Toilet – Methods – Hair treatment by application of specific chemical composition
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-15
2002-09-24
Wilson, John J. (Department: 3732)
Toilet
Methods
Hair treatment by application of specific chemical composition
C132S114000, C132S120000, C132S116000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06453909
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to an applicator for applying a hair coloring product, particularly one in the form of a mousse, gel or cream.
The compositions that can be used with the applicator according to the present invention may be packaged, for example, in mixing devices suited for the extemporaneous mixing of various constituent components (generally a colorant and an oxidant), or in a bowl in which mixing is performed manually, or in pressurized containers. In particular, they preferably have a viscosity similar to that of a gel or a cream. An example of a coloring product of this kind is the product marketed, particularly in France, by the assignee of the present application, under the tradename FERIA CONTRASTE®.
It is known practice for a hair product to be applied to the hair using a brush comprising a support forming a continuous surface and which may be domed in shape. Brush members (teeth or tufts of bristles) are provided at right angles to a mean plane of the support. The support may, for example, be of square cross section with two of its corners aligned along an axis of the handle. An arrangement of this kind makes it possible for the brush to have no leading edge parallel to the handle or perpendicular to the handle, and this plays a part in satisfactorily solving the problem of “lines” which may occur when applying certain coloring products. A brush of this kind is described in FR 2 774 570.
The use of such a brush, although satisfactory overall, does however reveal that for certain consumers satisfactory hair coloration is sometimes difficult to obtain. Specifically, the continuous surface formed by the application face means that certain users obtain an overall coloration instead of a streaked coloration they intended.
In a field other than hair coloring, U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,435 discloses a device which allows wetting the hair with a view to untangling it or to applying to it a tonic or cleaning composition. The device described in that document comprises a structure made of several parts joined together in an appropriate way. This structure is made up of an arrangement of teeth intended to comb the hair, in combination with one or more elements made of absorbent foam intended to contain the liquid composition that is to be applied to the hair. Because the product is retained within a porous application structure permeable to the product, it is not possible for simple application of the product to the hair. This is because when the block of foam is saturated with a liquid composition, all of the hair is inevitably in contact with the composition in a fairly uniform manner, in spite of the toothed shape of the foam structure. Thus, if the liquid composition were a coloring composition, it would not be possible to perceive any appreciable difference in coloration between one section of hair and a nearby section of hair.
Thus, one object of the present invention is to provide an applicator for applying a coloring product (including a color removing product) to hair which at least partially solves the problems discussed above with reference to certain known devices.
A particular object of the present invention is to provide an applicator of this kind which is both economic to produce and easy to use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a brush which offers a great deal of flexibility to obtain sectional or streaked coloration of the hair.
Yet another object of the present invention is to produce a kit for applying a hair product, particularly a hair color product, incorporating an applicator device according to the present invention.
It should be understood that the invention could still be practiced without performing one or more of the preferred objects and/or advantages set forth above. Still other objects will become apparent after reading the following description of the invention.
To achieve these and other advantages, and in accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention includes applicator. According to the invention, an applicator for applying a hair coloring product, particularly in the form of a gel or of a cream, to hair, comprises an array of brush members (teeth or bristles) implanted on an application face of a support, the application face being impermeable to the coloring product and capable of taking up the product that is to be applied and of holding it, at least temporarily. The application face has a stepped profile with at least two discrete levels so that contact of the application face with the hair, and movement thereof between the roots and the tips of the hair, generates on the hair a coloration pattern which is formed of at least two sections of hair which have different degrees of coloration. In the case of a brush formed of bristles, the bristles are generally arranged in the form of tufts.
As used herein, the degree of coloration of a section of hair may range from an absence of coloration, at least an absence of visible coloration, to a coloration of maximum intensity as may result from completely immersing the sectioned hair in the coloring product. The difference in degree of coloration between the hair in the coloration pattern may be particularly visible to the naked eye. The term “coloration” as used herein covers both adding color to and removing color from the hair. The length of time for which the product that is to be applied is held on the application surface depends to a large extent on the viscosity of the product and on the profile formed by the application face.
Producing the profile of the application face, which is impermeable to the product, in a stepped or discontinuous shape means that, for all the hair which will contact the application face as the device is passed through the hair, some of the hair will be confined, for example by the presence of the teeth or bristles, in deep regions of the application face containing a great deal of coloring product and will therefore be intensely colored. Some hair may contact intermediate surface portions of the application face carrying little product (for example, product which has spilled over from the deep regions), and will therefore be colored with an intermediate intensity. Other hair may contact raised surface portions which have no product in any appreciable quantity. Such hair will then be held away from the product contained in the other regions. As a result, the hair on these sections will not be appreciably colored. It will thus be possible to produce alternating sections of hair which are intensely colored and sections of hair which are not appreciably colored, possibly separated by regions of hair having intermediate coloration, giving the hair that has been in contact with the application face a streaked appearance.
As a preference, the sections of hair of the various coloration intensities obtained are contiguous. Thus, the end result obtained is very natural and irregular coloration. At the same time, by altering the layout of the steps of the application face, the number of steps, and their height, and by altering the orientation of the application face of the applicator, the result obtained is very different from the result obtained with coloration devices of the type which “trap” the hair, which produce hair section coloration of the “all or nothing” type, that is to say hair sections which are either colored or are not colored at all.
Thus, according to a first embodiment, the stepped profile is such that the coloration pattern obtained is made up of at least one colored hair section and of at least one hair section which is not appreciably colored.
According to an alternative embodiment, the stepped profile includes at least three discrete levels, so that the coloration pattern also comprises at least one hair section, the degree of coloration of which is in between the degree of coloration of the colored hair section and that of the hair section which is not appreciably colored.
Advantageously, the stepped profile formed by the application face is such that the pattern obt
Doan Robyn Kiew
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
L'Oreal (S.A.)
Wilson John J.
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