Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to hair accessories.

Background of the Invention

Various types of hair accessories, incorporating various mechanisms for attaching the hair accessory to the hair of a user, are known. One known form of hair accessory is an elastic in the form of a loop of elastic material that is stretched and slipped over a bundle of hair and, depending upon the size of the elastic and the bundle of hair, folded over so as to reduce the size of the aperture through the loop, with the elastic grabbing the bundle of hair for securement thereto. Various small decorative ornaments may be fixed to the elastic.

With the currently available forms of elastic loops with decorative ornaments, it is not feasible to utilise large decorative ornaments. Such large decorative ornaments inhibit handling of the elastic loop when attaching it to the bundle of hair, particularly when the elastic loop is stretched and folded.

With decorative ornaments effectively being limited to small sizes, design choices are limited and generally leave the elastic loop visually exposed.

Object of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention

There is disclosed herein a hair accessory comprising: a mounting component including an elastic loop attachable to a bundle of hair and a first magnetic member secured to said elastic loop; and an ornamental component including a second magnetic member magnetically engageable with said first magnetic member; wherein said ornamental component is provided with a concave face adapted to extend partially around said mounting component in use, said second magnetic member being secured to or integrally formed with said concave face.

Said first and second magnetic members may each be magnets. Alternatively, one of said first and second magnetic members may be a magnet, the other of said first and second magnetic members being formed of a ferromagnetic material.

Typically said ornamental component comprises an ornamental component body and said second magnetic member, said ornamental component body being provided with said concave face and said second magnetic member being fixed to said concave face.

The second magnetic member may be mounted within a recess provided in said concave face. The second magnetic member may be substantially flush with said concave face. Typically, said concave face is configured such that, when attached to a bundle of hair, at least half of a circumferential extent of said elastic loop is concealed by said ornamental component body.

There is further disclosed herein a method of securing a hair accessory as defined above to a bundle of hair, said method comprising: attaching said elastic loop to said bundle of hair; and magnetically engaging said second magnetic member to said first magnetic member.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of a mounting component of a hair accessory. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an ornamental component of a hair accessory. Fig. 3 is a partially cross-sectioned front elevation view of a hair accessory comprising the mounting component of Figure 1 and ornamental component of Figure 2 secured to a bundle of hair.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, a mounting component 1 of a hair accessory comprises an elastic loop 2 that is attachable to a bundle of hair and a first magnetic member 3 secured to the elastic loop 2. The first magnetic member 3 may be secured to the elastic loop 2 by any of various means, including by threading the elastic loop 2 through an aperture provided in the first magnetic member 3, bonding the first magnetic member 3 to the elastic loop 2, casting the first magnetic member 3 to the

elastic loop 2 or strapping the first magnetic member 3 to the elastic loop 2. The first ^' magnetic member 3 may be formed of any shape, colour, size and mass as desired.

Referring to Figure 2, an ornamental component 4 of a hair accessory comprises an ornamental component body 5 and a second magnetic member 6 fixed to the ornamental component body 5. The ornamental component body 5 forms the decorative ornament of the hair accessory and may be of any design as desired to match the decorative appearance required. The ornamental component body 5 may be also formed of any material including, but not limited to, resin, metal, timber, or plastics material.

As best depicted in Figure 3, the second magnetic member 6 is mounted within a recess 7 provided in the ornamental component body 5, such that the first magnetic member 6 is flush with the adjacent face of the ornamental component body 5. The recess 7 mounting the second magnetic member 6 is formed in a concave face 5 a of the ornamental component body 5.

The second magnetic member 6 may be fixed to the ornamental component body 5 by any suitable means, including bonding, casting in place within the recess 7, strapping or the like. The second magnetic member 6 may be mounted beneath the surface of the ornamental component body 5, with a thin layer of material covering the second magnetic member 6 while still enabling magnetic engagement with the first magnetic member 3. Both the first and second magnetic members 3, 6 may take the form of magnets, however it is envisaged that one of the first and second magnetic members 3, 6 may be formed of a ferromagnetic material (which will be magnetically attractable to a magnet), so long as at least one of the two magnetic members 3, 6 is formed of a magnet.

Referring to Figure 3, the hair accessory is attached to a bundle of hair 10 by first attaching the elastic loop 2 to a bundle of hair 10 in the usual manner. The attached elastic loop 2 will typically be positioned so that the first magnetic member 3 is positioned on the opposing side of the hair bundle 10 to the user's head to enable ready access for subsequent attachment of the ornamental component 4. The ornamental component 4 is then attached to the mounting component 1 by magnetically engaging the second magnetic member 6 with the first magnetic member 3. With the second magnetic member 6 being secured to the concave face 5a of the ornamental component body 5, the ornamental component body concave face 5a extends partially around the mounting component 1 such that the mounting component 1 is not readily visible, providing a neat appearance. The concave face 5a is here configured such that, in use, at least half of the circumferential extent of the elastic loop 2 and the underlying portion of the bundle of hair is concealed by the ornamental component body 5.

Whilst the ornamental component 4 described above is formed as a separate body 5 and second magnetic member 6, it is envisaged that the entire ornamental component 4 may be integrally formed of a ferromagnetic material which acts both as the second magnetic member 6 and the ornamental decoration of the hair accessory. In such a configuration, the first magnetic member 3 would be a magnet.