US2473725A - Hair clip - Google Patents

Description

June 21, 1949. E. OSWALD 2,473,725

HAIR CLIP Filed July 23, 1948 'lNVENTOR 'EM/LE OSWALD BYMW ATTORNEY Patented June 21, 1949 UNITED STATES OFF lCTEL HAIR C1211" Emile swald=,.BockawayParkgN; Y.

Application July 23, 1948, Serial No. 40,265

6 Claims; 1-

This invention relates to. hair clips adapted to be used by hairdressers in setting? the hair-oi; the patron. according to the. coifiure. style which may be desired or prescribed. for the individual person.

It is the common practice in the setting of hair, to form selected strands of hair. in predetermined locations over the head according to the styling desired, into closely spaced curls. while the hair is in wet or damp condition. These-curls are generally quite small and, as theyare formed over the fingerof the operator, they are secured in individually formed condition. by hairpins, which may be of the ordinary." straight or corrugated". shank type or even of the bobby: pin variety.

The discriminating operator recognizes that the placement of these. pins is: important in; order that individual curls may hold their'shapieand dry in proper form. Considerable skill be exercised in accomplishing this result; order that, when dried, adjacent: curls: will; be; well formed,.and willharmonize'witlr one another and with adjacentwavesiwhich may'form part of: the coiffure. Proper pinning'oi'the hair inthemanner stated requires considerableitime; and a large number of pins are employed to insure the shape desired:

The object of the present invention is'to provide a clip which may be used in the setting. of pin curls to the. exclusion of hairpins and sa oons-tituted as to satisfactorily holdthecurls-inz termed condition until they are dried;

Clipsfor this general purpose have heretofore been suggested but they have not proven sat-isfactory nor acceptablefor various reasons.- The most common objection'is that such prior devices destroy, flatten,-or crush thecurlso that a satisfactory coifiure is not obtained. Otherasuch: as those made from sheetmetal, plates and strips, enclose portions of the curlin such manner as to seriously interfere with uniform drying. They necessitate a relatively long period of. waiting which entails extra expense. due to prolonged operation of the drying: machines andimpatience on the part of. the patrcm, which" reacts tothe detriment of thebeauty'salon whichis using such devices. The tendency is to speedup the-operation and make up the coiifure before the hair is properly dried andwhen this isdone, the hair will notretain its styling;

With theseconsiderations in. mind; the; clip of. the; present invention is: so constituted that it cannot crush the. curl to: whiclr it' is appliedgwili' hold the curlin propenshape without the em.-

ployment. of pins and: will permit ofuniform ventilation OrciiCll'ldtiOli of air, heated'orotherwise,throughall partsof the curl so as to permit ofidryingof-the-hair in a minimum of time and with the curl inperfect condition.

An important feature of the invention resides in the simplicity of thepresent clip and the ease with which it may be applied; its lightness in weight, its economy of manufacture and its durability.

Speaking generally, the clip of this invention, in its preferred form, is made entirely 'of-"on-e' piece of spring Wire oi relatively light gauge but oi'suflici'ent inherent resiliency to retain its shape and to hold' itself upon the hair without noticeably crushing the same. This single length of wire is bent to form upper and lower gripping jaws which respectively extend through one another intermediate the ends of the clip to form at thebase of the'clip a bowed resilient portion directly adjacent which are flattened portions serving as finger pieces whereby the jaws may tie-manipulated. The bowed portion is biased to normally force the jaws into contact with one anotherbut-manual pressure may be exerted on the linger pieces toovercome this biasing, thereby permitting separation of the jaws so that the clip may be brought into cooperation with the curl. T-helower-jaw of the clip is curved to sub stantially conform with the curvature of the scalp and adapted to-underlie the curl. The upper'jaw is-in the form of a loop adapted to overhe thetop-of the curl. The opposite sides of the loop are drawn-in intermediate their ends to form re-entrant' portions to project down into the-central opening of thecurl to hold this opening in shape; Thewhole structure is so constituted as to hold the curl" firmly without crushing it and at thesame time maintain it in proper shape.

Features of the invention other than those specified will be apparent from thefollowing detailed. description when. read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying, drawings, I have shown the preferredforms of the. present. invention but the showing is to be understood as illustrative, only, and; not as. defining the: limits of. the invention;

Figure. 1 is-a. perspective view showing. a clip made in accordance withthis invention.

