Patent Publication Number: US-2012041477-A1

Title: Device for Enhancing the Appearance of a Person

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to improvement of the appearance of a person&#39;s skin. More particularly, this invention relates to a device for enhancing the appearance of a person. 
     BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
     As the population ages, more people are becoming concerned with maintaining a youthful appearance. 
     With advancing age, human skin becomes less elastic and tends to form unsightly folds and wrinkles and/or to lose its tone and thus its smooth appearance. Various solutions to achieve a more youthful appearance are offered by the beauty industry, such as topical ointments, laser therapy, oral supplements and cosmetic surgery. 
     Cosmetic surgery is a subspecialty of surgery that uniquely restricts itself to the enhancement of appearance through surgical and medical techniques. It is specifically concerned with maintaining normal appearance, restoring it, or enhancing it beyond the average level toward some aesthetic ideal. Various cosmetic surgical procedures require removal of excess tissue from the human body and pulling the remaining tissue back to a youthful tautness. Some popular prevalent aesthetic or cosmetic procedures are face lifts, abdominal etching, breast lifts and chemical peels. All of these are known to reduce the appearance of wrinkles on the body. 
     Although many people are anxious to obtain the benefits of cosmetic surgery, they wish to avoid the expense, pain, loss of time and potential for unpleasant side effects associated with such surgical procedures. 
     The present invention seeks to provide a less invasive and more affordable method to achieve a more youthful and pleasing appearance of a person&#39;s skin. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present invention there is provided a device for tightening an area of skin of a human subject to provide a firmer and more youthful appearance without the need for surgery, said device including
         an anchor element that is releasably attachable to a predetermined part of the human subject&#39;s body, to hold the device in place relative to said part of the subject&#39;s body,   an adhesive element that includes means for adhering releasably to the subject&#39;s skin adjacent said area of skin to be tightened, and   a tensile element that extends between the anchor element and the adhesive element, characterised in that said tensile element can be placed under tension to draw the adhesive element from a first position wherein it is adhered to subject&#39;s skin, towards the anchor element, to a second position, said movement of the adhesive element under tension from the first position to the second position stretching the subject&#39;s skin in said area of skin to be tightened.       

