US20070277841A1

US20070277841A1 - Artificial nail capable of preventing damage of French-nail decoration

Info

Publication number: US20070277841A1
Application number: US11/474,610
Authority: US
Inventors: Hyo Sun Kim
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-06-05
Filing date: 2006-06-26
Publication date: 2007-12-06
Also published as: KR20070116406A

Abstract

An artificial nail is disclosed, which can increase the adhesive force between a French-nail manicure and the artificial nail and prevent a French-nail decoration from being damaged. The artificial nail includes an upper surface having a rough portion, a French-nail decoration formed on the rough upper surface, an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force interposed between a French-nail manicure and the upper surface having the French-nail decoration. Also, the artificial nail set includes a tree having plurality of branches branching off from both sides of the tree and a plurality of artificial nails, each of which is detachably coupled to each end portion of the branches and has the above-described construction. The French-nail decoration formed on the artificial nail has a prolonged lifetime because it is prevented from being peeled off, worn or damaged (abraded).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an artificial nail, and more particularly, to an improved artificial nail capable of increasing an adhesive force between a French-nail manicure and the artificial nail and preventing a French-nail decoration from being damaged.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a full-cover artificial nail, which is called a nail tip, is made of synthetic resin, such as nylon or acetate, through injection molding. The artificial nail is adhered to a user's nail to protect and decorate the nail with beautiful shapes and colors. More specifically, the artificial nail protects a nail bed or a nail body of the user, and decorates the user's nail with French-nail designs and attractive colors.
As a basic cosmetic treatment, the nails are usually applied with a colored nail polish. The application of the nail polish onto the nails is a complicated process, and it takes a lot of time and requires a skilled experience to precisely and uniformly apply the nail polish onto all of ten nail bodies. After that, the user should wait for the nail polish to well and truly dry with patience. In the case in which the nail service is provided in a nail salon, it costs a great deal and is also time consuming. Accordingly, in recent days, the use of artificial nail kits which are purchased from a market is rapidly increasing at home.
In general, a front surface (i.e., free edge) of the conventional artificial nail appears glossy, as the remaining surface (i.e., upper surface of a nail bed) of the nail. Hence, there is a drawback that since decoration ink or paint is not sufficiently adhered to the glossy surface of the nail, the decoration ink or paint is likely peeled off from the surface.
The drawback is the result of insufficient adsorption of the decoration ink or paint to the surface of the artificial nail or the insufficient adhesive force of the decoration ink or paint to the surface.
The artificial nails are generally manufactured to have the glossy surface and are delivered to consumers intact. The consumers decorate the surface of the artificial nail with decoration ink or paint, without using an adhesive. In this instance, the decoration paint itself has no adhesive force sufficient to be adhered to plastic material used for the artificial nail, because of its chemical resistance. Accordingly, the decoration paint is easily peeled off from the glossy surface, and thus the decoration paint likely suffers from erosion.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional artificial nail with a French-nail decoration.
The conventional artificial nail 10 with French-nail decoration is adhered to upper surfaces of nail bodies 18 and 19 by an adhesive 15, with no adhesive being interposed between a French-nail decoration 13 and a surface 12 of the artificial nail.
According to the artificial nail 10 with the French-nail decoration, a nail bed of the artificial nail is made of transparent material, so as to show the pink nail bed under the artificial nail. The free edge 12 of the artificial nail is painted with white paint to form the French-nail decoration 13, except for the nail bed. The French-nail decoration 13 and the remaining portion 11 of the artificial nail are generally provided with a transparent topcoat 14.
In a state that no adhesive is provided between the French-nail decoration 13 and the surface 12 of the artificial nail, decoration paint is applied on the surface of the artificial nail, and the topcoat is applied on the decoration paint. Accordingly, the French-nail decoration is likely peeled off or damaged in a short time.
Also, the artificial nail has a smooth and glossy surface as the initial state made at a factory. Therefore, in case that the surface 12 of the artificial nail is provided with the French-nail decoration 13, the French-nail decoration is likely peeled off or worn off with the lapse of time, which is subjected to the erosion.
Meanwhile, a conventional artificial nail set includes artificial nails with a smooth and glossy surface. In case that a user attaches the artificial nails onto her nails, and then detaches a tap from the artificial nails to provide the surface of the artificial nail with the French-nail decoration, the French-nail decoration is provided on the upper surface of the artificial nail, without conducting matt-finishing to the surface of the artificial nail or applying an adhesive onto the surface. Therefore, there is a problem that the French-nail decoration of the artificial nail is easily damaged and worn off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art. One object of the present invention is to prolong the lifetime of a French-nail decoration formed on an artificial nail by preventing the French-nail decoration from being peeled off, worn off or damaged (abraded).
Another object of the present invention is to increase the absorbing force of a surface of an artificial nail to a French-nail manicure, the adhesive force between the French-nail manicure and the surface of the artificial nail, or both the aforementioned absorbing force and the adhesive force.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an artificial nail set with increased absorbing force and/or adhesive force of a surface of the artificial nail to a French-nail manicure.
In order to accomplish these objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an artificial nail with an upper surface applied with a French-nail manicure, wherein a portion of the upper surface is rough so that the French-nail manicure can permeate the upper surface effectively.
The rough upper surface might not be an upper surface corresponding to a nail bed but a free edge or an artificial tip, instead.
The rough upper surface may be formed through injection molding using an artificial nail mold having an unpolished portion.
The rough upper surface may be applied with the French-nail manicure to form a French-nail decoration.
