Hair Clip

A hair clip comprises a lower clip piece that contacts on and/or slide over customer's hair, an upper clip piece, and a finger pivotally connected to the upper clip piece. The finger has sidewalls, extensions extending from the sidewalls, a stopper that limits the pivoting of the finger, and side flaps that extend beyond the stopper. The upper clip piece, the lower clip piece and the finger form a space that temporarily grabs a customer's hair for hair styling work. The side flaps prevent unwanted trapping of customer's hair between the finger and the upper clip piece. In addition to teeth provided on the upper clip piece and the lower clip piece, teeth are provided along the entire length of the finger, along the sidewalls, extensions and flaps of the finger thereby providing easy and firm grabbing of hair.

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Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the invention

The invention is related to a hair clip. More particularly, the present invention is related to a hair clip that greatly simplifies the task of temporarily grabbing strands of hair for hair styling without unwanted trapping of hair during hair styling.

Hair clips are used to help hair stylist's work for temporarily grabbing or holding strands of the customer's hair during hair styling including hair extension work. Hair extension work is very labor intensive and requires high level of skill and care at the same time. An hair clip that reduces the costly labor and fatigue of a hair stylist while meeting the delicate requirements of hair styling has long been in need.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Korean Patent No. 20-0373108 by Chan Soo Kim discloses a hair clip that has an upper clip piece, a lower clip piece and a finger that is pivotally connected to the upper clip piece. A disadvantage of the hair clip is that a customer's hair tend to be accidentally trapped between the finger and the upper clip piece when a hair stylist uses the hair clip. Another disadvantage of the hair clip is that the rear end of the finger protrudes high from the upper clip piece and bothers the hand or finger movement of a hair stylist.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,735,497 and 7,461,662 by Chan Soo Kim disclose a hair clip that has an upper clip piece, a lower clip piece, a finger that is pivotally connected to the upper clip piece, and a guide loop that is pivotally connected to the finger to prevent hair trapping. A disadvantage of the hair clip is that the addition of a separate element, that is, the guide loop, makes the structure of the hair clip more complicated, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide a hair clip that has simpler construction while having the performance of effectively and safely grabbing a customer's hair.

In order to achieve the objective, the present invention provides a hair clip comprising a lower clip piece that is adapted to contact on and/or slide over customer's hair, wherein the lower clip piece comprises a pivot end and a free end; a upper clip piece that comprises a first pivot end and a second pivot end, wherein the first pivot end of the upper clip piece is pivotally connected to the pivot end of the lower clip piece; a finger that comprises a left sidewall and a right sidewall, a cover comprising a free end and a pivot end, a left extension that extends from the left sidewall, a right extension that extends from the right side wall, a stopper that connects the left extension and the right extension and rests on the upper clip piece, a round left flap that extends from the left extension, and a round right flap that extends from the right extension, wherein the cover connects between the left sidewall and the right sidewall, wherein the pivot end of the cover is pivotally connected to the second pivot end of the upper clip piece, wherein the distance from the pivot end of the cover to the curved round edge of the left flap and the distance from the pivot end of the cover to the curved round edge of the right flap are bigger than the distance from the pivot end of the cover to the stopper; a lower thumb piece extending from the pivot end of the lower clip piece; a upper thumb piece extending from the first pivot end of the upper clip piece; a first pivot spring installed at the first pivot end of the upper clip piece and urges the upper clip piece toward the lower clip piece; and a second pivot spring installed at the second pivot end of the upper clip piece and urges the free end of the cover away from the lower clip piece.

The stopper comprises a flat stopper bar that comprises an upper stopper surface and a lower stopper surface. The upper stopper surface is tangent to the curved round edges of the left flap and the right flap.

The hair clip is pivotted between an engaged state and unengaged state by pressing and releasing the upper and lower thumb pieces, wherein in the engaged state, the left and right flaps form an obtuse angle with the upper clip piece.

