Improvements in Hair Curling Appliances.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 25th June, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 6th Mar., 1896-Accepted, 11th Apr.,
1896
Improvements in Hair Curling Appliances.
A communication by PAUL PIERRE ALEXANDRE LÉGER, of 10, Rue St.
Ferdinand, Paris, in the Republic of France, Engineer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, and 31, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its object to provide convenient means for inserting in the.
hair, ribbons or flexible bands for the purpose of curling it, as the use of such
ribbons or the like avoids both the well known disadvantages of curling irons, or
the annoyance caused by the prolonged presence in the hair of small articles of.
solid material which are so frequently used in the present method of hair
curling.
It consists of special appliances combined in such a way as to form a support on
which the hair which is to be curled, is wound or interlaced, and also in introducing
or inserting in the coils of hair thus obtained, ribbons, braids or elastic bands,
suitably arranged for fitting on these appliances, which latter may have one or
more arms or teeth according to the manner of rolling the hair which it is preferred.
to employ.
The device preferably employed for supporting the ribbon is composed essentially
of a forked part, and of a handle capable of sliding on a rod or shank of the
forked piece, a spring arranged in the handle tending to keep apart to a suitable
extent the forked piece and the handle whilst a cap on the inner end of the latter
limits the extent to which they are kept apart.
The other end of the handle is provided with a groove and the rod of the forked
part is of a square or flattened section so that the direction of this groove always
remains in the plane of the two arms of the forked part.
In order to curl the hair by means of this appliance a ribbon of a suitable length
provided near each end with a metallic eyelet is employed. The operation is
carried out in the following manner :-
One of the eyelets of the ribbon is fitted on one of the points of the arms of
the forked piece. This ribbon is then passed into the groove at the end of the
handle, and, by compressing the spring in the interior of the handle the other
eyelet of the ribbon may be fitted on the point of the other arm of the fork. The
spring is then released and stretches the ribbon along the handle and the two arms
of the forked piece. The appliance being thus arranged and placed in proximity
to the head, the coil of hair to be curled is passed over, and between, the arms of
the forked piece, in order to form a sort of tress which is held with the finger until
this coil has been completely rolled up. The ribbon is then allowed to fall out of
the groove in the handle and the ends of this ribbon are pulled so that its central
part shall be brought into contact with the hair, and these two ends are then tied
together, the ribbon being pressed tightly against the hair, whilst the fork is with-
drawn in order to be employed for a fresh operation. A ribbon holding appliance
may also be employed composed of a single arm of circular or other form, fixed to

page_text: a handle of any suitable shape, and in this case two ribbons, bands, or other suitable
fasteners are made use of each being provided towards the middle of its length
with an eyelet. The eyelets of these two ribbons having been passed over the
point of the arm are preferably covered with an indiarubber tube which fits over
the arm intended to ensure the regularity of the curling of the hair.
The appliance being thus arranged, the hair 'is coiled on the indiarubber tube
herein before mentioned the arm is then withdrawn, and the two ends of the ribbons
are tied in a bow.
:
In order to facilitate the passage of the fingers, and the insertion of the hair in
the fork of the appliance, a fork having divergent arins may be employed, but in
order to allow of the appliance being easily withdrawn after the hair has been.
wound on its arms, it is necessary for one of these arms to be movable or
removable.
When a movable arm is employed, it is hinged on the butt of the fork, and
provided with a curved prolongation having a spring pressing against the shank of
the handle which spring holds the movable arm in its divergent position. In order
to withdraw the fork it suffices to press with the finger on this prolongation, in
order to bring the movable arm parallel with the fixed arm.
When a removable arm is employed it is simply held in the butt of the fork
by means of an enlarged conical part or socket from which it may easily be
withdrawn.
Instead of fitting the ribbons or flexible bands on the ribbon holding appliance,
before coiling the hair thereon, the hair may be first coiled on the appliance, and
then the ribbon, or ribbons, fitted on the end or ends of such appliance so that
when the latter is withdrawn, it forces the ribbon or ribbons to enter into the coils
of hair thus formed.
