Hair Extension and Method for Hair Extension

Abstract

A hair extension strip includes a hollow hair extension strip end piece and a number of extension hair strands that are embedded in the hair extension strip end piece. The hair extension strip end piece comprises a hair extension hollow tube having predetermined inner diameter and predetermined length. The hair extension strip is made by a process comprising steps of aligning ends of a predetermined number of hair strands; applying melted thermoplastic resin around the aligned ends of the hair strands, removing excess thermoplastic resin, forming a hollow hair extension strip end piece by wrapping the hair strands around a centering rod, and cooling the hair extension strip end piece with the hair strands embedded.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority on Provisional Application No. 61/062,248 filed on Jan. 24, 2008 by the applicant, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hair extension is used for providing decorating effect to a human being's hair, such as long, curled, straight or different-colored hair. Hair extension requires attaching a number of decorative hair strands to a customer's natural hair. Decorative hair strands are provided in a form of hair strips and the hair strips are attached to the customer's hair by gluing. Prior art hair extension strips and methods for attaching the hair strips have disadvantages that long time is required to attach the hair strips since placing and holding the customer's hair and extension hair together is difficult and; handling the glue is difficult and dangerous; and the bonding between the natural hair and the decorative hair is not uniform.

There has long been a need for hair extension strips and method that can provide more natural decorative effect and requires less time consuming and safe attaching process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a decorative hair strip that provides a natural and firm hair extension.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for attaching the decorative hair strip to a customer's hair.

In order to achieve the objects, the present invention provides a hair extension strip comprising a hollow hair extension strip end piece and a predetermined number of extension hair strands that are embedded in the hair extension strip end piece.

The hair extension strip end piece is made of thermoplastic resin.

The hair extension strip end piece comprises a hair extension hollow tube having predetermined inner diameter and predetermined length.

The predetermined inner diameter is from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch.

The predetermined length is from about 1/16 to about ½ inch. The predetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 to 450.

The hair extension strip that is made by a process comprising steps of aligning ends of a predetermined number of hair strands, applying melted thermoplastic resin around the aligned ends of the hair strands, forming a hollow hair extension strip end piece by wrapping the hair strands around a centering rod and cooling the hair extension strip end piece with the hair strands embedded.

The centering rod is circular and has a predetermined diameter, which is from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch.

The method further comprises step of removing excess thermoplastic resin so that the amount of thermoplastic resin applied on the ends of the hair strands is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a hair extension strip according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged view showing an end piece of the hair extension strip and hair strands embedded in the end piece.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the step of aligning hair strands.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the step of heating for forming a hair strip end piece.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the extension hair strip end piece thus formed.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the extension hair strip end piece showing hair strands embedded therein.

FIG. 7 is a partial elevation view of a centering rod.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a hair extension tool that is used to attach the hair extension strip to a customer's hair.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a method of attaching the decorative hair extension strip to a customer's hair.

FIG. 10a is a schematic elevation view showing step of applying thermoplastic resin.

FIG. 10b is a perspective view showing step of removing excess resin.

FIG. 10c is a schematic elevation view showing step of forming a hair strip end piece.

FIG. 10d is a schematic perspective view showing the hair strip end piece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a hair extension strip 10 comprising a hollow hair extension strip end piece 12 and a predetermined number of extension hair strands 14 that are embedded in the hair extension strip end piece 12.

The hair extension strip end piece 12 is made of thermoplastic resin or adhesive.

FIG. 2 shows that the hair extension strip end piece 12 comprises a hair extension hollow tube 16 having predetermined inner diameter and predetermined length.

The predetermined inner diameter is from about 1/16 inch to about: ⅜ inch. The ends of a customer's hair strands must pass through the hair extension hollow tube 16, when the hair extension strip 10 is attached to the original, hair of a customer. The predetermined inner diameter is the optimized size for serving this purpose.

The predetermined length is from about 1/16 to about ½ inch. The predetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 to 450 human hair strands. The lower limit has been determined to increase the efficiency of producing the hair extension strip 10 and labor of attaching the strips 10 to the original hair. The upper limit has been determined considering the adequate number of hair strands that can be embedded in one hair extension strip end piece 12, and natural look of the extended hair. If the number of the hair strands is more than 450, the hair extension strip becomes too bulky and the thermoplastic resin cannot cover the entire hair strands.

The hair extension strip 10 is made by a process comprising steps of aligning ends of a predetermined number of hair strands 14 (refer to FIG. 3); placing a centering rod 18 and a piece of thermoplastic resin 20 having a predetermined weight around the aligned ends of the hair strands (refer to FIG. 4); forming the hollow hair extension strip end piece 12 by heating the resin piece 20 until the hair strands are embedded in the melted resin (refer to FIG. 5); and cooling the hair extension strip end piece 12 with the hair strands 14 embedded.

The centering rod 18 is removed after the hair extension strip end piece 12 is formed. Heating of the resin piece 20 may be performed by directly heating the centering rod 18, or indirectly heating the resin piece 20 and the centering rod 18 by a separate heat source.

