GB2096460A

GB2096460A - Hair treatment aid

Info

Publication number: GB2096460A
Application number: GB8111253A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-04-09
Filing date: 1981-04-09
Publication date: 1982-10-20
Also published as: EP0063430A2; GB2096461A

Abstract

A hairdressing aid is described comprising a perforated strip (16) which forms part of a plastics bag (10) into which hair pulled through the apertures (20) can be dropped into the bag after it has been treated with dye or like colouring material. The strip is adapted to be secured to the hair by using clips (12) over a region of the scalp in which part of the hair is to be dyed and after the hair has been located in the bag, the latter is rolled up and secured possibly by the same clips (12) to retain the hair in the bag whilst the dye is processing. The strip is conveniently formed by folding over the flap of the bag to form two or more-ply thickness. Alternatively, double-sided tape may be employed with the exposed surface of the tape having a lower adhesion characteristic than the surface which adjoins the flap of the bag. <IMAGE>

Description

1

GB 2 096 460 A 1

SPECIFICATION

Hair treatment aid

5 This invention concerns a hair treatment aid by which the selective dyeing of human hair can be more easily accomplished. The invention is a particular application in the so-called high-lighting of a woman's hair.

10 It is known to introduce highlights in a woman's hairbyselectably dyeing regions of the hair a lighter colourthanthe remainder of the hair. In its simplest form a single colour dye is employed but it is now becoming more common to employ a number of dif-15 ferent shades of lighter colour so as to enhance the overall effect and either produce a special highlight effect or a more natural looking highlighted head of hair.

It is important that the chemicals used do not 20 come into contact with the scalp nor into contact with those parts of the head of hair which are not to be dyed. Hitherto the conventional solution has been to coverthe head of the client with a latex rubber cap somewhat similarto a swimming cap which includes 25 a large number of small perforations through which small clumps of hair can be pulled using a crochet needle or the like. Whilst the cap certain ensures that no chemicals can reach the scalp under normal circumstances the cap has certain disadvantages 30 amongst which are

1. Itisunpleasanttowearforanylengthoftime;

2. The material is not sufficiently transparentto allowthe hairdresserto seethe hair before it is pulled through the perforations. Consequently it is

35 possible for a region of dark regrowth to be completely missed during a subsequent highlighting procedure and it is quite possible for the head of hair to look streaky and to contain unwanted dark regions after treatment simply because the hairdresser could 40 not see the dark regions when selecting those regions of the hairto be highlighted;

3. Whilst it is possible to treat with the same colour dye all of the hair protruding through such a cap, it becomes a little more difficult to apply more than

45 one colour since it is obviously important that the protruding hair coloured with one dye does not come into contact with the protruding hairto which another dye has been applied whilst the hair is still wet with the dye. To this end it is known to use small 50 plastic bags orthe like and to gatherthe ends of the hair protruding through the scalp cap which have been dyed with one particular colour and to place these ends in the bag and to secure the bag with a clip or peg whilst that hair is drying. However this 55 does not overcome the basic disadvantages of the scalp cap enumerated above.

With these disadvantages in mind it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved aid by which a hairdresser can more easily selectively dye a 60 head of hair and which is more comfortable in use for the client.

It is also an object of the invention to provide such an aid which will also admit different colour dyes to be applied to different regions of the hair with little 65 or no risk of the separately dyed regions coming into contact whilst the dyes are processing.

According to one aspect of the invention an aid for dyeing hair comprises a strip of perforated material through which hair can be drawn using a hooked 70 needle in manner known per se and a lightweight bag which extends therefrom into which hair protruding through the perforations in the said strip can be located so that the protruding hair can be kept separate from the remainder of the hair of the per-75 son to which the device has been fitted.

The elongate strip may be formed integrally with the lightweight bag.

The strip may alternatively be separate from the bag and may be temporarily securable thereto so 80 that in use the strip can be re-used whilst the bags after use can be discarded.

Alternatively the strip may be formed from one material and the bag from another material and the two bonded together by way of adhesive or by a 85 welding technique or by a mechanical link such as by rivets or eyelets or staples during manufacture.

The lightweight bag is preferably formed from a plastics material such as polythene.

The strip may be formed from latex rubber but 90 more preferably is formed from a plastics material and may, for example, be formed by two or more layers of polythene formed by folding over a sheet of polythene in a concertina-like manner and securing the folded material to form a strip of multiple sheet 95 thickness.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the strip is formed by a layer of double-sided adhesive tape which itself is bonded to an edge region of an opening in a flat plastics sheet 100 material bag and the perforations formed through the sheet material and the double-sided adhesive strip. It is found in practice that the slight adhesion which inevitably occurs between the hair which has been pulled through the perforations and the 105 exposed surface of the adhesive strip assists in holding the edge region forming the strip against the wearer's head.

