The present disclosure generally relates to a styler for eyelashes.
Mascara is the universally most-preferred cosmetic, but it is also the most time-consuming cosmetic to adequately apply. The three main features a consumer wants from her mascara and applicator are volume, length and separation, each of which may require a different type of applicator.
The containers for mascara are generally in the shape of a tube and commonly consist of a scraping means forming a narrowed opening for the passage of the brush within the neck of the container. Various designs and/or structures of brushes for styling eyelashes are conventionally and commercially used. However, the basic structure of a wand applicator with a single brush has remained essentially unchanged for many years. Accordingly, the proper application of mascara typically involves separately coating the upper and under sides of a top lash, using only one wand and one brush.
Eyelashes have the most pleasing appearance when they are separated and fully extended. One problem with mascara applicators is that although they successfully apply mascara to the eyelashes and thereby enhance the color and thickness of the eyelashes, the applied mascara can cause adjacent eyelashes to stick together. Therefore, one of the objects in designing mascara applicators is to separate the eyelashes as the mascara is being applied. However, since the applicator is stored in the mascara, the applicator always performs as an applicator of mascara rather than a separator of eyelashes.
It is difficult to uniformly apply mascara to eyelashes with a single prior art device, and it is also difficult to prevent applying excessive mascara with a single device. When the latter occurs, a separate device has to be used to remove the excess mascara and to fluff and curl the eyelashes. Therefore, generally two or more separate devices have to be used in order to properly apply mascara to the eyelashes and to curl and fluff them thereafter. Some mascara users like to comb and separate their lashes with a dry brush after the mascara has been applied.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved styler for eyelashes which achieves both separation and curling of the eyelashes after the mascara has been applied and, if desired, combing of the eyebrows.
The present disclosure generally relates to a styler for eyelashes, in particular a styler which can be used not only for combing eyelashes but also as a magnetic tool for curling and lifting the eyelashes.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided a styler comprising a styler head and a handle. The styler head is located at a distal end of the handle and comprises a support for supporting a comb and at least one magnetic block.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the styler head is aligned along a longitudinal axis of the styler, that is to say, the styler head is elongated to have a length generally aligned with a length of the handle.
The styler head and the handle can be made integrally as one unit or can be made as separate units that are to be snapped or otherwise attached to each other by any other securing means known in the art.
According to an aspect of the present embodiment, the support of the styler head has a top surface and a bottom surface.
According to an aspect of the present embodiment, the support of the styler head is substantially flattened with a substantially flat top surface, a substantially flat bottom surface and at least one side surface. However, it is understood that the styler head may take shapes—such as a rectangular shape with flat or convex bottom, an elongated oval shape with rounded or flat bottom etc.
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the styler head may be made of a plastic material or any other suitable material.
According to yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the comb and the magnetic block are arranged to be adjacent to each other in a longitudinal direction of the support. According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the comb and the magnetic block are arranged to be adjacent to each other on the same surface of the support. However, in alternate embodiments, the comb and the magnetic block may be arranged on different surfaces of the support.
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the comb is located on the top surface of the support and includes a plurality of application elements selected from a group consisting of tines, bristles, teeth, projections and grooves. The application elements are preferably integrally formed with the support. It is within the scope of present disclosure that the comb may be detachably mounted to the support of the styler head. The application elements of the comb extend transversely from the top surface of the support. However, it is not beyond the ambit of the present disclosure that the application elements may extend non-perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the styler. Further, the application elements of the comb cover approximately about half a width of the top surface in longitudinal direction of the support. The bottom surface of the support is smooth and free of bristles.
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the application elements are appropriately spaced apart on the top surface and are appropriately sized so that they are suitable for use in combing eyelashes. In various embodiments, the spacing between adjacent application elements may or may not be uniform. Similarly, the application elements may or may not be of same length.
According to yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the application elements are alternately formed along the axial direction of the styler head. However, in alternate embodiments, the application elements may not be alternately located on the support. Furthermore, the application elements are arranged on the support in parallel rows. In alternate embodiments, the application elements may be arranged on the support in non-parallel rows.