FIG. 6 shows that the hair strands 14 are embedded uniformly throughout the cross section of the hair extension hollow tube 16. Molten thermoplastic resin permeates between the hair strands by capillary action during the step of forming the hollow hair extension strip end piece 12. When the resin solidifies again the uniform distribution of hair strands results. This process is repeated when the hair extension strip 10 is attached to the original hair of a customer. The thermoplastic resin constituting the hair extension strip end piece 12 is melted when heat is applied and permeates between the original hair of the customer and the decorative hair of the hair extension strip 10. When the resin is solidified again, the original hair and the decorative hair are uniformly fixed in solidified resin, which provides a firm attachment and natural look of the extend hair.

FIG. 7 shows that the centering rod 20 is circular and has a predetermined diameter D at its tip 21. The predetermined diameter D is from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch. The predetermined diameter D becomes the inner diameter of the hair extension strip end piece 12 thus made.

The centering rod 20 further includes a stop flange 22 that has a larger diameter than the tip 21. The stop flange 22 facilitates forming the free end of the hair extension hollow tube 16 (refer to FIG. 5).

The predetermined weight of the resin piece is from about 0.01 gram to 0.04 gram. The predetermined amount of the resin has been determined to form adequate size of the hair extension strip end piece 12 for the predetermined number of decorative hair strands 14.

The combination of material, size, and shape of the invention as explained above provides the advantageous effects that production cost of hair extension strips is substantially reduced; time required for completing hair extension is substantially reduced; the hair extension work becomes dramatically easier and precise; and the resulting hair extension is a lot more durable and provides a natural look.

FIG. 8 shows a hair extension tool 24 that is used to attach the hair extension strip 10 to the original hair of a customer. The hair extension tool 24 comprises a handle 26 and a hair guide 28 that is supported by the handle 26 and made of an elastic wire.

FIG. 9 shows a series of steps that are performed to align the hair extension strip 10 and the original hair with the hair extension tool 24 and to fix them by melting the hair extension strip end piece and re-solidifying the molten thermoplastic resin. Since the ends of the original hair are guided through the hair extension hollow tube with the aid of the hair extension tool, the extension work is greatly simplified and accurate compared to prior art, in which there is no closed curve guide as the hair extension hollow tube of the present invention. The cross-sectional shape of the hair extension hollow tube 16 can be any closed curve including an oval or a rectangle. Multiple number of the hair extension strips 10 can be stacked on the handle of the hair extension tool 24, which increases the efficiency of hair extension work.

FIGS. 10a-10d show an alternative method for forming the hair extension strip. As shown in FIG. 10a, ends of a predetermined number of hair strands 14 are aligned, and melted thermoplastic resin 20 is applied around the aligned ends of the hair strands 14 by dipping the hair strands into a glue pot 40 that contains molten thermoplastic resin 20. FIG. 10b shows that excess thermoplastic resin 20 is removed by squeezing so that the amount of thermoplastic resin applied on the ends of the hair strands 14 is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram. FIGS. 10c and 10d show that a hollow hair extension strip end piece 12 is formed by wrapping the hair strands 14 around a centering rod 18 and cooling the hair extension strip end piece 12 with the hair strands embedded. FIG. 10c shows the centering rod 18 is inserted into the ends of aligned hair strands 14 so that the ends of the hair strands 14 are wrapped around the centering rod 18. FIG. 10d shows that the end of the hair extension strip end piece 12 so that the cut end has a flat cross section.

Claims

1. A hair extension strip comprising:

a) a hollow hair extension strip end piece; and

b) a predetermined number of extension hair strands that are embedded in the hair extension strip end piece.

2. The hair extension of claim 1, wherein the hair extension strip end piece is made of thermoplastic resin of predetermined amount.

3. The hair extension of claim 2, wherein the hair extension strip end piece comprises a hair extension hollow tube having predetermined inner diameter and predetermined length.

4. The hair extension of claim 3, wherein the predetermined inner diameter is from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch.

5. The hair extension of claim 4, wherein the predetermined length is from about 1/16 to about ½ inch.

6. The hair extension of claim 5, wherein the predetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 to about 450.

7. The hair extension of claim 6, wherein the predetermined amount of thermoplastic resin is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram.

8. The hair extension of claim 3, wherein the predetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 to 450.

9. The hair extension of claim 8, wherein the predetermined amount of thermoplastic resin is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram.

10. A hair extension strip that is made by a process comprising steps of:

a) aligning ends of a predetermined number of hair strands;

b) applying melted the thermoplastic resin around the aligned ends of the hair strands,

c) forming a hollow hair extension strip end piece by wrapping the hair strands around a centering rod; and

d) cooling the hair extension strip end piece with the hair strands embedded.

11. The hair extension of claim 10, wherein the predetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 to 450.

12. The hair extension of claim 11, wherein the centering rod is circular and has a predetermined diameter.

13. The hair extension of claim 12, wherein the predetermined diameter is from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch.

14. The hair extension of claim 13, further comprising step of removing excess thermoplastic resin so that the amount of thermoplastic resin applied on the ends of the hair strands is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram.

15. The hair extension of claim 14, further comprising step of cutting the end of the hair extension strip end piece whereby the cut end has a flat cross section.