US20100212683A1

US20100212683A1 - Hair treatment apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20100212683A1
Application number: US12/570,329
Authority: US
Inventors: Keisuke Mizuno
Original assignee: ALPHA BRAIN-WORLD Co Ltd
Current assignee: ALPHA BRAIN-WORLD Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-02-25
Filing date: 2009-09-30
Publication date: 2010-08-26
Also published as: GB0917435D0; GB2468176A; TW201031359A; CN101810392A; JP2010194127A; KR20100096965A

Abstract

A novel and original hair treatment apparatus which is capable of simply and properly treating a tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with no use of any head hair nutrient, and which, in a case where hair treatment is to be made using a permanent wave agent or a straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient, is capable of simply and properly treating the tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with the permanent wave agent or the straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient being caused to sufficiently penetrate into the tress of hair.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a novel and original hair treatment apparatus which is capable of simply and properly treating a tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with no use of any head hair nutrient, and which, in a case where hair treatment is to be made using a permanent wave agent or a straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient, is capable of simply and properly treating the tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with the permanent wave agent or the straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient being caused to sufficiently penetrate into the tress of hair.

BACKGROUND ART

Up to now, a variety of hair treatment apparatuses which carry out treating a tress of hair while using a treatment solution therewith have been developed and proposed.
For example, in the patent document 1, there is disclosed a hair treatment apparatus which uses a treatment solution (a head hair nutrient) as a pre-treatment solution or post-treatment solution for ion introduction of an effective ingredient into a tress of hair and imparting far-infrared ray thereto, the hair treatment apparatus including a treatment device which, on the distal end side thereof, disposes an ultrasonic wave mist generator unit on the internal face of a gripping handle at the distal end of the hair sandwiching portion, and a mist injection hole in the internal face of the same; arranges an ionization electrode and a far-infrared ray imparting surface on the internal face of the gripping handle on the distal end side of the treatment device along the longitudinal direction thereof; and provides a power cord at the rear end of the base portion of the gripping handle for connecting to an external control power supply apparatus; and the hair treatment apparatus including a control power supply unit which incorporates an ionization circuit, a power supply for far-infrared ray generation, and a power supply for ultrasonic wave generation, and is equipped with a power cord for ion introduction that, at the distal end thereof, has an electrode surface for ionization that has a polarity opposite to that of the ionization electrode for the treatment device.
However, with this treatment apparatus, an ultrasonic wave mist generator unit, an ionization electrode, and a far-infrared ray imparting surface are provided on the gripping handle side of the treatment device, while on the control power supply unit side, an ionization circuit, a power supply for far-infrared ray generation, and a power supply for ultrasonic wave generation are provided, thus involving an extremely complicated configuration.

PRIOR ART TECHNICAL DOCUMENT

Patent Document

Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-87628

OUTLINE OF THE INVENTION

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

The problem to be solved by the present invention lies in that no hair treatment apparatus having a simple configuration has been available which is capable of simply and properly treating a tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with no use of any head hair nutrient, and which, in a case where hair treatment is to be made using a permanent wave agent or a straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient, is capable of simply and properly treating the tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with the permanent wave agent or the straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient being caused to sufficiently penetrate into the tress of hair.

