COMB-CLIP FOR USE WITH HAIR

Abstract

A comb-clip for use with hair includes two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free end portion. The comb clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved toward each other at the free end portion. The comb-clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in an open position of the comb-clip. One of the arms is a comb arm including a comb having a plurality of teeth and the other one of the arms is a cover arm that covers the plurality of teeth of the comb in a closed position of the comb-clip.

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure pertains to a comb-clip that has multiple functions for use with hair.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The hair styling industry commonly uses hair clips to hold hair in position on the head. Also widely used are combs for combing, teasing and styling hair. These common articles form the basis for many of the techniques used in hair styling.

Hair clips typically include two elongated arms and a spring at one pivotable end. One squeezes the two portions together at the pivotable end for opening the opposing end portion. Once the pivotable end portion is released the action of the spring causes the free ends to close, gripping hair between them. Disadvantages of hair clips include their limited usefulness.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In general, a first aspect of the disclosure is a comb-clip for use with hair comprising two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free end portion. The comb clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved together at the free end portion. The comb-clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in an open position of the comb-clip. One of the arms is a comb arm including a comb having a plurality of teeth and the other one of the arms is a cover arm that covers the teeth of the comb in a closed position of the comb-clip.

The comb-clip is a multi-purpose tool designed for many purposes for use with hair, including but not limited to: hair sectioning, coloring, color blocking, hair extension installation, men’s grooming and hard parts, foiling, balayage and haircutting. The comb-clip enables the stylist to work much cleaner in specific areas of the head than ever before. Stylists are able to maneuver and section away hair in smaller areas of the head so that there is a much cleaner area from which to do precision work. The comb-clip forms hard parts having sharp, clean lines, for example, shaved into a part of the hair on the head, which separate the shorter hair at the sides and longer hair at the top of the head. The comb-clip very effectively separates the hard part to create exceptionally clean lines, giving the stylist a guide using the back of the comb-clip opposite the teeth of the comb arm. The comb-clip is very effective in performing balayage. The hair stylist can use the comb of the comb-clip to tease hair and lay the cover arm over the comb arm to close down the comb-clip for securely holding and perfecting a hair palette for coloring or carrying out balayage. Another feature is for fusion/ tape in hair extension installation. The comb-clip provides a clean and tight separation of hair because of its comb and clip features and allows a very good platform to perform the installation of strand by strand fusion or tape in extensions.

Referring to specific features of the comb-clip of the first aspect of the disclosure, the plurality of teeth of the comb are configured and arranged to extend generally transverse to an elongation direction in which the comb arm extends.

In another feature, the comb arm and the cover arm have arcuate shapes.

Another feature is that the plurality of teeth of the comb do not extend past the cover arm transverse to the longitudinal direction and the plurality of teeth of the comb do not extend past the cover arm generally perpendicular thereto toward a separation of the arms. This is referred to as the z direction below.

In yet another feature the comb arm and the cover arm are formed of a polymer material.

In another feature, the arcuate shape of the cover arm generally matches the arcuate shape of the comb arm along their lengths. In another feature, the comb arm and the cover arm press against each other in the closed position.

In another feature the cover arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces that extend downwardly from the upper surface toward the comb arm, covering the plurality of teeth in the closed position of the comb-clip.

A second aspect of the disclosure features a comb-clip for use with hair, comprising a comb arm that is elongated generally in an elongation direction. The comb arm includes teeth spaced and arranged to form a comb in which the teeth extend generally transverse to the elongation direction. A cover arm is elongated generally in the elongation direction and covers the teeth of the comb when the comb-clip is in a closed position. The comb arm and the cover arm have an arcuate shape generally in the elongation direction (as seen in a side view). In one example, the comb has a concave lower surface and a convex upper surface and the cover arm covers the convex upper surface and side surfaces of the comb when the comb-clip is in the closed position. Both of the comb arm and the cover arm have a first pivotable end portion and a second end portion that is spaced apart from the first pivotable end portion in the elongation direction. A spring is attached to the first pivotable end portion of the comb arm and the cover arm, which forces the second end portion of the comb arm and the cover arm toward each other. Near the first pivotable end portion, force can be applied to the comb arm and the cover arm so as to move the second end portion of the comb arm and the cover arm away from each other to enable hair to be placed in the comb when the comb clip is in an open position. When the force is released or reduced, action of the spring moves the second end portion of the cover arm and the comb arm toward each other, gripping hair when the comb-clip is in the closed position.

