Patent Publication Number: US-2007108828-A1

Title: Mannequin attachment system

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/735,342, filed Nov. 12, 2005. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to instruction and training in the field of beauty and barber salon hair care and services. More specifically, the invention relates to a teaching tool for salon and hairdresser technicians that can more closely simulate those technicians&#39; practice of working on a customer sitting in a chair used in the industry.  
      In the beauty care industry, salon technicians must be trained to perform head and hair-related services. Typically, technical schools and colleges have instructors who provide instruction and training to perform these head and hair-related services. In some instances, training may also occur in the salons and hair care shops as well.  
      The instruction and training for hair care students focus on simulating the experience of cutting and styling hair on a human head. The more similar the experience of training is for the student, the more likely that the student will carry that training over into practical salon application. Therefore, it is accepted in the industry of hair care training and instruction that mannequin heads be provided so that students can effectively apply learned techniques and training to the needs of their salon customers.  
      In the instruction and training settings presently discussed, instructors generally provide the mannequin heads with a tripod base. The tri-pod base securely holds the mannequin head at a distance from the floor that approximately simulates the distance from the floor to the head of he salon customer. The mannequin head attaches to the tripods used in the industry.  
      While this method of holding the mannequin head from the floor has been effective in simulating the distance between the salon customer&#39;s head and the floor, the set-up has inherent problems. First, the instruction or training takes place outside of the normal environment of both the hair care customer and the hair care student. Second, the tri-pod used to support the head of the mannequin does not allow the hair care student to experience the necessary feel of treating and interacting with the salon and hair care customer.  
      Thus, it can be seen that there is a continued need for salon students to train in an environment that more closely simulates the experience of serving a salon care customer on site. It can further be seen that an approach is needed that will allow the salon student to practice his or her trade by interacting with a salon chair. It can even be further seen that a need exists for any interaction with the chair to be secure and of no abrasive or consequential damage to the salon chair.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objects, and advantages through a new, useful, and unobvious combination of component elements, with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, and by employing only readily available materials. In these respects, the present version of the invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus that substantially fulfills this need. Additionally, the prior patents and commercial techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements arranged and configured as disclosed herein.  
      These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent aspects of the invention. These aspects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the present invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other aspects and objects may be discerned from a fuller understanding of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments in addition to the scope of the invention illustrated by the accompanying drawings.  
      The present invention may comprise a mannequin attachment system for attaching a mannequin head onto a chair, the system comprising a chair-engaging portion having a first element, a second element and a connecting element with at least one of the first element and second element biasing inward. The chair engaging portion may further have a threaded coupling above the first element and second element. The system may even further comprise a mannequin engaging portion disposed above the chair-engaging portion and may comprise further a retaining housing having a threaded end for screwing onto the threaded coupling of the chair engaging portion and a retaining end with a lip. The mannequin engaging portion may comprise a mannequin mating portion having a ball shaped portion and a shaft, the retaining end of the retaining housing may retain the ball shaped portion mannequin mating portion, whereby the shaft of mannequin mating portion may securely and removeably be placed into an orifice of a mannequin head  
      In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for training students to address the needs of seated customers or patients is disclosed. The method may comprise attaching a mannequin head to a mannequin head retaining system, securing the head retaining system to the back of a chair and simulating the application of beauty or oral hygiene services to the head of a human by rotating the mannequin head in appropriate planes of axis of the human head. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a side view perspective of a mannequin attachment system, according to preferred embodiments of the current invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a side view perspective drawing of the mannequin attachment system, according to preferred embodiments of the current invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a side rear view of the entire inventive system in use, according to preferred embodiments of the current invention.  
       FIG. 4  is a side perspective view having chair-engaging portion with an inward bias, according to preferred embodiments of the system. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTIONI OF THE INVENTION  
      The following detailed description shows the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and the best mode for practicing the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.  
      Salon technicians offer many different types of services to their clients, dealing with treatment areas of their clients&#39; heads, such as hair, facial and eyebrow. These treatments require a salon technician to manipulate a salon client&#39;s head to positions appropriate for the selected treatment. An important aspect to deliver those treatments and services is for the salon technician to interact with and utilize a salon chair. A salon chair&#39;s effectiveness and thus importance to the industry has been manifested in its long legacy in barbershops, salons and boutiques: The customers of those services must be seated in a comfortable chair that can move vertically, in circles, and possibly in a diagonal decline.  
      The instruction of salon technicians traditionally may occur in formal and informal settings. Some technicians will learn their trade through apprenticeship and on-the-job training; others will go through an educational/vocational training program at institutes of higher learning. The common denominator for both modes of learning salon services is that a head is heavily involved with the studies of services like hair styling and facial treatments. When services to a customers head are to be studied, a mannequin head is normally substituted for a future customer&#39;s head. Known art in those settings has not solved the need in salon service instruction for a mannequin head and the need that future salon technicians need to learn to ply their trade via the salon chair.  
      The present invention effectively addresses such needs associated with the instruction of salon technicians. In contrast to previous attempts to provide students of salon services with a means to learn how to address the customer&#39;s head, the present invention provides a solution of fixing a mannequin head to a salon chair. The advantages of this over other approaches in the art are many. The present invention uses a system not known in the present art, structurally configured to resemble and emulate the human cranial region (neck and head) positioned to receive salon services in a salon chair. The inventive system may join or mate with a mannequin head in a number of ways, and may provide the mannequin head different planes of movement. For instance a user of the mannequin head may tilt the head toward the back and down to practice applying facial services to the mannequin head. If the user was a student of dental arts, he or she could direct attention to the oral region of the mannequin head in such an orientation (back and down). The user may tilt the head in a frontal direction to practice cutting or trimming the hairline and neck. No prior art reference foresees a solution that accomplishes the objective of tilting the mannequin head in such a simple manner. The invention may also join or mate to the salon chair so that the oft-expensive chair is not torn or scuffed. By providing such an instructional system, the present invention accomplishes what the disclosed art attempted to solve unsuccessfully. The invention improves upon solutions in the art that invariably mate a mannequin head to independent stands that sit on a floor or counter by adding the importance dimension of addressing the head on a salon chair. In short, it emulates the experience of providing service such as salon or dental to a real life customer or patient.  
