Patent Application
20190183223
Current products and devices that are designed to relax, straighten, or lengthen the curls of hair employ chemicals or electronic heating (e.g., a flat iron, heated hair brush, hot air brush, etc.).
Heating devices, whether they be professional grade or drug-store home-use grade, frequently cause forehead and hand burns—such as flat or tubular heat irons. Heat irons and other heating devices often heat up to 300 degrees for thinner finer hair and up to 350-400 degrees for treating thick curly hair. Hair burns at 450 degrees.
There are hundreds of relaxing or straitening serums and chemicals on the market to apply to hair. But a heat conducting tool is still needed to truly reduce the volume and severity of curly hair. And many of the chemicals in these products can cause a reaction—especially for users with allergies or sensitivities. Plus, there is always the danger of leaving electric styling tools in the power-on mode—causing a fire hazard.
And since mechanically straightening hair needs to be done on a daily basis to maintain the desired results—especially after showering or washing hair—traveling presents additional problems. In particular, electronic heating devices for straightening hair like flat irons—even those specifically designed for traveling—are bulky and take up valuable luggage space. These devices are also heavy, which makes the luggage more difficult for a user to carry and transport, and can lead to increased fees if the luggage is checked during a flight. In addition, electronic heating devices require an electrical converter when traveling internationally.
There are strictly mechanical devices designed to straighten hair, such as hook-and-loop (e.g., Velcro®) and foam rollers. But these often undesirably rip out hair.
Hot rollers require electricity, and don't come in a large enough circumference for the purpose of straightening hair. In addition, they create curls by design and so are difficult to use to straighten hair.
Hair can also professionally straightened, such as with a salon “blow out”. But these procedures also use heat, and so have all the risks listed above. And such professional straightening is expensive and lasts only a day. Even if hair is not washed, the straightening effect is frequently lost during the tossing and turning of sleep.
Moreover, using chemicals and/or heat to straighten hair damages the hair itself, drying it out, making it more brittle and frizzy, and reducing its luster and sheen.
As such, it is desirable to provide a new device that can relax, straighten, or lengthen the curls of hair without using heat or chemicals. It is also desirable for such a new device to be of a size, shape, and weight that it can be easily packed in luggage for travel without taking up much space or increasing the weight of the luggage significantly.
Upon cutting her hair short, the inventor realized that her hair was less curly and more straight when it was longer, and was more curly with more volume when it was shorter. The inventor realized that it was the increased weight of longer hair made it more difficult for the hair to spring back upwards into curls. This increased weight of longer hair resulted in less time being needed to straighten it. The inventor then realized that what was needed to relax, straighten, or lengthen the curls of hair without using heat or chemicals was a device that could attach to the end of hair to add weight without damaging the hair or deforming it shape (e.g., crimping or bending).
According to the present invention there is therefore provided a hair straightening device as described by way of example below and in the accompanying claims.
In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a hair straightening device including a first arm, a hinge connected to the first arm, and a second arm connected to the hinge. The first arm, the second arm, or both are rotatable around the hinge between an open position where the first arm and the second arm do not contact each other and a closed position where the first arm and the second arm contact each other. The second arm comprises protrusions extending away from an interior surface of the second arm that faces the first arm of when the hair straightening device is in the closed position. The first arm may include:
In another embodiment, the first arm comprises both the holes and the first deformable material.
In yet another embodiment, the holes are formed in a non-deformable material that is different from and covers the first deformable material, and which is not deformed by the protrusions of the second arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position.
In a further embodiment, the first arm comprises the holes, which are formed in a non-deformable material that is not deformed by the protrusions of the second arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position.
In yet a further embodiment, the protrusions comprise a deformable material so that ends of the protrusions are deformed by an interior surface of the first arm that faces the protrusions when the hair straightening device is in the closed position.
In another embodiment, the interior surface of the first arm is formed from a non-deformable material that is not deformed by the protrusions of the second arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position and the protrusions contact and are deformed by the interior second surface.
In yet another embodiment, each protrusion has a width that decreases as the protrusions extends from the interior surface of the second arm.
In a further embodiment, each protrusion is shaped as a cone or pyramid.
In yet a further embodiment, each protrusion has a width that is constant as the protrusions extends from the interior surface of the second arm.
In another embodiment, the device weighs from 5-60 grams.
In yet another embodiment, each of the first and second arms comprises a hair-side surface configured to contact hair when hair is arranged between the first and second arms and the device is in the closed position. Each hair-side surface has a length extending from the hinge to an end of the respective first or second arm that is in a range of from 1-6 inches, and a width perpendicular to the length that is in a range of a 1-6 inches.
In a further embodiment, the length of each hair-side surface is greater than or equal that the width of that hair-side surface.
In yet a further embodiment, the length of each hair-side surface is less than the width of that hair-side surface.
In another embodiment, at least one arm of the first and second arms comprises a port through which a mass of material can be added, removed, or both, to the inside of the one arm to adjust the weight of the device.
In yet another embodiment, the at least one arm further comprises a cover configured to open and close the port.
