Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
2~5728
~AIRPIE~CE RE?AXNER
The present invention generally relates to methods
of attaching a covering over an area of baldness.
Typically, the covering is a hairpiece and the area of
baldness is on a subject's skin. For example, the area
of baldness may be on a individual's scalp.
Prior methods are known for attaching a covering
over a area of baldness on an individual'æ scalp. One
such method includes the use double sided adhesive tape
to attach a hairpiece directly to a bald area. However,
hairpieces so attached are not very secure and may be
inadvertently removed in addition to causing discomfort
to some individual~.
Other pxior methods include hair braiding or weaving
techniques. In methods such as those described in U.S.
Patents 3,871,389 (Bauer) and 4,771,798 ( Candino~,
natural hair surrounding an area of baldness is braided
or intertwined with several or more threads or filaments
to form a retainer around the periphery of the area of
baldness. The hairpiece is then attached to the
retainer, generally by use of another thread or filaments
sewn through both the retainer and the hairpiece. The
method described in U.S. Patent 4,372,330 (Nelson)
involves first twisting a pair of filaments to define a
winding with a series of eyes and then locking a series
of tufts of hair through the eyes of the winding. The
end of the filament pair may be anchored by knotting the
filaments to a tuft of hair and then applying a suitable
non-allergenic adhesive.
The methods described in the preceding paragraph may
provide a more secure attachment than two sided tape but
have certain disadvantages. Firstly, the techniques
re~uire intricate, time consuming and relatively
complicated intertwining of hair and threads or
filaments. Second, secure attachment of the retainer in
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each case requires extensive braiding or weaving of the
hair with the threads or filaments of the retainer such
that multiple points of contact are provided between the
threads and a particular length of hair. For example,
S Nelson prefers that each tuft of hair be braided through
a series of eyes in the winding. This requirement makes
it difficult to ensure secure attachment of the retainer
on short hair styles. Furthermore, the braid or weaving
creates a protuberance which may be visible or is
otherwise detectable by touch and, prevents the
attachment of the covering close to the scalp in the area
of the retainer.
In the prior method described in European Patent
application No. 224,8~ uller) published June 10, 1987,
a hairpiece is attached to the natural hair of the wearer
by knotting individual hairs to a thread which is a part
of the hair covering. This method may not suffer from
some of the disadvantages described above in respect of
techniques involving the creation of a braid or a
weaving. However, the technique will be time consuming
and complicated as it requires knotting of individual
hairs. Furthermore~ since a knot must be tied in each
hair, the h~irpiece will inevitably be attached some
distance ~rom the scalp.
It is desirable to provide a simple and efficient
method which will permit the secure attachment of a
covering to an area of baldness in such a way that the
covering will more closely resemble natural hair and will
be more difficult to detect, even by the touch of a hand
run through the hai.r.
The present invention provides a method of forming a
retainer for attachment thereto of a covering for an area
of baldness wherein the retainer defines a contour
205~72~
running through hair situated around all or part of the
area of baldness and it is secured to said hair, the
method including:
(i) disposing a first thread along the contour;
and
(ii) securing the first thread near the base of
each of a plurality of tufts of hair spaced along the
contour by knotting a second thread around said base and
the first thread.
The mèthod of this invention i~ suitable for forming
a retainer for attachment of a variety of coverings over
an area of baldness. Such coverings include hairpieces.
The area of baldness which may be covered is any bald
surface which is at least partially surrounded by hair or
hair-like material attached to the surface which includes
an area of baldness on the scalp of an individual.
The retainer which is formed by the method of this
invention is the structure to which a covering for an
area of baldness is attached. The retainer defines a
contour running through hair situated around all or part
of an area of baldness. Typically, the contour will be
close to and will generally parallel the hairline or
perimeter of an area of baldness. However, it is not
necessary that the contour exactly follow or parallel the
perimeter of the area of baldness and in ~ome cases it
may be convenient that the contour be situated some
distance from the area of baldness.
