Cutlery – Combined cutlery or combined with ancillary feature
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-25
2004-10-26
Payer, Hwei-Siu (Department: 3724)
Cutlery
Combined cutlery or combined with ancillary feature
Reexamination Certificate
active
06807736
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to hair cutting devices having cutting guides, also known as attachment combs. More particularly, the present invention relates to a color-coded attachment comb key, which visually associates a number of colors with a number of sizes of attachment combs that are coded according to size.
Hair cutting devices may be supplied with several adjustable or non-adjustable, removable attachment combs, which assist a user in cutting hair to a uniform length. When an attachment comb is used, it is typically attached to an end of the hair cutting device, near the device's cutting blades. By virtue of its design, the attachment comb maintains the cutting blades at a set and predetermined distance from the skin or scalp surface where hair is being cut. This enables the user to trim a subject's hair to a uniform and predetermined length.
A single attachment comb is typically sized to cut hair to a single predetermined length. If a different length is desired, the user must change the attachment comb to one having a different size. Since desired hair length can vary widely with the particular user or hairstyle, a purchaser of a hair cutting device often purchases a number of differently sized attachment combs. Multiple attachment combs of varying sizes are often sold in a set, though the attachment combs may be also be purchased individually.
In some sets of differently sized attachment combs, each attachment comb is made of the same material (often plastic), and has the same color. Though the size of each attachment comb is usually marked on the attachment comb's body in some manner, a user wanting to choose a particularly sized attachment comb from among a set of differently sized attachment combs typically has to search through the set, reading the size marked on the body of each attachment comb, until the desired size is found.
To address this problem, sets of attachment combs have been introduced having color codes, with particular colors representing particular sizes. The color is physically connected to a particular attachment comb by, for example, impregnating the attachment comb plastic with the particular color, or by attaching a sticker or label containing the color to an attachment comb. By using such a color code, it becomes easier for a user to select an attachment comb having a desired size without having to examine the individual attachment combs for size markings.
However, the present inventor has discovered problems with the existing devices and methods for associating an attachment comb size with a particular color. Often, attachment combs are selected in haste based upon a quick glance at a written description. If a user misreads the (often small) numerals contained on these descriptions, an incorrect attachment comb is selected. Also, if the user is unsure which specific numerical size is needed, or is not skilled with fractions or the measuring system used, selecting a desired attachment comb can be difficult, and may require undesirable trial and error. This is overly burdensome, especially if a user is individually purchasing the attachment combs. Associating a particular attachment comb color from among a large number of colors with a particular size, and thus choosing a desired size, can therefore be overly frustrating and time-consuming.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved color-coded attachment comb key that allows a user to quickly and easily associate a particular color with a particular attachment comb size.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hair cutting system that allows a user to easily select a desired size of attachment comb for a hair cutting device, while minimizing selection error.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for enabling a user of a hair cutting device to readily identify and select a particularly sized attachment comb from a set of differently sized attachment combs, even if the user is unsure of the specific measurement needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above-listed objects are met or exceeded by the apparatus of the present invention, which provides a color-coded attachment comb key that visually associates an attachment comb size and the attachment comb color related to the attachment comb size. The key is typically in the form of a chart, containing a plurality of symbols. Each of the plurality of symbols depicts both an attachment comb size and its related attachment comb color. The depiction of the attachment comb size is typically performed by configuring each symbol so as to have a magnitude along at least one dimension (such as length) that is greater or smaller than that of the other symbols representing smaller or larger attachment comb sizes, respectively. By containing a pictorial representation of both an attachment comb size and its related color, the improved attachment comb key mnemonically associates attachment comb sizes and colors, thus providing a simpler, quicker, and more reliable selection of proper attachment combs.
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Wahl 19 Piece Color Coded Hair Cutting System Model No. WAH 79300-500 released in May 1999, see “Finding A Home At Gourmet” from HFN The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network dated May 2, 1999.*
Product and package for Wahl Model 79300-500 (photographs of the package, product, and inlay card are submitted), 1999 Wahl Clipper Corporation.
N. Owen et al., Littlewoods Extra, LAI site main thumbnail page, Sep. 4, 2001, retrieved from Internet: <URL: http://www.littlewoodsextra.com/extra/rf.inf.SessionServlet?pathinfo=extra/browse/ProductPage.html&pca=60908151&rootcat-id=59373011&category-id=59372989&version-id=304.
Wahl UK, Consumer Page, retrieved from Internet: <URL:http://www.wahl.co.uk>.
Colour code for resistors and capacitors, of common general knowledge of longstanding, retrieved from Internet: <URL:http://www.ctech.ac.za/facul/eng/ee/human/pcbhome/Colour.html/>.
Greer Burns & Crain Ltd.
Payer Hwei-Siu
Wahl Clipper Corporation
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