2.1is a side elevation. of. the clipshown Figures: 3 aud t. are viewssimilai: to:-F.igure 1 but showing modified: forms-oiconstruction.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, I form the clip of this invention from one piece of relatively small gauge spring wire. This is bent by appropriate dies or otherwise to form a lower jaw 1. consisting of two substantially parallel arms 2 which are longitudinally shaped to substantially conform to the human scalp and these arms 2 have free ends corresponding to the free ends of the wire from which the clip is made. At the bases of the arms 2 they are ofiset in an upward direction by bending the wires upwardly as shown at 3 for a relatively short distance and then bending the wires rearwardly to form a substantially flat upper finger piece 4. Intermediate the ends of said finger pieces the wires thereof are twisted with any desired number of turns to secure them together as shown at 5.

Beyond the substantially fiat finger piece 4 the wires are bent, preferably on the arcs of coaxial circles, to form a resilient bowed portion 5 at the rear-end of the clip. This bowed portion extends from the upper finger piece 4 to a point below the lower jaw i and merges into a lower finger piece la corresponding to the upper finger piece 4 and similarly formed but in spaced relation below the latter. The wires of the lower finger piece are also twisted together at 5a.

Forwardly of the lower finger piece la the wires are offset upwardly, as at 3a, between the offset portion 3 and then fiare outwardly to form the upper jaw 7 of the clip. This upper jaw is in the form of a shaped loop of somewhat greater length and width than the lower jaw l, but the sides of the upper jaw loop intermediate their ends are bent inwardly toward one another to form reentrant portions 8 which curve downwardly as they approach one another so as to normally project downwardly between the arms 2 of the lower jaw l when the clip is in normal closed position.

The parts of the clip are normally as shown in full lines in the drawings To open the jaws, pressure is applied by the thumb and first finger of the operators hand to the upper and lower finger pieces 4 and 4a to bend the bowed portion 6 of such clip in a manner to decrease the normal radius of its curvature. This causes the upper gripping jaw l to be elevated and the lower gripping jaw 2 to be depressed whereby said jaws are separated from one another and moved into the open positions shown in dotted lines in Figure 2.

While the clip is held in this condition the arms 2 of the lower jaw I may be readily brought into contact with the scalp and longitudinally shifted to underlie the formed curl. The re-entrant portions 8 of the upper jaw 1 will then overlie the opening in the center of the curl while the remaining portions of the upper jaw will overlie the curl itself. The finger pieces may then be relieved of the pressure which has held the jaws in open position, to permit the resilient bowed portions 6 to autogenously close the clip upon the hair. As this occurs, the re-entrant portions 8 will enter into the opening in the curl to keep this opening in shape, while the upper and lower jaws gently close upon the curl itself with insuflicient pressure to crush the curl but to grip it firmly enough to maintain the clip in place thereon.

It is to be noted that at the base of the jaws l and 1, the wire of the upper jaw overlies the arms 2 at the base of the lower jaw, so that, when the jaws are in closed position, the extent of their closing may be controlled by contact between these parts and these portions may be so constituted as to preclude complete closing of the jaws and consequent crushing of the curl.

It will be noted from Figure 2 that the outer end of the upper jaw I is bent downwardly somewhat so that the upper jaw will engage the lower jaw and preclude crushing of the curl. The extreme end of the upper jaw will come into fairly close proximity to the scalp and overlie the outer free ends of the arms 2 of the lower jaw so that the hand of the operator, in applying similar clips to adjacent curls, will not be apt to strike the projecting ends of the clip and inadvertently dislodge it or move it out of place. When the clip is applied to a curl it will hug the scalp closely without undesirable projecting parts. It will not tend to cover any portion of the curl in a manner to interfere with proper drying but, on the contrary, will expose all portions thereof to a free circulation of air through the curl to permit rapid drying.

When the hair is dried, the clip may be expeditiously removed by reversing the operations stated and experience has shown that it leaves the curl in perfectly formed condition susceptible to perfoot manipulation into the planned coiffure.

The preferred form of the invention is as shown in Figures 1 and 2, although certain advantages of the invention may be obtained by utilizing the structure of Figure 3 which is the same as the structure of Figures 1 and 2, except that both the upper and lower jaws are composed of substantially parallel overlapping arms. In other words, the lower arms 2a are made exactly as the lower arms 2 of Figure 1, but the upper arms 1a are utilized in lieu of the looped jaw 1 of Figure 1. All of the arms 2a and la are curved to substantially conform to the shape of the scalp.

