Manicure and pedicure station

Abstract

The manicure and pedicure station includes a base and an attached hand-foot rest member that supports a user's hand or foot and that can be readily pivoted to accommodate positioning of the user's fingers or toes for ease of use during a manicure procedure. A base plate attachable to the base prevents slipping of the base during use of the station. A soaking bowl can be attached to the unit and can rotate around the base. The soaking bowl has a hermetic body that keeps water warm during the manicure procedure. Alternatively, a tray can be attached to the unit and can rotate around the base in lieu of the bowl. A polish bottle holder that can accommodate a polish bottle of a variety of shapes is attached to the unit and can rotate around the base and tilt for secure placement of the bottle in any convenient position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/124,848, filed Apr. 21, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to cosmetology apparatus, and particularly to a manicure and pedicure station for either commercial or personal use.

2. Description of the Related Art

The present practice in manicuring the fingernails is to soak the customer's fingers in a bowl containing liquid for treating cuticles and nails, and then placing the customer's hands on a desk above a towel. While numerous attempts have been made to provide a device for supporting the customer's hands or fingers above the desk while also providing a more comfortable position for both the customer and the manicurist during the manicuring procedure, none has been totally satisfactory. Moreover, there exists a need to support feet and toes in a convenient and comfortable position during the application of polish to the nails during a pedicure procedure.

Thus, a manicure and pedicure station solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The manicure and pedicure station can be used by a manicurist in manicuring a customer's nails, or for personal use in manicuring one's own fingernails and applying polish to toenails during a personal pedicure procedure.

The station includes a base and an attached hand-foot rest member that supports a user's hand or foot and that can be readily pivoted to accommodate positioning of the user's fingers or toes for ease of use during a manicure or pedicure procedure. A soaking bowl can be attached to the unit and can rotate around the base. The soaking bowl has a hermetic body that keeps water warm during the manicure procedure. Alternatively, a tray can be attached to the unit and can rotate around the base. A polish bottle holder that can accommodate a polish bottle of a variety of shapes is attached to the unit and can rotate around the base and tilt for secure placement of the bottle in any convenient position.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a manicure and pedicure station according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded, perspective view of the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top, perspective view of the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an exploded, perspective view of the lower sleeve and bowl, showing how the bowl attaches to the bowl-bracket receiving guide.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1, showing the slotted support member and stem members.

FIG. 7 is a bottom, perspective view of the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1, showing details of the base.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1, showing how the polish bottle holder attaches to the upper sleeve guide.

FIG. 9 is a bottom, perspective view of the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1, showing the foot-hand support.

FIG. 10 is an exploded, perspective view of a tray for the manicure and pedicure station of FIG. 1 as seen from below, showing how the tray may be attached to the bowl-bracket receiving guide in lieu of the bowl.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the tray of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the tray of FIG. 10 as seen from above the tray.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the manicure and pedicure station includes a base 10 having a bottom surface or coating having a high coefficient of friction in order to prevent slipping on any support surface that the base 10 may be placed on. Moreover, a base plate 76 attachable to bottom surface of base 10 provides additional weight and stability to the unit. The base 10 preferably defines a substantially arcuate periphery. A tubular post 19 extends upward from a center portion of base 10. Two resilient, elongate, stem members 24 extend from a perpendicularly aligned, slotted support member 16. The tubular post 19 receives the stem members 24. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the bottom portion of each stem member 24 includes a retaining tab 68 that seats into retaining slots 70 defined in tubular post 19 at the bottom of base 10. Arcuate sidewalls 72 defined in concentric relation to retaining slots 70 at the bottom of base 10 provide additional support to the stem members 24. Three annular members 74 extend from bottom of base 10 and are spaced at approximately 120° intervals proximate a circumferential edge of base 10. Disc shaped base plate 76 has 3 holes correspondingly spaced at approximately 120° intervals. An axial hole 79 is disposed in the axial center of base plate 76 and can be used to visually align the base plate 76 with the base 10 while the user aligns holes 78 with annular members 74 in order to fit holes 78 over annular members 74 thereby attaching the base plate 76 to the base 10. Preferably the base plate 76 is a bulkier, higher density material than the base 10 in order to provide additional stability of the unit during use.

