Toilet – Hair device – Comb
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-16
2004-06-08
Robert, Eduardo C. (Department: 3732)
Toilet
Hair device
Comb
Reexamination Certificate
active
06745779
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Liquid-reservoir hairbrushes and combs have been available for years. In addition to combing and brushing, these devices allow a user to distribute water and oil-based solutions over the user's scalp and/or hair. In some of these devices, liquid outlets (viz., nozzles) are mounted at distal ends of teeth or bristles. In other devices, the nozzles are located near proximal ends of teeth or bristles (usually between them) or at a body of the hair device. However, these prior art devices have a variety of shortcomings.
For example, if the user wants to disperse liquid only over the scalp, and the nozzles are located at a bristle area of the body of the hairbrush (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,290 to Thiruppathi) or between the comb teeth (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,501 to Matchett), liquid dispensed from the nozzle initially deposits on the user's hair, wets the hair, and only thereafter contacts the user's scalp. This can makes the user's hair excessively wet and uncomfortable.
Moreover, because the diameter of the nozzle is much smaller than the size of a liquid reservoir, different types of pumps are used to force liquid to flow through nozzles. Accordingly, a person using this type of device has to adjust the liquid flow dispensed through the nozzle by operating different types of control mechanisms (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,250 to Walter and U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,290 to Thiruppathi). Since the user usually has to perform the above procedure during hair brushing or combing, the prior art liquid-reservoir hairbrushes and combs with pumps are relatively complicated to operate.
Furthermore, there are other problems associated with the dispersion of water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids over the user's scalp for devices with pumps. If the nozzles are mounted within the ends of the hairbrush bristles or comb teeth (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,101,086 to Di Vito), it would appear to be troublesome to control the liquid flow through the nozzles. Since most of the above devices have open-end teeth or bristles, liquid will come out from the nozzles whether or not there is contact with the user's scalp. Because all hairbrush bristles and comb teeth cannot entirely contact the user's scalp simultaneously, the excessive liquid disperses between the user's hairs and makes them wet or moist. Others have attempted to devise ways to work around this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,195 to Moses discloses a fluid-reservoir hair comb with roller-balls mounted within the end of each comb tooth. Although the roller-ball installed within the nozzle can partially control a high viscosity liquid flow of the oil-based solutions dispensed from the particular nozzle, the Moses construction is absolutely not acceptable for low viscosity water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids. A well-known effect (previously described for ball point pens) of the natural outflow of liquid through a gap between the roller-ball and an internal wall of the roller-ball seat, a so-called direct-flow phenomenon, in which air flows in through the gap to allow liquid to flow out from the liquid reservoir, is liable to take place. Even more, there are another two potential problems for the users of the Moses device. First, the Moses reference notes that the roller-ball installed within the nozzle of the comb tooth can release liquid only upon moving contact of the roller-ball with the user's scalp. Since, the human head is curved, just a few comb teeth usually contact the user's scalp with each pass of the comb through the person's hair. Therefore, it is very likely that the user of the Moses device will not be able to evenly disperse a sufficient amount of liquid over the scalp during routine hair combing. Second, because of the high viscosity of oil-based solutions, the person using the Moses comb has to apply an additional abnormal pressure to the comb to be able to move the roller-balls inside of the nozzles while combing.
None of these prior art hair combs and brushes is designed to efficiently and evenly disperse water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids over the user's scalp. Accordingly, there is a need for a liquid reservoir hair device that will allow the user to conveniently and evenly disperse water-based and other thin and non-viscous liquids over the scalp during routine hair combing or brushing.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the first object of the invention to provide a treatment hairbrush that is capable of dispersing water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids over the user's scalp during routine hair brushing. At least one absorbent filler unit is placed into a chamber of the hairbrush body and covered by a flexible base. The hairbrush bristles are formed from thin metallic tubes with bores inside, and the plurality of the bristles extend outwardly from the flexible base. At least one absorbent feed rod is placed into each bore of the bristle's tube, and a roller-ball is mounted at a distal end of each bristle's tube to form a roller-ball nozzle. The absorbent feed rods interconnect the absorbent filler unit and the roller-balls, and liquid from the absorbent filler unit passes through the absorbent feed rods to feed a surface of the roller-balls. The liquid disperses over the user's scalp only during rolling contact of the roller-balls with the scalp. The hairbrush can be provided with a removable bristle lid to keep the hairbrush bristles enclosed when the hairbrush is not in use, and to prevent the roller-balls from drying out.
It is another object of the invention to provide the hairbrush with an optional removable handle and with a filler inlet located at a junction between the hairbrush body and the handle. When the hairbrush handle is removed (unscrewed), the user can refill the hairbrush (fill the absorbent filler unit with liquid) with or without a disposable liquid refilling cartridge. The disposable liquid refilling cartridge comes pre-filled with liquid, e.g. a water-based medicated solution. The disposable liquid refilling cartridge and the hairbrush handle are preferably made from a clear plastic, so the user can see and control the amount of the liquid left in the cartridge.
It is a further object of the invention to provide the hairbrush with the chamber, which is only partially filled with the absorbent filler unit. The hairbrush chamber has a liquid reservoir that is connected with the absorbent filler unit. The liquid not yet absorbed by the absorbent filler unit remains free (unabsorbed) in the liquid reservoir and can contact the absorbent filler unit. The hairbrush body can have optional breathing outlets that communicate with the absorbent filler unit and enable the liquid reservoir and the absorbent filler unit to “breathe” in response to consumption of the liquid and/or to changes in temperature and pressure. When the bristle lid is closed, it covers and seals the breathing outlets.
REFERENCES:
patent: 940196 (1909-11-01), Sartell
patent: 1263693 (1918-04-01), Mathews
patent: 1462400 (1923-07-01), Warren
patent: 1664168 (1928-03-01), Harris
patent: 2101132 (1937-12-01), Daly et al.
patent: 2259931 (1941-10-01), Griffith
patent: 2519740 (1950-08-01), Call
patent: 2546541 (1951-03-01), Hunt
patent: 3101086 (1963-08-01), Di Vito
patent: 3119142 (1964-01-01), Fletcher
patent: 3203025 (1965-08-01), Schreur
patent: 3721250 (1973-03-01), Walter et al.
patent: 3964501 (1976-06-01), Matchett
patent: 4055195 (1977-10-01), Moses
patent: 4585018 (1986-04-01), O'Connor
patent: 4688959 (1987-08-01), Snedeker et al.
patent: 4867183 (1989-09-01), Busch et al.
patent: 4913172 (1990-04-01), Chou
patent: 5154193 (1992-10-01), Busch et al.
patent: 5927290 (1999-07-01), Thiruppathi
patent: 5964226 (1999-10-01), Sobel
patent: 6158442 (2000-12-01), Piatetsky
patent: 6276367 (2001-08-01), Piatetsky
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