Customizable Hair Band
A hair band with a removable decorative section has a hair band base with an inside surface for contacting a wearer's hair and an outer surface opposite of the inside surface having a trough. The trough contains a first type of a hook and loop material. A hair band decorative section has a decorative outer surface and a second type of the hook and loop material on an inner surface that is opposite of the decorative outer surface. The hair band decorative section is removably affixed to the hair band base by the hook and loop material and when the hair band decorative section is affixed to the hair band base, the hook and loop material is not visible from any direction.
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This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/824,262, filed Jun. 28, 2010, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELDThis invention relates to the field of clothing accessories and more particularly to a hair band that has interchangeable decorative surfaces.
BACKGROUNDMany people use hair bands to keep their hair in place and/or for style purposes. People that use hair bands often find that they have drawers full of hair bands of various sizes, colors and patterns.
There have been many prior attempts at patenting hair bands with interchangeable decorative surfaces but few have made it to the market. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,316 to Claudia Klug describes a kit that contains, among other things, a hair band and several decorative strips. The outer surface of the hair band has loop material and the inner surface of the decorative strips have hook material. When one wishes to wear a certain decorative strip, that strip is affixed to the hair band using the hook and loop interface. Although this functions to interchange decorative strips, the hook and loop material is visible from the side of the hair band, making such a system unattractive especially when the wearer is trying to decorate their head.
Other systems have been disclosed in the patent literature, including sleeves that cover the entire hair band by pushing the hair band through the sleeve then closing the open end. This requires that the decorative material cover all sides of the hair band including the surface that abuts the wearer's head, often accumulating stains from the wearer's hair.
What is needed is a hair band with interchangeable decorative outer covers that do not show the interface that connects the outer covers with the hair band.
SUMMARYA hair band has multiple decorative sections and one base section. By way of hidden attachment mechanisms, any one of the multiple decorative sections are removably attached to the base section, appearing as a finished headband without sight of the attachment mechanisms.
In one embodiment, a hair band with a removable decorative section is disclosed including a hair band base. The hair band base has an inside surface for contacting a wearer's hair and an outer surface opposite of the inside surface having a trough. The trough contains a first type of a hook and loop material. A hair band decorative section has a decorative outer surface and a second type of the hook and loop material on an inner surface that is opposite of the decorative outer surface. The hair band decorative section is removably affixed to the hair band base by the hook and loop material and when the hair band decorative section is affixed to the hair band base, the hook and loop material is not visible from any direction.
In another embodiment, a method of decorating a hair band is disclosed including providing a plurality of hair band decorative sections. Each decorative section has a decorative outer surface and a first type of a hook and loop material on an opposing, inner surface. The method includes attaching one of the hair band decorative sections to a hair band base. The hair band base has second type of the hook and loop material set into a trough in the hair band base such that after attaching of the hair band decorative section, the hook and loop material is not visible from any direction.
In another embodiment, a hair band with a removable decorative section is disclosed including a hair band base, the hair band base has an inside surface for contacting a wearer's hair and an outer surface opposite of the inside surface that has a trough. The trough contains hook material. A hair band decorative section has a decorative outer surface and loop material on an inner surface that is opposite of the decorative outer surface. The hair band decorative section is removably affixed to the hair band base by the hook material removably adhering to loop material. When the hair band decorative section is affixed to the hair band base, the hook material and loop material are completely surrounded by the trough and the inner surface of the decorative section. The hook material and the loop material are not visible from any direction while the hair band decorative section is affixed to the hair band base.
The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures.
Referring to
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The hair band 40 has a decorative outer surface 44, in this example having a bear print. Often, such hair bands 40 are color and/or pattern coordinated with the wearer's clothing and, therefore, the wearer often desires many different decorative outer surfaces 44. Due to the nature of the hair band's 40 shape, accumulations of hair bands 40 of various ornamentation often require substantial storage space.
The improved hair band 40 has an base 42 with an inside surface for contact with the wearer's head having a smooth surface or non-smooth surface as known in the industry (e.g. grooved, points, or textured in any way to improve retention on the wearer's head).
As will be shown in the cross-sectional views of the hair band 40, the attachment mechanism is recessed and surrounded on the bottom and four sides by a trough 46 within the hair band base 42, therefore, after affixing the hair band decorative section 44 to the hair band base 42, the hair band decorative section 44 appears to be a fixed part of the hair band 40 (e.g. eliminating visibility of the attachment mechanism from any direction). Hiding of the attachment mechanism results in a hair band 40 that is difficult to distinguish from a typical hair band 10 of the prior art which has a fixed decorative outer surface 14. The attachment mechanism provides exchangeable decorative sections 44. The attachment mechanism is not visible from any direction when the decorative section 44 is in place on the hair band base 42. In such, one part of the hook and loop material (e.g. the loop material 50 is on the back surface of the decorative section 44 and is sized to match the size of the other part of the hook and loop material (e.g. the hook material 52), at least sized to fit within the trough 46. The trough supports the other part of the hook and loop material (e.g. the hook material 52) and, after the hook and loop material 50/52 are joined, the trough completely hides the hook and loop material 50/52 or any other fastener as described in
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Note that this is an example and other types and configurations of removably adhering material are anticipated such as sticky surfaces, etc.