Reference in this disclosure to the cover arm covering the teeth of the comb when the comb-clip is in the closed position means that the teeth cannot be touched with a finger from an upper or convex location of the comb-clip and, in some aspects, from sides of the comb-clip.

Referring to specific features of the second aspect of the disclosure, the teeth of the comb are configured and arranged to extend generally aligned with (e.g., generally parallel to) a curved reference plane that includes an axis of the spring and extends generally in the longitudinal direction and across a width of the comb. Another feature is that the cover arm in the closed position covers or overlays the teeth of the comb. In another feature the cover arm covers all of the teeth of the comb so that the comb is not visible in a top plan view. In one example, the concave side of the comb is a bottom surface of the comb and slides against the head when in use. In a particular feature the bottom of the comb can be touched by a finger when the comb-clip is in the closed position.

In another feature, the teeth of the comb do not extend past the cover arm both transverse to the longitudinal direction and generally perpendicular thereto toward a separation of the arms in the open position (the z direction described below).

Yet another feature is that the cover arm includes side surfaces that extend toward the comb arm in a direction toward a separation of the comb arm and the cover arm, covering the comb in the closed position of the comb-clip. In one exemplary feature, the side surfaces (and upper surface of the cover arm) box in the comb. A still further feature is that the side surfaces include a plurality of teeth. In a feature the side surfaces of the cover arm extend downward from an upper surface of the cover arm to a location below the teeth of the comb. In another feature the plurality of teeth of the side surfaces of the cover arm extend to a location below the teeth of the comb. In any of the above features, the bottom of the comb can be touched by a finger when the comb-clip is in the closed position.

One feature is that the teeth of the side surfaces of the cover arm are not interlaced with the teeth of the comb on a side surface of the comb.

In yet another feature, the comb arm and the cover arm are formed of a polymer material.

A third aspect of the disclosure is a comb-clip for use with hair, comprising two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free end portion. The comb clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in an opening direction and toward each other at the free end portion in a closing direction opposite to the opening direction. One of the arms is a comb arm including a comb having teeth and the other one of the arms is a clip arm. The comb arm and the clip arm extend generally in a longitudinal direction between the pivotable end portion and the free end portion. Hair is bound between the comb arm and the clip arm when the free end portion of the comb-clip has moved in the closing direction into a closed position.

Referring to more specific features of the third aspect, the teeth of the comb arm only extend transverse to the opening direction and the closing direction and do not extend along the opening and closing directions (i.e., the teeth of the comb do not extend in the z direction). By extending of the teeth is meant a portion of the teeth in a direction from a base of the comb to an end of the teeth. The comb can include a spine on one side and teeth extend from the spine toward another side of the comb at which the teeth are exposed when the comb-clip is in an open position. A curvature of the comb can enable the teeth to be offset from one another along the z direction as seen in an end view (FIGS. 4C, 11 and 15A). In a feature the teeth of the comb are parallel to each other (e.g., FIG. 17, FIG. 17A).

In one feature, the comb arm and the clip arm extend generally along side one another across widths of the comb arm and the clip arm and across the longitudinal direction. In an example, this means that the clip arm has a curvature in the longitudinal direction (along the x axis) and transverse thereto (along the y axis) that approximates or matches a curvature of the comb arm.

In another feature teeth extend generally along the clip arm across a width of the comb arm (e.g., the teeth have a curvature along widths of the comb arm that approximates or matches a curvature along widths of the clip arm).

In yet another feature the comb-clip includes a spring at the pivotable end portion that biases the comb clip in the closing direction toward the closed position. In all aspects of the disclosure, the clip arm (or cover arm) and comb arm can be pivotably fixed to one another at the pivotable end portion.

Another feature is that the clip arm and the comb arm press against each other in the closed position so as to hold hair therebetween.

Yet another feature is that the clip arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces extending from the upper surface generally along the opening direction and the closing direction, which boxes in a top and sides of the comb in the closed position. A further feature is that the side surfaces include teeth extending generally along the closing direction and opening direction (e.g., along the z axis). Yet another feature is the proviso that the teeth of the comb do not interlace with the teeth of the side surfaces of the clip arm at a side of the comb.

