Abstract:
Nail gel curing devices emitting ultraviolet light, as well as methods of their making and use are disclosed. The devices are useful for curing, inter alia, acrylic compositions, more particularly, acrylic nail gel compositions, and typically employ ultraviolet and/or visible light emitting diodes (“LED”) to cure such ultraviolet and/or visible light curable nail gel resins.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/290,086, filed Nov. 6, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to a light solidifying device in nail art, and in particular to a light solidifying device having a magnetic slide cover. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    In nail art, people coat a layer of pigment or liquid gel to decorate the nails with different colors, or attach decoration pieces on the nails to show different styles of the nail art. In order to quickly dry the pigment or the liquid gel, the hair dryer is often used to directly blow the pigment or the liquid gel. However, this causes the pigment or the liquid gel to be rippled, and the hot air makes the users feel uncomfortable. 
         [0004]    The use of UV light to treat the UV liquid gel coated on the nails of toes and fingers is developed and called UV Curing or UV Coating. The difference between the conventional drying method and the UV light solidifying method is that the former vaporizes the volatile solvent in the liquid gel to solidify the liquid gel, while the latter utilizes Ultra-Violet light to irradiate and solidify the liquid gel coated on the nails. The UV light solidifying method has advantages of no solvent vaporization during the solidification cross-linking process, a shorter required solidification time, no ripple or deformed gel formed on the nails, and good solidification performance. Furthermore, there are other types of light solidifying devices for solidifying the liquid gel on the nails. 
         [0005]    The conventional UV solidifying device for nail art generally has a rectangular base, a UV light source of which is arranged in such a way that the UV light irradiates the nails in parallel with or perpendicular to the fingers. However, the nails each have different curves and angles relative to a longitudinal direction of each finger, so that the straight going UV light cannot evenly irradiate the nails, thereby resulting in an uneven and unstable solidification in the nail art. 
         [0006]    Furthermore, the UV light of the conventional UV solidifying devices escaping from an opening of the devices may irradiate users&#39; eyes and skin that will make the users feel uncomfortable or even be harmful to the eyes and skin. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a light solidifying device designed in such a way that the irradiation direction of the light rays substantially faces to users&#39; finger nails. Furthermore, the light solidifying device comprises a movable shielding structure for shielding the light rays. 
         [0008]    In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, a light solidifying device according to the present invention comprises a body, a magnetic slide cover unit connected to the body, a control unit connected to the body, and a light solidifying unit disposed in the body. The body includes an outer case having a first opening. A slide slot is defined around the first opening and points toward the first opening. An inner case is a polygonal case and disposed in the outer case. The inner case has a second opening and an inclined sidewall. The outer case and the inner case are connected to a base. 
         [0009]    The magnetic slide cover unit has a slide cover having a third opening and the slide cover has a boss which is engaged with the slide slot of the outer case. The boss is connected to a fixing member and the slide cover is slidably movable toward the first opening of the outer case by moving the boss along the slide slot. The slide cover has a first magnetic member and the outer case has a second magnetic member which is located corresponding to the first magnetic member. The third opening of the slide cover is located corresponding to the first opening of the outer case and the second opening of the inner case. 
         [0010]    The control unit is connected to the body and has a receptacle, a circuit board and a control member connected to the circuit board. The control member of the control unit is exposed out from the outer case. 
         [0011]    The light solidifying unit is disposed in the body and has a light emitting diode module. The light emitting diode module has a heat dissipating member and a light emitting diode (LED) located in opposite to the heat dissipating member and connected to the wall of the inner case, so that the LED can irradiate an interior of the inner case. The light solidifying unit, the receptacle of the control unit and the circuit board are electrically connected together, so that the user can control the power “on” or “off”, or adjust the required solidification time. 
