Patent Publication Number: US-2012037177-A1

Title: Method for Applying Hair Extensions

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a method and/or process which thickens, lengthens, and or adds alternate color to ones natural hair using hair extensions in a comfortable manner, more specifically without the use of adhesives or need for any chemicals to remove from the natural hair. 
     2. Prior Art 
     Hair that has typically been grown, or manufactured, elsewhere is used to add to the natural hair and create a completely new style or look for the wearer. The natural hair may be made denser or longer or color may be added to by attaching additional, supplemental hair to the person desiring the change. Hair extensions differ from full head wigs and hair sections in that the natural hair of the wearer is left out, or exposed, to wear along with the supplemental or additional hair being attached to the head of the wearer. 
     3. State of Art 
     It is known to attach hair extensions to a person&#39;s existing hair. A form of a hair extension consists of a plurality or bundle of individual supplemental hairs, each hair usually of a consistent length and the supplemental hair readily available in a variety of length, color, and origin, natural or synthetic, connected via braiding or the use of various thermoplastic materials which are worked into the hairs causing a connection via a hot tool or manually. Usually each extension is attached to existing hair strands close to the client&#39;s head, perhaps about one quarter inch away from the scalp and may be worn until the extension has grown out, approximately 2 to 3 inches, most times 4 to 6 months, and/or has become no longer manageable and/or desirable. 
     A range of methods for attaching hair extensions are currently known for the person desiring to lengthen and/or thicken their hair or change and/or add color without chemicals. A choice of which method is appropriate for an individual involves the goals desiring to be achieved, including the period of time the extension method can be safely worn. Methods which involve the use of clips and/or bands, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,280,826 issued on Oct. 25, 1966 to Christine M. Jenkins and 7,735,495 issued on Jun. 15, 2010 to Teresa Jo Lane and Ken Paves, allow your natural hair to be shown which differentiates the type of method from full head wigs yet is similar in that these types of attachments are removed daily for sleeping and/or washing. 
     Methods involving braiding and sewing of individual bundles of supplemental hairs, or full wefts of supplemental hair stretching from proximity of one side of the head to the other, as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,865,380, issued on Dec. 23, 1958 to Princess Mitchell and U.S. Pat. No. 7,661,434, issued on Feb. 16, 2010 to Carol Frazier, can be worn for sleeping and washing but tend to be bulky for the wearer causing the hair addition to being seen and/or felt which makes the wearer self conscious and/or uncomfortable. 
     Another option through sewing or braiding individual bundles of hair strands can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,330 issued on Feb. 8, 1983 to Charles W. Nelson in which pieces of wire or string are used to braid or twist in supplemental hair and then secured with a dob of adhesive. Another similar process of braiding individual strands and applying a hardening heat sealer to said braid is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,748 issued on Jan. 8, 1991 to Adriana Trimarchi. The multiple steps involved in attaching the bundles in this and the previous stated manner are likely extremely time consuming and would be reasonably impossible to accomplish as applying on one&#39;s self as well as plausible to necessitate the use of chemicals to remove the adhesive from the strands. Removal of these individual bundles of hair strands by one&#39;s self would be most difficult in differentiating the threads from the native hairs which could cause cutting and tearing of the natural hairs to release the supplemental hair from the native hair. If wire is used, the discomfort of the poking metal would be less than desirable for the wearer and long term wear, sleeping and washing and rusting of metals in the hair and near the scalp would predictably prove to be an issue to the wearer. 
     Other methods involve crimp-able sleeves or metal rings which are placed around a section of the native hair and supplemental or extension hair which will hold a small bundle of supplemental or extension hairs to the native hair. By pressing with a metal pincers the ring is flattened to hold the hairs once the extension hair and natural hair has both been threaded by another tool into the metal ring as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,246,623 issued on Jul. 24, 2007 to Marisol S. Arroyo and 7,726,321 issued on Jun. 1, 2010 to Marisol S. Arroyo and Jose Arroyo. The difficulty with the method is that the metal pokes at the scalp of the wearer and causes discomfort as well as risks damage to any of the hair by cutting said hair while employing the method. Again, with the application of metal, there is the concern of prolonged wear in which washing is desirable to the wearer and the metals peeling or rusting during long term wear in the hair and near the scalp. 
