Patent Application
20080184474
This invention relates to neck cushions for hairdressing back-wash basins.
Many hairdressing salons are fitted with back-wash basins that are used when washing or shampooing a client's hair prior to cutting or styling. A conventional back-wash basin is essentially similar to a large conventional washbasin except that an arcuate recess is formed in its front edge. In use, the hairdresser's client adopts a recumbent posture with their neck resting in the recess and their head overhanging the basin so that their hair can be washed. The aim is to reduce the amount of water that splashes out of the basin and down the client's neck. Back-wash basins are typically made of conventional wash basin material, such as ceramics or acrylic plastics, both of which are hard, cold to the touch and therefore uncomfortable. In order to improve comfort, it is known to cushion the recess in the back-wash basin, either with a towel or a special cushion or pad. The problems with using a towel are that it gets sodden, tends to wick the water out of the basin, has a tendency to fall on the floor, and increases the salon's laundry and drying costs. Insofar as special cushions or pads are concerned, none has proved to be totally satisfactory.
One design of cushion that is sold under the mark Rubbernex® and is described in patent document FR2600871 is formed from a length of extruded polyethylene foam tube that is slit along its length (in a similar way to foam pipe lagging) and is painted to reduce its absorbancy to and surface retention of water. In use, the tube is fitted to the basin by pulling open the slit and fitting the resulting C-shaped cross-section of the tube around the edge of the recess and by bending the tube so as to follow the curve of the recess. Problems with this design are that, because the tube is initially straight and the slit is initially closed, the tube needs to be deformed significantly in order to fit the basin; with repeated bending of the tube, the paint tends to crack so that the cushion looks unsightly and so that it can absorb water; with further repeated bending, the material of the tube tends to split, further increasing the ability to absorb water and decreasing the ability of the cushion to hold itself in place; because, once it has absorbed water, the cushion cannot then be readily dried, it will feel cold to the touch and also hygiene, odours and mould-growth become issues.
In another known design, a pad is formed of shaped, solid, rubber-like material. Problems with this design of pad are that the pad is rather hard and therefore not particularly comfortable, and that the range of designs of basin that a particular pad will fit is restricted.
An aim of the present invention, or at least specific embodiments of it, is to provide a neck cushion or pad for a back-wash basin that: is relatively soft and comfortable; can be fitted to a wide range of back-wash basins; does not absorb any significant amount of water even after prolonged use; maintains its integrity; can be easily cleaned; and is hygienic.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a neck cushion for a hairdressing back-wash basin, the cushion having the overall shape, when relaxed, of an arcuate sausage and having a channel along the cushion to receive a neck-support lip of the back-wash basin, the cushion being moulded from a cross-linked polymer so as to have a compressible closed-cell foam structure. Because of the arcuate sausage shape, the cushion needs less lengthwise bending than a straight cushion in order to fit most conventional back-wash basins. Because of the channel, the cushion needs to be opened out less than a slitted tubular cushion in order to fit most conventional back-wash basins. Because of the closed-cell foam structure, the cushion does not absorb any significant amount of water. Because of the compressible foam structure, the cushion is comfortable and not cold to the touch.
Preferably, the polymer is a polyolefin, more preferably an ethylene polymer, and more preferably an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer.
Preferably, the surface of the cushion is heat sealed. This reduces the water retention of the surface of the cushion, making it even easier to dry, clean and keep hygienic and free of odour and mould.
The arcuate sausage shape preferably has a relaxed radius of curvature of no more than 120 mm, and more preferably of about 80 mm.
The arcuate sausage shape preferably extends through an angle of between 150 and 180 degrees when relaxed, and more preferably about 165 degrees.
The channel preferably faces in a direction away from the centre of curvature of the arcuate sausage shape and more preferably at an angle of between 25 and 55 degrees with respect to the radial direction of the arcuate sausage shape.
The relaxed maximum width of the channel is preferably about 23 or 24 mm, the channel having sides that converge, when relaxed, towards the channel opening. In this case, the relaxed minimum width of the channel is preferably about 14 mm.
The compressibility of the material of the cushion is preferably such that it requires an applied compressive stress of between 30 and 50 kPa in order to produce 25% compression.
A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to the drawings, the relaxed shape of the neck cushion 10 will be described first. The cushion 10 generally has the overall shape of an arcuate sausage having a centreline radius of curvature A (see
The neck cushion 10 is made of cross-linked ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer that is moulded in a suitable mould to form a closed cell foam cushion, and the surface of the moulded product is heat sealed. The cushion 10 may be moulded by injecting liquid material into the mould. However, the cushion 10 is more preferably moulded by hot press forming (otherwise known as compression moulding) of sheet foam material of uniform thickness that has been cut to the required outline shape. The cushion 10 may be formed from a single piece of sheet foam material, or from two pieces that are joined together, for example by heat laminating or by adhesive bonding. When the hot mould is totally closed, it preferably totally encapsulates the moulding material so that the whole surface of the moulded article becomes heat sealed as a result. Heat sealing of the surface has the effect of smoothing out any depressions in the surface of the moulding material, for example where the sheet foam is cut across cells, so that the whole surface of the cushion has a generally smooth skin with a somewhat waxy feel. The techniques of hot press forming or compression moulding, heat laminating, adhesive bonding and heat sealing are known per se in the art of foam conversion.
A suitable grade of sheet moulding material is “EV50” obtainable from Zotefoams plc, CR9 3AL, United Kingdom, and Zotefoams Inc, 41094, United States of America. Such material is manufactured by a high pressure nitrogen gas solution process whereby extruded cross-linked ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer sheets are impregnated with pure nitrogen and subsequently expanded in a pressure chamber. This process produces closed cell foam sheets with exceptional size uniformity, low odour, high purity and outstanding physical attributes. The resulting cushion press-formed from such sheets is lightweight (having a density of about 50 kg/m3), of suitable flexibility to provide comfort and enable the cushion 10 to fit a wide variety of basins (requiring a compressive stress of about 40 kPa for 25% compression), tough (having a tensile strength of about 930 kPa) and resistant to tearing (having a tear strength of about 1.3 MN/m). Indeed, the author of this specification found it impossible to tear a prototype of the cushion 10 with his fingers. In view of the closed cell structure of the foam and the surface heat sealing, the cushion 10 has negligible absorption of water. In view of the surface heat sealing, the cushion 10 has negligible surface retention of water and is easy to clean.
As shown in
The lip 34 of the basin 28 shown in
It will be appreciated that many modifications and developments may be made to the cushion 10 described above. For example, it may be formed of different sizes and from different materials, and the base portion 18 may be made thicker in the region that is engaged by the user's neck 36
It should be noted that the embodiment of the invention has been described above purely by way of example and that many other modifications and developments may be made thereto within the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0508897.6 | Apr 2005 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB2006/001578 | 4/28/2006 | WO | 00 | 10/29/2007 |
