AU756383B2 - Depilatory wax heater - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT @*0 0 0 @000 00 0 0 0* 00 @0 0 0 0 0 0 0@ 0 @00 0 0 6 0 0 0 *000 00* *0 0 0 000000 0 0 0 0 0 0.0000 0 0

ORIGINAL

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Invention Title: PHYTOLAB, S.L.

Maria Jesus Esmoris Rodriguez CALLINAN LAWRIE, 711 High Street, Kew, 3101, Victoria, Australia "DEPILATORY WAX HEATER" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- DEPILATORY WAX HEATER

SPECIFICATION

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a wax heater of the kind which comprises a heater casing to which a wax-containing reservoir with its respective applicator may be coupled, the casing thereby generating the 10 heat required for the wax to be kept in a molten state while it is being applied to a body in hair-removing operations.

oS SAn object of the invention is to obtain a heater with a body which may be opened, allowing easy access into the apparatus in order 15 to maintain the same, particularly to clean the heating plates from time to time and improve the conditions in which the wax-containing reservoir is fitted therein.

An object of the invention is also to make handling of the heater more versatile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Commonly used wax applicators are known to comprise a small 25 reservoir, which are generally prismatic-rectangular in shape and elongate, ending on one side in a head having an applicator roller, which roller is used to spread a wax layer over the skin, drawing on the contents of said container or reservoir.

Because wax solidifies easily at room temperature, the applicator has to be kept heated in order for the wax to be kept in a molten state.

A known, commonly used technique is also the use of heater casings provided with electric resistors, which casings may have the wax applicator plugged into them and are at the same time provided with an electric connector, relatively similar to that of a wireless iron, in order for the electric heating resistors to be powered from time to time through such connector.

Wax applicators of this kind are for instance known through Spanish utility model 8900037, in which the casing takes up a gun-like configuration, relatively similar to a hair dryer, although it is most common for the casing to have a general prismatic-rectangular shape, for instance as shown in utility models 9001768 and 9101564.

In the latter two cases, the casing forms an elongate prismatic-rectangular case, open at one end, through which the wax applicator as such may be "plugged".

This means that it is on the one hand very difficult to reach into the apparatus, to clean the heating plates if need be, and on the other that it is necessary to establish very specific guides in said body in order to ensure a perfect insertion of the applicator, which obviously structurally complicates said body. A slight shifting of the applicator may at the same time result in a faulty coupling thereof within the body, which would mean that heating would not take place in the most desirable conditions for which the device has been designed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The depilatory wax heater disclosed herein fully solves the above drawbacks because its special construction allows an easy access to its inner mechanisms and moreover 20 allows the wax applicator to be coupled thereto by simply arranging it sideways rather than plugging it lengthways, as was conventionally the case.

According to the present invention there is provided a depilatory wax heater having a casing in which one or more electric resistors are arranged to heat a wax mass housed within a reservoir associated with an applicator, said reservoir being removably located within said casing, wherein said casing includes a body and a lid pivotably connected to each other in such a way that said lid is moveable into an open position allowing ready access to said resistors housed therein.

More specifically and in order to achieve the above, said casing is constructed from a base body, which forms a sort of prismatic-rectangular pan, with its end wall open, through which the applicator head must project, the depth of which pan is roughly one-half the a19967.spc/12 April 2002 -3thickness of the applicator reservoir, plus the space required to locate the heating resistors, which do not project from the mouth of said base body, and between which said wax applicator as such may be easily coupled, by simply encasing or coupling the same sideways.

To complement the above structure, articulated to the base body is a lid whose shape is substantially symmetrical therewith, and may be pivoted against the base body, to achieve a closed position in which the wax applicator is perfectly retained within the casing, or pivoted to form a dihedral of approximately 900 in a position in which the wax applicator may be easily coupled to and uncoupled from the casing.

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Unlike what is conventionally the case where the wax applicator S" reservoir as such must have a cross-section equal to or smaller than the mouth of the body, this special construction moreover allows the reservoir to have a cross-section larger than that of said mouth, and therefore also larger than that of the applicator head, increasing the load capacity of the device and improving the stability conditions of the wax applicator within the casing.

Optionally, and in accordance with another characteristic of the invention, the body of the wax-containing reservoir may be provided with a box or window meeting one of its larger walls, in which the Srespective heating element is positioned, defined by a plate of a shape matching this box or window, and solidly attached to another one which is slip-mounted on a support with respect to which the respective electric supply is established, this support housing said heating plate with its mounting or support plate and the actual applicator, in order for the whole assembly to be mounted inside the casing formed by both parts articulated to one another, one of which serves as a base body and another one as a lid, and the base body therefore has slots on its sides serving as a guide for respective ribs on the outer support of the aforesaid assembly, allowing slip mounting and dismounting.

