Patent Application
20150181999
The embodiments herein relate generally to health and beauty tools. And more particularly, the embodiments herein relate to tools for use in grooming eyebrows and other facial hair.
When grooming eyebrows and other facial hair, one generally must use multiple tools to pluck, shape, comb, and brush the hair. When grooming the eyebrows, the person may switch repeatedly between tools to achieve the desired results. Further, since the plucking process can quickly go astray, in general, the person frequently checks the results of the plucking to insure only the desired hair is removed and the desired shape is achieved. For example, the person may first comb the eyebrow to determine which hairs require plucking Then, the person may pluck several hairs, and comb to see the results. Thereafter, the person may brush the eyebrow, and then pluck once again. Thus, in this manner, the person may switch between these common tools to constantly check the progress of the eyebrow grooming.
When looking at the average person's grooming bag, bin, drawer, or similar grooming receptacles, there are generally a multitude of tools arranged in a jumbled pile. The person must sift through the many items to find the desired grooming tool, wasting time and testing patience. An additional sense of urgency may exacerbate frustration when the misplacement of grooming tools occurs while preparing for work in the morning or other important event.
Moreover, the person may want to carry various grooming tools while traveling or even within a handbag during daily errands. As space is limited and organization key, the person must carefully choose which tools should be carried. Upon discovering a stray eyebrow hair which escaped notice at home, many would immediately attempt to groom the eyebrow in a public location, where a large number of grooming tools may be impractical to carry.
Thus, what is needed is a system to keep like or complementary tools in close proximity, where groups of tools can be easily identified. What is also needed, is a set of grooming tools that are compact and easy to transport, yet are unobtrusive when not needed.
The present eyebrow grooming tool provides a system to keep complementary eyebrow grooming tools together in one convenient package. Further, present eyebrow grooming tool is compact and can be easily transported in a purse or pocket. Thus, the problem of managing the several eyebrow grooming tools is solved by lining a hollow interior of a hair styling tool with a resiliently deformable insert to form an accessory pocket configured to receive a tweezing tool therewithin, with the tweezing tool deforming the resiliently deformable insert to from a gripping engagement between the tweezing tool and the resiliently deformable insert to prevent unintended withdrawal of the tweezing tool.
The eyebrow grooming tool includes an elongate handle with a hollow interior, a resiliently deformable insert that lines the walls of the hollow interior to form an accessory pocket, a head attached to the handle with a hair styling tool, and a tweezing tool configured to be inserted into the accessory pocket. The elongate handle has a connecting portion and a terminus opposite the connecting portion, Further, the elongate handle has a hollow interior and an accessory opening at the terminus, The accessory opening communicates between the hollow interior and an exterior, with the hollow interior having an interior wall. A head is attached to the handle at the connecting portion, where the head includes a hair styling tool.
A resiliently deformable insert lines the interior wall of the hollow interior to form an accessory pocket. The resiliently deformable insert is attached to a portion of the elongate handle to substantially prevent extraction of the resiliently deformable insert from the hollow interior. A tweezing tool is provided with a pair of opposing spring jaws attached at a first end and a tip opposite the first end. The opposing spring jaws are configured to be forced together at the tip for plucking The tweezing tool is configured to be removably inserted into the accessory pocket of the handle through the accessory opening when in an inserted configuration, where the resiliently deformable insert is compressed by the tweezing tool when inserted so that the resiliently deformable insert grips the tweezing tool. The styling tool on the head of the eyebrow grooming tool may be a comb, a brush, or a comb arranged on the head opposite the brush.
Optionally, the tip of the tweezing tool is sufficiently wide to cause the resiliently deformable insert to deform when in the inserted configuration, such that the tip of the tweezing tool is configured to grip the resiliently deformable insert to resist unintended removal of the tweezing tool. Again optionally, the tweezing tool has a necked portion inwardly located from the tip and a wide portion between the first end and the necked portion, such that both the tip and the wide portion of the tweezing tool are configured to grip the resiliently deformable insert to resist unintended removal of the tweezing tool and the necked portion is configured to not substantially deform the resiliently deformable insert.
Optionally, the pair of opposing spring jaws are configured to slide into the accessory pocket of the resiliently deformable insert when in a closed configuration where the pair of opposing spring jaws are forced together against an open configuration bias, and the opposing spring jaws are configured to spring apart within the accessory pocket to deform and to grip the resiliently deformable insert to resist unintended removal of the tweezing tool.
The detailed description of some embodiments of the invention will be is made below with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals represent corresponding parts of the figures.
By way of example, and referring to
The interior wall (20) of the hollow interior (28) is lined with a resiliently deformable insert (12). Preferably, the resiliently deformable insert (12) is made of a soft, resilient material, so that it deforms when pressed, yet rebounds to its original shape when released. The material should provide a coefficient of friction sufficient to grip the tweezing tool (18) as described further below. The resiliently deformable insert (12) lines the interior wall (20) and thus provides an accessory pocket (32).
A tweezing tool (18) is provided, and is configured to removably nest within the elongate handle (22), as seen in
Looking now at
The tweezing tool (18) may also be held within the resiliently deformable insert (12) by the expanding force of the opposing spring jaws (34) of the tweezing tool. In this example, the opposing spring jaws (34) are normally open and, as a result, cannot fit into the accessory pocket (32) of the resiliently deformable insert (12). To insert the tweezing tool (18), the user pinches the opposing spring jaws (34) together, then insert closed tweezing tool (18) into the accessory pocket (32). The user releases the opposing spring jaws (34), so that they press against the resiliently deformable insert (12) to create a frictional engagement.
Compressing the resiliently deformable insert (12) also creates an interference-type fit along with a frictional engagement. For example, the resiliently deformable insert (12) is compressed by the tip (38) and the area inward from the tip is necked (40). Thus the shape of the tweezing tool (18) permits the resiliently deformable insert (12) to remain expanded at the necked portion (40), causing an interference fit, where the resiliently deformable insert (12) material adjacent the necked portion (40) prevents removal by blocking the tip (38). Of course, one gripping method or a combination a combination of gripping methods may be used to removably secure the tweezing tool (18) within the accessory pocket (32).
Persons of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that numerous design configurations may be possible to enjoy the functional benefits of the inventive systems. Thus, given the wide variety of configurations and arrangements of embodiments of the present invention the scope of the invention is reflected by the breadth of the claims below rather than narrowed by the embodiments described above.
