EP0334156B1 - Device for continuously dispensing a hair dyeing product on human hair - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/EP89/00263 Sec. 371 Date Sep. 20, 1990 Sec. 102(e) Date Sep. 20, 1990 PCT Filed Mar. 13, 1989 PCT Pub. No. WO89/08999 PCT Pub. Date Oct. 5, 1989.An improved device for continuous application of a hair dye to a person's hair, without wetting the scalp, incorporates a hair dye reservoir consisting of a first porous material within a housing and teeth made of a second porous material, inserted into the first porous material and in capillary connection with it. The teeth in the surface area of their free ends are free from open pores, and the main pore direction of both the second porous material of the teeth and the first porous material of the reservoir is essentially parallel in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the teeth. The first porous material of the reservoir extends over several times the penetration depth of the teeth in the penetration direction, and the pore size in the teeth is smaller than in the remainder of the reservoir.

Description

The invention relates to a device for the continuous delivery of a hair dye onto the hair of people with a storage for the hair dye made of a first porous material within a housing and inserted into the first porous material, with this in capillary connection prongs made of a second porous material , wherein the first porous material of the memory extends over a multiple of the depth of penetration of the tines in the direction of penetration.

In a device of this type known from EP-A-0 251 189 it has been found in practice that a continuous flow of a larger amount of treatment agent from the porous storage material into the porous tine material is not ensured, which is essentially due to the fact that In the known device, porous materials for storage and tines with an unoriented fiber orientation are used, and as a result the path of the treatment liquid from the storage into the tines is unfavorable, as a result of which no perfect, in particular uniform, hair coloring is guaranteed. To avoid the application of treatment agents to the scalp, longer spacer pins can be arranged between the porous tines or spacers at the free ends of the tines.

With regard to the porous materials used, the conditions are also very similar in the case of another device known from EP-A-0 157 032. This comb-like device has a cavity in a narrow comb back with a handle on one side, in which there is a first porous material for absorbing and storing the liquid substance. A plurality of tines, which engage in the first porous material and are made of a second porous material, are in capillary connection with the first porous material storing the liquid substance in the cavity. This allows the liquid substance to be applied to the hair and especially the skin via the free ends and side surfaces of the tines. This comb is particularly suitable for treating animals with insecticides or the like. In order to achieve a preferred wetting of the skin, the tines are designed so that the dispensing ability of the side surfaces of the tines is largely restricted, so that only a relatively small amount of treatment liquid is dispensed.

In the treatment of people's hair with hair cosmetic products such as hair dyes and. Like., But it is important to leave the scalp as wet as possible and to deliver the product to the hair as evenly as possible via the side surfaces of the tines, which means the delivery of a larger amount of treatment agent per unit of time and corresponding replenishment from the store due to the delivery tines. However, these requirements cannot be met satisfactorily with the comb described above, since this comb preferably releases treatment agents to the skin and, moreover, a continuous flow of a larger amount of treatment agents from the reservoir into the tines is not ensured. This is mainly attributed to the fact that in this known comb porous materials for storage and comb teeth are preferably provided with a non-oriented fiber orientation and the path of the treatment liquid is unfavorable if the comb handle is also used as a storage for the treatment liquid.

The object of the invention is to provide a solution which ensures a reliable and uniform dispensing of liquid hair dye and the like in sufficient quantity onto the hair of people without wetting the scalp.

This object is achieved with a device of the type described in the introduction in that the tines are formed with closed pores in the surface region of their free ends, and in that the main pore direction of the second porous material of the tines and the first porous material of the reservoir are essentially parallel to one another The longitudinal direction of the tine is, the pores of the first porous material being larger than the pores of the second porous material.

