Patent Publication Number: US-8118036-B2

Title: Hair dyeing comb with interchangeable comb heads

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 3,516,424 
                 June 1970 
                 Eagle 
               
               
                   
                 3,565,541 
                 February 1971 
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                 March 1981 
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                 4,934,855 
                 June 1990 
                 Recchelbacher 
               
               
                   
                 5,213,430 
                 May 1993 
                 Pandola 
               
               
                   
                 5,469,873 
                 November 1995 
                 Guth 
               
               
                   
                 5,472,456 
                 December 1995 
                 Larsky et al. 
               
               
                   
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                 September 1996 
                 Foreman 
               
               
                   
                 5,584,309 
                 December 1996 
                 De Beneditis et al. 
               
               
                   
                 5,655,551 
                 August 1997 
                 Knight 
               
               
                   
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                 October 1997 
                 Tosto 
               
               
                   
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                 July 1998 
                 Argyle, et al. 
               
               
                   
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                 December 1998 
                 Walz, et al. 
               
               
                   
                 5,913,314 
                 October 1999 
                 Garrett 
               
               
                   
                 5,937,865 
                 August 1999 
                 Dhaliwal 
               
               
                   
                 6,000,405 
                 December 1999 
                 De Laforcade 
               
               
                   
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                 February 2000 
                 Asfur 
               
               
                   
                 6,065,891 
                 May 2000 
                 Rebman et al. 
               
               
                   
                 6,257,246 
                 July 2001 
                 Kan 
               
               
                   
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                 March 2002 
                 Paice 
               
               
                   
                 6,367,483 
                 April 2002 
                 Chen et al. 
               
               
                   
                 6,691,712 
                 February 2004 
                 Chu, et al. 
               
               
                   
                 6,752,157 
                 June 2004 
                 Lu Shao Hua 
               
               
                   
                 6,848,452 
                 February 2005 
                 Kennedy et al. 
               
               
                   
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                 November 2005 
                 Anguelo 
               
               
                   
                 7,044,137 
                 May 2006 
                 Glucksman, et al. 
               
               
                   
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                 August 2006 
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                 7,156,885 
                 January 2007 
                 Kennedy, et al. 
               
               
                   
