PINCH CLAMP

Abstract

The invention relates to a finger nail or pinch clamp comprising a tubular clamping body (1), a spacer tube (2) and a ring (3), with said tubular clamping body (1) having two longitudinally extending and, in cross-sectional view, convexly-concavely curved legs (4) between which longitudinal slots (5) are arranged, and with the legs (4) on the first end of the finger nail clamp being held together whereas on the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp the legs (4) can freely move, and with the legs (4) towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp in becoming more narrow on at least one longitudinal side so that the longitudinal slot (5) or gap on at least one longitudinal side of the clamping body (1) widens towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp to form a recess (8), and with a spacer tube (2) extending longitudinally within the interior of the clamping body (1), said spacer tube (2) being secured inside the interior of the clamping body (1) and ending at the second end (7) of the nail clamp in front of the clamping body (1), and with a ring (3) arranged on the clamping body (1), with said ring being slidable in longitudinal direction and thus capable of pressing the legs (4) of the clamping body (1) together when moved towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp. The inventive finger nail clamp will help facilitating the pinching process adopted in the creation of artificial finger nails because, for one thing, an inadvertent detachment of the pinch clamp can be largely ruled out and, what is more, the inventive finger nail clamp requires only little room so that the nail designer may continue with his work on other fingers.

Description

The invention relates to a finger nail clamp used in the so-called pinching process.

In the field of cosmetics the care of finger nails is very important for many women. Aside from the care and varnishing of natural finger nails the use of artificial nails also plays a significant part. The fitting and design of artificial finger nails has meanwhile become an important branch of economic activity. Moreover, competitions are held in this field for which especially ambitious nail designs are created also from an artistic point of view.

In the design of artificial nails an artificial nail tip can be stuck to the end of the finger nail following which the surface is smoothed out by applying a gel. After this, the nail can be treated further, for example by applying coatings or painting etc.

Another frequently employed way of producing artificial finger nails requires the initial removal of skin remnants from the nail body and applying a dehydrator to the nail body to eliminate moisture. A modeling material is then applied to a template attached to the finger nail to enable the free nail tip to be modeled. Following this, a clear coat finish may be applied to the completed modeling. Modeling as a rule is carried out by using as a basis an acrylic powder-liquid mixture or by applying a gel. Finger nails on acrylic basis are harder and last longer, nails on gel basis offer advantages in that they are very flexible and scratch resistant. Another aspect when designing gel nails is that unpleasant odors typically emitted in the process of making acrylic nails are avoided. When creating gel nails a hardening process under UV light must usually take place which is not required for acrylic nails.

Especially when creating acrylic nails but also in the production of gel finger nails an additional step may be carried out after nail modeling, i.e. the so-called pinching process. Pinching involves the side contours of the nail to be pressed together, i.e. the curvature is increased so that, when viewing the nail from the front, a visually appealing C curve is produced. Aside from enhancing the visual appearance pinching has the additional advantage of improving the durability of the product because the curvature of the tunnel also results in a higher nail strength and reduced risk of nail breakage. Pinching takes place when the material used for modeling has already started to harden initially but is still elastic. When producing acrylic nails one has to wait briefly until an adequate incipient hardening has taken place initially; when making gel nails the modeled nail is usually placed in a light hardening device (for appr. 10 to 15 s) before the nail is shaped by pinching.

During pinching a small metal tube is usually placed under the finger nail, the top side of the free nail tip is compressed, for instance by means of a tweezers, and a clamp placed onto the finger nail to make sure the pinched shape or form can properly harden/cure.

For clamping purposes very simple devices have hitherto been put to use which roughly speaking have the form of a slide gage. The desired form of the finger nail is achieved by appropriately positioning the clamp with the clamp legs kept in compressed state with the help of a rubber band.

When considering this state of the art it is obvious that the pinch clamps require considerable room and are also prone to detach on account of their rather unsafe method of attachment to the finger nail and when manipulated without utmost caution exercised. Moreover, the fixation of the finger nail often leaves much to be desired. To make sure the clamp does not shift or even fall down the customer must virtually keep still for a certain period of time. What is more, work on other fingers cannot continue as a rule because the clamp positioned on a finger is very space consuming and impedes the treatment of other fingers.

Proceeding from what is known from prior art it is therefore the objective of the invention to provide a pinch or finger nail clamp which, on the one hand, is securely positioned on a finger, even if customers moves their fingers, and on the other hand allows the nail designers to continue with work on other fingers thus making sure their work is not disturbed by finger nail clamps placed on one or several other fingers.