Where a double-sided tape is used, a particularly preferred arrangement is one in which the opposite 110 sides of the tape possess different adhesion characteristics and a particularly strong bond is established between the tape and the material of the flap adjoining the opening in the bag whilst the exposed surface of the tape only admits a relatively weak adhe-115 sion bond with the same plastics material. This preferred arrangement allows the bag to be kept closed using the light adhesion bond between the opposite flap of the opening of the bag and the exposed tape surface until the bag is required for use when the 120 bag can be opened by peeling back the free flap from the tape bonded to the other flap so as to expose the opening in the bag and to leave the perforated flap which constitutes the said strip ready to be applied to the head of hair of the client concerned. 125 By employing a relatively inexpensive manufacturing technique such as this, the bags can be used on a throwaway principle. This is in complete contrast to the present method in which a scalp cap is used since the latter is a relatively expensive device and 130 cannot be used on a throwaway basis but has to be

2

GB 2 096 460 A

2

washed and sterilised for subsequent re-use. The invention thus allows a more hygienic procedure to be adopted.

The present invention is also quite distinct from 5 the prior art in that the perforated strip is only intended to accommodate hair from a small region of the scalp and a number of such strips and associated bags are needed for a complete head of hairto be treated. Thus, for example, eight or ten or even 10 twelve such strips and associated bags are needed for a complete head of hairto be treated. Thus, for example, eight often or even twelve such strips and associated bags would be required for one head of hair. The advantage is that only those regions of the 15 head which are to be treated have to be covered with the strips and what is even more important is that the hairdresser can see the regions of the hair adjoining each strip as each is applied to the head and there is very much less possibility of the hairdresser 20 missing a region of dark regrowth which often occurs when a complete scalp cap is used.

According therefore to a further aspect of the present invention, a hairdressing aid comprises a plurality of strips and associated bags all sealed in an air-25 tight container such as another bag or box.

By arranging that the number of strips and associated bags in each sealed container is sufficient for one client, a fresh container can be used for each client and the seal broken in front of the client to 30 demonstrate the fact that completely fresh bags and strips are being used on her hair.

This feature enables the manufacturer, if desired, to sterilise the bags or manufacture the bags under sterile conditions and seal the bags whilst sterile into 35 their sealed container. In this way not only are fresh but also completely sterile bags available for use by the hairdresser.

Whilst the invention is not limited to an aid in which the bag and strip are permanently secured 40 together it is to be understood that the preferred form of the invention is one in which neitherthe bag nor the strip is intended for re-use and the strip will therefore normally be integrally formed with or at least normally secured to the material forming the 45 bag.

In orderto secure each strip over a selected region of the hair, two or more clips are required for clipping the strip to the hair. The clips may be in the form of hair grips or may have spring-closed jaws 50 with protruding arms which can be gripped between the finger and thumb and squeezed together to open the jaws.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a hairdressing aid comprises a kit of a number of strips 55 and associated bags together with at least twice the number of clips all contained in a sealed container.

Where the strips and associated bags are sterilised before being put in the sealed container or are manufactured under sterile conditions, the clips are pref-60 erably correspondingly so manufactured or sterilised before being put into the sealed container.

Alternatively where it is not felt necessary to produce the clips under sterile conditions or sterilise these, the latter may be themselves sealed into a 65 separate container which may be associated with a first container and typically contained therewithin.

The invention possesses the following advantages a) easier access forthe insertion of hairthrough the perforations;

70 b) easier to limit different colours to different regions of the hair since the strips can be placed exactly where required;

c) each bag associated with each strip contains hair dyed with only one colour so that differently

75 dyed hair need not come into contact;

d) the strips can be attached to the client's head of hair more easily and with less discomfort than an overall scalp cap;

e) the strips and bags can be used on a throwa-80 way basis, thereby improving hygiene;

f) the hairdresser can see more easily those portions of the hair which are to be treated, thereby obviating the possibility of missing dark regions of regrowth.

85 The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which

Figure 1 illustrates a bag and strip combination constructed in accordance with the invention in use 90 on a client's head;

Figure 2 illustrates how the dye can be applied to the hair before it is inserted into the bag;

Figure 3 illustrates how a bag containing dyed hair can be folded so as to be secured as a neat package 95 on the head whilst the hair therein dries, and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a bag constructed as one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a bag 10 constructed as some embodiment of the invention secured by two 100 spring-clips 12 and 14 sothatthe strip 16 formed along one of the flaps of the opening of the bag overlies a region of the hair of the model whose head is shown at 18. The strip is perforated and one of the perforations is designated by reference num-105 eral 20 and the hairdresser, using a hooked needle such as a crochet needle 22 can pull small quantities of the hairthrough the perforations such as 20 in the strip 16 by inserting the hooked end of the needle through the perforation and withdrawing the needle. 110 The technique is well known.

After pulling through the requisite number of strands overthe desired region to which a particular highlight colour is to be applied, the hairdresser is then in a position to gather the protruding strands in 115 onehandandto apply a dye to the protruding strands. Figure 2 illustrates this technique in which a bottle 24 containing the requisite dye is held in one hand and the protruding strands of hair are gathered together and held in the other hand. It will be seen 120 that the hairdresser is shown here wearing protective gloves or mittens 26 and 28 which in their simplest form may be plastic bags similarto those to which the strips have been applied.

