Hair retaining clip with elastic biasing member
A hair retaining clip including a first clip member, a second clip member, a hinge, an elastic member is disclosed. The first and second clip members each include a handle portion and a claw portion. The hinge is disposed between and pivotally connects the first and second clip members. An elastic member is disposed between and connects to the first and second clip members thereby biasing the claw portions of the respective first and second clip members together.
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The present disclosure relates generally to a device for retaining strands of hair and, more particularly, to a retaining clip including an elastic member for biasing portions of the retaining clip together.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURERetaining clips and, more specifically, claw clips for holding or retaining strands of hair during hair care or hair styling are widely used and have been around for many years.
One such example of a retaining clip is shown in United States Patent application No. 2004/0065341. This application discloses ajaw hair clip for firmly holding hair. The jaw hair clip includes a first jaw portion pivotally attached to a second jaw portion via a hinge. The first and second jaw portions are biased together by a spring disposed on the hinge. Rubber or soft plastic beading is formed on at least one of the first or second jaw portions to soften the pressure applied to the hair, while minimizing slippage.
Another example of a retaining clip is shown in United States Patent application No. 2004/0149306. This application discloses a hair holding device with an elastic closure operation. The hair holding device includes first and second body members pivotally connected via a hinge. Each of the body members includes a hair gripping portion for engaging strands of hair. The first and second body members are biased together with a spring disposed at the hinge. The first and second body member include at least one elastomeric member for biasing the first and second body members together once the hair holding device is in a closed position.
These and similar retaining clips, however, lack durability due to the biasing spring located at the hinge portion of the respective retaining clips, and sometimes lack the desired hair gripping capability provided by the spring.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREIn accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a reliable and durable hair retaining clip for retaining a bundle of hair is disclosed. The retaining clip includes first and second clip members each having a handle portion and a claw portion. A hinge is disposed and pivotally connects the first and second clip members. An elastic member is disposed between and attaches to each of the first and second clip members. The elastic member biases the first and second claw portions together to a normal closed position.
In accordance to another aspect of the disclosure, a hair clip for retaining a bundle of hair including a first clip member, a second clip member, a hinge, and an elastic member is disclosed. Each of the first and second clip members include a first end having a handle portion and a second end having a claw portion. The hinge is disposed between and pivotally connects the first and second clip members. The elastic member is disposed between the first and second clip members. The bundle of hair is received by an area defined by the elastic member and the first and second claw portions.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a hair clip for retaining a bundle of hair including a first half, a second half, a hinge and an elastic member is disclosed. The first and second halves of the hair clip each include a handle and a claw. The hinge pivotally connects the first and second halves of the hair clip. The elastic member is disposed between the first and second halves so that the claws of the first and second halves abut a first portion of the bundle of hair and the elastic member abuts a second portion of the bundle of hair.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
While the method and device described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure and the claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings and with specific reference to
The first claw portion 38, as seen in
The clip 20, therefore, is opened or placed in an open position, as seen in
The clip 20, as disclosed herein, may be used to retain strands of hair such as, for example, in a pony tail, but may be used in other fashions and manners that may or may not include the retention of hair.
The clip 20 and, more specifically, the first clip member 22, the second clip member 24, and at least portions of the hinge 26, may be constructed from a variety of materials, including, but not limited to wood, plastic, metal and composites. Preferably, however, the above components are constructed with a injection molding process using plastic materials such as ABS, polypropelene, high impact polystyrene, or the like.
