Environmentally safe hairbrush with automatically disentangling removable handle, magnetic rollers and removable bristles

Abstract

A hairbrush comprises a detachable handle; a metal roller including linear apertures and disposable bristles, and a coupling mechanism allowing the roller to automatically rotate on an axis of rotation when it encounters a tangle during use. A degree of resistance of the roller to rotation varies to correspond to a hair type of the client. A ribbed inner wall of a receiving portion of the roller receives a top portion of the handle. The top portion may have within it prongs and a movable piece inward of the prongs that varies the pressure against rotation of the roller. Ball bearings extend outwardly from the prongs to the ribbed inner wall. Bumps on the prongs keep the handle from detaching from the roller unless an exertion is made. A magnetic attraction between the rollers emplaces the rollers firmly in the hair and allows the brush to be extended.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for hair brushes that have removable handles thereby leaving the rollers in the hair, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods that use a coupling mechanism that allows the roller to automatically disentangle from the hair.

In the field of hairdressing, there is a need to roll hair while the hair is damp and then dry the hair while the hair is in a rolled state. Instead of leaving the brush in the hair after rolling the hair, where the weight of the handle disturbs the curls and discomforts the user, it is known to use hairbrushes with removable handles thereby leaving the roller portion in the hair. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,502,585, 6,230,716, 6,070,597 and 5,992,423 describe such devices.

A problem often encountered with these hairbrushes is hair knots. On occasion, the brush runs up against a knot in the hair and the hairdresser must pull hard on the brush. This leads to hair being pulled out and furthermore it causes hair to be entangled in the brush.

As can be seen, it is therefore useful that there by some way to avoid the hair knot problem while still making use of hairbrushes with detachable rollers.

Another problem is the structure of the roller itself. Wooden rollers have straight lines of bristles, which is better for brushing the hair. Metal rollers absorb heat in the face of blow driers, which allows the hair rolled onto the metal rollers to be malleable, an advantage when rolling hair. However, the apertures in the metal rollers through which the bristles protrude are spaced randomly, unlike the spacing of bristles in wood rollers. Moreover, the heat damages the bristles and shortens the lifespan of the brush. As can be seen, there is also a need for a roller of a hair brush to have a structure that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, there is presented hairbrush for use on hair of a client, comprising a handle; a hair roller including bristles; a coupling mechanism coupling the handle to the hair roller, the coupling mechanism allowing the hair roller to automatically rotate on an axis of rotation when the hair roller encounters a tangle during use of the hairbrush, the coupling mechanism having a setting to vary a degree of resistance to the rotation of the hair roller to correspond to a hair type of the client, wherein the coupling of the hair roller to the handle can be manually overcome to detach the handle from the hair roller.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is presented a method of rolling hair for one or more clients, comprising setting a position on a hairbrush, the hairbrush comprised of a roller and a handle, the handle having a top portion and prongs, the position determining a resistance to rotation of the roller relative to the handle by determining how tightly the prongs press against a receiving portion of the roller; applying the hairbrush to the hair so that the roller rolls the hair; and rotating the roller relative to the handle when the roller encounters a tangle in the hair.

In another aspect of the invention, there is presented a hairbrush, comprising a hair roller having a receiving portion; a handle including a top portion and prongs, the prongs having an axially movable element inward of the prongs, the top portion mating with the receiving portion so that when a position of the axially movable element is set in a fully retracted position, the top portion is rotatable inside the receiving portion and when the axially movable element is set in a less than fully retracted position, the top portion is harder to rotate inside the receiving portion, wherein the handle is detachable from the hair roller.

In still another aspect of the present invention, there is presented a method of using a hairbrush, comprising (a) inserting a bristle assembly into a roller of a hairbrush, the roller having linear apertures, so that the bristles project through the apertures; (b) applying the hairbrush to hair of a person so that the roller rolls the hair and repeating this step (b) until the bristles need to be changed; (c) separating the bristle assembly from the roller for disposal of the bristle assembly; and (d) inserting a new bristle assembly into the roller.

