Abstract:
Artificial fingernail packages are provided that contain a collection of artificial fingernails such that a user may purchase a single package that is sufficient to satisfy the needs associated with having natural fingernails of varying sizes and shapes. The artificial fingernail packages according to the present invention also permit a potential user to easily identify and compare to the user&#39;s natural fingernails the size, shape and other features of the included artificial fingernails.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to artificial fingernails. More particularly, this invention relates to packaging for artificial fingernails, wherein the package, or kit, provides the capability to effectively store a collection of individual artificial fingernails of varying width and arch height that may be purchased by a user as a single product.  
         [0002]     Artificial fingernails are generally used for the purpose of cosmetic enhancement. They may be applied by a technician or manicurist in a fingernail salon, or may be purchased in a variety of different packages at retail stores and applied directly by the wearer. Users of artificial fingernails include, for example, individuals seeking to hide one or more cracked or chipped natural fingernails, or those who simply find it difficult to grow lengthy, natural nails. In addition, artificial fingernails are often employed by individuals seeking to deter a habit of nail biting, or those who simply desire to have low maintenance nails that are easy to apply and remove in response to changing daily needs.  
         [0003]     Currently, there are many different types of artificial fingernails that are well known. Different types or artificial nails include, for example, sculptured nails, acrylic nails, gel nails, nail wraps, pre-glued self-adhesive nails, nail tips and full-cover nails, with each type of artificial fingernails having different benefits and drawbacks that are also generally well known.  
         [0004]     In order to maximize comfort, ease of application, and durability on a user&#39;s finger, it is desirable that the artificial nails (“nails”) to be used are the right fit for a user&#39;s natural fingernails. Given this need for proper fit, nails are produced and generally available in a variety of different sizes, shapes and styles to match the individual needs of a user. Nevertheless, the nails that a user may find in available packaging are often not adequate to provide the user with a properly fitting nail for each of the user&#39;s natural fingernails.  
         [0005]     Traditionally, packages have been sold containing ten or more nails. The nails sold in these conventional retail packages generally vary in size (e.g., width), and there is typically more than one nail of each size so that a user may preferably find in the package a nail of proper size for each natural fingernail. Among the nails of a particular size, however, the nails are typically identical in shape.  
         [0006]     Given that a user&#39;s natural fingernails are likely to vary not only in size but also in shape, the collection of nails provided in such conventional artificial fingernail packages may not provide the wearer with a proper-fitting nail for each finger. Even in instances where there is some variation in shape among the nails in a package as the nails vary in size, the relatively uniform shape available for each of the sizes may not provide a satisfactory fit for each of the user&#39;s natural fingernails. As a result, one or more of the user&#39;s natural fingernails may be left without proper fitting nails, forcing the user to either apply nails that do not fit to some of the natural fingernails, or to purchase a separate package of nails containing nails having different shapes for a given size.  
         [0007]     Another problem associated with conventional packages for nails is that they generally include a plurality of loosely-contained nails, or nails attached to a sprue, such that various features (e.g., size and shape) of the nails are hidden to the user prior to the opening of the packages. As a result, users of artificial fingernails cannot compare the shape of the included nails in a conventional package to the shape of the user&#39;s natural fingernails, and thus cannot determine whether or not the nails would be a good fit prior to purchasing and opening the package. Consequently, potential users often have no choice but to purchase the package containing the nails before the nails can be adequately inspected (e.g., compared to the various sizes and shapes of the user&#39;s natural fingernails). Often, this results in a user purchasing nails that are not suitable given the sizes and shapes of the user&#39;s natural fingernails.  
         [0008]     In view of the foregoing it would be desirable to provide packaging for nails that is capable of storing a collection of individual nails (e.g., full-cover nails or nail tips) of varying size and shape such that each of a user&#39;s natural fingernails may be fitted with an artificial fingernail of the right size and shape. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a user with an artificial fingernail package that includes nails having, for each nail size, a variety of nail shapes.  
         [0009]     It would also be desirable to provide packaging for artificial fingernails that allows a user to examine the features (e.g., color, size and shape) of one or more of the included nails and to optionally compare such features to the features of the user&#39;s natural fingernails.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an artificial fingernail package that contains a collection of nails (e.g., full-cover nails or nail tips) such that the likelihood of a user finding in the package, for example, an artificial fingernail that is similar in both size and shape to each of the user&#39;s natural fingernails is substantially increased.  
