Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a hair clip. In one embodiment, the hair clip includes a first clip arm and a second clip arm. A magnet is coupled to the first clip arm, and the second clip arm includes a magnetically conductive material. The magnet causes the second clip arm to be pulled towards said first clip arm—enhancing the ability of the hair clip to secure hair. In one implementation, the clip arms are also drawn together by force from a mechanical biasing mechanism, such as a spring. In further embodiments, the surface of each clip arm includes a cover material that impedes hair slipping—further enhancing the ability of the hair clip to secure hair.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention is directed to a hair clip.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Many people employ hair clips to achieve desired hair styles or simply keep hair out of their eyes. In some instances, a person&#39;s hair may be too fine to support the use of a traditional hair clip. Small children, such as infants and toddlers, often have hair that is too fine for the use of traditional hair clips.  
           [0005]    A traditional hair clip may consist of two prongs that are drawn together by a mechanical biasing mechanism. Ideally, the mechanical biasing force results in hair being secured between the prongs. In the case of fine hair, such as infant or toddler hair, the mechanical biasing force is insufficient to secure the hair—allowing the hair to slide out from between the clip&#39;s prongs. Traditional clip prongs also tend to have smooth surfaces that fail to inhibit the clip from sliding along the hair.  
           [0006]    When a hair clip falls out, the person wearing the clip may not immediately realize the clip is missing—resulting in the clip being lost. In the case of a small child, a clip falling out of her hair can present a chocking hazard. The child may be attracted to the fallen clip and place the clip in her mouth.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention, roughly described, pertains to a hair clip that employs a magnetic force to draw clip arms together for securing hair.  
           [0008]    In one embodiment, the hair clip includes two clip arms with at least one of the clip arms having a magnetically conductive material. A magnet is coupled to at least one of the clip arms to create a magnetic force that attracts the clip arms towards each other. This magnetic force enhances the ability of the hair clip to secure fine hair. In one implementation, the clip arms are also drawn together by a force from a non-magnetic mechanical biasing mechanism, such as a spring.  
           [0009]    In further implementations, a cover material is included on each clip arm that comes into contact with a user&#39;s hair. The cover material provides an increased level of friction that impedes hair from slipping between the clip arms. One example of such material is nylon velvet. The use of the cover material in combination with the magnetic force on the clip arms gives the hair clip a greater ability to secure fine hair.  
           [0010]    These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly from the following description in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth in conjunction with the drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a side view of a hair clip in one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a view of a non-magnetic mechanical biasing mechanism in the hair clip shown in FIG. 1 in one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a top clip arm for the hair clip shown in FIG. 1 in one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a top view of a bottom clip arm for the hair clip shown in FIG. 1 in one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of hair clip  100  in one embodiment of the present invention. Hair clip  100  includes spring biased clip  104  having clip arm  110  and clip arm  112 . Clip arm  110  and clip arm  112  are coupled together by axle  108 , so as to rotate about axle  108 . Biasing spring  122  (See FIG. 4, not shown in FIG. 1) applies a biasing force that directs clip arms  110  and  112  to move towards one another into a closed position, as shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of biasing spring  122  in clip  104 —looking into the left end of clip  104  as shown in FIG. 1. Biasing spring  122  is coiled around axle  108 . One end of spring  122  is coupled to clip arm  110 , and another end of biasing spring  122  is coupled to clip arm  112 . In operation, biasing spring  122  exerts forces on clip arm  110  and clip arm  112  to push the left ends of clip arms  110  and  112  away from each other, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. This results in clip  104  moving to the closed position shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0017]    A user opens clip  104  by applying pressure to the ends of clip arms  110  and  112  in opposition to the force from biasing spring  122 . In one example, a user pinches the ends of clip arms  110  and  112  that are in contact with biasing spring  122 . This causes clip arms  110  and  112  to rotate towards each other about axel  108  and compress spring  122 . Spring biased clip  104  is commonly referred to as a pinch clip.  