In a further aspect of the present invention, there is presented an apparatus, comprising a plurality of hair rollers set in position in the hair on a head of a person, each hair roller of the plurality of hair rollers including a first end and a second end, the first end having a first magnet embedded therein, the second end having a second magnet embedded therein, each first magnet having an opposite magnetic charge to each second magnet, the hair rollers of the plurality of hair rollers configured in the hair so that first and second ends of the hair rollers having the same magnetic charge are not so close to one another as to cause a repelling force that moves the hair rollers out of position in the hair.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the hair brush of the present invention with the handle and receiving portion of the roller in vertical section with the movable piece inside the top portion of the handle in retracted position;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the hair brush of the present invention with the handle and receiving portion of the roller in vertical section with the movable piece in an intermediate position;

FIG. 3 is identical to FIG. 2 except with the movable piece in a fully extended position;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the receiving portion of the roller of the present invention showing a ribbed wall;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the top portion of the handle of the present invention inside the receiving portion of the roller of the present invention;

FIG. 6A is an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of the hairbrush of the present invention with the handle and receiving portion of the roller in vertical section and showing a magnetic pin at the proximal end of the handle in stored position;

FIG. 6B is an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of the hairbrush of the present invention, as in FIG. 6A, except showing the magnetic pin at the proximal end of the handle in position for use;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the roller of the hair brush of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the hair brush of the present invention with the bristles inside the roller; and

FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of the hairbrush of the present invention exploded away from a magnetic pin that fits into the proximal end of the handle;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the prongs and cylindrical piece of the top portion of the handle of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the handle of the hairbrush of the present invention;

FIG. 11A is a side perspective view of one embodiment of the roller of the present invention showing the roller as extensible and comprising a first and second roller;

FIG. 11B is a side perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 11A showing the handle and first and second rollers apart;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a plurality of hair rollers in position in a woman's hair in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a first method of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a second method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

The present invention generally provides a hairbrush with a handle detachable from the hair roller wherein a coupling mechanism may allow the hair roller to rotate when the hair brush encounters a tangle in the hair and thereby automatically move around or under the tangle. A top portion of the handle may also be able to vary the resistance to the rotation of the hair roller as needed. The coupling mechanism may include a top portion at one end of the handle that may fit into a receiving portion of the roller. The top portion may include prongs extending axially and having fixed ball bearings that may abut an inner wall of the receiving portion of the roller. A movable piece within the prongs may vary the degree to which the prongs press against the inner wall of the receiving portion of the roller thereby allowing different positions of rotational resistance for the handle in relation to the roller. The roller itself may contain a disposable bristle stick and associated bristles that may project through linear apertures in a metal housing of the roller.

In contrast to the prior art, which does not utilize hair rollers that automatically move around a tangle in the hair, the hairbrush of the present invention may employ a hair roller than may rotate backwards automatically when it encounters a tangle in the hair, thus allowing the roller to roll forward again around the tangle. In further contrast to the prior art, a distal end of the handle may include prongs containing within them a movable piece that may move axially relative to the handle. In contrast to the prior art hair brushes, which are not adjustable to suit different hair types (e.g. with different amounts of delicacy), the hair brush of the present invention may include prongs whose pressure against the inner wall of the roller is variable and adjustable to create different level of resistances to rotation within the roller depending on how fine or curly the client's hair may be. In further contrast to the prior art, wherein the roller is made of wood or made of metal with randomly protruding bristles, the roller of the hairbrush of the present invention may include metal bristles that protrude through substantially linear apertures in the roller. In contrast to the prior art hairbrushes with detachable rollers which utilize clips or pins to hold the hair on the rollers and to hold the rollers together in the hair, the hairbrush of the present invention may employ magnets to hold the various rollers in the hair in place after brushing. In further contrast to prior art hair brushes, in which the entire brush or most of the brush gets thrown away when heat from a nearby blow dryer damages the bristles, which causes hundreds of millions of plastic brushes to be thrown away and damage the environment, in the hairbrush of the present invention the only part that needs to be thrown away when the bristles are used up is the bristles and bristle stick, a huge environmental advantage. In still further contrast to the hairbrushes of the prior art which are not extensible, in certain embodiments the length of the hairbrush of the present invention may be extended by attaching an additional roller(s) to the existing roller and connecting them at their flat sides magnetically.

