Patent Application
20120272982
The type of hair used in cosmetic applicators and makeup brushes may differ depending on its intended use. For example, natural hairs may be better suited for transferring certain cosmetic products from a container to the skin, while synthetic hairs may be better suited for blending the cosmetic product on the skin. For mineral based makeup, such as powders, blushes, bronzers, etc., it may be desired to use synthetic fibers to apply the makeup and natural fibers to blend. For example, a blush may be applied to the user's cheekbone with the synthetic fibers and the blush may then be blended on the cheekbone with the natural fibers. For pan or pressed products such as pressed powders, eye shadows, etc., it may be desired to use natural fibers to apply and synthetic fibers to blend. For example, eye shadow may be applied with the natural fibers and then blended with synthetic fibers. In addition, certain other properties of brush hairs, such as stiffness, thickness, length, etc., may affect the quality and nature of their use in cosmetic brushes.
Traditional cosmetic brushes are comprised of a single type of hair. As such, the tasks of application and blending require the use of two separate brushes. Certain brushes exist in the prior art that incorporate a blend of natural and synthetic hair; however, oftentimes blending one type of hair with another simply dilutes the beneficial qualities of each type of hair. Providing separate brushes within the same ferrule can be useful but may require reorientation of the brush in the user's hand for effective use of the separate fibers. Thus, there is a need for a cosmetic brush that is capable of incorporating different types of brush hairs while maintaining the separate qualities of the different brush hairs and providing the ability to seamlessly switch between different tasks such as application and blending.
There is also a need in the art for improvements relating to brushes that have hair of different colors, but not necessarily other different properties (natural or synthetic).
An object of the invention is to provide a method of making brush heads. According to one aspect of the invention, a method comprises making elongate bundles of brush hair held by flexible adhesive base at one hair end. According to another aspect of the invention, a method comprises combining one or more elongate bundles of brush hair in a ferrule. According to another aspect of the invention, the elongate bundles are each comprised of a different type of brush hair.
According to another aspect of the invention, the elongate bundles are each comprised of brush hair having at least one dissimilar property. According to another aspect of the invention, the dissimilar property between the brush hairs may be the average length of the brush hairs. According to another aspect of the invention, the dissimilar property between the brush hairs may be the color of the brush hairs. According to another aspect of the invention, the dissimilar property between the brush hairs may be the thickness of the brush hairs.
Another object of the invention is to provide a brush head comprising one or more elongate bundles of brush hair.
Another object of the invention is to provide elongate bundles of brush hair for use in forming brush heads.
Generally described, the present inventions relate to various concepts, including but not limited to a method of providing a cosmetics brush head, the method including the use of first and second bristle portions, each of the bristle portions being comprised of a plurality of elongate flexible bristle portions, each of the bristle portions having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the method comprising the steps of: A) providing a first elongate, substantially planar, strip of hair itself comprising a plurality of first elongate flexible bristles, each of the first elongate bristles having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the first elongate strip of hair itself also comprising a first elongate strip base which interconnects the secured ends; B) providing a second elongate, substantially planar, strip of hair itself comprising a plurality of second elongate flexible bristles, each of the second elongate bristles having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the second elongate strip of hair itself also comprising a second elongate strip base which interconnects the secured ends; C) stacking the first elongate strip of hair on top of the second elongate strip of hair in substantially planar contact, such that a two-layer elongate strip of hair is provided; D) rolling up the two-layer elongate strip of hair from one end to the other, while keeping the strip bases of the first and second hair slices substantially aligned, such that a rolled up elongate flexible bristle assembly is provided, comprised of a rolled up plurality of bristles each having at one end the application end and at the other end the secured end; and E) securing a portion of the rolled up plurality of bristles together proximate their secured ends, such that a brush head is provided having at one of its ends a plurality of bristle application ends including the application ends of the first and second elongate flexible bristles.