In a further embodiment, a spring that applies a spring force to bias the first and second arms towards each other to maintain the device in the closed position.
In yet a further embodiment, one arm of the first and second arms comprises a magnet generator that generates a magnetic field, and the other arm of the first and second arms comprises a magnetic attractor that is attracted to the magnetic generator by the magnetic field so as to bias the first and second arms towards each other to maintain the device in the closed position.
In another embodiment, the magnet generator is a permanent magnet.
In yet another embodiment, the magnet attractor is a permanent magnet.
In a further embodiment, the magnet attractor is a piece of metal.
In yet a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a hair straightening device that includes a first arm, a hinge connected to the first arm, and a second arm connected to the hinge. The first arm, the second arm, or both are rotatable around the hinge between an open position where the first arm and the second arm do not contact each other and a closed position where the first arm and the second arm contact each other. The first arm comprises a deformable first material that forms an interior deformable surface of the first arm that faces the second arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position. The interior deformable surface of the first arm is deformed by the second arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position.
In another embodiment, the second arm comprises a deformable second material that forms an interior deformable surface of the second arm that faces the interior deformable surface of the first arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position. The interior deformable surface of the second arm is deformed by the first arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position. The deformable second material is the same as or different from the deformable first material.
In yet another embodiment, the second arm comprises a non-deformable material that forms an interior non-deformable surface of the second arm that faces the interior deformable surface of the first arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position. The interior non-deformable surface of the second arm is not deformed by the first arm when the hair straightening device is in the closed position and the deformable surface of the first arm contacts and presses against the non-deformable surface of the second arm. The non-deformable material is different from the deformable first material.
The device can be used by individuals of almost any age. It takes less than a minute each to apply, and can be left on the ends of the sections of hair until the hair is completely dry or can be removed earlier for a less straight surface. The device is portable and weighs far less than a blow dryer or flattening iron. The device can be used with or without a blow drying. Because the device provides a “head start” in relaxing the hair, a small low-powered hotel blow dryer will suffice and large home hair driers can be used at a lower setting, thereby reducing the chance of damaging the hair. The device can be used by professional stylists to aide and speed up the process of blowing hair dry.
It is noted that the features of the above-described embodiments are not exclusive to each other, and that any one of the above embodiments/features can be combined with one or more of the other embodiments/features to arrive at further embodiments.
It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present invention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, many other elements which are conventional in this art. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other elements are desirable for implementing the present invention. However, because such elements are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, a discussion of such elements is not provided herein.
The present invention will now be described in detail on the basis of exemplary embodiments. It is noted that any numerical ranges disclosed herein are included to individually disclose every sub-range and number, both whole integer and partial fraction, within the disclosed range. For example, a disclosed range of 1-100 is intended to individually disclose 20-90, 40-80, 30.5-50.2, 20, 67.3, 84.512924, and every other range and number that falls within the recited range.
The two arms 2,3 have ends 6,7 that come together securely by way of magnetic attraction, clamp, clip, or spring (e.g., compression spring, extension spring, torsion spring, constant force spring). The other ends 8,9 of the arms 2,3 can also be held together by way of magnetic attraction, clamp, clip, or spring. In this way, the ends 8,9 can be permanently connected to each other, or can be removably connected like the ends 6,7 so that so that the arms 2,3 are completely detachable from each other.
Alternatively or additionally, the ends 8,9 can be attached to each other via a hinge 10 so that the arm 2 rotates around the hinge 10. The hinge 10 can be integral to and a part of the arm 3, or can be a separate component that is attached to the arm 3. The end 8 of the arm 2 can be permanently attached to the hinge 10 for ease of use, or can be designed to be separated from the hinge 10 for portability.
One or both of the hair-side surfaces 4,5 may be made from a non-slip material that provides friction against hair so that the device 1 does not slide off the hair after being clipped around the hair. Examples of such a material includes elastomers like silicone, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, latex, and the like, as well as foams like latex foam, polyurethane non-memory foam, polyurethane memory foam, soy memory foam, neoprene foam, foam rubber, silicone foam and the like.
In a preferred embodiment, one of the hair-side surfaces 4,5 is a tooth-lined or fiber-grabbing surface and the other hair-side surfaces is a smooth non-slip surface that has an impression potential (e.g., silicone). When the two surfaces 4,5 come together, they grab onto the ends and don't slip off the hair strands. The tooth-lined or fiber-grabbing surface, side one, submerges into or gently penetrates the soft and smooth non-slip surface, side two, to securely grab the hair. The size of the device 1 may vary depending on the texture, thickness, and amount of hair a particular clip 1 is designed to collect for the purpose of creating a taut smooth surface.
In the embodiment shown in
While
In the embodiment shown in
The clip 1 may also adhere to the tips of the strands of hair by simple tension from a clamp or other tension coil system creating a tight grip (e.g., a torsion spring arranged near or around the hinge 10). The one or more hair-side surfaces 4,5 of the clip could be a spongey or giving surface 16 that would keep the hair from crimping but also create a non-slip gripping surface to ensure the weighted device does not fall down the length of the strands eventually falling off.
