Abstract:
A folding case is provided for transferring hair-coloring chemicals to a selected bundle of hair. The folding case has a pair of opposing shallow compartments that are adapted for containing a pre-charge of color-base hair-coloring chemicals in one compartment and a pre-charge of activator therefor in the other compartment. Peel-away films are provided to cover and seal each compartment in order to seal in the respective pre-charges therein not only to keep the respective pre-charges separate and apart from each other and avoid pre-mature interaction therebetween but also to keep each pre-charge fresh and preserved during transit through a supply chain from a place of manufacture or production to a remote later-time of and place for end-utilization.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO PROVISIONAL APPLICATION(S) 
   This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/808,401, filed May 25, 2006, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/775,035, filed Feb. 21, 2006. All the foregoing patent disclosures are fully incorporated herein by reference. 

   BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates to apparatus and methods for coloring hair and, more particularly, to apparatus and methods in comparable in general ways but distinguished in particular other ways from the prior art way of salon-style foiling hair, one non-limiting example of which comprises the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,970—Razzouq, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   Highlights have been and are popular not only historically with but nowadays as sought-after as ever by consumers such as salon customers. Highlights involve bleaching (or otherwise coloring) select strands of hair to achieve a color that is different (usually lighter, and/or disguising graying) from that of the consumer&#39;s baseline hair shade(s). This in turn provides unique effects such as a sun-kissed look on an individual with dark blonde hair, or possibly lighter brown streaks on a darker-haired individual, and so on. 
   In beauty salons, customers wanting highlights (or lowlights) usually have it done by a foil process. The conventional foil process is not only costly but also time-consuming. For the beautician, the foil process is laborious. Generally, the entire (foil) process extends over two to three hours. Typically many small pieces of metal (eg., aluminum) foil—folded or rolled/crumpled in slender sleeves—are distributed through the customer&#39;s hair based upon the judgment of the beautician. 
   Briefly, the foundation of the foil process begins with the beautician mixing the chemicals which combine to yield the coloring compound. That is, the coloring compound is a two component admixture of two chemicals, namely, the color base and then the activator. The color base is typically provided in paste, gel or thick liquid forms. The activator typically contains hydrogen peroxide. Hence, in order to color hair, the color base must be mixed with the activator. 
   The beautician might begin a foil process by selecting a color or colors from a pallette of the on-hand supply of color bases. If the color base is in paste form it might be dispensed from a squeeze tube as toothpaste. Alternatively, if the color chemical is more nearly a gel or liquid it might be contained in a small (plastic or glass) container from which it is poured or shaken out. Also, once a brand-new squeeze tube or container of color base is freshly cracked open, it typically has a relatively short shelf-life of a week or so if not days. 
   Continuing on, the beautician dispenses an amount of color base into a mixing bowl, adds another amount of the activator, and stirs the two together thoroughly. At this stage, the beautician can turn her or his attention to the customer. The beautician “weaves” the customer&#39;s scalp or, that is, separates select strands hair into numerous distinct “chunks,” or bundles, tufts &amp;c. A rectangular patch of aluminum foil is pulled from a dispenser. The beautician gives the foil patch a folded margin just along the edge that will be disposed closest to the customer&#39;s scalp. Then the beautician creases the patch in half to form a V-shaped trough of two leafs meeting at a middle fold line. Next the beautician paints, with a modified paint brush, the admixture of color base and activator into the depth of the fold of the V-shaped trough. The beautician lays a bundle of the customer&#39;s hair strands in the foil trough, perhaps paints the hair bundle as well, and then folds closed or otherwise rolls/crumples the open leafs around the hair bundle in slender sleeves. To finish, the beautician stuffs as best she or he can a cotton barrier between the scalp and foil tube to absorb in any bleed of the color compound out the end, lest the roots of nearby hairs be bleached out (or otherwise colored) too much. Thus far, the beautician has completed the job for one bundle. The beautician repeats—over and over again—the above steps for all the numerous other selected hair bundles. 
   When all the foils are in place, the customer is seated on a chair with her (or his) head crowned by the hood of a hooded-hair dryer. After an appropriate period of time, the customer is retrieved from the chair dryer, the foils are removed and the hair is rinsed well in order to flush out the last remnants of the color compound. 
   Needless to say, the beautician&#39;s placement of the foil wraps is a time consuming, labor intensive task that also requires judgment and skill, and when that is considered along with the time required for the actual bleaching (or otherwise coloring) operation, the entire supervision over the process becomes quite lengthy and difficult. 