Another feature of the comb-clip is that the opening direction and the closing direction are along a z axis, the longitudinal direction is along an x axis and a width of said comb arm is along a y axis.

A feature is that the teeth of the comb do not extend along the z axis.

Another feature is that the clip arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces extending downward from the upper surface along the z axis to a location below the teeth of the comb in the closed position.

Another feature is that the comb-clip has a ratio of a height of the comb-clip along the opening direction and closing direction (e.g., along the z axis) when in the closed position, to a length of the comb-clip in the longitudinal direction when in the closed position, that is not more than ¼, or not more than ⅕, or not more than ⅒.

Many additional features, advantages and a fuller understanding of the disclosure will be had from the accompanying drawings and the Detailed Description that follows. It should be understood that the above Summary of the Disclosure describes the subject matter of the disclosure in broad terms while the following Detailed Description describes the subject matter of the disclosure more narrowly and presents specific embodiments that should not be construed as necessary limitations of the broad subject matter of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the comb-clip of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a left side view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 4A is a view from a pivotable end portion of the comb-clip toward the free end portion showing both a cover arm and a comb arm; FIG. 4B is a view from the pivotable end portion of the comb clip toward the free end portion similar to FIG. 4A except only showing the cover arm; and FIG. 4C is a view from the pivotable end portion toward the free end portion similar to FIG. 4A except only showing the comb arm;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the comb-clip of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a right side view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 7 is a left side view of a comb-clip in an open position;

FIG. 8 is a right side view of the comb-clip in an open position;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the comb of the comb-clip;

FIG. 10 is a right side view of the comb of the comb-clip;

FIG. 11 is an end view from the free end portion of the comb arm toward the pivotable end portion;

FIG. 12 is a left side and top perspective view of the cover arm;

FIG. 13 is a right side view of the comb arm of the comb clip;

FIG. 14 is a view looking from the free end portion toward the pivotable end portion showing the comb arm; FIG. 15 is a view of a comb-clip in an open position looking from the pivotable end portion toward the free end portion; and FIG. 15A is a view of an open comb clip looking from the free end portion toward the pivotable end portion (i.e., looking into a mouth of the comb-clip);

FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of a cover arm;

FIG. 17 is a bottom plan view of the comb-clip showing the comb arm and the cover arm;

FIG. 17A is a view as seen along section lines 17A in a direction of the arrows of FIG. 17; and FIG. 17B is a view as seen along section lines 17B in a direction of the arrows of FIG. 17;

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 19 is a left side view as seen along section lines 19-19 in a direction of the arrows of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a right side view of a comb-clip in an open position;

FIG. 21 is a view as seen along section lines 21-21 in a direction of the arrows of FIG. 20; and

FIG. 22 is a top perspective view of the comb-clip in the closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the drawings, a comb-clip 10 for hair styling includes two arms. When the comb-clip 10 is oriented as in normal use, one of the arms, a lower arm, is a comb arm 12 that is elongated generally in an elongation direction D, has widths w1 generally perpendicular to the elongation direction D and includes a plurality of teeth 14 spaced and arranged to form a comb 16 (FIGS. 2 and 9). The comb arm 12 is normally used as a lower arm having a lower concave surface that contacts the head and an upper convex surface. The teeth 14 of the comb 16 extend along a width w1 of the comb arm 12 (FIG. 9). An upper arm, a cover arm 18 (also referred to a clip arm), is elongated generally in the elongation direction D and has widths w2 generally perpendicular to the elongation direction D (FIGS. 1 and 3). The widths w2 of the cover arm 18 are at least as wide as the widths w1 of the comb arm 12 throughout the length of each arm in the longitudinal direction D (FIGS. 1 and 2). In other words, the comb arm 12 does not protrude past the cover arm transverse to the longitudinal direction D throughout its length (along the width of the comb-clip 10 parallel to the y axis shown in FIG. 1) or perpendicular to the longitudinal direction D toward a separation of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 (parallel to what is referred to as the z axis shown in FIG. 1). In FIGS. 3 and 17 this covering of the teeth 14 of the comb 16 by the cover arm 18 is evident by teeth 14 not protruding past the cover arm 18 along a width of the comb clip 10 (i.e., the teeth 14 of the comb 16 are, for example, not visible in a top plan view). Covering of the teeth 14 of the comb 16 by the cover arm 18 also means that one cannot touch with a finger the teeth 14 of the comb 16 from a top or sides when the comb clip is in the closed position (as seen in FIG. 1). The cover arm 18 may have a plurality of widths w2 (FIG. 3) and the comb arm 12 may have a plurality of widths w1 (FIG. 9); a portion of both the cover arm 18 and the comb arm 12 can have a rectangular or a trapezoidal shape, for example. Each of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 has an arcuate shape extending generally in the elongation direction D (see FIG. 8) referring to a side view. Both arms have a lower concave surface and an upper convex surface and approximately the same or similar curvatures.