-4- Going back to the articulation between the body and the lid, the same has been devised to be able to comprise a pair of tabs provided in the lid, projecting perpendicularly from respective lugs, which tabs are housed in narrow incuts, open at the front, provided to such end in other extensions or lugs with which the sides of the base body are provided. This solution allows the lid to be mounted on the base body by simple coupling and pressing it sideways, allowing these elements to be mounted and dismounted as many times as may be required.

10 Finally, and in accordance with another of the characteristics of the invention, the heater has been designed such that it may altogether be handled through its casing, or else turn into a gun for it to be easier to handle, being therefore provided with a grip which may be removably adjusted in order for the body to project from either one of 15 the smaller sides or one of the larger faces, depending on whether the applicator roller is to be used in an upright or horizontal position. The S, adjustment and hence the mounting and dismounting of the grip on and from the general applicator body or casing, is achieved by means of a resilient semi-clamp which forms part of the leading end of the grip, 20 which semi-clamp has projections which match recesses purposely provided in the actual casing, in order not only to be able to adjust such semi-clamp transversely to the casing, but for the same to be held therein.

S• 25 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to provide a fuller description and contribute to the complete understanding of the characteristics of this invention, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached to the specification as an integral part thereof which, while purely illustrative and not fully comprehensive, shows the following: Figure Is a general perspective view of a wax applicator with the heater casing subject hereof, in a closed position of said casing.

Figure Is a perspective similar to that of the preceding figure although in which the body remains open, in a position in which the inner wax applicator may be accessed.

Figure Is a plan view of the assembly shown in the preceding figures without the lid.

Figure Is, finally, a perspective similar to that of figure 2, i.e.

in which the body of the applicator is open, albeit in accordance with 10 an embodiment in which the lid does not pivot downwards but rather ooo* sideways.

S"Figure Is a perspective exploded view of the depilatory wax 15 applicator, in accordance with a varying embodiment thereof in which 15 the wax-containing reservoir has a box for the heating resistor to be fitted.

Figure Is another perspective view of the same assembly of the preceding figure, duly mounted and closed.

0 Figure Is yet again the assembly of figures 5 and 6, mounted S* but with its lid open.

S"Figure Is a side elevation and sectional view of the assembly 25 shown in figure 6, with an enlarged close view of the lid closure.

Figure Is a perspective and exploded view of the assembly including the heater casing with the head housed within it, the lid open and the grip with its respective semi-clamp ready to be transversely mounted on the actual body, in a position in which the grip will project perpendicularly to one of the smaller sides of the body.

Figure 10.- Is a perspective as in the preceding figure, albeit in this case with the lid closed and the grip applied in a position of use, wherein the head lies with the roller upright.

-6- Figure 11.- Is, finally, another exploded perspective view of the assembly of the heater casing with its lid closed and with the wax applicator within it, and the respective grip with its semi-clamp in a varying embodiment in which said grip will project perpendicularly from one of the larger faces of the actual body, the applicator roller lying horizontal.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION With reference to these figures, and in particular figures 1 to 4, the depilatory wax heater disclosed herein includes a casing that *"comprises a base body which forms a sort of substantially elongate pan rectangular in plan, provided on one of its smaller or end side walls @0 Si .i with a rectangular ledge affecting most of it and defining a narrow 15 end mouth through which a head must project to the outside, fitted with an appropriate impregnating roller of the wax applicator, its reservoir being housed within the heater casing.

99: The base body is oversized with respect to the wax applicator 20 reservoir to an extent which suffices for its side or marginal areas to have the classic electric heating resistors established, as shown in particular in figure 3, also fitted with a classic electric connector, which is not shown, for powering the same.

25 A lid is articulated to the base body in the embodiment shown in figures 1 to 3, through an axis lying on the end opposite the mouth for the wax applicator to project, which lid comprises a pan which complements the pan consisting of the body couplable thereto at their mouths.

More specifically, the lid receives a recessed sector of the base body through the end of its mouth opposite the mouth of the casing, and a ledge (10) delimiting said recess therefore stands as an abutment limiting further pivoting of the lid with respect to the base body as shown in figure 2.

-7- The pivot axis interrelating both parts, namely the base body and the lid is located only at one of the ends of the imaginary pivot axis, and for instance associated to the lid crosses a circular, eyed lug (11) of the base body which lug can also be shaped as a circular sector, open at one side and with a narrow mouth, to allow said axis to be simply snap-fitted.

