Hair waving device

A hair waving device consisting of a pair of perforated, wave-form plates adapted to receive a lock of hair therebetween, and adjustable latch means operable to interconnect the plates to secure them in place on the lock of hair, and to accommodate any lack of parallelism of the general planes of the plates.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in hair waving 
devices, and has particular reference to a device for use in imparting a 
permanent wave to ladies' hair. 
The permanent waving process is of course extremely common, but is commonly 
quite laborious and tedious, virtually always including the winding of the 
hair, separated into separate locks, on numerous generally cylindrical 
"curlers", whereby the hair is held in a desired form while it is treated 
with a chemical waving solution, neutralizer solution, etc. The overall 
object of the present invention is the provision of a device which, while 
functioning efficiently to hold the hair in a desired form as it is 
treated with the waving solutions, is much easier to apply to the hair 
than the usual roll-type curlers, and requires a much smaller number of 
units for the entire head than would be required if roll-type curlers were 
used. Generally, this object is accomplished by the provision of a pair of 
wave-form plates adapted to receive a lock of hair therebetween, and latch 
means operable to join said plates, after the hair lock is positioned, to 
clamp the hair therebetween. The plates may be of any desired length, 
parallel to the hair strands, and are perforated to permit free access to 
the hair by the waving solutions. 
Another object is the provision of a device of the character described in 
which the plates are so configurated that, while still functioning to 
position the hair in the desired wave form, nevertheless actually engage 
and clamp the lock of hair only at spaced apart transverse lines along the 
length of the hair. This leaves much of the hair lock free of contact with 
the plates, so that it is more freely accessible to the waving solutions 
applied thereto through the perforations of the plates. 
A further object is the provision of a device of the character described in 
which the latch means for securing the plates together is of a special 
type which is capable of clamping the lock of hair firmly therebetween 
despite any uneveness or taper in the thickness of the hair lock. 
Otherwise stated, it is capable of connecting said plates firmly despite 
deviations of the general planes thereof from parallel relation. In this 
connection, it is preferable that said plates be of flexible construction. 
Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, each device 
consisting essentially of only two parts, and efficiency, dependability 
and convenience of operation.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several 
views. The hair waving device contemplated by the present invention 
includes, generally, a top plate 2 having a frame 4, and a bottom plate 6 
having a frame 8. Plates 2 and 6 are designated "top" and "bottom" merely 
as a convenience, the designation having no particular significance so far 
as their actual relative position is use is concerned. Ordinarily, when 
the device is applied to a lock of hair, plate 6 would be disposed closest 
to the head, and plate 2 disposed outwardly therefrom. The plates are 
shown as rectangular, although their shape is in this respect optional, 
are formed preferably of a resiliently flexible material, such as certain 
types of molded plastic, and are perforated as indicated at 10. It will be 
understood that substantially the entire area of said plates are 
perforated. They are molded to any desired wave form, as shown having a 
smoothly rounded corrugated form, with the corrugations straight and 
extending across the minor dimensions of the plates. This however, is by 
way of example only, since the wave form can be of many different 
configurations as desired, to produce different hair stylings. The 
corrugations could, for example, be curved transversely of the plates, 
could be more or less sharply curved, and could be more or less widely 
spaced. As shown, their confronting faces are such as to permit full area 
contact therebetween if laid together. This provides that when they are 
spaced apart by the presence of a lock of hair 12 therebetween, the 
spacing therebetween at the peaks of the corrugations will be greater than 
at points midway between the peaks, which produces a desirable result to 
be described. 
The plate frames 4 and 8 are formed of the same resiliently flexible 
material as the plates, and have the form of open rectangles each closely 
surrounding its associated plate. Top frame 4 has straight end bars 14 and 
side bars 16, said side bars intersecting the edge of plate 2 at each 
corrugation thereof, while bottom frame 8 has straight end bars 18 and 
side bars 20, said side bars intersecting the edge of plate 6 at each 
corrugation thereof. The side bars of each frame are either permanently 
attached to the associated plate, or molded integrally therewith, the 
latter alternative rendering each plate and its frame a one-piece 
structure. 