A component of the retainer formed by the method of
this invention is the first or anchor thread which is
disposed along the contour. The anchor thread is secured
near the base of each of a plurality of tufts of hair
adjacent the anchor thread and spaced along the contour.
Preferably, the anchor thread will be tautly disposed
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along the contour between each tuft o~ hair to which the
anchor thread is attached.
The anchor thread is secured near the base of a tuft
of hair by means of a knot tied in a second or knotting
thread around the anchor thread and the tuft of hair.
The plurality of knots provides some security of
attachment of the anchor thread to the hair without
weaving or otherwise intertwining the hair with the
threads of the retainer. Preferably, a suitable adhesive
is applied to some or all of the plurality of knots
providing a more secure attachment of the anchor thread
to the hair.
Since the anchor thread is securely attached at a
single point near the base of each of a plurality of
tufts of hair, the anchor thread will be disposed
immediately adjacent the skin. This feature, combined
with the absence of a braid or weaving, permits the
formation of a retainer that is difficult to detect sinc0
the protuberances created are small knots present near
the scalp.
A covering, such as a hairpiece, may be attached to
a retainer formed according to this invention by sewing
the hairpiece to the retainer. Typically, the hairpiece
is sewn to the anchor thread.
The anchor thread may be discontinuous, and be
present in the retainer as a series of segments.
Similarly, the knotting thread may be discontinuous as it
is possible that separate segments are used for each
knot.
In a preferred method of this invention, the anchor
and the knotting threads are continuous lengths. In such
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a case, the anchor thread may first be tautly disposed
along a selected contour and temporarily fixed by various
means, including the application of adhesive tape. A
first tuft of hair is selected adjacent the anchor thread
and a knot is tied around the base of the selected tuft
and the anchor thread using the knotting thread. ~ drop
of a suitable adhesive is applied to the knot thus
formed. The knotting thread is then drawn to a second
selected tuft of hair adjacent the anchor thread and i9
used to again tie the anchor th:read to the selected tu~t
of hair. The adhesive is then applied to the second knot
as in the previous step and the process is repeated
around the contour.
The use of continuous lengths of knotting and anchor
threads permits the method of this invention to be most
efficiently carried out, particularly if the knotting
technique described below, by way o~ example~ is
employed.
The anchor thread may be any thread or filament
known to be suitable for use in forming a hair retainer.
Preferably, the thread will have a composition and
diameter which will ~acilitate handling of the thread and
will provide secure attachment of the covering. For
example, a medium or coarse sewing thread such as is used
to prepare button holes or is used for top-sticking will
be suitable. A mixed silk and nylon thread is suitable,
such as SILCORA* thread (article 3306; size F) of Belding
Corticelli, Italy. Preferably, the colour of the thread
is selected to blend with the colour o an individual's
natural hair.
The knotting thread may be any similar thread or
filamen-t having a diameter and handling characteristics
which will permit the forming of a small knot around the
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base of a tuft of hair. Preferably, the knotting thread
will be as fine as may be conveniently used since a fine
thread will form a less obtrusive knot and will more
efficiently bind the anchor thread to a tuft having as
few as 4 - 5 hairs. A suitable knotting thread is a
fine, sewing thread such as Rice's SILAMIDE* thread,
waxed for hand sewing (size A; manufactured by A. H. Rice
Co. Inc., Pittsfield, Mass.).
Prefexably, the selected tufts of hair will be as
closely spaced as i9 convenient. A spacing of
approximately 9 - 13 millimeters is usually suitable. It
is preferable that the tufts of hair consist of
approximately 4 to 8 thick hairs. Where possible, the
fine hair often associated with an area of baldness on an
individual should not be used to form the tuft but
rather, the thick, adult hairs adjacent the area o~
baldness should be used.
The adhesive employed in this invention must be one
which will bond the thread or filament to hair~ The
adhesive should be suitable for application to living
tissue, be non-allergenic and, be resistent to wetting
and washin~. Cyanoacrylate adhesive has been found to be
suitable for application to natural hair. Preferably,
the adhesive is one which hardens quickly, enabling the
method of this invention to be carried out in the
stepwise fashion of the example described below, without
the delay which may be the result of an excessive
hardening time. A suitable cyanoacrylate adhesive with
applicator is PIC PLASTI STIC*, manufactured by Penn
International Chemicals of Mountainview, California.