In order to effectively absorb paint or ink to be used as the French-nail decoration, the upper surface of the artificial nail may be unpolished to form a rough surface, or may be subjected to matt-finishing. The artificial nail having the rough surface or matt-finished surface may be formed through injection molding using an artificial nail mold, of which the inner surface is polished, except for a portion corresponding to the rough surface, or the entire inner surface is unpolished.
The French-nail decoration may be formed on the upper surface of the artificial nail which is partially matt-finished or may be unpolished, thereby obtaining the artificial nail with the French-nail decoration permeating the surface in depth and thus adhered thereto with a strong adhesive force.
Also, the present invention discloses an artificial nail having a French-nail decoration, which is characterized by comprising an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force interposed between a French-nail manicure and an upper surface of the artificial nail.
The upper surface of the artificial nail to be applied with an adhesive might not be an upper surface corresponding to a nail bed but a free edge or an artificial tip, instead.
The French-nail decoration may be rigidly adhered onto the upper surface of the artificial nail by using the adhesive layer(s) under the French-nail decoration.
Furthermore, the present invention discloses an artificial nail having a French-nail decoration, which is characterized by comprising an upper surface applied with a French-nail manicure, a portion of which is rough so that the French-nail manicure permeates the upper surface effectively, and an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force interposed between the French-nail manicure and the upper surface of the artificial nail.
The rough upper surface may be formed through injection molding using an artificial nail mold having an unpolished portion, and the adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force may be interposed between the French-nail manicure and the upper surface of the artificial nail.
Since the upper surface of the artificial nail is unpolished or is partially matt-finished, the French-nail manicure is effectively absorbed, so that it is rigidly fixed to the upper surface of the artificial nail. Also, the adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force is interposed between the French-nail manicure and the upper surface of the artificial nail to strongly adhere the French-nail decoration with the artificial nail.
Also, the present invention discloses an artificial nail set including a tree having a plurality of branches branching off from both sides of the tree, and a plurality of artificial nails each detachably coupled to each end portion of the branches, characterized in that the artificial nail has an upper surface applied with decoration paint, and a portion of the upper surface is rough so that the decoration paint permeates the upper surface effectively.
The rough upper surface may be formed through injection molding using an artificial nail mold having an unpolished portion. The rough upper surface may be applied with the French-nail manicure to form a French-nail decoration.
The French-nail decoration may be formed on a portion of the upper surface of the artificial nail, and an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force may be interposed between a French-nail manicure and the upper surface of the artificial nail.
The artificial nail set may include an upper surface of the artificial nail applied with the decoration paint, a portion of which is rough so that the decoration paint permeates the upper surface effectively, a French-nail manicure applied onto a portion of the upper surface of the artificial nail, and an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force interposed between the French-nail manicure and the upper surface of the artificial nail.
Each of the artificial nails is detachably coupled to each end portion of the branches at a proper position on the bottom surface of the free edge of the artificial nail. Preferably, the coupling end of the branch is upwardly bent to have a curved shape or an obtuse angle so that the branch contacts the proper position of the bottom surface of the artificial nail. The artificial nail may be detachably coupled to the end portion of the branch at a lower front portion of the free edge of the artificial nail, and the upper surface of the branch may not directly contact the upper surface of the artificial nail to have a stepped portion.
The above construction is a very important feature in maintaining the initial beauty of the artificial nails when the nails are designed by the mold and also to prolong a the lifetime of the decoration by drastically reducing the possibility of peel-off, abrasion, and damage of the decoration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional artificial nail having a French-nail decoration;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view depicting artificial nails according to embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view depicting an artificial nail set having artificial nails according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and respective drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and so repetition of the description on the same or similar components will be omitted.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view depicting artificial nails 20 according to embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view depicting an artificial nail set having artificial nails 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The artificial nail 20 of the present invention includes an unpolished or rough free edge 21 a and an upper surface 21 c corresponding to an upper portion of a nail bed, as shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, the unpolished free edge 21 a does not extend beyond a portion to be provided with a French-nail decoration.
Also, the artificial nail 20 may have a French-nail decoration on the unpolished free edge 21 a. Preferably, the border between the French-nail decoration and the free edge of the artificial nail coincides with that between a nail bed of a natural nail and a free edge thereof.
The free edge of the artificial nail 20 to be provided with the French-nail decoration is unpolished, or is subjected to matt-finishing, and the French-nail decoration is provided thereon. Consequently, permeation of a decoration manicure to the surface of the artificial nail is improved, and an adhesive force between the decoration manicure and the surface is increased, so that the French-nail decoration is protected against peeling or abrasion.
In order to provide the free edge 21 of the artificial nail 20 with a rough surface, a mold for forming the artificial nail has a polished portion corresponding to the nail bed.
Nail attachment, such as nail polish, nail paint, base coating, topcoat, and others, can be effectively absorbed and is more adhered onto the surface of the artificial nail subjected to the matt-finishing, in contrast with moldings having a glossy and smooth nail body.