A foot-hand rest member 14 has an ergonomic convex shell (i.e., convex upward and concave downward) that provides a broad surface area capable of supporting a user's hand or foot. As shown in FIG. 9, ribbing 900 arranged in a lattice structure below the shell of rest member 14 strengthens and reinforces the foot-hand rest member 14. Foot-hand rest member brackets 28 and stop member 29 extend downward from the foot-hand rest member 14. The foot-hand rest member brackets 28 each have bores 90 that are axially aligned with each other. As shown FIGS. 2 and 3, pivot pins 25 extend from opposite sides of slotted support member 16, and the foot-hand rest member 14 is mounted on slotted support member 16 by extending pivot pins 25 through the bores 90.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, it should be readily apparent that pivotal motion of the foot-hand rest member 14 about pivot pins 25 is constrained by contact of stop member 29 at longitudinal extremes of closed slot 69, which is defined in the body of support member 16. The foot-hand rest member 14 can then be pivotally adjusted and, due to frictional force between brackets 28 and slotted support member 16, the adjustment position of foot-hand rest member 14 is retained.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lower sleeve 11 and upper sleeve 12 slip over tubular post 19, and are retained in concentric axial alignment with tubular post 19 by stem members 24. Both the lower sleeve 11 and the upper sleeve 12 can rotate about the axis of tubular post 19. The lower sleeve 11 has a bowl-bracket receiving guide 21 and bowl-bracket mating pins 22. Rinse bowl 13 has a slotted bowl bracket 26 extending therefrom that engages guide 21 and pins 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the U-shaped bracket slot 55a has a hollow bottom portion 55b that allows the bracket 26 to be seated on top of mating pins 22 while resting on the floor 57 of the bracket receiving guide 21. Rinse bowl 13 can be rotated from side to side due to the freedom of sleeve 11 to rotate about the axis of tubular post 19. Bottom plate 18 is attached to the bottom of bowl 13. Preferably, the bowl 13 has a hermetic or thermally insulated body to keep water warm during a manicure procedure.

Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 10, in lieu of bowl 13, a tray 1013 can be attached to lower sleeve 11 and can rotate around the base 10 in the same manner as bowl 13. As most clearly shown in FIG. 10, a U-shaped bracket slot 1055a has a hollow bottom portion 1055b that allows the bracket 1026 to be seated on top of mating pins 22 while resting on the floor 57 of the bracket receiving guide 21.

Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 10, it should be clearly understood that tray 1013 can be rotated from side to side due to the freedom of sleeve 11 to rotate about the axis of tubular post 19. The tray 1013 can hold various manicuring tools and implements, either during personal usage when a user wishes to manicure his/her own nails, or during professional use by a manicurist and his/her customer. The rotation capability of the tray 1013 around base 19 provides a means for the user to customize relative positioning of the tray 1013 and polish holder 15 for ease of use during the manicuring procedure.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 10, 11 and 12, the tray 1013 is a substantially disk-shaped platform having a tray floor 1062, outer arcuate sidewalls 1060, an inner arcuate sidewall 1064, a front bin 1016, and a rear bin 1018, both bins extending upward from the floor 1062. The outer sidewalls 1060 keep items placed on the tray floor 1062 from being inadvertently ejected from the tray 1013 during movement of the tray 1013. The inner sidewall 1064, along with the conforming arcuate shape of bins 1016 and 1018, functions to constrain such items such as jars, bottles, and the like, that are placed in center portion of the tray platform in an upright position.

As shown in FIG. 12, while both bins have substantially the same shape, the front bin 1016 is wider and shallower than rear bin 1016. As shown in FIG. 10, the bottom portion of the tray 1013 has a pair of radially extending elongate members 1021 terminating in rounded feet 1022 to stabilize the tray 1013 when resting on a table or similar surface.

As most clearly shown in FIG. 8, the upper sleeve 12 has a guide 23a and a shaft 23b extending therefrom, the shaft 23b being inserted into longitudinally separated retainer holes 64a and 64b of polish bottle holder bracket 62, which extends from polish bottle holder 15. The polish bottle holder 15 can be rotated a limited amount, both counterclockwise and clockwise, about the axis of shaft 23b due to contact of either limit boss 88 with guide 23a at the extremes of rotation. Moreover, due to freedom of rotation of upper sleeve 12 about axis of tubular post 19, the bottle holder 15 can be rotated from side to side along an arc that is concentric with post 19. The holder portion of polish bottle holder 15 is substantially cylindrical and has a cylindrical ring 17 disposed therein. A plurality of resilient, elongate strips 27 extend from the ring 17 in directions tending to converge on a center axis of the ring. The resilient strips 27 provide a frictional force on an inserted polish bottle, thus stabilizing retention of the polish bottle in the polish holder 15.

In use, the manicurist places the station on a table in front of a customer, fills the bowl 13 with warm water, connects the bowl 13 with lower ring 11 and turns it to the side of hand-foot rest member 14. The customer then positions the fingers of one hand in the bowl 13 for soaking. The hermetic body of bowl 13 helps maintain water temperature during the manicuring procedure. After soaking, the customer's hand is placed on the hand-foot rest member 14 for cuticle and nail treatment, and bowl 13 is rotated in front of the manicurist.