         [0018]    In one embodiment, spring biased clip  104  is a dual pronged clip, having dual prongs on clip arms  110  and  112 . FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of clip arm  110  in one such embodiment. Clip arm  110  includes prong  120  and prong  18  being separated by a space. FIG. 4 shows a top view of clip arm  112  having prong  116  and  114  separated by a space. In further embodiments, clip arms  110  and  112  can have different configurations, such as being single prong clip arms.  
         [0019]    In one embodiment of the present invention, hair clip  100  includes magnet  106  coupled to clip arm  112 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. In one implementation, clip  104  is made of a magnetically conductive material, such as nickel plated steel. Magnet  106  creates a magnetic field that attracts clip arm  110  towards clip arm  112  to create a greater closing force in clip  104 . The magnetic field stemming from magnet  106  enhances the clip closing bias force from biasing spring  122 .  
         [0020]    The combined clip closing force from the bias force of spring  122  and the magnetic field from magnet  106  makes the gripping ability of hair clip  100  greater in the closed position. The increased griping power of hair clip  100  gives clip  100  the ability to work well with fine hair, such hair found in infants and toddlers. The increased force bringing clip arms  110  and  112  together to the closed position makes it harder for hair to slide out from between the grip of clip arms  110  and  112 . In one embodiment, magnet  106  is a flexible strip of magnetic material. In one such embodiment, magnet  106  has a width of 0.25 inches and a thickness of 0.06 inches. In alternate embodiments, magnet  106  may have varying dimensions and levels of flexibility. In some instances, magnet  106  may not be flexible.  
         [0021]    Magnet  106  is coupled to clip arm  112  using an adhesive, such as glue. The adhesive couples magnet  106  to prongs  116  and  114  of clip arm  112 . In one embodiment, a rubber-based craft adhesive is employed. In one such embodiment, magnet  106  can be obtained with the adhesive already applied thereon, with a peel-off liner covering the adhesive until magnet  106  is coupled to clip  104 . In alternate embodiments, the following types of adhesives may be employed: rubber-based high tack adhesive, rubber-based foam adhesive, acrylic-based adhesive, and acrylic-based foam adhesive.  
         [0022]    Hair clip  100  also includes cover material  102 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, cover material  102  is a single continuous piece of material. Cover material  102  extends over the top of magnet  106 , the top and bottom of clip arm  112 , and the top and bottom of clip arm  110 . In one embodiment, cover material  102  is secured to magnet  106  and clip arms  110  and  112  using an adhesive, such as glue. In one implementation, the adhesive is a thick designer tacky glue. In one instance, the adhesive is in the form of a liner. In alternate embodiments, different adhesives may be employed, such as any type of glue for connecting fabric to metal. In one example, glue from a hot glue gun is employed.  
         [0023]    Cover material  102  is selected so that additional friction is applied to hair secured by clip  100  in the closed position. This additional friction is greater than the friction that would normally occur between the hair and metallic prongs of a pinch clip. In one embodiment, cover material  102  is nylon velvet. In an alternate embodiment, cover material  102  is polyester velvet. In further embodiments, different cover materials can be employed to achieve the same increased friction on hair secured by hair clip  100 . Cover material  102  can also be made of multiple types of material. In one example, cover material  102  includes one material for interfacing with the hair secured in clip  100  and another material for being secured to the surfaces of clip arms  110  and  112  and magnet  106 . In further implementations, cover material  102  is selected so that it provides increased friction, but does not result in uncomfortable pulling of hair when hair clip  100  is opened.  
         [0024]    Although FIG. 1 shows cover material  102  extending along the surfaces of magnet  106  and clip  104 , cover material  102  is still considered to be “on” clip arm  112 . This would still be the case if cover material  112  did not extend along the bottom of clip arm  112  or only resided on the surface of magnet  106 . In further embodiments, cover material  102  may not be secured to the outer surface of magnet  106 .  
         [0025]    The use of cover material  102  further enhances the ability of hair clip  100  to secure fine hair when used in combination with the forces from magnet  106  and biasing spring  122 , as described above. Forces from gravity and head movement tend to cause fine hair to slide out from between the clip arms of a traditional pinch clip. Clip  100  overcomes this deficiency by supplying additional forces that oppose the forces attempting to separate clip  100  and a user&#39;s hair. The force from the magnetic field emanating from magnet  106  and bias force from spring  122  work against the forces attempting to remove hair from clip  100 . The friction from cover material  102  further impedes the ability of hair to slide from between the grasp of clip arms  110  and  112 .  