Means for Solving the Invention

The hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present invention provides, as a most important feature thereof, a hair treatment apparatus, including a pair of treatment grip pieces which is openably/closably supported with a pivotal shaft at the respective proximal ends thereof, with the opposed faces thereof on the distal end side being formed to be buttable and openable so as to sandwich a tress of hair between the opposed faces, being provided with a hair pressing portion, which contains an ultrasonic vibrator, and a hair receiving portion on the opposed faces, respectively; an ultrasonic wave generator unit which applies ultrasonic vibrations to the sandwiched tress of hair through the hair pressing portion, being incorporated in one treatment grip piece, and an ion generator unit which applies negative ions to the tress of hair through the same, being incorporated in the same; a power supply unit which is connected to a commercial power line for supplying power to each of the ultrasonic wave generator unit and the ion generator unit which are incorporated in the one treatment grip piece; an operation unit having a group of switches for activating or deactivating the ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit; and an operation switch which performs operation start/stop of the ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit in accordance with close/open of the pair of treatment grip pieces.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention as stated in Claim 1, it is capable of realizing and providing a novel and original hair treatment apparatus with which, simply by the treatment operator making a simplified operation of moving the pair of treatment grip pieces along, for example, a lengthwise direction of the tress of hair, while still gripping deep the pair of treatment grip pieces, abundant softening of the tress of hair resulting from the application of ultrasonic vibrations thereto, and improvement of the cuticle and cortex of the tress of hair due to the negative ions being penetrated thereinto are progressed with no use of any head hair nutrient, whereby simple and proper treatment of the tress of hair can be realized, and in a case where a permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient are used for making hair treatment, the tress of hair can be simply and properly treated by subjecting it to an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions for assuring good penetration of the permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient into the tress of hair.
According to the invention as stated in Claim 2, like the invention as stated in Claim 1, it is capable of realizing and providing a novel and original hair treatment apparatus with which, simply by the treatment operator making a simplified operation of moving the pair of treatment grip pieces along, for example, a lengthwise direction of the tress of hair, while still gripping deep the pair of treatment grip pieces, abundant softening of the tress of hair resulting from the application of ultrasonic vibrations thereto, and improvement of the cuticle and cortex of the tress of hair due to the negative ions being penetrated thereinto are progressed with no use of any head hair nutrient, whereby simple and proper treatment of the tress of hair can be realized, and in a case where a permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient are used for making hair treatment, the tress of hair can be simply and properly treated by subjecting it to an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions for assuring good penetration of the permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient into the tress of hair, and yet whether or not the ultrasonic wave generator unit and the ion generator unit are each activated can be visually known.
According to the invention as stated in Claim 3, like the invention as stated in Claim 2, it is capable of realizing and providing a novel and original hair treatment apparatus with which, simply by the treatment operator making a simplified operation of moving the pair of treatment grip pieces along, for example, a lengthwise direction of the tress of hair, while still gripping deep the pair of treatment grip pieces, abundant softening of the tress of hair resulting from the application of ultrasonic vibrations thereto, and improvement of the cuticle and cortex of the tress of hair due to the negative ions being penetrated thereinto are progressed with no use of any head hair nutrient, whereby simple and proper treatment of the tress of hair can be realized, and in a case where a permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient are used for making hair treatment, the tress of hair can be simply and properly treated by subjecting it to an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions for assuring good penetration of the permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient into the tress of hair; yet whether or not the ultrasonic wave generator unit and the ion generator unit are each activated can be visually known; and further the ultrasonic wave generator unit and the ion generator unit can be easily activated or deactivated, respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a hair treatment apparatus pertaining to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present embodiment that is in the open state;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present embodiment that is in the closed state;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of an operation unit of the hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the entire configuration of the hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is an explanatory drawing for the operation of the hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to realize and provide a novel and original hair treatment apparatus which is capable of simply and properly treating a tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with no use of any head hair nutrient, and which, in a case where hair treatment is to be made using a permanent wave agent or a straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient, is capable of simply and properly treating the tress of hair while applying an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions to the tress of hair with the permanent wave agent or the straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient being caused to sufficiently penetrate into the tress of hair. A hair treatment apparatus 1 of the present invention comprises a pair of treatment grip pieces 3,4 which is openably/closably supported with a pivotal shaft 5 at the proximal ends thereof so as to sandwich a tress of hair H between the opposed faces, being provided with a hair pressing portion 3 a and a hair receiving portion 4 a on the opposed faces, respectively; an ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 which applies ultrasonic vibrations to the sandwiched tress of hair H through the hair pressing portion 3 a, being incorporated in one treatment grip piece 3, and an ion generator unit 22 which applies negative ions to the tress of hair through the same, being incorporated in the same; a power supply unit 11 which is connected to a commercial power line for supplying power to each of the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and the ion generator unit 22 which are incorporated in the one treatment grip piece; an operation unit 6 having a group of switches for activating or deactivating the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and ion generator unit 22, and a group of indicator lights for indicating the activated state; and an operation switch 7 which is incorporated in over both the one treatment grip piece 3 and the other treatment grip piece 4, and performs operation start/stop of the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and ion generator unit 22 in accordance with the close/open.
The hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present invention has achieved the aforementioned purpose, being configured to include a pair of treatment grip pieces formed substantially in the shape of a rectangular prism, respectively, that are openably/closably supported with a pivotal shaft at the respective proximal ends, with the opposed faces thereof on the distal end side being formed to be buttable and openable so as to sandwich a tress of hair between the opposed faces, being provided with a rectangular-shaped hair pressing portion, which contains an ultrasonic vibrator, and a rectangular-shaped hair receiving portion on the opposed faces, respectively; an ultrasonic wave generator unit which applies ultrasonic vibrations to the sandwiched tress of hair through the hair pressing portion, being incorporated in one treatment grip piece, and an ion generator unit which applies negative ions to the tress of hair through the same, being incorporated in the same; a power supply unit including an AC plug connected to a commercial power line, an AC/DC adapter, a power cable, and a power supply circuit for supplying power to each of the ultrasonic wave generator unit and the ion generator unit which are incorporated in the one treatment grip piece; an operation unit having a group of switches consisting of an ultrasonic wave switch and an ion switch for activating or deactivating the ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit loaded in the one treatment grip piece, respectively, and a group of indicator lights including an ultrasonic wave generation light and a negative ion generation light; and an operation switch which is incorporated in over both the one treatment grip piece and the other treatment grip piece, and performs operation start/stop of the ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit in accordance with close/open of the pair of treatment grip pieces.

