Patent Application
20050016448
This invention relates generally to airbrushes used for spraying colored patterns on fingernails, toenails, skin, or other surfaces. The invention relates more specifically to a compact, portable airbrush with improved mechanisms for aerosolizing the paint and facilitating stenciling.
Airbrushes are used to paint thin coats of paint, fingernail polish, ink, dyes, pigments, and other coatings on various surfaces. Substances applied with an airbrush are referred to collectively herein as “paint,” and the act of applying them is referred to herein as “painting.” The act of converting the substance from its original form to what emanates from the air brush is referred to herein as “aerosolizing” the paint. Of particular interest, airbrushes are used to apply paint on fingernails and toenails. Solid-color nails are the easiest to paint. French manicures are more complicated, involving painting the tips of the nails white and the nail beds a more neutral color. Even more popular recently has been painting multiple colors and layers on nails in patterns of various shapes and designs. Some of the designs painted on the nails approach miniature pieces of fine art, with detailed geometric shapes, landscapes, flowers, figures, etc. Because self-application of designs is very difficult, most people go to a salon for their manicures and pedicures, where they can obtain the services of trained and experienced nail technicians.
Some patterns are created by stenciling the nails. That is, a stencil with the desired pattern is applied to the nail, typically with adhesive, and then the paint is sprayed onto the nail. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,121 issued to Polito. The stencil is removed, leaving the pattern on the nail. It is known in the art to use an airbrush that is powered by a commercial-grade compressor to spray the paint. The compressor is large and heavy and is placed on the floor, as opposed to the manicure table. It typically remains in one location, stored at the foot of the nail technician's table whether it is in use or not, because it is not easily portable. It is desirable to have an airbrush that is small and compact so that it could be placed on a table, and that is easily moved and stored elsewhere between uses, particularly for home use.
Another problem with the existing equipment is that it is designed for a nail technician to use on another person's hands. It is nearly impossible to paint one's own nails with known airbrush equipment, because while one hand is being painted, the other is holding the airbrush wand, and an additional hand(s) is needed to hold the stencil in place. It would be desirable to have a mechanism to make painting one's own nails easier.
Further, commercial airbrushes are designed with a wand that has a tiny bowl (hopper) to receive the desired paint. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,131 issued to Viet et al. Nail polish is poured from a bottle of nail polish into the bowl in the desired amount. To change colors, the residual paint in the bowl and wand is forced out with the compressed air and a new color is poured into the bowl. This method of filling the bowl is time consuming, messy, wastes the paint remaining in the wand and can often lead to spilling the paint. Over time, the airbrush gets clogged and must be cleaned with an appropriate solvent or replaced. It is desirable to have an easier way to supply paint to the wand so that paint colors may be easily changed, with no mess or waste.
In addition to painting patterns on nails, air brushes are also used to paint patterns on other surfaces such fabric and clothing; walls; cars; signs; and even painting temporary tattoos on skin. It would be desirable to have a compact airbrush that is portable and that is battery-powered for use at remote locations.
Consequently, it would be desirable to a compact, portable airbrush that has an improved mechanism for aerosolizing the paint and changing the colors. Preferably the device will also have improved mechanism to hold stencils near one's own nails for easier self-application of fingernail polish. It is also desirable that the device be battery-powered for use in remote locations.
The present invention is a portable airbrush with improved mechanisms for aerosolizing paint and for facilitating stenciling. The device utilizes an air compressor that is compact, portable and relatively lightweight. The air compressor is housed in a base that has projections to hold stencils in positions that make it easier for a person to spray his or her own nails. The stencils are removably attached to the projections with stencil fasteners. The mechanism for aerosolizing the paint arranges an air-emitting nozzle, a paint-emitting needle, and its attached paint reservoir in such a way that when the nozzle and paint reservoir are removed from the wand, substantially no residual paint remains in the wand. The air compressor may be battery-powered or powered by house current, and the device may be packaged in a case with numerous stencils and refillable bottles of paint.
a is a plan view of the first embodiment of the paint assembly in cross-section along line 2-2 in
b is a plan view of the first embodiment of the paint assembly showing air flow when the aperture is closed.
a illustrates a stencil and stencil ring.
a illustrates a stencil attached to a stencil ring.
An air hose 14 is connected to the source 12 to carry compressed air to the wand 15. The wand 15 comprises a grip 16, a means for controlling air flow 17, and a means for attaching the paint to the wand.
The paint assembly 18 comprises a nozzle 19, a container of paint 20, a means for attaching the paint container to the wand 21, and a needle 22 through which the paint passes. The container of paint 20 is preferably a bottle having a threaded neck 24. See
To aerosolize the paint and achieve the desired fine spray, the aperture is closed with the flow control 17, forcing air through the nozzle 19. As the air passes over the tip of the needle 22, a pressure gradient is created, causing the paint to be drawn out of the paint container 20. As the paint mixes with the air flow, a fine spray is created. To stop the spray, the aperture is opened by allowing the knob 17 to spring back to its original position. This allows the compressed air to flow through the aperture instead of through the nozzle 19. To change paints, the paint container 20 is removed from the wand by simply unscrewing the neck from the collar. Since no paint got into the wand, the wand does not need to be cleaned prior to using a different color.
In the second embodiment, the wand 15 has an opening 41 for receiving a paint container 20 which supplies paint to the paint reservoir. The opening is threaded to mate with the neck 24 of the paint bottle 20. Alternatively, the paint bottle can be firmly positioned in the opening with a snap-fit. The paint may be gravity fed by dripping paint downward from the attached bottle to the wand, or wick-fed in which paint is wicked upward into the wand from a container depending from the wand.
The bottles for any implementation of the present invention may be disposable or refillable.
To make it easier for the user to paint his or her own fingernails, a stencil support 55 is provided. There is at least one projection extending from the stencil support 55 that will serve to hold a stencil 52 for convenient placement on a fingernail. The stencil support 55 has one or more projections 51a, 51b, 51c, 51d, 51e which serve to hold one or more stencils 52. In the preferred embodiment, the stencil support 55 is attached to the base 11 and is configured to look like an up-turned palm, with five projections that are shaped like fingers with long fingernails 60. See
While the stencil support is preferably attached to the base, it may also stand alone. See
The stencil fastener 53 is a ring 54 that is elastic or has a diameter slightly bigger than the projection. The ring 54 has a means for fastening the stencil 52 to the ring 54, such as a nib 56 or pinch clip, both illustrated in
Quality nail design takes practice. The airbrush user can practice on the projections or on his or her own nails, but constant removal of the paint can be messy. Another disadvantage of painting on ones own nails or the projections is that, if the user paints a particularly appealing design, the design is destroyed when the paint is removed. Therefore, the present invention also includes practice nail forms. See
The practice forms 91 are thin, flexible, nail-shaped surfaces that are easily applied and removed to a user's nails or to the projections. Preferably a form is paper or very thin plastic with adhesive 92 on its backside that enables the form to be placed and easily repositioned on the user's nail or on a projection. It is contemplated that a portion of the back of the form be coated with an adhesive that has properties similar to that used on POST-IT® notes sold by 3M. The user then practices painting on the nail form and, when finished, either discards the practice form or saves if for later reference.
While there has been illustrated and described what is at present considered to be a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true scope of the invention. Therefore, it is intended that this invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/490,287 filed Jul. 24, 2004.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60490287 | Jul 2003 | US |
