Patent Publication Number: US-2019174896-A1

Title: Coil hair tie

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a coil hair tie, and more particularly to a coil hair tie having an elastic restoring force. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A hair ring is a commonly used device for tying hair, such as a ponytail. After the hair is tied with a conventional linear circle of hair ring, the hair often leaves a dent as being pressed by the hair ring. Even if the linear circle of hair ring is covered by a fabric to form a scrunchie, similar problems still exist. The coil hair tie as shown in  FIG. 1  is popular because it causes little or no trace after the hair is tied and then released. Such coil hair ties are usually made of a thermoplastic plastic material such as TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethanes) or TPR (Thermoplastic rubber), which achieves stretching and recovery objects through a spiral-shaped structure  1 . Although such materials have a certain degree of elasticity, they do not have sufficient elastic restoring force like the general elastic hair ring under the consideration of the hardness required for molding. Therefore, after the conventional coil type hair ring is used repeatedly, the coil will become looser and looser and the density of the coil will become lower and lower, and there will be no effect of tightening the hair any longer. 
     To solve this problem, German Patent No. DE 102015115002 B3 discloses a two-component hair ring consisting of a spiral TPU-ring and a corrugated rubber ring inside the TPU-ring. This type of hair ring includes a wavy or spiral hair ring made of a material that is less elastically fatigued inside the conventional coil type hair ring, thereby extending the strength and durability of the coil type hair ring. Although this kind of improvement helps to improve the strength and durability of the conventional coil type hair ring, the complicated inner ring manufacturing is disadvantageous in cost and process, and the inner and outer spiral coils may have entanglement problems. The effect of maintaining the density of the outer ring coil is also limited, as it is also necessary to sacrifice the elastic restoring force of the inner ring material, like the outer ring, in order to maintain its configuration. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, there is a need to develop a hair ring having a relatively simple structure, which can have non-marking and non-tangling effects of a coil type hair ring, and meanwhile, can have sufficient elastic restoring force to improve strength and durability. 
     A coil hair tie include: a spiral coil body configured as a head-to-tail connected ring with a hollow portion for allowing hair to pass through, wherein the spiral coil body has a hollow chamber therein; and a linear elastic restoring member comprising at least one one-dimensional elastic body extending in a direction substantially parallel to the spiral coil body and disposed in the hollow chamber of the spiral coil body, and being head-to-tail connected to form a ring configuration. When the spiral coil body is stretched into a tensile configuration with a lower coil density, the elastic restoring member is also stretched, and when the tensile force applied to the spiral coil body is removed, the spiral coil body restores to a retracted configuration having a higher coil density through the tensile restoring force of the elastic restoring member. 
     The linear elastic restoring member may consist of two or more one-dimensional elastic bodies of different materials, sizes and configurations. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above contents of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional coil type hair ring; 
         FIG. 2A  is schematic diagram illustrating a coil hair tie according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2B  is schematic diagram illustrating a cross section of the coil hair tie of  FIG. 2A , which is taken along the A-A line; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating the use of a coil hair tie according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2A  is schematic diagram illustrating a coil hair tie according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4B  is schematic diagram illustrating a cross section of the coil hair tie of  FIG. 4A , which is taken along the B-B line; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic cross-sectional view of an elastic restoring member of a coil hair tie according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic partial perspective view of an elastic restoring member of a coil hair tie according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2A , a coil hair tie according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a spiral coil body  10 , which is integrally formed or joined to form a head-to-tail-connected ring-shaped member so that the entire coil body  10  forms a hair ring with a hollow portion  11  for allowing hair to pass through. Furthermore, the coil body  10  itself is configured to have a hollow chamber  101 . The coil hair tie according to the (present invention additionally includes at least one linear elastic restoring member  20 , which is formed of a one-dimensional elastic body extending substantially in a linear direction (parallel to the spiral coil body) and forming a head-to-tail phase in an integrally formed or joined manner, and extensively disposed in the hollow chamber  101  of the coil body  10 . In the present embodiment, only one one-dimensional elastic body is disposed in the hollow chamber  101  of the coil body  10  as the elastic restoring member  20 , as shown in  FIG. 2B , which is taken along the line A-A of  FIG. 2A . When the user stretches the coil body  110  as shown in steps A and B of  FIG. 3 , the elastic restoring member  20  is also stretched, and when the user loosens the coil body as shown in step C of  FIG. 3 , the coil body  10  can restore to its initial coil density by way of the restoring force of the elastic restoring member  20  for subsequent uses. The one-dimensional elastic body  20  used in this embodiment may be any suitable material having stretch characteristics, such as natural or synthetic rubber, plastic, latex or a mixture thereof generally used for producing hair rings. The size design should be compatible with the size and material of the coil body. The size of the coil body  10  is matched with the material, which should not be too thin to cause breakage or elastic fatigue when stretching together with the coil body  10 , nor should it be too thick to make the coil body  10  difficult to stretch. 
     Next, please refer to  FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B  to see a coil hair tie according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein  FIG. 4B  is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of the coil hair tie shown in  FIG. 4A . In the present embodiment, the linear elastic restoring member  20  provided in the hollow chamber  101  of the coil body  10  includes two one-dimensional elastic bodies  201  and  202 , and of course, more may be used. The two one-dimensional elastic bodies  201  and  202  may be made of the same or different material and have the same or different size, while still having to be able to cooperate with the coil body  10  to stretch and elastically recover. The advantage of providing two or more one-dimensional elastic bodies is that when one of them is broken or elastically fatigued, there is another one that can support the elastic restoring force, and the color and style of the hair ring can be more varied. 
     The one-dimensional elastic body  20  illustrated in the first embodiment or the one-dimensional elastic body  201  or  202  illustrated in the second embodiment may be further wrapped with a protective material  200 , which has a lower stretchability than the one-dimensional elastic body, e.g. an elastic cloth, as shown in the cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5 . In addition to beautification, the purpose of the protective material  200  is to confine the stretch range of the one-dimensional elastic body  20  to avoid breakage due to excessive stretching and, in addition, to protect the hair from being adhered by the one-dimensional elastic body  20 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a linear elastic restoring member  20  included in a coil hair tie according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The linear elastic restoring member  20  in this embodiment is formed by interweaving two one-dimensional elastic bodies  203  and  204 . The one-dimensional elastic bodies  203  and  204  extend substantially in the direction of the spiral coil body  10 , and when one of them is broken or elastically fatigued, there is another one that can support the elastic restoring force, and the color and style of the hair ring may be variable. 
     In summary, the coil hair tie structure according to the present invention has the advantages of not leaving traces on hair after being tied to and released from the hair, and having better durability. In addition, it has been comprehensively considered in aesthetic design and cost control. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.