Field of the Invention

The invention relates to neck shields.

Review of Art known to the Applicant

The invention seeks to provide an effective, simple and cheap way of stopping fibres, liquids, powders and hairs falling between the neck and the neck-owner's clothing. This problem is most often encountered in the barber's chair, especially when the hair is cut wet, and the irritation of having hairs down the back of one's collar is all too well known.

Various types of towels, capes and cotton wool strips are used to try to overcome this problem. These methods are cumbersome and mainly ineffective. The traditional barber's cape or sheet, tied round the neck, may for example be augmented by a strip of tissue interposed between the sheet and the neck in an attempt to stop hairs, trimmed by the barber, from falling down between the sheet and the neck.

Such a strip of tissue is of limited length, typically some eight inches (say twenty centimetres) and it extends along only the back region of the neck. It does not, as the sheet does, encircle the neck. But however tightly and carefully the sheet is tied over the back-neck strip of tissue, hairs still get down behind the neck-owner's collar.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention in its broadest aspect , there is provided a neck sheil d comprising a sheet of plastics, paper or other suitable material with a self-adhesive strip on that part of the shiel d which , in use , fixes to the neck ; and means for protecting the self-adhesive strip whilst in storage.

The sheet of material is of cour se cut or otherwise formed into a shape which shoul d be relatively comfortable when affixed to the neck . Two presently preferred ways of doing this are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described with reference to those drawings . But these , whil st constituting the best ways currently known to the appli¬ cant of putting the invention into practice , are only examples of forms which the invention might take within its broadest aspect .

In one of these embodiments , the neck shiel d encircles the neck with the self -adhesive strip fixing to the neck and then to itself where the ends of the neck shield overlap .

In another embodiment , the neck shield is of limited length and affixes onl y to the back of the wearer ' s neck .

The neck shield may be disposable .

The neck shield may include along an edge spaced from the adhesive strip a shaping means embedded in or attached to the periphery of the shiel d wherein the shaping means maintain the neck shiel d in position in use.

Either of these embodiments of the invention may be included in a pack of neck shiel ds , each shiel d comprising a sheet of plastics , paper or other suitable material with a self- adhesive strip on that part of the shiel d that fixes to the neck in use ; each shiel d incorporating means for protecting

the self-adhesive strip.

The neck shields may be packaged so that when they are with¬ drawn from the pack at least part of another neck shield is withdrawn from the pack. Preferably the shields are disposed in adhesive-strip-alignment.

Each shield is, preferably, connected to another shield- in the pack. The shields may have perforation strips between them to enable each shield to be separated from the adjacent shield. The pack may include cutting means where the shields are removed therefrom to perform the same function.

Preferably the neck shields are packaged in a generally conical form. The neck shields are preferably withdrawn from the interior of the wider end of the cone. The adhesive strips are, preferably, disposed towards the narrower end of the cone. The neck shields may be packed in a manner that causes them to enclose a generally conical volume.

The neck shields in the pack may include marker means to indicate that the pack is nearly empty.

Each of these embodiments will now be described in detail.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows in perspective the first neck shield embodiment, before fixing to the wearer's neck.

Figure 2 illustrates the removal of the adhesive strip protecting means from the self-adhesive strip;

Figure 3 shows the neck shield when fixed round the wearer's neck;

Figure 4 shows the second neck shield in a condition corres¬ ponding to that of Figure 2 ;

Figure 5 shows this second neck shield fixed round the wearer ' s neck ;

5 Figure 6 shows in perspective a pack of neck shields , some of which have been withdrawn from the pack ;

Figure 7 shows the pack enlarged, illustrating the hole through which the neck shiel ds are removed (the neck shields have been omitted for clarity ) ; and in plan vie ;

- Figure 8 is a cross-section on the line VIII-VIII in Figure

7 .

Etescription of the Preferred Embodiments

Referring to Figures 1 , 2 and 3 of the drawings , the neck shield shown comprises a sheet of material 1 which is initially ^• " ^■ -' rectangular in shape and which is inherently sufficiently flexible to drape in cape-style around a wearer ' s neck . The sheet could , for example , comprise relatively thin flexible plastics sheeting such as that sold under the trade mark POLYTHENE which can readily be cut to shape by known methods .

20 The sheet 1 incorporates an adhesive strip 2 running along substantially the whole of one of its longitudinal edges. There is a part-circular cut out region occupying the mid-portion of the adhesively-stripped edge , and the adhesive strip follows the contours of this cut out as shown.

25 A protective peel -off strip 3 , also shaped to follow the contours of the cut out , is normally -overlaid onto the self-adhesive strip in order to protect it from dirt and so on whilst in storage . In practise , it is envisaged that large numbers of these neck shields will be packed fairly tightly one on top

of another, for example in boxes to be dispensed one at a time in much the same way that paper towels are dispensed. The self-adhesive strip protector 3 is thus essential, as much to prevent successive sheets from inadvertently sticking to one another in the pack.

In order to affix the neck shield 1 to the neck, the protective strip 3 is removed. Figure 2 shows the beginning of the re¬ moving movement, one end of the strip 3 being thumbed-up and then peeled back in known manner. The shield, which in this embodiment is a cape-style shield covering the wearer's shoulders as well as affixing to his neck, is then wrapped around the neck of the subject with the part-circular cut out encircling the neck.

