Toilet – Hair device – Having hair shaping surface or form
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-08
2001-01-16
Manahan, Todd E. (Department: 3732)
Toilet
Hair device
Having hair shaping surface or form
C219S225000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06173718
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hair styling iron, and more specifically to a hair styling iron used for giving a press treatment in which the hair is exposed to heat and pressure.
2. Relating Prior Art
Up to now, for giving straight-perm treatment to the hair, the hair is applied with a first perming solution and then smoothed down with a comb on a plastic plate called a “panel” while stroking the hair with the back of the comb. Alternatively, the hair is smoothed down with a comb only, without the help of a panel. Either of these operations, generally called a “strainer operation”, is aimed for providing uniform rearrangement of the cuticle up to the tip of the hair by smoothing down the hair, thereby giving the hair a glossy smooth surface. The use of a panel, however, causes substantial damage to the hair. On the contrary, the operation, when carried out using a comb only, fails to provide uniform rearrangement of the cuticle, thus suffering from uncertain finish.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
An objective of the present invention is to provide a device that allows to carry out strainer or the like operations on the hair which is gentler to the hair than the operation employing the aforementioned panel, and of greater certainty than the operation using a comb only. A further objective of the present invention is to provide a hair styling iron which can be handled with ease even on thick and/or long hair and enables application of sufficient pressures. A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a hair styling iron capable of providing simultaneous heating and pressing treatment and yet causing less sensation of heat even when touching the heated portion thereof. A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a hair styling iron that allows an easy operation even on a confined region of short hair such as over the nape (back) or around the ears and yet causes less sensation of heat when holding its heated portions with fingers, thereby making it possible to carry out a delicate operation with certainty.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The hair styling iron of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises (A) a first lever including a grip portion, a plate portion equipped with an electric heater, and a fulcrum portion, and (B) a second lever including another grip portion opposed to the grip portion of the first lever, a plate portion equipped with an electric heater and opposed to the plate portion of the first lever, and a fulcrum portion pivotally supported by the fulcrum portion of the first lever.
In such a type of hair styling iron, a spring is preferably interposed between the first and the second levers to render the plate portions biased in the direction away from each other. Also, it is preferable that the plate portion of the first lever and (or) the second lever has ridges along the perimeter thereof, and it is more preferable that the plate portion of the first lever and (or) the second lever has been subjected to a flocking treatment from the perimeter to the outer surface thereof. Each of the fulcrum portions of the first lever and the second lever may be located between the respective grip and plate portions. In this case, the first lever is preferably provided in two separate parts divided by a median plane along the both sides, which then is assembled and integrally connected after pivotally sandwiching, between the bilateral half bodies of its fulcrum portion, the fulcrum portion of the second lever. It is further more preferable that the present hair styling iron is provided with a pilot lamp which blinks at predetermined intervals while the electric heater thereof is energized.
Furthermore, the fulcrum portions of the first and the second levers may be located at the rear end of the respective grip portions. In this case, it is preferable that a finger resting portion is provided on the outer side of each of the plate portions, with an intervening space for heat insulation being positioned therebetween .
The finger resting portion is preferably made up of a board-like or bar-like element that is continuous at its forward region to the surface of the plate portion, and at its rearward region to the grip portion.
In the hair styling iron of the present invention, the plate portions can be closed toward each other by causing a pivotal motion of the first and the second levers relative to each other around the fulcrum portions by gripping the grip portions of the first and second levers. The temperature of the plate portions can be elevated by energizing the heaters. Therefore, it is possible, by taking a strand of hair in one hand and then sandwiching it between the plate portions of the hair styling iron held in the other hand, to apply to the hair an elevated temperature as well as an evenly distributed pressure. In addition, by gently stroking the hair with the hair styling iron in this situation, a strainer operation can be performed.
Thus, as the hair styling iron of the present invention enables a strainer operation with simultaneous heating, it allows an effective strainer operation even with a perming solution at lower concentrations. Therefore, this is more friendly to the hair than the aforementioned operation where a strong stroke is applied with a comb and a panel. Thus it damaging hair. Moreover, it provides a more reliable strainer operation than the operation by means of a comb only.
The hair styling iron which is provided with a spring to render the plate portions biased in a direction away from each other, opening and closing of the plate portions can be effected simply by controlling the amount of the gripping force applied on the grip portions. It is thus also easy to control the pressure levels. In the hair styling iron provided with ridges formed along the perimeter of the plate portion, the temperature of the ridges, as cooled by surrounding air, remains lower than that of the other part of the plate portion even while the temperature of the latter is elevated. Therefore, an inadvertent contact with the skin would not cause excessive sensation of heat. Further, the hair styling iron which has been subjected to a flocking treatment from the perimeter to the outer surface of its plate portion, due to its lowered thermal conduction, will not cause an excessive sensation of heat when a limited contact with the skin occurs.
In the hair styling iron in which each of the fulcrum portions of the first and the second levers is located between the corresponding grip and plate portions, opening and closing of the plate portions is effected in the same manner as in handling pliers, i.e., by gripping the grip portion of the first lever with, for example, the thumb and the index finger and holding the grip portion of the second lever between, for example, the ring finger and the little finger. This type of hair styling iron is able to generate strong pressures between the plate portions because a sufficiently long distance may be adopted between the grip and the fulcrum portions.
In the hair styling iron in which the first lever is provided in two separate parts divided by a median plane along the both sides, which parts then is assembled and integrally connected after pivotally sandwiching the fulcrum portion of the second lever between the bilateral halves of its fulcrum portion, it is allowed for the second lever to be securely held by the first lever. In the type which is provided with a pilot lamp which blinks at predetermined intervals while the electric heaters are energized, it is allowed for the operator to conveniently follow the time lapse in each treatment by simply counting the blinks while performing thermal press treatment on the sandwiched portion of the hair.
With the hair styling iron in which each of the fulcrum portions is located at the rear end of the corresponding grip portion, it is possible to widely open and close the plate portions by slightly opening and closing the grip portions. In addition, as each of the f
Fujii Kazuki
Kaneyama Katsumi
Niwa Atsuo
Ogawa Satoshi
Okumoto Masataka
Browdy and Neimark
Manahan Todd #E.
Milbon Co., Ltd.
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