Abstract: An apparatus for wrapping hair strands with string or artificial hair is disclosed. The apparatus has a shell that defines an axle having an opening. The axle rotatably supports a drive wheel, a spool of string and a guide wheel. The drive wheel engages the guide wheel. The string passes from the spool past the guide wheel, which has circumferential notches to engage and play out the string. In practice, the user passes a hair strand through the opening in the axle, fastens the string to a hair strand, energizes the apparatus, and moves it along the length of the hair strand as the string is wrapped about the strand. The apparatus is preferably powered by a small DC motor.

Abstract: An apparatus for wrapping hair strands with string or artificial hair is disclosed. The apparatus has a shell that defines an axle having an opening. The axle rotatably supports a drive wheel, a spool of string and a guide wheel. The drive wheel engages the guide wheel. The string passes from the spool past the guide wheel, which has circumferential notches to engage and play out the string. In practice, the user passes a hair strand through the opening in the axle, fastens the string to a hair strand, energizes the apparatus, and moves it along the length of the hair strand as the string is wrapped about the strand. The apparatus is preferably powered by a small DC motor.

Abstract: A hair braiding apparatus is disclosed comprising a two arms for receiving hooks. The hooks hold a first and second strand of hair, respectively, in slideable engagement and can be retracted and extended by the operator. A third stand of hair is braided with the first and second strands as the arms and books are caused to automatically rotate cyclically and reverse their previous positions. The cyclic rotation carries the first and second strands with it and produces a braid as the operator moves the third strand upward and downward through the opening defined by the arms and the first and second strands. The apparatus may be powered by a DC motor.

Abstract: An apparatus to separate hair into units of three for braiding, producing several such units in one application. The preferred embodiment comprises a platform having an upper shelf and an anchor. The anchor has comb-like teeth for fixing the device to the hair of the subject. The upper shelf prevents tangling of unbraided hair above the device. A blade, fixed perpendicularly to the platform, has a plurality of teeth separated by notches of alternating depths, which receive strands of hair. A lower shelf affixed at an angle acts as a support for the separated hair strands and prevents tangling. The upper and lower shelves are made removable. The width between braids may be varied by providing teeth of different widths on the upper shelf.

Abstract: A hair braiding apparatus is disclosed comprising a U-shaped rod having a left arm and a right arm, the arms offset from one another relative to the plane of the U shape, a guide for holding a first strand of hair and a second strand of hair in alignment with the left arm and the right arm, respectively, and a clamp for holding the first and second strands of hair in slideable engagement with the left and right arms of the rod respectively. Methods of braiding with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One or more of the strands may be artificial hair. A method of braiding natural hair with artificial hair using the braiding apparatus is also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus to separate hair into units of three for braiding, producing several such units in one application, comprises a handle and a platform affixed thereto having an upper shelf and anchor. The anchor has comb-like teeth for fixing the device to the hair of the subject. The upper shelf prevents tangling of unbraided hair above the device. A blade fixed perperdicularly to the platform has a plurality of teeth separated by notches of alternating depths which receive strands of hair. A lower shelf affixed at an angle to the blade acts as a support for the separated hair strands and prevents tangling. The width between braids may be varied by providing teeth of different widths on the blade.

Abstract: An article having the nature of a splint and/or mold which is adapted for temporary use on the injured digit of a person's hand or foot in order to foster beneficial healing after a nail plate has been removed. The splint includes a generally elongated sheet of thin (i.e., 0.020 inch) polypropylene or the like, which is inert to body fluids. It has a generally compound curvature so that it approximates the natural shape of a human nail plate, and has on its lower surface a smooth, concave shape which is adapted for contacting the healing nail bed. The sheet has a proximal end that is approximately perpendicular to the sides of said sheet, and the sheet has "square" corners which fit within the eponychial fold of the person's digit--for the purpose of preserving the fold and maintaining its size.

Abstract: A selectively removable prosthetic nail adapted for use on one of the digits of a person's hand or foot, including a nail plate comprising a sheet having front and rear ends and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween. A bifurcated anchor member extends downwardly from near the front end of the nail plate; the member has two legs with proximal and distal portions. The distal portions of the legs have a rest condition at which they are spaced apart appreciably further than are their proximal portions, and the distal portions are susceptible of being temporarily brought together so that their distal portions are essentially as close as are their proximal portions. The two legs preferably lie in a transverse plane where they are exposed to being externally gripped (by tweezers or the like) from the front of the nail plate.

Abstract: A prosthetic nail that is intended as a replacement or substitute for an injured or diseased nail for the digits on a hand or foot. Each embodiment of the invention generally consists of three main components: (1) a generally smooth and slightly curved plate having a rear edge that is adapted to be partially buried within the eponychial fold of a digit, somewhat like the proximal portion of a natural nail is buried; (2) an anchor member connected to the plate near the forward edge theeof and serving to anchor the forward part of the plate against unwanted movement with respect to the distal phalangeal bone; and (3) some means for preventing lateral movement of the plate with respect to the bone. Several versions of frontal anchor members are shown, and all versions share a characteristic of having at least some space into which the patient's tissue may be positioned for "mechanically" locking the prosthetic nail to the digit.