BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Hair salons have basins for washing customers'hair. The customer has to lay back with his neck against the edge of the basin, which forms a neck support area, and tilt his head over the edge to ensure that his hair may be washed without spilling water onto his clothes.

There is a wide range of basin designs available all of which aim to, at least to some extent, provide a customer with a relatively comfortable support.

However, a common problem with these basins is that the edge of the basin does not offer a comfortable support for a customer's neck and the edge may in some instances cause extreme discomfort and may also exacerbate a neck injury.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a cushion for a hair-washbasin, which at least partly overcomes the mentioned problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention there is provided a hair-washbasin cushion configured and dimensioned to be securable to a hair-washbasin neck support area, to operatively cushion a person's neck against the neck support area.

There is further provided for the cushion to include a support formation complimentarily shaped to a person's neck, preferably the portion of the neck adjacent the base of the skull.

There is still further provided for the cushion to comprise front and rear sections, for the front section to be operatively located on the outside of the washbasin and for the rear section to be operatively located inside the washbasin, and for the support formation to comprise a depression in the front section of the cushion.

There is also provided for the rear section to include a bifurcation, and for the arms of the bifurcation to operatively extend downwards into the washbasin.

There is further provided for the cushion to include an engagement portion complimentarily shaped to the neck support area, and for the engagement portion to be dimensioned to fit over an edge of the washbasin which operatively forms the neck support area, preferably by means of a press fit.

There is further provided for the cushion to include securing means, preferably at least one suction cup, further preferably for a suction cup to be located on the

front section and a suction cup to be located on each of the arms of the bifurcation.

The invention also provides for a cushion as defined above which includes a cushioning pad securable to the front section of the cushion, for the cushioning pad to include a gel, and further for the cushion to be deformable ; alternatively for the cushion itself to comprise a cover which contains a cushioning material, preferably a temperature sensitive material or a plastics material, further preferably a polyurethane material; and for the temperature sensitive material to comprise a gel.

There is still further provided for the cushion to be manufactured from a polyurethane material, for the cover to comprise a skin of cured polyurethane and for the cushioning material to comprise polyurethane foam, preferably polyurethane commercially available under the trade name Durato 1017 from the Dupont Company.

A still further feature of the invention provides for hair-washbasin cushion comprising a base support with a cushioning pad, preferably a deformable base, the cushioning pad includes a temperature sensitive material, preferably a gel, further preferably a water based orthopaedic gel, in a skin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention are described below by way of example only and with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a hair-washbasin cushion according to the invention; Figure 2 is a view of the rear section of the cushion of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a part sectional view of the cushion of Figure 1 shown secured to a hair-washbasin; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a hair- washbasin cushion according to the invention; Figure 5 is a view of the rear section of the cushion of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a part sectional view of the cushion of Figure 4 shown secured to a hair-washbasin; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a hair-washbasin cushion according to the invention; Figure 8 is a view of the rear section of the cushion of Figure 7; and Figure 9 is a part sectional view of the cushion of Figure 7 shown secured to a hair-washbasin; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A first embodiment of a cushion (1) is shown in Figures 1 to 3. The cushion (1) is configured and dimensioned to be securable to a hair-washbasin neck support area (2), to operatively cushion a person's neck against the neck support area (2). The cushion (1) includes front (3) and rear (4) sections and includes a support formation (5) complimentarily shaped to the portion of the neck adjacent the base of the skull. The support formation (5) comprises a depression (6) in the front section (3) of the cushion (1).

The rear section (4) includes a bifurcation (7), and the arms (8) of the bifurcation operatively extend into a hair-washbasin (9).

The cushion also includes an engagement portion (10) complimentarily shaped to the neck support area (2). The cushion also includes securing means, in this embodiment three suction cups (11), a first suction cup (11A) on the front section and second and third suction cups (11B) on the arms (8) of the bifurcation.

The first suction cup (11A) secures to the outside of the hair-washbasin, and the second and third suction cups (11 B) on the inside of the hair-washbasin.

The cushion is manufactured from polyurethane commercially available under the trade name Durato 1017 from the Dupont Company. The polyurethane is moulded into the desired shape, which cures with a polyurethane skin around a polyurethane foam.

In use the cushion (1) is secured to the neck support area (2) of the hair- washbasin (9). When person leans back onto the hair-washbasin to have his hair washed the cushion provides cushioning between the person's neck and the neck support area (2).

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 4 to 6. This shows a cushion (20) similar to the first embodiment, apart from the thickness of the cushion (20), which essentially forms a cushion base (21) in this embodiment.

In this embodiment a gel-filled pad (22) that is secured to the cushion (20) provides the cushioning. The pad (22) is secured to the cushion base (21) by means of a Velcro fastener to allow easy detachment of the pad (22) from the base (21).

This provides a person with the option of acquiring his own personal gel pad (22), which may then conveniently be attached to base (21) at a hair salon. This could be desirable for hygienic reasons. The gel is a water-based orthopaedic gel, which may be heated or cooled for added comfort to a person.

A third embodiment is shown in Figures 7 to 9. As with the second embodiment, this cushion (30) includes a base (31) to which a gel-filled pad (32) for cushioning is secured. The base (31) is deformable which allows the cushion (30) to be fitted to any shape hair-washbasin.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that there are other embodiments of cushions for hair-washbasins that fall within the scope of the invention. It is for instance possible to use a different material for the cushioning element. It is also possible to secure the cushion by means other than suction cups to a hair-washbasin. , and to secure the gel-filled pad to the base.