WO1999034767A2

WO1999034767A2 - Hair decorated in lock, in particular for cosmetic applications, and process for the production thereof

Info

Publication number: WO1999034767A2
Application number: PCT/EP1998/008494
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Anthony Gold
Original assignee: Chun Fai Hong Kong Limited
Priority date: 1997-12-31
Filing date: 1998-12-29
Publication date: 1999-07-15
Also published as: AU2514299A; WO1999034767A3; IT1297142B1; ITRM970819A1

Abstract

Hair decorated in lock are described, in particular for cosmetic applications, which have complex and clear-cut coloured designs and are obtainable by a process which comprises the steps of reproducing a decorating pattern onto a support by a printing process that utilises a sublimation transfer ink, producing an inked surface onto the support; placing in extension a lock of hair in contact to said inked surface; heating the support causing the sublimation of the ink and the transfer of the decorating pattern onto the lock of hair.

Description

"HAIR DECORATED IN LOCK, IN PARTICULAR FOR COSMETIC APPLICATIONS, AND PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF"

DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a hair decorated in lock, in particular for cosmetic applications, and to a process for the production thereof.

In the field of the cosmetic applications, the use of locks of hair is remarkably widespread^'. The locks at issue can be utilised to create a wig or, thanks to specific mechanisms, can be fastened onto the pre-existing hair or directly onto the scalp. This kind of use can be provided both with artificial hair, produced for instance with plastic fibers, as well as with natural hair.

A need that is commonly found in this kind of applications is that of dyeing the hair to be used in locks. It is possible to satisfy such need when the required dyeing is uniform. In such a case, natural hair can be subject to a normal dyeing process, while artificial hair are already produced of the required colour adequately modifying the plastic materials used for the production thereof.

On the other hand, in the field of coloured hair, hair that have coloured decorations once arranged in lock are required. It is apparent that the above mentioned dyeing processes cannot be used to obtain decorations; the best obtainable result is represented by meches of hair of different colours.

To obtain decorated hair, it was hence proposed to use inks or other dyes in liquid form, to be sprayed or applied onto the lock in extension of hair to be decorated.

However, with this process it is not possible to obtain decorations based on complex and polychromatic patterns, even with the aid of stencils which are usually adopted to obtain simple and monochromatic patterns having the base coloration of the hair as background. Therefore, the decorations thus obtained have a low definition and they are not evenly distributed onto the circumference of each hair. The patterns are therefore labile and poorly visible once applied, with the undulation whereto the hair is subject.

Moreover, the methods known in art do not allow to obtain complex and multicoloured patterns.

The technical problem underlying the present invention is that of providing hair decorated in lock, apt to cosmetic applications, capable of overcoming the drawbacks mentioned with reference to the prior art.

This problem is solved by hair decorated in lock as specified above, characterised in that it is obtainable by a process that comprises the steps of: * reproducing a decorating pattern onto a support by a printing process that utilises a sublimation transfer ink, producing onto the support an inked surface;

* placing in extension a lock of hair substantially in contact to said inked surface; and * heating the support causing the sublimation of the ink and the transfer of the decorating pattern onto the lock of hair.

The main advantage of the hair decorated in lock according to the present invention lies in the fact that the pattern obtained onto the hair has an high definition and a uniform coloration onto the circumference of each hair, thus making clearly visible the decoration onto the lock.

The present invention further relates to a process for the production of hair decorated in lock, characterised in that it comprises the steps of:

* reproducing a decorating pattern onto a support by a printing process that utilises a sublimation transfer ink, producing onto the support an inked surface;

* placing a lock of hair in extension, substantially in contact with said inked surface; and

* heating the support causing the sublimation of the ink and the transfer of the decorating pattern onto the lock of hair. The production process according to the invention allows to obtain the reproduction, onto locks of hair, of complex and polychromatic patterns, maintaining almost unaltered the definition that can be obtained with the pattern onto paper.

