Abstract:
A hand operated self-contained machine made out of molded plastic for applying an image on a nail of a person&#39;s digit or a golf ball includes a base frame including side rails. An element is provided to establish a reference point. An image creating holder is integrally molded to the side rails. A wheel having projections holding a plate containing a plurality of images is supported on the holder and can be indexed to any one of a plurality of positions by the interaction of the projections and the holder. An image composed of an image defining coating material is created at one image position on the plate. A positioning member receives and adjustably positions a person&#39;s digit or object in an appropriate orientation relative to the reference point. A transfer member is mounted on the side rails and a manually operable drive member drives the transfer member in a continuous smooth movement. A method is provided wherein the support of the image plate is indexed to present a new image.

Description:
This application is a continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 09/056,635 filed Apr. 8, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,179. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method and machine for creating nail art on a person&#39;s digit, and more particularly, relates to a method and hand operated machine for creating an art image on a fingernail or toenail of a person&#39;s digit. 
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Prior Art 
     The desirability of creating art images on a person&#39;s fingernails and toenails is widely recognized and practiced. Known techniques include transfer, decals, appliques and handpainting. Recently, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,277,205; 5,302,224; and 5,316,026 have been granted regarding novel techniques for creating images on nails. Although the new technology works well in principle, there remains a need to further develop the technology in order to advance it to the point where complex multicolor images can created especially by professional nail technicians, consistently and repeatably with excellent registration and detail. Also, there remains a need to improve and engineer the known apparatus to enable manufacture both efficiently and economically. 
     2. Summary of Invention 
     Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a method and machine or apparatus for effectively creating nail art on the nail of a person&#39;s digit, and to do so to accomplish the noted purposes. To this end, the invention provides hand-operated apparatus that can be manufactured efficiently and readily, and that will be of rugged construction and will function effectively, smoothly and repeatably, especially when being worked by a professional nail technician. 
     Accordingly, the present invention achieves the principal object of the invention by a method for applying an art image on a person&#39;s nail that comprises the steps of establishing a reference point, positioning a person&#39;s digit relative to the reference point on an adjustable supporting base at a first preselected location, creating an image composed of an image defining coating material at a location remote from the first preselected location, picking up the created image from said remote location by a transfer element movably mounted, transferring the picked up image to the person&#39;s nail at said first preselected location in one smooth continuous motion that results in the picked up image being deposited onto the person&#39;s nail at a position on the nail correlated with the reference point. 
     In the method, the pick up and transfer of the image is by a smooth continuous motion that results in the depositing of the picked up image. Further, the transfer of the picked up image is effected with guiding. The step of creating the image may include the steps of depositing coating material onto an image plate and doctoring excess coating material in the creation of the image. The method steps can be repeated a multiple of times with easy repositioning of the plate between successive times. The method can further include a step of positively stopping the picked up created image in proper orientation to the person&#39;s nail during transfer, and the ready adjustment of the person&#39;s nail. The method can be carried out to create a multi-color image. 
     The present invention additionally contemplates a hand operated self-contained machine for applying an image on a person&#39;s nail-comprising a base frame, side rails attached to the base frame, an element for establishing a reference point, and image creating plate attached to the side rails for creating thereon an image composed of an image defining coating material, :a digit positioning member for adjustable receiving and positioning a person&#39;s digit relative to the location of the created image to achieve the appropriate orientation relative to the reference point, a transfer member mounted on the side rails movable for transferring the created image from the image creating plate to the person&#39;s nail, and a manually operable drive member to drive the transfer member. 
     The machine may further be characterized in that the transfer member includes a squeegee for removing excess coating material from an image and a pick up pad for picking up a created image. The machine or apparatus can further include guide elements to guide the transfer member during movement. In the machine the squeegee and the pick up pad may be mounted in common, with the pad mounted also for vertical movement. The machine may further comprise an adjustable digit positioning member for adjusting with respect to the reference point, for indexing the pick up pad relative to the person&#39;s nail. Also, the machine may have the digit positioning member contained in a holder and spring biased upwardly. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the novel machine or apparatus in the middle position, with the suction pads and plate holder sub-assembly removed. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the plate holder, turntable sub-assembly. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the front of the major parts of the novel machine. 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view from the rear of the major parts of the novel machine. 
     FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the plate holder turntable. 
     FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the plate holder turntable. 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the turntable base. 
     FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the turntable base. 
     FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the nail block. 
     FIG. 10 is an end elevation of the nail block. 
     FIG. 11 is a side elevation of the nail block. 
     FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the squeegee slide. 
     FIG. 13 is an end view of the squeegee slide. 
     FIG. 14 is a side view of the squeegee slide. 
     FIG. 15 is a top plan view of the nail block holder. 
     FIG. 16 is front elevation of the nail block holder. 
     FIG. 17 is a front elevation of the base legs. 
     FIG. 18 is a bottom plan of the base legs. 
     FIG. 19 is a top plan of the pad and squeegee head. 
     FIG. 20 is an end elevation of the pad and squeegee head. 
     FIG. 21 is an elevational view of the pad holder. 
     FIG. 22 is a bottom plan of the pad holder. 
     FIG. 23 is a side view of the pad holder. 
     FIG. 24 is a plan view of a clip for the squeegee holder assembly. 
     FIG. 25 is a side view of the clip shown in FIG.  24 . 
     FIG. 26 is a side view of the side guide rails for the pad and squeegee head. 
     FIG. 27 is an end view of the rail shown in FIG.  26 . 
     FIG. 28 is a side view of the head for the squeegee blade holder. 
     FIG. 29 is a bottom plan of the head shown in FIG.  28 . 
     FIG. 30 is top exploded view of the blade holder. 
     FIG. 31 is a perspective exploded view of the blade holder. 
     FIG. 32 is a side view of the blade. 
     FIG. 33 is a side elevation of the nail block holder. 
     FIG. 34 is a view of the operating lead screw. 
     FIG. 35 is a perspective view of the index pointer. 
     FIG. 36 is an exploded view of the operating pin, lever arm and side rail. 
     FIG. 37 is a side view of an alternate forward leg structure. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawings, the machine and method of the present invention will now be described in detail. Referring initially to FIGS. 1-4, the machine is comprised of a forward leg structure  20  and rear leg structure  22  which together with two side rails  24  and  26  constitute the machine frame. Components are made of metal, such as, aluminum, except as stated. The leg structures  20  and  22  are shown in detail in FIGS. 17 an  18  and each consists of a pair of upper leg parts  28  and  30  that extend vertically. A cross bar  32  extends horizontally and integrally interconnects upper leg parts  28  and  30 . A hub  34  is integrally formed at the center line  36  and through hole  38  is defined by hub  34  extending horizontally and normal to vertical centerline. Lower leg parts  40  and  42  are thickened and displayed at an angle α (from about 10° to about 30°, preferably about 15°) lower surfaces  50  of parts  40  and  42 . Threaded bolt holes  44  are formed in the suction pads  45  are bolted to leg parts  40 ,  42  via holes  44 . Pairs of clearance bolt holes  46  are formed in the upper leg part  28  and  30  so that the side rails  24  and  26  can be bolted by bolts  48  to the upper leg parts  28  and  30 . 
     The side rails  24  and  26 , as noted, are fastened to the leg structures  20 ,  22  by bolts  48 . Each side rail  24 ,  26  defines a longitudinally, horizontally extending slot  60 , of uniform width, which terminates fore and aft with short vertically extending slots  62 ,  64  respectively, of the same uniform width. Slots  62  and  64  at their bottom ends are arcuate with a radius equal to one-half of the slot width. A lever  68  consisting of a pair of arms  70  and  72  interconnected by a cylindrical handle  74  via bolts  82  at their upper ends  76  also, are pivotally coupled at their lower ends  78  to the side rails  24 ,  26  by any suitable means, e.g. shoulder bolts  80  which permit pivoting. Preferably, handle  74  is arranged, e.g. by shoulder bolts, to be rotatable for ease of manipulation. A second reinforcement cylinder  84  is bolted by bolts  86  to the arms  70 ,  72  vertically below cylinder  74 . Each arm  70 ,  72  defines a longitudinally extending slot  88  at a location that intercept slot  60 , including segments  62 ,  64  for the full range of movement of the lever  68 . 
     The side rails  24  and  26  define in their inside surfaces, a first pair of longitudinally, horizontally extending guide slots  90 , that extend the entire length of the side rails  24 ,  26 , and intercept the arcuate bottoms of the slots  62 ,  64 . Adjacent the bottom edges of the side rails  24 ,  26 , starting from their front edges, a pair of slots  92  are defined in the inside surfaces of the side rails  24 ,  26 . This pair of slots  92  extends longitudinally and horizontally for about one-third the length of the side rails. 
