US3313310A - Hair assembly adaptable for use on male or female cadavers - Google Patents

Description

April 11, 1967 R. E. SULLIVAN HAIR ASSEMBLY ADAPTABLE FOR USE ON MALE OR FEMALE CADAVERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15, 1964 INVENTOR. ROBERT E. SULLIVAN ATTORNEYS April 11, 1967 HAIR ASSEMBLY R. E. SULLIVAN 3,313,310

ADAPTABLE FOR USE ON MALE OR FEMALE CADAVERS Filed June 15, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ROBERT E. SULLIVAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,313,316 HAIR ASSEMBLY ADAPTABLE FOR USE ON 0R FEMALE CADAVERS Robert E. Sullivan, .lacksonville, Fla, assignor to Sull Hans Hair Pieces, Inc, a corporation of Florida Filed June 15, 1%4, Ser. No. 374,921 Elairns. (Cl. 13253) This invention relates to hair assemblies and more particularly concerns a hair assembly for use on a human body, especially adaptable for a cadaver.

A general object of the present invention is to provide a hair assembly for a human body.

A particular object is the provision of a hair assembly which is universally adaptable for use on a dead person, man, woman or child.

Many cadavers handled by morticians have no hair due to the fact that the persons scalp had been sheared or shaved for a scalp operation involving tumors and the like. In the past crepe or wool hair was applied by the mortician to the cadavers in attempting to simulate the natural hair of the cadaver. Since the use of crepe or wool hair was obviously unnatural in appearance, such practice has been abandoned. If the sheared hair is saved and sent to the mortician with the cadaver, the highly skilled mortician or a specialist in the field of restorative art may be able to restore the sheared hair to the cadaver. Such restoration is highly complicated and requires many hours of labor and is xcessively expensive. The morticians in large cities may purchase ready-made wigs which are usually made of synthetic material and are not particularly satisfactory or natural when applied to the cadaver. Some ready-made wigs are made of human hair, but are either quitet costly or they are improperly made resulting in an unnatural headpiece. A custom made wig of human hair would not be practical for use by a mortician because delivery thereof normally requires from four to six weeks and the cost thereof is great. Specific objects of this invention are to provide a hair assembly for use on a cadaver which is natural in appearance, easy to apply to the cadaver, inexpensive to construct and purchase, and adaptable to the particular age and sex of the cadaver.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of a female cadaver lying in a casket wearing the hair assembly in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 depicting the hair assembly of this invention applied to a male cadaver;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the hair assembly in accordance with the invention; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, FIG- URE 1 depicts a female cadaver disposed in a casket 11 with her head 12 lying on a pillow 13. Hair assembly 14, in accord with this invention, is properly positioned 3,3l3,3lfi Patented Apr. 11, 1967 and aflixed, as by double faced tape or spirit gum, to head 12 of female cadaver 10. Since the back of the head 12 rests on pillow i3 and is exposed at the crown, sides and forehead, the hair assembly 14 is designed to approximately cover the crown, sides and forehead and not the back of the head in order that the amount of hair be minimized.

The hair assembly 15 is positioned on the male cadaver 16 and may have been identical with hair assembly 14 applied to the female cadaver 10 before the applications of hair assemblies 14 and 15 to the respective cadavers 1i and 16.

Before specifically describing the hair assembly in accord with this invention as depicted in FIGURES 3 and 4, a general consideration of the requirements and particular problems of which a mortician is faced together with the economics and appearance of the hair assembly will be considered. Wigs are now made for specific purposes such as a mans toupee or a womans hair piece, some wigs being for the entire head while others are patches or patch type for blending with existing hair on the person. The expensive wigs are hand stitched and knotted or ventilated in which the hair is hand sewed into a base of netting material. The hand stitched wigs have a natural front hairline on the forehead and may be combed back from the forehaid in the same manner as the natural hair. The less expensive wigs are machine stitched by attaching the individual hairs to a ribbon by fine thread or stitching the hair together by zig-Zag stitches on a sewing machine and thereafter attaching such ribbon by machine to a base of netting material or the like. The ribbons, strings, or rows of hair are commonly known as wefts. In these less expensive hair wigs the hair must be combed forward along the forehead in order that the stitching and ribbons be covered and a natural and realistic appearance be provided along the front hairline.