         [0011]     Moreover, it is also an object of the present invention to provide packaging for nails that allows a user to easily and effectively examine and compare various features (e.g., color, size and shape) of one or more of the nails included in the package to the features of the user&#39;s natural fingernails.  
         [0012]     In accordance with this and other objects of the present invention, packages for artificial fingernails are provided that are designed to contain, for example, a collection of nails that is sufficient to satisfy the needs associated with a user having natural fingernails of varying sizes and shapes. For example, artificial fingernail packaging is provided that includes nails having at least two different shapes, as explained in more detail below, for any given size that may be available.  
         [0013]     Furthermore, the packages in accordance with the principles of the present invention permit a user to easily and effectively examine and compare several features of the included nails to determine whether they are well suited for the user&#39;s natural fingernails. For example, one or more of the nails included in the packages are placed behind a transparent portion of the packages in a manner that allows the user to easily view and identify the size, shape and color of these nails, and thus, to easily compare the features of the included nails with the features of the user&#39;s natural fingernails. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The above and other features of the present invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a three dimensional perspective view of a portion of a user&#39;s finger including the natural fingernail;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows another three dimensional perspective view of a portion of a user&#39;s finger including the natural fingernail;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  shows a top view or a conventional full-cover artificial fingernail;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view of the full-cover artificial fingernail, taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of one example of a packaging frame for artificial fingernails in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of one example of a package for artificial fingernails including the packaging frame of  FIG. 5  in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]      FIGS. 1 and 2  show portions or two fingers  110  and  210  of a user which respectively correspond, for example, to the middle and ring fingers of the user. Finger portion  110  includes a natural fingernail  120 , while finger portion  210  includes another natural fingernail  220 . Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that, although not shown in  FIG. 1  or  2 , the user&#39;s natural fingernails  120  and  220  may have tips extending beyond the edge of the respective fingers  110  and  210 .  
         [0022]     It is well known that the shape and/or size of an individual&#39;s natural fingernails can vary from one finger to another (as illustrated by  FIGS. 1 and 2 ). For example, natural fingernail  120  is, approximately equal in size (e.g., has similar surface area) to natural fingernail  220 , although it is not as curved. As explained above, the potential differences in size and shape between different natural fingernails of a user necessitate artificial fingernails of similarly varying size and shape to ensure a proper fit for each of the user&#39;s natural fingernails.  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  shows a conventional full-cover artificial nail  310  which is similar in design to one that may be applied to either natural fingernail  120  or natural fingernail  220 . Artificial nail  310  is preferably molded from a plastic such as ABS plastic, or otherwise manufactured by any of the conventional means well known in the art for the manufacture of artificial fingernails. Materials other than ABS plastic may also be used.  
         [0024]     Artificial nail  310  comprises a nail bed portion  320  and a nail tip portion  330 . To apply artificial nail  310  to a natural fingernail, such au natural fingernail  120  of finger  110  shown in  FIG. 1 , an adhesive (not shown) such as ethylcyanoacrylate is applied to the bed portion of the natural fingernail  120  in a convention manner. Afterwards, but before the adhesive has solidified, artificial nail  310  is placed on top of natural fingernail  120 . If natural fingernail  120  were to have a tip portion, then the tip portion of natural fingernail  120  would simply extend out under the nail tip portion  330  of the artificial nail  310 . In this manner, artificial nail  310  is applied over natural fingernail  120  and resembles a natural nail. Preferably, if not similarly pre-treated prior to its application, artificial nail  310  is coated with a top coat of transparent sealer in order to protect the coloring of the artificial nail  310 . Alternatively, for example, artificial nail  310  may be optionally overlayed with acrylic after it is applied to the natural nail  
         [0025]     To better understand the detrimental effects that improperly-fitting artificial fingernails may have on a user, and how the packaging in accordance with the principles of the present invention substantially reduces such effects, various descriptive terms for artificial fingernails (e.g., artificial nail  310 ) will now be explained.  
         [0026]      FIG. 4  is a slightly enlarged, sectional view of artificial nail  310 , taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 . In particular,  FIG. 4  shows the c-curve of artificial nail  310 , which is the curve that one sees when looking at the cross-section of artificial nail  310  while looking at the artificial nail  310  from beyond the nail tip portion  330  and toward the cuticle end  350  of the artificial nail  310 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , artificial nail  310  has a particular width W equal to the straight line distance from first artificial nail side edge  410  to second artificial nail side edge  420 . Artificial nail  310  also has a particular radius of curvature R equal to the distance from the surface of artificial nail  310  to the location of the center of curvature C of artificial nail  310 . Finally, the arch height H of artificial nail  310  refers to the shortest distance from the artificial nail  310  at the middle of the c-curve to the plane that intersects the artificial nail side edges  410  and  420  of artificial nail  310 .  