     An alternate method to the metal tubes is heat shrinkable tubing as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,867 issued on Apr. 28, 1992. The heat shrinkable tubing uses a thermoplastic material or a thermostable adhesive to bind the hairs together involving the necessitation of chemicals to break down and remove from the natural hair. This typically renders the extension hair unusable at its current length and a fresh, new bundle of extension hair is needed if reapplication of the same or similar length is desired. 
     Still another method combines the attaching bundles of strands to the native hair which involve the system of wire or string to assist the threading of the native hair next to the supplemental hair through a pre-attached tube and include a guiding and knotting mechanism as stated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,602 issued on Apr. 25, 2006 to In-Young Chang which then instructs for either heating or crimping by a separate tool. This tactic makes apparent similar issues as set forth in the prior listed method of using tubes of poking and/or discomfort along with the risk of slicing or cutting of the native or supplemental hair, caused either by the crimped metal tubes or the use of chemical removers and damaging removal techniques in the case of heat shrinkable polymer and adhesive tubing. 
     Another method puts into practice a polymer which is pre-affixed at the end of the extension hairs to hold the mass of the extension strands together as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,518 issued on May 2, 2006 to Hui Suk Park. When the polymer is heated with an application tool, the polymer is melted to the hairs and thus the end of the extension bonds to the strands of the client&#39;s native hair. Once dry, these formations can tend to be so solid and concrete they become uncomfortable to the wearer through pulling hairs as well as threaten the overall well-being of the natural hair by adversely removing native strands from the head of the wearer prior to their time of natural shed. These formations also require the use of chemicals and metal plier-type tools for removing. Again, the use of chemicals typically renders the extension hair unusable at its current length and a fresh, new bundle of extension hair is needed if reapplication at the same, or similar, length is desired. 
     A method of attaching small bundles of loose strands is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,534 issued on Jan. 3, 1967 to Jess Dorkin references the use of urethane adhesives. The exact method, employed in which the attachment is achieved, is not described. Another process using what is described as a primary adhesive adds the step of an additional sealant in U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,745 issued on Dec. 17, 1991 to Byung J. Cheh. Another similar process involves small bundles comprised of a number of extension hairs is applied to small partings of natural receiving hair with a thermoplastic material or thermostable adhesive including chemically thermal hot melt glues which are polyamide based as well as cellulose polyesters and cellulose polyether heated and then manually manipulated into the hairs binding them together as in the method described in detail of how this attachment is achieved with said adhesives and thermoplastic materials, is U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,387 issued on Jun. 19, 1990 to Salvatore Megna. These are then removed with an additional heated or non-heated tool and/or a chemical needed to break down the material before allowing the material to be removed from the hair. 
     The disadvantages of the products and methods in the above whether applied via a heated tool during attachment or pre-applied to the supplemental hair before attachment and then fused to the hair using an alternate heated tool, first lie in the need to manually press and manipulate the heated material into the hairs, which after continuous handling of the material to achieve an attachment and an acceptable shape, discomfort sets in for the person or professional which is applying the supplemental hair extension. There is also the issue of not pressing or manipulating the product correctly into all the hairs to bind each individual hair so shedding of the extension hairs can occur far more than is desirable by the wearer, causing gaps in the complete installation or thinning of the extensions before its full potential of time-worn is achieved, accomplished, or seen. These application methods are impossible to remove without chemicals or oily matter. The difficult removal of thermoplastic material, thermostable adhesive, polymer and urethane adhesives cause many native hairs to be torn, broken or compromised in some manner due to the wearing and removing of these types of product. Furthering the careful effort it takes to remove the above described hot glue from the natural hair even with the use of chemicals and/or oils, making the removal nearly impossible to do on one&#39;s own and then renders the extension hair unusable at its current length. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     This present invention differs from others in the fact a thermostable material or other water-resistant liquid material is allowed to free-flow and seep through and around natural hairs and extension hairs forming a smooth to semi-smooth casing which binds the plait and extension strands together in a manner which is sufficiently flexible to accommodate the shape of the wearers head, allowing single hairs to move safely within its embodiment and is releasable without necessitating the assistance of harsh chemicals which tend to render extension hair unusable. 
