Patent Application
20230255338
This invention relates to nail care devices and systems. More specifically, it relates to a nail care tool comprising an ergonomic handle, a replaceable head, and an end tip, which allows a person to conveniently remove nail polish, buff nails and clean around nails.
Nail care is an essential part in the maintenance of personal hygiene. In order to maintain healthy nails, individuals must keep their fingernails and toenails well-groomed at all times. The common practices of enhancing the appearance of nails comprise removing old or damaged nail polish, buffing, and cleaning around nails.
Modern nail polish has been on the nail care market for almost 100 years. Many individuals today, mostly women, beautify their fingernails and toenails by applying nail polish themselves or going to a professional nail technician to have them done. With an array of different nail polish types, colors and finishes to choose from, there seems to be no limit to how a person wears their nails. Nail lacquer, also known as regular nail polish, and no lamp long-lasting polishes are among the most commonly used nail polishes. Regular nail polish basically consists of film-forming agents, resins, solvents and pigments. No lamp long-lasting polishes provide users a hybrid of nail lacquer and gel.
A pristine nail manicure or pedicure can be achieved with a correct application of thin, even layers of base coat, nail polish and topcoat. However, even if the nail polish is applied with the proper procedure, most people constantly change it, completely or selectively, mainly due to chipping or smudging of the polish, grow out or an outfit change. This removal always involves cleaning off the existing polish by applying commercially available solvents in the form of nail polish removers.
When it comes to removing regular nail polish, no lamp long-lasting polishes or the like, the process usually becomes laborious, quite messy and time consuming, principally when removing darker and glitter-based polishes. Current commonly used methods employed to perform this removal task typically comprise applying nail polish remover onto a polished nail, with the use of a cotton ball, cotton round, nail polish remover pad or wipe, sponge, tissue or similar tool. Some of these tools need to be initially soaked in nail polish remover solution, and some already come pre-soaked with the fluid. In either case, the subsequent steps of holding the sodden tool with the fingers of one hand and rubbing it over the surface of a nail in the other hand in order to remove the nail polish therefrom, will inevitably and undesirably expose the user's fingers and fingernails to come into contact with a potentially hazardous enamel solvent and to get stained with dissolved polish. This occurs especially when the user desires to remove the polish entirely from all their nails, since this ordinarily requires rubbing repeatedly with the use of many units of the tool. If the person only wants to fix a damaged nail, it is almost inevitable that previously applied nail polish on their fingernails will end up smudged, marred or removed. Likewise, when a person uses their hands to remove old polish from their toenails, which for many are difficult to reach, their fingernails with previously applied nail polish are usually damaged.
The enamel solvent exposure problem is greatly compounded for many professional nail technicians that use those conventional tools daily, mostly cotton balls, to remove nail polish from their client's nails, often many times per day. While performing the removal, these nail techs commonly hold the saturated tool with their bare fingers. Thus, among the day-to-day challenges that numerous nail technicians confront, due to solvent exposure through skin or fingernail contact, is taking care of the appearance of their own fingernails when applying polish remover to others. It is also a challenge to reduce coming into contact with hazardous chemicals found in numerous polish removers, such as Acetone, Butyl Acetate and Ethyl Acetate, which can have health effects, including skin disorders. In this respect, contact dermatitis, also known as eczema, is the most common skin disorder encountered by nail technicians. Although wearing disposable gloves could minimize such exposure, doing so limits manual dexterity and might get very uncomfortable. At the same time, wearing them frequently and repeatedly may cause red, dry, itchy, irritated areas or blisters on the hands and wrists.
Further, those above-mentioned soft and bendable tools are not capable of holding a firm shape when in use, thus complicating the removal of polish from the nail edges and alongside the cuticle area. It also provokes the generation of irregular friction during cleaning mainly due to the shape variation in the area of contact of the tool when pressed over the nail surface, which is normally curved transversely. Less uniform friction forces between the soaked tool and the nail surface means it is harder to remove the polish.
In addition to those conventional tools, other types of nail polish removing devices have been proposed over the years. Various devices exist for removing nail polish comprising a handle portion in combination with an absorbent material component. Illustrative of this approach are disclosed in the following patent documents: Luscri U.S. Pat. No. 2,442,051 (May 1948); Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 2,713,693 (July 1955); Oliver U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,809 (July 1958); Winthrop U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,758 (December 1986); Smith et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,913 (December 1989); Antonopoulos-McIvor U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,859 (March 2000); Dockery U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,735 B1 (June 2002); Crosby U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,172 B1 (June 2003); Thomas et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,786,667 B1 (September 2004); Knapp et al. Pub. No. US 2008/0142405 A1 (June 2008); Wang Pub. No. US 2009/0090376 A1 (April 2009) and Dockery Pub. No. US 2014/0133895 A1 (May 2014).
