DEVICE TO APPLY A FLOWABLE PRODUCT TO HUMAN SCALP HAIR

DISPOSITIF POUR L'APPLICATION D'UN PRODUIT FLUIDE AU CUIR CHEVELU HUMAIN

English Abstract

In order to achieve even and effective application of product with a device
(1) to apply a flowable product to human scalp hair, with a product dispenser
(3) having prongs (2) provided with multiple openings (8) to dispense the
product, it is recommended that all openings be aligned laterally with respect
to an inner space (9) extending between the prongs (2) and located above the
inner area (5), wherein the inner space (9) contains the prongs (2).

French Abstract

La présente invention à trait à l'application uniforme et efficace d'un produit à l'aide d'un dispositif (1) pour l'application d'un produit fluide au cuir chevelu humain, avec un distributeur de produit (3) comportant des dents (2) munies d'une pluralité d'ouvertures (8) pour la distribution du produit, où il est recommandé que toutes les ouvertures soient en alignement latéral par rapport à un espace interne (9) s'étendant entre les dents (2) et situées au-dessus de la surface interne (5), l'espace interne (9) contenant les dents (2).

Claims

5
What is claimed is
1. A device (1) to apply a flowable product to human scalp hair, with a
product
dispenser (3) having multiple prongs (2), with said dispenser (3) having a
base (6) to
accommodate the prongs (2), wherein the base (6) consists of an inner area (5)
extending between the prongs (2), with the inner area (5) preferably being
bordered
by an outer area (7) of the base (6), wherein the product dispenser (3) can be
connected to a reservoir via a connection (4), and openings (8) are provided
in the
prongs (2) to dispense the product, characterized in that all openings (8) are
aligned
laterally with respect to an inner space (9) extending between the prongs (2)
and
located above the inner area (5), wherein the inner space (9) contains the
prongs (2).
2. The device (1) according to Claim 1, wherein two rows of prongs (2) are
provided.
3. The device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein an outer area (7) of
the base
is provided, which is bordered by an edge (10).
4. The device according to Claim 1, Claim 2, or Claim 3, wherein the prongs
(2) are
rounded off like knobs in the area facing the head.
5. The device according to one of Claims 1 through 4, wherein all openings (8)
are
at the same height.
6. The device according to one of Claims 1 through 4, wherein all openings (8)
are
at different heights.
7. The device according to Claim 6, wherein lateral openings (8) are provided
on
the top with a portion of the prongs (2) and on the bottom with the remainder
of
the prongs (2).
8. The device according to one of Claims 1 through 7, wherein the connection
(4)
has an inner thread (11) that can be screwed onto a neck of a reservoir.

Description

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DEVICE TO APPLY A FLOWABLE PRODUCT TO HUMAN SCALP HAIR
The object of the invention relates to a device (1) to apply a flowable
product to
human scalp hair in the hair salon sector.
These types of devices are used in the hair salon sector to apply hair
treatment agents.
Said treatment agent should be distributed evenly throughout the hair as a
flowable product.
A device with a product dispenser having multiple prongs is known from US
6,053,177; this device has a base to accommodate the prongs. The base consists
of an
inner area extending between the prongs, which is bordered by an outer area of
the base.
The product dispenser can be connected to a reservoir via a connection. The
prongs have
openings for dispensing the product.
The known device has openings arranged in the center of the top in the prongs
from which the product exits. This is disadvantageous in that the hair that is
between the
prongs cannot be wetted with sufficient product, which can lead to inhibited
hair wetting
if the device is tightly pulled through very curly hair.
The object was to further develop a device according to the preamble of Claim
1,
which would overcome this disadvantage.
The object is achieved according to the distinguishing component of Claim 1.
Accordingly, all openings are aligned laterally with respect to an inner
space, which is
located above the inner area and extends between the prongs, wherein the
prongs are
located in the inner space.
The suggested device has the advantage that hair can be well wetted with a
flowable
product if the device is pulled through the hair like a comb. The device is
particularly well
suited for very curly hair if relatively few prongs, e.g. six to sixteen
prongs, are provided.
Because all openings are aligned with one another with respect to the inner
space, hair lying
between two prongs is always wetted with product. An opening is not aligned
away from