         [0027]     Similar to artificial nail  310 , each of a user&#39;s natural fingernails also has a specific width W, radius of curvature R and arch height H. Referring back to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , persons skilled in the art will appreciate that natural fingernail  120  has approximately the same width W as natural fingernail  220 . However, the radius of curvature of natural fingernail  120  is larger than the radius of curvature of natural fingernail  220 , and consequently, the arch height of natural fingernail  120  is less than the arch height of natural fingernail  220 .  
         [0028]     While known packages for artificial fingernails seek to accommodate variations in the size (e.g., width) of a user&#39;s different natural fingernails, they do not accommodate for variations in shape. That is, if two fingernails in a conventional artificial fingernail package have the same width W, they also necessarily have the same radius of curvature R, and thus, the same arch height H. As a result, conventional packages do not always contain a nail of matching size and shape for each of a user&#39;s natural fingernails. Such discrepancy in shape likely results in difficulty in applying the nails, discomfort for the user, and unwanted lift-off of the nails from the user&#39;s natural nails, thereby reducing the life of the artificial nails being used.  
         [0029]     In order to reduce the likelihood that such discrepancies in shape between a user&#39;s natural fingernails and the artificial nails to be applied will exist, therefore, the present invention provides artificial fingernail packages that include nails having not only different widths, but also different shapes (e.g., arch heights). For example, a package for artificial nails in accordance with the principles of the present invention may include nails having conventional arch heights and nails having smaller arch heights such that for an individual nail of conventional arch height in the package there is a corresponding nail having substantially the sane width but an arch height from 5% to 20% less than the arch height of the nail with conventional arch height. Such nails, which have smaller arch heights falling within these parameters, are referred to as low-arch nails.  
         [0030]     Alternatively, the packages in accordance with the principles of the present invention may instead include nails having conventional arch heights and nails having larger arch heights such that for an individual nail of conventional arch height in the package there is a corresponding nail having substantially the same width but an arch height from 5% to 20% greater than the arch height of the nail with conventional arch height. Such nails, which have larger arch heights falling within these parameters, are referred to as high-arch nails.  
         [0031]     Accordingly, the artificial fingernail packages in accordance with the principles of the present invention are designed to contain artificial nails having a variety of different widths, and preferably at least two different arch heights for each available width. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of different arch heights provided for a given width may vary among widths (e.g., based on the estimated needs of prospective users) without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should also be understood that a package according to the present invention may contain any combination of high-arch artificial nails, low-arch artificial nails, and artificial nails having conventional arch height.  
         [0032]     Accordingly, the artificial nail packages in accordance with the principles of the present invention enable a user to select a particular artificial nail package that contains, for example, nails having arch heights that correspond most closely to the various shapes of the user&#39;s natural fingernail. In this manner, the likelihood that each of the customer&#39;s fingernails will be well-fitted with an artificial fingernail from packages according to the principles of the present invention is substantially increased.  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  shows an exemplary embodiment of a packaging frame  510  for housing artificial nails of varying widths such that for each available width, nails having a plurality of arch heights in accordance with the principles of the present invention are available. Packaging frame  510  is preferably made from a translucent or transparent material such as plastic, and preferably comprises several different compartments for storing artificial nails  521  and  522 . As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , artificial nails  521  and  522  are nails having a conventional arch height and a high-arch, respectively. The invention, however, is not limited in this manner. For example, artificial nails  522  may instead be artificial nails having a low-arch height, or packaging frame  510  may house artificial nails having more than two arch heights.  
         [0034]     Primary compartments  531  and  532  of packaging frame  510 , for example, may contain loose nails  521  and  522 . It should be understood that although nails  521  and  522  are mixed together in primary compartments  531  and  532  of frame  510 , they may, in accordance with other embodiments of the present invention, be segregated for easier identification by a user. For example, primary compartment  531  may contain only nails of conventional arch height  521 , while primary compartment  532  may contain only high-arch nails  522 .  