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In some embodiments, the male key 74 snaps into the female key 72, while in other embodiments, the male key 74 slides through the female key 72 starting at one end of the hair band base 42.
Referring to
In this example, the decorative section 44 is pressed onto the hair band base 42, deforming the outer edges of the recess 80 until the detents 82 pass over the protrusions 84, at which point the resiliency of the detents 82 close the detents 82 over the protrusions 84, thereby holding the decorative section 44 to the hair band base 42 until removed at a later time.
Referring to
Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially the same way for achieving substantially the same result.
It is believed that the system and method as described and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.
Claims
1. A hair band with a removable decorative section, the hair band comprising:
- a hair band base, the hair band base having an inside surface for contacting a wearer's hair, the hair band base having outer surface opposite of the inside surface having a trough, the trough contains a first type of a hook and loop material;
- a hair band decorative section, the hair band decorative section comprising a decorative outer surface and the hair band decorative section having a second type of the hook and loop material on an inner surface that is opposite of the decorative outer surface; and
- the hair band decorative section is removably affixed to the hair band base by the hook and loop material;
- whereas, when the hair band decorative section is affixed to the hair band base, the hook and loop material is not visible from any direction.
2. The hair band of claim 1, wherein the first type of the hook and loop material is hook material and the second type of the loop and loop material is loop material.
3. The hair band of claim 1, wherein the first type of the hook and loop material is loop material and the second type of the hook and loop material is loop material.
4. The hair band of claim 1, further comprising a loop formed at each end of the decorative section, the loops for attaching to a resilient member for wearing the decorative section without the hairband base.
5. The hair band of claim 4, wherein each end of the resilient member has hooks for removably attaching the hooks to the loops at each end of the decorative section.
6. The hair band of claim 5, wherein the resilient member has an adjustment buckle for adjusting a length of the resilient member.
7. A method of decorating a hair band, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of hair band decorative sections, each decorative section having a decorative outer surface and a first type of a hook and loop material on an opposing, inner surface; and
- attaching one of the hair band decorative sections to a hair band base, the hair band base having second type of the hook and loop material, the second type of the hook and loop material set into a trough in the hair band base such that after attaching of the one of the hair band decorative sections, the hook and loop material is not visible from any direction.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first type of the hook and loop material is hook material and the second type of the hook and loop material is loop material.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first type of the hook and loop material is loop material and the second type of the hook and loop material is hook material.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:
- removing the one of the hair band decorative sections from the hair band base; and
- attaching another of the hair band decorative sections to a hair band base;
- whereas the hook and loop material is not visible from any direction.
11. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:
- removing the one of the hair band decorative sections from the hair band base;
- attaching a resilient member to loops formed in each end of the hair band decorative section; and
- wearing the hair band decorative section without the hair band base.
12. A hair band with a removable decorative section, the hair band comprising:
- a hair band base, the hair band base having an inside surface for contacting a wearer's hair, the hair band base having outer surface opposite of the inside surface having a trough, the trough contains a hook material;
- a hair band decorative section, the hair band decorative section comprising a decorative outer surface and the hair band decorative section having a loop material on an inner surface that is opposite of the decorative outer surface; and
- the hair band decorative section is removably affixed to the hair band base by the hook material removably adhering to loop material;
- whereas, when the hair band decorative section is affixed to the hair band base, the hook material and loop material are completely surrounded by the trough and the inner surface of the decorative section;
- whereas the hook material and the loop material are not visible from any direction while the hair band decorative section is affixed to the hair band base.
13. The hair band of claim 12, further comprising a loop formed at each end of the decorative section, the loops for attaching to a resilient member for wearing the decorative section without the hairband base.
14. The hair band of claim 13, wherein each end of the resilient member has hooks for removably attaching the hooks to the loops at each end of the decorative section.
15. The hair band of claim 14, wherein the resilient member has an adjustment buckle for adjusting a tension from the resilient member.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 19, 2015
Publication Date: Mar 17, 2016
Applicant: Ambrosia Designs, LLC (St. Petersburg, FL)
Inventor: Brylee Ambrosia Beckerman (St. Petersburg, FL)
Application Number: 14/945,478