According to yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the application elements for example are bristles which are preferably tapered from their bases to their tips. It will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art that the bristles may have one of a straight cylindrical shape or a curved cylindrical shape, a straight conical shape or a curved conical shape, a straight frusto-conical shape or a curved frusto-conical shape, a straight prismatic shape or a curved prismatic shape and any other shape known in the art.
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the at least one magnetic block is secured to the support of the styler head. Preferably, the styler head includes a recess in the top surface and the at least one magnetic block is placed therein such that the magnetic block is visible and accessible to the user. The magnetic block has a top surface which is flushed with the top surface. Similarly, the sidewalls of the magnet are designed to substantially flush the side surface of the support.
According to yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the magnetic block may be a permanent magnet or a block of plastic material that comprises magnetic particles. Further, the magnetic block may be a long strip of a one-piece permanent magnet or formed by stitching together multiple small permanent magnets or by a plurality of small permanent magnets and magnetic conductor splicing. In alternate embodiments, a plurality of small magnetic blocks may be disposed in longitudinal direction of the styler head.
According to various embodiments, it is possible that the magnetic block may be permanently or detachably mounted in the recess. The magnetic block may be fastened in the recess by various means, e.g. by snap-fastening, by sliding connection, by force-fitting, or with any another fastening means known in the art.
The styler is used on eyelashes coated with a cosmetic composition having magnetic properties, preferably a mascara composition having magnetic properties. The composition having magnetic properties contains particles, fibers or flakes that are magnetized and/or that are magnetizable. The magnetic block of the styler is configured to generate a magnetic field that exerts an attractive pulling force on eyelashes coated with said composition by interacting with magnetic fibers, particles or flakes that are present in the cosmetic composition, thus encouraging lifting and curling of eyelashes. The cosmetic composition may be a liquid or powder or some other appropriate cosmetic composition.
According to another aspect of the embodiment, the handle has a flared end portion for better gripping as flared distal end makes it easier for a user to hold the styler in two fingers. Preferably, the handle is made of a generally flat or oval shape rather than cylindrical in its gripping portion which would be to facilitate the gripping of the handle. However, in alternate embodiments, the handle may be rounded, and may even have a non-slip gripping material—such as rubber or neoprene—applied to it or have a textured surface. Handle can further include dimples, bumps, or ridges protruding from portions of its surface, providing a decorative appearance to handle and enhanced gripping of handle during use of styler.
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the handle has an ergonomic shape having a twist, preferably of angle between 5 and 90 degrees. The twist allows the user to operate the styler more easily and allows the hand, wrist and arms of the user to be in a better position with the body while using the styler. All or part of the handle could be made of any suitable material, such as plastic, wood, metal or various natural materials which are biodegradable.
According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, the support includes a comb with bristles that are arranged on the top surface, closely adjacent in relation to the at least one magnetic block and substantially surrounding the magnetic block. The bristles shield the opposite sides of the magnetic block against contact with the user's eyes.
In operation, the user grips the styler by the handle, the styler head is firstly placed in a position where the comb and magnetic block are just below the eyelashes coated with the magnetizable composition. Then, the styler is raised and twisted to some extent for combing the eyelashes with the comb while simultaneously lifting the eyelashes with effect of attractive force of magnetic block. As, the comb and magnetic block are adjacent to each other on the same surface, the eyelashes are automatically and simultaneously separated and curled. However, in alternate embodiments, the comb and the magnetic block may not be located on the same surface of the support, thereby allowing a user to selectively use only one of the comb or a magnetic block at a time.
According to a third embodiment of the present disclosure, the comb is arranged only on the top surface and at least one magnetic block is provided on the bottom surface of the support.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the comb is arranged on a convexly curved portion of the sidewall of the support forming a fan of bristles at a distal end of the styler and the magnetic block is provided in the top surface of the support.
In variant embodiments of the present disclosure, the styler head may not be aligned along the longitudinal axis of the styler or the handle.