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the inner space to the outside, e.g. aligned to an outer area of the base.
This type of
alignment would result in an ineffective use of the product. This is an
advantage,
particularly with very curly hair from which only one strand proceeds
relatively in the
center of the product dispenser, if the dispenser is moved along the strand.
Advantageous embodiments of the proposed invention are described in Claims 2
to 8.
Two rows of prongs (Claim 2) are suitable for relatively easy pulling of the
product dispenser through very curly hair.
If an outer area of the base is provided according to Claim 3, and the outer
area is
bordered by an edge, then this edge can be used to wipe excess product from
the hair.
Prongs that are rounded off like knobs in the area facing the head (Claim 4)
are
relatively easy to pull through very curly hair especially if they have a
relatively large
diameter (approx. 0.08-0.4 in. (2 to 10 mm) at the midpoint). A conical shape
that tapers
towards the top is also advantageous.
If all openings are at the same height (Claim 5), then a strand of hair at
this height
will be evenly wetted with product. However, if the openings are at various
heights
(Claim 6), then, after the product dispenser is pulled through the strand one
or more
times, the strand, at different heights, will be more evenly wetted. Very good
results are
obtained when, according to Claim 7, lateral openings are provided on the top
with a
portion of the prongs and on the bottom with the remaining portion of the
prongs.
If the connection according to Claim 8 has an inner thread that can be screwed
onto a neck of a reservoir, this makes it easy, after the device is screwed
onto a container,
to remove product from the container so that it can be directly applied to the
hair.
The invention is described in detail below with reference to Figures that show
three exemplary embodiments. The following is shown:

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Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the suggested device
with two rows of prongs, wherein each prong has an opening to
dispense a flowable hair conditioning product and no opening is
aligned from an inner space towards the outside;
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the device of Figure 1, but with each
of the six prongs arranged in the center having two openings; and
Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a device similar to Figure 2 that is
rotated
vertically by 90 degrees, but with openings altematingly arranged in
the top and bottom.
With a device 1 to apply a flowable product to human scalp hair, a product
dispenser 3 has multiple prongs 2 (Figure 1). The product dispenser 3 has a
base 6 to
accommodate the prongs 2. The base 6 consists of an inner area 5 extending
between the
prongs 2, which is bordered by an outer area 7 of the base 6. The product
dispenser 3 can
be screwed onto a reservoir via a connection 4, which has an inner thread 11.
The prongs
2 have openings 8 for dispensing the product. All openings 8 are aligned
laterally with
respect to an inner space 9 located above the inner area 5, wherein the prongs
2 are
located in the inner space 9. None of the openings 8 points towards the outer
area 7,
which is bordered by an edge 10 to wipe off excess product from the hair.
There are two rows of prongs 2, each prong 2 being rounded off like a knob in
the
area facing the head. Each opening 8 is the same height as the other openings
8. Eight
openings 8 point in the same direction; two openings 8 of two prongs 2
arranged on the
side walls point in the opposing direction. Thus, via each of the prongs 2, a
certain
quantity of product is deposited onto a hair strand, if the product dispenser
3 is pulled
through the hair strand in order to straighten the hair, e.g. using a
straightening agent. No
product is deposited to the outer area 7, which means there is optimal use of
the product.
With the exemplary embodiment of Figure 2, the six center prongs 2 each have
two openings 8, whereas the four prongs 2 bordering the two rows each only
have one

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opening 8. This ensures that hair strands running through product dispenser 3
will each be
wetted with product on the opposing sides. As with the first exemplary
embodiment, the
strands are wetted at a constant height with respect to the base 6 of the
device 1.
Contrarily, with the exemplary embodiment of Figure 3, lateral openings 8 are
provided on the top with a portion of the prongs 2 and on the bottom with the
remainder
of the prongs 2 to achieve wetting of the strands at different heights. Four
of the prongs 2
have one opening 8 and, in the center, six of the prongs 2 have two openings
8. However,
as shown in the exemplary embodiment of Figure 1, one opening 8 could be
omitted in
each of the six prongs 2 in the center. With the exemplary embodiment of
Figure 3, each
prong 2 has two openings 8 at the same height on a prong 2.
1 Device
2 Prong
3 Product dispenser
4 Connection
5 Inner area
6 Base
7 Outer area
8 Opening
9 Innerspace
10 Edge
11 Inner thread

Representative Drawing