     A plate holder, turntable assembly  100  shown in FIG.  2  and in detail in FIGS. 5-8 is fixed in position between the side rails  24 ,  26  by any suitable means, e.g. by longitudinally spaced bolts  102 , one of which is shown in FIG. 1 for side rail  24 . The other bolt is hidden under upper leg part  28 . The assembly  100  is fixed above the bottom edges of the side rails by ⅓ to ½ their height. The assembly  100  consists of a base plate  102  defining pairs of threaded bolt holes  104  along each plate side  112  for receiving bolts  102  and effecting attachment to side rails  24 ,  26 . Plate  102  also defines in its upper surfaces  110  a circular recess  108 , and a threaded hole  114  extending from the rear edge  106  of plate  102 . A detent, not shown, in the form of a threaded shank housing a spring loaded projecting ball detent, is threadedly received in hole  114  with the detent projecting slightly into the recess  108 . 
     Assembly  100  further consists of a turntable  120 , illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 which further consists of a lower circular table  122  having a diameter watching that of recess  108 . At 90° intervals, the rim  121  of table  122  is interrupted by recesses  124  for cooperation with the ball detent. Fixed to the upper surface of table  122  is a wheel  126  of greater diameter. A square recess  128  is defined in the upper surface of which  126  with an orientation such that each recess  124  is exactly aigned with the midpoint of each side  130  of square recess  128 . A central axial threaded bolt hole  132  extends through table  122  and into wheel  126 . Base  102  defines a central axial hole  134  through which a shoulder bolt, not shown, passes for threaded connection with hole  132 . In this manner the assembly  100  is mounted between the side rails  24  and  26  and the turntable assembly (table  122  and wheel  126  are rotatably received in circular recess  108  of table base  102 ). As shown in FIG. 2 an engraved metal plate  140  is received in the square recess  128 . Plate  140  contains four engravings  142  indexed with respect to the midpoint of each side  144  of plate  140 , which in turn, is coincident with the midpoint of each side  130  of recess  128 . 
     A nail block holder and nail block are shown in FIGS. 15,  16  and  33  and FIGS. 9-11, respectively. Nail block holder  150  is mounted for sliding movement between side rails  24 ,  26 . More particularly, holder  150  is generally of rectangular block shape defining cutouts and projections. Along the lower part of each side  152  of holder  150  and for its length, a rail  154  projects that is dimensioned to be received in and slide relative to guide slots  92 . Holder  150  defines a rectangular cutout  156  on its front side  158  with four through holes  160  extending from the bottom  162  of holder  150  to the floor  164  of cutout  156 . On the top face  166  of holder  150  is a hemi-cylindrical projection  168  extending from the top black edge  170  to the top rear edge  172  of the cut-out  156 . On the bottom surface  162 , a projection  174  extends from the bottom back edge  176  a short distance toward the front along the plane including the front-to-back centerline  178 . An axial threaded bore  180  penetrates the projection  174 . 
     Received in the cutout  156  is a nail block  190  shown in FIGS. 9-11. Block  190  is a parallel piped defining four bores  192  extending vertically from its bottom surface  198 . Each bore  192  is located in proximity with a corner of block  190 . Each bore  192  has an enlarged entry portion  194  with a deeper threaded portion  196 . The upper surface  200  of block  190  is cutout to define inclined surfaces  202  and  204  which intersect at  206  along the plane of the front-to-rear centerline, with the line of intersection  206  inclined front-to-rear, that is lower at the front and higher at the rear. 
     Nail block  190  is assembled in the cutout  156  with shoulder bolts (not shown) extending from the bottom  162  through bores  160  and into bores  192 . The threaded ends of the bolts are threaded into the threaded deeper portions  196 . Springs (not shown) surround the bolts and reside in the enlarged portions  194  biasing the nail block  190  normally upwardly. 
     A pad and squeegee head  210  is shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 and is adapted to slide in the guide slots  90  in the following manner. A pair of nylon (or other suitable plastic guide rails  214  are attached along the lower side edges  212  of head  210 . Rails  214  are L-shaped in configuration with a horizontal leg  216  and a vertical leg  218 . Leg  216  is provided with three space holes  220  which align with three spaced tapped holes  222  in the bottom surface  224  of head  210  along each bottom edge  212 . Screws (not shown) fasten rails  214  to head  210  in this manner. The vertical leg  218  is received in the slots  90  and therefore, head  210  can move fore and aft. Leg  218 , toward the front, defines an arcuate cutout  226  which matches when registered with the arcuate bottom of slot  62 . 