With this design, a uniform amount of liquid hair dye, sufficient for coloring, is applied to the scalp hair without wetting the scalp. The hair dye can only emerge through the side surfaces of the tines, since the pores in the surface area of the free ends of the tines are closed, so that no hair dye can reach the scalp. The rectified arrangement of the main pore direction of the porous materials of the tines and of the accumulator results in a particularly good continuous flow of the hair dye from the memory into the prongs, so that a uniform amount of hair dye is dispensed at all times, thus resulting in a correspondingly uniform hair coloring. In addition, the extension of the first porous material of the reservoir over a multiple of the depth of penetration of the tines in the direction of penetration enables a sufficiently large amount of hair dye to be stored, the hair dye due to the short and straight transport path from the first porous material of the reservoir into the tines without one Risk of constipation or dehydration can flow continuously. Only a small remaining amount of treatment liquid remains unused in the storage.

It is particularly favorable if the first porous material of the storage device and the second porous material of the tines are formed by compression from non-oriented, fibrous material, the compression of the second porous material being stronger than that of the first material. Due to the compression of the originally non-oriented fibrous material, a largely parallel structure of the main fibers is formed, so that a main pore direction arises. Due to the different compression of the porous material of the reservoir and the tines, pores of different sizes are formed in such a way that a capillary gradient arises from the reservoir into the tines, which increases the flow rate of the hair dye.

It can be provided that the second porous material of the tines is compressed with heating and gluing. This treatment enables particularly good compression to be achieved, as a result of which very small pores form in the tines through which the hair dye flows particularly rapidly, so that a continuous flow of release from the tines to the hair to be colored is established.

In order to prevent hair dye from being released to the scalp, the invention provides that the pores in the surface area of the free ends of the tines are closed by ultrasound, heating or gluing or by fitting a closure means, in particular a closure cap.

In an embodiment, the invention provides that the tines are arranged next to one another on the housing at a distance of approximately 0.5 to 1 mm. This distance between the tines has been found to be particularly favorable because this creates a close contact between the tines and the strands of hair, and thus a particularly good release of the hair dye from the prongs to the strands of hair.

According to a further embodiment it is provided that the tines are arranged on the housing at least in two rows offset from one another. Due to this multi-row, staggered arrangement of the tines, the strands of hair are drawn in a wave-like manner through the prongs during the combing process, so that a particularly good contact between the strands of hair and the tines is produced and a particularly good dyeing result can thus be achieved.

In order to clamp the tines which are transversely stressed by the combing process, the housing is equipped with brackets at a distance from the tine roots engaging in the first porous material, the cross section of the brackets deviating slightly from the round cross section of the tines. The slightly different cross-section of the brackets and the tines ensures that air can enter the housing, so that no negative pressure can arise in the housing from the release of the hair dye.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, tines about 25 to 35 mm long penetrate about 5 mm into the storage and have a diameter of 1.5 to 2.5 mm. The memory has an extension from about 30 to 60 mm in the longitudinal direction of the tines.

The first porous material of the reservoir and the second porous material of the tines preferably consist of polyester, nylon or acrylic. These materials have proven to be particularly favorable in terms of storage and dispensing ability. With a weight of around 0.07 g, the tines can absorb a quantity of liquid of 0.05 g. Due to this high absorption capacity of the tines, a delivery rate from the tines to the hair of approximately 1.8 g of aqueous solution per minute is possible.

The invention also provides that the first porous material of the memory is covered by an extruded polyester film. This configuration simplifies production. The porous material is continuously produced from very long fibers and compacted by the covering. Appropriate stores can then be separated from the long fibers, adapted to the desired store length.

It is particularly useful if the housing is equipped with a removable, airtight closure covering the tines. This prevents the tines from drying out and clogging the pores when the device is not being used for dyeing the hair, which would render the device unusable.

It is particularly advantageous that an interior reducing insert made of a flexible material with a conical sealing surface for each tine is arranged in the closure, each of which interacts with a corresponding conical sealing surface on the holder. This configuration results in a particularly good seal of the tines, so that no evaporation of the hair dye can occur and thus hair dye losses are kept very low.

A structurally particularly simple configuration results if a housing part forming the brackets for all tines is arranged between the housing and the closure.

