Brush Head Partially Covered with Brush Tips or Randomly Directed Bristles and Method of Use

Abstract

An improved hair brush having a prism shaped brush head, such as a cylindrical brush head, with spaced apart brush tips or tufts of bristles distributed around a portion of the 360° of the outer surface. The spaced apart brush tips or bristles may be present in only ⅓ (i.e. 120°) to ½ (i.e. 180°) of the entire outer surface, or it may cover more or less than this range to improve the smoothing or curling of a user's hair. Each tuft of bristles may have different lengths and randomly be directed at different directions.

Description

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201520719400.8 filed on Sep. 16, 2015.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a brush and the method of use. In particular, an improved hair brush with a brush head, a partial portion of which is covered with spaced apart brush tips or bristles that are randomly directed such that the hair brush serves both as a brush and a comb, and improves the smoothing or curling of a user's hair when being used as a brush for styling.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hair brushes and combs are common hair styling tools. Whether being used at home or at a professional hair salon, they are indispensable. A brush, in particular, a round brush, is usually used while styling hair with a blow dryer, to smooth, straighten or curl the hair. Such round brush typically has brush elements such as brush tips or distinct tufts of bristles with the bristles in each tuft having substantially the same length and directed at the same general direction. On the other hand, a comb is usually used for styling mid- to short-length hair, such as to fluff or to stand up the hair. A brush and a comb are typically two distinct and separate tools.

Therefore, there is a need for an improved brush that can serve as both a brush and a comb for different uses or for multiple users.

Hair brushes that are used for styling hair with a blow dryer typically have spaced apart brush tips or tufts of bristles covering the entire brush head. One such type of prior art brush is a round brush having a cylindrical brush head with spaced apart brush tips or tufts of bristles extending radially from the brush head and evenly distributed around the entire 360° of the curved circumferential surface. To style the hair with a blow dryer, hair is placed among the spaced apart brush tips or tufts of bristles around the curved surface with a blow dryer's hot air directed at the hair resting against the curved surface of the brush head while the hair is being pulled away from the user's scalp. When styling with a blow dryer with such prior art brush, hair often becomes entangled among the brush tips or tufts of bristles, making it difficult for a user to properly manipulate and style the hair. Extended contact of the brush with a blow dryer's hot air can damage the brush tips or bristles and shorten the useful life of the brush. Further, the brush tips and bristles must be sufficiently heat resistant to prevent melting or damage from the blow dryer's hot air.

Therefore, there is a need for an improved brush that is easy to use for styling hair with a blow dryer and avoid damaging the brush tips or bristles when being used to style a user's hair with a blow dryer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an improved hair brush having a prism brush head, such as a cylindrical brush head, with spaced apart brush tips or tufts of bristles distributed around a portion of the 360° of the outer surface. The spaced apart brush tips or bristles may be present in only ⅓ (i.e. 120°) to ½ (i.e. 180°) of the entire outer surface, or it may cover more (as much as 355°) or less (as little as 5°) than this range.

The present invention is an improved hair brush having a plurality of tufts of bristles thereon. Each tuft of bristles includes bristles of different lengths and randomly directed at different directions.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there is a ceramic layer around the outer surface of the brush head.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there is a fixed handle at one of the brush head. The fixed handle has at least one grip section, and several raised ribs on the surface of the grip section.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the height of the raised ribs increases from the outer edges towards the inner center of the grip section.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the height of the raised ribs are evenly distributed to the inner center of the grip section.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there are six raised ribs in each grip section.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the raised ribs are made of a resilient material.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the improved hair brush includes a pick pin. The pick pin is removably positioned in a storage chamber formed from a cavity at the end of the handle.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the pick pin includes a pin element, a docking element and a protrusion. The storage chamber includes a first chamber that stores the pin element or the protrusion, a second chamber that stores the docking element, and the first chamber is near the cavity of the handle.