The plates, when pressed toward each other to clamp the hair lock 12 
therebetween, are secured by the engagement of latch fingers 22 of the 
side bars 20 of frame 8 with the side bars 16 of frame 4. A series of 
fingers 22 are spaced regularly along each side bar 20, and extend at 
right angles to the frame 8 to project past the outer edges of side bars 
16 of frame 4. Said fingers are flexibly resilient, being formed 
integrally with side bars 20. As best shown in FIG. 3, the inner face of 
each finger, which is the surface thereof confronting side bar 16 of top 
frame 4, has a vertically spaced series of downwardly facing, horizontally 
extending notches 24 formed therein, and each side bar 16 of the top frame 
is bevelled to form a tooth 26 capable of engaging selectively in any one 
of said notches. Fingers 22 are spread resiliently apart by side bars 16 
as the top plate is pressed downwardly over the bottom plate, in order 
that teeth 26 may "ratchet" downwardly over notches 24 to engage in any 
selected notch, but then recover resiliently to secure the plates 
together. The fingers at the opposite sides of the plates must be manually 
spread apart to allow separation of the plates. 
In the operation of the device, the plates are separated and a lock of hair 
12 is laid over the top surface of bottom plate 6, substantially in the 
relationship thereto shown in the drawing. In the drawing, the left end of 
the lock of hair, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is the end closest to the 
head. Top plate 2 is then positioned over the bottom plate and the lock of 
hair to press the hair therebetween, the side bars 16 of top frame 4 
ratcheting downwardly between fingers 22 of the bottom frame until the 
desired degree of pressure is applied to the hair, at which position side 
bars 16 will be engaged and held by one of the notches 24 of each finger 
22. Application of the device is then complete, and the waving solution, 
neutralizer solution, etc. may be applied to the lock of hair in the 
waving process, which in itself forms no part of the present invention. 
The solutions are applied to the hair through the perforations 10 of the 
plates. After the treatment of the hair is completed, the plates may be 
removed by manually spreading the fingers 22 at the opposite sides of the 
plates, as previously discussed. 
An important feature of the invention is the form and operation of the 
latching action provided by fingers 22. Under frame side bars 16 need not 
engage in corresponding notches 24 of all of the fingers, but may engage 
in different notches of the respective fingers. This permits the plates to 
be finally secured in a position slightly convergent toward the free end 
of the lock of hair, as illustrated in FIG. 2, thus providing that the 
hair lock is held firmly along substantially its entire length, despite 
the fact that it normally will be taperingly reduced in thickness toward 
its free end. Frame 4 may also be engaged in different notches of 
corresponding fingers at opposite sides of the plates, thus causing a 
relative lateral tilting of the plates. This tends to accomodate the 
device to a lock of hair which may taper in thickness from side to side, 
as may occur when it is poorly arranged preparatory to clamping it between 
the plates. Either or both of these accomodations may result in some 
distortion of the plates from their normal configurations, and for this 
reason it is important that said plates be formed of material which is 
resiliently flexible. Of course, any desired number of notches 24 could be 
provided in each of fingers 22, to permit any desired degree of fineness 
of these adjustments. However, the operator need not concern himself with 
these adjustments, they occur automatically when the plates are pressed 
together with a generally uniform pressure over their areas. 
The wave configuration of the plates is also an important feature of the 
invention, that is, their cross-sectional configuration. Their 
configuration in the general planes of the plates, as already discussed, 
is optional and a matter largely determined by the desired hair styling. 
As shown, the plates have a smoothly curved wave-form, with their 
confronting surfaces capable of full area contact if laid together. So 
long as this is true, it will be seen from a consideration of FIG. 2 that 
when they are slightly separated by the presence of a lock of hair 
therebetween, the vertical spacing between the plates at the peaks of the 
corrugations will be greater than the spacing therebetween at points 
midway between the peaks, as indicated at points 28 in FIG. 2. Thus when 
the plates are pressed together as previously described, they engage the 
lock of hair principally along transverse lines of the plates at points 
28. As the plates are finally pressed together, their contact with the 
hair along transverse lines at points 28 tends to apply a longitudinal 
tension to the lock of hair, pulling the hair smoothly and tautly over the 
rounded convex peaks of the plate at the "inside" of each corrugation, and 
away from the rounded concave peaks of the plate at the "outside" of each 
corrugation, opening crescent shaped spaces 30 therebetween. The 
tensioning of the hair preserves the desired form of the lock of hair even 
in the portions thereof engaged only at one side by a plate, i.e. at 
spaces 30, whereby to maintain the desired form of the hair when the 
chemical waving solution is subsequently applied thereto through 
perforations 10, while the opening of spaces 30 provides a much freer 
access of the waving solution to the hair, than if the plates had full 
area contact with the hair. Virtually the entire length of the lock of 
hair is exposed to an open chamber 30, in which the waving solution may 
flow freely. This circulation promotes faster, more thorough penetration 
of the lock of hair by the waving solutions. 
While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it 
will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and 
operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention 
.