Castanet type hair iron

Details Castanet type hair iron Castanet type hair iron

2001-05-29

2002-12-17

Wilson, John J. (Department: 3732)

Toilet

Hair device

Having hair shaping surface or form

C132S225000, C132S118000, C132S269000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06494216

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hair iron to straighten hair by a finger operation, and in particular to a castanet-like hair iron which makes it possible to iron freely by a simple finger operation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional hair iron has a plane, elongated, virtually rectangular shape, having a heating surface on the interior surface of one end of an arm-like holder bar so that in an ironing operation, a user has to hold the end of a joint member in a position remote from the heating surface. Therefore, the operation is extremely difficult for females having a weak grip.
FIG. 15
shows a perspective view of a conventional arm-like hair iron. This arm-like hair iron
101
comprises elongated rectangular holding members
104
and
105
, which are joined via a joint member
106
for flexible opening and closing and have a heating surface
102
and a pressing surface
103
oppositionally on their interior surfaces. Hair ironing operation with this hair iron
101
is performed by gripping the holding members
104
and
105
with fingers A, sandwiching a bundle of hair between the abovementioned heating surface
102
and pressing surface
103
positioned remote from the fingers A and the palm, and controlling the force on the holding members
104
and
105
to iron the bundle of hair. However, in the abovementioned arm-like hair iron
101
, it is difficult to control the force because the part for gripping with the fingers A is positioned remote from the abovementioned heating surface and pressing surface when the arm-like holding members
104
and
105
having the abovementioned heating surface
102
and pressing surface
103
oppositionally on their interior surfaces are gripped with the fingers A. This makes it difficult especially for females with a weak grip to sandwich the bundle of hair between the abovementioned heating surface
102
and pressing surface
103
to perform ironing with force. Furthermore, since the heating surface is positioned remote from the fingers, it takes considerable time to master the hair ironing operation which requires a delicate force control.
In a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention, holding members are not conventional arm-like, elongated, virtually rectangular-shaped, but castanet-shaped, in which the reverse sides of the heating surface and pressing surface, namely the exterior surface of the holding members can be directly gripped so that the reverse sides of the heating surface and pressing surface of the holding members, namely the exterior surface of the holding members having the heating surface and the pressing surface oppositionally in their interior surfaces can be pressed with the thumb and the other 3 or 4 fingers while the palm supports the area where the fingers straddle the joining part of said holding members. Thus, the heating surface and the pressing surface can be manipulated more accurately, delicately and easily than those in the conventional arm-like hair iron so that the hair ironing can be flexibly performed.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the abovementioned problems associated with the conventional arm-like hair iron, the present invention provides a castanet-like hair iron in which a heating surface and a pressing surface are oppositionally placed on the interior surfaces of a pair of plane, virtually square holding members joined with a joint member at their ends so as to realize an easy hair ironing operation.
Namely, the present invention is fundamentally composed of the following configurations.
(1) A castanet-like hair iron characterized in that a pair of holding members having a heating surface and a pressing surface oppositionally on their interior surfaces are joined via a joint member at their ends and flexibly opened and closed by the pressing force of the palm and fingers which straddle said joint member.
(2) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (1) above, wherein hair heating surfaces are placed oppositionally.
(3) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (1) or (2) above, wherein the exterior surfaces of said holding members are smooth surfaces.
(4) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (1), (2) or (3) above, wherein a slip preventing surface to prevent the fingers from slipping is provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(5) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (4) above, wherein said slip preventing surfaces have continuous or discontinuous grooves formed parallel to and/or at right angles to the fingers.
(6) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (5) above, wherein a fingertip fitting cup to prevent the fingers from slipping is provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(7) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (6) above, wherein a finger trapping loop to prevent the fingers from slipping is provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(8) A castanet-like hair iron as described in (7) above, wherein said finger trapping loop is made of an elastic material in multiple numbers for individual fingers or in one loop for multiple fingers.
(9) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (8) above, wherein a slip preventing surface, a fingertip fitting cup and/or a finger trapping loop to prevent the fingers from slipping are provided on the exterior surface of at least one of said holding members in immediate proximity to a position where the fingers straddle the joint member.
(10) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (9) above, wherein the holding members can be strongly pulled in the side direction by grasping them with the palm or fingers at a position so as to straddle the joint member so that a bunch of hair can be ironed to the tip in one stroke by pulling the hair in the side direction while sandwiching it between the holding members.
(11) A castanet-like hair iron as described in any one of (1) through (10) above, wherein an exterior connecting member is extended from the side of the joint member at a position separate from the joining end of said holding members.
In a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention, the holding members having a heating surface and/or a pressing surface oppositionally on their interior surfaces are held with fingers so as to be sandwiched in the palm straddling a joint member which joins said holding members so that an opening and closing motion of the holding members and an opening and closing operation of the fingers are unified. As a result, the hair iron can be easily held and the opening and closing of the holding members can be flexibly and firmly controlled by a delicate finger operation.
Furthermore, in a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention which is operated by placing fingers to straddle said joint member, erroneous actions associated with the opening and closing motion of the holding members can be prevented by providing a slip preventing surface on the exterior surface of at least one of the holding members to prevent the fingers from slipping, although a plain surface on the exterior surface of the holding members causes no problem in operation.
Furthermore, in a castanet-like hair iron of the present invention, a cup is appropriately formed on the exterior surface of at least one of the holding members, corresponding to the thumb and/or a fingertip of the index finger, the middle finger and/or the third finger, which makes it possible to unify the pressing force of the finger and the opening and closing motion of the holding members by fitting the finger in the cup. As a result, the hair iron can be held more securely and the opening and closing of the holding members can be flexibly controlled by a deli

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Castanet type hair iron does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Castanet type hair iron, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Castanet type hair iron will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2942774