Clip attached to beaded or fabric covered bendable wire for styling hair

Abstract

A hair-clip device for installation into a person's hair for styling said hair that includes a clip element which is attached to a flexible wire element. The clip element comprises two halves which are pivotally attached and spring loaded. The distal end of the two halves of the clip have finger-like prong projections. Attached to the proximal end of the spring-loaded clip is a flexible, bendable wire member. The wire member is covered with at least one decorative element such as a plurality of beads or fabric.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to and claims priority and a filing date of the Provisional Application bearing Application No. 60/826,526 and a filing date of Sep. 21, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hair-clip device for styling hair. More specifically, the present invention hair styling device comprises bendable wire which is preferably bead covered or cloth covered that is attached to a hinged, spring-loaded clip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are a multitude of prior art devices that are utilized to hold a user's hair in place. These prior art devices include hair clips and hair pins of a multitude of configurations. In addition, prior art elastic members have long been utilized to bunch the user's hair and to form pigtails or ponytails. None of the prior art devices included a mechanism to hold a bunch of hair in place while simultaneously employing a bendable, flexible piece to style the hair. The present invention allows a user to take strands or chunks of hair and keep it in place with a clip, and then bend and manipulate a flexible member to quickly and easily form a spiral. The flexible member may also easily be wrapped around the user's hair several times to hold it in place or to form a ponytail. Unlike the elastic prior art devices which cannot achieve a spiral look, the flexible piece is both flexible and adaptable thereby allowing hair to remain in the position in which it is twisted.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will be set forth in the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, will become apparent to those skilled in the art of custom vehicle fabrication upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hair-clip device for installation into a person's hair for styling said hair. More specifically, the present invention hair styling device includes a clip element which is attached to a flexible wire element. The clip element comprises two halves which are pivotally attached and spring loaded. The distal end of the two halves of the clip have finger-like prong projections. Attached to the proximal end of the spring-loaded clip is a flexible, bendable wire member. The wire member is covered with at least one decorative element such as a plurality of beads or fabric. The present invention is utilized by retaining a clump of user's hair in the spring-loaded clip. Thereafter, the flexible wire member is utilized to wind around a bunch of strands of the user's hair, thereby styling the hair in a spiral or ponytail fashion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made herein to the following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first clip half;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a spring clip half further illustrating a pivot pin for pivotally connecting the first clip half to the second clip half;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a spring clip assembly constructed with one first clip half, one second clip half, one pivot pin and a spring;

FIG. 4 is a perspective truncated view of a plurality of beads assembled with bendable wire and connected to a spring clip assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective truncated view of a plurality of beads assembled with bendable wire and connected to a spring clip assembly;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the present invention plurality of beads assembled with bendable wire and connected to a spring clip assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the present invention, illustrating a woman with the device in her hair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hair-clip device for installation into a person's hair for styling said hair. More specifically, the present invention hair styling device includes a clip element which is attached to a flexible wire element. In the preferred embodiment, the flexible wire element is cloth covered or bead covered.

Referring to the Figures and specifically to FIGS. 1 through 3, a spring clip assembly 50 is provided which is utilized to clip a segment of the wearer's hair. The clip assembly may vary in size but a size should be chosen that is appropriate to retain a segment of the wearer's hair. The spring clip may be formed from various materials, including but not limited to plastic, wood or metal. The spring clip assembly includes a first clip half 10 and a second clip half 20 wherein each of the two halves is provided with fingers or prongs at the distal end which fingers interlock with each other. The two halves of the spring clip are assembled in the following manner. A spring 30 is positioned around the pivot pin 40 as best viewed in FIG. 3. Now, the pivot rod is positioned through the pivot pin apertures located at the proximal end of each of the two halves of the clip thereby attaching the two half together in a spring-loaded fashion. As such, the prongs of the spring clip will remain interlocked until the user applies sufficient force to separate the prongs. In another embodiment of the present invention, instead of a spring-load clip, an elastic band in the manner of a continuous loop may be employed. In this embodiment, the elastic band is wrapped around a lock of hair several times to hold it in place, while the bendable piece is twisted around hair to form a spiral (or braid-like appearance.)