Also included is a method of providing a cosmetics brush head, the method including the use of first and second bristle portions, each of the bristle portions being comprised of a plurality of elongate flexible bristle portions, each of the bristle portions having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the method comprising the steps of: A) providing a first elongate, substantially planar, strip of hair itself comprising a plurality of first elongate flexible bristles oriented generally transverse to its length, each of the first elongate bristles having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the first elongate strip of hair itself also comprising a first elongate strip base which interconnects the secured ends; B) providing a second elongate, substantially planar, strip of hair itself comprising a plurality of second elongate flexible bristles, each of the second elongate bristles having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the second elongate strip of hair itself also comprising a second elongate strip base which interconnects the secured ends; C) rolling up the first elongate strip of hair from one end to the other, thus creating a core brush portion; D) rolling the second elongate strip of hair at least partially around the core brush portion, such that a rolled up elongate flexible bristle assembly is provided, comprised of a rolled up plurality of bristles each having at one end the application end and at the other end the secured end; and E) securing a portion of the rolled up plurality of bristles together proximate their secured ends, such that a brush head is provided having at one of its ends a plurality of bristle application ends including the application ends of the first and second elongate flexible bristles.
Also included is the method of manufacturing above, wherein in step “A”, the first elongate, substantially planar, strip of hair is provided by: a) grouping a number of separate first elongate flexible bristles in a mold such that the secured ends of the number of separate first elongate flexible bristles are substantially aligned in a plane; b) applying glue to the secured ends of the number of separate first elongate flexible bristles while they are substantially aligned in the plane, such that a substantially planar layer of glue is provided which partially adheres proximate the secured ends of the first elongate flexible bristles; c) allowing the planar layer of glue to at least partially dry; d) removing the mold such that the planar layer of glue tends to hold the number of separate first elongate flexible bristles together via their secured ends; and e) slicing the planar layer of glue such into elongate slices, such that one of the slices comprises the glue strip base.
Another of the inventions includes a method of using a cosmetics brush head, the brush head including first and second bristle portions, each of the bristle portions being comprised of a plurality of elongate flexible bristle portions, each of the bristle portions having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the second bristle portions being longer than the first bristle portions, the method comprising the steps of: applying cosmetics from the brush head to a skin surface with the use of a first pressure; and applying cosmetics from the brush head to a skin surface with the use of a second pressure greater than the first pressure, such that the ratio of cosmetic volume applied by the first bristle portions relative to the cosmetic volume applied by the second bristle portions is greater in step “B” relative to step “A” due to the increased contact of the first bristle portions due to the greater pressure.
Another of the inventions includes a method of using a cosmetics brush head, the brush head including first and second bristle portions, each of the bristle portions being comprised of a plurality of elongate flexible bristle portions, each of the bristle portions having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the second bristle portions being longer than the first bristle portions, the method comprising the steps of: applying cosmetics from the brush head to a skin surface with the use of a first pressure in order to apply cosmetics; and applying cosmetics from the brush head to a skin surface with the use of a second pressure greater than the first pressure, in order to blend cosmetics.
Another of the inventions includes a cosmetics brush, the brush comprising: a first elongate, substantially planar, strip of hair itself comprising a plurality of first elongate flexible bristles oriented generally transverse to its length, each of the first elongate bristles having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end; and a second elongate, substantially planar, strip of hair itself comprising a plurality of second elongate flexible bristles, each of the second elongate bristles having two opposing ends, one end being an application end and the other end being a secured end, the second elongate flexible bristles being shorter than the first set of bristles and configured such that the application ends are recessed relative to the application ends of the first set of bristles, such that different application pressures of the brush provide different relative application properties of the first and second sets of bristles.
Also included are the concepts as included in the original claims of this application.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Various embodiments of the present invention provide a multi-fiber brush head and a method for making cosmetic brush heads from at least two sets of brush hairs. The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
This disclosure includes discussions regarding three brush head configurations and the methods for manufacturing same. These include:
The First Manufacturing Process
In Step 3, the sorted and blended brush hair 120 is combed with a combing instrument 210, in preparation for placement in a bundle 220, as shown in Steps 4 and 5, with the hairs roughly parallel to one another. At Step 6 (
As shown in
In Step 9, as denoted in
In Step 10, as denoted in
As shown in
In Step 11, as denoted in
Drying time varies based on how large the brush is, but typically the time is 2-5 hours,
As illustrated in
Steps 1A through 1L are then carried out with a second type of brush hair 130 to create a second slice 132 of brush hair, as shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the brush hairs in the second slice 132 are generally longer than the brush hairs in the first slice. For example, the brush hairs in the first slice 122 have an average length of approximately 53 mm, while the average length of the brush hairs in the second slice is approximately 60 mm. Therefore, the average difference in length is approximately 7 mm. In other embodiments, the average difference in length between the first set and second set of brush hairs may be greater or less than 7 mm, depending on the size and intended use of the brush. The desired difference in length may also vary depending on the respective properties (e.g., stiffness, thickness, etc.) of the first and second types of brush hair. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the first and second sets of brush hairs may be approximately the same length.
