Patent Application
20240065412
The present invention relates generally, to the field of devices for easily and efficiently applying liquid sub-stances to skin and/or hair, specifically, to applicator systems for applying liquid products to a person's body, hair or skin, or to a pet's body, hair or skin. The present invention further relates to an applicator that includes a safety feature.
It is often necessary to apply medicinal substances or other liquid substance to a person's body, hair, whether it is the person's scalp or body hair. As used herein, the term “liquid substance” or “medicinal substance” or “medicinal liquid” or “medicated liquid” refers to any liquid, gel, shampoo, salve, suspension, emulsion, or other vehicle for delivering pharmaceutical agents, medicine, antibiotics, nutraceuticals, supplements, vitamins, or similar substances, to the hair and/or skin of a person, or the coat and/or skin of a pet or other animal. As used herein, the term “pharmaceutical agent” refers to any drug. Liquid substances can be used for treating various ailments, such as body lice, dermatitis, dandruff, infections, and many other diseases of the hair, body and skin. Liquid substances can also be used for general hair or skin care, or health and beauty needs, such as for treating the appearance of the hair or skin.
In some situations, such as with certain adults or children, it is difficult to entrust an applicator made of a hard material, such as a hard plastic or metal, to the individual. For example, an adult that has been incarcerated would not be entrusted with an applicator made of a hard material such as a hard plastic, which could be used as or fashioned into a weapon. Due to safety concerns, an alternate applicator would be preferable or more preferably an applicator having a more precise control of the application of use. Particularly in the field of pet care, it is often necessary to apply a liquid substance to a pet's coat or skin, for various reasons. Difficulties in applying a liquid substance to a pet's coat or skin include ensuring that the liquid substance spread uniformly over the pet's coat, or contact to the pet's skin. Often, liquid substances are supplied in bottles, tubes or jars, and are applied to the coat of a pet. Then, a brush or comb is used to spread the liquid substance throughout the pet's coat or skin. This is inefficient, and does not spread the liquid substance uniformly. Also, it may be necessary to use an applicator for applying a liquid sub-stance to a child's hair and/or body, such as in the case of an outbreak of lice.
Thus, there is the need for a device that will easily, efficiently, and generally uniformly spread liquid substances on and through a person's or pet's hair and/or skin.
There is further the need for an applicator that is formed with safety in mind.
The present invention is an applicator comprising: a handle portion having an engagement portion; a dispenser comprising: a hollow interior space for holding a liquid substance, a liquid substance held at least partially within the hollow interior space, at least one opening for dispensing the liquid substance, and, an engagement portion; the engagement portion of the dispenser removably engagable with the engagement portion of the handle portion.
The dispenser 16 of the present invention may take several forms. In one embodiment, the dispenser 16 is formed as a cartridge 18. The cartridge 18 is a single unit formed having an interior portion 20 (See
The cartridge 18 has a plurality of teeth 22 extending therefrom. At least one tooth 22 has a hollow interior portion or space 24 adapted to receive the medicinal liquid. As shown in
The application end 26 of each tooth 22 may be formed in any manner whereby the liquid substance held within the interior portion 24 of the tooth 22 will be dispensed to and/or contact the coat or skin of a pet as needed when the applicator is in use. For example, the application end 26 may be formed having a permeable, semipermeable, absorptive, or adsorptive plug 30 for controlling the passage of liquid, as shown in
The plug 30 may be formed as a “rolling ball” arrangement, such as in a ballpoint ink pen, where the plug 30 rotates as the applicator 10 is passed over a person's hair or skin or pet's coat or skin. The plug 30 will roll or rotate during application, becoming coated with the liquid substance from a side facing the interior portion 24, and applying the liquid substance to a person's hair or skin, or a pet's coat or skin, when it contacts the person's hair or skin or, the pet's coat or skin. This arrangement provides for a comfortable and uniform application method.
