Adaptable Hair-Trimming Guide

Abstract

The invention relates to a hair-trimming guide that includes a cutting guard that comprises an arcuate sheet of material that defines the region of hair to be cut when it is positioned on the head of a person in need of a haircut. The hair-trimming guide is easy-to-use, durable, and customizable. The invention also provides a method for trimming hair using this hair-trimming guide.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE To RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/766,608 filed on Feb. 19, 2013, entitled “HAIRCUT GUARD”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to adaptable hair trimming guides that can be used for home or professional grooming. The present disclosure also relates to a method for customizing and/or using such adaptable hair trimming guides.

BACKGROUND

Although it is common for people to have their hair cut by professionals such as barbers or cosmeticians, many people cut their own hair. In some cases, a person may live or be traveling in an area where a barber is not readily accessible, e.g. deployed members of the armed forces. In other cases, a person may rely on a barber for periodic cuts or styling, but perform day-to-day or week-to-week hair care on his own for reasons of cost or convenience. Nonetheless, cutting one's own hair or subjecting oneself to the ministrations of amateurs has drawbacks. Without significant experience or professional training, cutting one's own hair can easily result in uneven or excessive cuts, particularly when trimming areas out of sight like the back of your head. And avoiding these mistakes requires more time that most persons are prepared to spend on routine hair care. Relying on others for daily or weekly touchups can be inconvenient for all parties and can still end in botched haircuts.

Many solutions in the prior art have attempted to solve the problems associated with cutting one's own hair. For instance, one previous device involves positioning a belt around the head to hold both a sliding mirror and sliding hair protection covers. Another prior device positions a band around the head with a curved sloped guard that allows the removal of hair from the back of the neck in a straight line. Yet another prior device involves the use of a flexible band in conjunction with a track for guiding hair-clippers. These devices, however, have numerous shortcomings. For instance, they do not allow individuals to customize trim guides to properly account for variations in individual head or hairlines or to personalize hair styles. Another drawback relates to the failure to account for the difficulty in properly aligning trim guides to an individual's head. These devices also do not account for the need for a durable, easily portable mechanism that can be operated in disparate conditions. These examples demonstrate the need for an improved trimming guide.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses these and other deficiencies present in the previous hair trimming guides.

In one aspect, the invention provides a hair-trimming guide. The hair trimming guide comprises a cutting guard which comprises an arcuate sheet comprising a top edge and a bottom edge. The top edge has a first radius of curvature and the bottom edge has a second radius of curvature, where the first radius of curvature is greater than the second radius of curvature.

In another aspect, the invention provides a method for trimming hair. The method includes selecting a region of hair to be cut by positioning a hair-trimming guide against a rear side of a head of a person in need of a haircut, and cutting the selected region of hair. The hair-trimming guide comprises a cutting guard which comprises an arcuate sheet comprising a top edge and a bottom edge. The top edge has a first radius of curvature and the bottom edge has a second radius of curvature, and the first radius of curvature is greater than the second radius of curvature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a hair-trimming guide according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A shows the top view of a hair trimming guide according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B shows the rear view of a hair trimming guide according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2C shows the side view of a hair trimming guide according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a hair-trimming guide according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows the use of a hair-trimming guide according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a hair-trimming guide according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a hair-trimming guide according to one exemplary embodiment of this invention. The hair-trimming guide in FIG. 1 comprises a cutting guard that comprises an arcuate sheet 100 with a top edge 101 and a bottom edge 102. The cutting guard in FIG. 1 also comprises a logo portion 103.

In preferred embodiments, the radius of curvature of the top edge 101 of arcuate sheet 100 is greater than the radius of curvature of the bottom edge 102. As used in this context, the term “radius of curvature of the top edge” refers to the radius of the circle in a horizontal plane that best fits the curve of top edge 101. Similarly, the term “radius of curvature of the bottom edge” refers to the radius of the circle in a horizontal plane that best fits the curve of bottom edge 102. As the skilled artisan will appreciate, the curvature of arcuate sheet 100 permits the hair trimming guide to fit against and wrap about a user's neck and/or head to define a region of hair to be trimmed. Generally speaking, the bottom edge 102 of the cutting guard serves to guide the user when cutting the region of hair to be trimmed. The remaining portion of arcuate sheet 100 covers and protects hair that the user does not wish to cut.