According to an alternate embodiment, the magnetic block may not be aligned in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the styler. For example, the magnetic block is disposed transversely to the longitudinal axis of the styler.
In variant embodiments, the magnetic block of the present disclosure may be present at a front/distal end of the styler.
In variant embodiments, the magnetic block of the present disclosure may not be flushed with a support surface of the styler.
In variant embodiments, the styler of the present disclosure may have a substantially circular shape or any other desirable shape.
In variant embodiments, at least a portion of a top surface and a bottom surface of a handle of the styler of the present disclosure is curved. Preferably, the top surface and the bottom surface is either convexly or concavely curved.
In alternate embodiment, the styler has at least a depressed portion on at least one of the top surface and the bottom surface of the handle.
In a variant embodiment, at least one of a top surface and a bottom surface of the handle of the styler includes a decorative design member or logo.
According to an aspect of present disclosure, the styler of the present disclosure includes a removable cap for covering and protecting the styler head of the styler. The removable cap is preferably detachably secured to the styler head or handle of the styler by snap features, threads or any other suitable means known in art.
According to an aspect of present disclosure, one of the surfaces of styler has a visible feature such as an indicia or an artistic design, which guides or directs a user to orient or hold the styler in a certain manner during use. For example, the visible feature(s) may allow a user to easily locate and use a more desirable side of the styler for better application results. For example, a surface of the handle of the styler may include an eye-shape design indicating to the user to hold the styler in a manner that the surface having the eye-shape design faces the eye. Such a position is desirable for better application results, as the eyelashes of the user in such a position may be configured to first come in contact with the magnetic block and then with the comb. Thus, eyelashes coated with magnetic composition are first lifted and curled by the magnetic block and then are separated or fanned out by the comb.
According to yet another embodiment, the bristles may be flocked or made by extruding or injection-molding a plastics material containing a filler of particles, e.g. particles of a moisture-absorbing material, so as to impart micro-relief to the surface of the bristles, or so as to give them magnetic or other properties.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure and methodology of the present disclosure. Thus, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the examples discussed in the specification. Rather, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.
Although specific embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that such embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative of a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which can represent applications of the principles of the present disclosure. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the present disclosure.
Referring to
As illustrated in
According to preferred embodiment, the styler head 10 may be made of a plastic material.
As shown in
According to present embodiment, the comb 12 is formed integrally with the support 11 of the styler head 10, however in alternate embodiments the comb 12 may be detachably mounted to the styler head 10.
As shown in
The bristles 12a are appropriately spaced apart on the top surface 11a and are appropriately sized so that they are suitable for use in combing eyelashes. In the present embodiment, the spacing between adjacent bristles 12a is uniform. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments the spacing between adjacent bristles 12a may or may not be uniform. Similarly, the bristles 12a may or may not be of same length.
As shown in
The bristles 12a, better shown in
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the at least one magnetic block 14 is secured to the support 11 of the styler head 10 and wherein the magnetic block 14 provides a magnetic field. Preferably, the styler head 10 includes a recess 13 disposed in flat top surface 11a and the at least one magnetic block 14 is placed therein such that the magnetic block 14 is visible and accessible to the user. The magnetic block 14 has a top surface 14a which is as shown in
According to yet another aspect of the present embodiment, the magnetic block 14 may be a permanent magnet or a block of plastic material that comprises magnetic particles. Further, the magnetic block 14 may be a long strip of the one-piece permanent magnet or formed by stitching together multiple small permanent magnets or by a plurality of small permanent magnets and magnetic conductor splicing. In alternate embodiments, a plurality of small magnetic blocks may be disposed in longitudinal dimension of the styler head 10.
According to various embodiments, it is possible that the magnetic block 14 may be permanently or detachably mounted in the recess 13. The magnetic block 14 may be fastened on the recess 13 by various means, e.g. by snap-fastening, by sliding connection, by force-fitting, or with any other fastening means known in the art.
