Abstract:
A dry nail tip appliqué system for applying nail enamel to a nail tip. The nail tip appliqué comprises two distinct sections, a first section for coating the entire surface of a finger nail and a second section for applying dry nail polish to a nail tip. The two sections occupy distinct areas of an appliqué and each contains a handling tab. The nail polish material of the two sections are not contiguous with each other. This allows for a convenient and neat removal of the sections and for the application of the same.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The current application is a Continuation-In-Part of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/866,678 filed on Oct. 3, 2007, which is a Continuation-In-Part of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/543,481 filed Oct. 5, 2006, which is itself a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/126,862, filed on May 11, 2005, which claims domestic priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/570,713, filed on May 12, 2004. The contents of all of the above-mentioned patent applications are incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The current invention relates generally to the field of nail polish, more specifically, to a novel method and apparatus for attaining a French-style manicure using an instant dry film nail polish application. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The use of an instant fingernail coating product whereby nail polish is applied to a fingernail by adhesively securing to it a dry form of nail polish has become a preferred mode of attaining a manicure by many users. Such dry nail polish products are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,903,840 and 5,415,903 each of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     The nail coating product, or instant nail polish referenced above, confers numerous advantages over conventional, prior art nail polish applied with a brush in a liquid form. The application of instant nail polish is faster, easier and cleaner than conventional nail polish and does not suffer from the numerous encumbrances associated with wet nail polish such as drying time and the concern of smearing or smudging. 
     However, the previous dry nail coating products are not well adapted to applying a French-style manicure, wherein the tips of nails are coated with an enamel of a color that is different from the rest of the nail. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,840 discloses a dry nail coating application that is pre-printed with a design or a different color tip portion. Attaining a French-manicure with the pre-printed configuration is difficult, requires precision and is prone to imperfection. 
     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/543,481 discloses a novel nail appliqué in which a single nail appliqué is divisible into two separate sections—one of which is used for coating the entirety of a nail and a second one for coating only the nail&#39;s tip. A partial perforation between the two sections allows for the separation of each thereof. However, because the perforation is only a partial one, the two sections are joined together and remain as such even after removing the appliqué from its backing. Thus, in order to separate them, a user must firmly grasp each of the adjoining sections with her fingers and then pull them apart. This poses a risk that a nail appliqué may become damaged in the process and possibly be deemed unusable. Moreover, once the appliqué is removed, both sections must be used immediately. In addition, because there is only one handling tab, which is used to remove both portions, it is not intuitive to a user—especially an inexperienced one—that there are two separate portions to the appliqué—each with an independent function. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These drawbacks and disadvantages are addressed by the present invention, which is directed to an improved self-adhesive, French-style dry nail coating appliqué. The inventive appliqué comprises two separate portions—one for coating a fingernail (hereinafter “nail section”) and another for coating a nail tip (hereinafter “nail-tip section”)—each having their own handling tab. The two portions are not joined to one another, and as such, one portion may be removed without affecting the other. This allows for the easy and neat removal of an appliqué without the need to separate it from an adjoining portion. Furthermore, because the two portions can be removed individually, both sections do not need to be utilized immediately. For example, the nail portion may be left undisturbed while a user removes and applies the French tip portion. Moreover, because each portion has its own handling tab, a user will intuitively realize that each segment of the appliqué is serves a separate purpose. 
     Numerous advantages are realized with the inventive nail tip appliqué. The application of a French manicure using liquid nail polish entails applying a first coating of polish over the entire surface of a nail and waiting for the first coat to dry before applying a second coat of nail polish in a fine, neat strip across the tip of the nail. This process is time consuming, requires dexterity and is expensive when done at a nail salon. The nail tip appliqués described herein mitigates these problems with an easy tip coating applicator that requires minimal drying time, is pre-cut to conform to the shape of a nail tip and is easy to apply. The nail tip appliqué could be used on nails coated with ordinary liquid nail polish or with the dry nail coating products referenced herein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a bottom perspective view of a slot coating die used in the inventive method. 
         FIG. 2  front bottom perspective view of the slot coating die of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an elevational view of a shim and half of the slot coating die of  FIG. 1  dissembled. 
         FIG. 4  is an elevation view of the shim and die half of  FIG. 3  assembled. 
         FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of a coating apparatus used in the inventive method. 
         FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view of the coating apparatus of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a rear perspective view of the coating apparatus of  FIG. 5  being used to create a nail appliqué product in according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic showing the representative cutting of a nail appliqué in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 9  shows a single nail appliqué according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 10  shows a set of nail appliqués according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following is a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the drawings in which the same reference numerals identify the same elements of structure in each of the several figures. It should be noted that these drawings are merely exemplary in nature and in no way serve to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims appealing herein below. 
     The various coatings of the product are applied via a technique referred to herein as “slot curtain die coating.” The die in question is shown in  FIGS. 1-4  in various states of assembly as die  10 . As best shown in  FIG. 1 , die  10  includes front die section  20 , rear die section  40 , and a specially shaped shim  60  disposed therebetween. All three parts are tightly secured together, preferably by bolting, e.g., by bolts  24  (see  FIG. 6 ). Referring to  FIG. 2 , front die section  20  includes inlets  22  which feed internal bores  25  with liquid nail enamel or any of the other components of the product. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate the interior of die  10 ; in both of these figures, rear die section  40  has been removed for clarity. Internal bores  25  of front die section  20  terminate in outlet holes  26  on inner face  30  and reside in flow channels  28  thereon. The purpose of flow channels  28  is to direct the liquid nail enamel from outlet holes  26  in a manner that results in consistent and even application of the enamel on the substrate. As such, each flow channel  28  includes upper substantially horizontal branch  28 A, which feeds into substantially vertical branches  28 B and thence into lower substantially horizontal branch  28 C. It should be noted that die  10  is shown in  FIGS. 1-4  upside down; hence, fluid exiting outlet hole  26  seeps along horizontal branch  28 A, down vertical branches  28 B, and then seeps into horizontal branch  28 C. The liquid enamel seeps from branch  28 C and onto the substrate. 