While the top and bottom edges of arcuate sheet 100 may be generally semi-circular or semi-elliptical, this invention also contemplates curved irregular shapes. As one non-limiting example, the central region of the hair-trimming guide may be essentially flat compared to the sides of the guide, so as to fit the contours of the back and sides of a user's neck. In preferred embodiments, the shape of the hair-trimming guide closely matches the contour of the back of the neck and head of a person in need of a haircut. For instance, as depicted in FIG. 2A the width 210 of the hair trimming guide 200, which is defined by bottom edge 202, may be selected to approximate the width of a user's neck where the hair will be trimmed. By contrast, width 215 of hair trimming guide 200, which is defined by top edge 201, may be substantially wider to accommodate the greater size of a user's upper neck and/or head compared to the size at the hairline. For width 215 defined by top edge 201, a useful value may fall in the range of 6.50 to 8.5 inches, 6.75 to 8.25 inches, 7.0 to 8.0 inches, or 7.5 to 8.0 inches. For width 210 defined by bottom edge 202, a useful value may fall in the range of 5.5 to 7.0 inches, 5.75 to 7.25 inches, or 6.0 to 7.25 inches. As the skilled artisan will appreciate, the ratio of widths 210 and 215 will vary according to the height 220 of hair-trimming guide 200 in accordance with typical human proportions. In this regard, the invention contemplates certain embodiments in which the ratio of widths 210 and 215 is in the range of 0.6 to 0.95, 0.75 to 0.85, or 0.8 to 0.85. A useful height 220 of hair-trimming guide 200 may fall in the range of 2.0 to 4.0 inches, 2.50 to 3.75 inches, or 2.75 to 3.25 inches. FIGS. 2B and 2C also show depth 230 of hair-trimming guide 200, which is defined by bottom edge 202, and depth 240, which is defined by top edge 201. A useful value for depth 230 may fall in the range of 1.50 to 3.5 inches, 1.75 to 3.0 inches, or 2.0 to 2.5 inches, while a useful value for depth 240 is in the range of 1.75 to 4.0 inches, 2.0 to 3.5 inches, 2.25 to 3.25 inches or 2.75 to 3.0 inches. As the skilled artisan will appreciate, significant variations in neck and head sizes can be observed across different human populations. Accordingly, this invention specifically contemplates as separate embodiments each and every combination of ranges and sub-ranges of depths 230 and 240, height 220, and widths 210 and 215 set forth herein. The invention also contemplates hair-trimming guides with dimensions specifically suited for various populations, non-limiting examples of which include military personnel, body builders, athletes, adults, teens, children, and infants.

In preferred embodiments, the arcuate sheet of the hair-trimming guide comprises an elastic material that essentially returns to its original shape after being deformed, and that will conform, at least partially, to the contours of the individual user's neck and/or head when used. The advantage of using elastic materials, however, may be counter-balanced by the tendency of such materials to deform under stress applied by a hair clipper or pair of scissors as the hair is being cut. If the material used to form the arcuate sheet deforms too much, the resulting haircut may be uneven or have the incorrect shape. Accordingly, one aspect of the invention is the realization that hardness of the material vis-à-vis indentation is an acceptable proxy in order to determine whether a material embodies an acceptable balance between elasticity, reliability, and durability. In this regard, the invention recognizes that materials with a hardness of less than 55 on the Shore A Hardness Scale may be insufficiently durable and may not enable a user to successfully create the desired hairstyle when trimming his hair. On the other hand, materials with a hardness of greater than 80 on the Shore D Hardness Scale may not be sufficiently elastic to ensure a proper fit between the guide and the user's neck and/or head or, as discussed below, sufficiently soft to allow for customization. Suitable materials include, but are not limited to, any type of plastic or silicone; more specifically, thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), and thermoplastic rubbers (TPR) are example materials suitable for the arcuate sheet. Suitable materials may fall into a range between 20 on the Shore D Hardness Scale and 70 on the Shore D Hardness Scale, or the equivalent on the Shore A Hardness Scale, inclusive, although materials outside this range may also be suitable for the cutting guard, for instance, in the case of a disposable hair-trimming guide intended for a limited number of uses. Materials that fall within a range of 30 on the Shore D Hardness Scale and 60 on the Shore D Hardness Scale, or the equivalent on the Shore A Hardness Scale, inclusive, however, may be more susceptible to customization by a user through means readily available in the household while being sufficiently durable to allow for continued use. In certain preferred embodiments, the invention contemplates the use of materials with a hardness greater than 55 on the Shore A Hardness Scale but less than 80 on the Shore D Hardness Scale. In certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the arcuate sheet comprises a material with a hardness that falls in the range of 55 to 100, 65 to 95, 70 to 90 or 80 to 85 on the Shore A Hardness Scale.