The technical principles and effects are as follow:

The outer surface of the brush head has a portion (⅓ to ½) with spaced apart brush tips or tufts of bristles. To brush hair, the brush tips or bristles grip the hair. When the brush head is rotated around its longitudinal axis, hair is curled around the outer surface of the brush head and a blow dryer's hot air can be directed to the portion of the brush head without brush tips or bristles to heat up this portion. Without directing a blow dryer's hot air at the brush tips or bristles, they remain relatively cooler, thereby protecting them from the high temperature or damage resulting from the hot air, and extending the useful life of the brush. In addition, it is not necessary to direct hot air at the hair, lessening any damage to the hair. Another advantage is that due to the lack of brush tips or bristles on a portion of the brush head, mid- to short-length hair can also be styled using the brush tips or bristles as if it is a comb.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention have been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and are shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the hair brush of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the brush head of the hair brush of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the pick pin of the hair brush of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is simplified rear view of the hair brush of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the brush head with tufts of bristles of the hair brush of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the brush head of the hair brush of the present invention with about ⅓ of the portion of the brush head with brush tips.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the brush head of the hair brush of the present invention with more than ½ of the portion of the brush head with brush tips.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the brush head with a different cross-sectional shape.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the brush head with another different cross-sectional shape.

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the brush head with another different cross-sectional shape.

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of the brush head of the hair brush of the present invention when in use to style hair in an initial step.

FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view of the brush head of the hair brush of the present invention when in use to style hair in a subsequent step.

FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view of the brush head of the hair brush of the present invention when in use to style hair in another subsequent step.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the drawings, wherein the same reference number indicates the same element throughout, there is shown in FIGS. 1-4 an improved hair brush 10 of the present invention. Hair brush 10 of the present invention includes a brush head 100 with a portion 120 having a plurality of brush tips 122, and a handle 140.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the brush head 100 has a cylinder shape with a circular cross-section. The brush head 100 has a 360° curved circumferential surface 121, about half of which has a plurality of spaced apart brush tips 122 extending from the curved surface 121 (i.e. about a 180° covered portion 120 and about a 180° of non-covered portion 123). The covered portion 120 does not signify that the entire surface of the covered portion has brush tips 122, it merely distinguishes it from the non-covered portion 123 without any brush tips 122.

The covered portion 120 of the brush head 100 can be used for styling mid to short length hair. Alternatively, for styling long hair while rotating the brush head 100, the brush tips 122 of the covered portion 120 can be used to grip the hair. A hair dryer (not shown) may heat the non-covered portion 123 of the brush head 100 such that the temperature of the hair gripped by the brush tips 122 of the covered portion 120 is comparably lower, and which temperature can rapidly increase, which is beneficial for styling. When hair is wound around the non-covered portion 123 that is heated, hair can be efficiently and effectively smoothed or styled. In addition, the covered portion 120 of the brush 100 remains comparably lower in temperature, such that the high heat does not damage the brush tips 122 and extends the useful life of the brush tips 122.

The brush head 100 may have a ceramic layer 124 around the entire curved circumferential surface 121. The ceramic layer 124 dads the outside of the brush head 100, with the brush tips 122 of the covered portion 120 extending through the ceramic layer 124. When styling the hair with a blow dryer, the blow dryer may be directed to the non-covered portion 123 and the ceramic layer 124 at the non-covered portion 123 would heat up rapidly. The partial high temperature of the ceramic layer 124 aids in the release of ions from the ceramic layer 124, resulting in shine of and protection to the hair. Instead of a separate ceramic layer 124, the surface 121 may be made of a ceramic material.

As shown in FIG. 1, handle 140 extends from one end of the brush head 100. Handle 140 has a grip section 142, and each grip section 142 has a plurality of raised ribs 144. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, there are two grip sections 142. The height of the raised ribs 144 of each grip section 142 increase from the outer edge toward the inner edge such that the raised ribs 144 that are positioned on the outer edges are lower than the raised ribs 144 at the inner edge to form a curved profile. The height of the raised ribs 144 may be symmetrically distributed along the center of the grip section 142. In this embodiment, there are six (6) raised ribs 144 in each grip section 142. The raised ribs 144 may be made of a resilient material. When in use, a user's fingers hold onto the grip section 142. The horizontally distributed raised ribs 144 allow a user to tightly grip the handle 140 so that the user's fingers are less likely to slip, and the curved profile of the grip section 142 is more ergonomic in design. Alternatively, the positioning of multiple grip sections 142 along the handle 140 provides a better contact between a user's hand and the handle 140 for a firmer and more comfortable grip.