The length of adhesive 2 adheres to the neck as the shield is wrapped around the neck. When the neck shield is wrapped around the neck fully, there is an overlap as illustrated in Figure 3 between the ends of the shield. The overlapped portion causes the shield in effect to affix to itself and the overlapped portion is referenced 4 in Figure 3.

As Figure 3 shows, the properties of the adhesive strip- 2 are such that, as well as being skin-adhesive, it adheres to the material of which the sheet 1 is made. It can also adhere to itself, as an alternative or additional property.

To remove the neck shield, the sheet of material and its ad- hesive strip are removed in reverse order from the affixing sequence described above.

A bead of material, or several weights, may be embedded in, or attached to, the periphery 7 (indicated by a dotted line) of the shield to act as . shaping means to maintain the neck shield in position in use.

The embodiment of Figures 1,. 2 and 3 provides a seal round

the full circumference of the neck . The embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 is of limited length , say eig ht inc hes (twenty centi¬ metres approximately ) and it adheres only to the back region of the wearer ' s neck . Similar features have been identified by the same numerals in the first and second embodiments shown in Figures 1-3 and 4-5. It is basicall y crescent-s haped , with the neck-adhesive strip running along almost the whole of one curved edge of the crescent, and with the necessary protective strip 3 curved to overlie the adhesive strip 2 along that edge of the sheet 1 .

In use , and with the protective strip 3 removed , the shield of Figures 4 and 5 is affixed to the back of the neck as shown in Figure 5 ; and a conventional barber ' s sheet 5 is then tied closely around the neck. The shield 1 adheres to the skin around the back of the neck and stops trimmed haris from getting down between the neck and the neck-owner ' s collar 6. When the hair trimming is finished , the sheet 5 is removed and the shiel d 1 is peeled away from the back of the neck and discarded in just the same way as the previously-mentioned tissue strip of conventional usage .

Referring now to Figures 6 , 7 and 8 of the drawings , there is shown a pack 8 which contains a number of neck shields tightly packed together. The pack 8 is of generally cylindrical form, each circular end of the pack 8 being closed by a circular lid 9. One of the lids includes a generally circular hole 10 that, in this case, is substantially coaxial with the axis of the cylindrical pack 8. The hole 10 has a serrated edge, to act as cutting means which may be used to separate the neck shiel ds , as discussed below .

Within the pack 8 the neck shields are tightly packed in a bundle 11 . The neck shields .are packed so that the bundle

11 surrounds a substantially conical volume 12. As shown, the bundle 11 extends from the edge of the conical volume

12 to the interior wall of the pack 8 .

Each neck ^■ shield is connected to another neck shield in the bundle 11 to form a continuous chain of neck shields. As can be seen in Figure 7, the neck shields are joined in such a way as to be disposed in adhesive-strip-alignment. In the pack 8, the bundle 11 is so arranged that the protective strips

3 are located at the end of the pack 8 that is distant from the holed lid 9. The sheet 1 extends towards the holed end of the pack 8. With this arrangement, as the neck shields are withdrawn through the hole 10 in lid 9 the sheet 1 wraps around the adhesive strip 2; and so, as one neck shield is withdrawn from the pack another neck shield attached thereto will be at least partially withdrawn also.

In order to allow the neck shields to be separated from each other, they may have perforation strips between them. Alter- natively, as in the illustrated embodiment, a cutting means may be employed where the shields are withdrawn from the pack 8 so the shields can be separated where desired.

The generally conical volume 12 is formed at the manufacturing stage where the bundle 11 is formed into a roll. The bundle 11 may be ^' produced on a conical former with the, slightly thicker, edge of the shield incorporating the protective strip 3 wound round the narrower end of the conical former.

Some form of marker means may be used to indicate that the pack is nearly empty. In this case, a series of dots are pro- duced on the protective strip 3; the spacing of the dots decreases as the pack approaches being empty. A few of these dots are shown in Figure 6. Other methods could be used.

By packaging the neck shields in this way, the hairdresser is provided with a ready supply of neck shields in a convenient and compact form. -The pack .may be supplied with an adhesive tape over the hole 10 which merely heeds to be punctured to open the pa

The shields could be attractively coloured, and/or decoratively patterned, and they could be shaped - for example edge-trimmed

to increase their attractiveness stil l further or provide advertising for the hairdresser or others . All these are optional features of any shield embodying the invention . On the other hand , research has tended to show that persons having their hair trimmed - even ladies , unexpectedly - are not unduly concerned with what they look like whilst the trim¬ ming and/or washing operations are being carried out . The simple and relatively unadorned forms of shield described and illustrated herein could therefore prove to be the biggest - selling ones in commercial usage .

Additionally it is possible for the neck shiel d to be impregnated with , or have applied to it , a scented material which either can provide the person whose hair is being cut with a pleasantly scented environment , or may apply a scent to their body or clothing . If the sheet 1 of the neck shiel d is a plastics material , which may sometimes cause perspiration and subsequent adhesion to the skin, then a release agent (eg talcum powder ) may be used on one surface of the neck shiel d to avoid this problem. The release agent may also be scented .

An embodiment of the present invention suitable for use with children, coul d include elements of the sheet 1 which depend from the may part of the sheet and whic h are shaped to be pleasing in appearance to a child . Alternatively , or in addition, these depending features may provide the chil d with something to play with .