   There are other ways of highlighting one&#39;s hair. Many economical do-it-yourself (or home-style) kits are sold retail for consumers to highlight their own hair in the privacy of their own home and by processes which involve only a fraction of the fuss as the foregoing salon-style foil process. Nevertheless, the demand for the salon-style foil process persists because, simply, it obtains the best results. And when it comes to one&#39;s own hair, factors such as image and confidence tend to push consumers toward accepting the cost and time drawbacks of the salon-style foil process in order to minimize the risk of inconsistent home-style results as well as maximize the outcome gotten best by skilled beautician professionals. This remains true to date even though, in prestige beauty salons, the salon-style foil process can cost several hundred dollars or more. 
   What is needed are improvements over the shortcomings of the prior art, ones which among other things speed up the salon-style foil process for the sake of the beauticians, so that more of their skill and energy is spent on selecting colors from the available pallette and weaving the customer&#39;s hair mass into the selected bundles and less on the mundane tasks of folding and painting foil patches as well as applying the cotton bleed-barriers. 
   A number of additional features and objects will be apparent in connection with the following discussion of preferred embodiments and examples. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     There are shown in the drawings certain exemplary embodiments of the invention as presently preferred. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed as examples, and is capable of variation within the scope of the skills of a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. In the drawings, 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a salon-style hair-coloring process in accordance with the invention utilizing pre-charged folded compacts in accordance with the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is an enlarged scale perspective view of a single pre-charged folded compact of  FIG. 1 , shown spread out flat, wherein a peel-away covering film or barrier is shown in broken lines in a partially peeled back state; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 2  except the peel-away covering films on both leafs of the compact have been peeled off the compact; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 3  except showing the compact folded shut on a bundle of hair, as shown in several instances by  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged scale sectional view taken along the line of V-V in  FIG. 4 , with central portions broken away; 
       FIG. 6  is a sectional view comparable to  FIG. 5  except showing the compact after having been stripped off the hair bundle with excess compound remaining in the compact; 
       FIG. 7  is an enlarged scale sectional view taken along the line of VII-VII in  FIG. 4 , wherein all the compound is removed from view for convenience of clarity&#39;s sake; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 3  except showing an alternate embodiment of the invention wherein the color base and activator chemicals are pre-charged in only a fraction of the compact in order to work on just the roots of customer&#39;s hair which have grown out since her or his last visit to her or his beautician; 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 4  except showing peel-away covering films which are adapted to be stripped out the tail end of the closed compact by means of a pair of pull tabs; 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 9  except showing the film-stripping process in progress; 
       FIG. 11  is an enlarged scale sectional view taken along the line of XI-XI in  FIG. 9 , with central portions broken away; 
       FIG. 12  is an enlarged scale sectional view taken along the line of XII-XII in  FIG. 9 , with portions to the right thereof broken away; and 
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 3  except showing another embodiment of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows a salon-style hair-coloring process in accordance with the invention, utilizing pre-charged folded compacts  20  in accordance with the invention, one of which is better shown in  FIGS. 2 through 4 . It is preferred if such compacts  20  are produced as thin plastic products comprised of two shallow rectangular compartments  24  (or halves or else leafs) hinged along one elongated edge  36 . Each rectangular compartment  34  comprises a rectangular web  28  surrounded by four low peripheral rims or walls along the four edges  32 ,  34 ,  36  and  38  thereof. That is, the rectangular web  28  (or flat span) extends not only between a spaced scalp-ward and tail edge  32  and  34  but also between spaced elongated edges  36  and  38 . One of the elongated edges comprises a hinge edge  36  as the other elongated edge comprises a closure or latching edge  38 . Each of the scalp-ward, tail and elongated edges  32 ,  34 ,  36  and  38  forms a low peripheral rim or wall. The two compartments  24  are joined by a thin ribbon  42  of connecting material that spans between the two counterpart hinge edges  36  and thereby forms a hinge joint for the inventive compact  20 . 
   It is an aspect of the invention that the inventive compact  20  is supplied to hair salons pre-charged with the activator and color-base hair-coloring chemicals  44 . That is, the color base is pre-charged in one of the compartments  24 , the activator is pre-charged in the other of the compartments  24 , and the two chemicals  44  are kept preserved and separated from the time of manufacture, all during transit through the supply chain, until the moment of use at a hair-styling salon (or wherever else use environment) at which time the separation therebetween is removed and the two chemicals  44  are allowed to mix. 