Such an adhesive provides the advantages of rapid
hardening of a bond on natural hair and is sufficient
waterproof to permit wetting and washing of the hair.
* Trade-mark
20~728
Often, an area of baldness will be contiguous with
a region in which there is normally no hair. An example
is an area of bal~ness on a human scalp which merges
with the forehead region. In such circumstances, it is
possible to form a retainer which completely surrounds
the area of baldness by continuing the retainer along a
contour in the region where there is normally no hair.
The retainer, which will comprise at least the anchor
thread, is anchored to tufts of hair or both sides of the
region so that the retainer briclges the region. In some
circumstances, the retainer may be further secured in the
region by bonding the anchor thread directly to the skin
by means of a suitable adhesive such as the
aforementioned cyanoacrylate adhesive. Preferably, the
anchor thread is bonded to the skin at a series of spaced
apart points (for example, at 10 millimetre spacing).
The invention will be more fully described in the
following description by wa~ of an e~ample o~ a preferred
method of the invention, with reference to the attached
drawings:
Figures la - f are side views of an individual's
head illustrating the sequence of steps of a preferred
method of this invention and the application of a
hairpiece to a retainer formed according to the method
this invention.
Figure 2 is a schematic view of a pre~erred knotting
technique for securing the anchor thread to tufts of
hair.
Hairpieces which are intended to cover an area of
baldness on an individual's scalp are well known. Prior
to forming a retainer by the method o~ this invention, it
may be advantageous to make a mold of the individual's
20557~
area of baldness with a sheet of translucent plastic
film. A sheet of such a film is first placed on an
individual's head and then a line is drawn on the film
around the periphery of the area of baldness to be
coveredO The film is cut along the line resultin~ in a
mold having the shape of the ha:irpiece to be
manufactured. At the time that the mold is prepared, it
will be convenient to obtain a sample of hair to act as a
reference for the preparation oE a hairpiece that will
match the individual's hair.
Typically, the forementioned mold will be used as a
guide in the preparation of the hairpiece. The matrix of
the hairpiece is cut to fit the shape of the mold so that
the resulting hairpiece will fit the area of baldness.
Matrix materials for hairpieces are well k~own. Since a
hairpiece attached to the retainex produced by this
invention will remain over the area of baldness and will
be styled while attached to an individual's head, the
hairpiece should be designed to allow water to pass
through it, to be cleaned with shampoos, and ko contain
real or synthetic hair that behaves like real hair.
In a preferred method of this invention, the
retainer is formed in a stepwise fashion. RPferring to
Figure la, the anchor thread (10) is a continuous thread
and is positioned against the scalp of an individual
along a selected line (14) which represents a selected
contour running through the hair (16) of the individual
adjacent the area of baldness. In this case, line (14)
follows the periphery of an area of baldness which
exposes the scalp (12) on the top of the individual's
head.
In order to facilitate the location of line (14),
the mold of the area of baldness (prepared as described
~0~5728
above~, is placed on the individual's head and line (14)
is drawn on the scalp around the periphery of the mold.
In this way, it is possible to ensure that the rekainex
formed by the method of this invention will fit a
hairpiece that has been manufactured b~ using the mold of
the area of baldness.
The anchor thread is temporarily anchored by
placement of pieces of adhesive tape (18) at intervals
(e.g. 10 millimeters or, at points of directional change
of the contour) along line (14).
Referring to Figure lb, a knotting thread (20) is
optionally tied to the anchor thread (10) at a starting
point (22). In this case, knotting thread (20) i6 a
continuous thread. Referring to Figure lc, the
attachment of knotting thread (20) to anchor thread (10)
at starting point (22) is re-enforced by the application
of a drop of suitable, fast drying adhesive (24) directly
to the knot at starting point (22).