As shown in
As shown in
The protrusions 13 can be formed from a rigid material—like hard plastic, resin, metal, wood, etc.—to enable the flexible teeth 13 to comb through, manipulate, and untangle hair. The protrusions 13 can also be formed from a deformable and resilient material—like one an elastomer or foam—to provide additional force against the hair and increase the surface area of the clip 1 that actually squeezes the hair. If the teeth 13 are formed from a deformable and resilient material, then there is no need for holes 14 to be formed in the interior hair-side surface 4 of the arm 2. However, such holes 14 for the protrusions 13 can of course be formed in the hair-side surface 4—be it deformable or rigid—to provide a more secure contact between the teeth 13 and the hair-side surface 4, and strengthen the grip of the clip 1 on hair.
As shown in
While the above embodiments have frequently been described as using some soft, deformable padding material to form one or both of the hair-side surface 4,5, one or both of these surfaces can instead be formed from a rigid, non-deformable material, like plastic, metal, resin, or wood. For example, in a variation of the embodiment shown in
In addition, the two arms 2,3 may have the same thicknesses, or different thicknesses. For example, as shown in
As shown in
In the embodiment shown in
The device 1 is heavy enough to lengthen hair or “pull” curls out without damaging the hair or injuring the user—preferably 5-60 grams. The device can be of a fixed weight or of an adjustable weight. For example, a port 15 can be incorporated into one of both of the ends 6,7 so that the corresponding arm 2,3 can be filled with a substance (e.g., water, sand, etc.) to add or remove weight. The weight creates a smooth surface in the hair without slack that does not permit the hair to recoil upwards. The hair-side surfaces 4,5 are preferably 1-6 inches long and a 1-3 inches wide; therefore creating a surface area of 1-18 square inches.
The protrusions 13 may be formed in a variety of shapes. For example, each tooth can be formed to have a width that decreases as the tooth extends from the interior surface of the second arm—such as in the shape of a cone or pyramid. Alternatively, each tooth can have a width that is constant as the tooth extends from the interior surface of the second arm—such as a column or pillar. The cross section of such a straight-sided column or pillar may be circular, triangular, rectangular, or the like. The protrusions 13 can have pointed, rounded, or flat ends.
Each tooth or protrusion 13 has a height HP that extends perpendicular from a hair-side surface of the respective arm 2,3, and has a length and a width that are both perpendicular to the height. While many of the embodiments of the protrusions 13 shown in the drawings have widths and lengths that are equal to each other, this does not need to be the case. For example, the protrusions 13 can each be formed to have a length LP that is greater than a width WP.
Any shape can be used for such protrusions 13, with some examples of such shapes shown in
As mentioned above, the length LP of each protrusion 13 may be equal to or greater than the corresponding width WP. Furthermore, the length direction of each protrusion 13 may be parallel to the length direction and perpendicular to the width direction of the corresponding arm 2,3. In another embodiment, the length direction of each protrusion 13 is parallel to the width direction and perpendicular to the length direction of the corresponding arm 2,3. In yet another embodiment, the length direction of each protrusion 13 intersects with both the length direction and the width direction of the corresponding arm 2,3.
The length LP of each protrusion 13 may be substantially equal to the length or width of the arm 2,3, on which the protrusion is arranged. For example, the entire hair-side surface 4,5 of one or both of the arms 2,3 may contoured with protrusion 13 formed as ribs or ridges with peaks 21 and troughs 22. If both hair-side surfaces 4,5 of the arms 2,3 are contoured with ribs/ridges, preferably the peaks 21 of the hair-side surface 4 fit in the troughs 22 of the hair-side surface 5 and the peaks 21 of the hair-side surface 5 fit in the troughs 22 of the hair-side surface 4 with the device 1 is in the closed state.
The hair-side surfaces of the troughs 22 may be smooth as shown in
The arms or sides 2,3 may be rigid so as to have a cross section in the length or width direction that is curved, straight, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the arms or sides 2,3 may be malleable so that they can be bent by a user into the desired shape. This would allow the hair to be shaped as each user desires.
It is noted that the embodiments described above are not exclusive to each other.
In particular, any feature from any embodiment may be used in another embodiment. Similarly, the any of the features of a given embodiment may be combined with any of the features in any of the other embodiments.
It is also noted that the terminology used above is for the purpose of reference only, and is not intended to be limiting. For example, terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “above”, “below”, “rightward”, “leftward”, “clockwise”, and “counterclockwise” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. As another example, terms such as “inward” and “outward” may refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the component described. As a further example, terms such as “front”, “rear”, “side”, “left side”, “right side”, “top”, “bottom”, “horizontal”, and “vertical” describe the orientation of portions of the component within a consistent but arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to the text and the associated drawings describing the component under discussion. Such terminology will include the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
While this invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments outlined above, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of the invention as set forth above are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions as defined in the following claims.
In addition, it is noted that citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.
