GB2591231A

GB2591231A - Hair fastener

Info

Publication number: GB2591231A
Application number: GB2000815.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rimmer Miriam
Original assignee: David Lenton
Current assignee: David Lenton
Priority date: 2020-01-20
Filing date: 2020-01-20
Publication date: 2021-07-28
Also published as: WO2021148784A1; EP4093238A1; GB202000815D0

Abstract

A hair fastener 100 comprises a flexible sheet 102; a plurality of closely spaced hooking elements 106 on a first surface 104 of the sheet; and a tab 116 extending from the perimeter of the sheet. The hooking elements may be arranged into rows 110, extending from the sheet’s perimeter. Adjacent rows of hooking elements may be separated by a channel 112. Each channel may comprise apertures (114, Figure 2). The rows of hooking elements and the separating channels may be linearly arranged or have a curved or undulating shape. The hooking elements may be flexible or resiliently deformable. The fastener may comprise the hooking elements of a hook and loop fastener. The fastener may comprise a protective layer (118, Figure 4) attached to a second surface of the sheet, opposite the first surface. The protective layer may comprise a porous foam material. The tab may extend outwardly in the same plane as the sheet or outwardly from the sheet and inclined relative to the plane of the sheet. At least one surface of the tab may comprise a grip section 117. The sheet may have an elongate obround shape or may have an arcuate shape with rounded ends.

Description

HAIR FASTENER

The present invention relates to hair fasteners suitable for securing hair in a desired position, and in particular, but not exclusively, to hair fasteners for use in clinical environments.

When performing surgical or cosmetic procedures on a patient, medical professionals must ensure that the site of the procedure is easily accessible. If such procedures are performed on a patient's face or head, it is often necessary to secure the patient's hair away from the site of the procedure, to allow medical professionals to sterilise and treat the site effectively.

Currently, medical professionals use a variety of known adhesive materials for positioning and securing a patient's hair away from the site of a surgical or cosmetic procedure. For example, adhesive tapes (such as duct tape or microporous surgical tape) may be used to secure hair away from a surgical site. Whilst adhesive tapes can effectively secure a patient's hair in the required position, removal of the tape after the procedure is often painful for the patient and can cause unwanted depilation.

In order to alleviate this problem, bandages may instead be used to secure hair away from a surgical site. Removal of the bandages is comparatively less painful and is unlikely to cause depilation. However, the process of applying and removing such bandages is often time-consuming and it is difficult to make minor adjustments to the position of the bandages without complete removal and re-application.

The present invention seeks to address the problems associated with the known products currently in use, by providing a hair fastener that can be quickly applied and adjusted to effectively secure hair in a desired position, whilst being easily and painlessly removable after use In accordance with the present invention, a hair fastener comprises: a flexible sheet; a plurality of closely spaced hooking elements on a first surface of the sheet; a tab extending from the perimeter of the sheet.

By providing a flexible sheet with a plurality of hooking elements, the hair fastener can be applied to the patient's head to secure hair in a desired position. The hooking elements are configured to securely engage with the hair, whilst being safely and painlessly removable after use. The provision of a tab connected to the flexible sheet is useful for aiding application and removal of the fastener, since the user can grip the fastener by the tab when positioning and removing it from the patient's head without having to contact the surgical site, or the patient's skin or hair, directly.

Preferably, the hooking elements are arranged into a plurality of rows, extending over the first surface of the sheet.

Further preferably, adjacent rows of hooking elements are separated by channels.

Further preferably, each channel comprises a plurality of apertures.

Preferably, the rows of hooking elements and the separating channels are linearly 25 arranged.

Alternatively, the rows of hooking elements and the separating channels have a curved or undulating shape.

Preferably, the hooking elements are flexible.

Preferably, the hooking elements are resiliently deformable.

Preferably, the hair fastener comprises the hooking elements of a hook and loop fastener.

Preferably, the hair fastener further comprises a protective layer attached to a second surface of the sheet, opposite the first surface.

Further preferably, the protective layer comprises a porous foam material.

Preferably the tab extends outwardly in the same plane as the sheet.

Alternatively, the tab extends outwardly from the sheet and is inclined relative to the plane of the sheet.

Preferably, at least one surface of the tab comprises a grip section.

Preferably, the sheet has an elongate obround shape.

Preferably, the sheet has an arcuate shape with rounded ends.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is bottom view of a first embodiment of hair fastener in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the arrangement of rows and channels which form part of the hair fastener of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of the hair fastener of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a side view of a second embodiment of hair fastener in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, a hair fastener 100 comprises a thin (between 0.1mm and 0.5mm, but preferably 0.3mm) flexible sheet 102 formed of a plastics material (such as nylon) having an elongate obround shape. The sheet 102 has a first, inner surface 104 provided with a plurality of flexible, closely spaced plastics hooks 106, and a second, outer surface 108, which is smooth. The hooks 106 are the type of hooks which form the "hook" component of a known hook and loop fastener (e.g. Velcro 0) and are arranged into a linear array of parallel rows 110. The rows 110 are arranged to extend along the length of the sheet 102, although it is envisaged that they could alternatively be arranged to extend widthways across the sheet 102, or in any orientation therebetween.

