GB2332146A - Hair styling roller and steam generator therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

A roller 1 for non-permanent hair waving includes a tubular cylinder 7 of foamed material which absorbs both heat and steam, having a central cylindrical void 5 running its full length and a relatively resilient (eg perforated plastics) outer sleeve 2 having perforations 4 and bearing resilient hooks 3 to allow releasable attachment of hair to the roller. Caps 6,8 which may be integral with the sleeve 2 cover the ends of the cylinder 7 and have apertures which align with the central void. The steam generator (20, Fig 3) includes an electrically heated water reservoir having a steam outlet into which is removably mounted, by way of a base flange (29), an upstanding hollow pin (28) with apertures (31) and adapted to be received in the cavity of the roller. When not in use the pin may be protected by a cover (32) which can be used as a cup to fill water into the reservoir before use.

Description

2332146 Improvements in Hair Stvlin-q

The present invention relates to apparatus and methods used in the field of non-permanent hair styling. More specifically it relates to the curling or waving of hair.

The desire to impart a non-permanent style to hair has been an objective of many people from a multitude of cultures for a long period. The processes that are used have been developing over a long period of time. Over that period countless different styles and methods for imparting those styles have been used. The present invention relates to the use of curlers around which hair is wound, and to those styles that are imparted by such devices. The invention further relates to the non-permanent waving and curling of hair using curlers.

The use of curlers for styling hair is long established, indeed there have been countless designs employed. A curler basically is a generally cylindrical member of some sort around which hair may be wrapped, and thereon held in place for a period of time sufficient to impart curl. The methods by which the hair is held have also varied, examples range from those that include separate clips that are fixed over the hair and the roller, to bendable rollers that could be twisted into an approximation of a knot.

Rollers consist basically of a cylinder, although other shapes may be employed to give differing effects, around the curved surface of which hair may be wound. The hair is then held in place, by some method, for a period of time sufficient to impart a semi-permanent alteration of form to the hair. The cylindrical shape gives a well defined and even curved surface which in turn imparts an even curl to the hair wound thereon. However, the curls produced by this method are not particularly long-lived. The length of time that the curl remains in the hair, is proportional to the length of time the roller is left in place in the hair.

The roller could be made of foam, so long as it was reasonably resilient, and this offers the advantage of comfort to the wearer. Foam rollers do, however, have a number of disadvantages. Firstly, they can cause an uneven curl size, due to their compressibility. This in turn leads to detrimental effects such as hook-ends, where the ends of the strands of hair are bent over at a sharp angle, which is both unattractive and unnatural in appearance.

Secondly, if a foam curler is used, the fact that it slowly re-expands means that the hair is subjected to stress. As the curler expands, the hair must slip past the surface thereof, and due to a high coefficient of friction between the hair and the foam, there can be breakage of the hair. United States Patent No. 4,630,622 attempts to overcome this by placing the roller in a material bag. This material was to have a low coefficient of friction and therefore allow the hair to slip more easily over the roller.

Subsequently, it was discovered that heating the hair during the time that it is wound around the roller is advantageous in producing a longer lasting effect. Consequently the manufacture of rollers which can be heated for introduction to the hair has been a desired objective. Heated rollers could be made by placing within the roller a heat storage and release material or a direct heat source. However, the use of dry heat alone does have major disadvantages which have to be offset against its benefits, the major disadvantage of heat being that it can cause damage to the hair. A more detailed discussion of the problems associated with heated foam rollers can be found in United States Patent No. 4,630,622, which is mentioned above.

The disadvantage outlined above and those referred to in United States Patent No. 4,630,622 have led to steam being proposed as a heat source in the curling of hair. It was found to have the following advantages over dry heat alone. Firstly, it produced a curl that lasted for a longer period of time, and secondly, it had fewer detrimental effects on the hair, for example it was not prone to breaking the strands of hair.

The application of steam to the hair whilst rollers are contained therewithin is an easy process when in a hairdressing salon. Large machines which fit over the head or other complex and expensive devices can supply the steam or heat. However, in the home such machines are expensive and inconvenient, and furthermore they often require a second person, such as a hair stylist, actually to operate them.

A method of applying steam to a roller made from an absorbent foam material was proposed. This method had the advantage of being able to use steam rollers in a convenient domestic environment. However, the method has limitations as well, and examples of these are outlined below. The limitations are as follows.