Once knotting thread ~20) has been attached to the
anchor thread (10) at starting point (22), several
strands of the individual's thick hairs adjacent the
anchor thread (10) near starting point (22) are gathered
into a tuft. The knotting thread (20) is drawn to the
base of the tuft of hair and is used to tie the tuft of
hair to the adjacent anchor thread (10) by the formation
of a small knot near the base of the tuft of hair as i~
shown in Figure l(d)~ The process is repeated at other
tufts of hair selected in sequence at intervals spaced
(e.g. 10 milLimeters) along line (14) whereby a series of
knots at tufts (26, 28, 30) etc., are formed. The knots
are spaced at a distance which is convenient for their
preparation and which will provide sufficient points of
attachment fo:r secure retention of the retainer.
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It is preferable that a suitable adhesive :s applied
to the knot formed at the base of each tuft of hair.
Providing that the adhesive is fast drying, it will be
convenient to apply the adhesive to each knot~ as it is
formed, before attending to forming the next knot in the
sequence.
Rather than positioning the anchor thread (10) along
the line (14) as is shown in Figure la, it may be
desirable to position the anchor thread (10) along line
(14) in a stepwise fashion as each tuft of hair is
selected and is tied to the anchor thread (10) with the
knotting thread (22). In the latter procedure, it may
not be necessary to temporarily secure the anchor thread
(10) with means such as adhesive tape (18), but it will
be necessary to manage or manipulate both the anchor
thread (10) and the knotting thread (20) as the retainer
is formed.
In Figure ld, the anchor thread (10) is shown in the
region of the forehead (32) in order to illustrate how
such a region may be bridged when there is no natural
hair adjacent the anchor thread. In this case, the
anchor thread is attached to hair at knot (26) and a
corresponding knot which is located at the other side of
the forehead region (32) and is not illustrated here.
The anchor thread may also be attached to forehead region
(32) by bonding with a suitable adhesive (24), preferably
applied in a series of spaced apart ~e.g. 10 millimetre)
drops.
As shown in Figure le, a hairpiece (38) is placed
over the area of baldness and is sewn to the retainer
formed by anchor thread (10) along line (14) by means of
sewing thread (34). At some or all of the stitches thus
formed, sewing thread (34) may be knotted, such as is
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shown as knot (40). Knot (40) may be secured by the
application of a suitable adhesive. As is shown in
Figure lf, the hairpiece (38) may be styled, for example
by shaping with scissors (42) to compliment natural hair
(16)-
In order to facilitate handling, it may be useful to
thread the leading end of the knotting thread ~20) to a
sewing needle which is manipulated to perform the process
of this invention.
A simple knotting procedure may be used which will
permit the process of this invention to be carr'ed out
with greater efficiency. Referring to Figure 2, there is
illustrated a portion of line (14) with anchor thread
(10) superimposed. Adjacent adhesive tape (18~ is the
knot at starting point (22) which was formed when
knotting thread (20) was first tied to anchor thread
(10). It should be understood that it is often
convenient but is not necessary to tie knotting thread
(20) to anchor thread (10) at the starting point (22)
since in any event the knotting thread is to be tied to
the anchor thread at the first selected tuft of hair.
In Figure 2, a first selected tuft of hair (26)
comprising approximately 4 to 8 thick hairs is gathered
adjacent starting point (22). At the leading end of
knotting thread (20) is sewing needle (44). From Figure
2, it will be appreciated that sewing needle (44) was
passed under the anchor thread (10) at a point adjacent
the side of tuft (26) which is opposite to starting point
(22). Needle (44) was then passed around the base of
tuft (26) in the direction of starting point (22); over
anchor thread (10); and then under the trailing portion
(46) of knotting thread (20). At this stage, a half-
hitch knot has been formed and when the leading end of
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knotting thread t20) at needle (44) is pulled tight, the
knot will tie the base of tuft (26) to the anchor thread
(10). As is shown in Figure 2, and for the purpose of
additional security, of needle (44) may then be passed
under trailing portion (46) of the knotting thread
thereby forming loop (48) through which the needle (44)
is then passed. In this way, an additional knot is
formed which locks the hal-hitch. The use of the
addition to the half-hitch is particularly desirable when
trailing portion (46) is free (e.g. there is no knot at
starting point (22)) or when additional security is
desired because adhesive will not be applied to the knot~
Referring again to Fiqure 2 the leading end of the
knotting thread (20) at needle (44) is drawn towards a
second selected tuft ~28) and the knotting procedure is
repeated. Preferably, the portion of the knotting thread
(20) which will be disposed between the knots formed at
selected tufts (26) and (28) will be kept taut. The
procedure of selecting tufts of hair and use of knotting
thread (20) to tie anchor thread (10) to each tuft is
repeated along line (14) around the area of baldness.