   Again, to put it differently, the compact  20  comprises one compartment providing storage of one chemical  44 , for example the activator. The compact  20  furthermore comprises a counterpart compartment for the storage of the other chemical  44 , for example the color base. From the time of being launched from manufacture and during transit through the supply chain, the two chemicals  44  are sealed in each&#39;s respective compartment  24  not only to prevent premature mixing therebetween but also to prevent spoliation, and preserve the freshness of each chemical  44  until unsealed. 
   It is another aspect of the invention that the inventive compact  20  hereof (and modifications thereof recognized by persons ordinarily skilled in the art) functions as container for distributing a widely diverse array of contents. More particularly, it is an aspect of the invention that the inventive compact  20  be distributed in mass with widely diverse admixtures of hair-coloring chemicals  44  to provide hair colors and/or tints across the spectrum. That way, in a beauty salon, the beautician can select this or that compact  20  as well as from any and all others in numerous different hair-color shades or tints to skillfully and artistically create an overall effect most pleasing to the customer. 
   To review the prior art way of coloring, a beautician ordinarily mixes the color base and activator upon the occasion of a customer&#39;s appointment. While there is no actual constraint on how many color bases a beautician might select to mix small dollops thereof in separate bowls with activator (and thereby produce a diverse pallette of colors for any given customer), there are indeed practical constraints. That is, a beautician is not likely to mix up a dozen different bowls of different color bases for an ordinary customer because of not only the time in labor to do so but also the limits on the customer&#39;s pocketbook to afford such extensive exactness. 
   In contrast, with the inventive compact  20 , the beautician can select compacts  20  from this and that shade or tone and have at hand a rainbow of shades or tones to choose from. There is no disincentive to color only one hair bundle out of a hundred with just one specific shade or tone. Conversely, the prior art way of doing things did provide such a disincentive because the effort mixing activator and color base in a bowl to color just one hair bundle in a hundred is hardly worthwhile from both the perspective of beautician and customer. 
     FIGS. 2 through 4  show a single pre-charged folded compact  20  in accordance with the invention. Preferably the compact  20  is produced of a suitable plastic material, one which is economical in that the compact  20  is used-once and then discarded or recycled. Again, the compact  20  comprises a first shallow rectangular compartment  24  and a second shallow rectangular compartment  24  as previously described.  FIG. 2  shows the compact  20  spread out flat. Each compartment  24  is separately sealed with a peel-away covering film  46  or barrier in order to seal in a pre-charge of chemicals  44  in each compartment  24 . Generally, one compartment  24  is pre-charged with a color base as the other compartment  24  is pre-charged with an activator. The peel-away covering film  46  keeps each chemical  44  separate from the other as well as fresh and preserved on its own merits until the time of use.  FIG. 2  also shows in broken lines the right side (eg., right in the view) peel-away covering film  46  in the process of being peeled off. 
   In use, the beautician would peel off the peel-away covering film  46  at about the time the beautician would very soon afterward apply the compact  20  to a bundle of the customers hair. Accordingly,  FIG. 3  shows the compact  20  with both peel-away covering films  46  peeled off. Returning to  FIG. 1 , it shows the leftmost (eg., left in the view) compact  20  being closed upon a bundle of the customers hair. Again, one compartment  24  of the plastic compact  20  is pre-charged with the color base that determines the coloring-effect given to the customer&#39;s hair. The other compartment  24  of the compact  20  is pre-charged with the activator. The beautician selects a bundle or grab of the customers hair to be shut inside the closed compact  20 . Such a bundle or grab of hair is placed between the two compartments  24  and the compact  20  is shut. Upon closing of the compact  20 , the chemicals  44  in the two compartments  24  interact with each other, allowing the color base and the activator to mix and thus color the hair. As shown, several of these plastic compacts  20  are applied to different parts of the customer&#39;s hair as chosen by the beautician. Time is saved using this pre-charged folded compact  20  in accordance with the invention because the activator and color base are loaded-in-advance (or, “pre-charged”) in the rectangular compartments  24  of the compact  20  and thus there is no need to manually mix the two chemicals  44  beforehand or while the customer is waiting.  FIG. 4  shows the compact  20  folded shut on a bundle of hair, as shown in numerous other repeat instances by  FIG. 1 . 
     FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along the line of V-V in  FIG. 4  or, in other words, a sectional view taken from the scalp-ward edges  32  through the tail edges  34 . The rectangular webs  28  of each compartment  24  are formed with a pattern of protrusions  48  arranged to promote mixing of the chemicals  44  once the peel-away covering film  46  is removed and compact  20  is shut. This pattern of protrusions  48  promotes the squishing of chemical  44  from one compartment  24  into the other compartment  24  upon the closing of the compact  20 .  FIG. 5  also shows that the scalp-ward edges  32  of the compact  20  form a slot  52  protected by wiper-formations  54 . The customer&#39;s bundle of hair that is shut closed in the compact  20  is allowed to extend out this slot  52 . It is doubtful that in the absence of such slot  52  the scalp-ward edges  32  would cut or otherwise sever the customer&#39;s hair. Nevertheless, ample clearance is afforded the customer&#39;s hair by such a slot  52  at the scalp-ward edges  32 . The wiper-formations  54  on each compartment  24  of the slot  52  operate like resilient seals. The wiper-formations  54  function to contain the chemicals  44  inside the shut compact  20  during the extended time that is given to the chemicals  44  to treat or react with the hair. That way, this eliminates or minimizes the likelihood that chemicals will leak and thereafter undesirably react with or treat hair strands that are not selected by the beautician for the bundle. Also, as  FIG. 6  shows, at the end of the treatment time the beautician merely pulls off the shut compact  20 . That is, the beautician does not open the compact  20  to remove it. Instead, the beautician withdraws the compact  20  by pulling it such that the customer&#39;s bundle of hair slides out the wiper-protected slot  52  (eg., as protected by wipers  54 ) in the scalp-ward edges  32 . 
   In contrast, the tail edges  34  overlap and thereby form a tighter seal, and one which is not particularly adapted for accommodating the passage of hair. 
     FIG. 6  shows the still shut compact  20  after having been stripped off the selected bundle of the customer&#39;s hair. The wiper-formations  54  have bent back to a closed position. A moderate amount of excess compounded chemical  44  remains. The compact  20  is either disposed of or else better still recycled for its plastic material. 
     FIG. 7  is a sectional view transverse to  FIGS. 5 and 6  except all the chemicals  44  are removed from view for convenience of clarity&#39;s sake. The left periphery (eg., left given the vantage point of the view) comprises the hinge edges  36  and interconnecting ribbon  42  therefor. Conversely, the other (eg., right) periphery comprises the latching edges  38 . When shut, the latching edges  38  of the two compartments  24  of the shut compact  20  comprise counterpart barb and catch formations  56  and  58  respectively so that the compact  20  snaps shut and stays (relatively) locked upon closure. 
     FIG. 8  is a perspective view comparable to  FIG. 3  except showing an alternate embodiment of a compact  120  in accordance with the invention wherein the color base and activator chemicals  44  are pre-charged in only a fraction of this compact  120  in order to work on just the roots of customer&#39;s hair which have grown out since her or his last visit to her or his beautician. 
   More particularly,  FIG. 8  shows the plastic compact  120  open, exposing the two compartments  24 , one partially charged with the color base and the other partially charged with the activator. Both compartments  24  have a series of protrusions  48  that assist in mixing the two chemicals  44  together when the compact  120  is shut. The protrusions  48  do not actually come into contact with each other but they do promote pushing the chemical  44  in their half of the compact  120  to mix with the chemical  44  on the other half. This particular compact  120  only has the activator and color base about a quarter of the way down from the scalp-ward edges  32  of the compact  120 . This compact  120  is advantageous to do hair treatments in which only the roots need to be highlighted (or otherwise treated). For example, a customer comes in with brown hair and wants blond highlights and gets these throughout her hair. In a few months, as her (or his) hair grows, the new hair portions will be brown since those have not been highlighted. It is considered unattractive to have brown roots showing under blond portions of highlighted hair. A root touch-up is needed instead of a full highlight (or treatment) since not all of the hair needs coloring. It is damaging to hair to be highlighted (or treated) more than necessary or more times than once on the same portions due to the strength of the chemicals needed to color base hair. 
     FIGS. 9 and 10  show an alternate embodiment of a compact  220  in accordance with the invention. In  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the peel-away covering films  246  are adapted to be stripped out the tail edges  234  of the closed compact  220  by means of a pair of pull tabs  262 . To contrast with  FIGS. 2 and 3 , in those views the peel-away covering film  46  is removed while the compact  20  is open, and before being snapped shut on a bundle of customers hair. However, here in  FIGS. 9 and 10  the peel-away covering films  246  that are used to separate the activator from the color base are kept attached to the compact  220  until the compact  220  is snapped shut onto the selected bundle of the customer&#39;s hair. Then the peel-away covering films  246  are stripped out together with one vigorous pull on the pull tabs  262  that extend outside of the tail edges  234  of the shut plastic compact  220 . Stripping out the peel-away covering films  246  allows, needless to say, the color base and activator to mix and thereby work their treatment on the hair. 
   The advantages provided by the  FIGS. 9 and 10  embodiment of a compact  220  in accordance with the invention include the following. That is, the beautician can undertake a project which involves placing dozens or even hundreds of the inventive compacts  220  on a customers hair. The earliest placed compacts  220  might be in place an hour or more before the later placed compacts  220 . Accordingly, if the compacts  220  are all placed and snapped shut with the peel-away covering films  246  removed, then in consequence the treatment of the bundles of hair in the earliest-placed compacts  220  will take place for an hour or more longer than the later-placed compacts  220 . In other words, there is an uneven start time for all the bundles of hair. Some will have been treated for an hour or more before the last compacts  220  are put in place during a given project. 
   However, the  FIGS. 9 and 10  embodiment of a compact  220  in accordance with the invention affords the following convenience for the beautician and customer. That is, the beautician can work steadily to put all the compacts  220  in place: —and yet not peel off any of the peel-away covering films  246 . That way, the compacts  220  are set in place but nevertheless the chemicals  44  remain separated from each, hence there is no pre-mature reaction or treatment of hair going on. Then, when the beautician is ready to activate all the compacts  220  with a short time span of each other, the beautician can revisit all the placed and snapped-shut compacts  220  and peel out all the peel-away covering films  246  serially, one by one. In consequence, the treatment time for each compact  220  should begin more nearly at the same time with each other than otherwise achievable. 
     FIGS. 11 and 12  show further advantages of the  FIGS. 9 and 10  embodiment of a compact  220  in accordance with the invention. As  FIG. 11  shows, and aside from the scalp-ward edges  32 , the inventive compact  220  has a slot  264  protected by wiper-formations  266  at the tail edges  234  too. The wiper-formations  266  at the tail-edges  234  of the compact  220  allow for the withdrawal and removal of the peel-away covering films  246 . 
   Also, the peel-away covering films  246  are provided with an axially-distributed series of transverse paddles  268  (or ribs or flights). The paddles  268  originally extend into the compartment  24  with which the peel-away covering film  246  is associated. That is, the paddles  268  are embedded in the chemical  44  of their own compartment  24 . As  FIG. 12  shows better, during the process of withdrawing the peel-away covering films  246 , the paddles  268  are forced to sweep through a half of a rotation, ultimately sweeping part way into the opposite compartment  24 . As  FIG. 12  shows, when these paddles  268  sweep into the opposite compartment  24  they push a little bit of the chemical  44  in their own compartment  24  into the opposite compartment  24 , and this better promotes mixing between two chemicals  44  (which before the peel-away covering films  246  were withdrawn were maintained sealed and separated from each other). The paddles  268  are staggered so as to further coordinate their work at promoting mixing of the two chemicals  44 . 
     FIGS. 11 and 12  shows that the plastic compact  220  is snapped-shut on a bundle of hair.  FIG. 12  shows that the paddle-formed (or ribbed or flighted) peel-away covering films  246  are readily withdrawn out the tail of the compact  220  with the hair bundle in place. 
     FIG. 13  shows a further embodiment of a pre-charged folded compact  320  in accordance with the invention.  FIG. 13  is comparable to  FIG. 3  in that peel-away covering films  46  have been peeled off both compartments  24  of the folding compact  320 .  FIG. 13  is distinguished from  FIG. 3  in that one compartment  24  (eg., the lower compartment  24  in the view of  FIG. 13 ) of the compact  320  is provided with a sponge liner  322  in order to help retain a liquid chemical  44  (in contrast to paste or gel and the like). That is, some forms of activator chemicals  44  in particular would readily spill out of the compartment  24  after the peel-away covering film  46  (not shown in  FIG. 13 ) is removed unless some measures are taken to keep such a spillable chemical  44  retained therein, such as the sponge liner  322  as shown. 
   The invention having been disclosed in connection with the foregoing variations and examples, additional variations will now be apparent to persons skilled in the art. The invention is not intended to be limited to the variations specifically mentioned, and accordingly reference should be made to the appended claims rather than the foregoing discussion of preferred examples, to assess the scope of the invention in which exclusive rights are claimed.