In order that a hair assembly be acceptable to the mortician and his clientele it was determined that certain requirements must be met for the hair assembly, such requirements being that the hair assembly must look natural, particularly along the front hairline; the hair assembly must be readily applied to a cadaver; the hair assembly should preferably be adaptable to cadavers of all ages, sexes and sizes of heads; and the hair assembly must be inexpensive in construction and purchase in order that a dead person needing a hair assembly be provided with such hair assembly to enable the mortician to properly handle and prepare the dead person for viewing. Previously, the cost factor and/or the unnaturalness of wigs and the like have prevented many dead persons having no hair from being viewed. A hair assembly must be made of human hair in order that the hair assembly will look natural. While certain synthetic materials may be acceptable, none have thus far proven satisfactory. Furthermore, the human hair may be readily arranged, parted, waved, curled, dyed and/ or rinsed, and the synthetic materials do not permit the mortician or a hair dresser to readily perform the necessary functions on a synthetic hair assembly.

A minimum amount of human hair is preferably used in the construction of the hair assembly since the cost of human hair is expensive. Furthermore, the labor iivolved in hand stitching hair assemblies is quite costly,

while the machine stitched hair assemblies are not acceptable because they are not capable of being combed back off the forehead and/ or forward into bangs in order that the mortician and/or hair dresser simulates the natural hair style of the deceased person. The universal adaptation of the hair assembly of the present invention to man, woman, boy or girl, as the case may be, permitted the stocking of a few basic shades of hair assemblies by a mortician, whereby the mortician would have such hair assembly in his immediate possession and could promptly begin preparation of the cadaver.

The hair assembly of this invention could be made of human hair of various shades of colors but only the five basic shades of hair: black, brown, red, blond and gray, in five hair assemblies need be stocked by the mortician in view of the fact that with the various lighting and shading techniques present in most mortuaries, any color of hair may be simulated by exposing one of the five basic shades to particular arrangements of colored lights, as is commonly employed.

Since the hair assembly in accord with this invention is to be universally adaptable for males and females, the hair assemblies will be provided with pre-curled and set style for women which may be changed by properly combing and brushing to other hair styles for women, and/or the hair assembly may be dampened or washed, combed and cut to a mans style. Since the hair assembly is in a set style for women in which a portion of the hair covers the womans ears, such portion of the hair may be cut along the normal side hairline around the ears of a man, and any excess hair on the top of the head and/or back of the head may be eliminated or tucked beneath the back of the head. The same precedure is followed when the hair assembly is used for a small deceased boy. When the hair assembly is to be used for a girl, the hair may be cut and set to any particular style to simulate the usual hair style of the girl.

It is readily apparent that the hair assembly to be specifically described in connection with FIGURES 3 and 4 substantially satisfies the major requirements for a hair assembly for cadavers by providing:

1) A universally adaptable hair assembly usable on persons of various ages, sexes and sizes of heads;

(2) A hair assembly of human hair having a natural and realistic appearance especially along the front hairline; and

(3) A hair assembly inexpensive in construction and purchase and easily applicable to the head of a cadaver.

The hair assembly, in accordance with the invention, is generally indicated at 20 in FIGURES 3 and 4, and comprises a foundation or base member 21 of netting material or fabric cut in the desired shape and contour depicted. Base member 21 is seen to include a generally arcuately shaped rearward edge portion 22 extending between the end portions 23 and 24, and an elongated forward edge portion 26 spanning between end portions 23 and 24. The foundation forward edge portion 26 includes a curved central portion 25 generally medial of end portions 23 and 24, and a pair of rearwardly extending indented portions 27 and 28 respectively located between the central portion 25 and respective end portions 23 and 24. The dimensions of the foundation 21 for a universally adaptable hair assembly 2! has been determined to be ten and one-half inches from end to end; three inches from the forward edge portion 26 to the rearward edge portion 22 generally midway between its ends; and two and one-half inches from the forward edge portion 26 to the rearward edge portion 22 generally vertically from the valleys 29 and 30 of the indented portions 27 and 28.