The reason why the artificial nail has different absorptance on the upper surface is that a plastic molding has a rich molecular concentration or a lean molecular concentration. The glossy surface of the nail body is obtained by grinding a surface of the nail mold made of stainless steel which comes in contact with a molten plastic during molding.
When the surface of the mold is polished to have higher surface polishing, the upper surface of the molded artificial nail appears glossier. As the surface of the artificial nail appears glossier, the molecular concentration is low. If the molecules are dense, the outer surface of the artificial nail becomes harder, through which external fluid or alien substance cannot penetrate. If the molecules are very dense and the outer surface is opaque, it is difficult to effectively absorb French-nail paint and a transparent UV topcoat which serves a very important role as a protective coat for the French-nail paint.
When the surface of the mold is polished to have lower surface polishing, the molecular concentration of the upper surface 21 of the artificial nail or nail body is decreased. If the molecular concentration is lowered, the nail body appears less glossy. That is, the surface is opaque and has a pool gloss. This results from the injection molding using an unpolished mold. If the final artificial nail made by such a mold is polished with a tool, the upper portion of low molecular concentration has a porous surface. Accordingly, the upper portion becomes weak, and has no hard or opaque property. This surface polishing is referred to as a matt-finishing. The matt-finishing provides the surface of the artificial nail with absorption. Therefore, the artificial nail can be provided on the surface with an ideal fixation for adhesion of white paint and UV topcoat to the surface.
The present invention provides a new mold for artificial nail composed of a well polished portion for forming the nail bed area 21 c having the gloss, and a small and thin unpolished portion formed on a front end of the free edge by matt-finishing the front end of the free edge to form a thin surface area 21 a of a high absorptance.
Therefore, the upper surface of the molded artificial nail has two important features. The cuticle edge 21 c of the artificial nail appears glossy, so that it shows an attractive, healthy, and beautiful appearance. At the same time, the decoration 23 of the artificial nail that extends along the front end of the free edge can absorb the French-nail decoration formed by painting the white colored paint onto the soft surface 21 a, which is matt-finished, and applying the UV topcoat on the paint, as compared with any conventional artificial nail.
The white colored paint and UV topcoat permeate the matt-finished surface area 21 a, and are fixed in plasticity.
Thus, the artificial nail provided with the French-nail decoration can be maintained without worrying about the abrasion or corrosion of the white colored paint and the protective UV topcoat.
Referring to FIG. 2, the artificial nail 20, according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes an adhesive layer 30 having a strong adhesive force between a French-nail manicure 31 and the free edge 21 b of the artificial nail 20.
When the artificial nail set of the present invention is manufactured in a factory, the present invention may include a method of providing the artificial nail with the French-nail decoration by several processes, such as pad printing, spray, hand drawing, and others, in which the adhesive layer 30 having the strong adhesive force is formed under a preformed artificial nail.
When a strong adhesive is applied onto the surface 23 of the artificial nail on which the decoration is positioned, the decoration paint is applied onto an upper surface of the adhesive, before the adhesive is dried. Accordingly, the French-nail manicure or paint 31 can be adhered onto the surface 21 of the artificial nail by the adhesive.
Referring to FIG. 2, the artificial nail 20, according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes an unpolished surface 21 a that is adjacent to the front portion 21 b of the upper surface and that is not polished by the artificial nail mold having the unpolished portion, an adhesive layer 30 positioned on the unpolished portion 21 a, a French-nail decoration or paint 31 applied onto the adhesive layer 30, and a topcoat layer 32 formed on the French-nail decoration 31.
The unpolished or matt-finished portion 21 a of the upper surface of the artificial nail absorbs the French-nail manicure effectively, so that the French-nail manicure is fixed on a portion 21 a of the upper surface of the artificial nail, except for the upper portion of the nail bed. The adhesive layer 30 has a strong adhesive force interposed between the fixed French-nail manicure 31 and the surface 21 a of the artificial nail that increases the adhesive force between the French-nail manicure 31 and the surface 21 a.
Referring to FIG. 3, the artificial nail set 5 includes a support structure 50 having a plurality of branches 40, and the branches 40 are connected to either artificial nails 20 having the French-nail decoration formed on the unpolished portion 21 a, artificial nails (not shown) having no French-nail decoration on an unpolished portion, artificial nails with a French-nail decoration fixed by an adhesive, or artificial nails with a French-nail decoration provided on an unpolished portion by an adhesive. The artificial nails 20 of the artificial nail set 5 may be formed of various sizes.
Referring to FIG. 3, each of the artificial nails 20 is detachably coupled to each end portion of the branches 40 at a proper position 24 on a bottom surface of the free edge of the artificial nail 20. Preferably, the coupling end of the branch 40 is upwardly bent to have a curved shape or an obtuse angle so that the branch contacts the proper position 24 of the bottom surface of the artificial nail 20. Although not illustrated, according to the embodiments of the present invention providing the increased adhesive force, the artificial nail 20 is detachably coupled to the end portion of the branch 40 at an end portion 22 of the free edge of the artificial nail 20. The upper surface of the branch 40 may not directly contact the upper surface of the artificial nail 20 to have a stepped portion.
With the above description, the artificial nail having the most popular French-nail decoration can prolong a lifetime of the French-nail decoration provided on the artificial nail by preventing the French-nail decoration from being peeled off, worn or damaged (abraded).
Also, the French-nail manicure effectively permeates the surface of the artificial nail, so that it can be rigidly fixed onto the surface.
The present invention can increase the adhesive force between the French-nail manicure and the surface of the artificial nail by using the adhesive layer.
Further, the present invention can increase the absorbing force of the French-nail manicure.
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. An artificial nail with an upper surface applied with a French-nail manicure, wherein a portion of the upper surface is rough so that the French-nail manicure permeates the upper surface effectively.