     Without shim  60 , the two inner faces of front and rear die sections  20  and  40  would be firmly abutting and would not allow room for the enamel to seep out of horizontal branch  28 C. However, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , shim  60  includes vertical projections  62  between cutouts  64 . When shim  60  is attached to front die section  20  by bolts  24  (see  FIG. 4 ), it shields and covers all of flow channel  28  except fox the majority of lower horizontal branch  28 C. This way, enamel flowing in branches  28 A or  28 B cannot seep out of these branches but must instead move forward (downward) ultimately to branch  28 C. Because branch  28 C is uncovered, enamel simply spills out of it and thus out of slots  70  (see  FIG. 1 ) and onto the substrate in a sheet-like or curtain-like configuration. 
     More specifically, as best illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , substrate  100  is fed into the machinery by rollers  110 . Liquid enamel source  112  is attached to inlets  22  so that heated, pressurized liquid enamel can be forced into die  10 . When substrate  100  passes under die  10 , liquid enamel or other components being coated, fall out of slots  70  and onto substrate  100  thereby forming layer  102 . 
     In one preferred embodiment, nail portions and nail tip portions ate produced in the manner depicted in  FIG. 7 . As shown, three discrete strips of liquid enamel are applied to section  114   a  and  114   b , both of which are on substrate  100 . Strip  116  comprises white colored enamel, whereas strip  118  comprises pink enamel Strip  120 , which lies between strips  116  and  118  contains no enamel. Strips  116  and  118  may be applied by two separate coating dies, but more preferably, a single coating die configured with separate inlets  22  for each color is utilized. For the purposes of a French-style tip, the nail portion (corresponding to strip  118 ) is preferably a shade of pink and the nail tip portion (corresponding to strip  116 ) is prefer ably a shade of white, however, substantially any two colors may be used. 
     In  FIGS. 8 and 9  a narrow, oblong appliqué  122  is cut out of section  114 . The cut extends at least through portion of strip  116 ,  118  and  120 . As such, a single appliqué  122  has a first section  124  of one color (e.g., pink) and a second section  126  of a second color (e.g., white) with an area  128  having no enamel disposed therebetween. First section  124  comprises dry nail enamel cut out of strip  118  and second section  126  comprises dry nail enamel cut out of strip  116 . Sections  124  and  126  are not contiguous, but rather are separated by an area  128  containing no enamel. The area  128  having no nail enamel corresponds to strip  120  of section  114 . 
     The area  128  separating sections  124  and  126  is preferably at least a third of a centimeter in width. Area  128  thus serves as a focal point for a user to bend the appliqué to more easily remove it from its backing without jeopardizing the integrity of either of the enamel-containing sections. 
     Section  124  is adapted for coating an entire fingernail or toenail with dry nail polish and is sized and shaped to substantially conform to the size of a fingernail. Second section  126  is adapted for coating the tip portion of a finger or toenail. A partial cut (kiss cut) is made to one side  129  of section  126 . The partial cut is crescent shaped and sized to substantially conform to the rounded edge of a nail tip. 
     Section  124  has a first end  130  and a second end  132 . First end  130  is preferably curved or rounded so as to substantially conform to rounded contour of a cuticle. Extending from second end  132  is a handling tab  134  which is used to facilitate the removal of nail section  124  from its backing. Tip section  126  has a first end  136  and a second end  138 . First end  136  is descent shaped or curved and a tab  135  extends from second end  138 . 
     French manicure appliqués  122  are used as follows. First, the nail section  124  is detached from the backing  100  and applied to a user&#39;s fingernail. Preferably the nail section  124  is oriented such that first end  130  is placed at the proximal, cuticle end. The nail section  124  is smoothed out, and any portion that extends over the end of the nail is removed. Next, the nail-tip section  126  is removed from backing  100 . Approaching the nail with rounded side  128  facing the same, nail tip section  126  is placed on a desired area of a nail tip. The thickness of the white strip is determined by how far onto the nail a user chooses to place the nail-tip section  126 . After applying the tip-section it is smoothed out and excess portions are removed. The result is a beautiful French manicure. It should be noted that the tip section  126  may be applied first with the nail section  124  being applied atop thereto. 
       FIG. 10  shows a set of inventive appliqués having been cut from a sheet similar to the one depicted in  FIG. 7 . The appliqués are substantially sized to conform to the size of the various fingers and share a common backing  100 . 
     It is anticipated that the inventive nail tip appliqué can be produced using the formulations and methods of manufacture described in the patents and patent disclosures incorporated by reference herein. The term “appliqué” mentioned herein refers to the finished nail coating product comprising nail polish material and an adhesive means which is sized and shaped to substantially conform to a finger nail or to the rounded edge of a fingernail tip. 
     Having described this invention with regard to specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the description is not meant as a limitation since further modifications and variations may be apparent or may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. It is intended that the present application cover all such modifications and variation as fall within the scope of the appended claims.