The styler 100 is used on eyelashes coated with a cosmetic composition having magnetic properties, preferably a mascara composition having magnetic properties. The composition having magnetic properties contains particles, fibers or flakes that are magnetized and/or that are magnetizable. The magnetic block 14 of the styler 100 is configured to generate a magnetic field that exerts an attractive pulling force on eyelashes coated with said composition by interacting with magnetic or magnetizable fibers, particles or flakes that are present in the composition, thus encouraging lifting and curling of eyelashes. The cosmetic composition may be a liquid or powder or some other appropriate cosmetic composition.
According to another aspect of the embodiment, the handle 20 has a flared end portion 20a for better gripping. One can see that the handle 20 is flared at its distal end to make it easier for a user to hold it. Preferably, handle 20 is made of a generally flat or oval shape rather than cylindrical in its gripping portion 20a which would be to facilitate the gripping of the handle. In the present embodiment, the handle 20 is not cylindrical, however in alternate embodiments, the handle 20 may be rounded, and may even have a non-slip gripping material—such as rubber or neoprene—applied to it or have a textured surface. Handle 20 can further include dimples, bumps, or ridges protruding from portions of its surface, and providing a decorative appearance to handle 20 and enhanced gripping of handle 20 during use of styler 100.
According to another aspect of the present embodiment, the handle 20 has an ergonomic shape having a twist, preferably of angle between 5 and 90 degrees. This angle of torsional twist is clearly observed in
A styler 200, which is substantially similar to the styler 100, according a second embodiment, is shown in
In operation, the user grips the styler 100, 200 by the handle 20, the styler head 10 is firstly placed in a position where the comb 12 and magnetic block 14 are just below user's eyelashes that are coated with magnetizable composition, not shown. Then, the styler 100, 200 is raised and twisted to some extent for combing the eyelashes with the comb 12 while simultaneously lifting the eyelashes with effect of attractive force of magnetic block 14. As, the comb 12 and magnetic block 14 are adjacent to each other on the same surface 11a, the eyelashes are automatically and simultaneously separated and curled. However, in alternate embodiments, in stylers 300, 400 shown in
A styler 300 according to a third embodiment is shown in
A styler 400 according to a fourth embodiment is shown in
A styler 500 according to a fifth embodiment is shown in
In alternate embodiments, a plurality of magnetic blocks 14 may be provided along the longitudinal direction of the support 11 disposed within a plurality of corresponding cavities/recesses on the support 11.
In alternate embodiments of the present disclosure, a length of the styler head 10 is not aligned along the longitudinal axis X of the stylers 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1000, as shown in
In alternate embodiments of the present disclosure, the magnetic block 14 is not aligned in a direction of the longitudinal axis X of the stylers 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1000, as shown in
In alternate embodiments, the magnetic block 14 of the present disclosure is present at a distal end of the stylers 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1000, for e.g. as shown in
In alternate embodiments of the present disclosure, for example in stylers 600, 700, 800, 900, the magnetic block 14 is not flushed with a support surface 11 of the stylers.
Referring to
One of the surfaces of a styler of the present disclosure may have visible feature such as an indicia or an artistic design, which guides/directs a user to orient/hold the styler in certain manner during use. For example, the visible feature(s) may allow a user to easily locate and use a more desirable side of the styler for better application results. For example, as seen in
In alternate embodiments, the styler of the present disclosure has a substantially circular shape, for e.g. stylers 700, 800 as shown in
In alternate embodiments, the stylers 700, 800 have a handle 20 having two opposite surfaces 15a and 15b which are curved as shown in
In an alternate embodiment, at least one of the two opposite surfaces of the handle 20 of a styler has a depressed portion 18, for e.g. as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
In alternate embodiments, as shown in
According to yet another embodiment, the bristles 12a of the comb 12 may be flocked or made by extruding or injection-molding a plastics material containing a filler of particles, e.g. particles of a moisture-absorbing material, so as to impart micro-relief to the surface of the bristles 12a, or so as to give them magnetic or other properties.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/377,885, filed Aug. 22, 2016, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62377885 | Aug 2016 | US |