Embodiment

Hereinbelow, a hair treatment apparatus pertaining to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings FIG. 1 to FIG. 6.
As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, a hair treatment apparatus 1 pertaining to the present embodiment includes an apparatus body 2 has a pair of treatment grip pieces 3, 4 formed substantially in the shape of a rectangular prism, respectively, that are openably/closably supported with a substantially cylindrical pivotal shaft 5 a at the respective proximal ends, with the opposed faces thereof on the distal end side being formed to be buttable and openable so as to sandwich a tress of hair H between the opposed faces, being provided with a rectangular-shaped hair pressing portion 3 a, which contains an ultrasonic vibrator, and a rectangular-shaped hair receiving portion 4 a on the opposed faces, respectively. Further, the hair pressing portion 3 a is configured to emanate negative ions.
As shown in FIG. 5, one of the pair of treatment grip pieces 3, 4, for example, the treatment grip piece 3 incorporates an ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 which generates an ultrasonic wave of, for example, 1 MHz, for ultrasonically vibrating the hair pressing portion 3 a to apply ultrasonic vibrations to the sandwiched tress of hair H, and an ion generator unit 22 which applies negative ions at a rate of, for example, one million negative ions per 1 ml to the tress of hair H through the hair pressing portion 3 a.
In addition, a power supply unit 11 is provided over the exterior and interior of the apparatus body 2.
More specifically, the power supply unit 11 includes an AC plug 12 to be connected to an outlet of, for example, a 100-VAC line as a commercial power supply; an AC/DC adapter 13, and a power cable 14 for connecting the apparatus body 2 to the power line through the AC plug 12 and AC/DC adapter 13, and a power supply circuit 23 which supplies the required power to each of the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and the ion generator unit 22 which are incorporated in the one treatment grip piece 3.
Further, the hair treatment apparatus 1 has an operation unit 6 including a group of switches consisting of a pushbutton type ultrasonic wave switch 15 and ion switch 16 which activate or deactivate the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and ion generator unit 22, respectively, being mounted such that they project to the exterior surface of the one treatment grip piece 3, and a group of indicator lights including an ultrasonic wave generation light 15 a (such as a red light) and a negative ion generation light 16 a; and an operation switch 7 which is incorporated in over both the one treatment grip piece 3 and the other treatment grip piece 4, and performs operation start/stop of the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and ion generator unit 22 in accordance with close/open of the pair of treatment grip pieces 3,4.
In addition to the aforementioned ultrasonic wave generation light 15 a and negative ion generation light 16 a, the group of indicator lights also includes an ion light 16 b and a positive ion generation light 16 c, which are adjacent to the negative ion generation light 16 a, and a power-on light 17 which is configured to be lighted in normal operation.
By depressing the ion switch 16, the ion generator unit 22 can be activated/deactivated, and the polarity of ion can be selected. More specifically, with the power-on light 17 being lighted, depressing the ion switch 16 for the first time will light the ion light 16 b and the negative ion generation light 16 a, which indicates that the ion generator unit 22 has been activated and the negative ion polarity has been selected, respectively; then depressing the ion switch 16 again will light the positive ion generation light 16 c with the negative ion generation light 16 a going off, indicating the positive ion polarity having been selected; and finally depressing the ion switch 16 will distinguish the ion light 16 b and the positive ion generation light 16 c, indicating the ion generator unit 22 has been deactivated.
By depressing the ultrasonic wave switch 15, the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 can be activated/deactivated. More specifically, with the power-on light 17 being lighted, depressing the ultrasonic wave switch 15 for the first time will light the ultrasonic wave generation light 15 a, which indicates the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 has been activated, then depressing the ultrasonic wave switch 15 will distinguish the ultrasonic wave generation light 15 a, indicating the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 has been deactivated.
The operation switch 7 includes a projected piece 8 which is provided in the other treatment grip piece 4; a flat circular disk 9 which is provided in the one treatment grip piece 3 and in which a through-hole is provided in the central portion so as to allow the projected piece 8 to be inserted therein; and a switch unit (not shown) which is incorporated in the one treatment grip piece 3 to be turned on or off when contacted with or released from the projected piece 8, respectively, thus being configured so as to perform operation start/stop of the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and ion generator unit 22 in accordance with close/open of the pair of treatment grip pieces 3,4, as shown in FIG. 2/FIG. 3, respectively.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the entire configuration of the hair treatment apparatus 1 pertaining to the present embodiment. The AC plug 12 and AC/DC adapter 13 are connected to an apparatus body 2 through the power cable 14. In the portion of the power cable 14 where it is connected to the apparatus body 2, a loosening prevention connection mechanism 14 a is provided in order to prevent the power cable 14 from being loosened.