Nevertheless, and in accordance with the embodiment shown in figure 4, the base body and the lid may be articulated to each 10 other through a hinge element (12) located on one of the edges of said base body and lid close to the mouth for the wax applicator to project, in order for the lid to be pivoted sideways, in the opening and closing operations, instead of downwards, as in the embodiment of figures 1 to 3.

The lid will in any event be provided with means stabilising its closed position with respect to the base body and may optionally also be provided with means biasing such closed position, namely for instance suitably arranged springs whose bias must be overcome when openingthe lid.

It is also possible in accordance with the object of the invention, as shown in figures 2 and 4, for the casing to be easily accessible, Sdefining either a practically right-angled dihedral in and from which the 25 wax applicator may be easily fitted and removed, or an obtuse dihedral, with an angle of approximately 1800, in which fitting and removing is even easier, and moreover since said applicator cannot be plugged into the body, as is conventionally the case, the cross-section of the reservoir of said applicator can be larger than that of the mouth defined by the base body and the lid of the casing, in order for said applicator to project outwards, thereby for stabilisation thereof within the casing to be far more effective.

In accordance with the embodiment of figure 5, the electric heating resistor may comprise a small plate mounted on a grooved -8- U-shaped support which heating plate matches the shape and size of a window or box (14) with which one of the larger walls of the reservoir containing the wax is purposely provided, the foregoing in order to achieve the best possible performance in so far as heating as such is concerned, for since the heating plate is housed within said box in the reservoir wall, heating of the wax contained therein takes place under optimum conditions.

The body comprising the grooved supporting plate (13) and the 10 heating plate as such is slip-mounted on a support (15) which comprises a prismatic-rectangular body, open at the top and at the front, to altogether house within it the plate (13) with the heating element or plate and the actual reservoir of the applicator, the latter with its base leaning on the base of the support S: The breadth of the lateral wings (16) of the plate (13) is identical with that of the side walls (17) of the support (15) in order for said plate (13) and the applicator to be perfectly mounted on and adjusted within the support (15) and specifically between the latter's side walls the rear wall and the small front wings projecting at the front opening of said support 0o, The assembly thus constructed is mounted on the casing which comprises a base body and the lid articulated through hinge 25 means (18) to the base body, the lower part or base of the base body having a support plate (19) provided with a window (22) to allow the connectors which power the electric heating resistor through.

Mounting of the heater assembly on the body and specifically on the base body takes place guided by means of longitudinal ribs provided on the side walls of the support which slip into and are guided by slots (21) purposely provided on the inner face of the side walls of the aforesaid base body the heater assembly being thus perfectly mounted on the body, and capable of being very easily and simply mounted thereon or detached therefrom, for it is sufficient to -9pivot the lid towards the open position, whereas in the closed position it encloses, with the base body the entire heater assembly, allowing the head with the applicator roller to project outwards.

As shown specifically in figure 6, when closed, the body and the lid define a housing for the reservoir containing the wax, whose head and applicator roller project outwards through the mouth defined by the body and the lid, the foregoing because said elements are provided with respective facing ledges (23) to define such 10 mouth.

Returning to said pivots (18) constituting the pivot axis of the lid relative to the base body same project from the inner face of lugs or extensions (24) with which the lid is provided, which S: 15 projections are designed to be snap-fitted at respective narrow mouth mincuts (25) in turn provided in lugs or extensions (26) on the sides of the base body and which internally overlap the aforesaid lugs (24).

As for the means provided to hold the lid closed, these are defined by means of a projecting edge (27) originating from an obtuse S angled bend on the free edge of the ledge (23) of the lid which projection (27) is positioned in a sort of angle groove (28) with which the head of the wax applicator as such is purposely provided, :""the fact that said lid has sectors at both the top and the bottom, 25 one converging downwards or towards its hinged area and another one converging upwards and ending precisely at the closure projecting edge as shown specifically in figure 8, helps keep a stable closed position.

Finally, and as shown in figures 9, 10 and 11, the applicator as such is assisted by a removable grip, generally marked which is complemented with a semi-clamp provided to adjust itself in a recess (30) purposely provided across the side surface of the body or general heater casing. In particular, the semi-clamp (29) has projections (31) through which the same is held on the general applicator body or casing, as shown in figure 10, for these projections (31) are housed in recesses (32) originated by incuts purposely provided facing the edges of the base body and the lid making up the body.