In this case the appliance consists of a fork, the arms of which are provided
with a narrow opening communicating with the outside by means of a slit in the
point of the arm. When this form of the appliance is employed the coil of hair
which is to be curled is wound on the two arms, the two ends of a ribbon or flexible
band are then inserted in the slots and forced to enter the narrow openings where
they are held by friction. In this manner when the fork is withdrawn, it carries
with it the two ends of the ribbon, and it then suffices to tie these ends together in
a bow. This appliance may also be composed of a single arm, and it will then
suffice, after this arm has been covered with an indiarubber tube such as has been
hereinbefore described, to first wind the hair on this tube, and then to insert in the
slot, and finally into the opening of this single arm, one of the ends of two ribbons
or other suitable flexible bands, in order that when the arm is withdrawn it shall
carry with it the two ribbons which are then tied together.
The appliance may have any number of arms, as found most suitable.
Dated this 24th day of June 1895
A communication by PAUL PIERRE ALEXANDRE LÉGER, of 10 Rue St.
Ferdinand, Paris, in the Republic of France, Engineer.
1, WILLIAM PHillips Thompson, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6 Bank Street,
Manchester both in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham in
the County of Warwick and 31 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention has for its object to provide convenient means for inserting in the
hair, ribbons or flexible bands for the purpose of curling it, as the use of such
ribbons or the like avoids both the well known disadvantages of curling irons, or
the annoyance caused by the prolonged presence in the hair of small articles of
solid material which are so frequently used in the present method of hair curling.
It consists of special appliances combined in such a way as to form a support, on
which the hair which is to be curled, is wound or interlaced, and also in introducing
or inserting in the coils of hair thus obtained, ribbons, braids or elastic bands
suitably arranged for fitting on these appliances, which latter may have one or
more arms or teeth, according to the manner of rolling the hair which it is preferred
to employ.
The invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the
accompanying drawing, in which,
Figure 1 is a view, partly in section of a device with two arms carrying the
curling ribbon;
Figure 2 is a view of the curling ribbon provided with eyelets enabling it to be
fitted on the device;
Figure 3 is a view partly in section of a device with a single arm;
Figures 4 and 5 show how the hair is kept coiled by means of a single ribbon
and two ribbons respectively;
Figures 6 and 7 are modifications of the fork of the apparatus ;
Figure 8 shows another arrangement of the apparatus.
C
The device for supporting the ribbon shown in Figure 1. is composed essentially
of a forked part a, and of a handle capable of sliding on a rod or shank c of the
forked piece, the spring d arranged in the handle tending to keep apart to a suitable
extent the forked piece and the handle, whilst a cape on the inner end of the latter
limits the extent to which they are kept apart. The other end of the handle a is
provided with a groove f, and the rod c of the forked part is of a square or Hattened
section so that the direction of this groove always remains in the plane of the two
arms of the forked part a.
In order to curl the hair by means of this appliance a ribbon g, Figure 2, of a
suitable length, provided near each end with a metallic eyelet k, is employed.
The operation is carried out in the following manner :-
One of the eyelets of the ribbong is fitted on one of the points of the arms i of
the forked piece. This ribbon is then passed into the groove f, and by compressing
the internal spring d the other eyelet of the ribbon may be fitted on the point of the
other arm of the fork. The spring d is then released and stretches the ribbon o
along the handle band the two arms of the forked piece a as shown clearly in
Figure 1.
The appliance being thus arranged and placed in proximity to the head, the coil
of hair to be curled is passed over, and between, the arms of the forked piece a, in
order to form a sort of tress which is held with the finger until this coil has been
completely rolled up. The ribbon is then allowed to fall out of the groove fin
the handle and the ends of this ribbon are pulled so that its central part X,
Figures 1 and 2, shall be brought into contact with the hair, and these two ends jj
are then tied together, the ribbon being pressed tightly against the hair, whilst the
fork is withdrawn in order to be employed for a fresh operation. The coil of hair,
which is to be curled, then assumes the form shown in Figure 4.
The ribbon-holding appliance shown in Figure 3 is composed of a single arm k
of circular or other form, fixed to a handle of any suitable shape, and in this case
two ribbons, bands, or other suitable fasteners y¹ are made use of, each being
provided towards the middle of its length with an eyelet h. The eyelets of these
two ribbons having been passed over the point of the arm k are preferably covered
with an indiarubber tube m intended to ensure the regularity of the curling of the
hair.