The foundation or base member 21 is fabricated from any appropriate natural fabric netting material, such as cotton, or synthetic fabric netting material, such as nylon, or combinations, thereof. A closely woven fabric ribbon or marginal binding 31 is machine stitched around the perimeter edge 32 of base member 21 to prevent fraying thereof and provide a member into which hair may be attached as described more fully hereinafter in connection with FIGURE 4.

A plurality of spaced rows 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 33 and 39 of machine stitched strands of hair are attached to foundation 21 as by machine stitching thereto. These rows of hair will hereinafter be referred to as wefts, a single weft usually having about 200 hairs per inch and a double weft having about 450 hairs per inch. The wefts 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 are preferably double, it being understood that twice the number of single wefts may be employed on the foundation to provide sufficient fullness and to properly cover the foundation. The wefts 33 to 39 generally extend longitudinally of foundation 21, wefts 33, 34 and 35 extending between the end portions 23 and 24 to provide sufficient hair adjacent the temples of the wearer of the hair assembly 20. Weft 35 is seen to terminate short of end portions 23 and 24 while wefts 37, 38 and 39 also terminate short of end portions 23 and 24. It is important that weft 33 be closely spaced to the forward edge portion 26 while the remaining wefts 34 to 39 are spaced generally rearwardly to provide proper fullness and cover for foundation 21. The strands of hair in each weft 33 to 38 extends over the next rearwardly spaced row and blends with the strands of hair therein to conceal foundation 21.

A plurality of rows 4% and 41 of strands of hair are hand stitched or ventilated into the lower portion 42 of marginal binding 31 along the forward hairline edge portion 26, the strands of hair extending generally downwardly below the lower surface 43 of foundation 21 which may then be arranged in an upward fashion generally surrounding marginal binding 31, as shown, for blending in with the strands of hair in the machine stitched rows 33 to 39 and the strands of hair in the upper hand stitched rows 44 and 45. The strands of hair in rows 40 and 41 adjacent the central portion 25 may be combed downwardly and cut for bangs or the like.

A plurality of rows 44 and 45 of hand stitched or ventilated strands of hair are attached to the upper portion 46 of marginal binding 31 along the forward hairline edge portion 26, the strands of hair extending generally upwardly above the upper surface 47 of foundation 21. The strands of hair in rows 44 and 45 may be combed upwardly and rearwardly, as shown, for blending in with the strands of hair in the machine stitched rows 33 to 39. When bangs are desired, strands of hair from rows 44 and 45 adjacent the central portion 25 of foundation 21 are combed downwardly to cover the outer edge portion 48 of marginal binding 31 between its upper and lower portions 42 and 46. Even when the hair assembly 20 is styled for bangs or the like, some of the strands of hair from rows 44 to 45 adjacent central portion 25 preferably extending rearwardly to overlie and blend in with the strands of hair in the machine stitched rows of hair 33 to 39, and especially rows 33 and 34 which are disposed closely adjacent the hand stitched rows 44 and 45 to properly conceal foundation 21.

The hand stitched or ventilated rows 40, 41, 44 and 45 contain approximately 350 stitches with about four or five hairs per stitch which varies due to the fact that each technician performing the hand stitching operation usually picks up about four strands of hair with the ventilating needle commonly employed during the construction of hand stitched hair pieces.

By viewing FIGURE 3, it is seen that the strands of hair, depicted at 5-0 and 51, adjacent the end portions 23 and 24 extend rearwardly of the rearward edge portion 22 a sufiicient distance so that the hair at the sides of the head of the cadaver may be properly arranged to effectively cover the sides of the head. When a man or boys style is desired, the hair is simply dampened with water or hair tonic, combed fiat or wavy, depending on the natural hair of the cadaver, and the excess hair is clipped to provide a proper side hairline around the cadavers ears. The strands of hair, generally medial of the foundation 21 and depicted at 52, extend rearwardly of the rear- Ward edge portion 22 and terminate forwardly of the strands of hair 50 and 51 adjacent foundation end portions 23 and 24. The provision of short strands of hair 52 generally medial of the foundation 21 minimizes the expense in materials and construction.