The distal end of the handle 140 has a hollow storage chamber 151. A pick pin 150 can be alternately stored in the storage chamber 151 in a first position or docked at the opening of the storage chamber 151 at the distal end of the handle 140 in a second position when in use. The pick pin 150 is removable from the hollow storage chamber 151. FIG. 3 shows the pick pin 150 having a pin part 152 at one end, a docking part 154 in the middle, and a protrusion 156 at the other end. The hollow storage chamber 151 has a first storage chamber that fits and stores pin part 152 and a second storage chamber that engages and/or stores the docking part 154. When the pick pin 150 is not in use in the first position, the pick pin 150 matches up with the storage chamber 151, with the pin part 152 fits and stores inside the first storage chamber, the docking part 154 engages and stores inside the second storage chamber, and the protrusion 156 extends beyond the distal end of the handle 140. For the pick pin 150 to be in a second position, a position of use, a user would pull on the protrusion 156 to withdraw pick pin 150 from storage chamber 151. The pick pin 150 is then turned around 180 degrees, and the protrusion 156 is inserted into hollow storage chamber 151, with the docking part 154 engaging the second storage chamber and wedged therein, fixing the pick pin 150 in position, with the pin part 152 extending beyond the distal end of the handle 140 ready to be used. The shape of the docking part 154, and the corresponding shape of the second storage chamber, can be customized to any shape with a uniform radius, such as a cuboid, cylinder or similar other shapes. Similarly, protrusion 156 can be customized to any shape and size so long as a user's fingers are able to grasp it to remove the pick pin 150 from the hollow storage chamber 151.

FIG. 4 is a view opposite of FIG. 1, showing the distribution of bristle tips 122 on the covered portion 120 of the curved surface 121. To simplify this view, only the positions where the bristle tips 122 extend from the curved surface 121 are shown with small circles or dots. Although the bristle tips 122 are shown to be aligned to a grid, it is not necessary for the purpose of the present invention. The bristle tips 122 may be randomly placed or not strictly aligned to a grid or not every position of the grid has a bristle tip 122. The densities of the bristles tips 122 on the covered portion 120 can vary depending on the purpose or intended use of the hair brush 10.

FIG. 5 shows a brush head 100a similar to brush head 100 of FIG. 2, except that brush head 100a has tufts of bristles 122a instead of brush tips 122 of brush head 100 on the covered portion 120a. Each tuft of bristles 122a may include bristles of different length, diameter, texture, and are randomly directed at different directions. Each tuft of bristles 122a may also include bristles made of different material such as plastic, nylon, boar's hair, wood, etc. Utilizing tuft of bristles 122a in the brush head 100a of the present invention provides improved gripping of the hair by allowing hair to not only be gripped among the tufts of bristles 122a, but also be gripped within each tuft of bristles 122a. Further, the bristles of each tuft of bristles 122a directed at different directions and at different length further improves the gripping of the hair on the brush head 100a.

The covered portion 120 of brush head 100 may be more or less than 180° (or half of the circumferential surface 121) as shown in FIGS. 6 & 7. FIG. 6 shows a brush head 100b similar to brush head 100 of FIG. 2, except that brush head 100b has a covered portion 120b that amounts to about ⅓ of the curved surface 121 of brush head 100b. FIG. 7 shows a brush head 100c similar to brush head 100 of FIG. 2, except that brush head 100c has a covered portion 120c that amounts to more than ½ of curved surface 121 of the brush head 100c (about a 210° covered portion 120c). The covered portion 120 can range from as much as 355° to as little as 5°, depending on the purpose and usage of the brush head 100.

