EP2803282A1

EP2803282A1 - Hair piece

Info

Publication number: EP2803282A1
Application number: EP14167812.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kimberley Astrid Elisabeth Oosterbosch; Christy Alleen Elisabeth Oosterbosch
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-05-14
Filing date: 2014-05-10
Publication date: 2014-11-19
Also published as: NL1040404C2

Abstract

A hair piece (1) is disclosed comprising a base member (2) provided with strands of natural and/or artificial hair (3). The base member (2) has such a shape that the base member is close-fittingly wearable on the back and sides of a head (10) of a human being. The top of the head remains largely uncovered. The parts of the base member which are situated on either side of the head bound on an uncovered area (11) of the top of the head (10). These parts are connected to each other by means of a narrow connection (4).

The size of the hair piece is selected such that the connection (4) is situated completely behind the hair line (12) on the front of the head in an area of the top of the head covered by natural hair, where the connection (4) itself has no hair or hardly any hair.

The hair piece (1) can be applied in a simple, fast and invisible manner

Description

The invention relates to a hair piece, comprising a flexible base member provided with strands of natural and/or artificial hair, which base member comprises an edge situated on a first side and having a primarily convex shape and an edge situated opposite to the first edge and having a primarily concave shape, such that the base member is fittingly wearable on the back of the head and sides of a head of a human being, where in a wearing condition the concave edge bounds on an uncovered area of the top of the head, which hair piece further includes a flexible elongated connection for connecting to each other two parts of the base member which are primarily situated at ends of the concave edge, where the base member has such a shape that the top of the head remains at least primarily uncovered.
A hair piece of this type is known from United States patent US 5979462 . Such hair pieces are often used for cosmetic reasons to give the person wearing the hair piece a wealth of hair having a volume and/or hair length that cannot be created with his/her natural hair. The known hair piece comprises a fitting base strap encircling the head from the forehead to the back of the neck of the person wearing the hair piece. To this base strap are affixed further straps spanning the sides and the back of the head. The straps enclose openings through which a person's natural hair can be woven. The upper opening leaves the top of the head largely free. The straps including the complete base strap are provided with hair strands.
When the hair piece is applied, a person's natural hair is woven through the openings and styled.
The hair strands affixed to the portion of the base strap that is situated at the front of the head have for their object to hide the base strap. It is true that in this manner the base strap can be hidden, but in order to obtain a satisfactory result, the hair is to be styled accurately and in the right way, which especially for inexperienced and/or clumsy persons, may be a time consuming matter. In addition, a proper hiding of the base strap is not possible for each and every coiffure. This is particularly a drawback because the wearing of a hair piece is not suitable for any activity, such as for example sports or swimming. Furthermore, the known hair piece has the drawback that the necessity to hide the base strap imposes restraints on the model of the coiffure.
It is an object of the invention to provide a hair piece by which the drawbacks mentioned above are remedied. This object is achieved by means of a hair piece as defined in the opening paragraph in that the shape of the base member is such that in a wearing condition the flexible connection is situated completely behind the hair line on the front of the head in an area of the top of the head completely covered by hair, where the flexible connection has no hair or hardly any hair.
Since an 'unhaired' flexible connection is used which is situated completely behind the hair line, the flexible connection is hidden from view by the person's natural hair. The exact location of the flexible base member is not critical, so that the placing of the hair piece according to the invention needs to be executed less accurately than in the case of the known hair piece.
Since the area with the person's natural hair bounding on the forehead is not affected by the applied hair piece, the hair piece according to the invention offers more possibilities for the coiffure to be styled.
The shape of the hair piece is preferably such that in a wearing condition the ends of the concave edge are located above the temples of the wearer of the hair piece.
Extremely good results are obtained with an embodiment of the hair piece where the shape of the base member is such that in a wearing condition the position of the flexible connection corresponds or substantially corresponds to a virtual line across the top of the head which connects the fronts of the ears to each other.
An embodiment of the hair piece where the flexible connection is a thin thread has the advantage that the hair piece allows of being applied quickly and in a highly simple manner so as to be invisible. By utilizing the thin thread a person's natural hair is hardly touched or not touched at all by the flexible connection, so that the connection has hardly any influence or no influence whatsoever on the style of the coiffure. Thanks to its small diameter the thread is hardly visible in an uncovered state. The moment the hair piece has been applied and the thread is covered by a person's natural hair, the thread is completely invisible even from a short distance.
Further embodiments as well as their advantages will be described in detail while reference is made to the appended drawing figures 1 to 6, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a hair piece according to the invention;
Figs. 2, 3 and 4 show a side elevational view, a rear elevational view and a top plan view respectively of a head on which a base member of the hair piece according to the invention is placed;
Fig. 6 shows a head without a hair piece, and
