Patent ID: 8109279

Claim:
A hair clip, comprising: two body members each having a handle section and a hair-gripping section with teeth; and a spring-biased hinge pivotally coupling the body members together and permitting the body members to pivot between a closed position and an open position, wherein the handle sections each include at least one handle-deflecting opening and at least one handle-flexing region laterally adjacent the handle-deflecting opening that are adapted to permit the handle sections to deflect outwardly at the handle-flexing region into a low-profile flexed position when the hair clip is in the closed position, wherein the handle sections include mechanical stops that limit inward deflection of the handle sections, wherein each of the handle-deflecting openings is provided by an elongated recess formed into a lateral thickness of the respective handle section through an inner surfaces of the handle section, and the mechanical stops are provided by facing inner surfaces of the recess that interfere with each other when the handle sections are pivoted together toward the open position and the handle sections begin to deflect inwardly, and wherein the hair-gripping sections each include at least one teeth-deflecting opening and at least one teeth-flexing region laterally adjacent the teeth-deflecting opening that are adapted to permit the hair-gripping sections to deflect at the teeth-flexing region into a low-profile flexed position when the hair clip is in the closed position.