     Head  210  includes a large circular throughbore  230 , a lateral vertical slot  232  extending upwardly from the bottom surface  224  and intercepting the bore  230 , a vertical throughbore  234  rectangular in cross-section, and a pair of threaded bores  236  laterally outside of and in proximity to bore  234 . Bores  236  extend from the upper surface  238  of head  210 . 
     A pad holder  240 , circular in cross-section, shown in FIGS. 21-23 fits in bore  230 . Holder  240  consists of a cylindrical body  242  having a depending annular skirt  244  defining a space  246  into which a silicone pad  246  is press fitted, see FIG. 3. A throughbore  248  passes diametrically through body  242  and a vertical gripping tab  250  extends upwardly from the top  252  of body  242 . 
     A squeegee blade holder assembly is shown in FIGS. 28-32. The squeegee or doctor blade  260  is shown in  32  and is a rectangular piece of steel from about 0.005 inches to about 0.010 inches thick (preferably about 0.008 inches). Blade  260  is held in a blade holder  264  consisting of a block  266  having a cutout  268 , a block  270  having a relieved area  271  to accommodate blade  260  that fits into cutout  268  and countersunk screws or bolts  269  that connected block  270  to block  266  via holes  272  in block  270  and threaded holes  274  in block  266 . A pair of threaded holes  261  are located on the top side  263  of block  266  of blade holder  264 . The surfaces  273  on opposite ends of blade  260  on the bottom side  275  of blade holder  264  serve as bearing surfaces. The blade holder  264  is received in a cavity  278  defined in the bottom  282  of blade assembly holder  280 . A lifting tab  284  projects upwardly from the top surface  286  of holder  280 . A pair of bores  288  extend from the top surface  286  down through the holder  280  opening into cavity  278 . The top portion  290  of each of the bores  288  is enlarged to receive a bolt head of a shoulder bolt (not shown) that is fastened at it lower end to the  264  blade holder via threaded hole  266 , and deep enough to allow vertical movement of the bolt head without extending significantly above top surface  286 . The mid-portion  292  of each bore  288  is of reduced section to closely surround the bolt shank. The bottom portion  294  of each bore  288  is enlarged to enable a compression spring (not shown to surround the bolt shank and be sufficiently loaded to normally bias the blade holder  264  downwardly with a preselected force. 
     The holder  280 , when assembled as described above, is received in the rectangular cavity  234  of head  210 . A pair of clips  300 , shown in FIGS. 24 and 25 are pivotally mounted on head  210 , one on each side of cavity  234 . Each clip  300  is a small bar defining a through bore  302  having an upper enlarged portion  304  to accommodate a bolt head. The clips  300  are mounted to head  210  by shoulder bolts (not shown) which thread into threaded holes  236 . By using shoulder bolts, the clips  300  are freely rotatable. Initially the clips  300  are pivoted away from cavity  234 , the assembly of head  280 , blade holder  264  and blade  260  is inserted into cavity  234  and then clips  300  are pivoted to overlie the edges of head  210  to hold it in the cavity  234 . This action takes place in the machine while the doctor blade  260  or blade holder  264  is bearing against an undersurface. 
     A pair of nylon slides is shown in FIGS. 12-14. Each consists of an elongated bar  320  provided with a pair of horizontally spaced, transversely extending threaded through bores  322  for attachment to a side rail  24 ,  26 . One bar  320  is attached horizontally to the inside surface of each side rail  24 ,  26  by means of bolts  324 , see FIG.  1 . The bars  320  underlie the head  210  as it slides fore and aft and provide cooperating horizontal bearing surfaces  326  for bearing surfaces  270  of blade holder  264 . The lower portion of the forward end  328  of bar  320  is cutout  330  to accommodate sliding movement of nail block holder  150 . The upper corner of rear  332  of bar  320  is leveled at  334  to provide a ramp or incline. The lower inside corner of the rear end  332  is cutout  336  to accommodate wheel  126 , so that the ramp  334  at least partially overlies in close proximity the upper surface of wheel  126 , so that as head  280  is moved in the fore direction from its aft-most position, the blade holder  264  will ride up the ramp  334 , retracting blade holder  264  and blade  260  into cavity  278  against the spring bias. Thereby, blade  260  is disengaged during further forward travel. 