The upper clip piece further comprises a plurality of teeth toward the lower clip piece. The lower clip piece further comprises a plurality of teeth toward the upper clip piece. The left sidewall, the right sidewall, the left extension and the right extension of the finger comprise a plurality of teeth toward the lower clip piece. In addition, the left flap and right flap of the finger comprise one or more teeth toward the lower clip piece.

The upper clip piece further comprises a stopper recess that receives the stopper of the finger.

The advantageous effects of the present invention are: (1) manufacturing cost of the hair clip is reduced; (2) the hair clip provides a wider and thinner grabbing of hair; (3) the hair clip grabs more hair with more teeth; and (4) the hair clip effectively prevents unwanted trapping of hair between the moving parts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the best embodiments of the present invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a hair clip according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the hair clip;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the hair clip;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the hair clip with strands of hair grabbed by the hair clip; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded elevation view of the hair clip.

 DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 5 show a hair clip 10 comprising a lower clip piece 12, an upper clip piece 14 and a finger 16. The lower clip piece 12 is adapted to contact on and/or slide over a customer's hair. The lower clip piece 12 comprises a pivot end 18 and a free end 20. The upper clip piece 14 comprises a first pivot end 22 and a second pivot end 24. The first pivot end 22 of the upper clip piece 14 is pivotally connected to the pivot end 18 of the lower clip piece 12.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 shows that the finger 16 comprises a left sidewall 26 and a right sidewall 28, a cover 30 comprising a free end 32 and a pivot end 34, a left extension 36 that extends from the left sidewall 28, a right extension 38 that extends from the right side wall 28, a stopper 40 that connects the left extension 36 and the right extension 38 and rests on the upper clip piece 14, a round left flap 42 that extends from the left extension 36, and a round right flap 44 that extends from the right extension 38. The cover 30 connects between the left sidewall 26 and the right sidewall 28. The pivot end 34 of the cover 30 is pivotally connected to the second pivot end 24 of the upper clip piece 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, the distance d2 from the pivot end 34 of the cover 30 to the curved round edge of the left flap 42 and the distance d2 from the pivot end 34 of the cover 30 to the curved round edge of the right flap 44 are bigger than the distance d1 from the pivot end 34 of the cover 30 to the stopper 40. The round left and right flaps 42, 44 prevent stray hair from being trapped between the finger 16 and the upper clip piece 14. For example, when a hair stylist grabs a customer's hair with the hair clip 10 and moves the hair clip 10 along the grabbed hair, the flaps prevent other hair from being trapped between the joints of the moving parts of the hair clip. The distance d2 means the distance between any point on the curve of the left and right flap 42, 44 and the pivot end 34.

The hair clip 10 further comprises a lower thumb piece 46 extending from the pivot end 18 of the lower clip piece 12, a upper thumb piece 48 extending from the first pivot end 22 of the upper clip piece 14, a first pivot spring 50 installed at the first pivot end 22 of the upper clip piece 14 and urges the upper clip piece 14 toward the lower clip piece 12, and a second pivot spring 52 installed at the second pivot end 24 of the upper clip piece 14 and urges the free end 32 of the cover 30 away from the lower clip piece 12.

The stopper 40 comprises a flat stopper bar 54 that comprises an upper stopper surface 56 and a lower stopper surface 58. The upper stopper surface 56 is tangent to the curved round edges of the left flap 42 and the right flap 44. The upper clip piece 14 further comprises a stopper recess 66 that receives the stopper 40 of the finger 16. (Refer to FIGS. 3 and 5.)

FIG. 2 shows an unengaged state of the hair clip 10. The upper clip piece 14 contacts the lower clip piece 12 with the torsion force of the first pivot spring 50. The finger 16 is urged away from the lower clip piece 12 by the second pivot spring 52. This pivoting away is limited by the stopper 40, which rests upon the stopper recess 66.

