GB2220557A

GB2220557A - Disposable protective cape

Info

Publication number: GB2220557A
Application number: GB8916200A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Una Comerford; Tony Comerford
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-07-14
Filing date: 1989-07-14
Publication date: 1990-01-17
Anticipated expiration: 2009-07-14
Also published as: GB2220557B; GB8916200D0

Abstract

A disposable protective cape is claimed for use in hair-dressing establishments, beauty salons, dental surgeries and other places where the neck and shoulder region of a person undergoing treatment is to be covered. The cape comprises a sheet 1 of thin flexible material dissected or readily tearable to deploy an internal edge or edges for fitting round a wearer's neck, the neighbourhood of said edge or edges bearing a track of adhesive composition 4 applied on one face of the sheet, and the sheet being cut open from the exterior edge thereof to said internal edge to enable the cape to be adhesively applied to and round a wearer's neck, and draped over the shoulders with overlapping lapels. The adhesive track bears a peel-off cover 7. The cape is adapted for presentation as a tear-off element in a continuous web which may be wound into a roll or folded in zig-zag fashion to yield a stack. <IMAGE>

Description

DISPOSABLE PROTECTIVE CAPE The present invention relates to a disposable protective cape for use especially in hairdressing salons, but also in hospitals, dentists' surgeries, beauty parlours and other places where a person's head and neck are being treated.

To prevent hair clippings or water splashes falling down the client's neck, hairdressers use several known expedients. For example, crepe-paper or cotton-wadding tapes may be fixed around the client's neck, and a separate cape of natural or synthetic fibre textile is then draped over the tape to surround the client's neck and cover the shoulders. Various collars, some of them disposable, have been proposed for application around a person's neck, to which they are secured by self-adhesion, by adhesion to the neck, or by other known fastening means, after which a cape is draped around the collar and over the shoulders.

Several prior disclosed collars are formed integrally with a hairdressing cape, in the form of a more or less rigidly upstanding flange which surrounds a central neck opening in the cape. A slit or cut-off extends from the neck opening to the periphery of the cape, so that the cape may be conveniently donned. The resulting lapels of the cape can overlap to yield a close neck fit and improve the protection.

Examples of these proposals may be gleaned from British Patent No 5080 of 25 October 1883, US Patent 2 778 024 of 22 January 1957, French Patent No 1 496 525 of 13 October 1966 and German Auslegeschrift 1 040 758 of 21 June 1956.

A common feature of prior proposals known to us is a collar or flange portion upstanding in a plane or planes other than that of the cape, and this gives rise to bulk storage problems and leads away from any idea of presenting the cape as a laminar portion to be torn off a continuous roll held in a dispenser, or torn off a continuous web folded back and forth into a stack.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable protective cape suitable for manufacture in bulk as a continuous web wound into a roll, or folded in zig-zag fashion to form a stack.

The invention accordingly provides a disposable protective cape which comprises a sheet of thin flexible material adapted for draping over the shoulders and around the neck of a wearer, characterized firstly by an edge region, other than the sheet's outer periphery, adapted for encircling contact with the wearer's neck, secondly by a track of adhesive composition disposed along said edge region on one face of the sheet, and thirdly by a peel-off cover for protecting the track of adhesive composition prior to use of the cape.

The sheet of thin flexible material may have a ready-made round opening for the wearer's neck, and a slit extending between the opening and the periphery of the sheet for opening and closing the cape. In this case the track or band of skin-adhesive composition is disposed along the periphery of the ready-made opening but not along the sides of the slit.

In one embodiment the entire opening together with the adhesive track or band are occluded by a protective cover disc which not only protects the adhesive before use but preserves the flat extended configuration of the cape for ease in manufacture, handling, transport and storage.

Preferably the.cape is manufactured as one of a continuous chain of similar capes formed in a web of material suitable for winding round a former to provide a roll for use in a dispensing device. The line of attachment between adjacent capes is weakened for tearing purposes by suitable means, as by a line of perforatfons or a line of weakness formed by heat and pressure.

In use, each cape is torn from the roll in succession, the protective cover disc is peeled off and discarded, the adhesive track or band applied to the wearer's skfn around the neck or adjacent shoulder area to give & close fit with such overlap as this entails, and the remainder of the cape draped over the wearer's shoulders. The cape is discarded, preferably after a single use, for reasons of hygiene.

Instead of a protective disc, a protective annulus of material capable of being peeled off the adhesive may be used around the neck opening. As a manufacturing convenpence, a double-sided adhesive strip bearing a peel-off protective cover on one side may haue its other side applied around the periphery of the neck opening to form the finished cape. To avoid material waste in massproducing the double-sided adhesive strip, in view of its extension in the plane of the cape in use, it may be desirable to produce said strip (eg in a stamping process) as two or more pieces and to apply them as discrete sections around the edge locus of the neck opening to make up its finished outline, whether circular or other.

The neck opening may be cut out or stamped out, or defined by a tearable line of weakness, either before or after the application of the adhesive. It may be desirable merely to define said opening in manufacture, leaving it to the user to tear out the surplus material and discard it.