The handle portion 12 may be formed having a means for selectively dispensing the liquid substance from the interior portions 20, 24, and out of the openings in the teeth 22, as shown in
Alternately, the actuator may be a push bar 36, as shown in
For ease of use and efficiency, the cartridge 18 is detachable from the handle portion 12, and can be easily replaced with another cartridge 18. Thus, the cartridge 18 may be sold separately from the handle portion 12, and may be prefilled with any liquid substance, or with a combination or plurality of liquid substances. A user may purchase the handle portion 12 adapted for use in connection with the present invention, and simply purchase replacement cartridges as needed. In addition, the cartridge 18 may be prefilled with different liquid substances, such as combinations or different medicinal liquids (for pets, antiflea, antitick, vitamins; for people, antibacterials, antifungus, antidandruff, etc.) in different teeth.
In an alternate embodiment shown in
According to this embodiment, it is possible for a user to selectively arrange different user selected liquid substances in the handle 40 for applying to a person's hair or skin or, a pet's coat or skin. The ampules 44 may be provided prefilled with different liquid substances. Thus, a combination of medications (ampules for psoriasis, ampules for dandruff, ampules with liquid vitamin E, etc.) may be applied at once, all based on a user's preference.
As is apparent, the present invention provides a use with many options. Different liquid substances can be selected for use with the handle portions, and can be arranged as needed by the user. The applicator of the present invention is easy to use, and effective in dispersing a liquid substance on a subject for use with a person's hair or skin or pet's coat or skin, if the subject is a person or pet. The dispenser provides for ease of use and easy clean-up. In addition, because the liquid substance is not stored in the handle, it can be stored safely and will not evaporate or otherwise spoil. The handle may be formed in different ergonomic shapes, or having extensions for applying liquid substance to different parts of a pet.
The shape may be optimized for a person's hair or skin or pet's coat or skin. Each optimization requires a protocol for use which can include a direction along the hair or skin. The direction can be a single direction or back-and-forth motion, depending upon the optimal dispersal conditions of the liquid.
In the area of pet care, the invention of the present device has applications in domesticated mammals, cattle, horses including any animal with fur, hair, wool or feathers thereof. The device is useful to uniformly spread pest control emulsions or liquids and other fluids to eradicate infections, such as but not limited to fleas, ticks, biting flies. The device will uniformly spread skin care medicated liquids, salve, etc to address ‘mange’ or other dermatological conditions for pets such as dogs, cats, rabbits, or other mammals, such as cattle, horses, etc. Further uses include uniformly spreading skin care liquid vitamins, supplements directly to animals skin or scalp under the hair or fur in order to restore PH balance to ordinarily dry, flaky skin and in order to control dander which is usually what makes some pet owners or others allergic to said animal. Such dander can be reduced down dramatically, if not controlled completely. The device is also useful to uniformly spread skin care liquid vitamins, supplements directly to animals skin or scalp under the hair or fur in order to restore PH balance to ordinarily dry, flaky skin in order to lessen shedding due to overly dry, unhealthy skin. Such shedding often precludes would be pet owners from owning, adopting pets.
A disposable and breakable applicator 100 is also disclosed herein, that is at least partially formed from a material that meets the following properties: the material should not be capable of being formed into a sharp or dangerous object; the material should be readily breakable, frangible and/or deformable when a sufficient force is applied to it, such as if an attempt is made to shape or sharpen it into a weapon or if the applicator is used in an attempt to hurt a person or animal; the material should be capable of being formed or molded into the shape of an applicator as described herein; the material should be strong and dense enough for packing, shipping and/or containing a liquid substance without breaking during normal shipping conditions and normal use. In a preferred embodiment, the entire applicator 100, or a majority of the body of the applicator 100, is formed from a suitable material meeting the previously listed criteria.
Suitable materials for forming at least a portion of the applicator may include, but are not limited to: foam, styrofoam, polystyrene foams, polymethacrylimide foam (Rohacell 51), polyvinylchloride foam (Conticell), polyurethane foam, Styrofoam IB, polypropylene foam (EPP), Nomex Honeycomb, rigid urethane foam, polyethylene foam, ionomer foam, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, neoprene, polybutadiene rubbers, or equivalents or substitutes of any of these materials. Rubber or silicone may also be used. Combinations of any of the previously listed materials may also be used.
