Patent Application
20190029387
This invention relates to hair grooming accessories. More specifically, it relates to a tail comb capable of combing hair while, at the same time, applying a product, such as a moisturizing cream, to a person's scalp.
Several combs, drying devices, and other devices for straightening, styling and conditioning hair are well known in the art. However, these devices have many deficiencies, for example, the requirement for an electrical power source for generating heat or steam that is both cumbersome and presents a real risk of electrocution and/or burns.
Examples of related art are described below:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,38 describes a hair comb having hot compressing teeth, which in an open mode are shrouded by cooler comb teeth designed to encapsulate hair, and in a triggered mode collapse toward each other to compress the hair confined between the cooler teeth. Similarly, the published U.S. Patent Application No. 2015/0007842 detangles, softens and conditions coarse or very curly hair by applying moderate to warm heat.
The International Patent Application No. WO2017008413 purports to straighten entangled hair using a steam hairdressing device that is used to heat and set hair, comprising a first and second handle optionally including one or more combs, a steam generator for heating a liquid to generate steam to wet the hair placed on the handle, a liquid container containing the liquid for wetting the hair and a pump for controllably pumping the liquid from the liquid container into the steam generator.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,684,011 provides systems and methods for combing, drying, and straightening hair with a device having one or more rows of teeth and an adjustable tension mechanism that pro-vides for the compression of hair, thus wringing it of water and providing the ability for a user to also straighten his or her hair without using an electric or heating means.
The published U.S. Patent Application NO. 2018/0064066 describes a pet brush comprising an electric board, a liquid container having a liquid and a sponge contacted by an electric atomizer that, once activated, sprays the liquid in the sponge onto the pet's hair during grooming.
None of the art described above addresses all of the issues that the present invention does. The tail comb disclosed herein can be used on all hair types for the uniform application of products, e.g. moisturizing cream, directly to hair follicles and the scalp during hair combing without the use of electric or heating elements.
A tail comb is disclosed for dispensing a hair product to the roots of a person's hair and scalp comprising a comb body, an elongated comb handle outwardly extended from the comb body, a plurality of comb teeth aligned in an array attached at their proximal end to the comb body, extending from and parallel to a longitudinal midline of the body-handle, and an applicator attached to the comb body, wherein the applicator dispenses a hair product to the roots of a person's hair including the person's hair follicles and scalp.
The tail comb can be made of plastic, metal, or wood or any combination thereof.
In certain embodiments, the plurality of comb teeth is aligned in a single planar linear array. In certain embodiments, the single array of comb teeth can be planar with the comb handle and the comb body.
In certain embodiments, the tail comb comprises a combination of 1, 2, 3 or 4 planar linear arrays of comb teeth. In certain embodiments, the combination of comb teeth arrays is not heated. In certain embodiments, the combination of comb teeth arrays comprises 1, 2, 3 or 4 planar linear arrays of comb teeth that are heated. In certain embodiments, the combination of comb teeth arrays can have 1, 2 or 3 of the arrays that do not dispense the hair product. In certain embodiments, the combination of comb teeth arrays can have 1, 2 or 3 of the arrays that dispense the same or different hair products.
In certain embodiments, the plane formed by each linear array of comb teeth forms an angle of about 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 degrees with respect to the plane formed by its neighboring array of comb teeth.
A cross section of the comb teeth can be cylindrical, square, hexagonal or triangular. The tail comb can be about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 inches in length. An array can have 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 or 20 comb teeth. A comb tooth can have a length of about 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 inches. The distance between neighboring teeth can be about 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 mm. In certain embodiments, the comb teeth have the same length. In certain embodiments, every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th comb tooth along the array can have a different length to that of its neighboring comb tooth.
In certain embodiments, the applicator extends parallel to the longitudinal midline of the body-handle. In certain embodiments, the applicator comprises a barrel having a proximal open end and a distal open end that can be attached to one or more dispensing tubes. In certain embodiments, the distal open end can be connected to a pivot point that is attached to one or more dispensing tubes.
In certain embodiments, the barrel can have a diameter of about 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 or 2 inches. In certain embodiments, the comb handle can be about 5, 6, 7, 8, or 10″ in length.
In certain embodiments, the applicator's hollow barrel comprises a hair product such as a moisturizing cream, conditioner, gel, cream, lotion, serum, oil, dye or pharmaceutical product or any combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the applicator's barrel can contain about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 ml of hair product. In certain embodiments, the hair product is contained in an insert. The insert can be single use and disposable.