A suitable material for the disposable protective cape of the invention is a thin film of plastics material, such as polyvinyl chloride) or poly(ethene). A useful material for the protective disc ts a suitably treated glossy paper.

The adhesive should be of such a retaining strength that the cape is easy to remove from the wearer's neck as well as to apply thereto.

The neck opening is advantageously made of a large size, so that the cape is adjustable to fit most neck sizes. The cape may be adapted to carry advertising matter. It is desirable that the cape should be waterproof.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cape is a sheet of flexible material having a rectilinear slit extending from a central location to the periphery of the sheet, and a track or band of skin-adhesive composition applied to the edges of the slit on one face of the sheet, extending from the aforesaid central location to a point short of the periphery of the sheet.Specially preferred is a sheet of flexible material having lines of weakness to define a tearaway strip from a central location to the periphery of the sheet, which strip when torn away creates a slot of the width of the strip, extending from a central location to the periphery of the sheet, said sheet having a track or band of skin-adhesive composition applied adjacent the parallel long edges of the slot from the aforesaid central location to a distance short of the periphery of the sheet, on one face of the sheet.

In both the preferred and specially preferred embodiments mentioned above, the sheet in use, after removal of the tearaway strip if present, and after removal of the peel-off protective cover which overlies the track or band of skin-adhesive composition, is disposed around the neck and over the shoulders of a wearer, by fitting the edges of the slit or slot, as the case may be, around the wearer's neck and gently pressing the adhesive composition to the skin of the neck. For this purpose the sheet is preferably applied to the person with its adhesive-bearing face downward, and the adhesive-bearing edge regions are turned upwardly for application to the person's neck.

It will be appreciated that an essential feature which permits storage of the protective cape of the invention in bulk in the form of a roll, and the dispensing of said cape from the roll, is the fact that the adhesive is applied to a portion of the web in the plane thereof, and there is no transition to any upstanding collar portion as featured in so much of the prior art.

The invention will be understood in greater detail from the following description of a particular and preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig 1 is a perspective view of a roll of disposable protective capes according to a first embodiment of the invention; Fig 2 is a perspective view of a wall mounted dispenser for the capes in the roll of Fig 1, showing a small number of these rolls in successive stages of withdrawal therefrom and preparation for use; Fig 3 is a plan view of a single disposable protective cape taken from the dispensing machine of Fig 2; Fig 4 is an illustration of a cape of the invention in use; Fig 5 is a detail from Ftg 4 on a larger scale, showing the manner in which the cape is applied to the wearer's neck region;; Fig 6 is a section of the cape of Fig 3, taken along the line VI-VI of that figure and viewed in the direction of the associated arrows; Fig 7 is a plan view of a single disposable protective cape according to a second embodiment; Fig 8 is a section across the cape of Fig 7, taken along the line VIlI-VIl! in that figure and viewed in the direction of the associated arrows; and Fig 9 is a perspective view of a continuous web of capes of the embodiment of Fig 7, folded in zig-zag fashion to present a stack of capes.

Referring now to Figs 1 - 6 of the drawings, a roll 10 of disposable protective capes 1 is wound onto a cardboard former and presented for use in a wall-mounted dispensing container 11, from an opening in the lower region of which individual capes 1 can be drawn and torn off. The web of capes is formed on white opaque, low-density microembossed poly(ethene) film, 25 microns in thickness, with lines 12 of weakness provided for tearing into discrete capes. The material is suitable for receiving print. Each cape 1 comprises a substantially rectangular sheet of film having a cut-out neck opening 3 centred approxJmately on the intersection of the diagonals of the sheet, and a slit 2 which unites the opening 3 with the leading edge as withdrawn from the dispenser 11.A track 4 of hypoallergenic low-tack adhesive composition, 5 mm wide, is carried by the edge region of the opening 3 on one face only of the cape 1. It is suitable for skin adhesion on a temporary basis. A disc 7 of protective paper, having a slightly greater diameter than the opening 3, lies over said opening 3 and adhesive track 4 in each cape in the web as manufactured. The disc 7 is easily peeled off, exposing the track 4 of adhesive.

In use, the cape 1 is disposed closely around the neck or shoulder region 6 of a wearer 5 and closed at the front, preferably by means of that portion of the adhesive track 4 which remains in the overlapping front part of the cape.

The track 4 adheres to the wearer's neck or shoulder region 6 all round, forming an impermeable barrier to the fall of hair clippings or the penetration of splashed liquids. The cape is easily removed after use, because of the low-tack property of the adhesive.

Referring now to Figs 7 - 9, a stack 24 of disposable protective capes 20 is formed by folding a continuous web of such capes in zig-zag fashion at transverse lines of weakness 25, each cape 20 being defined by two neighbouring lines of weakness 25 and the included segments of the parallel edges of the web. The web of capes is formed in film similar to the film described in connection with Figs 1 - 6.

