U.S. patent application number 09/976282 was filed with the patent office on 2002-05-16 for artificial eyelashes.
Invention is credited to Shin, Jong-Hyun.
Application Number | 20020056465 09/976282 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26633772 |
Filed Date | 2002-05-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020056465 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shin, Jong-Hyun |
May 16, 2002 |
Artificial eyelashes
Abstract
Artificial eyelashes having improved adhesive for easy
application, comfortable use, and repeated wear. The eyelashes
include a rolled projecting part that provides adjustability in
angle and a suitable contour for the eyelid. The lashes may be
reused, including refill tapes for protection of the adhesive
portion of the eyelashes when such lashes are not in use.
Inventors: |
Shin, Jong-Hyun; (Seoul,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JACOBSON HOLMAN
PROFESSIONAL LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
400 SEVENTH STREET, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20004
US
|
Family ID: |
26633772 |
Appl. No.: |
09/976282 |
Filed: |
October 15, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09976282 |
Oct 15, 2001 |
|
|
|
09582213 |
Jul 19, 2000 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
132/53 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41G 5/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
132/53 |
International
Class: |
A41G 005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 24, 1998 |
KR |
1998-22974 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Artificial eyelashes for removably mounting to human skin,
comprising: a plurality of artificial hairs joined by a connecting
strip running substantially perpendicular to said plurality of
hairs; an adhesive portion affixed to a back side of said
connecting strip, said adhesive portion being curved to form a
rolled projecting part; and a liner for covering said adhesive when
said eyelashes are not being worn.
2. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plurality of
artificial hairs are integral with said connecting strip.
3. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plurality of
artificial hairs are attached to said connecting strip by an
adhesive.
4. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 1, wherein said connecting
strip is a main yarn and said plurality of artificial hairs are
individually wrapped around said main yarn.
5. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 4, wherein said rolled
projecting part curves over a head portion of the wrapped hairs and
said main yarn.
6. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 1, wherein said adhesive
portion is transfer adhesive.
7. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 1, wherein said adhesive
portion is double-sided tape.
8. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 2, wherein said adhesive
portion is reuseable, said eyelashes including a plurality of
refill tapes for application to the adhesive portion upon removal
of the eyelashes from a user.
9. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 1, wherein said eyelashes
may be applied for use through adhesion of only a portion of said
rolled projecting part, allowing adjustment in an angle of said
lashes.
10. Artificial eyelashes for removably mounting to human skin,
comprising: a plurality of artificial hairs integrally formed with
a connecting strip running substantially perpendicular to said
plurality of hairs; an adhesive portion affixed to a back side of
said connecting strip, said adhesive portion being curved to form a
rolled projecting part for adjustable application to an eyelid; and
a plurality of tapes for covering said adhesive when said eyelashes
are not being worn, a respective tape affixed to said adhesive
portion being removed prior to use and then another respective tape
being adhered to said adhesive portion when the eyelashes are
removed from the eyelid.
11. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 10, wherein said adhesive
portion is transfer adhesive.
12. The eyelashes as set forth in claim 10, wherein said adhesive
portion is double-sided tape.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No.
09/582,213, filed Jul. 19, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to artificial eyelashes, which
have the advantage of being easy to use and comfortable to
wear.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] According to the prior art, artificial eyelashes are
attached to the human skin with liquid adhesive. In general,
products on the market offer a kit having several artificial
eyelashes and one adhesive. A user, often a woman, applies the
adhesive to a backing whenever she wants to wear the artificial
eyelashes. After applying the adhesive, the user has to wait until
it becomes tacky to stick. This is not only time consuming, but if
too much adhesive is used, it sometimes causes irritation of the
eyes. Furthermore, once opened, it is difficult to prevent the
adhesive from drying out.
[0006] To solve these problems, U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,175 to Hosokawa
and Japanese Utility Model No. Sho. 48-103288 attach the same side
of film to the eyelid after the artificial hair is adhered to one
adhesive side of the film. As shown in FIG. 1, a mounting part 101
receives individual hairs 102 which are connected with a supporting
yarn 103. While such a prior art approach solves the liquid
adhesive problem, additional problems associated with such
approaches have resulted in commercial failure.