Figures 9 and 10 show how, on being applied onto the general applicator body or casing, the grip projects perpendicularly from one of the smaller surfaces, which allows the applicator roller to be used in an upright position. If the roller is to be used in a horizontal position, by means of the grip then the semi-clamp projects from said grip (28) crosswise in order that, in being 4.1. adapted and applied to the outer casing, said grip (28) will project from one of

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the larger surfaces of the general body, the same projections (31) of the semiclamp and the same recesses or cavities (32) of the general casing being maintained for retaining purposes, once the semi-clamp has been adjusted in the general body, in such a way that the applicator assembly can in any event be used as if it were a gun, thereby making it easier to handle.

0e O09 S.

S. The semi-clamp (29) or is obviously removably adjusted, for although it is ~retained by interlocking, the resilience of said semi-clamp allows it to be full Ssimply manually detached.

Where the terms "comprise", "comprises", "comprised" or "comprising" are used in this specification, they are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components referred to, but not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other feature, integer, step, component or group thereof.

12/11/98msap9967.spe

Claims (14)

1. A depilatory wax heater having a casing in which one or more electric resistors are arranged to heat a wax mass housed within a reservoir associated with an applicator, said reservoir being removably located within said casing, wherein said casing includes a body and a lid pivotably connected to each other in such a way that said lid is moveable into an open position allowing ready access to said resistors housed therein.

2. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said body is shaped as a substantially elongate prismatic-rectangular pan within which said electric resistors are located, leaving space for said applicator reservoir to be housed such that said body overlies said reservoir said body being connected to said lid which is articulated thereto and constitutes a complementary pan therefor, said lid being adapted to be pivoted onto said body to define a substantially closed receptacle through which said wax applicator projects outwardly defining a dihedral when open, in which said wax applicator is readily accessible and is adapted to be coupled and uncoupled by being inserted sideways within said body.

3. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein when coupled, said body and said lid define a-narrow mouth for said wax applicator to project outwards, wherein the cross-section of said reservoir of said wax applicator is adapted to be V greater in size than said mouth.

4. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, 20 wherein a hinge axis between said body and said lid lies on the end opposite said mouth of said casing through which said applicator projects, said body being provided to include beyond said pivot axis recessed side areas through which it is inserted in said lid, which recessed areas are each defined by ledges acting as pivoting abutments, on which the respective edges of said lid impinge in the fully open position of the latter with respect to said S 25 body. :oo .i

5. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, ••eei wherein said pivot axis between said lid and said body includes a pin projecting from the inner face of the respective side wall of said lid which crosses the respective side wall of said body, either through a circular, eyed lug of the latter or through an open lug with a circular cross- section which is snap-fitted on said pin.

6. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, a19967.spc/12 April, 2002 wherein a hinge element lies on one of the edges of said body and said lid close to said mouth through which said wax applicator projects, and said lid pivots sideways when opened and closed.

7. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said lid has means stabilising its closed position against said body, preferably assisted by resilient means which automatically bias said lid towards the closed position against said body.

8. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said reservoir containing said wax has a recess on one of its larger sides in which a heating element fits snugly therein, said heating element including a plate fixed on a support which is slidebly mounted on another hollow support which is a means for receiving and housing said applicator reservoir, said another hollow support defines an assembly which is mounted.on and guided in said casing, on said body of said casing, with the assistance of at least one lateral, longitudinal rib on said support which engages at least one mating slot on said body.

9. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to wherein said lid is hinged to said casing through a pair of projections, each projecting perpendicularly from lugs or lateral extensions of said lid and being housed in narrow mouth Sincuts established in lugs or lateral extensions of said body. e* 20

10. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said lid is provided, at its sector defining said mouth of the casing, through which a head projects, with a projecting edge originating from an obtuse angle bend of the actual marginal area of said lid, which edge is designed to fit in an angle groove provided to complement same on said head, stabilisation of the closed position of said lid being assisted by 25 the convergent configuration of the top and bottom ends of said lid.

11. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including a grip removably adjustable on said casing, turning the latter into a sort of gun which makes it easier to handle; wherein said grip is associated to a semi-clamp with which it is adjusted and fixed crosswise to said body, being retained by means of projections provided at specific internal points of said semi-clamp which are locked in recesses provided in said casing. a19967.spc/I 2 April, 2002 13

12. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in Claim 11, wherein said semi- clamp of said grip is transversely adjusted to said body in such a way that said grip projects perpendicularly from one of the smaller faces, allowing the assembly to be used with a roller in an upright position.

13. The depilatory wax heater as claimed in Claim 11, wherein said semi- clamp of said grip is transversely adjusted to said body in such a way that said grip projects perpendicularly from one of the larger faces, allowing the assembly to be used with a roller in a horizontal position.

14. A depilatory wax heater, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 12 th day of April, 2002 PHYTOLAB, S.L. By their Patent Attorneys: CALLINAN LAWRIE *g a19967.spc/12 April, 2002