Both of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 have a first end portion 20 (pivotable end portion) and a second end portion (free end portion) 22 spaced apart from each other in the elongation direction D. A spring 15 such as a torsion spring (FIG. 15) is located at the first pivotable end portion 20 of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 and is connected to the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18. It should be apparent that the comb-clip 10 of this disclosure may use other devices besides a torsion spring at the first pivotable end portion 20 for forcing the arms at the second end portion toward and into contact with each other. Gripping surfaces 26 form a handle near the first pivotable end portion 20 and enable one to squeeze the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 toward each other about a pivot point (axis A of FIG. 18) against the bias of the spring 15 so as to open the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 at the second end portion 22. Hair can be placed in the comb 16 in an open position of the comb-clip 10. When the gripping surfaces 26 are released or pressure on them is decreased, the bias of the spring 15 moves the comb arm 12 and cover arm 18 at the second end portion 22 toward each other so that the cover arm 18 presses against or near the comb arm 12, gripping hair in the closed position of the comb-clip 10 (e.g., the closed position being shown in FIG. 6 and an open position being shown in FIG. 7). The comb clip 10 can be formed without any particular gripping surfaces, per se, so long as one can apply a force near the pivotable end portion that opens the comb clip to an open position.

The spring 15 has two fingers 17 (FIGS. 19-20) extending transverse to the pivot axis A of the spring, that contact the comb arm 12 and cover arm 18, respectively, having a spring bias that forces the second end portions of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 toward each other and when pressure on them is released or is reduced, into the closed position of the comb-clip 10. The operation of a torsion spring is well known. The spring 15 is held in position by a pivot pin 42 in the pair of openings 40a of the comb arm 12 registered with a pair of openings 40b of the cover arm 18 at the first pivotable end portion 20 (FIGS. 10, 12, 15 and 16). Thus, the cover arm 18 and the comb arm 12 are pivotably fixed together at the pivotable end portion 20. The spring 15 is also shown when the comb-clip 10 is in an open position in FIG. 20 (cutting plane 21-21 being shown), and in FIG. 21 as a sectional view taken along plane 21-21.

The teeth 14 of the comb 16 extend transverse to the elongation direction D, generally parallel to a width w1 of the comb arm. In a feature the teeth of the comb are parallel to each other (e.g., FIG. 17, FIG. 17A). A curvature of the comb can enable the teeth to be offset from one another along the z direction as seen in an end view (FIGS. 4C, 11 and 15A). The teeth 14 are located generally parallel to a curved plane A2 that includes the hinge axis A (FIGS. 10, 17 and 18). Each tooth 14a is offset relative to an adjacent tooth 14b (FIG. 4C) along the z axis and proceeding across the elongation direction D (as seen from an end view) to form part of the arcuate shape of the comb arm in the elongation direction D (e.g., as seen in the side view of FIG. 10).