[0007] Firstly, since the artificial hair and the backing are on
the same side, there needs to be a thick adhesive film ranging from
3 to 7 mm. When applied to human skin, this thick film protrudes
out beyond the eyelids, and the eyes of sensitive users can be
harmed. Some users will also feel some discomfort due to the
air-tight seal that results and will further be unable to apply eye
makeup. Other users, sensitive to the adhesive, may experience
reddening of the eyelid. Users having relatively large double
eyelids will also find the prior art lashes uncomfortable as the
adhesive film is located on the wrinkled part of the lid.
[0008] As a further drawback, while artificial eyelash wearers
generally prefer their lashes to sweep upward, the artificial
eyelashes according to the prior art are susceptible to drooping
downward due to the placement of the hairs between the backing and
the eyelid pushing the hairs downward. As a result, wearers have to
frequently readjust their artificial eyelashes with their hands or
with an eyelash tool.
[0009] In addition, the prior art artificial eyelashes are not only
expensive but cannot be reused due to the decreased adhesive
strength following use.
[0010] Lastly, it is desirable for artificial eyelashes to contour
to the shape of the eyelid. However, due to the thickness of the
backing of the prior art eyelashes, such contouring proves to be
very difficult and therefore makes wearing these artificial
eyelashes very inconvenient.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The purpose of this present invention is to solve the
problems of the prior art artificial eyelashes and to provide
artificial eyelashes which have the advantage of being easy to use
and comfortable to wear.
[0012] Another purpose of this invention is to provide artificial
eyelashes which have greatly reduced side effects, such as skin
irritation, and which do not interfere with the application of eye
makeup.
[0013] An additional purpose of this invention is to provide users
who have large double eyelids with comfortable artificial
eyelashes.
[0014] A still further purpose of this invention is to provide
artificial eyelashes which do not droop.
[0015] Yet another purpose of this invention is to provide
artificial eyelashes which can easily contour to the shape of the
wearer's eye.
[0016] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will
become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.
However, it should be understood that the detailed description and
specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the
invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various
changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from
this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a side view of conventional artificial
eyelashes;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a front view of the artificial eyelashes of the
present invention;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a side view of the artificial eyelashes of the
present invention;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of
the artificial eyelashes according to the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 5 is a side view of the artificial eyelashes of FIG.
4;
[0022] FIG. 6 is a side view of the artificial eyelashes of FIG. 4
with adhesive elements;
[0023] FIG. 7 illustrates application of the adhesive elements of
FIG. 6 to create a projecting part;
[0024] FIG. 8 is a side view of the lashes of FIG. 4 as worn by a
user;
[0025] FIG. 9 is a side view of the lashes of FIG. 7 as worn by a
user and showing the projecting part;
[0026] FIG. 10 depicts a further embodiment of the artificial
eyelashes according to the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 11 is a side view of the lashes of FIG. 10;
[0028] FIG. 12 is a side view of the lashes of FIG. 10 as worn by a
user;
[0029] FIG. 13 is a front view of the eyelashes of FIG. 10 with
refill tapes according to the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 14 is a perspective view of transfer adhesive for use
with the present invention; and
[0031] FIG. 15 is a perspective view of double-sided tape for use
with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0032] The invention will be evident from the following detailed
description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings
which illustrate the invention.
[0033] The present invention is directed to artificial eyelashes
having artificial hairs attached to an adhesive part for the hairs.
There is an adhesive sheet that is 0.5 mm to 2 mm in width for
attaching to the human skin.
[0034] FIG. 2 is a top view of a first embodiment of the artificial
eyelashes and depicts an adhesive sheet 3 attached to an adhesive
part 2 of the artificial hairs 1.
[0035] FIG. 3 is a side view of the artificial eyelashes of FIG. 2,
in which the adhesive part 2 of the artificial hairs 1 is affixed
to an upper layer a of the adhesive sheet 3 and a lower layer b is
the layer which is adhered to the eyelid. The lower layer b is
affixed to the product container or affixed to a back paper for
delivery to the users.
[0036] The proper width of the adhesive sheet 3 ranges from 0.5 mm
to 2 mm and, more preferably, from 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm. If smaller
widths are used, the adhesive strength decreases, while larger
widths reduce wearing comfort.
[0037] The adhesive sheet 3 is made of synthetic resins with an
adhesive layer such as polyester film and, more preferably, a
freely changeable nonwoven fabric or similar materials with an
adhesive layer for better wearing comfort. Since the adhesive sheet
is shaped in a half-arc like that of a natural eyelash, wearing
comfort is improved.