One embodiment of the disposable and breakable applicator 100, is formed from one or any combination of the listed suitable disposable and breakable materials, such as a Styrofoam. The applicator 100 may take the form of a brush 101 or comb, including a brush body 103 and handle 105, as shown in
In one embodiment, shown in
At least one tooth 102 is formed having a reservoir 106 that may be in communication with the cavity 104. A tooth 102 formed with such a reservoir 106 has an opening 108 at its end 110, so that a liquid substance in the cavity 104 may flow through the reservoir 106, and out of the opening 108 to treat, for example, a person's skin or hair, or a pet's skin or coat. A select number or all of the teeth 102 may be formed having such reservoirs 106 and openings 108. The inner walls of the teeth 102 forming the reservoirs 106 may be treated with or coated with a material, such as a plastic, so that the liquid substance does not eat away or otherwise damage the inner walls of the teeth 102. As shown in
In use, the cover 112 or sheet 114 is removed from the applicator 100, and the applicator 100 is used to supply the liquid substance until the treatment is complete, or the liquid substance runs out. The present invention provides a discrete amount of liquid substance (such as an amount that is non-lethal or non-toxic even if ingested), and a disposable applicator 100.
If, for example, an inmate at a prison attempts to fashion the applicator 100 into a make-shift weapon, because of the properties of the material(s) from which the applicator 100 is made, the applicator 100 will simply break or crumble into pieces, as shown in
In an alternate embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
A still further embodiment is shown in
A further embodiment of the present invention utilizes a felt packet (220) with connected felt teeth insert, all as one piece and as shown in
A still further embodiment of the present invention incorporates electronics and software into the brush head interfaced with a cell phone or similar computer device for analysis of the scalp or skin to detect if the skin is oily, dry or neutral. The brush provides high definition skin data to detect moisture, elasticity, oily, melanin, freckle and other skin or hair health issues. Hair follicle scalp detection from a digital microscope and hair follicle scalp detector allows image detection and analysis from the brush surface which sends data to an individual's cell phone or electronic device for further processing via an App. The brush head contains a high-performance sensor clip with a 24 bit DSP chip to provide 50×-500× magnification with built-in photo/video capabilities. An Auxiliary light source provides digital zooming options with an image distance from 0-40 mm from the scalp surface. Image resolution of 640-480 allows close examination of hair follicles. While not being limited, a still further embodiment exemplifying the practicality of the present devices, otherwise known as the Groomate, which incorporates the use of the applicator in the administration of a formula as a cosmetic composition having the effect of preventing and improving damage to hair and more specifically, but not limited to, aiding in dyeing or perm treatment using a composition that results in pure, recuperative, natural oils. When used with the Groomate, the liquid formula can be blended and evenly applied to the skin of a human or animal. The composition in liquid form contains, in part, ingredients vitamin E oil (approx. 10 ml), cotton seed oil (approx. 5 ml), aloe vera oil (approx. 10 ml), lanolin oil (approx. 10 ml), lavender oil (approx. 2.5 ml), vanilla bean oil (approx. 2.5 ml), clove oil (approx. 5 ml). The present invention further considers these proportions in a formulation designed uniquely to prevent damage to hair and to improve these conditions.
Hair can be susceptible to being easily damaged by the external environment. Consumers perceive hair as a fashion, the coloring of hair (dyeing) or using a procedure in a perm may contribute to this damage. In addition, hair damage may occur with exposure due to excessive use of a dryer or ultraviolet rays, all in a kind of lifestyle and other environmental factors that results in consumers damaging their hair.
Further with repetitive hair drying, characteristics such as shine, softness, and smoothness are deteriorated and hair styling becomes difficult.
The formulation disclosed herein, when used in conjunction with the device disclosed reduces these adverse affects and allows for improved consumer satisfaction.
It is appreciated that all of the various features of an applicator described herein may be combined to produce an applicator having a plurality of features such as described herein. Having thus described in detail several embodiments of the present invention, it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changes, only a few of which are exemplified in the detailed description of the invention, could be made without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. It is also to be appreciated that numerous embodiments incorporating only part of the preferred embodiment are possible which do not alter, with respect to those parts, the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. The present embodiment and optional configurations are therefore to be considered in all respects as exemplary and/or illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all alternate embodiments and changes to this embodiment which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of said claims are therefore to be embraced therein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/400,123, filed 23 Aug. 2022 and incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63400123 | Aug 2022 | US |