Dipping jar-based systems is another general category of existing means to remove nail polish. The jar typically contains a sponge-like filler heavily soaked in nail polish remover. The filler is provided with a centered vertical opening into which the finger is inserted. Upon insertion of the fingertip into the aperture of the filler, the person must repeatedly twist and turn the polished nail against the filler until all the polish has been removed. For many people, this system requires skilled manual dexterity and is impractical to remove toenail polish. Because the fingertip is inserted inside the filler during cleaning, the person cannot see the nail when the polish is been removed. It usually takes extra effort to remove nail polish completely from the nail edges and alongside the cuticle area. Worse still, in the removal process, the finger is undesirably soaked in a mixture of potentially hazardous solvent and dissolved nail polish. Descriptive of this system are disclosed in the following patent documents: Scherer U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,181 (April 1984); Montiel U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,965 (May 1984); Montiel U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,726 (July 1985); Spector U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,306 (June 1987) and Barclay U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,814 B2 (June 2007).
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 8,584,683 B2 (November 2013), issued in the name of Shammami, describes a disposable nail polish removing device whose body shape is generally spherical with one or more indentations. These indentations can be used to grasp the device while the remaining surface of the device can be used for nail cleaning purposes. The body of this apparatus is made solely of an absorbent material that compresses during use and resiliently returns to its original shape. This device does not have a handle component. As with the aforementioned traditional tools, to carry out the removal, the user has to hold the sodden apparatus with the fingers of one hand and rub it over the surface of the polished nail, thus inevitably exposing their fingers to come into contact with enamel solvent and to stain with dissolved polish.
Thus, the nail industry needs an improved nail polish removing device that overcomes the identified limitations and difficulties inherent in using the existing tools. It would be beneficial to provide an easy to grasp nail polish remover tool with a handle that allows a more efficient and safer procedure for individual and professional removal of regular nail polish, no lamp long-lasting polishes or the like, from fingernails and toenails.
On the other hand, nail buffing is an essential technique to help give nails a smooth, polished appearance by removing ridges, roughness, jagged nail edges and surface stains. The technique involves abrading, smoothing and polishing the nail using files or nail buffers of successively finer grit. During the past decades, a variety of abrasive tools have been used by individuals and nail technicians to employ this technique, including flat planar files and nail buffer blocks. Particularly, manual nail buffers include rectangular buffer blocks with various operational surfaces, each having an abrasive material or a polishing material, and at least two opposite ends. Illustrative of this kind of tool are disclosed in the following patent documents: Hokama U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,828 (January 1983); Letherby et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,210 (May 1999) and Jancik Pub. No. US 2005/0081870 A1 (April 2005); Kim Pub. No. US 2006/0054177 A1 (March 2006) and Park U.S. Pat. No. D666,772 S (September 2012).
Although functional, traditional nail buffer blocks do not have a handle component or section, which constitutes a grip shortcoming or limitation. In order to operate it, the user must grasp the tool from its ends or in areas of the operational surfaces having abrasive material, with the bulky block itself in between their fingers. Thus, making it troublesome to hold and manipulate the nail buffer block at angles needed to achieve optimum results. During the buffing process, the user has to reposition frequently the nail buffer block in between their fingers, which may lead to grip discomfort. In addition, the skin of the user's fingers, primordially nail technicians, is susceptible to abrasion caused by coming into contact with the abrasive surfaces of the nail buffer block during periods of extended use.
An attempt to overcome this deficiency in the art is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. Des. 369,438 (April 1996), issued in the name of Resler, for a nail file ornamental design. This is the design of the commercially available nail buffer block entitled “Block On! Buffing Sponge Wand” from the brand Flowery. This device was formed with a rectangular, elongated block, made of sponge material that provides for four planar surfaces and two opposite ends. Each planar surface has adhered a treatment surface with an abrasive or buffing material, which is disposed on an intermediate foam layer. The treatment surfaces have different grit and are evenly sized. One of the short sides of all its treatment surfaces coincides in one end of the nail buffer block. The remaining portions of the treatment surfaces extend horizontally within the dimensions of the planar surfaces until they reach about two thirds of the length of the block. The areas of the planar surfaces not covered with the treatment surfaces, on the whole, is the handle portion of the tool, which contains four sharp longitudinal corners. This handle section is located on the opposite end to the one where the short sides of all the treatment surfaces coincide.