The cover arm 18 in the closed position covers the teeth 14 of the comb 16 of the comb arm 12 (FIGS. 4A and 5). The teeth 14 of the comb 16 are covered on top and on the sides but not on the bottom. The teeth 14 of the comb arm 12 do not extend past the cover arm 18 (along a width) when the comb-clip is in the closed position (FIG. 17). The cover arm 18 width or widths w2 is at least as wide as the comb arm width or widths w1 at approximately each of the same locations perpendicular to the elongation direction D (FIG. 17), and in some aspects may be wider than the width of the comb arm. The teeth 14 of the comb 16 do not extend past the cover arm 18 along the x or y axes or along the z axis (that is, in a plane of the paper shown in FIG. 17 (x, y plane), or in a plane perpendicular thereto; in a plane in the z direction, parallel to or in cutting plane 19-19, coming out of the page in the view of FIG. 18). The D direction is parallel to the x axis. The sectional view taken from the cutting plane 19-19 of FIG. 18 is shown in FIG. 19. Of course, this is only one exemplary aspect of the disclosure. One does not go outside all aspects of the scope of this disclosure by making the comb-clip 10 with one or more teeth 14 of the comb 16 that extend beyond the cover arm 18 in the x, y or z directions.

The teeth 14 of the comb 16 extend generally along a width w1 of the comb arm 12 and, in particular, comprise most of a width w1 of the comb arm 12. The comb arm 12 has a spine 30 (FIG. 17) extending generally along the elongation direction D (the spine being a portion having no teeth), forming a foundation or base from which the teeth 14 extend. The outer surface of the spine 30 forms what is referred to as the back side 7 of the comb 16 (FIG. 17). When the comb-clip 10 is in the closed position and oriented as it would rest on the head during use, the back side 9 of the comb-clip 10 is formed by the side surface 32 of the cover arm 18 that is adjacent to the spine 30 of the comb 16 (the side surface visible in FIGS. 7 and 22). The spine 30 may have different thicknesses at locations along the elongation direction D (FIG. 17), gradually reducing in thickness (thickness being along width w1) moving from the hinge end portion 20 toward the second end portion in the elongation direction D.

In one aspect the cover arm 18 includes an upper surface 19 and optional side surfaces 32 extending downward from the upper surface 19 along its sides, parallel to the z axis). The side surfaces 32 extend generally in the elongation direction D and are spaced apart in a direction of the width w2 of the cover arm, the distance between the side surfaces 32 corresponding to the cover arm width w2. The side surfaces 32 extend along the sides of the comb along the z axis. One or both side surfaces 32 of the cover arm 18 can include teeth 34 (FIGS. 5-7, 20 and 22) at a lower portion of the side surfaces 32. The side surfaces 32 may also be formed without teeth 34. The upper surface 19 and side surfaces 32 box in the comb 16 around its periphery when the comb-clip 10 is in the closed position. The side surfaces 32 of the cover arm 18 have a base or spine 36 (FIG. 7) at an upper location of the side surface 32. The spine 36 is located above the teeth 34. The teeth 34 of the cover arm 18 extend from the base 36 approximately to, or somewhat lower than, the bottom surface 38 of the comb arm 12 (FIG. 6) in the closed position of the comb-clip 10.

Referring to FIG. 16, the inside surface of the cover arm 18 has two rows 21, 23 of optional triangular elements, for example triangular elements 25′ and 25″. The height of the triangular elements that are generally referred to as 25, changes to match a contour of an upper surface of the comb 16 and progressively decreases from the pivotable end portion 20 toward the free end portion 22. For example, triangular element 25′ (shown in FIGS. 16 and 17) extends for a greater height along the z axis than triangular element 25″ (shown in those figures) which is closer to the free end portion 22 than is triangular element 25″. The plurality of triangular elements 25 of varying height are all located approximately the same distance along the z axis from a top of the comb 16 (FIG. 19). With reference to bottom and side views, the plurality of triangular elements 25 can be formed to be aligned with a space between adjacent teeth 14 of the comb 16 (see FIGS. 17 and 19 where the triangular elements are positioned between the teeth 14). The triangular elements 25 may function to hold hair in the comb clip when it is in the closed position, the hair being pressed between the triangular elements 25 and the teeth 14 of the comb 16. The teeth 14 of the comb 16 can optionally be aligned with spaces between the teeth 34 of the side surfaces 32 of the cover 18 (see FIG. 17). The teeth 14 of the comb 16 are located near the root of the teeth 34 of the side surfaces 32, near the base 36 of the side surface 32, along the z direction when the comb-clip 10 is in the closed position (FIG. 6) as seen from a side view, which further presses hair in the comb 16 into a fixed position. The teeth 34 of both of the side surfaces 32 of the cover 18 protrude below the comb 16 along the z axis as seen in a side view (FIG. 6). Hair is also pressed between the teeth 34 of the side surface 32 and the spine side of the comb 16 (FIGS. 1, 7 and 22).