      As has been demonstrated, the present invention provides an advantageous system that, coupled with a mannequin head and salon chair, emulates the experience of providing salon service to a real life salon customer. While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims shall be construed to include both the preferred embodiment and all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.  
      Looking at  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the invention is seen as the mannequin attachment system  10 . System  10  connects mannequin head  12  to chair  30  so that a user of the system may practice providing services and treatment upon the mannequin head  12 . Mannequin head  12 , an embodiment of the type used in the industry, generally contains an orifice with multiple channels oriented centrifugally so that the mannequin heads such as mannequin head  12  may accept a shaft that connects to, for instance in the prior art, an independent stand or a mannequin body. In one embodiment of the invention, mannequin engaging portion may be constructed of a single fabricated unit. In another embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the system comprises more than one piece. In the present embodiment, system may comprise a mannequin engaging portion  20  and a chair engaging portion  14 . The mannequin engaging portion  20  in  FIG. 3  may secure the mannequin head  12  to the chair engaging portion  14 , any other securing means known in the art may be utilized to secure the mannequin head  12  to the chair engaging portion  14 .  
      Chair engaging portion  14  may comprise a threaded coupling  16  at an apical end  18  of the chair engaging portion  14 . Chair engaging portion  14  may further comprise a first element  100 , a second element  110  and a connecting element  120  that connects the first element  100  to the second element  110  of the chair engaging section. As seen in  FIGS. 1-3 , the first element  100 , second element  110  and connecting element  120  are shown as a molded integral piece with solid walls for elements  100 ,  110  and  120 . For example, ABS plastic may be heated and molded for a simple solution to creating an engaging interface for chair engaging portion  14 . However, the present invention includes embodiments of the chair engaging portion that are not solid, integrally molded walls. For purposes of example and not limitation, elements  100 ,  110  and  120  may comprise smooth rods, mesh elements, or any other material and/or configuration of chair engaging portion that would allow its elements  100 ,  110  and  120  to engage a chair such as chair  36  in a secure fashion.  
       FIGS. 1-4  show an embodiment of the first element  100  having a top end  130  and a bottom end  140  as well as second  110  having a top end  150  and a bottom end  160 . In an embodiment on the invention, at least one of the bottom ends  140  and  160  of the first element  100  and second element  120 , respectively, are biased inwards against the chair. Looking at  FIG. 4 , by biasing at least one of the two bottom ends  140  and  160  of elements  100  and  120 , the chair engaging portion  14  may frictionally engage the chair  36  to hold it more securely. Chair engaging portion may also comprise buffer portion  170  to prevent damage to the chair, which can invariably be quite expensive in salon and dental office settings. For purposes of example and not limitation, buffer portion may comprise foam, stuffed material such as leather, imitations thereof, or any other material that facilitates frictional resistance and thus security without damaging the chair  36  in any way.  
       FIG. 2  shows in more detail an embodiment of the mannequin engaging portion  20 , envisioning the embodiment of the invention comprising multiple components. Mannequin engaging portion  20  may comprise a retaining housing  22  having a threaded end  28  and a retaining end  30 . Threaded end  28  may comprise inner threads  24  for screwing upon the threaded coupling  16  of the chair engaging portion. Retaining housing  22  of mannequin engaging portion  20  may further comprise a lip  26  shown in the  FIGS. 1-2  embodiments to be near the retaining end  30  of the retaining housing  22 . Mannequin engaging portion  20  may even further comprise a ball-shaped portion  54  and a shaft  46 , shown in the embodiment of invention as an integral component  58 . The lip  26  of retaining housing  22  may retain ball-shaped portion  54  by having a diameter less than that of ball-shaped portion  54 . As seen in  FIGS. 1-2 , shaft  46  of mannequin engaging portion  20  may comprise channels  60  that correlate and/or mate to the channels commonly seen in mannequin heads such as mannequin head  12 . Other embodiments of the mannequin engaging portion are foreseen that secure the chair engaging portion  14  upon a chair  36 .  
      In practice, the inventive system may operate in the following manner. A user may attach the chair engaging portion  14  onto a chair. In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the user may then place the integral component  58  of the mannequin engaging portion  20  through the retaining housing  22 , then screw the inner threads  24  of the retaining housing  22  upon the threaded coupling  16  of the chair engaging portion  14 . The user may place the mannequin head  12  upon the shaft  46 . If the user wishes to change the orientation of the mannequin head  12  relative to the chair  36  and the chair engaging portion  14 , then the user may loosen or unscrew the retaining housing  22  from the threaded coupling  16  of the chair engaging portion so that the orientation ball shaped portion  54  (and thus, the integral component  54  and mannequin head  12 ) may be altered. Therefore, by changing the orientation of the ball-shaped portion  54  relative to the chair-engaging portion  14 , a user may rotate the mannequin engaging portion of the retaining housing in a number of axis planes, and thus rotate the mannequin head about the chair-engaging portion in any axis in which the human head could be subjected during the application of salon and beauty services or during that of dental and oral treatment.  
      It will be understood the specification and examples are illustrative but not limitative of the present invention and other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.