US20070144551A1 - Snap on multiple section hair beads - Google Patents

Abstract

This bead snaps onto the hair instead of having to use a tool or to thread each bead individually. A one-peace barrette appears on the hair as if it is three or four individual bead.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• The live hinge and the ball and socket used in our beads are not new to the field of hair barrettes. There are many hair barrettes that use this type of mechanism. The hair barrette we intend to produce can be used and made with or without the live hinge.
• Hair beads today come in the form of one single bead which must be threaded on to the hair using a tool, or two beads strung together on a rubber band that must be tied to the hair.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• As a mother of six children, three boys and three girls, Charlene Redmond spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars grooming her daughter's hair. The bulk of her grooming time was spent on combing, braiding and styling the girls hair. Both Charlene and her daughters started many school days and workdays hoping for an easy solution to achieving the lasting hair fashion trend that did not result in tears shed by all of them.
• Over time, they began to dread the daily routine of hair grooming. They preferred corn-roll braids with a bead and rubber band on the end since this style last one to two weeks. The problem was that the style of choice took, on average, two hours per child. Multiplied by three girls, Charlene spent most Saturdays braiding her daughter's hair.
• Braiding was not the problem, however, braiding using the traditional needle and thread approach consumed most of the grooming time. From this agony the Snap on Multiple Section Hair Bead, or kwick Beads, was born. Kwick Beads take the traditional bead threading process and replaces it with a bead barrette. Therefore, customers can enjoy the convenience of the threaded fashion with the snap of a barrette. Braided hairstyles with fine hair tend to unravel. Kwick Beads can be used to hold the hairstyle in place.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
• I have included fifteen drawings with a description of how the sections interact with each other.
• FIG. 1, is a three dimensional view of a bead in the open position.
• FIG. 2 is a view of a bead half open looking through one end.
• FIGS. 3 and 4, is a bead closed front and rear view with FIG. 4 showing the live hinge.
• FIG. 5, is an open view of a bead with hair braid going through it. It also shows the ball and socket closing mechanism and live hinge.
• FIG. 6 shows beads in a marketable bag.
• FIG. 7 shows beads on a person's hair.
• FIG. 8 shows a different shaped bead rear view in the closed position and in three dimensions.
• FIG. 9, is a closed front view of that same bead front
• FIG. 10 is a three dimensional view of FIGS. 8 and 9 in the open position which also shows the ball and socket mechanism and the live hinge.
• FIG. 11 is an open view of a bead showing the grove for the hair placement in a round shaped bead.
• FIGS. 12 and 13 is a heart shaped bead. FIG. 12 a closed three-dimensional view, FIG. 13 a closed rear view.
• FIGS. 14 and 15 are views of a tube shaped bead, open and closed. FIG. 14 showing the back with live hinge and FIG. 15 open, three dimension.
• The components of the bead are:
• A. bead body
• B. socket
• C. ball
• D. live hinge
• E. bead hole
• F. hair
• A left and right bead body, FIG. 1 a, is held together by three or four live hinges, FIG. 1 d. When hair, FIG. 5 f, are placed through the bead hole, FIG. 5 e, on one-half section of the bead body, FIG. 5 a, the other half section of the bead body is folded over to engage the ball, FIG. 1 c, and socket mechanism, FIG. 1 b, together which holds the hair between and through both ends of the bead hole, FIG. 5 e. When closed and snapped, the two body halves look like a string of beads.
• A person does not have to spend a long amount of time threading each separate bead, one at a time, but can snap on three or four beads at once in the fraction of the time it takes to thread one bead thus eliminating all the tedious work of threading. With each section of beads, the user may place as many sections on the bread as desired and in what ever color, size and shape the beads are made in.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
• With this bead, I wanted to provide a condition that, the user would like to use, was less stressful and tedious, would give the same results as the single threaded bead, easy to take off, protect breads from coming loose, make hairstyle last longer, and more importantly, take less time and need no tools.
• Unlike a single bead, the bead I invented is three or four beads connected together end to end, split in half with three or four live hinges connected to the two halves that allows the sections to open and close. To keep the two halves closed on the hair, a ball and socket latch are used along with a grove down the center of the connected bead halves to provide a placement for the hair bread.
• The process of making the bead is the same as with most of the beads that are on the market today that is by the injection mold method. The molds are made from a block of steel or aluminum. The mold can be as small as one or two cavities or as large as fifty or one hundred or more. The block of metal has the cavities cut out of it in the shape of the bead or barrette. The mold may be in one or two parts depending on whatever the shape or design of the peace. The one or two peace mold is then placed into an injection machine where heated plastic is injected into the mold, filling the cavities forming the bead or barrette. After cooling for a short time, the machine is opened and the parts fall out or the machine pops them out.
• Sequence listing: does not apply.

Claims (1)

1. What we claim as our invention is a snap on multiple section hair bead which:

Sets vertically on the hair with a live hinge.

Comes in different shapes sizes, and colors.

Snaps onto hair without use of a tool.

Looks likes an individually treaded bead.

Images