As seen from FIG. 1, a hairbrush 10 of the present invention may include a hair roller 20. Hair roller 20 may be made of metal and may have parallel apertures 21 through which bristles 99 protrude. As seen from FIG. 7 and FIG. 9, apertures 21 may be substantially linear but may have wider ends that may have more circular shapes to facilitate entry and withdrawal of the bristles 99 from roller 20. As seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, roller 20 may include an end cap 29 having an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder/receiving portion 22 that may be situated in a space or area called a receiving area 22A. Inner cylinder 22 may have an annular magnetic ring 65 wrapped around it to assist in attracting one roller 20 to a neighboring roller 20 when rollers 20 are positioned the hair of a person.

As seen from FIG. 9, inner cylinder/receiving portion 22 may be part of an end cap 29. As seen from FIG. 7, roller 20 may also have a second end cap 129 on its distal end. It is noted that a simple embodiment of the shape of receiving portion 22 may be that of a cylinder, as seen from FIG. 5. Nonetheless, the exact shape of receiving portion 22 may vary and is not necessarily limited to that shown in the drawings.

As seen from FIG. 9, bristles 99 project from a central bristle bed 99a or stick 99a. Accordingly, bristles 99 and bristle bed 99a may be made of plastic and may be disposable and replaceable with a new set of bristles 99 on a bristle bed 99a. The present invention may include many different kinds of bristles 99, including, metal, plastic or even animal hair. When after significant use of the brush the heat from the blow dryer damages the bristles 99, it is not necessary to throw away roller 20. Instead, bristle bed 99a holding bristles 99 is removed and a new bristle bed 99a and bristles 99 may then be inserted into hair roller 20. This may be a significant environmental advantage since millions of hairbrushes may not need to be thrown away in their entirety when the bristles become damaged, which may happen often.

As seen from FIGS. 6A and 6B, distal end of roller 20 may include a magnet 66 embedded therein. In addition, proximal end of roller 20 may have embedded therein a magnet 66 also. As a result of magnet 66 being embedded at the ends of each roller 20 set in the client's hair, roller 20, while sitting in the client's hair may be magnetically attracted to the outside metal surface of an adjacent roller 20 and/or may be magnetically attracted to the metal surface of an annular magnetic ring 65 on end cap 29 and/or to the metal surface of receiving portion 22 of an adjacent roller 20. Consequently, rollers 20 can hold on to each other firmly while on the head of a client in an organized and tight manner without a clip and may be less likely to be disturbed by the emplacement of other rollers or by brushing. In certain embodiments, the ends of rollers 20 may be of different colors or may have other differing visual cues that signify to the user which end of roller 20 is a positive charge versus a negative magnetic charge so that the rollers 20 can be emplaced in a pattern in the hair of a client in a manner that keeps them in place effectively.

Hairbrush 10 may also include a handle 30 that may be detachable from roller 20 to allow roller 20 to remain set in the hair of the client. Handle 30 may be detached from hair roller 20 by pulling handle 30 and roller 20 away from one another to overcome the force of a coupling mechanism coupling handle 30 to roller 20. In the alternative, handle 30 may also be detached from roller 20 by other means known to those in the art.

As seen from FIG. 10 and FIGS. 1-3, handle 30 may include a top portion 30A. Inward of top portion 30A may be prongs 32, for example four prongs 32 which may be equidistantly spaced across a range of 360 rotational degrees. It should be appreciated that the number of prongs 32 may vary above or below four. For example, there may be eight prongs 32. The exact shape of prongs 32 may vary and is not limited to that shown in FIG. 10.

Top portion 30A may be operatively engaged to inner wall 23 of receiving portion by means of ball bearings 50. Ball bearings 50 may be visible from outside handle 20 and may be in contact with inner wall 23 of receiving portion 22 of roller 20. As best seen from FIG. 5, top portion 30A of handle 30 may have apertures for ball bearings 50 to project through and contact inner wall 23 of receiving portion 22. In addition, top portion 30A may also have apertures for bumps 111 to protrude through to fit into groove 28 in receiving portion 22. Further, ball bearings 50 may sit in an indentation or aperture on the surface of prongs 32, may traverse a clearance between prongs 32 and top portion 30A of handle 30 and may further traverse top portion 30A and any clearance between top portion 30A and receiving portion 22.

As seen from FIG. 10, handle 30 may include a movable piece 40 inside (i.e. inward) of prongs 32, which piece 40 may be movable axially within prongs 32 as a result of a user grasping and dragging or pulling an actuator 36 which may be integrally connected to piece 40. For example, actuator 36 may be a textured outer surface of piece 40 accessible through housing slot 36a, as seen in FIG. 8 and FIG. 11, or may include a simple knob accessible to the user. Movable piece 40 may be a cylinder.

As seen from FIG. 1, actuator 36 may be any well known means for causing the setting of the tightness of prongs 32 against ball bearings 50 and against inner wall 23 of receiving portion 22 of roller 20 for example by controlling the sliding of movable piece 40 inside prongs 32 of top portion 30A of handle 30. For example, as seen from FIG. 11, actuator 36 may be a simple knob 36 projecting perpendicularly outward from handle 30 sufficiently so that housing 31 of handle acts as a stopping mechanism limiting movement of actuator 36. Alternatively, actuator 36 may be a bump projecting perpendicularly from a prong of prongs 32. Actuator 36 may be accessible to the user through housing 31 of handle 30, for example through a space in housing 31 of handle 30, as seen in FIG. 11. Actuator 36 may be used to adjust the axial position of movable piece 40, for example by moving or pulling actuator 36 with the user's finger, for example during use of hairbrush 10.

As seen from FIGS. 1-3 and FIG. 10, movable piece 40 may slide through prongs 32 of handle 30 by means of a simple friction fit that allows enough clearance for such sliding. Any other suitable means for accomplishing the axial movement of piece 40 through prongs inside top portion 30A of handle 30 may be used. For example, springs may be used within handle 30 to control sliding motion of piece 40.

Top portion 30A of handle 30 may mate with the receiving portion 22 so that when movable piece 40 is in a retracted position, as seen in FIG. 1, receiving portion 22 of roller 20 (and roller 20 in general) may be rotatable with respect to handle 30, and in particular with respect to top portion 30A of handle 30. When movable piece 40 is in an extended position, as seen in FIG. 3, receiving portion 22 (and roller 20 in general) may not be rotatable with respect to handle 30. When movable piece 40 is in an intermediate position, for example in a partially retracted and partially extended position, as seen in FIG. 2, roller 20 may be rotatable but with greater resistance to rotation than when movable piece 40 is in a fully retracted position. In all, the more retracted movable piece 40 may be, the easier it may be to rotate roller 20 with respect to handle 30 (or handle 30 with respect to roller 20).

As best appreciated from FIG. 10, the reason for the changes in resistance to rotation of receiving portion 22 of roller 20 with respect to handle 30 may be that the distal end 32a of prongs 32 may be more flexible than the proximal end 32b of prongs 32 due to distal end 32a of prongs 32 being further away from the base 33 of prongs 32. The present invention may exploit this differential in flexibility with the use of ball bearings 50 that may allow a sliding axial movement of movable piece 40 to vary the pressure of prongs 32 against inner wall 23 of roller 20 transmitted by means of ball bearings 50.

Ball bearings 50 of handle 30 may allow top portion 30A of handle 30 containing prongs 32 to rotate with respect to receiving portion 22 of roller 20. As seen from FIG. 1, FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B and FIG. 10, ball bearings 50 may be in contact with inner wall 23 of receiving portion 22 of roller 20. Accordingly, when movable piece 40 is adjacent the flexible distal end 32a of prongs 32, it is harder to rotate roller 20 with respect to handle 30 (or handle 30 with respect to roller 20). In contrast, when movable piece 40 is in fully retracted position, as in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, a tangle which represents a force counteracting the motion of brush 10 during use may allow an automatic counter-rotation of roller 20 in relation to top portion 30A of handle 30, thereby going around the tangle. In contrast, when the tightness of prongs 32 is set to its maximum, for example when movable piece 40 is in fully extended position, as seen in FIG. 3, roller 20 cannot rotate.

Preferably, as seen from FIGS. 1-3, there may be a ball bearing 50 for each prong of prongs 32. There may also be a second set of ball bearings on one or more prongs 32 that may be further away from roller 20 than the first set of ball bearings 50. These additional ball bearings 50 may serve to further stabilize the attachment and operative rotational engagement of handle 30 to roller 20.

As seen from FIG. 1, receiving portion 22 may have a hollow groove 28 that may permit forced entry and forced exit of bumps 111 that may be located at a distal end of prongs 32 within top portion 30A of handle 30. Bumps 111 may also be viewed more broadly to encompass a continuous flange 111. Groove 28 and bumps 111 may help stabilize attachment of handle 30 to receiving portion 22 of roller 20.

Top portion 30A of handle 30 may be fixed axially within handle 30 partly by means of bumps 111 and groove 28. Ball bearings 50 (including any optional second set of ball bearings) may be fixed relative to handle 30. As seen from FIG. 1, when it may be desired to detach handle 30 from roller 20, an axial force, such as a manual pull, may successfully force top portion 30A of handle 30 out of groove 28 of receiving portion 22 of roller 20 to separate handle 30 from roller 20.

In an alternative embodiment, there may be more than one set of ball bearings 50 for each prong 32. The position of ball bearings 50 within top portion 30A of handle 30 may vary and may be closer or farther from the distal end of top portion (the end close to roller 20) that is shown in the drawings.

The inner diameter of receiving portion 22 of roller 20 may be sized and shaped to accommodate an outer diameter of the top portion 30A of handle 30 inserted in receiving portion 22, and there may be a clearance between receiving portion 22 and top portion 30A to accommodate ball bearings 50 of handle 30. Inner diameter of receiving portion 22 may be slightly larger than the outer diameter so that a small clearance may exist between receiving portion 22 and the top portion of handle 30, thereby allowing handle 30 to fit into roller 20. As seen from FIG. 4, receiving portion 22 may have an inner wall 23. Inner wall 23 of receiving portion 22 may have ribs 23a to control the rotation of ball bearings 50 of top portion 30A of handle 30. Ribs 23a may exist substantially throughout an entire length of receiving portion 22, although preferably ribs 23a may be interrupted in the area of groove 28 so as to allow a smooth surface along groove 28, as seen in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B.

The top portion 30A of handle 30 and everything inside it including prongs 32, movable piece 40 and ball bearings 50, together with the receiving portion 22 of roller 20 including inner wall 23 and ribs 23a, may be said to form a coupling mechanism 100 coupling handle 30 to hair roller 20. This coupling mechanism 100 may allow hair roller 20 to automatically rotate on an axis of rotation when hair roller 20 encounters a tangle during use of hairbrush 10. The axis of rotation may be parallel to a length of hair roller 20. Generally, as seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 9, handle 30 may be substantially parallel to the axis of rotation.

Coupling mechanism 100 may include a setting to vary a degree of resistance to the rotation of the hair roller 20 to correspond to the hair type of the client. This setting may comprise or may be controlled by axially movable piece 40. Movable piece 40 may project through housing 31 of handle 30 so as to be accessible and controllable by a user. Actuator 36 or knob 36 may allow movable piece 40 to move axially relative to prongs 32, which may cause the degree of resistance to the rotation of hair roller 20 to vary. Such degree of rotation may be chosen to correspond to a hair type of the client.

Coupling mechanism 100 may include receiving portion 22 having ribbed inner wall 23 and may include ball bearings 50 situated between prongs 32 of handle 30 and ribbed inner wall 23 of receiving portion 22, the receiving portion 22 located at a proximal end of the hair roller 20.

Handle 30 may be detached from hair roller 20 by pulling them apart to overcome the axial force of the coupling mechanism 100.

In certain embodiments, receiving portion 22 may itself be or may contain a magnet. If prongs 32 are metallic, a magnetic attraction may exist between prongs 32 and all or a part of the receiving portion 22. However, the main purpose of magnetic ring 65 around receiving portion 22 may be to increase attraction between rollers 20 which may be metal.

As can be seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 8, hair roller 20 may include bristles 99. Bristles 99 of hair roller 20 may be disposable. For example, as seen from FIG. 8, the bristles 99 plus the bristle stick (bristle bed) 99a that may hold the bristles 99 may be separated from the housing 24 of roller 20. Hair roller 20 may be metal and may have parallel linear apertures 21 through which bristles 99 protrude.

As seen from FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, in certain embodiments, hairbrush 10 may include a magnetic pin 77 at the proximal end of the handle in stored position. The magnetic nature of pin 77 helps in storage. As seen from FIG. 6B magnetic pin 77 may be available for use in parting the client's hair.

In certain embodiments, as seen in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, roller 20 may be extensible by adding a second roller 20B to a first roller 20A. Thus roller 20 may comprise a first roller 20A and a second roller 20B, and may even comprise a third (not shown) and subsequent rollers (not shown). This lengthens brush 10. First roller 20A and second roller 20B may be aligned linearly and held together magnetically, as shown in FIG. 11A, at their flat sides. This may allow the user to make one straight comb-through of a length of the client's hair in a smooth manner and shortens the total time needed to work with the hair. This is particularly valuable for controlling the hair of clients with long hair by taking a larger amount of hair at one time. First roller 20A and second roller 20B may be identical so that first and second roller 20A, 20B can be interchanged. Alternatively, all or a portion of receiving portion 22 may be omitted from second roller 20B since handle 30 may not need to be attached to second roller 20B. In this case, however, second roller 20B may still include annular magnet ring 65 and/or magnet 66 so that first roller 20A and second roller 20B may be aligned linearly and held together magnetically.

As seen from FIG. 12, the present invention also describes an apparatus comprising a collection of hair rollers set in position in the hair 69 on the head of a person. These rollers 20 may have been placed in the hair after being detached from handle of brushes or may have been placed there in other ways. As seen in FIG. 12, each hair roller 20 of the plurality of hair rollers may be cylindrical and may have a first end and a second end. The first end of each roller 20 may have a first magnet 67a embedded therein and the second end of the rollers 20 may have a second magnet 67b embedded therein. Alternatively, some of the rollers may be metallic without having magnets embedded therein.

The first magnet 67a at the first end of the rollers 20 may be in the form of an annular magnetic ring 65 on an end cap 29 as in FIG. 1 or may be embedded at the first end of roller 20 in some other way. Similarly, second magnet 67b may be embedded at the second end of roller 20 similar to the magnet 66 such as appears at the proximal end of roller 20 as seen in FIG. 11B or it may be embedded at the second end in some other way.

Each first magnet 67a may have an opposite magnetic charge to each second magnet 67b. The hair rollers 20 of the plurality of hair rollers may therefore be configured in the hair so that first and second ends of the hair rollers having the same magnetic charge are not so close to one another as to cause a repelling force that moves the hair rollers out of position in the hair. An example of this is intended to be illustrated by the rollers 20 in FIG. 12 but other configurations may be used to achieve the same purpose.

As seen from FIG. 13, the present invention may also be viewed as a method 100 of rolling hair. Method 100 may include a step 110 of setting a position on a hairbrush 10 that is comprised of a roller 20 and a detachable handle 30. The position may determine a resistance to rotation of the roller 20 relative to the handle 30 by determining how tightly prongs 32 press against receiving portion 22 of roller 20. The top portion 30A of handle 30 may be operatively engaged to the roller 20.

Method 100 may also include a step 120 of applying the hairbrush 10 to the hair so that the roller 20 rolls the hair. Method 100 may further include a step 130 of rotating the roller relative to the handle when the roller encounters a tangle in the hair. Finally, method 100 may further include an additional step 140 of detaching the handle 30 from the roller 20 to allow the roller 20 to remain in the hair.

As seen from FIG. 14, the present invention may also be viewed as a method 200 of using a hairbrush, such as the hairbrush 10 described above. Method 200 may include a step (a) shown in box 210 of FIG. 13 of inserting a bristle assembly 99B (comprising bristles 99 plus bristle stick 99a) into a roller 20 of a hairbrush 10, the roller 20 having linear apertures 21, so that the bristles 99 project through the apertures 21. Method 200 may also include step (b) shown in box 220 of FIG. 13 of applying the hairbrush to hair of a person so that the roller 20 rolls the hair of the person in a manner known in the art. Method 200 may also include a step 230 of removing the handle 30 so that the roller 20 may detach from the handle 30 and remain in the hair of the person. Method 200 may include a further step 240 of removing the roller from the hair and a further step 250 of attaching the handle 30 to the roller 20. In accordance with method 200, a step 260 involves repeating the steps shown in boxes 220 through 240 (i.e. applying the hairbrush . . . removing the handle . . . and removing the roller from the hair . . . ) until the bristles need to be changed. Further, method 200 may include a further step 270 of separating the bristle assembly 99B from the roller 20 for disposal of the bristle assembly 99B. Method 200 may still further include a step 280 of inserting a new bristle assembly 99B into the roller 20.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A hairbrush for use on hair of a client, comprising:

a handle;

a hair roller including bristles;

a coupling mechanism coupling the handle to the hair roller, the coupling mechanism allowing the hair roller to automatically rotate on an axis of rotation when the hair roller encounters a tangle during use of the hairbrush, the coupling mechanism having a setting to vary a degree of resistance to the rotation of the hair roller to correspond to a hair type of the client,

wherein the coupling of the hair roller to the handle can be manually overcome to detach the handle from the hair roller.