         [0012]    When the user proceeds with the solidification to the liquid gel on a user&#39; finger nails, the user&#39;s hand is inserted into the device via the first and second openings and put on the base. The slide cover is moved downward and masked the first and second openings. The third opening of the slide cover is kept opened for the insertion of the user&#39;s hand. Therefore, the gap between the hand and the third opening is small enough to stop the light rays from escaping out from the device to stimulate the user&#39;s eyes and skin. The position of the slide cover can be adjusted according to practical needs. Then, the user can start to operate the control member of the control unit to activate the light emitting diode to proceed with the solidification and sterilization process. Because the inner case is a polygonal case and the inclined sidewall of the inner case is arranged to face to the finger nails, especially to the thumb nail, in a direction perpendicular to the inclined sidewall, each of the finger nails can be fully irradiated by the UV light rays. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a light solidifying device in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a perspective exploded view of the light solidifying device of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of the light solidifying device of the present invention, which is viewed from another direction; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  shows a use state of the light solidifying device of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    With reference to the drawings and in particular to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a light solidifying device in accordance with the present invention comprises a body  1 , a magnetic slide cover unit  2 , a control unit  3 , and a light solidifying unit  4 . The body  1  has an outer case  11  having a first opening  110 . A slide slot  111  is defined around the first opening  110  of the body  1  and points toward the first opening  110 . The outer case  11  further has an engaging slot  112 . An inner case  12  is a polygonal case and is disposed in the outer case  11 . The inner case  12  has a second opening  120  and an inclined sidewall  121 . The inclined sidewall  121  of the inner case  12  is arranged to face to the finger nails, especially to the thumb nail, in a direction perpendicular to the inclined sidewall  121 . A base  13  has multiple pads  131  connected thereto, and the outer case  11  and the inner case  12  are mounted to the base  13 . 
         [0019]    The magnetic slide cover unit  2  has a top part  21  with a ridge  211  which is engaged with the engaging slot  112  of the outer case  11 . The top part  21  has a reception slot  210 . The magnetic slide cover unit  2  further has a slide cover  22  which has a third opening  220 . The slide cover  22  has a boss  221  which is a cylindrical member and engaged with the slide slot  111  of the outer case  11 . The boss  221  is connected to a fixing member  222  which positions the boss  221 , so that the boss  221  is not disengaged from the slide slot  111 . The slide cover  22  is slidably movable toward the first opening  110  of the outer case  11  by moving the boss  221  along the slide slot  111 . The slide cover  22  has a first magnetic member  223  and the outer case  11  has two second magnetic member  224  which respectively are located at both ends of the outer case  11  parallel to the slide slot  111  and corresponding to the first magnetic member  223 . The first magnetic member  223  contacts the reception slot  210  of the top part  21  when the slide cover  22  moves to a top end of the slide slot  111 . The first magnetic member  223  is a magnetic metal and the second magnetic member  224  is a magnet which can attract the first magnetic member  223 . The third opening  220  of the slide cover  22  is located corresponding to the first opening  110  of the outer case  11  and the second opening  120  of the inner case  12 . 
         [0020]    The control unit  3  is connected to the body  1  and has a receptacle  30 , a circuit board  32  and a control member  31  connected to the circuit board  32 . The control member  31  is a button and is exposed out from the outer case  11 . 
         [0021]    The light solidifying unit  4  is disposed in the body  1  and has a light emitting diode module  41 . The light emitting diode module  41  includes a heat dissipating member  42  and a light emitting diode (LED)  40  located in opposite to the heat dissipating member  42  and connected to the wall of the inner case  12 , so that the LED  40  irradiates an interior of the inner case  12 . The light solidifying unit  4 , the receptacle  30  of the control unit  3  and the circuit board  32  are electrically connected. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , when in use, a user&#39;s hand  9  with liquid gel coated on the nails is inserted into the device via the first and second openings  110 ,  120  and put on the base  13 . The slide cover  22  is then moved downward and masked the first and second openings  110 ,  120 . The third opening  220  of the slide cover  22  is kept opened for the insertion of the user&#39;s hand  9 . Therefore, the gap between the hand  9  and the third opening  220  is small enough to stop the light rays from escaping out from the device to stimulate the user&#39;s eyes and skin. The position of the slide cover  22  can be adjusted according to practical needs. When the slide cover  22  is adjusted to the topmost or the lowermost position, the first magnetic member  223  is attracted by the second magnetic member  224  to position the slide cover  22 . The magnetic force is suitable to let the user easily move the slide cover  22 , while the slide cover  22  can be positioned at a predetermined place if no external force is applied thereto. 
         [0023]    Then, the user can start to operate the control member  31  of the control unit  3  to activate the light emitting diode  40  to proceed with the solidification and sterilization process. The light solidifying device of the present invention has advantages of no solvent vaporization during the solidification cross-linking process, a shorter required solidification time, no ripple or deformed gel formed on the nails, and good solidification performance. 
         [0024]    Because the inner case  12  is a polygonal case and the inclined sidewall  121  of the inner case  21  is arranged to face to the finger nails, especially to the thumb nail, in a direction perpendicular to the inclined sidewall  121 , each of the finger nails can be fully irradiated by the UV light rays. 
         [0025]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.