Such a band assembly is disclosed in US 5 562 111 and is used for wrapping pieces of paper or film around the bands, as a result of which it is possible to subject specific locks of hair to an individual treatment, such as a dye treatment. A"coupe soleil" (highlights) can be obtained in this way.

Such individually coloured locks of hair are found to be desirable by many users.

However, for the hairdresser this means that a particularly high degree of skill is needed in order to be able to achieve this. Therefore, band assemblies as described above have been developed, by means of which it is also possible for less experienced staff easily to colour individual locks of hair.

In practice it has been found that such a construction does not function satisfactorily and therefore recourse is again made to the manual operation known in the state of the art, as a result of which the application is once again restricted to highly experienced staff.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a band assembly which is easy to work with and with which a large variety of colour gradations can be introduced into the hair.

This aim is realised with a band assembly as described above in that there is a further band that extends from the central region of the back of the head to the neck region.

According to the present invention there are at least two essentially vertical parts of the band assembly on either side of the head. One of the vertical parts can be formed by a band that extends in accordance with the central forehead-back of the head-neck region line. The other of the vertical parts is located further to the side thereof in the direction of the ear, i. e. the face, of the user. As a result of the use of a further vertical band it is

possible to divide the side region of the head into various sub-regions and to give these different treatment. Moreover, a stable assembly, which does not shift easily, is obtained when the band assembly is fitted.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention it is possible to construct the transverse bands as transverse band sections. One of the transverse band sections extends between the two vertical parts of the central band and further band, whilst the other of the transverse band sections extends, depending on the positioning of the central band and the further band, between these and the front band. These band sections can be arranged at different levels and extend at different angles.

In practice, after the band assembly has been fitted, further transverse strands will be provided by the hairdresser. To this end there are facilities for fastening on the central band, the further band and the front band. This can comprise any construction known in the state of the art. More particularly, a combination consisting of such a transverse strand and a film material is provided. The transverse strand is preferably elastic and provided at the ends with thickenings that engage on the fastening means described above.

In this way the hairdresser can, in a rapid and effective manner, run strands around which the film material can be wrapped, after which colouring of the lock of hair concerned can take place.

With the present invention it is possible to carry out labour-intensive highlight or lowlight treatments more rapidly, more easily, with a prettier result and painless.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to illustrative embodiments shown in the drawing. In the drawing: Figs 1 a and b show, highly diagrammatically, a first variant embodiment of the band assembly according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a modification of the variant shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a further modification of the variant shown in Fig. 1; Figs 4 a-b show a further embodiment of the band assembly according to the invention; Figs 5 a-b show a further variant of the invention; Fig. 6 shows, in detail, fastening of a film material, Fig. 7 shows a variant of the fastening shown in Fig. 6 ; and Fig. 8 shows coupling of the fastening shown in Fig. 7.

The head of the user is shown in Fig. 1. A band assembly according to the invention has been fitted around the user's head. With regard to the position of the various bands from which this assembly is made up reference is made above and below to the normal use position of the band assembly, fitted on the user's head.

The band assembly can be made of any material known in the state of the art that is elastic to a greater or lesser extent.

The band assembly shown in Fig. 1 consists of a front band 1, which extends from the centre of the forehead along either side of the face/hair boundary. This front band 1 is provided with extensions at the ends thereof, which extensions can be fastened to one another, as a result of which the band assembly can be secured under the user's chin.

The band assembly according to Fig. 1 furthermore comprises a central band 6. This extends along the central line centre of forehead-centre of the back of the head-centre of the neck region. In the neck region this band is joined to a neck band 4. This is likewise provided with free ends that can be fastened to one another so as thus to provide fastening around the neck.

According to the present invention there is a further band 2 that extends essentially vertically and branches off from the central band 6.

Each of the bands described above is provided with attachment points 27 for positioning strands 23, after fitting the band assembly, around which strands 23 a film 26 can be wrapped so as thus to provide protection for locks of hair that are to be treated and are not to be treated. The various aspects are shown in detail in Fig. 6. It must be understood that the raised pieces or T-shaped parts 27 shown in Fig. 6 are fitted on the bands. The assembly consisting of the parts 23 and 26 can be supplied as an assembly. The film can be a transparent or opaque film. In the case of a transparent film the appearance of the hair under the film is readily visible.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 1 there is a transverse band 3 that provides stability and extends from the essentially vertical section of the central band 6, close to the back of the head/neck region, to the front band. This band 3 is essentially horizontal and attached to the further band 2.

As a result of the presence of the further band 2 it is possible to make such a horizontal band in two parts. Examples of this can be seen in Figs 2 and 3. In Fig. 2 the parts corresponding to what has been shown in Fig. 1 are provided with the same reference numerals increased by 10. In Fig. 3 the reference numerals have been increased by 20. In

Fig. 2 band sections 10 and 13, both of which are horizontal, have been arranged offset with respect to one another. In Fig. 3 the band sections 20 and 28 are indeed joined to one another, but section 28 is sloping. This can be achieved, inter alia, by being able to position this section 28 around the ear. Of course, combinations of the variants described above are possible.

A further embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 4. As in the previous embodiments, there is a front band 31, which can be fitted closely around the user's forehead in a manner not shown in more detail. Instead of the single central band 6 extending backwards to the neck region, there are now two parallel central bands 36,37 located some distance apart. These extend to approximately the middle of the head and are then continued as a single central band 38. The transverse band is indicated by 35 and the neck band by 34. The further band has reference numeral 35 and serves to link the bands 36,37 and 38. Here as well, the variants that have been shown with reference to Figs 1-3 are again possible.

As indicated above, after fitting the band assembly according to the invention firm fastenings to the head will be made by means of the fastening means fitted on the front band and by securing the neck band in position.

The strands 23 will preferably then be fitted, the hairdresser having great freedom in the positioning thereof because of the presence of the further band or, alternatively, further bands. By this means the film material 26 is arranged locally and colouring can take place.

Strands 23 can be elastic. Moreover, these can be provided with a thickening not only close to the ends (see Fig. 6) but also at an intermediate location to enable coupling to T-shaped parts 27. By this means it is possible, starting from a length of band, to provide the desired part by shortening.

Alternatives for the T-shaped parts 27 are shown in Figs 7 and 8. Coupling thereof is shown in particular in Fig. 8.

In the embodiment in Fig. 7 it can be seen that the bands shown there can be coupled to one another in the desired position in a simple manner by means of the T-shaped parts.

These can also be used for engaging on the thickenings on the parts 23 as shown in Fig. 6.

A further variant of the invention is shown in Figs 5 a-b that corresponds to the variant shown in Fig. 4 but where there is no central rear band 38 but the bands 46,47 extend as far as the neck band 44. The transverse band is indicated by 43, whilst the front band is indicated by 41.

Although the invention has been described above with reference to a preferred embodiment, variants that fall within the scope of the appended claims and are obvious after the above will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the art.