When the comb-clip 10 is in the closed position, a thicker end portion of the comb 31 presses against an inner surface of the cover arm 18, forced together by action of the spring 15. This can occur at an inner surface location 33 of the cover 18 that does not include the triangular elements 25 (see FIG. 17).

The comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 may be formed, for example, of a polymer material. However, the comb-clip 10 could be formed of other materials or combinations of materials, for example, metal or wood, or a combination thereof, for example, a polymer or wood casing with a metal teeth insert. The comb-clip 10 can be formed to include the metal comb insert during the polymer molding process. Other materials of the comb-clip are a carbon mixed nylon blend or ABS polymer along with a “rubber overlay” (coating) on an upper surface of the comb-clip.

The comb-clip 10 has multiple functions. It enables both hair clips and combs to be replaced but it also can be used together with conventional clips and combs. Multiple comb-clips 10 can be used during a single hair styling. The comb-clip 10 offers a hybrid functionality that gives hair stylists much more versatility than hair clips and combs alone. One use is that the stylist can move longer hair out of the way with the comb-clip 10, giving a clean palette of hair to work with. The stylist uses a separate comb to push the long hair up. Then, the comb-clip 10 is opened and the comb 16 slides up against the bottom of the upturned hair. The comb-clip 10 is then closed, with the cover arm 18 pushing the longer hair in the opposite direction and keeping it out of the way. This reveals the clean lines of the palette of hair beneath the comb-clip 10 for the stylist to work with. This works well especially for shorter hair including women’s pixies and even men’s cuts. The palette of hair has a clean separation at its upper location and lets the hair stylist really focus on this cleanly separated region. This is also ideal for working on hair extensions in the hair palette region, utilizing the clean lines beginning at the even separation at the top of the hair palette, beneath the hair kept up by the comb-clip 10.

In women’s short hair cutting, the comb-clips 10 can also be used when working on diagonal sections in the nape area. For example, a comb is used to form a vertical part and then a diagonal part is made after that using the comb-clip 10 which then is closed and holds the upper hair out of the way. This forms a hair palette in the area between the parts where the hair can be cut or treated as desired. In another example, hair at the back of the head above the ear can be parted somewhat vertically and hair can be held forward of this part using a comb clip 10. A perpendicular part can extend backwards from that part and hair above it can be held out of the way with another comb-clip 10. The hair forming the parts or around the parts can then be cut or treated as desired. In yet another example a part can be formed on the right side of the head from top to front and a comb 16 of an open first comb-clip 10 can be located onto the precise region of the part, slid up above the part and released to hold the hair that is above the part away from the part. Then a rounded part at the top back of the head is formed using a separate comb and a second comb 16 of a comb-clip 10 is located at the precise region of the part and slid forward, holding hair away from this part. A comb can be used to form a third part on the left side of the head, parallel to the part on the right side, and the comb 16 of a third comb-clip 10 can be precisely located at the part and slid up above the part and released to hold the hair that is above the part away from the part. The hair at and below the parts can then be cut or treated as desired. Still further, one can work in tight areas of the head in a way that was not possible before. For example, one can use a separate comb to make a vertical and horizontal or diagonal part at the back of the head, locate a comb-clip 10 at the horizontal or diagonal part, move the comb clip up holding hair out of the way and maintaining the two parts, enabling the stylist to do clean sectioning and precision hair cutting.

Another use of the comb-clip 10 is for coloring hair. For example, in the balayage technique a section of hair is gathered close to the top of the head and moved over and out of the way, leaving a separated section of hair extending downward from the separation. Instead of using a separate comb, the stylist can use the comb 16 from the open comb-clip 10 and tease the hair. This is done by holding a small width of the hair of the palette near its free end with some tension while moving the comb 16 through the hair portion toward the head. After teasing once or twice, once the comb 16 moves toward and then against the head, the stylist just lightly releases the gripping portions 26 so that the cover arm 18 moves toward the comb arm 12 of the comb-clip 10 into the closed position, which holds the teased portion of hair in place. Balayage can also be done without teasing the hair. The stylist holds onto the end of the clipped portion of hair and performs balayage by putting a sheet of thin stain resistant material behind the hair portion and then coloring the hair with a brush while it is held in place at the upper location by the comb-clip. The portion of hair can have color applied along its length from the free end portion all the way into contact with the comb-clip 10 near the roots of the hair. The stain resistant sheet is removed, the comb-clip 10 is removed and a foil piece is placed beneath the colored strip of hair, followed by another foil piece over it. This process is then repeated multiple times for coloring further outer sections of hair over the colored, foil encased strip of hair and for other areas of hair along the circumference of the head.