     An object of my invention is to encourage a method that the extension can be held in the natural hair for an extended, prolonged, semi-permanent to permanent amount of time without seeing damage consisting of pulling out, breaking, tearing to the natural hair by the binding product used or the chemicals and/or metal tools used to remove the binding product. 
     An object of my invention is to provide a process to attach a multiplicity of extension hairs, bundles or masses of hairs, to the natural hairs in a manner which does not necessitate manual manipulation with the fingers which typically can cause discomfort, pain or burns. 
     An object of my invention would be to utilize a method which allows one&#39;s self the ability to place and remove the supplemental hair with ease without the use of additional tools, chemicals and/or the assistance of a professional or additional person to place or remove the supplemental hair thus facilitating a do-it-yourself option to the method of which useable components can be packaged together in a kit allowing for home use for what otherwise was typically only realized in a professional venue such as a hair salon or beauty spa. 
     An object of my invention is to encourage the use of material which would normally not be used in a process of binding or creating an attachment for supplemental hairs to be held to native hairs by allowing the product, on its own to seep through and around the hairs, to produce solid, smooth, water resistant casing which holds the hairs together until such time as removal of the supplemental hair is desired. 
     An object of my invention is to supply a method which allows removal to occur without the need for, or assistance from, chemicals, oils or metal plier-type tools which can cause pulling, discomfort to the scalp or damage to the hair and/or scalp from which, and whilst, the supplemental hair is being removed. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of the back of a head. The hair is parted ( 65 ) and a small portion ( 100 ) is readied for attachment by a small disc-like guide or protector held in place with a clip. ( 55 ) 
         FIG. 2  is an illustration of an ideal bundle for use in accordance with the principles of the present invention. As shown, the hair bundle comprises multiple hair strands, approximately 50-250 strands of hair that may be human, natural or synthetic having a proximal end ( 12 ) and distal end ( 13 ). The bundle of hairs is held between the thumb and forefinger at about 2 centimeters from the proximal end ( 12 ) having, preferably, a blunt cut edge. A thermostable material ( 110 ) may be used which is, prior to use, liquefied in a small electric warmer ( 57 ). The proximal ( 12 ) end is submerged into the thermostable material ( 110 ) ideally 1 to 1.5 centimeters. 
         FIG. 3  is an illustration of the extension hair bundle after it has been submerged in the thermostable material ( 110 ). 
         FIG. 4  is an illustration of the hair extension bundle having a proximal end ( 12 ) and distal end ( 13 ) with said proximal end ( 12 ) coated with a thermostable material ( 110 ) and placed on top of the parted and readied portion of natural hair ( 100 ). As pertains to this present invention, the hair is gently guided into place ( 320 ) and held in position. The thermostable material is allowed to seep, flow or ooze from the extension bundle&#39;s proximal end ( 12 ) into the portioned section of natural hair ( 100 ). 
         FIG. 5  is an illustration of an alternate method of applying the thermostable or liquid, water-resistant material ( 110 ) using a small tool or brush ( 59 ). 
         FIG. 6  is an illustration of an alternate method of using a thermostable, or liquid, water resistant material or applying by means of a container which may, or may not, warm the material as it is poured over the attachment causing the material to run through, seep and ooze and create a shell or casing which holds the attachment in place. 
         FIG. 7  is an illustration depicting the seeping ( 122 ) which happens as the material is allowed to flow freely around the hairs and embodiment ( 127 ) becomes hard creating a casing, a state which embraces and holds the hairs in a position once the seeping ( 127 ) has begun to dry. 
     
    
    
     Illustration shows guide/protector, as optional use as pertains to the method, but shown in the illustrations for the purpose of making the isolating the receiving hairs visible.