The hair assembly 20 may be attached to the head of a cadaver by first applying double faced tape slightly above or rearwardly of and along the normal hairline of the cadaver and then positioning the hair assembly on the cadavers head. Other well known methods of attachment may be employed, for example, spirit gum or glue may be used and/or an elastic band may be attached to the hair assembly 29 adjacent end portions 23 and 24 below the lower surface 43, such elastic band is then positioned below the base of the cadvers head.

While only a certain preferred embodiment of this invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art and it is, therefore, desired that it be understood that it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A hair assembly for covering the exposed bald portion of the head to simulate the natural hair of a sheared or shaven head of a cadaver comprising an elongated base having a forward hairline portion and a rearward portion and end portions, said base being adapted to be positioned adjacent the crown of the head with said forward hairline portion located along the natural hairline of the cadaver, said rearward portion terminating forwardly of the back of the head to which said base is applied, said end portions being narrow and terminating adjacent the ears on either side of the head to which said base is applied, at least one row of hand stitched strands of hair extending downwardly from said base along said forward hairline portion, at least one row of hand stitched strands of hair extending upwardly from said base along said forward hairline portion, a plurality of rows of machine stitched strands of hair attached to said base and extending generally longitudinally thereof, said strands of hair adjacent said end portions of said base extending rearwardly of said rearward portion of said base, said strands of hair generally medial of said base between its said end portions terminating rearwardly of said rearward portion of said base and forwardly of said strands of hair adjacent said end portion.

2. A hair assembly for covering the exposed bald portion of the head to simulate the natural hair of a sheared or shaven head of a cadaver comprising an elongated base of a netting material having an elongated forward edge and an elongated rearward edge and ends, said forward edge including a forwardly curved central portion located between said ends, said forward edge further including a pair of rearwardly extending indented portions respectively between said central portion and a respective said end, said central portion and said indented portions forming the front hairline of said hair assembly, said elongated rearward edge being generally arcuately shaped rearwardly between said ends, said base between said ends being spaced a predetermined distance whereby said ends terminate adjacent the ears of the head of a cadaver to which the hair assembly is applied, said base between said central portion of said forward edge and said rearward edge generally medial of said ends being approximately onethird said predetermined distance, at least one row of hand stitched strands of hair extending upwardly from said base along said forward edge, at least one row of hand stitched strands of sair extending downwardly from said base along said forward edge, a plurality of rows of machine stitched strands of hair extending upwardly from said base, said rows of machine stitched strands being positioned generally longitudinally of said base.

3. A hair assembly for covering the exposed bald portion of the head to simulate the natural hair of a head of a human body comprising an elongated planar base having a forward hairline portion and a rearward portion and end portions, an elongated marginal binding attached to said base along said forward hairline portion, said binding having an upper portion above the upper surface of said base and a lower portion below the lower surface of said base, said base being adapted to be positioned adjacent the crown of the head with said forward hairline portion located along the natural hairline of the human body, said rearward portion terminating forwardly of the back of the head to which said base is applied, said end portions being narrow and terminating adjacent the ears on either side of the head to which said base is applied; at least one row of hand stitched strands of hair extending downwardly from said lower portion of said binding along said forward hairline portion, at least one row of hand stitched strands of hair extending upwardly from said upper portion of said binding along said forward hairline portion, a plurality of rows of machine stitched strands of hair attached to said base and extending generally longitudinally thereof, said strands of hair adjacent said end portions of said base extending rearwardly of said rearward portion of said base, said strands of hair generally medial of said base between its said end portions terminating rearwardly of said rearward portion of said base and forwardly of said strands of hair adjacent said end portion.