In particular, “TEASYLIGHTS” with the Balayage technique is a combination of balayage highlights and traditional foil highlights. The hair is teased prior to the colorist hand-painting bleach or color where it is desired to place the highlights. Rather than hand-painting, the colorist uses foils and softly backcombs or teases small sections of hair before applying the lightener or color. This diffuses the blend between the lift and the base tone.

The comb-clip 10 can also be used in color blocking as a hair color technique. Chunky highlighting or lowlighting may be considered as color blocking, but most typical color blocking does not include many areas that are the same color. The comb-clip 10 can be used in a “peek-a-boo” panel technique, in which an accent color is applied to a wide panel of an interior layer of hair. The effect is that upon movement of the hair, the color beneath is seen in flashes and sometimes unusual shapes. The hair may also be styled into up-dos so as to reveal the color panel and providing a bold feature to the style.

Another use of the comb-clip 10 is for making hard parts. The hair stylist combs the person’s hair giving an approximate part. Putting in a regular hair clip would only grip the hair and have limited usefulness for making a part. On the other hand, the comb-clip 10 of the disclosure is opened by the hair stylist who then locates the comb arm 12 with the teeth 14 up pointing toward the top of the head (the arcuate shape of the comb 16 matching the shape of the head), precisely against the rough part, and moves it upward against the longer hair above the part and then releases or reduces pressure on the comb clip 10, closing it and gripping the longer hair above the part. The comb-clip 10 may be moved so that the back side is located in the region of the intended part. The comb-clip 10 serves to move the upper hair portion away from the part and the shorter lower hair portion, giving good clean separation from the lower hair portion beneath the comb-clip 10. The stylist then runs the clippers directly onto or near the back side or spine of the comb-clip 10 as a guide, cutting hair and forming the hard part with a very clean line. The comb-clip 10 is then squeezed at the hinge end portion 20, opened and removed from use. A simple yet very clean hard part results. As a variation, the hair stylist can also use scissors or a razor to create the hard part using the back of a comb-clip 10 as a guide.

Many modifications and variations of the subject matter of the disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that the subject matter of the disclosure can be practiced otherwise than has been specifically shown and described.

Claims

1. A comb-clip for use with hair comprising two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free end portion, the comb clip being adapted to enable the arms to be moved toward each other at the free end portion, the comb-clip being adapted to enable the arms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in an open position of the comb-clip, one of said arms being a comb arm including a comb having a plurality of teeth and the other one of said arms being a cover arm that covers said teeth of said comb in a closed position of said comb-clip.

2. The comb-clip of claim 1, wherein said plurality of teeth of said comb are configured and arranged to extend generally transverse to a longitudinal direction along which said comb-clip extends.

3. The comb-clip of claim 1 wherein said plurality of teeth of said comb do not extend past said cover arm transverse to a longitudinal direction along which said comb-clip extends and said plurality of teeth of said comb do not extend past said cover arm generally perpendicular thereto toward a separation of said arms.

4. The comb-clip of claim 1 wherein said comb arm and said cover arm are formed of a polymer material.

5. The comb-clip of claim 1 wherein said cover arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces that extend downwardly from the upper surface toward said comb arm, covering said plurality of teeth in the closed position of said comb-clip.