The present invention shall be disclosed hereinafter according to one of the preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of explanation and not for limiting purposes.

A lock of hair of the type apt to be fastened is provided, as the case may be, onto wigs, by clasps of a conventional type, to be applied onto the hair of the wearer, or directly onto the scalp. In particular the invention relates to locks of hair that are applied either to the hair of a wearer or to a wig with the same purpose.

The hair can be of artificial type, or consisting of fibers in a plastic material, or of natural type, in case treated to increase their duration, improve their look or prepre them to receive the dye.

The embodiment of the hair in lock herein described comprises fibers in a polyester, a fiber apt to stand high temperatures and having excellent tactile and durability features.

The fibers in said plastic material have an average title substantially in the range of 4-7 tex.

As it is known, the tex is the measurement unit of the title of a fiber, that is the weight, expressed in grams, of 1000 meters of fiber. Moreover, said synthetic fibers have a section that is substantially circular rather than oval.

The aforedescribed hair in lock are subject to a decorating process. For this purpose, a randomly coloured pattern is provided, apt to be reproduced with conventional printing processes. From the pattern, a matrix is obtained, conventionally used to reproduce the decorating pattern onto a support, preferably a support of papery material or a sheet of paper.

The printing process can consist in an offset printing. In that case the printing can be carried out with a four-colour process, thereby obtaining an excellent definition of the pattern.

Alternatively, reaching an equal graphic quality, the pattern can be reproduced with a printing process consisting of a serigraphy.

The reproduction of the pattern allows the production of an inked surface onto the sheet of paper, whereby the ink used is a sublimation transfer ink or, shortly, sublimatic.

Such type of ink is apt to be transferred from a support to another by a simple heating, that causes the sublimation of the ink itself and the transfer thereof, by gaseous way, onto the receiving support whereto the dye is fixed correspondingly. Once the printing onto the sheet of paper is obtained, said lock of hair is placed in extension, substantially in contact with the inked surface of the sheet of paper.

In their disposition, the hair in extension have a density in the range of 150-200 g/m². The length of each lock for instance can be of about 30 cm. The hair of the lock are held in extension by means of combs of the usual type.

To facilitate the positioning of the hair onto the inked surface, the sublimatic ink is mixed with a water-based adhesive substance.

In this way the hair adhere to the inked surface and easily maintain their extended position.

To further improve the uniform transfer of the dye onto the hair, the lock of hair is placed in extension between two facing paper sheets, in contact with both the inked surfaces of the respective paper sheets.

The lock is thus imprisoned adhering onto the facing paper sheets inserted into a press exerting a pressure substantially in the range of 6-35 kPa. Then the sheets of paper are heated, thereby causing the sublimation of the ink and the transfer thereof onto the hair of the lock.

The transfer is carried out with the migration of vapors from the surface of the sheet of paper onto the fibers, the latter absorbing the dye not merely on the portion which is facing the sheet but on the whole circumference thereof.

The heating takes place at a temperature in the range of 180-220°C, preferably in the range of 190-205°C. The duration of the heating is in the range of 20-80 sec, preferably in the range of 30 -60 sec.

The heating is carried out with a press having heated plates, wherein the paper sheets and the hair are inserted before the application of pressure.

After heating, the paper sheets and the hair are heated at a cooler temperature. The pressure thereupon exerted by the press is released immediately after the heating, pulling away the plates of the press.

Due to the presence of the adhesive substance in the ink, the paper sheets are held anyway, being adherent to the hair in lock.

Once the cooling has caused a sufficient lowering of the temperature, the paper sheets are carefully separated from the hair in lock which results therefore definitively dyed.

Beside the above mentioned advantages, the hair decorated in lock according to the invention are capable of providing a sensation to the touch very similar to that of the non decorated hair. In fact, the dye transferred according to the sublimation mode does not make the hair sticky, or gives a sensation of gumminess to the touch.