- when hair is wound around the foam roller the first strands are wound more tightly due to the compressibility of the foam, therefore the end result is a curl of non-uniform character, resulting as mentioned above in detrimental effects such as hook-ends-I and - such foam rollers have no integral means of affixing the hair, so therefore require some external form of fixing apparatus.

The problem, facing a person who wishes to curl hair, is that from the multitude of apparatus that is available, there is nothing satisfactory that gives a uniform, steam enhanced curl in any easy and user friendly form.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a hair styling roller which comprises.

- a cylinder of a material capable of absorbing both heat and steam; - a relatively resilient porous sleeve disposed around the curved surface of the absorbent cylinderl - a cylindrical void, disposed in approximately the centre of the absorbent cylinder, which runs the full length of the cylinder and has a first opening at a first end-face of the said cylinder and a second opening at a second end-face of the said cylinder., - a cap formed on both the first and second end-faces of the absorbent cylinder and joined to the sleeve, the caps having apertures that align with the ends of the void; and - releasable hair attachment means disposed on the outer surface of the sleeve designed when in use releasably to hold the hair which is to be styled.

The absorbent cylinder could of.course be made of any suitable material, but it is preferably manufactured from an open-celled foam. The foam is preferably made from a plastics material such as polyester or those sold under the Registered Trade Mark Nylon.

The releasable hair attachment means located on the outer surface of the sleeve could be a number of different devices, but preferably it comprises a plurality of hooks disposed on the surface. To ensure the most efficient attachment of the hair via these hooks, the plane of each hook is advantageously disposed substantially at right angles to the surface of the sleeve at the point where they are joined. Furthermore, the hooks may of course be disposed over the surface in a completely random fashion, however it is preferred that they are disposed in an orderly fashion in rows and columns because, amongst other reasons, this facilitates manufacture. Still more preferably the hooks are all arranged to lie parallel to each other, so as to make their interconnection with the hair, and their manufacture more efficient.

During normal use, hair is wound around the sleeve, therefore it is advantageous that the hooks should lie perpendicular to this circumferential winding. In other words the plane of symmetry of the hook should lie parallel to the axis of the roller. The hooks are advantageously made of a plastics material, for example, that sold under the Registered Trade Mark Nylon.

According to a still further preferred embodiment of the present invention the cylindrical void is lined with a tube manufactured from a relatively-firm, porous material which will allow the communication of steam between the void and the said absorbent cylinder during normal operation. The tube is preferably formed of a plastics material, and porosity is conferred by providing the tube with a plurality of apertures through which steam may communicate with the void and the absorbent cylinder.

The sleeve must of course, during operation, permit the passage of the steam that is held within the absorbent material, to the external area. This is necessary because the steam held in the absorbent material must be allowed to act upon the hair wrapped around the sleeve. The sleeve could therefore be made of any suitable material, but because of its good thermal properties and its ease of manufacture, it is preferably made of a plastics material.

Porosity is, however, not inherent in plastics materials, and therefore to achieve the level of porosity required, the sleeve is advantageously provided with a plurality of apertures. More advantageously, the sleeve may be formed of a fine mesh material. This has the advantage of reducing the weight of the roller and improving the even passage of the steam from the absorbent cylinder to the hair. It has the further benefit of giving the sleeve the appropriate physical properties, such as for example the degree of flexibility, because it is capable of maintaining a good shape, but is not so hard as to be uncomfortable to the wearer.

Although it is envisaged that the roller detailed above could be utilised with any form of suitable steam generating device, advantageously it is used in conjunction with the device as outlined below.

According to a second preferred aspect of the invention, there is 5 provided a steam generating device for use in conjunction with the hair styling roller(s) as described above, which comprises:

- a reservoir to hold water; - an energy source to supply the energy required to convert at least part of said water to steam; - at least one steam outlet, and at least one hollow pin having an open end, a closed end and apertures formed through the wall thereof, said open end being positioned closely adjacent the steam outlet such that steam will communicate with the interior of the pin and, by means of the apertures in the pin wall, with the absorbent foam.

For normal operation, the steam generating device mentioned above obviously requires water, and the level of water in the reservoir must be within certain parameters. If for instance, the water level were too high, then effective steam generation would not be possible due to an insufficient air space above the water (but within the reservoir) and the need to heat up an excess volume of water. Conversely, if there was insufficient water the reservoir could run dry and therefore not only fail to provide sufficient steam, but also risk damaging the apparatus itself. Therefore the device is advantageously provided with a water level indicator to prevent under- or over-filling of the reservoir.