While the Resler device does provide a useful buffing tool, its handle section, however, has its limitations. Particularly, it does not have an ergonomic design. The grip is not contoured to the curve of the palm of the hand. This shortcoming results in an uncomfortable fit or grip, reduced grip strength and stability, less stroke power, decreasing productivity and hand fatigue.
Accordingly, the nail industry needs a multi-surfaced nail buffing tool with an ergonomic handle that comfortably fits the palm of the hand. It would be advantageous to provide an easy to grasp nail buffing tool with a handle that allows the user to conveniently hold and manipulate the tool for maximum efficiency in abrading, smoothing and polishing fingernails and toenails.
An exhaustive worldwide web search of existing nail care devices and systems did not disclose any patent document that read directly on the claims of the instant invention. Therefore, there is a need for a nail care tool that overcomes the identified limitations and difficulties inherent in using the existing devices, permitting more efficient, safe, precise, and tidy procedures for removing nail polish and buffing nails.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel and versatile nail care tool useful in the removal of nail polish, in buffing nails, and cleaning areas around nails. Said tool comprises an ergonomic handle, a head section provided with an operational material, a scraping or cleaning end tip and a male/female connecting system or mechanism suitable to connect the handle section to the head section in a nonpermanent manner. In some embodiments, the operational material on the external surface of the head section is an absorbing material, suitable to remove nail polish, herein refers to as an applicator head. In other embodiments, the operational material is an abrasive material, conveniently used in the nail buffing process, said embodiments are refers in this application as buffer head. The scraping or cleaning end tip may be conveniently used in cleaning areas around nails.
More particularly, a main object of the present invention is to provide a nail care tool having an ergonomic elongated handle that will prevent the sodden applicator head or the nail buffer head from contacting the fingers been used to hold the tool by the handle during the removal or buffing process. The handle will also give the user greater reach when removing polish from their toenails or buffing them.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nail care tool comprising a firm applicator head, capable of retaining toughness and shape when in use, and a scraping or cleaning end tip that allows a precise enamel removal from a polished nail with minimal solvent exposure to the skin around the nail. In yet another object of the present invention is to provide a nail care tool comprising a contoured firm applicator head with operational sections shaped to fit or receive a nail's convex surface.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nail care tool comprising a nail buffer head with an ergonomic elongated handle that allows the user to conveniently hold and manipulate the tool.
Additional objects of the present invention reside in the provision of a novel nail care tool simple in form and construction, with an attractive appearance, inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in use.
The present invention fulfills the above and other objects, including those that will become apparent below, by providing a novel nail care tool comprising an ergonomic elongated handle, a head, and a scraping or cleaning end tip. The embodiments within the scope of the instant invention comprises a male-connecting unit and a female-connecting unit constituting a suitable male-female connecting system or mechanism, that allows the connection of the head section to the handle section in a non-permanent manner; thus, allowing also the disconnection of the head section from the handle section of the tool.
Even though a threaded male-connecting unit and a threaded female connecting unit are illustrated in the drawings, the scope of the invention embraces any other non-threaded suitable male/female connecting system or mechanism that allows the head and handle sections to be connected and disconnected or connected in a nonpermanent manner.
The embodiments disclosed herein comprise a detachable scraping or cleaning end tip, having a cylindrical elongated main body with two ends, pointed or diagonal shaped. Such ends are useful in cleaning critical cuticle areas and the like.
The herein disclosed head is the main operational section of the tool. It may have different geometrical shapes having the exterior surface covered with a lining operational material, herein defined as a suitable material used normally in the care and maintenance of the nails. In some instances, the said material is an absorbent material, thus providing a nail polish removing tool or applicator. In other instances, the operational material is an abrasive material, thus providing a nail buffer tool.
In some embodiments, the user may conveniently change the lining operational material of the head once it has been already used and replace it with a new one.
The foregoing and additional features and characteristics of the embodiments of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are used herein in a manner of example only, and wherein:
Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. It is thus to be understood that this invention is not limited to particularly exemplified structures, components, methods or uses, as such may, of course, vary. The drawings are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments of the invention only and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any manner. It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
In general terms, a series of embodiments according to the instant invention are herein disclosed. All embodiments comprising an ergonomic elongated handle, a scraper, a head section, and a male/female connecting system or mechanism suitable to connect and disconnect the head section from the handle. Head caps simulating the external geometry of each described head sections are also disclosed.
The head section may have different geometrical shapes and all of said head sections include an “operational material” fixed on the external surface of the head section. Any embodiments herein described comprising as the operational material an absorbent material, are called throughout this application as “nail polish remover applicator” or “applicator tool” or merely “applicator”; while those embodiments having as the operational material an abrasive material, are herein named as “buffing” or “buffing tool”. Therefore, said operational material defines the particular function of a given embodiment of the tool according to the invention and it may be fixed, secured, attached, or adhered on the external surface of the head section of the tool by means of any suitable and convenient method known in the art, with the intention to cover said external surface of the head section in such a manner that said operational material remains fixed or attached to said external surface.