Furthermore, in certain preferred embodiments, the invention contemplates that the material used for forming the arcuate sheet of the cutting guard comprises a material that falls within an acceptable range of hardness, as described above, so that a user may adapt the hair-trimming guide to his personal use, characteristics, and preferences. The invention contemplates that a user may customize his hair-trimming guide by modifying the arcuate sheet, including, for instance, by trimming it with readily available household tools such as, without limitation, a knife, a razor, a box-cutter, a pair of shears, or a pair of scissors. Alternatively, a user may make minor adaptions to the arcuate sheet, for instance, to make it more comfortable. As two examples, a user that is satisfied with the general shape of the hairline on the cutting guard may nonetheless modify it slightly by sanding it using sand paper, a belt sander, a file, or other tools, or a user may make small modifications by shaving off portions of the cutting guard with a knife or other carving tool. By providing a hair trimming guide with a cutting guard that users may customize, the invention allows users to adapt the guide to personal characteristics (such as protrusions or depressions on the user's neck or an atypically thin or atypically broad neck) or to adapt the guide to suit the user's preferences (such as a preference for a non-straight hair line).

In certain embodiments, the cutting guard may comprise an arcuate sheet that is constructed using a material that is sufficiently transparent to allow a user to see the underlying hair of the person in need of a haircut when the cutting guard is positioned against the person's head. The transparent nature of the cutting guard allows the user to see both the hair exposed by the cutting guard, that is, the hair that will be trimmed, and the hair protected by the cutting guard. By allowing the user to see the hair protected by the cutting guard, the cutting guard provides a preview for the user of the appearance of the head and hair once trimming is complete. The transparent nature of the cutting guard is particularly useful for persons who are using the guide to trim the hair of another and for persons cutting their own hair who have access to a mirror. In addition, the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3 comprises an alignment pattern formed from horizontal lines such as 301, 303, and 305 and from vertical lines such as 302, 304, and 306. The alignment grid, combined with the transparent nature of the cutting guard, allows the user to precisely align the guide and achieve consistent, easily repeated haircuts.

In addition to assisting the user in aligning the guide upon his head or neck, the alignment grid also may be used by users to customize the hair trimming guide to their personal tastes and needs. Users seeking to modify the hair trimming guide by altering the shape of the bottom edge of the cutting guard by cutting it may refer to the alignment pattern in order to ensure that their alterations are, for instance, symmetrical, proportional, or consistent across multiple hair-trimming guides. Furthermore, although the alignment grid depicted in FIG. 3 is a grid comprised of evenly-spaced horizontal and vertical lines, the invention contemplates other alignment patterns that may be designed to help a user replicate popular hairstyles. In certain embodiments, the alignment patterns are imprinted onto the arcuate sheet or delineated using a series of perforations, to serve as customization guides that permit the user to trim the arcuate sheet to the desired shape. As just one example, one common style of hair trimming is the “tapered” or “natural” hairline, which tapers to a blunt point rather than ending in a straight line across the neck, which is commonly known as a “blocked” hairline. One contemplated embodiment of the alignment pattern includes lines representing tapered hairlines at increasing angles, such that a user can adapt the guide to his preferred hairline by cutting the guide at his chosen taper, thus achieving a consistent “natural” hairline with the hair-trimming guide. The alignment grid may also include lines representing a “rounded” hairline, another popular hairline. The invention also includes other alignment patterns to provide guidance for non-standard hairlines, non-limiting examples of which include a serrated pattern such that the resulting hairline would have a sawtooth pattern.

FIG. 4 depicts the use of a hair trimming guide according to one embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 4, a user has manually positioned a hair trimming guide 400 against the head and neck of a person in need of a haircut to define a region of hair 450 to be cut. In this way, hair cutting device 470 only cuts the hair in region 450 and the possibility of inadvertently cutting off hair outside of region 450 is minimized. Furthermore, the hair-trimming guide, as depicted in FIG. 4, has been adapted to the user's preferences by cutting the bottom edge of the cutting guard to the desired shape.