                 7,243,660 
                 July 2007 
                 Capristo 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a dispensing device for use as a hair dyeing comb. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many prior versions of the hair dyeing applicator use the compressible bottle and a one-way valve to make the applicator work. Our design, a hollow nipple-shaped stopper combined with a small aperture, is comparably simpler and costs less. The applicator can not only prevent the liquid dye from directly contacting the scalp but also apply the hair dye at his own pace. Dyeing hair becomes a simple and no-mess job with our invention. The comb as designed accommodates many different hair types. 
     Someone with thin and short hair can use the comb with fewer comb teeth. Someone with dense and long hair can choose the comb head with more teeth. For hair highlighting or mustache coloring, one can choose the smaller head. Changing the comb head from one to another is as easy as detaching the old one and attaching the new one. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The hair dyeing comb comprises a compressible plastic bottle with a small aperture at its bottom, a shaped and thermal-formed plastic bag that contains liquid hair dye, a hollow nipple-shaped stopper made of elastic plastics with an aperture at its top end, a comb body part with a conduit and a plurality of apertures and an interchangeable comb head part with teeth and canals. 
     The compressible plastic bottle is a common PE or PP bottle. Preferably, the bottle is bigger at its bottom and round at its shoulder. The bottle comprises a small hole at its bottom side. The bottle has an external thread on the neck of its open end. A collapsible plastic bag is encased in the plastic bottle. The plastic bag is thermal-formed to fit the size of the rim of the plastic bottle at its open end. The open end of the plastic bag has an interface member. The interface member is seated on the top side of the rim of the bottle. A hollow nipple-shaped stopper with a “+” or “−” shape aperture on its tip end is made of elastic polymer such as rubber, silicon or similar elastic capable material. The nipple part of the stopper is inserted into the open end of the conduit of the comb body part. The second end of the conduit is a close end. The base of the stopper, having a wide horizontal ring, fits into the hollow seat of the comb body. Thus, the wide horizontal ring is seated on the interface member of the plastic bag and underneath is the open end of the plastic bottle when both the comb body part and the plastic bottle are engaged. A hollow seat on the comb body part, comprising an inner thread, engages the outer thread of the plastic bottle. The wide horizontal ring of an elastic stopper tightly seals the plastic bag, preventing outside air from entering, when the comb body and the plastic bottle are tightly engaged by threads. A comb body part also comprises a conduit, a plurality of apertures, two guiding members and a stopper. Two guiding members, one on each side, are located on the opposite side of the outside wall of the conduit. The interchangeable comb head part has two grooves that are complementary in shape and size with the corresponding guiding members. The comb head is guided through the first end of the guiding members and stopped by a stopper which is at the second end of the guiding member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred hair dyeing comb in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 1A  is a longitudinal cross section view of a preferred hair dyeing comb in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of all parts of a preferred hair dyeing comb in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of a plastic bag of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is a perspective enlarged view of a hollow nipple-shaped stopper of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2C  is a perspective view of a comb body of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2D  is a perspective view of an interchangeable comb head of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2E  is a side cross section view of a comb tooth head showing detailed canals and openings of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3A  is perspective exploded view of another interchangeable comb head designed with more comb teeth of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3B  is an end view of an interchangeable comb head designed with more comb teeth of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3C  is a perspective view of another interchangeable comb head designed with fewer comb teeth of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3D  is an side cross sectional view of another interchangeable comb head designed with the openings extended to the tip of the tooth of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a longitudinal cross section schematic view of a compressed bottle form of the hair dyeing comb, also showing the position of liquid dye, of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a longitudinal cross section schematic view of a released bottle form of the hair dyeing comb, also showing the position of liquid dye, of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  1 A,  2  &amp; 2 B, the hair dyeing comb comprises a plastic bottle  10  which is compressible and has a small aperture  11  on it, a heat-formed plastic bag  20 , a hollow nipple-shaped stopper  30  made of elastic polymers with an aperture  31  on it, a comb body part  40  which has a hollow seat  44 , a conduit  41  and a plurality of apertures  42  and an interchangeable comb head part  50  which dispenses and combs the dye onto hair. The compressible plastic bottle  10  is a common shaped bottle. Preferably, the bottle has a larger bottom  13  and round shoulder  14 . The whole unit stands firmly if it has a larger bottom. The size of the small aperture  11  controls the air volume that flows in and out of the plastic bottle. When squeezing the bottle, part of the air in the bottle flows out and part of the air is retained. The smaller the aperture, the more air is retained in the bottle. With more air retained in the bottle, more pressure is applied onto the plastic bag, and in turn the liquid dye inside the plastic bag will be pushed into the conduit  41  when the bottle  20  is squeezed. However, the smaller the aperture, the less amount of air will be sucked into the bottle when releasing the bottle. Therefore, more time will be needed for the bottle return to its original shape. Therefore, the size of the aperture is suitably small but should not be too small. The operator also can squeeze the bottle harder and faster in the case that more dye is needed. The bottle has an external thread  12  on the neck of its open end. A plastic bag  20  is encased in the plastic bottle  10 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 &amp; 2A , the plastic bag  20 , having an interface member  21  at its open end, is thermal-formed and cut to fit the mouth  15  of the plastic bottle. The interface member  21  is seated and adhered on the top side of the mouth  15  of the bottle  10 . Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  2 B &amp;  2 C, a hollow nipple-shaped stopper  30  with a “+” or “−” shape aperture  31  on its tip end is made of elastic polymer such as rubber, silicon or similar material. The aperture opens toward the outside and closes toward inside. The nipple part  32  of the stopper  30  is inserted into the open end of the conduit  41  of the comb body part  40 . The wide base ring of the stopper  33  fits into the hollow seat  44  of the comb body  40 . Accordingly, the base ring of the stopper  33  is seated on the interface member  21  of the plastic bag  20  which is seated on the top side of the mouth  15  of the plastic bottle when the comb body part  40  and plastic bottle  10  are engaged by thread. The comb body part  40  comprises an inner thread  45  at its first end and engages the outer thread  12  of the plastic bottle. No air leaks into the plastic bag  20  through the hollow seat  44  and the wide base ring  33 . In addition to the hollow seat, a comb body part  40  also comprises a conduit  41 , a plurality of apertures  42  and two guiding members  43 . Two guiding members  43 , one on each side, are on the outside wall of the conduit. Referring to  FIGS. 2C ,  2 D &amp;  2 E, the comb head part  50  comprises two grooves  51  and these two grooves  51  are in a complementary shape and size with those two guiding members  43 . When putting on the interchangeable comb head, the comb head part is guided through the first end of the two guiding members  43  and stopped at its second end by a stopper  47 . A plurality of apertures  52  on the comb head part  50  are precisely numbered and positioned to match up with the corresponding apertures  42  on the comb body part  40 . The aperture  52 , meanwhile, is on the first end of the canal  57 , which is at the center of each tooth  54 . It has a slightly larger reception area to make sure of a clear passage of the hair dye from the aperture  42  of the comb body part to the canal  57 . The second end of the canal is an opening  55 . The opening  55  is where the dye comes out to both sides of the comb tooth  54  and is located 3 to 6 millimeters from the tip of the tooth. The comb head part  50  is interchangeable. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3A &amp; 3B , an extra comb section  58  adhered to the flat side of the regular comb head  50  representing a more teeth comb head. Referring to  FIG. 3C , a comb head comes with fewer comb teeth; thus, fewer apertures  52  are presented on the comb. Referring to  FIG. 3D , comb teeth part designed with all opening  55  extended to the tip of the tooth. The operator can choose among our four preferred designs of comb head  50  to accommodate different hair types and application purposes.  FIG. 4  shows the position of liquid dye when the plastic bottle is compressed and  FIG. 5  shows the position of liquid dye when the plastic bottle is released. 
     The unit comes assembled. The comb tooth part, the comb body part and the hollow nipple-shaped stopper are assembled together. The interface member of the plastic bag can be pre-adhered to the mouth of the plastic bottle. First, the operator fills the plastic bag with liquid hair dye and engages the plastic bottle and the comb body. Since the hollow nipple-shaped stopper that connects is made of elastic polymer, the whole dispensing system becomes air-tight after the two parts are engaged. Then, the operator should compress the bottle a few times to fill the conduit and canals with liquid dye before applying. There will be enough time for the operator to comb his hair a few more times between pumps. The operator can comfortably control the dye dispensing speed by adjusting the force and quickness of each compression. People with more hair can replace the comb with one that includes more teeth. A comb with more teeth benefits the operator by requiring fewer comb strokes, which shortens the overall hair dyeing time. Another design of the comb head allows the direct application of hair nutrient or shampoo onto the scalp with the opening of the canal extended to the tip. For partial hair dyeing or highlighting, a comb head with fewer comb teeth can be chosen. The comb heads are interchangeable. 
     The invention is not limited to the above embodiment but various modifications thereof may be made. Further changes in form and detail may be considered without departing from the scope of this invention.