In the apparatus body 2, the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21, the ion generator unit 22, and the power supply circuit 23 are incorporated together with a program memory 24 which stores an operation program for the entire apparatus body 2, and a control unit 25 for controlling the same.
To the control unit 25, the ultrasonic wave switch 15, the ion switch 16, the operation switch 7, the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21, and the ion generator unit 22 are connected, and further to the control unit 25, the ultrasonic wave generation light 15 a, negative ion generation light 16 a, ion light 16 b, and positive ion generation light 16 c are connected, the control unit 25 performing operation control of these components.
The power supply circuit 23 supplies the required power to the control unit 25, ultrasonic wave generator unit 21, ion generator unit 22, and the like.
Next, with reference also to FIG. 6, the function of the hair treatment apparatus 1 pertaining to the present embodiment will be described.
In order to carry out treatment of a tress of hair H (for example, head hair) by using the hair treatment apparatus 1 pertaining to the present embodiment, the AC plug 12 is first connected to an outlet of the 100 VAC line to light up the power-on light 17. Then, the ultrasonic wave switch 15 is operated to light up the ultrasonic wave generation light 15 a for activating the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21; and the ion switch 16 is operated to light up the ion light 16 b for activating the ion generator unit 22 and also light up the negative ion generation light 16 a for selecting the negative ion polarity.
In this state, the pair of treatment grip pieces 3, 4 is held by one hand, and a desired amount of tress of hair H (for example, head hair) is inserted between the hair pressing portion 3 a and the hair receiving portion 4 a of the treatment grip pieces 3, 4 before gripping the pair of treatment grip pieces 3, 4.
Thereby, as shown in FIG. 6, the desired amount of tress of hair H (for example, head hair) is sandwiched between the hair pressing portion 3 a and the hair receiving portion 4 a, while, as the pair of treatment grip pieces 3, 4 is gripped deep, the operation switch 7 is turned on to start the respective operations of the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 and ion generator unit 22, the ultrasonic wave generator unit 21 causing the hair pressing portion 3 a incorporating the ultrasonic vibrator to apply ultrasonic vibrations to the sandwiched tress of hair H, and at the same time, the ion generator unit 22 applying negative ions to the tress of hair H through the hair pressing portion 3 a.
At this time, the treatment operator moves the pair of treatment grip pieces 3, 4 along, for example, a lengthwise direction of the tress of hair H, while still gripping deep the pair of treatment grip pieces 3, 4.
By doing such operation, abundant softening of the tress of hair H resulting from the application of ultrasonic vibrations thereto, and improvement of the cuticle and cortex of the tress of hair H due to the negative ions being penetrated thereinto are progressed with no use of any head hair nutrient, whereby simple and proper treatment of the tress of hair H can be realized, and in a case where a permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or an appropriate head hair nutrient are used for making hair treatment, the tress of hair can be simply and properly treated by subjecting it to an ultrasonic wave and/or negative ions for assuring good penetration of the permanent wave agent or straight permanent wave agent and/or the appropriate head hair nutrient into the tress of hair.
Thus, with the hair treatment apparatus 1 pertaining to the present embodiment, by appropriately operating the ultrasonic wave switch 15 and the ion switch 16, the tress of hair H can be subjected to both ultrasonic vibrations and negative ions at the same time, and either to only ultrasonic vibrations or negative ions, whereby hair treatment in various modes can be realized.
Examples of mode of treatment of a tress of hair H with the hair treatment apparatus 1 pertaining to the present embodiment include straight, clinic, and curling modes, and in any mode, simple and proper treatment can be realized.
In addition, if a temperature adjustable heater unit (not shown) is loaded in the hair treatment apparatus 1 pertaining to the present embodiment for heating a tress of hair H to a desired temperature while carrying out the treatment operation as described in the present embodiment, the proper treatment can be more effectively realized.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The hair treatment apparatus pertaining to the present invention is mainly applicable to the hair of a human body, however, is also applicable as a treatment apparatus for the hair of animals, such as dogs and cats.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS

1: Hair treatment apparatus
2: Apparatus body
3: Treatment grip piece
3 a: Hair pressing portion
4: Treatment grip piece
4 a: Hair receiving portion
5: Pivotal shaft
6: Operation unit
7: Operation switch
8: Projected piece
9: Flat circular disk
11: Power supply unit
12: AC plug
13: AC/DC adapter
14: Power cable
14 a: Loosening prevention connection mechanism
15: Ultrasonic wave switch
15 a: Ultrasonic wave generation light
16: Ion switch
16 a: Negative ion generation light
16 b: Ion light
16 c: Positive ion generation light
17: Power-on light
21: Ultrasonic wave generator unit
22: Ion generator unit
23: Power supply circuit
24: Program memory
25: Control unit
H: Tress of hair

Claims

1. A hair treatment apparatus, comprising:

a pair of treatment grip pieces which is openably/closably supported with a pivotal shaft at the respective proximal ends thereof, with the opposed faces thereof on the distal end side being formed to be buttable and openable so as to sandwich a tress of hair between the opposed faces, being provided with a hair pressing portion, which contains an ultrasonic vibrator, and a hair receiving portion on the opposed faces, respectively;

an ultrasonic wave generator unit which applies ultrasonic vibrations to the sandwiched tress of hair through said hair pressing portion, being incorporated in one treatment grip piece, and an ion generator unit which applies negative ions to said tress of hair through the same, being incorporated in the same;

a power supply unit which is connected to a commercial power line for supplying power to each of said ultrasonic wave generator unit and said ion generator unit which are incorporated in said one treatment grip piece;

an operation unit having a group of switches for activating or deactivating said ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit; and

an operation switch which performs operation start/stop of said ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit in accordance with close/open of said pair of treatment grip pieces.

2. A hair treatment apparatus, comprising:

a pair of treatment grip pieces formed substantially in the shape of a rectangular prism, respectively, that is openably/closably supported with a pivotal shaft at the respective proximal ends thereof, with the opposed faces thereof on the distal end side being formed to be buttable and openable so as to sandwich a tress of hair between the opposed faces, being provided with a rectangular-shaped hair pressing portion, which contains an ultrasonic vibrator, and a rectangular-shaped hair receiving portion on the opposed faces, respectively;

an operation unit having a group of switches for activating or deactivating said ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit, and a group of indicator lights for indicating the activated state; and

an operation switch which is incorporated in over both said one treatment grip piece and said other treatment grip piece, and performs operation start/stop of said ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit in accordance with close/open of said pair of treatment grip pieces.

3. A hair treatment apparatus, comprising:

a power supply unit which includes an AC plug to be connected to a commercial power supply, an AC/DC adapter, a power cable, and a power supply circuit for supplying power to each of said ultrasonic wave generator unit and said ion generator unit which are incorporated in said one treatment grip piece;

an operation unit having a group of switches consisting of those for activating or deactivating said ultrasonic wave generator unit and ion generator unit which are loaded in one treatment grip piece, and a group of indicator lights including an ultrasonic wave generation light and a negative ion generation light; and