Abstract:
Methods are described delineating a means of taking an impression molding of a natural nail surface, converting that impression into a three dimensional data structure, separating any surrounding tissue from the natural nail surface, permitting easy manipulation in the creation of a desired three dimensional artificial fingernail object. With the desired digital three dimensional artificial nail object, a tool path is created that permits a desired customized artificial nail to be physically produced from a chosen material consisting of plastics, metals or ceramics, by using a CNC machine. The invention has many applications but the preferred embodiments show its application on fingernails and toenails.

Description:
THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to custom fit artificial nails and, more specifically, to methods of creating a custom fit artificial nail from a mold impression of a natural nail surface.  
       BACKGROUND AND RELATED ART  
       [0002]     Artificial nails (fingernails and toenails) typically comprise thin, elongated, plastic structures having a configuration substantially similar to a real fingernail. Through use of an adhesive, the artificial fingernails can be selectively secured to existing fingernails. One of the benefits of artificial nails is that they enable a user to selectively have uniform nails of a desired thickness, length, and configuration without having to wait for the real nails to grow. This is especially useful to those who have weak nails that easily crack or break.  
         [0003]     One method of applying artificial nails used in nail salons involves a time-consuming and laborious process of applying an acrylic to each natural nail surface. After the application of the acrylic the artificial nail is shaped by a nail technician. The above process requires one skilled in application of acrylic and the results are generally improved with experience. Another method involves the application of prefabricated nails. These prefabricated nails are painstakingly shaped to fit the cuticle end of the natural nail surface. The problem with this approach is that each nail surface has its own unique curvature and arch that a prefabricated artificial nail simply cannot anticipate. Additionally, the prefabricated nails are made from materials that are not reusable thus requiring the process of shaping to be repeated each time a desire for artificial nails is presented.  
         [0004]     The solution to the current problems in the field of artificial nails is to create a customized artificial nail product composed of material that allows the customized product to be reused. This solution is presented by U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,302 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,234. These patents are directed to precision fit nails and methods for manufacturing precision fit nails. The precision fit nails described in these patents address many of the problems described above because they are made using models of real nails to cast acetone resistant thermoplastic artificial nails with a bottom surface that closely matches the top surface of the corresponding real nails. However, the processes of measuring for and manufacturing precision fit nails in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,302 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,234 are somewhat complex and generally require a substantial amount of labor.  
         [0005]     In U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,992 a method is presented for using a laser scanner in conjunction with a CNC in creating physical articles through rapid prototyping. This patent is directed towards rapid prototyping tooling objects; rather then actually mass manufacturing a customized object. The problem in this prior art is not a subtle problem when considering the need for manufacturing methods that can quickly and accurately permit mass customization of a manufactured article. An additional problem in this prior art is the time consuming and laborious task of actually creating a three-dimensional representation of the scanned item.  
         [0006]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,134 describes a method for making a medical model of a part of the human body by rapid prototyping. The prior art referred to here assumes that the use of the invention is limited to simulated medical procedures; rather then to the mass manufacturing of customized articles into the marketplace. The costs of creating the digital information and eventually the prototype model contemplated by this patent are also prohibitive.  
         [0007]     In U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,126 a method of digitizing body parts is presented for automated production of artificial limbs. The focus of this patent is in presenting a passive, more hygienic body part scanning method for use in digitizing a body part. This prior art requires covering the body part with a high contrast envelope, which is used to aid the scanning method. The problem in this prior art relates to the lack of object definition in regards to a fingernail surface area. While this prior art may be well-suited for scanning legs, arms or entire bodies, it does not permit the accuracy required for scanning natural nail surfaces.  
         [0008]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,034 provides methods for creating customized three dimensional prosthetic surfaces from mold impressions. The approach in this patent requires that a positive mold impression is created after the original mold impression has been created. This positive mold impression is then digitized and customized prosthetic details are then added to the positive 3D scan. The process of this patent is needlessly time consuming, wasteful and complicated. The application of this patent is more applicable to appendages like fingers and toes at best, so it is improbable that reliable and accurate results of molding natural nail surface could be achieved with the approach described in this prior art.  
         [0009]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,351 is directed towards providing artificial limbs through the use of molds and scanning those molds to create a customized medical prosthetic device. A serious drawback in this patent is the requirement for physicians or experts in the field of prosthetics to be involved in creating the mold. Just like other prior art, this patent involves a laborious process demanding sophisticated skills and experience to successfully create the desired mold.  
         [0010]     The prior art presents many varied applications of technology to molding, three-dimensional imaging and manufacturing. The universal problem in the prior art is its failure, in general, to allow mass manufacturing of customized articles, created from a three dimensional scan of a mold. This failure is demonstrated by the lack of speed, accuracy and reliability in the methods utilized to achieve the result. Further, the prior art generally requires specialized skills and is very time consuming. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     In order to describe the manner in which the recited and other advantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered as limiting its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart demonstrating the method and process of taking an impression using the nail surface mold enclosure.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is an illustration of the method and process of taking an impression of a natural nail surface by using the nail surface mold enclosure.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart describing the method and process of scanning the impression result contained in the nail surface mold enclosure.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of the method and process involved in positioning the nail surface mold enclosure for scanning said mold, then recording and storing the results of the scan.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart and illustration showing the method and process of removing the natural nail surface from any surrounding tissue and then orienting the natural nail surface.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart demonstrating the creation of a desired three dimensional artificial nail object.  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of the method and process involved in creating a desired three dimensional artificial nail object from a digitized nail surface.  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart describing the method and process of producing a physical artificial nail from a chosen material.  
         [0020]      FIG. 9  is an illustration of the steps involved in producing an actual artificial nail object that is customized to the impression previously taken of a natural nail surface. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     The present invention is directed to methods involved in simplifying the process of taking impression molds of a natural nail surface and then creating a desired artificial fingernail based upon the natural nail surface impression and any individualized consumer preferences or parameters. Once the impression molds have been completed and returned to the manufacturing facility, the impression molds can then be imaged, creating a three dimensional surface permitting the creation of a customized reusable artificial nail product for the consumer. In the description that follows, tasks may be described in a sequence that has been selected to facilitate an understanding of the disclosed embodiments of the invention. It should be clear, however, that in practicing the invention, many tasks may be performed in an arbitrary order, and therefore any particular order implied by the description usually represents one of many possibilities.  
         [0022]     The first step in the method of creating a customizable artificial nail product starts with the consumer taking an impression of their natural nail. The flowchart of  FIG. 1  outlines the basic steps required to take an impression mold of the natural nail surface. The consumer starts by infusing impression material into the mold enclosures  100 . After enough impression material has been placed inside the mold enclosure the consumer places their finger or toe into the enclosure  110 . As an alternative, the consumer can simply distribute impression material directly upon their nail surface and any surrounding tissue  120 . After waiting for the impression material to cure or harden  130 , the consumer can then remove their finger or toe from the mold enclosure  140 , resulting in an impression of their natural nail surface.  
         [0023]     The simplified method of achieving a successful nail surface impression is further illustrated by  FIG. 2 . The finger or toe rests comfortably in the nail surface mold enclosure  200 , which has been designed specifically to fit the over the fingers or toes, and is available in various sizes. The top of the nail surface mold enclosure is designed with pressure release holes and will either snap over or onto the bottom portion of the nail surface mold enclosure. The consumer then distributes impression material into the top portion  210  of the nail surface mold enclosure. The top surface is marked so that the consumer knows how much impression material to infuse before fastening the two pieces together.  
         [0024]     After properly preparing the top surface and with the finger or toe resting comfortably in the bottom portion of the nail surface mold enclosure, the mold enclosure is then snapped together or the top portion is fastened or attached to the bottom portion during the cure period  220 . The cure period allows the impression material to harden or set up and with the mold enclosure surrounding the finger or toe it insures that accurate and reliable results will be achieved as the nail surface will remain stationary and in contact with the impression material. The top portion is strategically lined with holes to allow impression material to escape through the holes, this prevents voids and gaps from inverted pressure by the impression material.  
         [0025]     Once the cure period  220  has expired, the consumer will open the mold enclosure and gently remove their finger  230  from the mold enclosure. The result will be an impression of the top surface of their finger, surrounding tissue and the nail surface  240 . The natural nail surface is what is desired by this method and process. The consumer then gathers the mold enclosures representing the nail surfaces that are to have artificial nail products manufactured and sends those enclosures for further processing.  
         [0026]     The flowchart of  FIG. 3  demonstrates the next step in the method of using the natural nail surface as derived from the previously achieve impression mold method and process. By positioning the mold enclosure  300  and scanning the nail impression contained within that mold enclosure  310 , data results reflecting the nail surface area are recorded  320  and stored  330  for future manipulation.  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  illustrates the steps of using the mold enclosures at the manufacturing facility. The mold enclosures are positioned  400  facing a scanning device  410 . The positioning allows the consumer preferences and parameters to be used in the creation of the eventual artificial nail product to be tracked along with the impression molds of the natural nails surfaces. The scan results and preferences are then recorded and stored in a storage device  420 ; typically this will be a computer system, but this can be any type of storage device that maintains the results of the scan and the customer preferences. The scanning of the nail surface mold enclosure unique data is achieved representative of the curvature, arc, length, breadth and width of the natural nail surface.  
         [0028]     The data from the scanning of the impressions of the natural nail surface may be reflected in color, numerical or spatial representations, including an X, Y, Z coordinate system.  
         [0029]     The next step involves removal of any surrounding tissue around the natural nail surface area  500 . The three dimensional nail surface object  520  will represent a three dimensional finger or toe and will contain information that is not required for the successful creation of a desired three dimensional artificial nail object. The surrounding tissue is removed by using edge detection and color recognition techniques  530 . Once the natural nail surface has been removed from the surrounding tissue, the nail surface is oriented  510  along the X, Y and Z axis in anticipation of the next step involved in actually generating a new three dimensional nail object using the natural nail surface as a reference. The result is a properly oriented nail surface  540  without any surround data that is not required for the successful creation of the desired three dimensional artificial nail object.  
         [0030]     The oriented nail surface  700  is then referenced  600  and is used to begin the creation of the top surface of the eventual three dimensional object  610 . The top surface of the desired three dimensional object considers any nail creation parameters  620  and any consumer preferences  630  during the process of generating the top surface. Particular consideration is applied in the calculations regarding the overall thickness of the desired three dimensional nail object. Finally the bottom nail surface  600  is combined  650  with the top surface  610  to create a desired three dimensional artificial nail object  640 .  
         [0031]     The final desired three dimensional artificial nail object  720  will reflect desired arcs, curves, the customized fit, any special parameters and the consumer preferences relating to length, smile line placement, type, and style  710 . the final desired three dimensional artificial nail object  720  will also fit comfortably over the three dimensional rendering of the original nail surface, possibly inclusive of surrounding tissue and finger  730 . This allows for a computerized three dimensional fit to be established before the physical nail is produced by the milling machine.  
         [0032]     Upon completion of the generation of the desired three dimensional artificial nail object  800 , a tool path can be calculated  810 . Once the tool path has been created, the artificial nail product  830  can be physically cut from a chosen material by using a CNC machine  820 .  
         [0033]     The desired three dimensional artificial nail object  900  may be cut with other artificial nail objects or cut individually. The calculation of the tool path  910  is accomplished by considering the dimensions of the material that the artificial nail object is to be removed from, where the artificial nail object  900  intersects the chosen material a reference is made regarding the X, Y and Z position of the artificial nail object and the material dimensions. This permits a calculation to be accomplished telling the CNC machine  920  where to move along the tool path. Tabs may be used  920  to hold the produced artificial nail objects in place until the CNC cutting process has completed.  
         [0034]     The chosen material may be any type of raw material that is desired for an artificial nail product. Specifically plastic, metal or ceramic all make excellent choices for the material to use in manufacturing a customized artificial nail product.  
         [0035]     The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.