In accordance with the invention this objective is achieved by providing a finger nail clamp comprising a tubular clamping body, a spacer tube and a ring, with said tubular clamping body having two longitudinally extending and, in cross-sectional view, convexly-concavely curved legs between which longitudinal slots are arranged, and with the legs on the first end of the finger nail clamp being held together whereas on the second end of the finger nail clamp the legs can freely move, and with the legs towards the second end of the finger nail clamp becoming more narrow on at least one longitudinal side so that the longitudinal slot or gap on at least one longitudinal side of the clamping body widens to form a recess towards the second end of the finger nail clamp, and with a spacer tube extending longitudinally within the interior of the clamping body, said spacer tube being secured inside the interior of the clamping body and ending at the second end of the nail clamp in front of the clamping body, and with a ring arranged on the clamping body, with said ring being slidable in longitudinal direction and thus capable of pressing the legs of the clamping body together when moved towards the second end of the finger nail clamp.

By providing the inventive finger nail clamp a basically tubular pinch clamp is made available which is very reliably seated on the finger and can only be removed by releasing the ring so that it cannot come off inadvertently. Moreover, as a result of the tubular shape of the clamp a finger with nail clamp in place may even be considered as having merely been largely extended in length with the positive effect that work on the other fingers is practically not interfered with. When putting the finger nail clamp in position the end where the recess is located is placed onto the nail, i.e. the more narrow sides of the legs forming the recess will abut on the finger nail. The legs of the clamping body are thus positioned in the nail edge area and serve to press the side lines of the nail together so that a more convex finger nail shape is achieved. The recess formed in the clamping body makes sure the legs can extend over a certain length of the finger nail without exerting squeezing pressure on the finger and in this manner prevents finger pad contusion. The spacer tube serves as stop element and determines how far the nail clamp can be pushed onto the finger. Moreover, the spacer tube has a significant influence on the shaping of the finger nail because it co-determines the degree of nail curvature. The spacer tube thus fulfills a dual function. In the process of pushing the finger nail clamp in position the ring initially is arranged at the first end of the nail clamp, i.e. at the end where the ends of the clamping body are held together so that the legs of the clamping body can be slid onto the finger nail without much resistance to be overcome. Subsequently, the ring is moved in the direction of the second end of the finger nail clamp and in this manner compresses the free ends of the clamping body legs to enable the nail clamp to be secured in position. The ring is now pushed forward to such an extent that, on the one hand, a sufficient fixation of the finger nail clamp is achieved and, on the other, the process will not be painful to the customer.

The width of the legs reduces towards the second end of the finger nail clamp along the axis that corresponds to the connecting line between the longitudinal slots, i.e. orthogonally to the longitudinal direction of the clamping body. The legs have a convex-concave shape with the concavely curved sides being arranged so as to face each other and with a longitudinal slot formed and extending between the legs on both sides.

Since the spacer tube extends through the interior of the clamping body the diameter of the spacer tube has to be somewhat smaller than that of the clamping body. At most, the outside diameter of the spacer tube may coincide with the inside diameter of the clamping body. Arranged on the clamping body is a ring which is movable in longitudinal direction and has an inside diameter which, at least in the area of the second end of the finger nail clamp, should be somewhat smaller than the outside diameter of the clamping body so that by the sliding movement of the ring a clamping action can be achieved.

Typically, the legs are rounded in the area where they narrow towards the second end of the finger nail clamp, that means towards the second end of the nail clamp the legs for the main part uniformly take on a narrower shape and finally terminate in very narrow leg elements. Over most of the length of the clamping body the legs are designed to be of equal width, i.e. have a constant cross section, while they become narrower near the second clamp end. Whereas in the area of the first end of the finger nail clamp as well as in the middle area the legs have a convex-concave shape so that all in all a tubular form of the clamping body with longitudinal slots is brought about, they are usually curved only slightly in the area of the second end of the finger nail clamp.

Additionally, at the second end of the finger nail clamp the legs may be provided with a stepped shoulder facing the side of the recess, said shoulder resulting in the legs becoming even narrower at the point where the second end terminates. This prevents the skin in the area of the nail wall at the root of the finger nail from suffering contusion.

The manufacture of the finger nail clamp and in particular the clamping body and spacer tube may involve use of different materials. For manufacture aluminum is the preferred material, in particular anodized aluminum. The slidable ring may also be made of aluminum but often consists of plastic material, for example polyoxymethylene (POM). The finger nail clamp may of course be made of other materials, for example of stainless steel, or completely of plastic material to create an even more cost effective product.