The elastic member 28 may be constructed from a material including but not limited to plastic, rubber, natural rubber, silicone, or other elastic or viscoelastic materials. The elastic member 28 may form a continuous loop that may also contain breaks therebetween. The elastic member 28 may have a round cross-sectional area but may have other cross-sectional shapes, such as rectangular, oval, square, triangular, etc. In this exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in
The first clip member 22, as best illustrated in
In this embodiment, the handle portions 32, 34 are each disposed at an angle relative to the claw 36, to provide room and leverage for opening the clip 20 via the handle 30. The first and second clip members 22, 24 are, therefore, substantially similar in structure. The first and second clip members 22, 24 differ, however, in that the spacing of some of the components are offset or misaligned to allow the clip 20 to operate and close. Specifically, as illustrated in
The elastic member 28, as seen in
An operation of the clip 20 will be herein described as retaining a bundle of hair 70, but it should be understood that the clip 20 may be used to retain, hold, or be disposed on a variety of objects in a variety of ways. In operation, as best illustrated in
The clip 20, as illustrated in
The above exemplary embodiment may be varied or altered to achieve and create additional or alternative features. For example, as seen in
A clip 320 may also include apertures 54c for receiving an elastic member 328, as illustrated in
The clip 20 may also include an elastic member 428 constructed from a thermal plastic elastomer (TPE) material, as seen in
While the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A hair retaining clip, comprising:
- a first clip member including a handle portion and a claw portion;
- a second clip member including a handle portion and a claw portion;
- a hinge pivotally connecting the first and second clip members; and
- an elastic member disposed between and attached to each of the first and second clip members, wherein the elastic member biases the first and second claw portions to a normal closed position.
2. The hair retaining clip of claim 1, further including at least one of a slot, a hook, and an aperture on the first clip member for receiving the elastic member.
3. The hair retaining clip of claim 1, further including at least two hooks disposed on each of the first and second clip members, wherein the elastic member is secured through each of the hooks.
4. The hair retaining clip of claim 1, further including at least two slots disposed on first and second edges of each of the first and second clip members, wherein the elastic member is secured through each of the slots.
5. The hair retaining clip of claim 1, wherein the hinge includes a plurality of tabs having apertures extending from each of the first and second clip members and a pin dispose through each of the apertures.
6. The hair retaining clip of claim 1, wherein the hinge is a living hinge.
7. The hair retaining clip of claim 6, wherein the hinge and the first and second clip members are integrally formed.
8. The hair retaining clip of claim 1, wherein the elastic member is constructed from a TPE web material.
9. The hair retaining clip of claim 1, wherein the elastic member is constructed from an elastic core that is surrounded by fabric sheath including an elastic friction member.
10. A hair clip for retaining a bundle of hair, comprising:
- a first clip member having a first end including a handle portion and a second end including a claw portion;
- a second clip member having a first end including a handle portion and a second end including a claw portion;
- a hinge disposed between and pivotally connecting the first and second clip members; and
- an elastic member disposed between the first and second clip members, wherein an area defined by the elastic member and the first and second claw portions receives the bundle of hair.
11. The hair clip of claim 10, wherein the elastic member biases the claw portions of the first and second clip members together.
12. The hair clip of claim 11, wherein the elastic member biases the handle portions of the first and second clip members apart.
13. The hair clip of claim 10, wherein the elastic member is constructed from an elastic core that is surrounded by fabric sheath including an elastic friction member.
14. The hair clip of claim 10, wherein the hinge is a living hinge.
15. The hair clip of claim 14, wherein the hinge and the first and second clip members are integrally formed.
16. A hair clip for retaining a bundle of hair, comprising:
- a first half including a handle and claw;
- a second half including a handle and claw;
- a hinge pivotally connecting the first and second halves of the hair clip; and
- an elastic member disposed between the first and second halves, wherein the claws of the first and second halves abut a first portion of the bundle of hair and the elastic member abuts a second portion of the bundle of hair.
17. The hair clip of claim 16, further including at least one of a slot, a hook, and an aperture on each of the first and second halves for receiving the elastic member.
18. The hair clip of claim 16, wherein the elastic member biases the claws of the first and second halves together.
19. The hair clip of claim 16, wherein the elastic member is constructed from an elastic core that is surrounded by fabric sheath including an elastic friction member.
20. The hair clip of claim 16, wherein the hinge is a living hinge.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 14, 2005
Publication Date: Jul 23, 2009
Patent Grant number: 7753058
Applicant: GOODY PRODUCTS, INC. (Freeport, IL)
Inventors: Stan Chudzik (Alpharetta, GA), Michael Defenbaugh (Marietta, GA)
Application Number: 11/302,647
International Classification: A45D 8/20 (20060101);