     The operating lead screw is shown in FIG.  34  and consists of a threaded rod  350  having a turning knob  352  fixed at one end. In the preferred embodiment, the rod  350  is inserted from the rear, passing through bore  38  in hub  34  in the rear leg structure  22 , and is threaded through bore  180  in projection  174  of nail block holder  150 . The end of rod  350  does not extend to or through bore  38  in hub  34  in the front leg structure  20 . A pair of nuts  351  on the inside of rear leg structure  22  one tightened to the other and knob  352  fixed on rod  350  just on the outside of leg structure  22  serve to maintain rod  350  in a fixed longitudinal position while allowing free rotation. The threaded portion of rod  350  threadedly engaged with threaded bore  180  enables rotation of rod  350  by knob  352  to cause nail block holder to slide fore or aft depending upon the sense or direction (CW or CCW). 
     The upper surfaces of the side rails  24 ,  26  directly above the centerline of slots  62  is matched at  360  with an arcuate bottom  362  to receive an indexing pointer  370  preferably made of plastic as shown in FIG.  35 . Pointer  370  is a flat bar having side arms  372  with lower arcuate surfaces  374  for engagement with notches  360 . This positions the pointer  370  upright in a vertical plane. The lower triangular portion  376  points downwardly and the apex  378  at the extreme bottom in the middle of pointer  370  is the index pointer to designate the exact point that an image carried by pad  246  will be deposited onto a nail. A vertical sight line  380  is scribed into or otherwise created in exact vertical alignment with apex  378 . 
     The operating pin  390  is shown in FIG.  36 . This pin  390  extends transversely through the machine from arm  70  to arm  72 . The central portion of pin  390  passes from slot  60  on one side, through the head  210  (slot  232 ), through the pad holder  240  (hole  248 ) and into slot  60  on the other side. The ends  394  of pin  390  project into and through the slots  88  of arms  70 ,  72 , projecting slightly. A washer  394  is received on each end  394  outside its associated arm  70 ,  72 . A throughbore  392  is formed in each end  394  and retainer spring clip  391  is received in hole  392  to hold washer  394  against its arm. A roller bearing  395  is mounted on pin  390  and rides in slot  60  on each side to facilitate movement of pin  390  by lever arms  68 . 
     The operation is as follows. The lever arms  68  are brought to a neutral position substantially as shown in FIG. 1. A plate  14   a  is loaded into recess  128  of the wheel  126 . A persons&#39;s finger is placed in the V-groove of nail block  190  with the end of the finger bearing against hemi-cylindrical projection  168  and the fingernail just overlying the forward end of projection  168 . The index pointer  370  is placed in notches  360  and knob  352  is manipulated to align the area of the fingernail onto which the image is to created, under the index point  378 . A small amount of coloring material is placed just forward of the forwardmost image  142  on plate  140 . In one smooth continuous motion the lever arm  68  is pivoted rearwardly until pin  390  reaches the bottom of slot  64  and, then, pivoted forwardly until pin  390  reaches the bottom of slot  62  and finally, back to the neutral position. During this motion the coloring material will be doctored rearwardly, the pad will travel rearwardly and descend and pick up the coloring material from the engraved image  142 , the pad will lift up and travel forwardly and descend to transfer the picked up coloring material to the fingernail, and then, lift up and return to the neutral position. At this point, the wheel  126  can be indexed a quarter of a turn to present a fresh engraving  142 . The engraving  142  may be independent or parts of a single overall image with the separate engravings  142  constituting parts of different color. The various combinations and permutations of the engravings  142  will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. 
     Instead of a plate containing four engravings, it may contain from two to about six engravings with the turntable modified to define detent recesses corresponding in number and geometry to match the number of engravings. Plate  140  and recess  128  can be any matching polygon configuration. 
     FIG. 37 shows a side view of a preferred construction for front leg structure  20 , which is designated in the figure by the reference number  20   a.  Countersunk clearance holes  400  are provided for attachment of the side rails. Threaded holes  402  are provided for attachment of suction pads. The principal change is a lowering of crossbar  404  and no hub or hole. In this instance, crossbar  404  is moved down and interconnects the legs  406  at an intermediate point  408  of the splay or outward incline. The purpose of this construction is to allow greater clearance for the nail block and its holder. 
     The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiment incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.