To achieve an effective clamping action it is considered advantageous to have the diameter of the clamping body increase slightly from the first to the second end, with said clamping body seen in its rest position, i.e. without having the ring moved towards the second end. Therefore, to produce the clamping effect the longitudinally slidable ring is shifted from the point where it can be easily moved towards the area where clamping actually takes place. In the area of the first end the diameter of the clamping body may thus be slightly smaller while in the area of the second end it becomes slightly greater than the inside diameter of the ring so that the legs are pressed together when the ring is shifted in the direction of the second end whereas they are released again by spring action when the ring is moved towards the first end. By releasing the finger nail clamp in this manner it can be easily removed from the finger when the pinch process has been completed. Moreover, an outside diameter of the clamping body slightly greater than the inside diameter of the ring in the area of the second end prevents the ring from being pulled off or falling off the clamping body when the clamp is not in use.

Advantageously, the first end of the finger nail clamp, that is the region where the legs are held together, is provided with an area the diameter of which is greater and therefore prevents the ring from being pulled off via the first end of the nail clamp. Accordingly, this portion may thus be designed so as to be slightly thicker.

In the area of the first end of the finger nail clamp the spacer tube is usually attached to the nail clamp by employing customary joining methods which include, for example, welding, soldering, bonding/gluing or screw fastening. The legs of the clamping body may be made using components of a tube into which longitudinal slots are cut on both sides but, alternatively, completely separate legs may be provided which are held together only in the area of the first end of the finger nail clamp in such a manner that the two convexly-concavely shaped legs are arranged such that, basically, they take on the form of a tube provided with longitudinal slots.

As mentioned earlier, the legs must become narrower at least on one side so that a recess is formed at least on one longitudinal side of the clamping body. However, it is also conceivable to arrange for the legs to become narrower on both longitudinal sides towards the second end of the finger nail clamp so that the longitudinal slots on both longitudinal sides of the clamping body enlarge in the direction of the second end thus forming a recess. In this way the flexibility of the finger nail clamp is further enhanced and its manipulability improved.

The spacer tube ends in front of the second end of the finger nail clamp, i.e. its extension in the direction of the second end is smaller than that of the legs. The length adjustment in this context must provide for the spacer tube to end at the finger pad whereas the ends of the legs extend beyond the finger nail proper. To enable fingers and finger nails of different customers to be dealt with as well as take into account the different finger types (index, middle, ring, little fingers and thumb) finger nail clamps of various design may thus be kept ready for use, said clamps may differ with respect to diameter, curvature of legs and configuration of the recess arranged in the clamping body. Since the curvature of the spacer tube also co-determines the curvature of the finger nail different nail clamp spacer tubes may be employed to bring about the nail curvature desired in each individual case.

The individual sizes and dimension are selected to suit the different fingers of the usually female customers and therefore may slightly vary. Moreover, the curvature of the clamping body as well as that of the spacer tube may also vary to achieve the desired pinching result, i.e. if a customer requests a very high finger nail curvature the curvature of the finger nail clamp must also be appropriately higher and vice versa. Typically, the entire length of the finger nail clamp ranges between 50 and 70 mm, and the length of the clamp legs may vary between 40 and 60 mm. The approximate length of the recess is similar to that of a typical finger nail, for examples ranges between appr. 12 and 18 mm.

The outside diameter of the clamping body may increase from the first towards the second end so that more and more force need be exerted to shift the ring in the direction of the second end to achieve the desired clamping action in this manner. The typical outside diameter of the clamping body in the area of the smaller diameter therefore ranges between 11 and 13 mm while this is between 12.5 and 14.5 mm in the area of the larger diameter. Also the inside diameter of the longitudinally movable ring should be suitably matched to these dimensions and, for example, be in the range of appr. 12 to 13 mm. Accordingly, shifting the ring in the area of the first end of the finger nail clamp will thus be easier than moving it along the area of the second end. The outside diameter of the longitudinally movable ring is deemed less critical but should nevertheless be selected such that the ring can be easily seized and manipulated. Therefore, a typical outside diameter ranges between 16 and 20 mm.

The length of the spacer tube shall be selected such that the tube abuts against the finger pad when the nail clamp has been placed in position and shall typically range between 30 and 50 mm. At the second end the spacer tube ends some millimeters ahead of the legs of the clamping body, typically between 2 and 8 mm. Its outside diameter may, for example, range between 6 and 8 mm so that the clamping body can accommodate the spacer tube without difficulty. The inside diameter of the spacer tube, for example, amounts to 4 to 6 mm; care should be taken in this context to avoid any sharp edges which the customer may find unpleasant or even painful.

To make it even more comfortable for the customer, individual or all edges of the finger nail clamp may be chamfered/broken and to the extent possible sharp transition points avoided in this way.

Further elucidation of the invention is provided through the enclosed figures, where

FIG. 1: shows a side view of an inventive finger nail clamp;

FIG. 2: is a top view of the finger nail clamp according to the invention with spacer tube not shown;

FIG. 3: is a frontal view of the finger nail clamp according to the invention as per section A-A shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4: is a top view of the finger nail clamp according to the invention with spacer tube shown, and

FIG. 5: is a top view of the finger nail clamp according to the invention with spacer tube and displaced ring shown.

In FIG. 1 the inventive finger nail or pinch clamp is illustrated in the form of a side view. It shows the clamping body 1 which primarily comprises two legs 4 which are held together at the first end 6 and are free to move at the second end 7. Towards the second end 7 the legs 4 become more narrow and form the recess 8 into which the fingertip is inserted to enable the pinching process to be carried out. Within the clamping body 1 a spacer tube 2 is arranged and indicated with the help of a broken line, said tube acting as stop element so to speak for the finger tip. Furthermore, the spacer tube 2 also contributes in the process of shaping the curvature of the finger nail. The ring 3 arranged on clamping body 1 can be moved in longitudinal direction as shown by arrow 9. At the first end 6 of the finger nail clamp an area of increased diameter 11 has been arranged to prevent the ring 3 from slipping off or being pulled off. At the is second end 7 the clamping body 1 has been provided with shoulder 10 preventing the skin in the area of the nail wall at the root of the finger nail from suffering contusion.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the finger nail clamp with the spacer tube 2 not being shown for simplification. It can be seen that the clamping body 1 consists of two legs 4 between which a longitudinal slot 5 extends. In the direction of the second end 7 said longitudinal slot 5 widens to form recess 8 brought about in that legs 4 are designed to be significantly more narrow in this area. The ring 3 is shown in rest position in which the clamping action of the finger nail clamp is lowest so that the nail clamp can be easily placed in position on a finger.

FIG. 3 is a frontal view of the finger nail clamp in accordance with section A-A shown in FIG. 2. Legs 4 have a convex-concave shape with the concavely curved sides being arranged facing each other and with a longitudinal slot 5 formed and extending between legs 4 on both sides.

FIG. 4 corresponds with FIG. 2 with the exception that spacer tube 2 arranged inside the clamping body 1 and extending in longitudinal direction has been shown here. The spacer tube 2 serves as stop element on which the fingertip abuts, said tube thus limits the advancement of the finger nail clamp and contributes in shaping the curvature of the nail.

FIG. 5 illustrates the finger nail clamp shown in FIG. 4 but with the ring being moved towards the second end 7. In this way the legs 4 of the clamping body 1 are pressed together resulting in a clamping action to be achieved. Ring 3 is moved in the direction of the second end 7 to such an extent that, on the one hand, the finger nail clamp is securely held on the finger and, on the other, it is ensured customers do not feel pain.

Claims

1. Finger nail clamp comprising a tubular clamping body (1), a spacer tube (2) and a ring (3), with said tubular clamping body (1) having two longitudinally extending and, in cross-sectional view, convexly-concavely curved legs (4) between which longitudinal slots (5) are arranged, and with the legs (4) on the first end (6) of the finger nail clamp being held together whereas on the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp the legs (4) can freely move, and with the legs (4) towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp becoming more narrow on at least one longitudinal side so that the longitudinal slot (5) or gap on at least one longitudinal side of the clamping body (1) widens to form a recess (8) towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp, and with a spacer tube (2) extending longitudinally within the interior of the clamping body (1), said spacer tube (2) being secured inside the interior of the clamping body (1) and ending at the second end of the nail clamp in front of the clamping body (1), and with a ring (3) arranged on the clamping body (1), with said ring being slidable in longitudinal direction and thus capable of pressing the legs (4) of the clamping body (1) together when moved towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp.

2. Finger nail clamp according to claim 1, characterized in that the legs (4) in the area where they become narrower towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp are rounded.

3. Finger nail clamp according to claim 1, characterized in that the legs (4) at the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp have a stepped shoulder (8) at the side facing the recess.

4. Finger nail clamp according to any one of claims 1, characterized in that the clamping body (1) and the spacer tube (2) are made of aluminum.

5. Finger nail clamp according to claim 4, characterized in that the clamping body (1) and the spacer tube (2) are made of anodized aluminum.

6. Finger nail clamp according to claim 1, characterized in that the diameter of the clamping body (1) increases slightly from the first end (6) towards the second end (7).

7. Finger nail clamp according to claim 1, characterized in that at the first end (6) of the finger nail clamp an area of increased diameter (11) is arranged which prevents the ring (3) from being pulled off via the first end (6) of the finger nail clamp.

8. Finger nail clamp according to claim 1, characterized in that the legs (4) become narrower on both longitudinal sides towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp so that longitudinal slots (5) on both longitudinal sides of the clamping body (1) enlarge towards the second end (7) of the finger nail clamp thus forming recesses.