cm, the gauge of the wire being at least 0.5 mm, the thickness of the rubber sheath being at least 0.5 mm, and the wire is made of a highly malleable metal selected from the group of metals comprising copper, silver, gold, lead, aluminum, iron, zinc, tin and alloys thereof.

7. The hair tie of claim 6 wherein the length of the wire is between 8 to 30 cm.

8. The hair tie of claim 6 wherein the thickness of the rubber sheath is between 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

9. The hair tie of claim 6 wherein the gauge of the wire is between 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

10. A hair tie for tying a bundle of hair on a person's head, the hair tie comprising an elongated wire having opposite first and second ends, a length, a gauge and an outside surface, the surface of the elongated wire being entirely enclosed by a rubber sheath having a thickness, the wire being made of a highly malleable metal, the gauge of the wire being selected such that the hair tie can be twisted onto itself into a spiral coil knot which will not unravel unless the user manually untwists the hair tie.

11. The hair tie of claim 10 wherein the length of the wire is between 8 to 30 cm.

12. The hair tie of claim 10 wherein the thickness of the rubber sheath is between 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

13. The hair tie of claim 10 wherein the gauge of the wire is between 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

14. The hair tie of claim 10 wherein the highly ductile metal is selected from the group of metals comprising gold, silver, lead, copper, aluminum, iron, zinc, tin and alloys thereof.

15. The hair tile of claim 1 wherein the rubber is selected from the group of rubbers comprising natural rubber, silicone rubber, and synthetic rubber.

16. The hair tile of claim 6 wherein the rubber is selected from the group of rubbers comprising natural rubber, silicone rubber, and synthetic rubber.

17. The hair tile of claim 10 wherein the rubber is selected from the group of rubbers comprising natural rubber, silicone rubber and synthetic rubber.