2. The artificial nail as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rough upper surface is formed through injection molding using an artificial nail mold having an unpolished portion.

3. The artificial nail as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rough upper surface is applied with a French-nail manicure to form a French-nail decoration.

4. An artificial nail having a French-nail decoration, comprising:

an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force interposed between a French-nail manicure and an upper surface of the artificial nail.

5. An artificial nail having a French-nail decoration, comprising:

an upper surface applied with a French-nail manicure, a portion of which is rough so that the French-nail manicure permeates the upper surface effectively; and

an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force interposed between the French-nail manicure and the upper surface of the artificial nail.

6. The artificial nail as claimed in claim 5, wherein the rough upper surface is formed through injection molding using an artificial nail mold having an unpolished portion.

7. An artificial nail set including a tree having a plurality of branches branching off from both sides of the tree and a plurality of artificial nails, each detachably coupled to each end portion of the branches;

wherein the artificial nail has an upper surface applied with a French-nail manicure, and a portion of the upper surface is rough so that the French-nail manicure permeates the upper surface effectively.

8. The artificial nail set as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a French-nail decoration formed by applying decoration paint onto the upper surface.

9. An artificial nail set including a tree having a plurality of branches branching off from both sides of the tree, and a plurality of artificial nails each detachably coupled to each end portion of the branches, the artificial nail set comprising:

a French-nail decoration formed on a portion of the upper surface of the artificial nail; and

an adhesive layer having a strong adhesive force interposed between a French-nail manicure and the upper surface of the artificial nail.

10. An artificial nail set including a tree having plurality of branches branching off from both sides of the tree and a plurality of artificial nails, each detachably coupled to each end portion of the branches, the artificial nail set comprising:

an upper surface of the artificial nail applied with a French-nail manicure, a portion of which is rough so that the French-nail manicure permeates the upper surface effectively;