         [0026]    The enhanced hair gripping force of clip  100  allows clip  100  to carry greater weight than a traditional pinch clip in some implementations of the present invention. For example, in one implementation, hair clip  100  may include fairly large ornaments that provide decorative effect. Ceramic animal figures or holiday symbols, such as Christmas trees, are examples of the types of ornaments that can be supported by clip  100 . The ability to use large decorations makes clip  100  more desirable. The aesthetic effect of hair clip  100  can be more easily appreciated than if only a small ornament or no decorative ornament is employed on clip  100 .  
         [0027]    In further embodiments, many different configurations and implementations of hair clip  100  are possible within the scope of the invention. For example, clips other than spring biased pinch clip  104  can be employed. In one such embodiment, a clip may be formed from a single piece of metal that is formed so that clip arms  112  and  110  are mechanically biased to be drawn towards each other when the clip is closed.  
         [0028]    In further implementations, clip  104  is not made entirely from a magnetically conductive material, such as metal. In one such embodiment, only clip arm  110  includes a magnetically conductive material that interacts with magnet  106 —creating enhanced closing force between clip arms  110  and  112 . In one version of clip  104 , clip arm  110  only includes a limited segment that is magnetically conductive. The rest of clip arm  110  is made from a non-magnetically conductive material like plastic.  
         [0029]    In still a further embodiment, clip arms  110  and  112  may not be non-magnetically biased to come together. The magnetic attraction of clip arm  110  to magnet  106  may constitute the entire force pulling clip arms  110  and  112  together.  
         [0030]    In some versions of hair clip  100 , magnets are coupled to both clip arms  110  and  112 . Alternatively, magnet  106  is coupled to clip arm  110  and not clip arm  112 . As shown in FIG. 1, magnet  106 , or any other magnet employed on clip arms  110  and  112 , may reside under cover material  102 . In another embodiment, magnet(s) on the clip arm(s) are exposed to a user&#39;s hair. The surfaces of such magnets may provide greater friction on a user&#39;s hair than the friction between the hair and the clip arms of a traditional metallic pinch clip. In alternate embodiments, no greater friction is derived from the magnet surfaces, but enhanced hair gripping power is facilitated by the magnetic field between the magnets.  
         [0031]    Embodiments of the present invention may also be achieved by integrating magnetic materials into clip arm  110 , clip arm  112 , or both clip arms  110  and  112 . In such embodiments, a portion of clip arm  110  or clip arm  112  may include a magnetic material, while the remaining portion of the clip arm is made of a non-magnetic material. In still a further embodiment, magnet  106  may be coupled to the bottom side of clip arm  112 , so as to not reside between clip arms  110  and  112 . In such an embodiment, a magnetic field extends from magnet  106  through clip arm  112  and  110  to pull clip arm  110  towards clip arm  112 .  
         [0032]    Alternate embodiments of clip arm  100  may also have different cover material configurations. Cover material  102  may not extend as a continuous piece of material. Separate pieces of cover material may be placed along the interior surfaces of clip arms  110  and  112 , including an upper surface of magnet  106 . Although cover material  102  is described above as a nylon material, many other types of material are possible, including non-cloth materials. For example, cover material  102  may have a rubberized surface that contacts the user&#39;s hair and provides friction to enhance the hair holding capability of clip  100 .  
         [0033]    In still another implementation, clip arms  110  and  112  may be wholly or partially formed from a material that has greater friction than a purely metallic pinch clip, such as rubber. In such an embodiment, segments of either clip arm  110  or  112  will include a segment made from a non-rubber material that is magnetically conductive. Magnet  106  is then coupled on an opposite clip arm so as to create a magnetic field with the magnetically conductive material—drawing clip arms  110  and  112  together.  
         [0034]    The foregoing detailed description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The described embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto.