US3388709A - Expendible hair curler - Google Patents

Description

June 18, 1968 R. D. MORRIS EXPENDIBLE HAIR CURLER Filed April 2, 1965 INVENTOR- RUTH DAV/5 MORRIS Min- .4 TTOR/Vfi) United States Patent 3,388,709 EXPENDIBLE HAIR CURLER Ruth Davis Morris, Quarters 5723, Apt. 1), Fort Carson, Colo. 80913 Filed Apr. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 445,052 2 Claims. (Cl. 132-42) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention describes a disposable hair curler Constructed by rolling a prepared blank into the shape of a cylindrical tube, which tube has tapered ends and through which tube is extended an elastic member projecting from both ends, the said elastic member being disposed to overlap the hair and attach to projecting ears on the ends of the tube.

The present invention relates generally to devices for the treatment and arrangement of human hair, and more particularly, to hair curling spools having means for securing a lock of hair thereto.

The prior art has dealt with a multitude of various types of curling spools upon which the hair is rolled and set in order to produce permanent waves or curls in the hair. Some means have also been generally provided to secure the hair to the curling spool once the roll has been made. Such devices have been manufactured from metal and from plastic material and have been created in a vast number of shapes, sizes and configurations. All of these curlers, however, have been manufactured with the idea that they would last the user for some period of time and that they were good for a number of uses. This longevity of the hair curler presents a good many problems however, since its cost requires that each batch of curlers be cleaned and reused and recleaned, all of which requires the expenditure of time and effort. In the professional hair dressing business, a considerable investment is made in a stock of curlers and in the labor to recondition them after each use.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a hair curling spool which is adapted and designed for a single use only and which can be manufactured at such a low cost as to make each unit expendible.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a curling spool having means for securing the free end of hair to the spool at the commencement of the roll as well as means for anchoring the roller to the hair at the conclusion of the roll.

A still further object of the invention, and one which cooperates with the expendible nature of the structure, is the provision inside the spool of a means for absorbing the excess waving solution which is not held by the hair and which would normally run off the head of the one receiving the treatment.

Other and still further objects, features and advantages of the invention will either become apparent as the description proceeds or will be specifically referred to in the disclosure which follows in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the hair curler of the present invention showing a lock of hair in position to be rolled thereon.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the hair curler showing a lock of hair rolled thereon.

FIGURE 3 is a planned view of a blank for the manufacture of the hair curler of the present invention.

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the blank of FIGURE 3 after certain bends have been made in the blank.

FIGURE 5 is a planned view of the blank as shown in FIGURE 4 with the absorbent material and elastic band Patented June 18, 1968 in position for the rolling operation to be performed on the blank.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged end view of the cylindrical curler as shown after the rolling operation.

In brief, the invention comprises a hollow perforated cylinder of thin walled foil-like material having projections at each end thereof and through the center of which lies an elastic member which projects from each end of the cylinder.

Referring now to the drawings for a more detailed description of a preferred form of the invention. FIGURE 3 depicts the stamped blank 10 from which the curler is made. The blank 10 is provided along each of its ends with a series of three spaced apart V-shaped incisions 12 and a plurality of punched holes or apertures 15 and 15a. Spaced substantially evenly over the body of the curler blank 10, the apertures 15 are large enough to permit the entry into the interior of the curler of the excess curling solution which is not absorbed by the hair. A series of smaller apertures 15a are punched in the blank in such a fashion that the punching operation will have a ragged upstanding edge on the side of the blank which will become the outside surface of the curler. In addition to the foregoing holes and cuts, a group of bend lines 18 are impressed parallel to one another and inwardly of the incisions 12.

In the next step of the forming operation, the blank is bent along the bend lines 18 and into the shape shown in FIGURE 4 where the pointed projections 20 emerge and are raised from the blank along the incisions 12. An elongated piece of cotton or similarly absorbent material 23 is next placed centrally of the blank together with a length of elastic band 25, as clearly illustrated in FIG- URE 5. The band 25 is positioned so that each of its ends extends over the respective ends of the blank 10. The blank is finally rolled into the shape of a cylinder, as shown in FIGURE 6, with the shoulders 27 at each end thereof being tapered to form a small opening through which the elastic band 25 emerges. Each end of the band 25 is provided with a small bell 29, or core shaped piece of metal or plastic or other similar device, to prevent the band from being pulled into the interior of the cylinder and to permit the band to be fastened to the opposite end of the curler as hereafter described.

The material from which the curler is constructed may be any of a number of different materials having malleability and yet sufficient rigidity to be usable for the purpose intended. A light metal foil has been found satisfactory for the purpose described, and yet at the same time, cheap enough in its cost to permit a one-time use of the device.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the use of the curler is illustrated. A lock of hair 30 is positioned adjacent to the curling cylinder and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof. One end 32 of the band 25 is stretched across the free end of the hair 30 and beneath one of the projections 20 so that the bell 29 cannot pass between the projection 20 and the tapered shoulder 27. By thus attaching the free end of the lock of hair to the roller, it is possible to eliminate the strip of paper or like material which, in the past, has been placed next to the hair and rolled up with it to insure proper cohesion to the roller during the initial stages of each rolling process. Once the hair is completely rolled, as shown in FIGURE 2, the other end of the band 25 is secured to the opposite end of the cylinder in a manner similar to the first end 32. It will be noted that the upwardly projected rough edge portions of the punched holes 15a create a frictional contact with the hair, thus providing greater gripping of the hair by the roller.

After the hair is rolled and secured to the curler as shown in FIGURE 2, the waving solution is applied. Ex-

cess solution, which is not held by the hair, may be admitted to the interior of the curler through the large holes 15 where it is absorbed by the cotton 23. In this manner, the curler of the present invention aids in the control of the waving solution in addition to its function as a curling spool.

Having thus described the several useful and novel features of the expendible hair curler of the present invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that the many worthwhile objectives for which it was designed have been achieved. Although but a few of the several possible embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, we realize that certain additional modifications may well occur to those skilled in the art within the broad teaching hereof; hence, it is our intention that the scope of protection afforded hereby shall be limited only insofar as said limitations are expressly set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hair curler comprising:

a generally cylindrical tube having tapered shoulders at each end thereof forming hollow generally frustoconical end portions and having a plurality of perforations in the side walls of said tube intermediate the said shoulders;

a plurality of circumferential ears projecting longitudinally from the surface level of the tube and over said shoulders; and

an elongated elastic member secured Within said tube and having its ends each project from the opening in each end of said tube.

2. An elongated, generally rectangular, blank of malleable material being adapted to be folded to form a generally cylindrical shaped hair curler, said blank having its short sides substantially parallel, a plurality of centrally disposed perforations, a pair of spaced apart bend lines parallel to said short sides, and a plurality of generally V-shaped incisions in said material wherein the open end of said V incisions are disposed along each of said bend lines so that aline bisecting the said V is perpendicular to said bend line and the closed end of said incision being disposed inwardly on said blank from the short sides thereof. 7

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,608,978 9/1952 Solomon 132-42 2,677,380 5/1954 Schoendorf 132-42 2,695,620 11/1954 Renstrom 132-42 2,732,845 1/1956 Winkler 132-42 2,838,053 6/1958 Zimmerman 132-42 XR 3,143,117 8/1964 Ruud 132-9 3,150,693 9/1964 Seltzer 128-284 XR 3,316,117 4/1967 Clifford et a1. 128-284 X'R LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner G. E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner.

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