HAIR PIN

Abstract

A hairpin to press and hold hairs in place which includes upper and lower clips (10 and 20) each having finger pressing portions (11 and 21) and clipping portions (12 and 22); a hinge shaft (35) inserted in holes (13 and 23) formed in the upper and lower clips (10 and 2); a torsion spring (30) through which the hinge shaft (35) passes, in which hairs are pressed and held in place by tension force of the clipping portions (12 and 22) of the upper and lower clips. The clipping portion (12) of the upper clip (10) has a convex holding portion (15) protruding outwardly from an inner center of the clipping portion to form a space (16) for retaining hairs. A resiliently pressing portion (18) integrally extends from the clipping portion below the convex holding portion (15) to press and hold the hairs in place.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a hairpin (otherwise known as a hair-grip) for use in beauty shops or the like to press and hold hairs in place, and more specifically, to a hairpin including upper and lower clips for pressing and holding hairs therebetween, in which the upper clip is provided with a convex holding portion for holding a lot of hairs in place, and a resiliently pressing portion for pressing and holding the hairs, thereby strongly holding a lot of hairs in place to improve utility thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED ART

In general, hairpins, hairclips or hair-grips (hereinafter referred to a hairpin, hairclip or hair-grip) are used to hold hairs of women in a desired place or style.

Various kinds of hairpins are disclosed in the art, and the hairpins generally include upper and lower clips that are connected to each other by a torsion spring and a hinge shaft to press and hold the hairs in place by tension force of the upper and lower clips.

The above-described hairpins of the related art have a problem in that since clipping portions of the upper and lower clips are formed in a flat shape, the clipping portions do not only hold the hairs effectively, but also do not retain a lot of hairs.

In order to solve the above problem, a small hairpin made of metal has a separate resilient piece protruding inwardly from an upper clip to effectively hold the hairs. Alternatively, in a case of a large hairpin, a space is formed inside an upper clip, so that a lot of hairs can be retained.

However, the hairpins of the related art do not have a composite function of strongly holding a lot of hairs. In particular, in the case where the hairpins are made of resin, the hairpins have a further difficulty in holding a lot of hairs in place. See Korean Patent Nos. 10-980909 and 10-1302918.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hairpin including upper and lower clips for holding hairs therebetween, in which the upper clip is provided with a convex holding portion for holding a lot of hairs in place, and a resiliently pressing portion for pressing and holding the hairs, thereby strongly holding a lot of hairs in place to improve utility thereof.

Another object of the present invention relates to provide a hairpin including an upper clip, of which a convex holding portion and a resiliently pressing portion are simple to be easily manufactured, thereby reducing a manufacture cost thereof.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hairpin including: upper and lower clips each having finger pressing portions and clipping portions; a hinge shaft that is inserted in holes formed in the upper and lower clips; and a torsion spring through which the hinge shaft passes, in which hairs are pressed and held in place by tension force of the clipping portions of the upper and lower clips, wherein the clipping portion of the upper clip has a convex holding portion protruding outwardly from an inner center of the clipping portion to form a space for retaining the hairs therein, and a resiliently pressing portion integrally extending from the clipping portion below the convex holding portion in a longitudinal direction of the clipping portion to press and hold the hairs in place.

Preferably, the clipping portion is formed with a slot that penetrates a center portion of the clipping portion in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the resiliently pressing portion is positioned within or an alignment with the slot.

Preferably, a pair of guides protrude inwardly from left and right sides of the clipping portion.

Preferably, the resiliently pressing portion is preferably formed in a wavy (sinuous)shape.

Preferably, the resiliently pressing portion has a free end at one end thereof.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hairpin including: upper and lower clips each having finger pressing portions and clipping portions; a hinge shaft that is inserted in holes formed in the upper and lower clips; and a torsion spring through which the hinge shaft passes, in which hairs are pressed and held in place by tension force of the clipping portions of the upper and lower clips, wherein the clipping portion of the upper clip has a slot formed in a center portion thereof in a longitudinal direction, and a resiliently pressing portion of a wavy shape for pressing and holding the hairs is positioned within the slot.

With the above configuration, the hairpin according to the present invention presses and holds the hair in place by the upper and lower clips, in which the upper clip is provided with the convex holding portion for holding a lot of hairs in place, and the resiliently pressing portion for pressing and holding the hairs, thereby strongly holding a lot of hairs in place to improve its marketability relative to the related art.

In particular, by the wavy structure of the resiliently pressing portion, the structure of proving various resilient force by connecting both ends of the resiliently pressing portion or forming one end thereof as the free end, and the guide structure of the resiliently pressing portion, the hairs are more effectively pressed and held by the resiliently pressing portion, thereby remarkably improving the utility thereof.

