HAIR ACCESSORY
A hair accessory includes an elastic member with two ends threaded through openings in a locking member such that a loop is formed between a central portion of the elastic member and the locking member to accommodate a user's hair. The locking member is movable relative to the elastic member to change a size of the loop to accommodate more or less hair, as desired.
The present application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/581,971 entitled HAIR ACCESSORY filed Dec. 30, 2011, the entire content of which is hereby incorporate by reference herein.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an adjustable hair accessory. In particular, the present application relates to a hair accessory that is adjustable via a locking mechanism to accommodate different amounts of user hair.
2. Related art
Various products are available to allow a user to hold their hair back away from their face. These products however tend to be unreliable and/or awkward to use. Further, different products are typically only effective for limited amounts of hair.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a hair accessory that avoids these and other problems.
SUMMARYIt is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable and easy to use hair accessory.
A hair accessory in accordance with an embodiment of the present application includes an elastic member including a first end and a second end, with a central portion connecting the first end and second end and a locking member, connected to the first end and second end of the elastic member such that a loop is formed between the locking member and the central portion of the elastic member to receive user hair, the locking element movable between an unlocked position in which the locking member slides along the elastic member to change a size of the loop and a locked position in which the locking member is substantially secured to the elastic member at a substantially fixed position.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention, which refers to the accompanying drawings.
An exemplary embodiment of a hair accessory 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present application is illustrated in
The elastic member 12 may be made of an elastic material such as rubber. In an embodiment, the elastic member 12 may simply be made of rope or string, however. The two ends 12a, 12b of the elastic member 12 are threaded through the openings 14a (See
As can be seen in
A spring 34 is provided in the outer body 30 and biases the inner member 30 in the locked position. That is, the spring biases the outer body into the locked position with the openings 14a, 14c out of alignment such that the locking member 14 is substantially secured in place on the elastic member 12. A user may press the inner member 30 inward against the biasing force of the spring 34 to move the inner member 30 into the unlocked position and allow movement of the locking member 14 relative to the elastic member 12.
In a preferred embodiment the ends 12a, 12b of the elastic member 12 are thicker than the rest of the elastic member 12 to prevent the ends of the elastic member from sliding through the openings 14a, 14c. As a result, the elastic member 12 is not easily removed completely from the locking member 14. This prevents the elastic member 12 and locking member 14 from being separated, and thus, reduces the chance of accidently losing either element. In one embodiment, the elastic member 12 may simply be manufactured with wider ends. Alternatively, a knot may be tied at the ends 12a, 12b of the elastic member 12 to provide the additional thickness. In another embodiment, a blocker such as a bead 9 or other decorative element, such as that illustrated in
In operation, when a user wishes to put their hair up, for example, they gather a portion of their hair and pass it through the loop 16. As is noted above, the elastic member 12 expands slightly to accommodate the hair and hold it tightly. In the event that additional space is needed to accommodate the hair, the locking member 14 may be adjusted to make the loop 16 larger as described above. Naturally, the locking member 14 may slide up the elastic member 12 as well, to reduce the size of the loop 16 for a firmer hold on the hair. The user can easily make these adjustments by depressing the inner member 30 of the locking member 14 and moving it into the unlocked position to allow free movement of the locking member on the elastic member 12. Releasing the inner member 30 allows it to return to the locked position, by virtue of the biasing force provided by spring 34 and lock the accessory 10 in place on the user's hair.
While the locking member 14 is illustrated as having an hourglass shape in
Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
Claims
1. A hair accessory comprising:
- an elastic member including a first end and a second end, with a central portion connecting the first end and second end; and
- a locking member, connected to the first end and second end of the elastic member such that a loop is formed between the locking member and the central portion of the elastic member to receive user hair, the locking element movable between an unlocked position in which the locking member slides along the elastic member to change a size of the loop and a locked position in which the locking member is substantially secured to the elastic member at a substantially fixed position.
2. The hair accessory of claim 1, wherein the locking member further comprises:
- an inner element including at least one inner opening configured to receive the first and second ends of the elastic member; and
- an outer body including at least one outer opening configured to receive the first and second ends of the elastic member, the inner element mounted in the outer body such that the inner element is slidable relative to the outer body between the locked and unlocked positions.
3. The hair accessory of claim 2, wherein the inner opening is aligned with the outer opening when the locking element is in the unlocked position such that the locking member slides along the elastic member easily.
4. The hair accessory of claim 3, wherein the inner opening is out of alignment with the outer opening when the locking element is in the locked position to prevent the locking member from sliding along the elastic member.
5. The hair accessory of claim 4, further comprising a biasing element positioned in the outer body and configured to bias the locking element into the locked position.
6. The hair accessory of claim 5, wherein the biasing element is a spring positioned in the outer body.
7. The hair accessory of claim 2, wherein the first and second ends of the elastic member include end portions, respectively, that are wider than the at least one inner opening and the at least one outer opening.
8. The hair accessory of claim 2, wherein the inner element includes at least two inner openings and the outer body includes at least two outer openings and the elastic member is configured such that the first end of the elastic member passes through a first inner opening and a first outer opening and the second end of the elastic member passes through a second inner opening and a second outer opening.
9. The hair accessory of claim 8, wherein the first and second inner openings are aligned with the first and second outer openings, respectively, when the locking member is in the unlocked position such that the locking member slides along the elastic member to change a size of the loop.
10. The hair accessory of claim 9, wherein the first and second inner openings are out of alignment with the first and second outer openings, respectively, when the locking member is in the locked position to prevent the locking member from sliding along the elastic member.
11. The hair accessory of claim 10, further comprising a biasing element positioned in the outer body and configured to bias the locking element into the locked position.
12. The hair accessory of claim 11, wherein the biasing element is a spring positioned in the outer body.
13. The hair accessory of claim 8, where wherein the first and second ends of the elastic member, respectively, include end portions that are wider than the at least two inner openings and the at least two outer openings.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 31, 2012
Publication Date: Jul 4, 2013
Inventors: Diana Wright (Rumson, NJ), Douglas Duprey (Rumson, NJ)
Application Number: 13/731,667