In certain embodiments, the applicator can be preloaded with a hair product. In certain embodiments, the applicator can be reversibly attached the comb body. In certain embodiments, the applicator can be interchangeable with other applicators containing the same or a different hair product or a mixture of different hair products. In certain embodiments, the applicators are color coded for ease of reference.
In certain embodiments, the applicator's barrel further comprises a plunger fluid-tightly and slidably arranged adjacent to the proximal end of the barrel. The distal end of the applicator's barrel can be attached to a plurality of dispensing tubes, optionally to a pivot point.
In certain embodiments, a comb tooth attached to the comb body can be hollow and have an aperture at its proximal and distal end. A dispensing tube can be attached to the proximal end of a comb tooth. In certain embodiments, the aperture at the distal end of a comb tooth can have an opening optionally made of a non-abrasive material, e.g. rubber. The hollow comb tooth can have one or more openings for the dispensing of the hair product to the person's hair. In certain embodiments, a comb tooth can have a plurality of small openings disposed along the length of the comb tooth. In certain embodiments, a comb tooth can have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 more holes. The diameter of a hole can be from about 0.5, 1, 1.5 or 2 mm depending of the viscosity of the hair product. In certain embodiments, the holes can be disposed at either the proximal and/or distal end of a comb tooth. In certain embodiments, the holes can be disposed along the entire length of the comb tooth. The holes can be evenly spaced or clustered at either end of a comb tooth. In certain embodiments, all the comb teeth are hollow and configured to dispense the hair product. In certain embodiments, every 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th comb tooth in the array is hollow and configured to dispense the hair product. In certain embodiments, every 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th comb tooth in the array is not hollow. In certain embodiments, a single comb tooth is hollow.
In certain embodiments, the disclosure provides a tail comb for dispensing a hair product to the roots of person's hair comprising a comb body, an elongated comb handle outwardly extended from the comb body, a plurality of hollow comb teeth, wherein the comb teeth are aligned in an array at the bottom of the comb body, extending from and parallel to a longitudinal midline of the body-handle, a barrel-shaped applicator comprising a hair product and a plunger fluid-tightly and slidably arranged adjacent to the proximal end of the barrel, wherein the distal end of the barrel is attached to one or more dispensing tubes connected to one or more hollow comb teeth wherein each comb tooth has an opening at its distal end.
It is an object of the embodiments to dispense a product to the roots of a person's hair and scalp comprising combing a person's hair and actuating the plunger of the tail comb, wherein the hair product in the applicator is pushed through the dispensing tubes to the opening(s) in a plurality of comb teeth thereby applying the hair product to the roots of a person's hair.
The hair product can be a moisturizing cream, conditioner, gel, cream, serum, lotion, hair oil, dye or pharmaceutical product or any combination thereof.
It is an object of the embodiments to dispense a product to a person's scalp and hair follicles. In certain embodiments, the hair product saturates the person's scalp.
It is an object of the embodiments to dispense a hair product along a parting in the person's hair.
In certain embodiments, the comb teeth dispense a hair product to a person's hair thereby facilitating the parting of a person's hair.
It is an object of the embodiments to dispense a product to a person's scalp without the stylist having to touch the person's scalp with his/her fingers.
It is an object of the embodiments to dispense a product to a person's hair that promotes a healthier nourished scalp while saving time for the stylist.
In certain embodiments, the plunger is actuated by advancing the plunger along the barrel thereby pushing the hair product to the plurality of comb teeth. In certain embodiments, the plunger advances incrementally to dispense a defined amount of hair product to each comb tooth. In certain embodiments, from about 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 or 1 ml of hair product can be dispensed to the plurality of comb teeth. The hair can be moist or dry, curled or straight.
In certain embodiments, the array of comb teeth is interchangeable with other arrays of comb teeth having different spaces between the teeth. In certain embodiments, two adjacent comb teeth can be separated by about 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 mm.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified with the same reference numerals. Reference will now be made in detail to each embodiment of the present invention. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto.
The applicator 5 comprises a plunger 2 having a capped proximal end 3 and attached to the center 3 of a flat circular distal end 6 that fits tightly through an opening 4 of a cylindrical tube called a barrel 1 (see, e.g.,
In one embodiment, the stylist combs a person's hair and forms a parting. The plunger 2 is then pushed into the barrel 1 containing a hair product which is moved along the barrel 1 through the pivot point 7 into the dispensing tube 11. By moving the aperture 12 along the parting the stylist can dispense the hair product to the roots of the person's hair thereby nourishing the person's scalp.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.
The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/604,959, filed on Jul. 27, 2017. The content of this provisional patent application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62604959 | Jul 2017 | US |