Further, when the upper and lower clips are made of resin through molding, since the structure of the convex portion and the resiliently pressing portion of the upper clip are simple, the configuration of the mold for the upper clip can be simple, and also, the molding work using the mold can be also easily performed, thereby remarkably reducing the manufacture cost thereof. In particular, alignment of the resiliently pressing portion with the slot can obviate any requirement for sliding side cores during molding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a hairpin according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the hairpin in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the hairpin in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the hairpin in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an opening state of the hairpin in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a hairpin according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a hairpin according to further another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a hairpin according to further another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

• 10, 20: Upper and lower clips
• 11, 21: Finger pressing portion
• 12, 22: Clipping portion
• 13, 23: Hole
• 15: Convex holding portion
• 12a: Slot
• 16: Space
• 18, 18′: Resiliently pressing portion
• 18a: Free end
• 19: Guide
• 30: Torsion spring
• 35: Hinge shaft

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A hairpin according to an embodiment of the present invention will be hereafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The hairpin of the present invention includes, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5, upper and lower clips 10 and 20 having finger pressing portions 11 and 21 and clipping portions 12 and 22, a hinge shaft 35 that is inserted in holes 13 and 23 formed in the upper and lower clips 10 and 20, and a torsion spring 30 through which the hinge shaft 35 passes, in order to hold hairs in place by tension force of the clipping portions 12 and 22 of the upper and lower clips.

In particular, the clipping portion 12 of the upper clip 10 has a convex holding portion 15 protruding outwardly from an inner center of the clipping portion to form a space 16 for retaining the hairs therein, and a resiliently pressing portion 18 integrally extending from the clipping portion below the convex holding portion 15 in a longitudinal direction of the clipping portion to press the hairs.

The clipping portion 12 is formed with a slot 12a that penetrates a center portion of the clipping portion in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the resiliently pressing portion 18 is positioned within the slot 12a.

Specifically, since the configuration of the clipping portion 12 is simple, a mold for the clipping portion can be configured so that product forming work and mold releasing work can be easily carried out, without using a sliding manner.

In addition, a pair of guides 19 and 19 protrude inwardly from the clipping portion 12, so that the resiliently pressing portion 18 is positioned between the guides 19 and 19. When the resiliently pressing portion resiliently operates up and down, it is guided by the guides 19 and 19.

The resiliently pressing portion 18 is preferably formed in a wavy shape so as to increase resilient force and pressing force that holds the hair in place.

Herein, reference numeral 14 indicates a protrusion protruding inwardly from the upper clip 10.

Hereinafter, the operation of the hairpin configured described above will be described.

The finger pressing portions 11 and 21 of the upper and lower clips 10 and 20 are pressed to open the clipping portions 12 and 22, and the hairs are collected and positioned between the clipping portions 12 and 22. When the pressing force is released from the finger pressing portions 11 and 21, the hairs are held by the resilient operation of the clipping portions 12 and 22.

In particular, since the space 16 is formed in the inner center of the clipping portion 12 of the upper clip 10 by the convex holding portion 15, a lot of hairs are retained. Also, the hairs are further pressed by the resiliently pressing portion 18 positioned inside the convex holding portion 15, thereby strongly pressing and holding a lot of hairs in place.

Also, the resiliently pressing portion 18 is formed in the wavy shape to increase the resilient force and the pressing force that presses and holds the hairs, and the wavy shape presses the hairs like a wedge, thereby strongly pressing and holding the hairs in place.

In addition, since the guides 19 and 19 protrude from left and right sides of the resiliently pressing portion 18 of the clipping portion 12, when the resiliently pressing portion 18 resiliently operates up and down, the guides 19 and 19 guide the resiliently pressing portion, and serve as a support against external force acting on a left or right side, thereby preventing the resiliently pressing portion from being broken.

Furthermore, since the resiliently pressing portion 18 is positioned within the slot 12a formed in the center portion of the upper clip 10 in the longitudinal direction, an injection mold can be manufactured to have a simple configuration. At the time of injection molding, the mold is not slid in a vertical direction to form and extract a product, thereby remarkably reducing a manufacturing cost.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show another embodiments of the present invention that are similar to the embodiment in FIG. 1, except that one end of the resiliently pressing portion 18 of the clipping portion 12 is not connected to the clipping portion 12, but is formed as a free end 18a.

In this instance, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the free end 18a of the resiliently pressing portion 18 may be positioned within the clipping portion 12, or, as illustrated in FIG. 8, may be inserted in the slot 12a formed in the center portion of the clipping portion 12 in the longitudinal direction to be positioned outside the clipping portion 12.