Furthermore, the invention provides that connecting means for connection to further housings are arranged on the outer surface of the housing. Thus, several housings can be combined with one another, in which, for example, hair colorants of different colors are stored, so that different hair colorations can be achieved by a hair coloring process.

It is expedient if the memory made of the first porous material is arranged in the housing so that it can be replaced. As a result, a device can continue to be used even after the memory has been emptied by inserting a new memory.

It can also be provided that the tines are inserted into one or two stores made of the first porous material from opposite sides. If the tines are only used in one store, stores with a greater longitudinal extent can also be used, which therefore have a greater storage capacity because the transport routes from the store to the tines are then shortened.

Finally, it can also be provided that several stores with tines inserted in them are arranged side by side in one housing. This design is particularly suitable for a housing with a plurality of tines arranged next to one another, a particularly large area of hair being colored during a combing process. The usual memories, arranged side by side, can then be used.

Fig. 1

in stark vergrößerter schematischer Darstellung die Faserstruktur eines nichtorientierten porösen Materials,

Fig. 2

ebenfalls in stark vergrößerter schematischer Darstellung im Eindringbereich eines Zinkens in einen Speicher im Längsschnitt zwei aus dem Ausgangsmaterial nach Fig. 1 hergestellte, unterschiedlich stark komprimierte Materialien,

Fig. 3

einen Schnitt gemäß der Linie III-III in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4

ein Ausführungsbeispiel der Erfindung im Querschnitt,

Fig. 5

das Ausführungsbeispiel nach Fig. 4 in einem Längsschnitt,

Fig. 6

ein weiteres Ausführungsbeispiel in einem Längsschnitt,

Fig. 7

ein Ausführungsbeispiel mit einreihiger Zinkenanordnung in perspektivischer Darstellung,

Fig. 8

ein Ausführungsbeispiel mit dreireihiger Zinkenanordnung in perspektivischer Darstellung,

Fig. 9

ein Ausführungsbeispiel mit zwei nebeneinander angeordneten Gehäusen und in

Fig. 10

ein weiteres Ausführungsbeispiel.

The invention is explained below with reference to the drawing, for example. This shows in

Fig. 1

the fiber structure of a non-oriented porous material in a greatly enlarged schematic representation,

Fig. 2

likewise in a greatly enlarged schematic illustration in the area of penetration of a tine into a store in longitudinal section, two materials of different compressions produced from the starting material according to FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

2 shows a section along the line III-III in FIG. 2,

Fig. 4

an embodiment of the invention in cross section,

Fig. 5

4 in a longitudinal section,

Fig. 6

another embodiment in a longitudinal section,

Fig. 7

an embodiment with a single-row tine arrangement in a perspective view,

Fig. 8

an embodiment with a three-row tine arrangement in a perspective view,

Fig. 9

an embodiment with two juxtaposed housings and in

Fig. 10

another embodiment.

1 shows an enlarged section of a porous material 1, such as polyester, nylon or acrylic. Fibers 2 of the porous material 1 have no preferred orientation, but are branched in all directions. Between The fibers 2, which are arranged at a distance from one another, have pores 3 which likewise have no uniform orientation.

2 and 3, the starting material 1 is shown after different treatment stages. A first porous material 4 (storage 15) and a second porous material 5 (tines 16) have arisen from the starting material 1 by compression of different strengths. The first porous material 4 has largely parallel fibers 6, between which correspondingly parallel pores 7 are formed, which have a common main pore direction, which is indicated by an arrow 8 in the drawing. By compressing the first porous material 4, the pores 7 are reduced in diameter compared to the pores 3 of the starting material 1, but they are nevertheless large enough to be able to store a sufficiently large amount of hair dye.