[0038] The thickness of the adhesive sheet must be at least 0.1 mm
and, more preferably, is less than 0.05 mm. The projecting length
of the adhesive sheet affixed to the adhesive part 2 of the
artificial hair should be 1.0 mm or less and, most preferably,
there is no projecting length. When projecting length is
eliminated, the end of the adhesive part 2 of the artificial hair
can be abutted well with the end of the adhesive sheet and there is
no interference to the application of eye makeup.
[0039] To improve the cosmetic effect, reflective materials or
coloring can be applied to the artificial hair 1, the extra part c
of adhesive sheet 3 or the lower part d of the adhesive sheet.
[0040] In general, users prefer colored eyelashes or eyelashes made
with reflective materials. In this present invention, reflective
materials and coloring may be applied easily. In the prior art,
such application is impossible without the use of extra supporting
materials.
[0041] A further embodiment of the present invention is depicted in
FIGS. 4-9. As shown in FIG. 4, the artificial hair 10 is wrapped
around a main yarn 12. Numerous hairs are wrapped side by side to
create a full artificial eyelash.
[0042] A side view of a single hair according to the embodiment of
FIG. 4 is depicted in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the back surface
of the yarn 12 with overwrapping hairs 10 includes an adhesive 14
having a liner 16. The liner 16 is removed prior to application of
the eyelash to the eyelid. According to a preferred embodiment, the
adhesive 14 is curved around the yarn 12 as shown in FIG. 7. The
resulting curved adhesive forms a rolled projecting part 18 which
is applied to the eyelid. The curvature of the rolled projecting
part 18 fits the eyelid naturally and allows adjustment in the
degree of upward slope of the eyelashes as the rolled projecting
part may be "rolled" to result in a greater upward lift. FIGS. 8
and 9 illustrate the eyelashes as worn.
[0043] A further embodiment of the present invention is shown in
FIGS. 10-13. In this embodiment, the eyelashes, generally
designated by the reference numeral 30, include artificial hairs 20
connected to one another by a strip 22 running substantially
perpendicular to the length of the hairs 20. The hairs 20 may be
fastened to the strip 22 or integral therewith. The back surface
22a of the strip 22, shown in the side view of FIG. 11, is treated
with an adhesive for application of the strip to the eyelid. As
shown in FIG. 12, the back surface 22a of the strip may include
curved adhesive forming a rolled projecting part 18.
[0044] The artificial eyelashes of the present invention are
designed to be reuseable through application of refill tapes 24 to
the exposed adhesive when the lashes 30 are not in use. The
adhesive portion of the lashes is initially covered with a tape 24
for storage and distribution to users. Prior to use, the user peels
off the tape 24 to expose the adhesive portion and then applies the
eyelash to the eyelid. When the wearer removes the lashes, a refill
tape 24 is aligned with and placed over the adhesive along the
strip. The tape protects the lashes from inadvertent adhesion to
inappropriate surfaces and preserves adhesive integrity for
repeated use.
[0045] As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the adhesive 14 may be
embodied, respectively, as transfer adhesive or as double-sided
tape such as that available through 3M.RTM.. As known in the art,
the double-sided tape may include two adhesive layers 14, a liner
16 and a separating film 26 such as polyester. Both transfer
adhesive and double-sided tape allow the mounting portion of the
eyelashes to remain thin and therefore afford improved wearing
comfort. The adhesive may also be embodied as a glue formulated for
use on human skin and allowing for both secure adhesion and easy
removal.
[0046] Because the adhesive portion of the artificial eyelashes
according to the present invention is very narrow, the lashes can
be easily attached between the lower part of a double eyelid and
the upper part of the natural eyelash and will smoothly contour to
the shape of the natural eyelash. Therefore, inconvenience and side
effects in wearing them can be minimized.
[0047] The artificial eyelashes of the present invention are
reusable by simply replacing the adhesive sheet after use. In
addition, the well-aligned adhesive tape does not project out which
can solve the disadvantage of conventional artificial eyelashes in
which the projecting film of synthetic resin has induced a
twinkling phenomenon and resulted in interference with the
application of eye makeup.
[0048] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that
the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be
regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,
and all such modifications as would be recognized by one skilled in
the art are intended to be included within the scope of the
following claims.
* * * * *