According to these embodiments, since both ends of the resiliently pressing portion 18 are not connected to the clipping portion 12, but one end is disconnected from the clipping portion 12 to form the free end 18a, the resilient force of the resiliently pressing portion 18 can be further increased, thereby strongly pressing and holding the hairs in place.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the present invention that is similar to the embodiment in FIG. 1, except that the clipping portion 12 of the upper clip 10 is formed with the slot 12a in the center portion thereof in the longitudinal direction, and a resiliently pressing portion 18′ of a wavy shape for pressing and holding the hairs is positioned within the slot 12a.

According to the embodiment, the clipping portion 12 of the upper clip 10 is provided with only the resiliently pressing portion 18′ of the wavy shape to further press and hold the hairs in place. Since the resiliently pressing portion 18′ is positioned within the slot 12a formed in the center portion of the clipping portion 12 in the longitudinal direction, a vertical resilient section of the resiliently pressing portion 18′ is increased, thereby effectively pressing and holding the hairs in place.

In addition, when the resiliently pressing portion 18′ resiliently operates up and down, it is guided by the slot 12a, and the slot 12a serves as a support against external force acting on a left or right side, thereby preventing the resiliently pressing portion from being broken.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A hairpin comprising:

upper and lower clips (10 and 20) each having finger pressing portions (11 and 21) and clipping portions (12 and 22);

a hinge shaft (35) that is inserted in holes (13 and 23) formed in the upper and lower clips (10 and 20); and

a torsion spring (30) through which the hinge shaft (35) passes, in which hairs are pressed and held in place by tension force of the clipping portions (12 and 22) of the upper and lower clips,

wherein the clipping portion (12) of the upper clip (10) includes

a convex holding portion (15) protruding outwardly from an inner center of the clipping portion to form a space (16) for retaining the hairs therein, and

a resiliently pressing portion (18) integrally extending from the clipping portion below the convex holding portion (15) in a longitudinal direction of the clipping portion to press and hold the hairs in place.

2. The hairpin according to claim 1, wherein the clipping portion (12) is formed with a slot (12a) that penetrates a center portion of the clipping portion in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the resiliently pressing portion (18) is positioned within the slot (12).

3. The hairpin according to claim 1, wherein a pair of guides (19 and 19) protrude inwardly from left and right sides of the clipping portion (12).

4. The hairpin according to claim 1, wherein the resiliently pressing portion (18) is formed in a wavy shape.

5. The hairpin according to claim 1, wherein one end (18a) of the resiliently pressing portion (18) is free.

6. The hairpin according to claim 4, wherein one end (18a) of the resiliently pressing portion (18) is free.

7. A hairpin comprising:

upper and lower clips (10 and 20) each having finger pressing portions (11 and 21) and clipping portions (12 and 22);

a hinge shaft (35) that is inserted in holes (13 and 23) formed in the upper and lower clips (10 and 20); and a torsion spring (30 through which the hinge shaft (35) passes, in which hairs are pressed and held in place by tension force of the clipping portions (12 and 22) of the upper and lower clips,

wherein the clipping portion (12) of the upper clip (10) includes a slot (12a) formed in a center portion thereof in a longitudinal direction, and

a resiliently pressing portion (18′) of a wavy shape for pressing and holding the hairs is positioned within the slot (12a).

8. A hair-grip comprising:

two clamping arms connected together in side by side relation and comprising respective, elongate, clamping portions and spaced-apart finger-pieces extending therefrom; means on the arms for biasing the clamping portions together in hair clamping position; and, a fulcrum at a junction of the clamping portions and the finger-pieces such that squeezing the finger-pieces together forces the clamping portions apart;

wherein an resilient, elongate, hair pressing member having at least one end connected to one arm extends longitudinally between the clamping portions.

9. A hair grip according to claim 8 wherein the clamping portion on the one arm is formed with a central, convex, hair holding portion which protrudes outwards away from the clamping portion of the other arm.

10. A hair-grip according to claim 9 wherein an elongate slot extends along the clamping portion of the one arm and the hair pressing member extends along the slot.

11. A hair-grip according to claim 10 wherein one end of the hair pressing member is integral with an end of the slot.

12. A hair-grip according to claim 10 wherein respective opposite ends of the hair-grip are integral with respective opposite ends of the slot.

13. A hair-grip according to claim 8 wherein the hair pressing member is sinuous, having portions repeatedly extending towards and away from respective clamping portions.

14. A hair-grip according to claim 12 wherein an elongate slot extends along the clamping portion of the one arm and the hair pressing member extends along the slot, repeatedly protruding out from opposite sides thereof.

15. A hair-grip according to claim 14 wherein one end of the hair pressing member is integral with an end of the slot.

16. A hair-grip according to claim 14 wherein respective opposite ends of the hair-grip are integral with respective opposite ends of the slot.

17. A hair-grip according to claim 8 wherein guides extend laterally from respective opposite sides of a clamping potion toward another clamping portion protecting the hair pressing member during use of the hair-grip.