The second porous material 5 is compressed much more than the first porous material 4 by heating and gluing fibers 9. Very narrow pores 10 are formed between the fibers 9 and, like the fibers 9, are oriented in the main pore direction 8. In the transition area 11 between the first porous material 4 and the second porous material 5, the different diameters of the pores 7 of the first porous material 4 and the pores 10 of the second porous material 5 result in a capillary gradient, which accelerates the hair dye stored in the first porous material 4 enters the second porous material 5. The hair dye then flows through the pores 10 into a pore edge area 12. If the second porous material 5 now comes into contact with strands of hair (not shown in the drawing), the hair dye is released to the hair via the pore edge area 12.

4 and 5, a first embodiment of the invention is shown. A device 13 has a housing 14 in which a memory 15 made of the first porous material 4 is arranged. Tines 16 made of the second porous material 5 are inserted in the storage 15 next to one another at a distance of approximately 0.5 to 1.0 mm in the area of the tine roots 17 in the storage 15. The tine roots 17 penetrate approximately 5 mm into the store 15, which has a longitudinal extension of approximately 40 mm.

In the area of the free ends 18 of the tines 16, the pores 10 of the second porous material 5 of the tines 16 shown in FIG. 2 are closed by ultrasound, heating or gluing, so that no hair dye can escape from the free ends 18 of the tines 16.

Above the reservoir 15, a housing part 19 is arranged on the housing 14 and has holders 20 for the tines 16. The cross sections of these brackets 20 differ slightly from the circular cross section of the prongs 16, so that when the device 13 is used, air can enter the housing 14 at any time and thus a negative pressure can arise in the housing 14 due to the escape of the hair dye. The tines are rigidly arranged in the housing 14 by the penetration of their tine roots 17 into the storage 15 and the guide in the brackets 20, so that they cannot kink or slide out of the housing 14 in the event of a transverse load due to the combing process.

If the device 13 is not used for dyeing hair, a closure 21 covering the tines 16 is arranged above the housing 14. In the interior of this closure 21, an insert 22 is formed from a flexible material, which, according to the number of tines 16, has tubular openings 23 which cover the tines 16. In the opening area of the tubular openings 23 there are conical sealing surfaces 24 arranged, which correspond to corresponding conical sealing surfaces 25 on the brackets 20. By placing the closure 21 on the housing part 19 and thus the housing 14, the tines 16 are hermetically sealed from the surroundings via the sealing surfaces 24 and 25, so that no hair dye can escape from the tines 16 or the pores 10 of the tines 16 cannot can become blocked by drying out.

As can be seen particularly well from FIG. 5, the hair coloring process with the device 13 takes place as follows: after the closure 21 has been removed, the tines 16 are pulled through the hair in a combing motion, so that individual strands of hair reach the area between the tines 16. Due to the small distance between the prongs 16, the strands of hair come into contact with the side surfaces of the prongs 16, so that 16 hair dye is released to the individual strands of hair via the pore edge region 12 of the second porous material 5 of the prongs. This dispensed amount is continuously supplied from the storage 15 to the tines 16 at any time by the configuration of the first porous material 4 of the reservoir 15 and the second porous material 5 of the tines 16 shown in FIGS. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, a delivery rate of about 1.8 g of aqueous hair dye per minute can be achieved.

FIG. 6 shows a further exemplary embodiment, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 4 and 5 having the additional index "a" being used. The device 13a has a housing 14a which is approximately three times as wide as the housing 14 according to FIG. 5. In the housing 14a, three stores 15a are arranged next to one another, the first porous material 4 of which is each enveloped by a polyester film 26. The tines 16a are accordingly inserted next to one another in the stores 15a. With this device 13a, in comparison to the device 13 from FIG. 5, a much larger hair surface can be colored with a combing process.

7 and 8 show two embodiment variants of the invention in a perspective view, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 4 and 5 being used with the additional index "b" and "c", respectively. According to FIG. 7, the tines 16b of the device 13 are arranged in a row alongside one another at the same distance. In contrast, the device 13c in FIG. 8 has a three-row arrangement of the tines 16c, the tines 16c being arranged offset to one another. With this multi-row staggered arrangement of the tines 16c, a particularly favorable hair coloring can be achieved because the strands of hair are drawn through the tines 16c in a wavy shape and thus a particularly close contact between the strands of hair and the tines is created.