This invention also contemplates embodiments where the cutting guard is detachably connected to a grip, which optionally may be made of a different material from that of the arcuate sheet of the cutting guard. For instance, in FIG. 5, the grip 501 and the cutting guard 502 are each formed from different materials. The grip 501 may be formed from a more structured, less pliable material than the cutting guard 502, which may fabricated as discussed above. Suitable materials for the grip 501 may include polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/polycarbonate (ABS/PC), polypropylene (PP), and other plastics and other thermoplastic materials with glass transition temperatures significantly greater than typical atmospheric conditions. For high-end markets, other materials such as wood, stone, horn, bone, metal, glass, or ceramic may be used as suitable materials for fabricating grip 501. Where the grip 501 and cutting guard 502 are formed from separate materials, the cutting guard 502 may also be detachable from grip 501, as depicted in FIG. 5. Detachable cutting guards provide several advantages, including the ability for a user to swap out different, personally-adapted cutting guards if the user desires to change his hairstyle. For professionals, other benefits from detachable cutting guards include the ability to quickly swap out different cutting guards if a customer wants a different hairline and the benefits of being able to replace used cutting guards with clean or new cutting guards. Securing and detaching the cutting guard from the grip may be achieved by known methods in the art. In one embodiment, a bottom edge of the grip is equipped with a slot that can receive and hold at least a portion of the top edge of the cutting guard.

The invention also contemplates using different techniques for applying the hair-trimming guide to the user's head. For instance, one alternative embodiment is the use of a grip 501 with a handle 503, as shown in FIG. 5. The handle 503 may provide a user with a secure grip and the ability to manipulate the position of the guide or may reduce the need for a professional to apply pressure to a customer's head in order to maintain the guide in the proper position. Other alternatives for applying the guide to the user's head within the scope of the invention include the use of ear hooks to secure the guide and the use of one or more bands to secure the guide. For instance, an elastic band may be affixed to the left and right sides of the hair-trimming guide such that it may be stretched around a user's head, thus securely affixing the hair-trimming guide to the head without the need for the user to manually press the guide against the head. In an alternative embodiment, the guide may have two bands, each one affixed to an end of the hair-trimming guide and manufactured such that the user can join the bands together to secure the guide against the user's head; in such an embodiment, the bands may be secured by a buckle, hook and loop fastener, e.g. Velcro, button, snap, or any other type of fastening mechanism. In other embodiments, the guide may include multiple bands, to better fit the contours of a user's head. In still other embodiments, the guide may include bands of the different sizes, to accommodate users with different diameter heads. Another embodiment of the invention may use some sort of rubber pad or sticker that attaches to the device to provide more grip for the user. All of the embodiments may serve to secure the guide to a user's head so that the user may trim his hair with the aide of the guide without manually pressing the guide to his head or neck.

The embodiments explicitly described herein are provided as examples only; there are many modifications and variations on the disclosed embodiments that are substantially equivalent and fall within the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A hair-trimming guide comprising:

a cutting guard, said cutting guard comprising an arcuate sheet comprising a top edge and a bottom edge;

wherein the top edge has a first radius of curvature and the bottom edge has a second radius of curvature such that the first radius of curvature is greater than the second radius of curvature.

2. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 1, wherein the arcuate sheet further comprises an alignment pattern.

3. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 2, wherein the alignment pattern is a grid.

4. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 1, wherein the arcuate sheet is sufficiently transparent to allow a user to see underlying hair when the arcuate sheet is pressed against the head of a person in need of a haircut.

5. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 1, wherein the arcuate sheet comprises a polymeric material.

6. The guide according to claim 5, wherein the polymeric material has a hardness that falls within the range of 55 to 100 on the Shore A Hardness Scale.

7. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 5, wherein the polymeric material comprises an elastomer.

8. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 7, wherein the elastomer comprises silicone.

9. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 1, wherein the top edge of the arcuate sheet is configured to detachably connect to a grip.

10. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 1, further comprising a band to secure the hair-trimming guide to a user's head, wherein the band is connected to a left side and a right side of the hair-trimming guide.

11. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the bottom edge of the arcuate sheet is customizable by a user.

12. The hair-trimming guide according to claim 11, wherein the arcuate sheet further comprises perforations along the bottom edge that serve as customization guides to allow a user to cut the shape of the bottom edge to a predetermined shape.

13. A method of trimming hair, the method comprising

selecting a region of hair to be cut by positioning a hair-trimming guide according to claim 1 against a rear side of a head of a person in need of a haircut, and

cutting the selected region of hair.

14. The method of trimming hair according to claim 13, further comprising the step of cutting the bottom edge of the arcuate sheet along one or more perforations to customize the shape of the bottom edge prior to selecting a region of hair to be cut.

15. The method of trimming hair according to claim 13, wherein the hair trimming guide is fastened to the head of a person in need of a haircut via a band.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the arcuate sheet is detachably connected to a grip.