The dye would not normally be applied to the hair 125 until all of the strips have been placed in position overthe head and all of the hairwhich is to be dyed has been pulled through the appropriate strips. To this end a number of such bags and strips are shown located overthe head and secured in position by 130 means of the various clips.

3

GB 2 096 460 A

3

After one region of the hair has been dyed by applying the dye as shown in Figure 2, the dyed strands of hair are inserted into the open bag and the latter is then folded as shown in Figure 3 first in half 5 and then possibly at least once more to form a relatively small package which can be secured in its folded up condition by means of either additional clips or by temporarily opening the clips such as 12 and 14 which secure the strip associated with the 10 bag in position and inserting the folded bag below the jaws of the clips concerned.

It will be seen that once this has been done, the dyed strands are totally contained within a neat package and cannot be affected by other dye subse-15 quently applied to the hair and cannot come into contact with other strands of the hair which have already been dyed or are subsequently to be dyed perhaps another colour.

Afterthe dye has taken the bags can be unravelled 20 and after removing the clips such as 12 and 14, the bags can be removed from the hair and the hair washed or otherwise treated and then set as desired.

Figure 4 shows one form of the bag which is shown in use in Figures 1 to 3. The bag is formed 25 from plastics sheet material such as polythene and includes a rear flap 30 and a front flap 32 which is folded over on itself at 34 to expose the opening into the bag. The opposite rear flap is provided with a thickened strip 36 and both strip and the flap of the 30 bag if the latter protrudes behind the strip 36 are perforated as at 38 with holes through which hair can be drawn using a hooked needle as previously described.

The strip 36 may be formed by folding over on 35 itself the flap material 30 and bonding by means of welding, heat-sealing or adhesive or by mechanical fixing such as eyelets, rivets or staples (not shown).

Alternatively and preferably the strip 36 is formed by a length of double-sided adhesive tape secured to 40 the flap 30 with sufficient length of the material forming the flap 30 but therebeyond which can be folded over and secured to the exposed adhesive surface of the tape.

In an alternative and further preferred embodi-45 ment the strip 36 is a length of double-sided adhesive tape one face of which bonds extremely well to the sheet material 30 and the exposed face of which will only lightly bond to the flap 34 of the other side of the bag. In this way the bag can be manufactured 50 and left in a closed condition with the flap 34 covering the exposed adhesive surface of the strip 36 and when required the flap 34 can be peeled off the exposed adhesive surface to which it only lightly adheres and the strip applied to the hair as previ-55 ously described. It is found that the lightly adhesive surface exposed assists in holding the strands of hair after they have been pulled through the perforations such as 38.

The plastics material from which the bag is formed 60 is preferably transparent so that the hairinserted in the bag can be seen. It is thus possible for the hairdresser to check to see what colour has been applied to various regions of the hair which has already been treated.

Claims

65 CLAIMS

1. An aid for dyeing hair comprising a strip of perforated material through which hair can be drawn using hooked needle in a manner known perse and a lightweight bag which extends therefrom into which hair protruding through the perforations in the said strip can be located so that the protruding hair can be kept separate from the remainder of the hair of the person to which the device has been fitted.

2. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the elongate strip is formed integrally with a lightweight bag.

3. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the strip is separate from the bag and is temporarily secur-able thereto so that in use the strip can be re-used whilst the bags can after use be discarded.

4. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the strip is formed from one material and the bag from another and the two are bonded together by way of an adhesive or by a welding technique or by a mechanical link such as by rivets or eyelets or staples during manufacture.

5. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the lightweight bag is formed from a plastics material such as polythene.

6. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the strip is formed from latex rubber.

7. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the strip is formed from a plastics material.

8. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the strip is formed by two or more layers of plastics material.

9. An aid as claimed in claim 8 in which the strip is formed by folding over a sheet of plastics material in a concertina-like manner and securing the folded material to form a strip of multiple sheet thickness.

10. An aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the strip is formed by a layer of double-sided adhesive tape which itself is bonded to an edge region of an opening in a flat plastics sheet material bag and the perforations are formed through the sheet material and the double-sided adhesive strip.

11. An aid as claimed in claim 10 in which the opposite sides of the tape possess different adhesion characteristics so that a particularly strong bond is established between the tape and the material of the flap adjoining the opening in the bag whilst the exposed surface of tape only admits a relatively weak adhesion bond with the same plastics material.

12. An aid as claimed in any of the preceding claims in combination with a plurality of similar such aids when sealed in an airtight container such as a bag or box.

13. A kit as claimed in the preceding claim further comprising clips by which the strips can be secured to the hair.

14. A hairdressing aid constructed arranged and adapted to be used substantially as herein described with reference to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by The Tweeddale Press Ltd., Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1982.

Published at the Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A1 AY, from which copies may be obtained.

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120