The retainer may be completed by tying the knotting
thread (20) to the anchor thread (10), for example in the
same way as at starting point (22).
It is preferable that as each knot is formed ~for
example at starting point (22) or at a selected tuft such
as tuft (26)), a suitable, fast drying adhesive is
applied to the knot. It has been found that a drop of
PIC PLASTI STIC* applied to a knot will harden
sufficiently in approximately 3 seconds which will not
delay the procedure. However, it is also possible to
apply the adhesive to selected knots once the retainer
has been formed around the contour.
* Trade-mark
20~728
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Once the retainer has been formed, a hairpiece may
be attached by known means. For example, the hairpiece
may be sewn to the retainer. Preferably, the thread or
filament used for sewing will be colour matched to the
hairpiece and will be sufficient:ly fine so as to be
difficult to detect. A thread such as that used for
knotting thread (20) is suitable. When practicing this
invention, it may be convenient to provide knotting
thread (20) in a sufficient length such that when the
retainer is formed, there remains a suficient amount of
the thread available at its leacling en~ to be used for
sewing the hairpiece to the retainer.
The stitches ~ormed when sewing the hairpiece to the
retainer should be located between each point of
attachment of the anchor thread to the tufts of hair or
to the skin. A preferred way of forming the stitches
when sewing the hairpiece to the retainer is to employ
the same knotting procedure shown in Figure 2 employing a
chain of half-hitches, with or without the additional
locking knot. A suitable adhesive may be applied to some
or all of the knots formed when sewing the hairpiece to
the retainer, in particular those half-hitches which are
not locked with the additional knot. It is advantageous
to secure at least the first and final knots formed in
the sewing procedure with the adhesive.
It will be necessary to periodically remove a
hairpiece from a retainer formed by this invention. For
example, it will occasionally be necessary to re-
position the hairpiece to compensate for hair growth. It
may also be necessary to occasionally re attach the
retainer usin~ a suitable adhesive to ~n area where there
is no hair, such as region ~32) shown in Fi~ure l(d~.
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In some cases where the hairpiece is to be removed
entirely, it may only be necessary to cut the sewing
thread (34) used to sew the haixpiece to the retainer.
In cases where the retainer must be re-formed such a~ to
compensate for hair growth, it will be necessary to cut
through the threads forming the retainer between each
point of attachment of the anchor thread (10) to the
tufts of hair. When the knots which attach the retainer
to the tufts of hair have been secured by an adhesive, it
will be desirable to remove the knot and adhesive by
application of a suitable de-bonding compound. When PIC
PLASTI STIC* cyanoacrylate glue is used, a suitable de-
bonder is PIC APART* de-bonder and cleaner, manufactured
by Penn International Chemicals. After the retainer and
hairpiece has been removed, the individual's hair may be
trimmed, the retainer reformed and, the hairpiece re-
attached. By use of the process of this invention,
reforming of the r~tainer and re-attachment of the
hairpiece may be quickly and easily performed.
It will be readily understood in the art that the
description set out above is by way of example only. The
method described may be modified and still remain within
the spirit if the invention as defined in the appended
claims.
Although the present invention has been described in
some detail by way of example for purposes of clarity and
understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes
and modifications may be practised within the scope of
the appended claims.
* Trade-mark