Hand-foot rest member 14 is mounted with limited rotation around a horizontal axis on the supporting member 16, which has rotation around a vertical axis, thereby permitting accommodation of the hand in a most comfortable position, yet the fingers can easily be moved in any direction required by the manicurist.

After treatment, the bowl 13 is moved to either side of hand-foot rest member 14 for soaking fingers of the untreated hand. Polish holder 15 can be moved to the opposite side of the rest member 14. A nail polish bottle can be inserted into polish bottle holder 15 between the petals 27 of ring 17. The polish bottle holder 15 has limited rotation around the horizontal axis of arbor 23b of the upper ring 12, thus allowing safe tilting of the polish bottle for a convenient reach, yet preventing the bottle from turning over. The petals 27 of ring 17 can hold and stabilize a variety of polish bottle shapes. After polish has been applied to the fingernails, the manicurist merely repeats the procedure for the untreated hand.

During a personal manicuring procedure, the user places the manicure and pedicure station on a table and turns the bowl 13 to the side of the rest member 14 and the polish bottle holder 15 to the opposite side. The user's fingers can then be placed on the rest member 14. The polish bottle holder can then be tilted into a convenient position for application of polish with the user's free hand to the nail of the hand positioned on the rest member 14. The bowl 13 and polish bottle holder 15 can then be moved and placed in opposite directions. The procedure is repeated for the untreated hand. For a pedicure procedure, the user sits on an ottoman or any other lower chair or bench, places the station on the floor and positions his/her toes and foot on rest member 14, and moves the polish bottle holder 15 to either side of the station and tilts it for a convenient reach.

Rotation of the rest member 14 around a horizontal axis and rotation of the supporting member 16 around a vertical axis allows a client to move the hand and fingers to any position required by the manicurist for comfortable and convenient positioning of both client and manicurist. Moreover, full rotation of the bowl 13 allows placement of the bowl 13 in a most convenient position for the manicuring procedure.

The hermetic body of the bowl 13 allows retention of water temperature during the entire manicure procedure. Full rotation of the polish bottle holder 15 around a vertical axis allows placing it in the most convenient position for manicure and pedicure procedures. Limited rotation of the polish bottle holder 15 around a horizontal axis allows tilting the polish bottle for convenient reach during manicure and pedicure procedures, but prevents the polish bottle from turning over. The presence of the petals (resilient, elongate strips 27) in the polish bottle holder 15 allows for accommodation of a variety of polish bottle shapes while keeping the polish bottle in a stable position. Rotation of the rest member 14 around a horizontal axis allows accommodating toes and the foot in a most comfortable and convenient position during the pedicure procedure.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A manicure and pedicure station, comprising:

a base; and

a foot-hand rest pivotally coupled to the base.

2. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 1, wherein said foot-hand rest has a convex shell ergonomically fitting a user's extremities.

3. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 2, further comprising a stop member extending from the foot-hand rest member, the stop member limiting an angular displacement through which the foot-hand rest member can be pivoted.

4. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 1, further comprising a tray rotatably coupled to the base.

5. A manicure and pedicure station, comprising:

a base; and

a polish bottle holder rotatably coupled to the base.

6. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 5, further comprising a plurality of resilient, elongate members extending towards an axial center of the polish bottle holder for securing polish bottles of a variety of shapes in a stable position.

7. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 5, wherein the polish bottle holder is tiltable.

8. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 7, further comprising at least one limit boss coupled to the polish bottle holder, said limit boss limiting an angular displacement through which the polish bottle holder can be tilted.

9. A manicure and pedicure station, comprising:

a base; and

a fluid containment bowl rotatably coupled to the base.

10. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 9, wherein said fluid containment bowl has a hermetic body for retaining temperature of a fluid contained in the bowl during a manicure procedure.

11. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 9, further comprising a bottom plate attached to a bottom of the fluid containment bowl.

12. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 9, further comprising a base plate attachable to a bottom surface of the base, said base plate preventing slipping of the base during use of the manicure and pedicure station.

13. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 9, further comprising a foot-hand rest pivotally coupled to said base.

14. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 9, wherein said foot-hand rest has a convex shell ergonomically fitting a user's extremities.

15. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 14, further comprising a stop member extending from the foot-hand rest member, the stop member limiting angular displacement through which the foot-hand rest member can be pivoted.

16. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 14, wherein the foot-hand rest further comprises ribbing arranged in a lattice structure below the convex shell.

17. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 9, further comprising a polish bottle holder rotatably coupled to said base.

18. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 17, wherein the polish bottle holder is tiltable.

19. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 18, further comprising at least one limit boss coupled to the polish bottle holder, said limit boss limiting angular displacement through which the polish bottle holder can be tilted.

20. The manicure and pedicure station according to claim 17, further comprising a plurality of resilient, elongate members extending towards an axial center of the polish bottle holder for securing polish bottles of a variety of shapes in a stable position.