FIG. 9 shows a further exemplary embodiment, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 4 and 5 being used with the additional index "d". Two devices 13d are inserted into a housing 27, the one device being shown in the half-inserted state for clarity. With this configuration, a plurality of coloring devices 13d can be combined with one another, which, for example, have memories with hair colorants of different colors. Different colored strands of hair can thus be created.

A further variant of the invention is shown in FIG. 10, the reference symbols here being provided with the index “e”. The tines 16e are inserted from opposite sides into the reservoir 15e made of the first porous material. The storage 15e can be longer in the longitudinal direction because the transport routes from the storage 15e to the tines 16e are shorter due to the construction on both sides.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing. Further refinements of the invention are possible without leaving the basic idea. Thus, in addition to the use of hair colorants, it is of course also possible to use finish agents or the like. Like. more.

Claims (18)

1. Device, for the continuous dispensing of a hair dyeing medium onto the head hairs of human beings, with a storage device for the hair dyeing medium of a first porous material within a housing and tines of a second porous material, which are inserted into the first porous material and stand in capillary connection therewith, wherein the first porous material of the storage device extends in the direction of ingress by a multiple of the depth of ingress of the tines, characterised thereby, that the tines (16) are formed with closed pores (10) in the surface region of their free ends (18) and that the main pore direction (8) of the second porous material (5) of the tines (16) and of the first porous material (4) of the storage device (15) is directed substantially equally and parallelly to the longitudinal direction of the tines (16), wherein the pores (7) of the first porous material (4) are formed to be larger than the pores (10) of the second porous material (5).
2. Device according to claim 1, characterised thereby, that the first porous material (4) of the storage device (15) and the second porous material (5) of the tines (16) is formed by compression of non-oriented fibrous material (1), wherein the compression of the second porous material (5) is greater than that of the first porous material (4).
3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised thereby, that the second porous material (5) of the tines (16) is compressed while being heated and glued.
4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the pores (10) in the surface region of the free ends (18) of the tines (16) are closed off by ultrasonics, heating or glueing or putting on a closure means, in particular a closure cap.
5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the tines (16) are arranged at the housing (14) one beside the other at a spacing of about 0.5 to 1 millimetre.
6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the tines (16c) are arranged at the housing (13c) one displaced relative to the other in at least two rows.
7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the housing (13) is equipped with mounts (20) at a spacing from the tine roots (17) engaging into the first porous material (4), wherein the cross-section of the mounts (20) departs slightly from the round cross-section of the tines (16).
8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the tines (16) have a length of about 25 to 35 millimetres and a diameter of 1.5 to 2.5 millimetres and enter into the storage device (15) by about 5 millimetres.
9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the storage device (15) displays an extent of about 30 to 60 millimetres in the longitudinal direction of the tines (16).
10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the first porous material (4) of the storage device (15) and the second porous material (5) of the tines (16) consists of polyester, nylon or acrylic.
11. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the first porous material (4) of the storage device (15) is enveloped by an extruded polyester foil (26).
12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the housing (13) is equipped with a removable air-tight closure (21) covering the tines (16).
13. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that an insert (22) of a flexible material with a conical sealing surface (24) for each of the tines (16), which co-operates with a corresponding conical sealing surface (25) at the mount (20), is arranged in the closure (21) and reduces the interior space thereof.
14. Device according to claim 7, 12 or 13, characterised thereby, that a housing part (19), which forms the mounts (20) for all the tines (16), is arranged between the housing (13) and the closure (21).
15. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that connecting means (27) are arranged at the external surface of the housing (13d) for connection to further housings.
16. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the storage device (15) of the first porous material (4) is mounted in the housing (13) to be exchangeable.
17. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that tines (16e) in one or two storage devices (15e) of the first porous material (4) are inserted from opposite sides.
18. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that several storage devices (15a) with tines (16a) inserted therein are arranged one beside the other in a housing (13a).

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