Patent Application
20230126196
The subject matter of the present disclosure refers generally to hairbrush having a removeable head.
Styling hair often requires that the stylist be able to perform multiple tasks at once while keeping in mind what needs to be done in the future. This can be particularly difficult when accomplishing tasks that have multiple parts that the stylist must perform while simultaneously being responsible for multiple pieces of equipment. It is not uncommon that a stylist must constantly exchange the equipment in one hand with another piece of equipment before changing back to the original piece of equipment, which can greatly decrease the efficiency in which a stylist can execute a particular style. Further, many hair styles have steps that must be performed in a particular order, and the additional steps of exchanging one piece of equipment for another can distract the stylist and potentially cause them to miss a step.
Common pieces of equipment that a stylist must exchange include, but are not limited to, scissors, brushes, hair rollers, styling products, blow dryers, sectioning clips, bobby pins, and hair loops. For instance, a stylist often must exchange a brush for styling product and vice versa. Stylists must also often put down a blow dryer to obtain a hair roller so that they can roll a section of hair around the roller before picking the blow dryer back up to work on the next section of hair. This is tedious enough for a person who styles other’s hair for a living, but for someone working on their own hair who rarely attempts to perform more time-consuming tasks, such as blowouts, the constant switching can become confusing and incredibly time consuming.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a hairbrush system that allows a user to apply styling product while simultaneously giving the user the ability to detach the brush head so that it may be used as a hair roller in order to minimize the amount of equipment swapping that must be performed, which will increase efficiency and reduce the difficulty to execute certain hair styles.
A hairbrush system having a removeable head and a pump configured to eject styling product onto hair is provided. In one aspect, the present invention is a hairbrush system and method designed to simplify certain hairstyling tasks. In another aspect, the present invention is a hairbrush system and method designed to make it possible for a user to apply styling product to hair with the same item they are using to brush their hair. Generally, the system and method of the present disclosure are designed to minimize the number of hands and/or styling accessories required perform certain styling tasks so that said styling tasks become more efficient and easier for a user to perform. The system generally comprises a hairbrush handle and a removeable head.
The hairbrush handle comprises a main grip, pump, nozzle, switch, male connector, bottom cap, and reservoir. The main grip is configured to be held by a user and has a cavity configured to hold the pump and reservoir therein, which may be accessed through an opening located at the bottom end of the hairbrush handle. An end cap preferably covers the opening, which connects to the main grip via an attachment means. A piston of the pump/atomizer is preferably situated at least partially within the cavity so that it may extract styling product from the reservoir. The remaining pump/atomizer components preferably sit at a top end of the main grip. A switch of the pump/atomizer, extending from the exterior of the main grip into a pump cavity of the hairbrush handle, allows for a user to operate the pump/atomizer. The reservoir preferably is secured to the pump/atomizer via threads, wherein a male threaded section of the reservoir is designed to fit within a female threaded section of the pump/atomizer. In some embodiments, the end cap may be secured to the bottom end of the reservoir via threads. The nozzle extends from the exterior of the main grip to the pump/atomizer within the pump cavity and is preferably located opposite the switch. A window, located on the main grip, allows a user to view the reservoir within the cavity.
The removeable head comprises top section, bottom section, main core, female connector, and a plurality of bristles. Some embodiments of the removeable head may also comprise a plurality of slots, wherein said plurality of slots are designed to hold hair accessories used during styling. In a preferred embodiment, the main core comprises an inner barrel and outer barrel, wherein said outer barrel partially surrounds said inner barrel. The plurality of bristles is secured to the inner barrel of the main core and extend exterior to the outer barrel via holes in a lattice of said outer barrel. The main core is secured to and between the top section and bottom section. The bottom section comprises the female connector having a cavity that extends from an opening of said bottom section towards said top section until it reaches a back wall. At least two side walls of the female connector have prong slots configured for locking the prongs of the male connector thereto when said male connector is inserted into said female connector. The prongs of the male connectors may be manipulated by a user via depressible actuators said prongs are connected. In some preferred embodiments, the male connector and female connector may further comprise magnets, wherein the magnets are oriented such that their magnetic fields oppose one another when the male connector is inserted into the female connector, thus providing an ejection force that may eject the removeable head from the hairbrush handle when the user manipulates the depressible actuators in order to disengage the prongs of the male connector from the prong slots of the female connector.