As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, a flexible wire 60 is attached to the proximal end of the spring clip assembly 50. The flexible wire 60 may be attached to the clip assembly by wrapping a portion of the wire around an attachment point on the clip assembly, or it may be soldered, glued or otherwise attached. The length of the flexible wire may vary and should be chosen to be appropriate to the length of the hair of the user.

Now, the flexible wire may be covered by a number of different decorative elements. As shown in the Figures, a plurality of beads 70 may be installed to cover, protect and decorate the hair styling device 80. Alternatively, the flexible wire may be covered by fabric which can be cotton, velvet, polyester or the like. Moreover, the outer layer of the wire may be plastic. If beads are selected, the beads may be formed from plastic, glass, wood or the like, and are provided with openings large enough for the wire to be fed through. The beads may be of varying size, shape, colors, styles or compositions. If fabric is selected as the wire covering, the fabric is glued to, sewn or wrapped around the entire wire. If beads are utilized, the beads should cover the wire, beginning on or close to the base of the clip until they reach the end of the wire. The end of the wire should be looped and fastened by twisting around the remaining wire. The last bead could be formed around the loop to secure the previous beads. This loop, and therefore the last bead, should be larger than the previous bead.

The hair styling device of the present invention keeps strands or chunks of hair in place while forming an adorned spiral look. The device is utilized in the following manners, one of which is depicted in FIG. 7.

1. The user takes in hand strands or chunks of hair, holds then by the root, and then clips them together utilizing the spring-loaded clip. Then the beaded or fabric covered flexible wire is wound or twisted several times around the remaining length of hair to form a spiral.

2. The user pulls the hair from the front of the head back. The hair is brought together towards the back of the head and near the center. The hair is clipped together using the spring-load clip so that a large portion of hair is bundled together in an upward position, while the rest of the hair is loose and down. The loose hair is taken and parted in half to form two separate clumps of hair. The flexible piece of the invention is placed on the part and then two separate clumps of hair are brought together so that the flexible piece hangs loosely under the bundle of hair. While the bundle of hair is held, the flexible piece is twisted around the hair several times to form a spiral ponytail. A similar style can be achieved by parting the hair completely down the middle, and using two of the present invention devices for either side to form a spiral look or ponytail on either side of the head.

3. A bunch of hair is taken, brought together to the desired position and held in place with the clip. Another nearby chunk of hair is taken and held in the user's hands close to the scalp. The user starts close to the scalp and begins twisting the bendable piece several times around the bundle of hair to form a spiral along the length of the hair, or the bendable piece is wrapped around several times to hold the hair in place (it does not need to cover the entire length of hair.)

4. The user takes strands of hair or a chunk of hair and uses the clip to hold the hair together by clipping it near the root. The flexible wire is twisted a couple of times around an entire small portion of the hair strands nearest the clip. Another small portion of the remaining hair strands are taken, additional nearby strands of hair are added and held by the roots. Now, the bendable piece is twisted a couple of times around a small portion of the new chunk of hair. The operation continues in this fashion until the end of the beaded or fabric covered piece is reached. The bendable piece may be adjusted sot that the hair strands stay in the desired position.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles and preferred embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to one skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction, operation and embodiment shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A device for styling hair comprising:

a spring-load clip having a distal and proximal end, said spring-loaded clip utilized to bunch together a user's hair;

a bendable wire member attached to said proximal end of said clip, said bendable wire member covered with at least one decorative element wherein said bendable wire member is utilized to wrap around the hair of a user.

2. The device for styling hair of claim 1 wherein said at least one decorative element comprises a plurality of beads.

3. The device for styling hair of claim 1 wherein said at least one decorative element comprises fabric.

4. The device for styling hair of claim 1 which further includes prongs on said distal end of said spring-load clip.

5. A device for styling hair comprising:

a clip having a distal and proximal end, said clip utilized to bunch together a user's hair;

a bendable wire member attached to said proximal end of said clip wherein said bendable wire member is utilized to wrap around the hair of a user.

6. A device for styling hair comprising:

a spring-load clip having a distal and proximal end, said spring-loaded clip utilized to bunch together a user's hair, said spring-loaded clip including prongs on said distal end, said spring-loaded clip utilized to bunch together a user's hair;

a bendable wire member attached to said proximal end of said clip, said bendable wire member covered with a plurality of beads wherein said flexible wire member is utilized to wrap around the hair of a user.