Although brush head 100 is shown to be a cylinder, other prism shapes such as those shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, similarly work. FIG. 8 shows a brush head 100d with a cross-section of a four-sided bulging squarish shape. FIG. 9 shows a brush head 100e with a cross-section of a three-sided bulging triangular shape. FIG. 10 shows a brush head 100f with a cross-section of an eight-sided bulging octagon shape. The bulging shape replaces the typical straight lines of the polygons to minimize the sharp corner transition between the sides to resemble a cylinder of brush head 100.

FIGS. 11-13 illustrates the steps to use the brush head 100 of the hair brush 10 of the present invention to style or smooth hair H. Only 3 strands of hair H are shown for illustrative purposes. In the initial step, as shown in FIG. 11, brush tips 122 (or tufts of bristles 122a of brush head 100a) grip some of the user's hair H. A blow dryer B produces hot air A, which is directed to the non-covered portion 123 of the brush head 100, which minimizes damages to the brush tips 122. As shown in FIGS. 12 & 13, the hair brush 10 is then rotated around its longitudinal axis such that the hair H are positioned over and rest against the heated non-covered portion 123 to style or smooth the hair H. The steps as shown in FIGS. 11-13 can be repeated to properly style the hair H.

Another method is to direct hot air A from a blow dryer B to the covered portion 120 to heat up the hair H gripped by the brush tips 122 (or tufts of bristles 122a). Once the hair H is heated, the hair H is pulled over and against the non-covered portion 123 to style or smooth the hair H.

The features of the invention illustrated and described herein are the preferred embodiments. Therefore, it is understood that the specification is intended to cover unforeseeable embodiments with insubstantial differences that are within the spirit of the specification.

Claims

1. A hair brush comprising:

a brush head having a surface, said surface comprises a covered portion and a non-covered portion; and

a plurality of spaced apart brush elements on said covered portion only.

2. The hair brush of claim 1 wherein said covered portion is about ⅓ to about ½ of said surface.

3. The hair brush of claim 1 wherein each of said brush elements is a brush tip extending from said covered portion of said surface.

4. The hair brush of claim 1 wherein each of said brush elements is a tuft of bristles extending from said covered portion of said surface.

5. The hair brush of claim 4 wherein each tuft of bristles comprises bristles of at least two different lengths with their distal ends pointing in at least two different directions.

6. The hair brush of claim 4 wherein each tuft of bristles comprises bristles made of at least two different materials.

7. The hair brush of claim 1 wherein each of said brush elements is made of nylon.

8. The hair brush of claim 1 wherein said surface is made of ceramic.

9. The hair brush of claim 1 further comprising a ceramic layer on said surface.

10. The hair brush of claim 1 further comprising a handle extending from one end of said brush head.

11. The hair brush of claim 1 wherein said brush head has a generally cylindrical shape and said surface is curved.

12. A hair brush comprising:

a generally cylindrical brush head having a circumferential curved surface, said surface comprises a covered portion and a non-covered portion; and

a plurality of spaced apart brush elements extending from said covered portion only.

13. The hair brush of claim 12 wherein said covered portion is about 120 degrees to about 180 degrees of the 360 degrees of said circumferential curved surface.

14. A method of styling a user's hair with a blow dryer that produces hot air, comprising the steps of:

providing a hair brush having a brush head with a longitudinal axis and a surface, said surface comprises a covered portion and a non-covered portion and a plurality of spaced apart brush elements on said covered portion only;

gripping the user's hair with said brush elements;

directing the blow dryer's hot air at said surface to heat it and/or the hair up; and

rotating said brush head so that the hair is positioned over and rest against the heated non-covered portion for styling the hair.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said covered portion is about ⅓ to about ½ of said surface.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the blow dryer's hot air is directed at said non-covered portion of said surface.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the blow dryer's hot air is directed at said covered-portion of said surface.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein said hair brush further having a ceramic layer on said surface such that when the blow dryer's hot air is directed at said ceramic layer, ions are released from said ceramic layer.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein said hair brush further having a handle extending from one end of said brush head.

20. The method of claim 14 wherein said brush head has a generally cylindrical shape and said surface is curved.