The foregoing summary has outlined some features of the system and method of the present disclosure so that those skilled in the pertinent art may better understand the detailed description that follows. Additional features that form the subject of the claims will be described hereinafter. Those skilled in the pertinent art should appreciate that they can readily utilize these features for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purpose of the system and method disclosed herein. Those skilled in the pertinent art should also realize that such equivalent designs or modifications do not depart from the scope of the system and method of the present disclosure.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features, including method steps, of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with/or in the context of other particular aspects of the embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally. Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).
As used herein, the term “comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, steps, etc. are optionally present. For example, a system “comprising” components A, B, and C can contain only components A, B, and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C, but also one or more other components. As used herein, the term “hairbrush” and grammatical equivalents thereof refers to an apparatus used for cleaning, scrubbing, applying a substance to, and/or arranging a fiber. In a preferred embodiment, the fiber is a proteinaceous fiber, such as hair, but fibers comprising other materials may be used without departing from the inventive subject matter described herein. For example, a user may brush tangles out of their hair while simultaneous applying a hair product thereto or a user may brush a faux fur coat comprising acrylic and modacrylic fibers while applying a cleaning product.
Although the system 100 and method of the present disclosure have been discussed for use within the hair styling field, one of skill in the art will appreciate that the inventive subject matter disclosed herein may be utilized in other fields or for other applications in which a hairbrush may be used to manipulate fibers.
In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in
A piston of the pump/atomizer is preferably situated at least partially within the cavity 105I so that it may extract styling product 810 from the reservoir 105J. The remaining pump/atomizer components preferably sit at a top end of the main grip 105A. Types of pumps/atomizers that may be used by the system include, but are not limited to, airless pumps, trigger pumps, and pneumatic atomizers. In a preferred embodiment, an airless pump is used to disperse styling product 810 via the nozzle 105F. A switch 105E extending from the exterior of the main grip 105A into the cavity 105I allows for a user 805 to operate the pump/atomizer. In embodiments featuring an airless pump, pressure exerted on the switch 105E by the user 805 causes a piston of the airless pump to create a vacuum, which pulls liquid and air from the pump/reservoir 105J, which is then forced out of the nozzle 105F. The vacuum created within the reservoir 105J by the removal of styling product 810 by the airless pump causes a chamber plate of the reservoir 105J to move towards the top end of said reservoir 105J. Air intake valves located at the bottom end of the reservoir 105J allow air to enter the reservoir 105J between the chamber plate and bottom end as the chamber plate moves towards the top end. This prevents a vacuum lock form forming within the device, which would prevent the airless pump from extracting styling product 810 from the reservoir 105J.
In embodiments having a pump/atomizer in the form of a pneumatic atomizer, the reservoir 105J contains a first cavity and a second cavity, wherein the first cavity is configured to hold a compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen gas, and the second cavity is configured to hold styling product 810. When the switch 105E is compressed, the pneumatic atomizer mixes the compressed gas and styling product 810 within a mixing cavity of the pneumatic atomizer before it is expelled through the nozzle 105F. In a preferred embodiment, the reservoir 105J is refillable. However, some embodiments of the reservoir 105J may be non-refillable or partially refillable. For instance, a reservoir 105J configured for an airless pump may have an opening at the top end where a styling product 810 may be placed therein. For instance, a reservoir 105J configured for a pneumatic atomizer may be configured such that once the supply of compressed gas of the first cavity is exhausted, the cartridge must be replaced; however, this same reservoir 105J may be configured in a way such that a user 805 may add new styling product 810 to the second cavity until said supply of compressed gas is exhausted.