4. A hair assembly for covering the exposed bald portion of the head to simulate the natural hair of a sheared or shaven head of a cadaver comprising an elongated planar base of a netting material having an elongated forward edge and an elongated rearward edge and ends, an elongated marginal binding attached to said base along said edges thereof, said forward edge including a forwardly extending curved central portion located between said ends, said forward edge further including a pair of rearwardly extending indented portions respectively between said central portion and a respective said end, said central portion and said indented portions forming the front hairline of said hair assembly, said elongated rearward edge being generally arcuately shaped rearwardly between said ends, said base between said ends being spaced a predetermined distance whereby said ends terminate adjacent the ears of the head of a cadaver to which the hair assembly is applied, said base between said central portion of said forward edge and said rearward edge generally medial of said ends being approximately onethird said predetermined distance, at least one row of hand stitched strands of hair extending upwardly from said binding along said forward edge, at least one row of hand stitched strands of hair extending downwardly from said binding along said forward edge, a plurality of rows of machine stitched strands of hair attached to said base and extending upwardly therefrom, said rows of machine stitched strands being positioned generally longitudinally of said base and spaced each from the next to outwardly conceal said base.

5. A hair assembly for covering the exposed bald portion of the head to simulate the natural hair of a sheared or shaven head of a cadaver comprising an elongated planar base of a netting material having an elongated forward edge and an elongated rearward edge and ends, an elongated marginal binding attached to said base along said edges thereof, said forward edge including a forwardly extending curved central portion located between said ends, said forward edge further including a pair of rearwardly extending indented portions respectively between said central portion and a respective said end, said central portion and said indented portions forming the front hairline of said hair assembly, said elongated rearward edge being generally arcuately shaped rearwardly between said ends, said base between said ends being spaced approximately ten and one-half inches whereby said ends terminate adjacent the ears of the head of a cadaver to which the hair assembly is applied, said base between said central portion of said forward edge and said rearward edge generally medial of said ends being approximately three inches, said base between the valleys of said indentations and said rearward edge being approximately two and one-half inches, at least two rows of hand stitched strands of hair extending upwardly from said binding along said forward edge, at least two rows of hand stitched strands of hair extending downwardly from said binding along said forward edge, at least seven rows of machine stitched strands of hair attached to said base and extending upwardly therefrom, said rows of machine stitched 8 strands being positioned generally longitudinally of said base and spaced each from the next to outwardly conceal said base with strands of hair.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 300,938 6/1884 Beck 13253 1,634,190 6/1927 Hepner 132-53 1,853,976 4/1932 Jacoby et a1 13253 10 3,077,891 2/1963 Lane 132-5 FOREIGN PATENTS 219,332 12/1958 Australia.

ROBERT E. MORGAN, Acting Primaly Examiner.

L. W. TRAPP, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A HAIR ASSEMBLY FOR COVERING THE EXPOSED BALD PORTION OF THE HEAD TO SIMULATE THE NATURAL HAIR OF A SHEARED OR SHAVEN HEAD OF A CADAVER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BASE HAVING A FORWARD HAIRLINE PORTION AND A REARWARD PORTION AND END PORTIONS, SAID BASE BEING ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED ADJACENT THE CROWN OF THE HEAD WITH SAID FORWARD HAIRLINE PORTION LOCATED ALONG THE NATURAL HAIRLINE OF THE CADAVER, SAID REARWARD PORTION TERMINATING FORWARDLY OF THE BACK OF THE HEAD TO WHICH SAID BASE IS APPLIED, SAID END PORTIONS BEING NARROW AND TERMINATING ADJACENT THE EARS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE HEAD TO WHICH SAID BASE IS APPLIED, AT LEAST ONE ROW OF HAND STITCHED STRANDS OF HAIR EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID BASE ALONG SAID FORWARD HAIRLINE PORTION, AT LEAST ONE ROW OF HAND STITCHED STRANDS OF HAIR EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID BASE ALONG SAID FORWARD HAIRLINE PORTION, A PLURALITY OF ROWS OF MACHINE STITCHED STRANDS OF HAIR ATTACHED TO SAID BASE AND EXTENDING GENERALLY LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, SAID STRANDS OF HAIR ADJACENT SAID END PORTIONS OF SAID BASE EXTENDING REARWARDLY OF SAID REARWARD PORTION OF SAID BASE, SAID STRANDS OF HAIR GENERALLY MEDIAL OF SAID BASE BETWEEN ITS SAID END PORTIONS TERMINATING REARWARDLY OF SAID REARWARD PORTION OF SAID BASE AND FORWARDLY OF SAID STRANDS OF HAIR ADJACENT SAID END PORTION.

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