The structure of Figure 4 is the same as the structure of Figure 3 with one exception, namely, that instead of twisting the wire together as shown at 5 and 5a in Figure 3, the wire is simply brought into edge abutting relation and these abutting portions welded to one another as indicated at 5b and 50. In the structure of Figure l, I may, if desired, utilize the welding shown in Figure 4 instead of twisting the wire together as shown at 5 and 5a in Figure 1. In other words, the structure of Figure 4 may have the upper jaw in the form of the loop as shown in Figure 1.

The clips of Figures 3 and 4 are made of two pieces of wire instead of a single piece of wire as in Figure 1.

It will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description that the structures of this invention are extremely simple yet highly efficient in the performance of its intended functions. The clip may be economically manufactured and, if properly handled, may be used over long periods without losing its shape. Its application to the hair and removal therefrom saves much time of the operator in the setting of the hair and the patron is well served.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended clams.

This case is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 723,281, filed January 21, 1947, allowed April 6, 1948, and now abandoned.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A hair clip for pin curls comprising: wire bent to form upper and lower jaws with the base of each jaw offset to a point beyond the outer face of the other jaw and there formed into a finger piece, both finger pieces being united at their ends opposite the jaws by an integral spring spacer adapted to be flexed for the purpose of opening and closing the jaws, the lower jaw being in the form of substantially parallel arms shaped to substantially conform to the shape of the human scalp and the upper jaw being in the form of a loop of greater width than the lower jaw and the sides of which loop are drawn in interme diate ends of the loop to form reentrant portions extending toward one another and curved downwardly between the arms of the lower jaw.

2. A hair clip for pin curls comprising: a single piece of wire, one end portion of which is formed into parallel arms longitudinally curved to conform with the scalp and collectively constituting a lower jaw, another portion of the wire being looped to form an upper jaw, the wire at the bases of said jaws being oifset in opposite directions so that the extension of the wire of the lower jaw overlaps the extension of the wire of the upper jaw to limit the closing movement of said jaws, said wire being formed beyond the offsets with vertically spaced apart substantially flat portions constituting finger pieces, the wire of each of which is twisted together and merges into bowed portions connecting the wire of the upper and lower finger pieces.

3. A hair clip for pin curls comprising: wire bent to form a relatively wide upper jaw and a relatively narrow lower jaw both of which jaws are longitudinally curved to substantially conform to the shape of the scalp, with the base of the upper jaw ofiset downwardly and there formed with a finger piece and the base of the lower jaw offset upwardly and there formed With a finger piece, both finger pieces being united I?! at their ends opposite the jaws by an integral spring spacer adapted to be flexed for the purpose of opening and closing the jaws, the opposite sides of said upper jaw being provided intermediate their ends with re-entrant portions which overlie the corresponding opposite sides of the lower jaw.

4. A hair clip for pin curls comprising: wire bent to form a relatively wide loop-shaped upper jaw, and a pair of substantially parallel arms collectively constituting a relatively narrow lower jaw both of which jaws are longitudinally curved to substantially conform to the shape of the scalp, with the base of the upper jaw offset downwardly and there formed with a finger piece and the base of the lower jaw offset upwardly and there formed with a finger piece, both finger pieces being united at their ends opposite the jaws by an integral spring spacer adapted to be flexed for the purpose of opening and closing the jaws, the opposite sides of said loop-shaped upper jaw being provided intermediate their ends with re-entrant portions which respectively overlie the contiguous arms of the lower jaw.

5. A hair clip for pin curls comprising: wire bent to form upper and lower jaws longitudinally curved to substantially conform to the shape of the scalp, the wire at the bases of said jaws being offset in opposite directions so that the exten sion of the wire of the lower jaw overlaps the extension of the wire of the upper jaw to limit the closing movement of said jaws, said wire being formed beyond the offsets with vertically spaced apart substantially fiat portions constituting finger pieces, the wire of each of the finger pieces is twisted together and merges into bowed portions connecting the wire of the upper and lower finger pieces.

6. A hair clip for pin curls comprising: wire bent to form upper and lower jaws longitudinally curved to substantially conform to the shape of the scalp, the wire at the bases of said jaws being oifset in opposite directions so that the extension of the wire of the lower jaw overlaps the extension of the wire of the upper jaw to limit the closing movement of said jaws, said wire being formed beyond the ofisets with vertically spaced apartsubstantially flat portions constituting finger pieces, the wire of each of which finger pieces being secured together and merging into bowed No references cited.

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