In Step 12, the first and second slices of brush hair to be combined in a brush head are assembled. In the embodiment shown in
In Step 13, as denoted in
At this point in the manufacturing process, the next step will vary depending on the desired shape of the brush head. In various embodiments where a domed or rounded brush head is desired, the brush head 110 may then be subjected to a doming and shaping process, which is depicted from Step 14(b) in
The Doming and Shaping Process of Steps 14(b)-14(e)
In Step 14(b), as shown in
In Step 14(c), as shown in
In the depicted embodiment of the present invention, the interior of the closed end 267 of the shaping mold 265 is substantially dome-like. However, in other embodiments, the interior of the closed end 267 of the shaping mold 265 may take any of a variety of other shapes. For example, the shaping mold may be pointed, square, or any of a number of other shapes on the interior. Accordingly, the brush head resulting from the shaping step of these various shaping molds would be shaped correspondingly.
Skipping Doming/Shaping Process
In various embodiments of the present invention, the brush head will not be shaped as shown in Steps 14(a) through 14(e). In this way, the process for making the brush head in these various embodiments will therefore follow the rolling step (i.e., Step 13, as shown in
After Steps 14(a) through 14(e) are either used or bypassed, as illustrated by
The finished cosmetic brush 100 shown in
One advantage of the finished cosmetic brush 100 over brushes known in the art is that it incorporates the benefits of both the first type of brush hair 120 and the second type of brush hair 130 without diluting the properties of either as could happen when conventionally blending the types of hairs and making a brush head treating the blended hairs as a single type. When using the brush 100, the second type of brush hair may be better suited for applying a cosmetic powder, and the first type of brush hair may be better suited for blending the cosmetic powder. In one embodiment, the longer hair is natural hair, being more suited to pick up the product, and the shorter hair is synthetic fiber, which is more ‘slick’ than natural or smooth so it works best with emollient based make up.
With the cosmetic brush 100 with a swirled brush head 110 as seen in
Note that the “slices” or “strips” of hair can have glue strip bases prior to final assembly, but can still be considered “slices” or “strips” of hair even when installed and without the glue bases.
Another finished cosmetic brush 300 manufactured according to the above-described method is shown in
Yet another finished cosmetic brush 340 manufactured according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The Second Manufacturing Process (
Reference is now made to
Generally described, this process includes taking various slices of hair and overlaying them together in a different manner than the “dual layer—rolled up” configuration of the First Manufacturing Process described above. A core slice 430 (aka first slice, aka first layer) is folded over itself to form a sort of irregular core (see
At
At
It should be noted that in the configuration above, the first 430, second 440, and third 450 slices are of different properties, such as color, and the outer pieces 460 are of the same color as the second slice. However, other various substitutions of properties of the various elements are contemplated under the inventions.
Note that the thicknesses and lengths of the slices used for the Animal Print could be the same or different as the slices used in the Swirl concept, it just depends on the design desired.
The Third Manufacturing Process (
In the third manufacturing process, aka the “Spiral Design” process, strips of hair are used, but in this case the strips themselves have patterns/designs built into them (as opposed to being substantially of one color as in the previous configurations). The designs shown and/or desired can be provided by rolling a single strip into a head, rolling two strips together similar to the first method above, or folding, piecing, and/or otherwise assembling multiple sections having similar or different patterns/designs.
Another possible alternate is that the different colors of hair could be ‘premixed’ in a sense and then put into a strip, rolled, cut etc. with another strip of pre-mixed hair to form the desired effect. The invention anticipates that the multi color effect would come from both the premix of colors within the strips and then rolling and cutting multiple strips together. For example, in the first color option shown in
Other Variations
Those skilled in the art will understand that slices of brush hair can be combined using the concepts of the present invention in ways other than rolling two slices together. For example, three or more slices could be rolled together, or slices could be folded together, or short lengths of slices could be combined and captured within surrounding slices to form areas of different types of brush hair within a ferrule. Such areas could be formed in various shapes. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, various other embodiments of the swirl manufacturing method described herein may be used to create a swirl brush head.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the present invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
This application claims the full benefit and priority of pending provisional patent application No. 61/454,482, filed Mar. 18, 2011, entitled “Swirl Brush and Manufacturing Method”. The entire contents of said application are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61454482 | Mar 2011 | US |