The rows 110 of the sheet 102 are separated from one another by a plurality of channels 112. As shown in Figure 1, the channels 112 are configured to have a narrower width than the rows 110. However, the channels 112 may alternatively have a substantially similar width to the rows 110, or may be wider than the rows 110, if required.

The channels 112 are not provided with hooks but are provided with a plurality of identical spaced-apart rectangular apertures 114, to allow passage of air through the sheet 102.

The hooks 106 are positioned on the rows 110 so that there are four hooks per square millimetre. However, it is envisaged that the number of hooks per unit area could be increased or decreased as required. For example, a fastener 100 with an increased number of hooks 106 per unit area may be beneficial for patients with thicker hair, as this would lead to increased engagement between the fastener 100 and a patient's hair, due to the provision of additional hooks 106.

The hair fastener 100 also comprises a tab 116 which is integral and co-planar with the sheet 102. The tab 116 extends outwardly from the perimeter of the sheet 102, in the same plane as the sheet 102. However, the tab 116 may alternatively be configured to extend outwardly of the sheet 102 at an incline relative to the plane of the sheet 102.

The tab 116 of the hair fastener 100 is configured to have two smooth, hook-free surfaces to allow a user to comfortably grip the tab 116 to apply and/or remove the fastener 100 from its position on a patient's head. Alternatively, one or both of the surfaces of the tab 116 may be provided with a grip section 117 in order to further aid the application and/or removal of the fastener 100. As shown in Figure 1, the grip section 117 comprises a plurality of ridges, preferably formed from a silicone material, deposited on the tab 116. However, it is alternatively envisaged that the grip section may comprise a plurality of dots, bumps, or have any other suitable shape.

Figure 4 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment has many of the features of the first embodiment, and corresponding features are identified by the same reference numerals. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it is additionally provided with a flexible protective outer layer 118, which is attached to the second surface 108 of the sheet 102, e.g. by adhesive. The flexible protective layer 118 is configured to extend over the whole of the second surface 108 of the sheet 102. The protective layer 118 and the attached sheet 102 are configured to be mutually flexible with one another.

The protective layer 118 is formed of a porous foam material such as ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) foam, to permit passage of air through the layer 118.

Various alterations and modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, although the embodiments described herein have an elongate obround shape, as shown in Figure 1, it is alternatively envisaged that the hair fastener may be manufactured with an arcuate shape and rounded ends, which may be particularly advantageous for application to a patient's hairline.

Although the hair fasteners described herein can be manufactured with any suitable length and width to suit specific requirements, the hair fastener will preferably have a width between 3.2cm and 6.4cm and a length between 11.5cm and 18.9cm. Specific variations of the hair fastener are envisaged, having dimensions of 3.2cm x 18.9cm, 5cm x 11.5cm, 5.6cm x 13cm and 6.4cm x 16cm.

As an alternative to the linear arrangement of hooks described herein, it is envisaged that the hooks may be arranged in a non-linear array. For example, it is envisaged that the hooks may be arranged into rows with a curved or undulating path, with correspondingly shaped channels positioned between adjacent rows.

The hair fasteners described herein are intended to be single-use fasteners, to be safely destroyed after use. However, it is also envisaged that the hair fasteners are configured such that they may be sterilised for subsequent use, in order to reduce waste.

Claims

CLAIMSA hair fastener, comprising: a flexible sheet; a plurality of closely spaced hooking elements on a first surface of the sheet; a tab extending from the perimeter of the sheet.
2. A hair fastener as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hooking elements are arranged into a plurality of rows, extending over the first surface of the sheet.
3. A hair fastener as claimed in claim 2, wherein adjacent rows of hooking elements are separated by channels.
4. A hair fastener as claimed in claim 3. wherein each channel comprises a plurality of apertures.
5. A hair fastener as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the rows of hooking elements and the separating channels are linearly arranged.
6. A hair fastener as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the rows of hooking elements and the separating channels have a curved or undulating shape.
7. A hair fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the hooking elements are flexible.
A hair fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the hooking elements are resiliently deformable.
9. A hair fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising the hooking elements of a hook and loop fastener.
10. A hair fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, further comprising a protective layer attached to a second surface of the sheet, opposite the first surface.
11. A hair fastener as claimed in claim 10, wherein the protective layer comprises a porous foam material.
12. A hair fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the tab extends outwardly in the same plane as the sheet.
13. A hair fastener as claimed in any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the tab extends outwardly from the sheet and is inclined relative to the plane of the sheet.
14. A hair fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one surface of the tab comprises a grip section.
15. A hair fastener as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet has an elongate obround shape.
16. A hair fastener as claimed in any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the sheet has an arcuate shape with rounded ends.