6. The comb-clip of claim 5 wherein said side surfaces include a plurality of teeth.

7. The comb-clip of claim 1 wherein said comb arm and said cover arm have arcuate shapes.

8. A comb-clip for use with hair comprising:

a comb arm that is elongated generally in an elongation direction, wherein said comb arm includes teeth spaced and arranged to form a comb in which said teeth extend generally transverse to the elongation direction;

a cover arm that is elongated generally in the elongation direction and covers said teeth of said comb arm when said comb-clip is in a closed position;

said comb arm and said cover arm having an arcuate shape generally in the elongation direction;

wherein both of said comb arm and said cover arm have a first pivotable end portion and a second end portion spaced apart from the first hinge portion in the elongation direction;

a spring attached to said first pivotable end portion of said comb arm and said cover arm, which forces said second end portion of said comb arm and said cover arm toward each other;

wherein near said first pivotable end portion force can be applied to said comb arm and said cover arm so as to move the second end portion of said comb arm and said cover arm away from each other to enable hair to be placed in the comb when said comb clip is in an open position, wherein when said force is released, action of said spring moves the second end portion of said cover arm and said comb arm toward each other, gripping hair when said comb-clip is in the closed position.

9. The comb-clip of claim 8 wherein said teeth of said comb are configured and arranged to extend generally aligned with a curved reference plane that includes an axis of said spring and extend generally along the longitudinal direction and across a width of the comb.

10. The comb-clip of claim 9 wherein said teeth of said comb do not extend past said cover arm both transverse to said longitudinal direction and generally perpendicular thereto in a direction toward a separation of said comb arm and said cover arm.

11. The comb-clip of claim 8 wherein said comb arm and said cover arm are formed of a polymer material.

12. The comb-clip of claim 8 wherein said cover arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces that extend downwardly from said upper surface along side surfaces of said comb, covering said comb in the closed position of said comb-clip.

13. The comb-clip of claim 12 wherein said side surfaces and said upper surface of said cover arm box in said comb.

14. The comb-clip of claim 12 wherein said side surfaces include a plurality of teeth.

15. The comb-clip of claim 14 wherein the plurality of teeth of said side surfaces of said cover arm are not interlaced with the teeth of the comb on a side surface of the comb.

16. A comb-clip for use with hair comprising two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free end portion, the comb clip being adapted to enable the arms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in an opening direction and toward each other at the free end portion in a closing direction opposite to the opening direction, one of said arms being a comb arm including a comb having teeth and the other one of said arms being a clip arm, said comb arm and said clip arm extending generally in a longitudinal direction between said pivotable end portion and said free end portion, wherein hair is bound between said comb arm and said clip arm when said free end portion of said comb-clip has moved in the closing direction into a closed position.

17. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein said comb arm and said clip arm extend generally along side one another across widths of said comb arm and said clip arm and across the longitudinal direction.

18. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein said teeth extend along a width of said comb arm.

19. The comb-clip of claim 16 comprising a spring at said pivotable end portion that biases said comb clip in the closing direction toward the closed position.

20. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein said clip arm and said comb arm press against each other in the closed position so as to hold hair therebetween.

21. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein said clip arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces extending generally from said upper surface along the opening direction and the closing direction, which boxes in a top and sides of said comb in the closed position.

22. The comb-clip of claim 21 wherein said side surfaces include teeth extending generally along the closing direction and opening direction.

23. The comb-clip of claim 22 with the proviso that said teeth of said comb do not interlace with said teeth of said side surfaces of said clip arm.

24. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein said clip arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces extending downward from said upper surface to a location below the teeth of the comb in the closed position.

25. The comb-clip of claim 24 wherein said side surfaces include a plurality of teeth that extend to a location below the teeth of the comb in the closed position.

26. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein the opening direction and the closing direction are along a z axis, the longitudinal direction is along an x axis and a width of said comb arm is along a y axis.

27. The comb-clip of claim 26 wherein said teeth of said comb do not extend along the z axis.

28. The comb-clip of claim 26 wherein said clip arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces extending downward from said upper surface along the z axis to a location below the teeth of the comb in the closed position.

29. The comb-clip of claim 16 whereby a ratio of a height of the comb-clip along the opening direction and closing direction when in the closed position, to a length of the comb clip in the longitudinal direction when in the closed position, is not more than ¼.

30. The comb-clip of claim 16 whereby a ratio of a height of the comb-clip along the opening direction and closing direction when in the closed position to a length of the comb clip in the longitudinal direction when in the closed position, is one of the following: not more than ⅕ or not more than ⅒.