Abstract:
A template for cutting hair comprising a strip of material, the material having first and second sides, the first side bearing an indicia to guide cutting of the hair, and the second side adapted to receive an adhesive to secure the strip to a person.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a hair cutting template, in particular, to a template which allows cutting of a portion of a person&#39;s hair as guided by the template.  
         [0002]     Applicant is aware of the following U.S. Patents directed to hair cutting accessories: Metzler, U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,198; Marcotte, U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,991; Hamilton U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,122; Yampolskaya, U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,280, and Denebeim, U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,941. Applicant is also aware of a product known as Fringe Kit ©MLIS, Inc. which shows an adhesive tape which can be applied to the forehead of the user. The tape is used as a guide in the process of cutting the hair. However, the tape described in the above product information does not provide the user with any graphical indication of how the hair should be cut.  
         [0003]     There is a need for a hair template which allows a person to conveniently cut a person&#39;s hair along clearly marked indicia in order to obtain a desired hairstyle.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The above and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a template for cutting hair comprising a strip of material, the material having first and second sides, the first side bearing an indicia to guide cutting of the hair, and the second side adapted to receive an adhesive to secure the strip of material to a person.  
         [0005]     The template can be in the form of a tape cut to the desired length by the user or can be provided in various preset lengths.  
         [0006]     The above objects of the invention are also achieved by a method of cutting hair comprising applying a strip of material to a person&#39;s body with an adhesive, the strip of material having an indicia thereon to guide cutting of the hair, and cutting the hair with a cutting instrument guided by the indicia. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  shows a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  shows the embodiment of  FIG. 1  applied as an example to a person&#39;s forehead to facilitate the cutting of bangs;  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  shows an example of the invention applied to a person&#39;s neck or upper back to facilitate the cutting of the back of the hair;  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  shows another embodiment; and  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  shows details of one embodiment of the adhesive strip on the back side of the template. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     With reference now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows one embodiment of the present invention. The invention comprises a strip of material  10 , e.g., paper, plastic, cloth or other suitable material, having on a front side an indicia  20  which may be a straight or curved line or any other indicia which will guide a hair cutting operation. The indicia  20  may have any desired shape, e.g., a straight, curved or even a jagged shape. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the template  10  bears a graphical indicia comprising a line which is curved at its left-most and right-most portions and is meant to serve, for example, as a guide for cutting the bangs above a person&#39;s forehead. Although the strip of material is shown applied to a person&#39;s forehead for guiding the cutting of bangs along the line  20 , e.g., with scissors, the strip of material could be applied to any other portion of the person&#39;s body to facilitate cutting of other portions of the person&#39;s hair.  
         [0013]     The strip of material may be in the form of a tape cut to the desired length by the user, from, for example, a roll of the material or may be provided in preset lengths.  
         [0014]     On the back side of the template  10 , an adhesive is provided, preferably an adhesive covered by a removable peel-away protective layer which is removed prior to use.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  shows one example of the template  10  in use. The template is illustratively applied to the person&#39;s head, for example on the forehead above the eyes. The bangs of the person&#39;s hair  22  hang over the template  10 . While facing a mirror, the person can now cut the bangs  22  along the graphical indica  20  using, for example, scissors  11  resulting in the bangs of the person  20  conforming to the graphical indicia  20  on the template  10 . Alternatively, another person could cut the hair.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  shows the invention being used to cut the back of the hair. The template is applied to the back of the neck or to the upper back to serve as a guide for cutting the back of the hair. The template could be applied to any other portion of the user&#39;s head or body to serve as a guide for cutting the hair. Preferably, particularly when the back of the hair is being cut, another person would cut the person&#39;s hair.  
         [0017]     Further, the indicia need not be a drawn or printed indicia. It can be raised or embossed indicia which can be used as a guide for the cutting tool or as a tactile guide for cutting. Further, the indicia  20  can comprise both a drawn or printed indicia as well as a raised or embossed indicia.  
         [0018]     According to a further embodiment of the present invention, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the graphical indicia  20  may comprise both a straight line  20 A and a curved line  20 B. This will enable the user to cut, for example, both straight bangs and bangs that curve downwardly at the ends.  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  shows the rear or adhesively covered side of a further embodiment of the invention. In order to facilitate removal of the peel-away strip covering the adhesive on the back of the template, the peel-away strip may be cross-cut vertically as shown at  30 , like an adhesive bandage. In addition, or alternatively, the peel-away protective strip may be cut horizontally along the longitudinal axis  32  of the template. This will enable persons with longer bangs, for example, to peel away only the upper half of the strip and place the tape lower down on the forehead, thus preventing adhesive from coming into contact with the eyes.  
         [0020]     Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention should be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.