Patent Application
20160309870
The present invention relates to a hair coloring apparatus, and more particularly to a hair coloring applicator that is configured to precisely apply the dye(s) to a specific strand of the hair or to reach areas of grey roots.
Hair coloring is undertaken to change or cover the color of hair for many different reasons. For instance, hair is often dyed to cover hair that has turned gray, to lighten or change the shade of hair, or to highlight or lowlight hair. Bright colors may be used for a fun effect, especially with temporary coloring compositions, and recently it has become increasingly popular to treat hair, and particularly women's hair, by coloring or tinting selected strands of hair while separated and isolated from the remaining hair strands.
Conventionally, the application of dyes for the purpose of changing or enhancing hair color has been a notably messy and tedious undertaking, even when performed by a professional stylist. Therefore, a number of techniques and devices have been developed for hair coloring or treatment so that both the stylist and the customer can better enjoy the hair coloring process and results. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,637 to Foti discloses an applicator brush providing a tapered handle portion for lifting and separating hair, and a plurality of bristles emanating perpendicularly therefrom. However, the applicator disclosed by Foti cannot dispose the dyes in a specific strand of the hair because the Foti applicator cannot effectively hold a specific stand of hair to be colored, and more importantly, the excessive quantities of the dyes may spread out from the brush to other portions of the hair.
Furthermore, the applicators disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,420 (the '420 patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,157 (the '157 patent) have a retaining structure which comprises a predetermined arrangement of tines as shown in
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 7,934,512 to Spagnuolo discloses a hair highlighting applicator, which includes a flexible dispenser for holding a hair coloring gel therein, as shown in
Therefore, there remains a need for a new and improved hair treatment applicator to overcome the problems presented above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hair coloring or treatment applicator to precisely apply the dye(s) or treatment items to a specific strand of the hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple hair treatment applicator so the user may operate it by himself/herself at home to achieve intended purposes.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a simple hair treatment applicator to effectively clamp the user's hair so the user or the stylist can easily dye a specific portion of the user's hair without applying the dye to any unintended portion of the hair.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a hair treatment applicator configured to effectively avoid unnecessary contact between the scalp and the dyes.
In one aspect, a scissor-shaped hair coloring applicator 400 may include a handle portion and an applying portion. The applying portion located at an opposite end of the handle portion may include a first applying end and a second applying end, wherein a first applying element and second applying element are attached to the first applying end and second applying end respectively. In one embodiment, the first applying element and second applying element may both include identical arrangement of bristles. For example, the first and second applying elements and may both include short and wide teeth surrounding short bristles in the middle. In another embodiment, the first and second applying elements may include different arrangement of bristles and teeth.
In another aspect, a plier-shaped hair coloring applicator may have a handle portion and an applying portion, and the applying portion may include a first applying end and a second applying end. A first applying element and a second applying element are located at the first applying end and the second applying end respectively. In one embodiment, the first applying element and second applying element may both include very short bristles. In another embodiment, the first and second applying elements may both include short and wide teeth surrounding short bristles in the middle. In a further embodiment, the first and second applying elements may include different arrangement of bristles and teeth depending on different use cases.
In a further aspect, a clamp-shaped hair coloring applicator may also have a handle portion and an applying portion, and the applying portion may include a first applying element and a second applying element. A first applying element and a second applying element are located at the first applying end and the second applying end respectively. In one embodiment, the first and second applying elements may both include short and wide teeth on one side and short bristles disposed on the rest of the surface. In a further embodiment, the first and second applying elements may include different arrangement of bristles and teeth depending on different use cases.
The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of the presently exemplary device provided in accordance with aspects of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be prepared or utilized. It is to be understood, rather, that the same or equivalent functions and components may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices and materials similar or equivalent to those described can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the exemplary methods, devices and materials are now described.
All publications mentioned are incorporated by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the designs and methodologies that are described in the publications that might be used in connection with the presently described invention. The publications listed or discussed above, below and throughout the text are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.
Referring to
In another aspect, a plier-shaped hair coloring applicator 600 may have a handle portion 610 and an applying portion 620, and the applying portion 620 may include a first applying end 621 and a second applying end 622, as shown in
It is noted that both the scissor-shaped and the plier-shaped applicators, are much easier to control and operate than conventional applicators shown in
In a further aspect, a clamp-shaped hair coloring applicator 700 may also have a handle portion 710 and an applying portion 720, and the applying portion 720 may include a first applying element 721 and a second applying element 722, as shown in
In still a further aspect as shown in
Comparing with conventional hair coloring applicators, the present invention is advantageous because it is much easier for the user to control the applicator to apply the dye(s) on the hair, and more importantly to a specific strand of the hair, even including the portion closed to the root of the hair. Also, the dyes or the hair treatment materials on the hair coloring applicator are unlikely to spread out to other portions of hair. Moreover, the first and second applying elements in the present invention may be detachable, so the user can replace the applying elements when needed.
Having described the invention by the description and illustrations above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but includes any equivalents.
The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 (e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/152,948, filed on Apr. 26, 2015, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62152948 | Apr 2015 | US |