The steam generating device could be an item that one would feel reluctant physically to take to a tap to fill, possibly due to its size or more probably to the risks associated with bringing un-contained water into contact with its power generation means, which would quite possibly be electrical. Therefore the device is more advantageously further provided with a further part in the form of a cup. This cup may serve a dual purpose, firstly during operation it may be used to quantify and transport the water for the reservoir, and secondly, during periods of non-operation, may be used as a protective cover for the hollow pin and the steam outlet. This protective function may be achieved by inverting the cup and placing it over the hollow pin so that it might inter-engage with a suitable lug or recess on the body of the device.

The hollow pin provided on the steam generating device is of course the means by which coupling of the roller and the steam generator Is achieved. Obviously, there may be a variety of hair rollers, each possibly having a different shaped or dimensioned pin. Efficient coupling requires that the pin and the void of the roller are capable of relatively close interengagement. For instance a roller with a large diameter void would, if placed upon a small diameter pin, not only fail to fit snugly, but would also fail efficiently to absorb the steam that is generated by the device. Ideally therefore, all types of roller should have a pin that suits their own particular requirements. However, to provide a separate steam generating device for every type of roller would be a highly inefficient solution. The present invention aims to overcome this by providing a removable pin on the steam generating device so that when a different type of roller is employed, an accordingly proportioned pin may be affixed adjacent the steam outlet.

Advantageously the pin is further provided with an integral flange located at its first end, which flange is capable of releasable inter- engagement with the steam outlet. This makes the pin completely removable from the steam generating device and, therefore, it may be replaced by one with suitable dimensions, provided that they all comprise a flange of similar proportions, and that flange attaches to a hole of standard proportions.

Naturally it would be advantageous in certain situations to be able to heat more than one roller at a time. For example when the rollers have to be heated for a relatively long period of time, to heat only one roller at a time and then have to wait for the next one to be ready would mean the process of hair styling would take an inconvenient length of time. Therefore, the steam generating device is advantageously provided with a plurality of steam outlets, and each of these outlets is associated with a hollow pin, so that more than one hair styling roller may be heated at any one time. Normally there will be no more than 12 steam outlets with hollow pins associated therewith so that a maximum of 12 rollers may be heated at any one time.

This invention relates also to a method of styling hair which utilises the apparatus as described above. Therefore, according to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of styling hair utilising a hair styling roller as already outlined and a steam generating device as further described above, which comprises the following steps.

- filling the reservoir with water., - applying energy to the water to convert at least part of said water into steam; - engaging the roller, by means of the void, with the pin; - allowing steam to leave the reservoir via the steam outlet and the pin, and to enter the absorbent cylinder of the hair roller; - removing the thus heated roller from engagement with the pin, - wrapping hair around the thus heated roller and fixing therewith by means of releasable hair attachment means positioned on the surface of the roller., - leaving the roller in place for a period of time sufficient to impart the desired style to the hair, and - removing the roller from the hair.

The roller may of course be left in the hair for any length of time, however if the period of time is too short then the curl will not be efficiently imparted, and if it Is too long then no discernible additional benefits will be forthcoming. Therefore, the roller is advantageously left in the hair for a period of time in the range from 10 to 40 minutes, but more advantageously for a period of time of from 10 to 20 minutes.

The length of time that the roller is engaged with the hollow pin is also of importance. If the period is too short then an insufficient amount of steam is able to enter the roller. Conversely, if the rollers are left in conjunction for too long, then the absorbent cylinder will become saturated with water, and will not work efficiently. Therefore the roller and hollow pin are advantageously engaged for a period of time of from 5 to 15 seconds.

The invention will now be described in more detail will reference to the following drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a roller of the present invention; Figure 2 is a part cross sectional view of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a steam generation device; and Figure 4 is a removable hollow pin assembly.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the hair styling roller according to the present invention is generally indicated 1. The roller comprises a sleeve 2, on the surface of which are disposed a plurality of hooks 3, which hooks comprise the releasable hair attachment means. The surface of the sleeve 2 is punctuated by holes 4 which allow the passage of steam thereacross. From Figure 2 it can be seen that the sleeve 2 is disposed around an absorbent cylinder 7, which is usually fabricated from an absorbent foam material. The cylinder 7 has first and second end faces as well as end caps 6 and 8 which are located thereon. These end caps 6 and 8 may be integrally formed with the walls of the cylinder 2, or may be joined thereto by any known means, however in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 the ends of cylinder 2 and the end caps 6 and 8 are formed integrally.

