Hair accessory and method of use

Abstract

A hair accessory for integration with a person's head of hair is described in this disclosure. The hair accessory illustratively includes a plurality of supplemental hairs, an attachment band that provides means for removably coupling the plurality of supplemental hairs to natural hairs included in the person's head of hair, and an outer strip coupled to the attachment band to cover at least a portion of the coupling means. The attachment band is illustratively flexible and couples to natural hairs included in the person's head of hair mechanically.

1 . A hair accessory for integration with a person's head of hair, the hair accessory comprising
 a plurality of supplemental hairs,   a flexible attachment band coupled to the plurality of supplemental hairs and configured to couple the plurality of supplemental hairs to the person's head of hair, the flexible attachment band including a connector panel, an engagement panel coupled to the connector panel and configured to move relative to the connector panel between an opened position spaced apart from the connector panel to a closed position overlaying the connector panel, and a plurality of spaced apart fasteners coupled to an inner surface of the flexible attachment strip, each of the plurality of spaced apart fasteners configured to clamp a plurality of natural hairs in the person's head of hair and retain the engagement panel in the closed position, and   an outer strip coupled to the attachment band and configured to cover at least a portion of an outwardly facing surface of the flexible attachment band to obscure at least a portion of the outwardly facing surface of the flexible attachment band so that the flexible attachment band is hidden from view and an exterior surface of the outer strip is exposed,   wherein the plurality of supplemental hairs are sandwiched between the flexible attachment band and the outer strip such that a portion of the outer strip overlies the plurality of supplemental hairs in order to be visible and display an ornamental adornment associated with the exterior surface of the outer strip when the hair accessory is integrated with the plurality of natural hairs in the person's head of hair.   
     
     
         2 . The hair accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the outer strip ornamental adornment is provided by a piece of jewelry including a plurality of authentic gemstones, a plurality of costume gemstones, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The hair accessory of  claim 2 , wherein the piece of jewelry further includes the plurality of authentic gemstones, the plurality of costume gemstones, or a combination thereof suspended from the attachment band by a plurality of hangers such that at least some of the plurality of authentic gemstones, the plurality of costume gemstones, or a combination thereof are spaced apart from the attachment band. 
     
     
         4 . The hair accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the ornamental adornment is provided by a piece of material formed to display an animal print design. 
     
     
         5 . The hair accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the ornamental adornment is provided by a plurality of feathers extending away from the attachment band. 
     
     
         6 . The hair accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the outer strip includes a mesh sheet coupled to the attachment band and positioned such that at least a portion of the ornamental adornment overlies the mesh sheet. 
     
     
         7 . The hair accessory of  claim 3 , wherein each of the plurality of fasteners include a lock tooth coupled to the connector panel and a catch coupled to the engagement panel, each catch of the fastener is arranged to engage a corresponding lock tooth upon movement of the engagement panel to the closed position, and the engagement panel is flexible such that each catch is configured to engage the corresponding lock tooth one at a time in response to pressing and sliding of a user's finger along the engagement panel when the engagement panel is arranged over the connector panel. 
     
     
         8 . The hair accessory of  claim 6 , wherein the mesh sheet is configured to couple to the plurality of supplemental hairs at an attachment end of the supplemental hairs such that a free end of the supplemental hairs extends away from the attachment band. 
     
     
         9 . The hair accessory of  claim 7 , wherein the engagement panel is formed to include a plurality of apertures that extend through the engagement panel, each of the plurality of apertures is located between at least four catch posts included in the catch, the at least four catch posts are forming a rectangle around the plurality of apertures and configured to cooperate with the plurality of apertures to guide and receive a portion of the lock tooth when the engagement panel is in the closed position. 
     
     
         10 . The hair accessory of  claim 8 , wherein the ornamental adornment is provided by a piece of jewelry configured to cover at least a portion of the exterior surface of the outer strip and the attachment ends of the plurality of supplemental hairs. 
     
     
         11 . A hair accessory for integration with a person's head of hair, the hair accessory comprising
 a flexible attachment band configured to couple to the person's head of hair, the flexible attachment band including a flexible connector panel, a flexible engagement panel that moves relative to the flexible connector panel from an opened position spaced from the flexible connector panel to a closed position overlaying the flexible connector panel, and a plurality of spaced apart fasteners coupled to an inner surface of the flexible attachment strip, each of the plurality of spaced apart fasteners configured to clamp hairs in the person's head of hair and to retain the flexible engagement panel in the closed position, and   an outer strip coupled to the flexible attachment band and configured to cover at least a portion of an outwardly facing surface of the flexible attachment band to obscure at least a portion of the outwardly facing surface of the flexible attachment band so that the flexible attachment band is at least partially hidden from view, wherein the outer strip is visible and displays an ornamental adornment associated with an exterior surface of the outer strip when the hair accessory is integrated with the plurality of natural hairs in the person's head of hair.   
     
     
         12 . The hair accessory of  claim 11 , wherein the outer strip is sized to extend a length of an outwardly facing surface of the engagement panel, the engagement panel extends between an outer end of the engagement panel and a flexible tether, the flexible tether extends from the flexible connector panel to the flexible engagement strip, the attachment band is a single monolithic flexible component. 
     
     
         13 . The hair accessory of  claim 11 , wherein the outer strip includes a mesh sheet coupled to the attachment band and positioned such that at least a portion of the ornamental adornment overlies the mesh sheet. 
     
     
         14 . The hair accessory of  claim 12 , wherein the outer strip is formed from a substantially different material than the attachment band. 
     
     
         15 . The hair accessory of  claim 13 , wherein the mesh sheet is sized to extend a length of the outwardly facing surface of the attachment band and is coupled to the outwardly facing surface of the attachment band and a plurality of supplemental hairs, the plurality of supplemental hairs include an attachment end coupled to the mesh sheet, a free end spaced apart from and extending away from the attachment end, and a middle section therebetween. 
     
     
         16 . The hair accessory of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of supplemental hairs includes a plurality of short supplemental hairs extending upwardly away from the attachment band and a plurality of long supplemental hairs extending downwardly away from the attachment band. 
     
     
         17 . The hair accessory of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of supplemental hairs are configured to appear to extend from a scalp of the person's head upon coupling the hair accessory to the the plurality of natural hairs in the person's head of hair. 
     
     
         18 . The hair accessory of  claim 17 , wherein the ornamental adornment is provided by a piece of jewelry including a plurality of authentic gemstones, a plurality of costume gemstones, or a combination thereof coupled to the plurality of supplemental hairs at the attachment ends of the plurality of supplemental hairs coupled to the mesh sheet. 
     
     
         19 . The hair accessory of  claim 18 , wherein the piece of jewelry is sized to extend at least a majority of the length of the outwardly facing surface of the attachment band 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The hair accessory of  claim 11 , wherein the out the outer strip is sized to extend a length of an outwardly facing surface of the engagement panel, the engagement panel extends between an outer end of the engagement panel and an inner end of the engagement panel and is spaced apart from and independent of the connector panel when in the open position.