The reservoir 105J preferably is secured to the pump/atomizer via threads, wherein a male threaded section of the reservoir 105J is designed to fit within a female threaded section of the pump/atomizer. In some embodiments, the end cap 105B may be secured to the bottom end of the reservoir 105J via threads, wherein the orientation of the threads located on the top end and bottom end of the reservoir 105J are the same so that a direction of rotation is the same when securing the reservoir 105J to the pump and the end cap 105B to the reservoir 105J. Therefore, in some embodiments, the end cap 105B may be configured to secure to both the main grip 105A and the reservoir 105J. By securing the end cap 105B to both the main grip 105A and the reservoir 105J, the end cap 105B may assist with anchoring the reservoir 105J within the cavity 105I, which may prevent unwanted movement of the reservoir 105J within the cavity 105I.
The nozzle 105F extends from the exterior of the main grip 105A to the pump/atomizer within the pump cavity and is preferably located opposite the switch 105E. Types of nozzle 105Fs that may be used include, but are not limited to, plain-orifice, shaped-orifice, single-impingement single-fluid, solid-cone single-fluid, pressure-swirl single-fluid, internal-mix two-fluid nozzle 105Fs, and external-mix two-fluid nozzle 105Fs. Some embodiments of the system may comprise more than one nozzle 105F about the main grip 105A. For instance, a hairbrush handle 105 may comprise two nozzle 105Fs set equidistance apart from the switch 105E and configured in way such that the pump/atomizer ejects an equal amount of styling product 810 through each nozzle 105F when the pump/atomizer is operated by a user 805 via the switch 105E. This may allow for styling product 810 to be distributed over a larger area with each activation of the pump. The window 105G, located on the main grip 105A, allows a user 805 to view the reservoir 105J within the cavity 105I. In embodiments in which the reservoir 105J is transparent, the window 105G may allow a user 805 to determine how much styling product 810 is contained within the reservoir 105J, allowing a user 805 to determine when additional styling product 810 must be added to said reservoir 105J in embodiments where said reservoir 105J is refillable.
In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in
In a preferred embodiment, the main barrel 110A comprises an inner barrel and outer barrel, wherein said outer barrel partially surrounds said inner barrel. The plurality of bristles 110D is secured to the inner barrel of the main barrel 110A and extend exterior to the outer barrel via holes in a lattice of said outer barrel. The plurality of bristles 110D may comprise natural material, synthetic material, or any combination thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the outer barrel of the removeable head 110 comprises a heat conductive material, which may decrease hair drying times when used in conjunction with a heat source, such as a hairdryer. The main barrel 110A is secured to and between the top section 110C and bottom section 110B. Because some preferred embodiments of the system comprise a plurality of slots 110F for securing hair accessories, the inner barrel preferably comprises a cavity into which said hair accessories can extend into said removeable head 110 via said plurality of slots 110F. The bottom section 110B comprises the female connector 110E, which in some embodiments may have components that also extend into the cavity of the inner barrel, wherein said male connector 105C is shaped to fit within the female connector 110E.
In a preferred embodiment, the female connector 110E and male connector 105C are square in shape, as illustrated in
In some preferred embodiments, the male connector 105C may comprise a plate 105H configured to engage the back wall of the female connector 110E in a way that creates an ejecting force. In one preferred embodiment, the male connector 105C may comprise a spring that is operably connected to the plate 105H, wherein the spring holds the plate 105H away from the other components of the male connector 105C until a compression force is applied thereto. For instance, when a male connector 105C comprising a spring and a plate 105H is slotted into the female connector 110E by a user 805, the plate 105H may contact the back wall of the female connector until the spring begins to compress. Once the prongs 105D engage the prong slot, the compressed spring will be prevented from achieving an equilibrium length until the user 805 removes the prongs 105D from the prong slots via the depressible actuators. If the user 805 manipulates the depressible actuators in order to disengage the prongs 105D from the prong slots, the restoring force of the spring will act on the plate 105H that is engaged with the back wall of the female connector 110E, which will cause the male connector 105C of the hairbrush handle to eject the removeable head 110.