In the centre of the cylinder there is a void 5, which runs the full length of the cylinder, it is in alignment with holes formed in the end caps 6 and 8.

The void 5 is lined with a tube 9 which is attached at both ends to the caps 6 and 8. Obviously, to allow the passage of steam from the void 5 into the absorbent cylinder 7, the tube 9 must be porous. Advantageously however the tube is manufactured from plastics material, and therefore the inherent porosity is low or negligible. To overcome this problem the tube is provided with holes 10 which allow the passage of steam thereacross.

The roller described above may of course be used with any suitable steam generating device, however a device most suited for use in conjunction with the roller will now be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

The steam generating device is generally indicated 20, and it comprises a base unit 21 with a lining 22, usually of metal. Water 23 is housed within the base unit 21, and the level is monitored by means of a level indicator 24. The reservoir housing is provided with heat generating means 25 which are, as in this example the means are electrical, supplied with energy via an electric power cable 26. When in operation, electrical current supplied via the cable 26 is transformed into thermal energy by the heat generating device 25. This energy causes the metallic lining of the base unit to heat up, and in turn this raises the temperature of the water 23 and causes at least part of that water to become steam. At first, this steam gathers in the air space 27 above the water 23. At the top of the air space there is a steam outlet, and fitted in place on this outlet is a hollow pin 28, at the base of which is a flange 29. This flange 29 is designed to be capable, when in releasable inter-engagement with the steam outlet, of preventing the majority of the steam from exiting by any route other than via the hollow pin 28. The pin and flange assembly are usually integrally formed, and together form a single removable piece, which is shown in Figure 4 and generally indicated 30. When the assembly 30 is in engagement with the steam outlet, the steam generated within the reservoir 21 may only exit the air space 27 via the hollow centre of pin 28.

The surface of the hollow pin 28 is provided with a plurality of apertures 31, which during operation allow the steam which has entered the centre of the hollow pin to exit the pin. When the hair styling roller of Figures 1 and 2 is used in conjunction with this steam generating device, the roller is placed upon the assembly 30 by engaging it with the void 5 in the centre of the absorbent cylinder 7. When the roller and pin are in unison, the steam that is generated passes from the centre of the hollow pin 28, via the apertures 31 and the holes 10 into the absorbent cylinder 7.

In Figure 4 the flange 29 is shown as having a generally circular outline, and therefore the steam outlet that it would correspond to would also have a similar shape. When the flange is circular, it is possible that it could rotate in the steam outlet; and whilst this is far from detrimental, it i's by no means advantageous. Therefore, a method of preventing this rotation may be employed. In the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4 the rotation of the flange 29 is prevented by means of lugs 35, which, when the assembly 30 is located in the steam outlet, are seated in recesses (not shown) on the base unit 20. This prevents any rotation of the flange, but needless to say if the flange is differently shaped, such as in a oval configuration, the lugs would be 5 unnecessary.

During periods of non-operation, the pin 28 could be vulnerable to damage or soiling. Therefore a protective cup 32 may be removably mounted about the pin 28. This cup 32 could of course be located by any suitable means, but as herein illustrated, it is located and held in place by a number of tabs 33 on the surface of the flange 29. The cup 32 also serves a second function, which is to act as a means of transporting water. It is not likely that one would wish to move the steam generating device to a tap to fill it up. Therefore the cup 32 can be used to transport the water for the filling the base unit 21 from the tap to the steam generating device. The water may be introduced into the reservoir via the steam outlet, when the hollow pin and flange assembly 30 has been removed.

The arrows 34 generally indicate the flow of the steam from the air space 27 via the centre of the hollow pin 28 and out of the apertures 31, to the space which would be occupied by the roller.