The stack 24, in use, can be held in a protective container having a top or cover in which is provided a slot of length just greater than the width of the web. One cape 20 at a time is available by drawing a free end of the web from the slot as far as the next line of weakness 25, then tearing the web along said line against the resistance of an edge of the slot. Each cape 20 comprises a substantially rectangular sheet of film having additional lines of weakness or tear lines which define a narrow rectilinear tear-out strip 21 oriented (for preference) parallel to and equidistant from the edges of the web, and extending from one line of weakness 25 aforesaid to a point more than halfway therefrom to the next line of weakness 25, that is to say, from a free edge of the isolated cape to a point more than halfway to the opposite free edge thereof.

A peel-off ribbon cover 23 of protective plastics material overlies the strip 21 and, on either side and at the inner end thereof, covers contiguous regions of the film sheet, except for a short length of said strip 21 extending from the edge of the film sheet. Underlying the ribbon cover 23 on either side of the strip 21 and around one end thereof is a track 22 of adhesive composition similar to the composition described in connection with Figs 1 - 6. This track 22 is confined to the location described and is confined to one face of the film sheet; moreover it does not extend to the strip 21 itself. The arrangement is probably best appreciated from Fig 8. Each tear-out strip 21 is disposed for preference so as to extend backward or upstream from the leading edge 26 of the respective cape 20, as dispensed from the stack 24.This helps to minimize the disturbing effect of tearing stresses applied to the cape 20 in detaching it from the stack 24 by hand.

In use of a cape 20, the free end of a web of such capes is grasped and the web pulled through a dispensing slot in the cover of a protective container containing said web in the form of a stack 24, until the line of weakness 25 defining the trailing edge of the cape 20 coincides with an edge of the slot. The cape 20 is thereupon torn frm the web to free it. The free end of the strip 21 in that cape is then grasped and pulled so as to tear out the entire strip 21 and create a corresponding slot having one open end, still largely covered, however, by the peel-off ribbon cover 23.

Immediately before application of the cape 20 to the person of a wearer, the cape 20 is turned so that its peel-off ribbon cover 23 is on its underneath face. The ribbon cover 23 is peeled off and discarded, revealing the open-ended slot aforesaid. The edge regions of said slot are thereupon fitted carefully round the wearer's neck and pressed gently into contact of their adhesive-bearing surface therewith, said edge regions thus being upwardly directed.

The lapels created by bisection of one edge of the cape 20 are overlapped to complete the draped application of the cape 20 to the neck and shoulder region of the wearer.

After use the cape 20 is gently pulled away from the wearer's neck, and discarded.

The straight slot construction of the embodiment shown in Figs 7 - 9 has been found economical and efficient for lass-production by automatic machinery, and is preferred for that reason over the round neck-hole version of Figs 1 - 6. The two embodiments are about equally convenfent in use.

Claims

1. A disposable protective cape (1, 20) which comprises a sheet of thin flexible material adapted for draping over the shoulders and around the neck of a wearer, characterized firstly by an edge region, other than the sheet's outer periphery, adapted for encircling contact with the wearer's neck, secondly by a track (4, 22) of adhesive composition disposed along said edge region on one face of the sheet, and thirdly by a peel-off cover (7, 23) for protecting the track (4, 22) of adhesive composition prior to use of the cape (1, 20).

2. A cape according to claim 1 characterized in that said edge region is defined by at least one line of weakness (2, 27) and may be revealed by tearing the sheet along said line(s).

3. A cape according to claim 1 or 2, characterized In that said edge region comprises part of both edges of a slit or slot in the sheet material, which stit or slot extends from a mid-region of the sheet to the outer periphery thereof, and in that the track (4, 22) of adhesive composition, and the peel-off cover (7, 23) both extend from said mid-region to a location short of said outer periphery.

4. A cape according to claim 3, characterized in that said edge region comprises part of both edge regions of a slot defined by lines of weakness (27) in the sheet material, said slot before use being occupied by a strip (21) of said sheet material which can be torn away for use, so as to reveal or deploy the slot.

5. A cape according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that said edge region comprises the periphery of an internal neck hole (3) in a mid-part of the sheet, and in that a slit or slot (2i extends from said neck hole (3) to the outer periphery of the sheet, whereby the neck hole (3) may be fitted around a wearer's neck.

6. A cape according to any of claims 1 - 5 characterized in that it forms part of a web of similar capes, the web having uniformly spaced apart transverse lines of weakness (12, 25) whereby the web may be severed to release individual capes (1, 20).

7. A plurality of capes (1, 20) according to any of claims 1 - 6, folded across lines of weakness (12, 25) in zig-zag fashion to form a stack (24).

8. A cape according to any of claims 1 - 7, characterized in that the material of the sheet is adapted to carry advertising matter.

9. A cape according to any of claims 1 - 8, characterized in that the material of the sheet is an opaque low-density microembossed polymer film.

10. A cape according to any of claims 1 - 9, characterized in that the adhesive composition is a hypoallergenic low-tack material.