page_text: The appliance being thus arranged, the hair is coiled on the tube m, the arm k is
then withdrawn, and the two ends of the ribbons g' are tied in the mauner shown
in Figure 5.
In order to facilitate the passage of the fingers, and the insertion of the hair in
the fork a of the appliance shown in Figure 1, a fork having divergent arms may
be employed, but in order to allow of the appliance being easily withdrawn after
the hair has been wound on its arms, it is necessary for one of these arms to be
movable or removable.
Figure 6 shows the branch a¹ of the fork a hinged at n and provided with a
curved prolongation p having a spring g which holds the arm a' in its divergent
position. In order to withdraw the fork it suffices to press with the finger on the
prolongation p, in order to bring the movable arm a¹ parallel with the fixed arın a,
as shown in dotted lines on the drawing.
In Figure 7, the arm a' is simply held in the butt of the fork a by means of an
enlarged conical part or socket r from which it may easily be withdrawn.
Instead of fitting the ribbons, or flexible bands, on the ribbon holding appliance,
before coiling the hair thereon, the hair may be first coiled on the appliance, and
then the ribbon, or ribbons, fitted on the end or ends of such appliance, so that
when the latter is withdrawn, it forces the ribbon or ribbons to enter into the coils
of hair thus formed.
Figure 8 shows an apparatus employed for this latter purpose consisting of a
fork, the arms ss of which are provided with a narrow opening t communicating
with the outside by means of a slit u. When this form of the appliance is employed,
the coil of hair which is to be curled is wound on the two arms, the two ends of a
ribbon or flexible band are then inserted in the slots u, and forced to enter the
narrow openings t, where they are held by friction. In this manner when the fork s
is withdrawn, it carries with it the two ends of the ribbon, and it then suffices to tie
these ends together in the manner shown in Figure 4, except that the bow then
stands at the opposite side of the coil formed. This appliance may also be
composed of a single arm s, and it will then suffice, after this arm has been covered
with an indiarubber tube, such as has been shown at m, Figure 3, to first wind the
hair on this tube, and then to insert in the slot u, and finally into the opening t of
this single arm, one of the ends of two ribbons or other suitable flexible bands, in
order that when the arms is withdrawn it shall carry with it the two ribbons which
are then tied together in the manner shown in Figure 5.
The appliance may have any number of arms, as found most suitable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a hair curling appliance, the combination of a device formed of a handle
and a fork capable of sliding in the said handle, and held in a projected position
by means of an interposed spring; and a ribbon, or flexible band of suitable length,
fitting by means of two eyelets on the two points of the fork, and carried round the
end of the handle of the device in such a way as to be held taut by means of
the said spring, substantially as hereinbefore shown and with the object set forth.
2. In a hair curling appliance, the combination with a ribbon or flexible band of
suitable length, and provided with eyelets near its extremnities, of a device formed
of a handle and a fork, capable of sliding in the said handle and held in a projected
position by an interposed spring, the said fork having two divergent arms, one of
which is hinged in such a way as to allow of its being brought if desired parallel
to the other arm, substantially as hereinbefore described and with the object set
forth.
3. In a hair curling appliance, the combination with a ribbon or flexible band of
suitable length and provided with eyelets near its extremities, of a device formed
of a handle and a fork capable of sliding in the said handle and held in a projected
position by means of an interposed spring, the two arms of said fork being divergent

page_text: and one of these branches being removable, so as to allow of its being withdrawn,
substantially as hereinbefore described and with the object set forth.
4. In a hair curling appliance, the combination of a device formed of a rol
provided with a handle, and two ribbons or flexible bands, each fitting by means of
an eyelet on the point of said rod, and being enclosed in an india rubber tube, with
the object and in the manner hereinbefore set forth.
5. In a hair curling appliance, the combination of a device, formed of a fork on
which the hair is coiled and which has in its ends narrow holes communicating with
the outside by means of a slit; and a ribbon, the two ends of which are inserted in
the said narrow holes, and there held by friction, so that when the fork is withdrawn
it carries with it the ribbon into the coils of hair, substantially in the manner and
with the object herein before set forth.
Dated this 5th day of March 1896
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.