Fig. 7 shows the head of Fig. 6 with an applied hair piece.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a hair piece 1 according to the invention. The hair piece comprises a flexible base member 2 provided with strands of hair 3. The hair 3 may be natural hair or artificial hair of a customary kind. The hair 3 is fastened to the base member in a customary manner. The fastenings of the hair 3 to the base member are evenly distributed over the surface of the base member 2. For clarity's sake of the drawing figure only a limited number of hairs 3 is shown. In actual fact the number of hairs is so large that these hairs completely cover the base member and fully hide the base member 2 from view. The base member 2 shows a concave inner edge 6 and a convex outer edge 7. Ends of the base member which are situated at the spots where the inner edge 6 and the outer edge 7 meet are referred to by reference numerals 2a and 2b. The ends 2a and 2b of the base member are connected to each other by means of a flexible connection 4. This connection may comprise a narrow band. It is important for the width of the connection to be small compared to its length. A width of less than 10% of the length is sufficient for being covered by a person's natural hair once the hair piece has been applied. The connection 4 preferably comprises a thin thread, for example a nylon thread or a fishing line. The base member has a shape that fits a person's back of the head and the hair-covered sides of a person's head. The base member 2 preferably comprises a curved surface that closely fits the person's head. The material of the base member 2 is preferably elastic as a result of which the shape simply adapts to the shape of the wearer's head. However, the elasticity of the base member is not required. It is true, in the case of non-elastic material stricter requirements are made on the fit. When elastic material is used, less strict requirements are made on the curvature of the base member 2 and the base member may basically also have the shape of a flat surface which, on account of its elasticity, can be applied to the person's head in a well-fitting manner.
Fig. 2 shows in a side elevational view a person's head 10 on which the hair piece is placed. For clarity's sake the person's natural hair and the hair of the hair piece is largely omitted in Fig. 1. The base member 2 has the shape of a flexible surface that fits the back of the head, so that the base member closely fits the head 10. The shape and size of the base member are selected such that the back of the head and the hair-covered sides of the head 10 are covered by the base member 2 and the top of the head remains completely or substantially completely uncovered. The ends 2a and 2b are situated on the sides of the head 10. The connection 4 in the form of a thin thread runs across the top of the head 10 from end 2a on the left hand side of the head 10 to end 2b on the right hand side of the head 10. So doing an uncovered area 11 of the top of the head 10 is enclosed by the connection 4 and the base member 2. The size of the base member is such that the distance between the hair line 12 at the front of the head and the ends 2a and 2b of the base member 2 is sufficiently large for the connection 4 as a whole to be positioned within the area of the head covered by the person's natural hair. In consequence it is possible to hide from view the connection 4 as a whole since it is covered by natural hair.
The size of the base member 2 is preferably selected such that the parts 2a and 2b are located above the temples.
Eminent results as regards cosmetic effect and simplicity of application are obtained when the position of the base member 4 coincides or approximately coincides with the virtual line 14 across the top of the head which connects the fronts of the ears 15 to each other.
Figs. 3 and 4 show byway of illustration a rear view and top plan view respectively of the head 10 with the base member 2 applied to it, where for clarity's sake the person's natural hair and the hair of the hair piece have been omitted.
The application of the hair piece has the following procedure: The hair piece 2 is placed on the head 10 in a position as shown in Figs. 2 to 4, where the base member 2 closely fits the back of the head. The area with the natural hair which is situated under the base member 2 is covered during this operation. Subsequently, the natural hair growing in the uncovered area 11, in as far as it is partially covered by the placing of the base member, is pulled away in its entirety from under the base member 2. The hair growing in the area 11 of the head is then arranged such that it covers the connection 4 and the edge of the base member bounding on area 11, as a result of which the connection 4 becomes invisible or substantially invisible. These operations can be executed in a fast and simple manner. For limiting as much as possible the visibility of the connection 4, the connection is narrow, preferably a thread being less than 1 mm in diameter is used. Various materials are eligible as a thread. Important factors are that the thread is thin and sufficiently strong. The thread may be solid but also comprise a yarn that consists of a plurality of intertwined sub-threads. A highly suitable thread is fishing line. The use of a transparent thread is highly suitable since as a result of the transparency there is considerably less chance of the thread being noticed. The use of a thread in the colour of the hair also has an advantageous effect on the diminishing of this chance.
The connection 4 and the base member 2 are immobilized by the hair growing adjacent to the connection 4 and the inner edge 6 of the base member 2. Besides, additional immobilization is obtained from the base member 2 close-fitting the back of the head. The close fitting counteracts the shifting of the hair piece. All this leads to a highly secure immobilization of the hair piece.
Albeit it is not necessary to improve the immobilization, this can be realized by utilizing hair clips on the edges of the base member 2. Fig. 2 shows these hair clips by means of reference numeral 13.
For illustrative purposes Figs. 5 and 6 show the effect of the use of hair piece 1, where Fig. 5 shows the person without a hair piece and Fig. 6 shows the person with a hair piece. In Fig. 6 the base member 2 covered by the hair and the connection 4 are indicated by dotted lines. In reality they are not noticeable as a result of being covered by hair.

