Article dispensing – Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article – With casing or support
Reexamination Certificate
2004-01-12
2004-11-02
Noland, Kenneth (Department: 3653)
Article dispensing
Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article
With casing or support
C206S494000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06811055
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
Ready to use sheets of aluminum foil sized specifically for salon use and dispensed in an engineered delivery system that allows for rapid fingertip use.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Aluminum foil is widely used in the Professional Beauty Industry on both woman and men of all ages during the application of haircolor. The foil itself is used to isolate specific strands of hair so that a specific shade of haircolor can be applied to those strands without affecting the other strands nearby. This approach allows a particular effect or “look” to be created in a client's hair.
This process of haircoloring sometimes referred to as highlighting, lowlighting, tinting, streaking, or weaving works as follows: 1) strands of hair are placed on a of piece of foil, 2) haircolor and developers are then placed on these strands usually with an applicator brush, 3) the foil is then folded up toward the scalp, 4) the sides of the foil are then folded inward creating a packet or “wrap” that completely isolates these strands of hair from all others. This process continues and can involve as many as 100 pieces of foil per application. Since this process is very tedious and repetitive it is helpful to have at the point of application, foil that is already cut to the ideal size and the exact amount to complete the application. Because this application is very technical, it is almost always done in a professional salon environment by colorists who are skilled in the trade.
Since only a few strands of hair are wrapped with each piece of foil, a common trend in the Beauty Industry is to work with a foil sheet that is between 3.5 and 6 inches in width. This narrow width allows for wrapping of small sections of hair, which is desired.
Prior to the present invention, salons had no choice but to use foil that was intended for consumer and industrial/institutional uses such as cooking, storing, and general usage. Although economical and readily available in roll format at supermarkets, foodservice distributors, and paper supply companies, this type of foil was entirely too big for use in haircoloring applications without further preparation. As a result, salons waste hours of valuable time each day cutting and tearing foil into useable and manageable sizes for use in haircoloring applications. Enough foil had to be prepared for each application to each client.
To improve their situation and get away from the constant cutting of large industrial rolls of foil (usually 12 to 18 inches in width and 25 to 1000 feet in length), many salons gravitated towards interfolded aluminum foil sheets, commonly referred to in the foodservice industry as “pop up foil”. Since this product was designed for constant repetitive wrapping of small food products, such as baked potatoes or sandwiches, it was commercially available in 2 sizes, (9″×10.75″ or 12″×10.75″) both in a very light weight foil gauge. This ensured complete coverage of a particular food product. The smaller of the two sheet sizes became most prevalent in the Beauty Industry for reasons stated below.
Since the interfolded foil offered a fold or “crease” in the center (part of the interfolding process) salons could easily tear the foil sheet in half along the crease. Once cut in half, the sheet size became approximately 5.375 inches wide and 10.75 inches long, a useable and much more manageable width for salons, that required no other alterations.
The foodservice interfolded sheets became available in piles or stacks that contained either 200 or 500 sheets per dispenser box. Because the entire stack of sheets was interfolded together, each time a sheet was pulled out from the box or dispensed, the next subsequent sheet was already partially sticking out of the box, ready to be easily grabbed by the user; similar to facial tissues. By the virtue of interfolding the sheets together, the desired pop up/pop out effect was achieved making grabbing and securing the next piece of foil easier versus having to grab and separate a piece of foil from a pile that is just stacked one on top of the other (current method).
Although interfolded sheets manufactured for foodservice use made preparing hair foils easier versus the cutting up of large industrial rolls, salons still had to spend hours tearing foils in half and were still left to work with a product that was not specifically designed for their application. Further, due to the foodservice foil being a very light gauge, and the quick hurried approach taken by those cutting the foil, a straight precise cut was not always achieved. Therefore, this tearing method resulted in a fair amount of undesired foil that was wasted and had to be discarded.
The preparation (cutting and/or tearing) of these interfolded foils occurred in advance, “behind the scenes”, away from the client as a colorist would not have the time to easily perform three actions while holding an applicator brush and working on their client; 1) dispense a large food foil sheet, 2) tear the sheet in half, 3) apply the foil and color products to the hair. In this manner, the colorist would have to set the applicator brush down each time he/she wanted to tear a piece of foil in half and then pick it up again to apply the hair color. Since upwards of 100 hundred foils are applied to a single client, this becomes a very unproductive situation. Even if this unproductive approach is taken, there would be insufficient room at the workstation (typically a 10″×15″ surface area) to house a foodservice dispenser box that was 9 inches wide as the workstation is limited in size and filled with many other necessities including multiple color bowls, brushes, hair color tubes, an application timer, etc.
Once torn in half “behind the scenes”, the interfolded foil would be brought to the workstation and stacked into a manageable pile for use in the haircoloring process. This pile of foil became easily disorganized due to the many hindrances at the work area, and often blew off the workstation by the breeze created from someone walking by or even a blow dryer used at a nearby workstation. This presented a sloppy and unprofessional image in most color departments.
Further, the preparation of foils was done “behind the scenes” so that the client would not be exposed to the fact that salons were using foil designed and packaged for food on their client's head. In this manner, the professionalism and longevity of the Beauty Industry can be preserved, as clients would perceive that this was strictly a professional application that could not be achieved on their own, at home, using foodservice/kitchen foil.
Although interfolded sheets of aluminum foil offered by foodservice companies for food applications are now commercially available in widths ranging from 7 to 12 inches, (depending upon the particular manufacturer), a width less than 7 inches, sized specially for salon use, and ready to use without further preparation, has not commercially existed until this invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,023 relates to a dispensing carton for tissues, aluminum foils, plastic wraps or the like which has a top portion which includes an elongated opening for withdrawing tissues from the carton. The dispensing carton includes a plurality of strings having first and second ends. The plurality of strings is configured to form a slit for holding the tissues to prevent dropping into the carton.
Disposable facial tissues are conventionally contained in a substantially rectangular carton having an elongated opening in the top surface. The carton contains a stack of interfolded tissues arranged such that they can be dispersed through the opening of the carton. The embodiments of the invention may be used with those materials sold in a roll form, such as aluminum foil, plastic wrap or the like, rather than individual sheets interfolded together.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,017 relates to a dispensing face for a dispensing unit comprising at least one stack of laminar articles wherein the dispensing face is continuous, comprises later
Noland Kenneth
Product Club Corp.
Weiss Philip M.
Weiss & Weiss
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