Claims (26)

Claims

1. A hair styling roller for the non-permanent waving or curling of hair which comprises:

- a cylinder of a material capable of absorbing both heat and steam; - a relatively resilient porous sleeve disposed around the curved surface of the absorbent cylinder; - a cylindrical void, disposed in approximately the centre of the absorbent cylinder, which runs the full length of the cylinder and has a first opening at a first end-face of the said cylinder and a second opening at a second end-face of the said cylinder; - a cap formed on both the first and second end-faces of the absorbent cylinder and joined to the sleeve, the caps having apertures that align with the ends of the void; and - releasable hair attachment means disposed on the outer surface of the sleeve, and designed when in use releasably to hold the hair which is to be styled.

2. A hair styling roller as claimed in claim 1 in which the absorbent cylinder is formed from an open-celled foam.

3. A hair styling roller as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the releasable hair attachment means comprise a plurality of hooks disposed across the surface of the sleeve.

4. A hair styling roller as claimed in claim 3, in which the plurality of hooks are arranged on the surface of the sleeve in an ordered fashion.

5. A hair styling roller as claimed in claims 3 or claim 4, in which the plane of symmetry of each hook is arranged to lie substantially parallel to that of the others.

6. A hair styling roller as claimed in any of claims 3 to claim 5, in which the plane of each hook is disposed substantially at right angles to the surface of the sleeve at the point where they are joined.

7. A hair styling roller as claimed in any of claims 3 to 6, in which the hooks are made of a plastics material such as that sold under the Registered Trade Mark Nylon.

8. A hair styling roller as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the void is lined with a tube made of a relatively firm porous material that will allow communication of steam between the void and the absorbent cylinder during normal operation.

9. A hair styling roller as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the sleeve is formed of a plastics material, and there are provided a plurality of apertures that communicate with the absorbent cylinder to allow the passage of steam during normal operation.

10. A hair styling roller as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the sleeve is in the form of a fine mesh.

11 - A hair styling roller substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A steam generating device for use in conjunction with a hair styling roller as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which comprises:

a reservoir to hold water., - an energy source to supply the energy required to convert at least part of said water to steam., - at least one steam outlet; and - at least one hollow pin having an open end, a closed end and apertures formed through the wall thereof, said open end being positioned closely adjacent the steam outlet such that steam will communicate with the interior of the pin and, by means of the apertures in the pin wall, with the absorbent foam.

13. A steam generating device as claimed in claim 12, which additionally 15 comprises a water-level indicator to prevent under or over filling of the reservoir.

14. A steam generating device as claimed in claim 12 or claim 13, which additionally comprises a cup which duhng operation may be used to measure out the water that goes into the reservoir, and during periods of nonoperation may be utilised, by inversion and subsequent positioning over the pin, as a protective cover for the hollow pin, and the steam outlet.

15. A steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 14. In which the pin is further provided with a flange located at the base which flange is capable of releasable inter-engagement with the steam outlet.

16. A steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 15, which is provided with a plurality of hollow pins of different external dimensions for each steam outlet.

17. A steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 16, in which the reservoir is lined with a heat conductive material such as metal.

18. A steam generating device as claimed in claim 17, in which the metal 10 lining is surrounded by a heat resistant material.

19. A steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 18, in which the energy source may comprises, an electrical element, direct chemical energy such as from a gas burner, direct microwave radiation or a combination of these and other sources.

20. A steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 19, which is provided with a number of steam outlets, each of which is associated with a hollow pin, such that a plurality of hair styling rollers can be brought into conjunction with the steam generator at any one time.

21. A steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 20, in which 20 there are up to 12 steam outlets with hollow pins associated therewith.

22. A steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 21, in which the energy source comprises an electrical element supplied with electricity at normal mains voltages.

23. A steam generating device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

24. A method of styling hair utilising a hair styling roller as claimed in any of claims 1 to 11 and the steam generating device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 23, which comprises the following steps.

- filling the reservoir with water; - applying energy to the water to convert at least part of it into steam; - engaging the roller, by means of the void, with the pin; - allowing steam to leave the reservoir via the steam outlet and the pin, and to enter the absorbent cylinder of the hair roller., - removing the thus heated roller from engagement with the pin., - wrapping hair around the thus heated roller and fixing therewith by means of releasable hair attachment means positioned on the surface of the roller, - leaving the roller in place for a period of time sufficient to impart the desired style to the hair-1 and - removing the roller from the hair.

25. A method as claimed in claim 24, in which the roller is left in the hair for a period of time of from 10 to 40 minutes.

26. A method as claimed in claim 24 or claim 25, in which the roller is engaged with the hollow pin for a period of time of from 5 to 15 seconds.