     Said anchor element may encircle said part of the subject&#39;s body. 
     Said anchor element may include an elongate part that can encircle said part of the subject&#39;s body and said anchor element may include length adjustment means, configured to adjust the length of said elongate part. 
     Said tensile element may include length adjustment means. 
     Said tensile element may be removably attachable to the adhesive element, and said tensile element may include releasable attachment means for attaching it to the adhesive element. 
     Said tensile element may be removably attachable to the anchor element, and said tensile element may include releasable attachment means for attaching it to the anchor element 
     Said tensile element may be made of an elastic material. 
     Said anchor element may be made of an elastic material. 
     Said adhesive element may be made of an elastic material, and may have an adhesive coated surface for adhering to the subject&#39;s skin. 
     Said anchor element may be an item of clothing. 
     Said anchor element may include attachment means for attaching it to an item of clothing. 
     Said anchor element may be a male hook-and-loop fastening strip. 
     Said tensile element may be a female hook-and-loop fastening strip, and said tensile element may be removably attachable to an outer surface of said adhesive element. 
     Said tensile element may be removably attachable to said anchor element. 
     Said anchor element may be a hair accessory for securing the device in said subject&#39;s hair, and said tensile element may comprise hair that is removably attachable to an outer surface of said adhesive element. 
     Said item of clothing may be underwear, and said underwear may be a brassiere. 
     Said item of clothing may be a shirt, pants or a skirt. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, the invention will now be described by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a three dimensional view of a skin tightening device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a three dimensional view of a skin tightening device in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of a skin tightening device in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring to the drawings, reference numeral  10  generally indicates a device for tightening an area of skin of a human subject to provide a firmer and more youthful appearance without the need for surgery according to a first embodiment of the invention. 
     The skin tightening device  10  includes an anchor element that can be in the form of a belt  12  which is made of a flexible fabric or elastic material that can be secured around a part of a human body (not shown). The length of the belt  12  can be adjusted to fit comfortably around the body of a person by length adjustment means in the form of an adjustable clasp  14 . The clasp  14  can also be replaced by a hook formation, a hook-and-loop fastener (e.g. Velcro™), or any other suitable adjustment means. Alternatively, the .anchor element  12  can be adapted to be removably securable to another garment such as a shirt or a brassiere (not shown). 
     Adhesive elements  18  are provided for releasably adhering to the subject&#39;s skin adjacent the area of skin to be tightened. Each adhesive element  18  is removably attached to a tensile element  16  with releasable attachment means  20 . The tensile element extends between the adhesive element  18  and the belt  12 , and is removably attached to the belt  12  with releasable attachment means  22 . 
     The attachment means  20   22  may be hook-and-loop fasteners (e.g. Velcro™), clasps, belts, hook formations, or safety pins. The tensile element  16  can be made of a non flexible fabric, a flexible fabric or an elastic material, and includes length adjustment means in the form of an adjustable buckle  24  for adjusting the tension thereof. Other suitable length adjustment means can also be used. 
     The adhesive elements  18  can be made of a transparent or flesh-coloured flexible fabric and/or elastic material that include an adhesive coated surface  26  for adhering to the skin to be stretched. The adhesive coated surface  26  have a protective backing sheet. The adhesive coated surface  26  have sufficient area to maintain adherence to the skin with the tensile elements  16  under tension. The belt  12  and the adhesive elements  18  can have lace trimmings, thereby creating the appearance of a garter belt. 
     In use, the belt  12  is tied and secured around the body of a human subject near the area of skin that the subject wishes to have a firmer and more youthful appearance. The belt  12  can be tied around the waist, upper body, upper arm, upper leg or any other body part of the subject, or can be secured to another garment such as a brassiere or a shirt. The adhesive elements  18  are then attached to the tensile elements  16  by means of the attachment means  20 . Thereafter each adhesive element  18  is adhered to the skin by removing the backing sheet covering the adhesive surface  26 , and pressing the adhesive surface  26  to the skin close to the area where the subject wishes to have the skin appear smoother and more youthful. 
     Said tensile elements  16  are then placed under tension by pulling them towards the belt  12 , thereby pulling the adhesive elements  18  from a first position to a second position, and the movement of the adhesive element  18  under tension from the first position to the second position stretching the subject&#39;s skin in said area of skin to be tightened. 
     The tensile elements  16  are then secured to the belt  12  through the attachment means  22 . The tension in the tensile elements  16  can be adjusted at the adjustable buckles  24  until a desired stretching effect is achieved to give the skin a more youthful and firmer appearance. The belt  12  can be hidden by an item of clothing (not shown). 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  of the drawings, reference numeral  10 . 1  generally shows a skin tightening device in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. The skin tightening device  10 . 1  has components in common with the skin tightening device of  FIG. 1 . Like parts have been designated with like numerals to which the suffix “0.1” has been added. 
     The skin tightening device  10 . 1  includes an anchor element in the form of a male hook-and-loop fastener  12 . 1  that can be secured to a garment  13 . 1  in such a manner that the garment  13 . 1  hides the male hook-and-loop fasteners. The garment  13 . 1  can be a shirt, a belt, a brassiere or an undergarment such as hot pants. 
     A tensile element  16 . 1  is provided in the form of a female hook-and-loop fastener  16 . 1 . The female hook-and-loop fastener  16 . 1  is secured to a top surface of an adhesive element  18 . 1 . The adhesive element  18 . 1  is provided in the form of a flexible fabric and/or elastic material that includes an adhesive coated surface (not shown) for adhering to the skin to be stretched. The adhesive coated surface (not shown) has a protective backing sheet, and the surface has sufficient area to maintain adherence to the skin when the adhesive element  18 . 1  is placed under tension. 
     In use, the adhesive element  18 . 1  is adhered to the skin by removing the backing sheet covering the adhesive coated surface and pressing the adhesive coated surface to the skin next to the area where the subject wishes the skin to appear smoother and more youthful. The subject then pulls the female hook-and-loop fastener  16 . 1  towards the male hook-and-loop fastener  12 . 1 , thereby creating tension to stretch loose skin. The female hook-and-loop fastener  16 . 1  is then secured to the male hook-and-loop fastener  12 . 1 . 
     The tension in the female hook-and-loop fastener  16 . 1  can be adjusted by varying the distance between the adhesive element  18 . 1  and the male hook-and-loop fastener  12 . 1  until a desired stretching effect is achieved to give the skin a more youthful and firmer appearance. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  of the drawings, reference numeral  10 . 2  generally shows a skin tightening device in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention. The skin tightening device  10 . 2  has components in common with the skin tightening device of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Like parts have been designated with like numerals to which the suffix “0.2” has been added. 
     The skin tightening device  10 . 2  includes an anchor element in the form of a hairclip  12 . 2 . A tensile element  16 . 2  is provided in the form of hair that is secured to a male hook-and-loop fastener  30  in such a manner that the hair hides the male hook-and-loop fastener  30 . 
     An adhesive element  18 . 2  in the form of a flexible fabric and/or elastic material is provided that includes an adhesive coated surface (not shown) for adhering to the skin to be stretched. The adhesive coated surface (not shown) has a protective backing sheet, and the surface has sufficient area to maintain adherence to the skin when the adhesive element  18 . 2  is placed under tension. A female hook-and-loop fastener  20 . 2  is attached to a top surface of the adhesive element  18 . 2 . 
     In use, the adhesive element  18 . 2  is adhered to the skin by removing the backing sheet covering the adhesive coated surface and pressing the adhesive coated surface to the skin above the area where the subject wishes to have the skin appear smoother and more youthful. The subject then secures the male hook-and-loop fastener  30  to the female hook-and-loop fastener  20 . 2  and pulls the hair  16 . 2 , resulting in the skin being stretched. The hair  16 . 2  can be braided with the subjects own hair before it is secured with the teeth  22 . 2  of the hairclip  12 . 2 . Alternatively, the hair  16 . 2  can be glued to the subjects own hair. 
     The amount that the skin that is stretched can be adjusted by varying the distance between the adhesive element  18 . 2  and the hairclip  12 . 2  until a desired stretching effect is achieved to give the skin a more youthful and firmer appearance.