In particular, and in reference to the drawings,
The ergonomic design of the handle 181 provides a suitable shape where the User may place and accommodate its hand and fingers, thus allowing the relaxation of the hand muscles. As shown in
Scraper 182 is a stick made of any solid and firm material such as felt, wood, firm foam, plastic, or other suitable material. It comprises a cylindrical body 185 with first pointy end 186 and a second diagonal end 187. Scraper 182 is inserted in a non-permanent manner into cylindrical internal cavity 218, located at the first end 188 of handle 181.
Head 183 is connected in a non-permanent manner to second end 192 of handle 181. It is disposable or reusable.
The external surface of the head 183 comprises operational material 219, made of a suitable material capable of absorbing and retaining fluids, such as felt, polyester, polypropylene, cotton, and sponge; preferably polyester or polypropylene felt. Said operational material of absorbent material is fixed to the external surface of head 183 by means of any suitable covering methods known in the art. For instance, said absorbent material 219, alternatively, may be molded in a single unit or sheath layer 220, as the one illustrated in
Once prepared or molded, said sheath layer 220 may be fixed to the head 183, by any suitable fixing means known in the art. Any of said fixing means may comprise substances that are resistant to acetone and the like solvents. Such means may include adhesives, such as: hot-melt adhesive, glue, epoxy, double sided adhesive and thermal bonding.
The operational material 219, alternatively, may be fix to the external surface of head 183 by adhering a rectangular strip 221 of the selected absorbent material, illustrated in
Similarly,
Likewise,
The scope of this invention also comprises embodiments directed to tools useful in buffing nails, wherein, the operational material fixed on the external surface of the head section of the tool is an abrasive material 228, in place of an absorbing material 219, thus providing a nail buffer tool. Said abrasive material 228 is fixed, attached, or adhered to the external surface of the lateral sides of the head section of the tool. The abrasive material 218 is commercially available in resilient strips, pads, sheets or rolls format. Said resilient material may have one of its surfaces covered with an adhesive which is ready to be fixed, attached, or adhered a suitable surface, while the opposite site comprises the buffing material. The resilient material is also commercially available having both surfaces of the strip covered with buffing material. Said buffing material is available in a variety of coarse-grit abrasive layer, in other words, having different degrees of roughness. The abrasive material 228 material may be fixed securely on the lateral sides of the head section of the tool by any suitable bonding means, including but not limited to gluing, cementing, and bonding. These means include adhesives, such as: hot-melt adhesive, glue, double sided adhesive, and thermal bonding. In a preferred embodiment, a bonding medium, such as an adhesive, is employed to fix and secure each piece of abrasive material 228 to the lateral sides of the head section.
Embodiments of the buffing tools within the scope of the invention comprise embodiments having the abrasive material fixed, adhered, or attached to all lateral sides of the head section having the same preselected coarse-grit or roughness. In other embodiments, the buffer tools have fixed, adhered, or attached preselected strips having different coarse-grits of roughness or a combination thereof on a given lateral sides of the head section. For instance, in a given embodiment having a head with four lateral sides, it may have fixed, adhered, or attached a resilient strip coated with a coarse-grit abrasive layer, other of the lateral sides may have fixed, adhered, or attached a resilient pad with a medium-grit abrasive layer, while other lateral side may have fixed, adhered, or attached a resilient pad coated with a fine-grit abrasive layer, while the remaining lateral side may have fixed, adhered, or attached to them a resilient material with an extra fine grit abrasive layer.
In operational terms, the use of the applicator tool 180 is illustrated in
On the other hand, the use of the buffing tool 251, as herein disclosed, is illustrated in
On
Finally, while the present invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications, in both summarized and detailed forms, it will be understood that many substitutions, changes and variations in the described embodiments, applications and details of the novel tool illustrated herein and of its operation can be made by those skilled in the art to adapt it to various usages and conditions, without departing from the spirit of this invention. As such, these changes and modifications are properly, equitably, and intended to be within the full range of equivalence of the following. While the invention has been described in conjunction with some embodiments, it is to be understood that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the forgoing description. Accordingly, the invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
This application is a divisional application of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/282,228, filed on Feb. 21, 2019, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional application No. 62/633,524, filed on Feb. 21, 2018, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62633524 | Feb 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16282228 | Feb 2019 | US |
| Child | 18138959 | US |