In another preferred embodiment, the plate 105H and the back wall of the female connector 110E may further comprise magnets and/or themselves be magnetized. The positioning of the magnetized plate 105H, magnetized back wall, and/or magnets is such that the magnetic poles of the male connector 105C are oriented in the same direction as the magnetic poles of the female connector 110E when placed together, meaning that the magnetic fields of the male connector 105C and female connector 110E oppose each other and push each other apart when the male connector 105C is inserted into the female connector 110E. This opposition may provide an ejecting force that may eject the removeable head 110 from the hairbrush handle 105 when the user 805 manipulates the depressible actuators in order to disengage the prongs 105D from the prong slots. For instance, a user 805 may force a male connector 105C and female connector 110E having opposing magnetic fields together until the prongs 105D of the male connector 105C engage the prong slots of the female connector 110E, securing the hairbrush handle to the removeable head 110. When the user 805 manipulates the depressible actuators of the hairbrush handle to cause the prongs 105D to disengage the prong slots, the ejection force created the opposing magnetic fields will force the male connector 105C and female connector 110E apart.
Once the client’s hair has been smoothed, the user 805 may partially dry the user’s 805 hair using a hairdryer during step 930. In a preferred embodiment, partially dried hair is dried to a maximum of sixty percent. If a user 805 determines that the hair has been dried too much, the user 805 may apply additional styling product 810 using the switch 105E, pump, reservoir 105J, and nozzle 105F of the hairbrush handle 105. The user 805 may wind sections of hair around the removeable head 110 during step 935 and subsequently dry said sections using the hairdryer during step 940, applying light-tension to the hair as it is being dried. Once the strip of hair is completely dry, the user 805 may roll the client’s hair around the removeable head 110 and eject the removeable head 110 during step 945. The user 805 may then perform a query to determine if more of the client’s hair must be wound around a removeable head 110 and dried during step 950. A user 805 may take an action based on said query during step 955.
If the user 805 determines that no more strips of hair must be wound around a removeable head 110 and dried, the user 805 may proceed to step 960. If the user 805 determines that additional strips of hair must be wound about the removeable head 110 and dried, the user 805 may obtain and attach an additional removeable head 110 to the hairbrush handle 105 during step 958 and subsequently return to step 935. Once the user 805 has determined that no more of the client’s hair must be wound about the removeable head 110 and dried, the user 805 may use the hairdryer to blow cold air on the client’s hair during step 965, which helps set the curls created by the strips of hair rolled about the removeable heads 110. The user 805 may then unwind the hair from the removeable heads 110 during step 970. Once unraveled, the user 805 may shake out each section of the client’s hair at the root during step 975 before proceeding to the terminate method step 980.
The user 805 may then smooth the first section of hair to create volume and/or an anchor for an updo before subsequently performing a query to determine if an additional section of hair must be positioned, backcombed, sprayed, and smoothed during steps 1135 and 1140, respectively. Based on the results of the query, the user 805 may perform an action during step 1145. If the user 805 determines than an additional section of hair must be positioned, backcombed, sprayed, and smoothed, the user 805 may return to step 1120 and perform the steps for the additional section of hair as was done for the first section of hair. If the user 805 determines that no additional sections of hair must be positioned, backcombed, sprayed, and smoothed, the user 805 may proceed to terminate method step 1150. Note that though the removeable head 110 for this particular method is in the form of a teasing brush head, other types of brush heads may be used without departing from the inventive subject matter described in this method.
The implementations set forth in the foregoing description do not represent all implementations consistent with the subject matter described herein. Instead, they are merely some examples consistent with aspects related to the described subject matter. Although a few variations have been described in detail above, other modifications or additions are possible. In particular, further features and/or variations can be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, the implementations described above can be directed to various combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features and/or combinations and subcombinations of several further features disclosed above. In addition, the logic flow depicted in the accompanying figures and/or described herein do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. It will be readily understood to those skilled in the art that various other changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts and method stages which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this inventive subject matter can be made without departing from the principles and scope of the inventive subject matter.