A hair stylist pushes the upper and lower thumb pieces 56, 58 with her fingers to open the hair clip 10.

FIG. 4 shows an engaged state of the hair clip 10 with a customer's hair 68 grabbed by the space surrounded by the lower clip piece 12, the upper clip piece 14 and the finger 16.

The hair clip 10 is pivotted between the engaged state and the unengaged state by pressing and releasing the upper and lower thumb pieces 46, 48. As shown in FIG. 4, in the engaged state, the left and right flaps 42, 44 form an obtuse angle with the upper clip piece 14. This configuration reduces the possibility of unwanted trapping of hair.

The upper clip piece 14 further comprises a plurality of teeth 60 toward the lower clip piece 12. The lower clip piece 12 further comprises a plurality of teeth 62 toward the upper clip piece 14. The left sidewall 26, the right sidewall 28, the left extension 36 and the right extension 38 of the finger 16 comprise a plurality of teeth 64 toward the lower clip piece 12. The teeth 60, 62, 64 help to firmly grab a customer's hair 68.

In addition, the left flap 42 and right flap 44 of the finger 16 comprise one or more teeth 70 toward the lower clip piece. In this way, teeth are provided along the entire length of the finger 16.

Claims

1. A hair clip comprising:

a) a lower clip piece that is adapted to contact on and/or slide over customer's hair, wherein the lower clip piece comprises a pivot end and a free end;
b) a upper clip piece that comprises a first pivot end and a second pivot end, wherein the first pivot end of the upper clip piece is pivotally connected to the pivot end of the lower clip piece;
c) a finger that comprises a left sidewall and a right sidewall, a cover comprising a free end and a pivot end, a left extension that extends from the left sidewall, a right extension that extends from the right side wall, a stopper that connects the left extension and the right extension and rests on the upper clip piece, a round left flap that extends from the left extension, and a round right flap that extends from the right extension, wherein the cover connects between the left sidewall and the right sidewall, wherein the pivot end of the cover is pivotally connected to the second pivot end of the upper clip piece, wherein the distance from the pivot end of the cover to the curved round edge of the left flap and the distance from the pivot end of the cover to the curved round edge of the right flap are bigger than the distance from the pivot end of the cover to the stopper;
d) a lower thumb piece extending from the pivot end of the lower clip piece;
e) a upper thumb piece extending from the first pivot end of the upper clip piece;
f) a first pivot spring installed at the first pivot end of the upper clip piece and urges the upper clip piece toward the lower clip piece; and
g) a second pivot spring installed at the second pivot end of the upper clip piece and urges the free end of the cover away from the lower clip piece.

2. The hair clip of claim 1, wherein the upper clip piece further comprises a plurality of teeth toward the lower clip piece, wherein the lower clip piece further comprises a plurality of teeth toward the upper clip piece, wherein the left sidewall, the right sidewall, the left extension and the right extension of the finger comprise a plurality of teeth toward the lower clip piece, wherein the left flap of the finger comprises one or more teeth toward the lower clip piece, wherein the right flap of the finger comprises one or more teeth toward the lower clip piece.

3. The hair clip of claim 2, wherein the hair clip is pivotted between an engaged state and unengaged state by pressing and releasing the upper and lower thumb pieces, wherein in the engaged state, the left and right flaps form an obtuse angle with the upper clip piece.

4. The hair clip of claim 3, wherein the upper clip piece further comprises a stopper recess that receives the stopper of the finger.

5. The hair clip of claim 4, wherein the stopper comprises a flat stopper bar that comprises an upper stopper surface and a lower stopper surface, wherein the upper stopper surface is tangent to the curved round edges of the left flap and the right flap.

Patent History
Publication number: 20120048292
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 1, 2010
Publication Date: Mar 1, 2012
Inventor: Ryan Tokko (Los Angeles, CA)
Application Number: 12/873,751
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: Squeeze-open Clip (132/277)
International Classification: A45D 8/20 (20060101);