Claims

Hair piece comprising a flexible base member (2) provided with strands of natural and/or artificial hair (3), which base member (2) comprises an edge (7) situated on a first side and having a substantially convex shape and an edge (6) situated opposite to the first edge and having a substantially concave shape, such that the base member (2) is fittingly wearable on the back and sides of a head of a human being, where in a wearing condition the concave edge (6) bounds on an uncovered area of the top of the head, which hair piece further includes a flexible elongated connection (4) for connecting to each other two parts (2a, 2b) of the base member (2) which are substantially situated at ends of the concave edge (6), where the base member (2) has such a shape that the top of the head remains at least primarily uncovered, characterized in that the shape of the base member is such that in a wearing condition the flexible connection (4) is situated completely behind the hair line (12) on the front of the head in an area of the top of the head covered by natural hair, where the flexible connection (4) has no hair or hardly any hair.
Hair piece as claimed in claim 1, where the shape of the base member is such that in a wearing condition the ends (2a, 2b) of the concave edge (6) are located above the temples of the head.
Hair piece as claimed in claim 2, where the shape of the base member is such that in a wearing condition the position of the flexible connection in essence substantially corresponds to a virtual line (14) across the top of the head which connects the fronts of the ears (15) of the head to each other.
Hair piece as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the connection (4) is a thread.
Hair piece as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the diameter of the connection (4) is less than 1 mm.
Hair piece as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the thread is transparent.
Hair piece as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the thread is a fishing line.
Hair piece as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the connection (4) has the colour of the hair of the hair piece.
Hair piece as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base member (2) is provided with hair clips (13) along the edges (6, 7).
Hair piece as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base member (2) is elastic.
Base member (2) to be used in a hair piece as claimed in claim 1, 7 or 8.