Further, the above described decorated hair can be obtained from a wide range of fibers, including also possibly treated natural hair.

The possibly used synthetic fibers must be such as to resist, for the required period of time, to the reached temperatures without sticking together.

A synthetic fiber suitable to this purpose, beside the already mentioned polyester, is the co-polyamide, or mixtures of polyester and co- polyamide.

The addition of an adhesive substance to the ink allows to hold the hair still until the ink transfer is completed, thereby allowing to obtain an improved pattern definition.

An analogous advantage is obtained thanks to the choice of the average title, of the density and of the section of the used fibers.

To the above described hair in lock and to their production process a man skilled in the art, in order to satisfy further and contingent needs, may introduce several further modifications and changes, all however comprised in the protective scope of the present invention, as defined by the annexed claims.

Claims

1. Hair decorated in lock, in particular for cosmetic applications, characterised in that they are obtainable by a process comprising the steps of: * reproducing a decorating pattern onto at least one support by a printing process that utilises a sublimation transfer, producing on said at least one support a corresponding inked surface;

* placing a lock of hair in extension, substantially in contact to said inked surface; and * heating the support causing the sublimation of the ink and the transfer of the decorating pattern onto the lock of hair.

2. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 , wherein the lock of hair is extended between two facing supports, substantially in contact to both the respective inked surfaces, said supports being subject to heating with transfer of the ink onto the hair by sublimation.

3. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 , wherein said decorating pattern is a coloured pattern.

4. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 , wherein said decorating pattern is produced through a four-colour process.

5. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said lock of hair in extension is in contact to the respective inked surface with a contact pressure in the range of 6-35 kPa.

6. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 , wherein the heating takes place at a temperature in the range of 180-220┬░C.

7. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 6, wherein the heating takes place at a temperature in the range of 190-205┬░C.

8. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 , wherein the heating takes place for a period of time in the range of 20-80 sec.

9. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 8, wherein the heating takes place for a period of time in the range of 30-60 sec.

10. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 , wherein the hair are realised with fibers in plastic material.

1 1. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 10, wherein said plastic material comprises a polyester.

12. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 1 , wherein said fibers have an average title in the range of 4-7 tex.

13. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 12, wherein the hair in lock have a density in the range of 150-200 g/m².

14. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 10, wherein the fibers have a substantially circular section.

15. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said sublimation transfer ink is mixed with an adhesive substance.

16. Hair decorated in lock according to claim 15, wherein said adhesive substance is water-based.

17. Process for the production of hair decorated in lock, characterised in that it comprises the steps of: * reproducing a decorating pattern onto a support by a printing process that utilises sublimation transfer ink, producing onto the support an inked surface;

18. Method according to claim 17, wherein the lock of hair is extended between two facing supports, substantially in contact to both the respective inked surfaces, said supports being subject to heating with transfer of the ink onto the hair by sublimation.

19. Process according to claim 17 or 18, wherein said support is of papery material, in particular a sheet of paper.

20. Process according to claim 1 7, wherein said printing process is an offset printing.

21. Process according to claim 20, wherein the offset printing is performed through a four-colour process.

22. Process according to claim 17, wherein said printing process is a serigraphy.

23. Process according to claim 17, wherein said lock of hair in extension is kept in contact to the respective inked surface with a contact pressure in the range of 6-35 kPa.

24. Process according to claim 17, wherein the heating takes place at a temperature in the range of 180-220┬░C.

25. Process according to claim 24, wherein the heating takes place at a temperature in the range of 190-205┬░C.

26. Process according to claim 17, wherein the heating takes place for a period of time in the range of 20-80 sec.

27. Process according to claim 26, wherein the heating takes place for a period of time in the range of 30-60 sec.

28. Method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein said sublimation transfer ink is mixed to an adhesive substance.

29. Method according to claim 28, wherein said adhesive substance is water-based.