         [0035]     Packaging frame  510  also comprises a plurality of display compartments  533  that are each designed to contain a nail  521  or  522 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , display compartments  533  may be of different sizes for storing different size artificial nails (e.g., nails with smaller and larger widths and lengths), although the invention is not limited in this manner. Additionally, the depth of display compartments  533  may also be varied to better accommodate artificial nails having different arch heights. Preferably, one artificial nail  521  or  522  is placed in each of display compartments  533  such that a user can view the top or bottom of the artificial nails  521  or  522  therein from a top-side view or a bottom-side view (through a transparent portion of the package in which packaging frame  510  is inserted, as explained below), enabling the customer to examine the coloring and other features of artificial nails  521  or  522 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 5  also shows a curvature-displaying compartment  540  for storing artificial nails  521  and/or artificial nails  522 . Curvature-displaying compartment  540  may include, for example, a sponge-like material  541  for retaining artificial nails  521  and/or  522  in a position substantially perpendicular to the artificial fingernails  521  and  522  located in display compartments  533  (i.e., if packaging frame  510  is placed flat on a surface, the nails in compartment  540  will be positioned to stick out in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface). Sponge-like material  541  may comprise nail receiving slits therein, for example, in order to retain artificial nails  521  and  522  in their proper position following placement of artificial nails  521  and  522  into respective slits of the sponge-like material  541 . Alternatively, other means for positioning artificial nails  521  and  522  in compartment  540  may be used in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
         [0037]     Packaging frame  510  preferably also includes compartments  551 - 553 . Adhesive compartment  551  may hold a container of adhesive  554  (which may contain any suitable type of glue) to be used for applying artificial nails  521  and  522  to the user&#39;s natural fingernails. Assuming adhesive  554  requires the user to pierce a hole in the tip of adhesive container  554  prior to application, pin compartment  552  may be included in packaging frame  510  for retaining a push pin  555 . A manicure stick, or cuticle stick  556 , may also be provided for the user in optional stick compartment  553 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of a package  610  that includes the packaging frame of  FIG. 5 . The exterior portion  611  of package  610  may be completely transparent, but preferably contains a transparent portion  620  and a non-transparent portion  630 . Transparent portion  620  is designed to permit various items (e.g., a plurality of artificial nails  521  and  522 ) being housed within packaging frame  510  to be seen from the outside of package  610  by a user. Moreover, while transparent portion  620  is shown to be of a particular size and shape, the invention is not limited in this manner. Both the size and shape of transparent portion  620  may be varied to allow a greater or fewer number of items from packaging frame  510  to be visible from the outside of package  610 .  
         [0039]     Although shown blank in  FIG. 6 , the non-transparent portion  630  of package  610  preferably carries descriptive information (e.g., a list of contents, instructions for application, etc.) relating to the nails contained in package  610 . Cutaway portion  640 , meanwhile, may be included to facilitate the presentation of package  610  on sales display units conventionally found in retail stores.  
         [0040]     With package  610 , a user may readily inspect the various sizes, shapes and other features of the artificial nails  521  and  522  located therein. For example, the coloring, respective widths and other features of the artificial nails  521  and  522  in display compartments  533  may be seen through transparent portion  620  as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . Additionally, because the c-curve of artificial nails  521  and  522  are directly viewable as a result of the manner of placement of artificial nails  521  and  522  in curvature-displaying compartment  540 , the respective arch heights of the artificial nails  521  and  522  located in curvature-displaying compartment  540  may be directly viewed and compared by the user to the arch heights of the user&#39;s natural fingernails. In this manner, the user is able to make a more informed decision regarding the suitability for the user&#39;s natural fingernails of the enclosed artificial nails  521  and  522  located within package  610 .  
         [0041]     It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by the specific configurations described above. For example, it should be noted that although nails having three different arch heights are discussed above (i.e., conventional, low-arch and high-arch nails), and artificial fingernails  521  and  522  having two different arch heights are shown in package  610 , the invention is not limited in this manner. Rather, for example, artificial nails with three or more different arch heights may be housed within package  610 , and made viewable to a user, in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Additionally, for example, artificial fingernails  521  and  522  may be stored in packaging frame  510  in manners other than those shown in  FIG. 5 , such as by connecting various such artificial fingernails  521  and  522  to a fingernail sprue (not shown). Moreover, the principles of the present invention can be applied to packages containing any suitable type artificial fingernails, including full-cover artificial nails and nail tips, for example. The scope of the present invention is not limited in any of these manners.  
         [0042]     Accordingly, persons skilled in the art should appreciate that the above-described embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation.