Improvements in Hair Curlers.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st May, 1896-Accepted, 27th June, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hair Curlers.
I, JOHN ERNEST HULBERT, of the Firm of William E. Peck and Company,
of Manchester House, Friday Street, Londou E.C. Merchant, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
My invention relates to an improvement in hair curlers with the object in view
of providing an article that will be soft to the head of the wearer and which may
be readily manipulated in winding the hair about it and clasping it and which will
admit of being changed to give a closer or more open curl to the hair, the said
invention being an improvement upon the invention described in the Specification
of former Letters Patent granted to me and bearing date the 6th day of February
1895 and numbered 2579.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a view of the curler as it appears when the parts are closed and the
curler is out of use.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the same.
Figure 3 is a similar view, showing the retaining tongue thrown open.
Figure 4 is a similar view, showing both the retaining tongue and the body of
the curler swung away from the carrier frame.
Figure 5 shows the position of the parts when the curler is about to be rotated
to wind the lock of hair around the body of the curler.
Figure 6 shows the position of the parts after the lock of hair has been wound
thereon up to a point in proximity to the scalp and the body of the curler swung
through the carrier frame to secure it.
Figure 7 represents the body of the curler with a coil of hair around it being
secured in the frame and just before it is locked in position.
The curler consists of a soft, yielding body a, composed of gutta-percha, india-
rubber or other suitable material, which will present a cushion-like pressure
against the head of the user. It is preferably formed circular in cross section and
with a gradual taper towards its opposite ends and has a longitudinal perforation a¹
for the reception of a prong b, by means of which the body a, is hinged to one end
of a skeleton carrier frame c. The prong bis conveniently formed by bending a
piece of thin metal over upon itself at one end and cutting it away to form another
pair of sockets 1, 3, through which the end of the curler frame c, extends to hinge
the prong to the frame, and the prong itself may be conveniently formed in
tubular shape by rolling the flat extended portion over sideways until its opposite
edges are brought into proximity to one another.
This serves as a very light, simple and inexpensive support for the yielding
body a, and the latter may be slipped lengthwise over its end and removed there-
from at pleasure. This adjustable feature of the body a, on and off renders it
feasible for the user to keep on hand yielding body portions a of varying diameters
to suit their wishes in making the hair curl more closely or more openly, as the
bodies a, may be shifted in a moments time.
The clamping tongue d, preferably formed of a thin flat strip of metal is hinged
at one end to the carrier frame c, between the sockets 162, and extends thence
when in closed position in a slightly curved form to conform to the surface of the
body a, along over said body to a point near the end of the body a.

page_text: The curler frame c may be conveniently formed of wire and is preferably given
an oval shape in plan, one end being adapted to form a pintle for the body
supporting prong b, and tongue d, and the opposite end being contracted as shown
at, for the purpose of forming a resistance to the passage of the end of the
prong b, therethrough, but permitting the same to pass through under pressure by
the springing apart of the contracted portion c³, or slight collapsing of the end of
the tubular prong.
In use, the end of the lock of hair to be curled or crimped may be placed on the
yielding body a, as shown in Figure 5, the clamping tongue d, being in the mean-
time thrown off to one side out of the way. The tongue d, may then be placed in
position to clamp the hair to the yielding body portion as shown in Figure 5, and
held in that position while the curler is rolled over and over towards the hair of
the user and when the hair has been wound on the yielding body a, up to a point
near the head, the frame c may be sprung over the body portion and hair wound
thereon to prevent it from unwinding.
The curler as thus constructed is light and soft to the head of the wearer, the
clamping tongue b, is so hinged that it may be thrown entirely out of the way in
order to place the hair in position on the yielding body a, and will have no
tendancy to cut the hair in removing the hair curler from the hair.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The hair curler comprising a skeleton carrier frame, a support hinged to
the frame, a yielding body around which the hair is to be wound, said body to be
mounted upon the aforesaid swinging support and a clamping tongue hinged to the
curler frame to swing independently of the body support into and out of position in
proximity to the said yielding body, substantially as set forth.
Secondly. The combination with the skeleton frame and the supporting prong
hinged thereto, of the yielding body having a removable engagement with the
swinging prong and a clamping tongue arranged to extend along over the yielding
body in proximity thereto, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 19th day of May 1896.
JOHN ERNEST HULBERT,
By Henry Skerrett,
24 Temple Row, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.