2. The hairbrush of claim 1, wherein the handle is substantially parallel to the axis of rotation.

3. The hairbrush of claim 1, wherein the coupling mechanism includes a ribbed inner wall of a receiving portion of the hair roller.

4. The hairbrush of claim 1, wherein the coupling mechanism includes ball bearings situated between prongs of the handle and an inner wall of a receiving portion of the hair roller, the receiving portion located at a proximal end of the hair roller.

5. The hairbrush of claim 3, wherein the roller has a magnet at a distal end thereof for attraction to other rollers set in the client's hair.

6. The hairbrush of claim 1, wherein the setting is controlled by an axially movable piece that projects through an outer surface of the handle.

7. The hairbrush of claim 1, wherein the hair roller is metal and has substantially parallel linear apertures through which bristles protrude.

8. The hairbrush of claim 1, wherein the handle has a magnetic pin stored at a proximal end of the handle, the pin capable of being used to part the client's hair.

9. The hairbrush of claim 1, wherein the bristles of the hair roller are disposable.

10. A method of rolling hair for one or more clients, comprising:

setting a position on a hairbrush, the hairbrush comprised of a roller and a handle, the handle having a top portion and prongs, the position determining a resistance to rotation of the roller relative to the handle by determining how tightly the prongs press against a receiving portion of the roller;

applying the hairbrush to the hair so that the roller rolls the hair; and

rotating the roller relative to the handle when the roller encounters a tangle in the hair

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising detaching the handle from the roller to allow the roller to remain in the hair.

12. The method of claim 10, further including re-setting the hairbrush to a second position for a second client, wherein the second client has a different hair type than the first client.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining the tightness by setting an axial position of an element inside the prongs.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising removing the roller from the hair and separating a bristle assembly from the roller for disposal of the bristles assembly.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising inserting a new bristle assembly into the roller.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising repeating the method for each of a number of rollers that remain in a person's hair and are held in place using magnets.

17. A hairbrush, comprising:

a hair roller having a receiving portion;

a handle including a top portion and prongs, the prongs having an axially movable element inward of the prongs, the top portion mating with the receiving portion so that when a position of the axially movable element is set in a fully retracted position, the top portion is rotatable inside the receiving portion and when the axially movable element is set in a less than fully retracted position, the top portion is harder to rotate inside the receiving portion,

wherein the handle is detachable from the hair roller.

18. The hairbrush of claim 17, including ball bearings between the prongs and the receiving portion.

19. The hairbrush of claim 17, wherein the prongs have bumps and wherein the receiving portion has a channel for receipt of the bumps.

20. The hairbrush of claim 17, wherein the roller is not rotatable relative to the handle when the axially movable element is in a fully extended position.

21. The hairbrush of claim 17, wherein the roller is extensible and comprises a first roller and a second roller, the first and second rollers aligned linearly and held together magnetically.

22. A method of using a hairbrush, comprising:

(a) inserting a bristle assembly into a roller of a hairbrush, the roller having linear apertures, so that the bristles project through the apertures;

(b) applying the hairbrush to hair of a person so that the roller rolls the hair and repeating this step (b) until the bristles need to be changed;

(c) separating the bristle assembly from the roller for disposal of the bristle assembly; and

(d) inserting a new bristle assembly into the roller.

23. The method of claim 22, further including steps of removing the handle so that the roller detaches from the handle and remains in the hair, removing the roller from the hair and re-attaching the handle to the roller before the step of separating the bristle assembly from the roller.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of hair rollers set in position in the hair on a head of a person,

each hair roller of the plurality of hair rollers including a first end and a second end, the first end having a first magnet embedded therein, the second end having a second magnet embedded therein, each first magnet having an opposite magnetic charge to each second magnet, the hair rollers of the plurality of hair rollers configured in the hair so that first and second ends of the hair rollers having the same magnetic charge are not so close to one another as to cause a repelling force that moves the hair rollers out of position in the hair.