US2045213A - Hair curler - Google Patents

Description

Patented June 23, 1936 PATENT OFFICEVY HAIR, CURLER Joseph Charles, Hammersmith, London, England Application July 10,

1955, Serial No. 30,682

In Great Britain April 30, 1935 3 Claims.

This invention relates to hair curlers having a rod rotatable inside a tube, said rod having a hair attaching nipple outside one end of the tube. The object of the invention is to provide a simplified construction which has no working parts that may become loose or bind due to wear or corrosion such as is set up in the type of hair curler above referred to, and which ensures a positive grip between the two bodies in one direction without the necessity of providing ribs, grooves or other toothed elements.

According to the invention the curler consists of a tube into which is compressed the limbs of a resilient hook member or the equivalent, the end of one limb of which projects laterally at a small angle from the general plane containing the limbs of the book so that by rotating the hook member in a direction with said projecting end trailing the limb, said projecting end, because of its engagement with the tube, tends to twist and wedge the limbs together within the tube whereas in the opposite direction of rotation the engagement of said projecting end on the tube prevents such a twisting tendency so that no wedging action takes place, whereby the hook member is permitted to run free.

In its preferred and simplest form, the hook member which may have the ends of its limbs slightly splayed away from each other in the general plane thereof, consists of a resilient metal rod or wire bent to form the limbs with one end thereof bent to provide a laterally projecting portion in the manner described above.

The outer face of the laterally projecting end is preferably flattened so as to give a larger surface in contact with the inner surface of the tube and thereby a better and more positive action.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an embodiment of the invention, and in said drawing:-

Figure 1 is an elevation of the complete curler;

Figures 2 and 3 are views at right-angles to one another of the hook member; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged section on m-:c of Figure 1.

Thus in an improved hair curler embodying the wedging action of the present invention, the body of the curler will be formed from a tube of which one end is preferably bell mouthed or flared as at 2. The means for tightening the hair wound on the tube and holding the same in position when tightened, will consist of a rod 3 one end of which is bent into a hook of which the free limb 4 has its end 5 bent. laterally to provide for the aforesaid weclging action. The said end 5 stands away from the general plane of the limbs at an angle less than a right-angle which it has been found gives best results. The other end of the rod 3 is externally threaded at l to take a slotted nut or nipple 6 which after the rod has been passed through the tube l and the hook compressed thereinto, is screwed on to therod so as to prevent the same being withdrawn although allowing it free rotation in the direction wherein the laterally projecting end 5 of the free limb 4 is leading, for the purposes of tightening the hair upon the curler and holding it tight.

The one-way clutch action will be apparent from Figure 4. Normally the free limb 4 is spaced away from the wall of the tube l except for the point of the end 5. When turning the rod 3 anti-clockwise the limb 4 twists in relation to the main leg 3, bending at the crock of the hook, and assumes the broken-line position,

' wedging between the tube and rod 3. When, however, turning in the clockwise direction, the projection 5 keeps the main body of the free limb 4 away from the tube, and itself freely slides around the inner face of the tube, preventing the Wedging action.

As in the preferred construction of such a curler the end of the tube into which thehook member is compressed is bell mouthed as at 2, the bight of the hook member will be correspondingly enlarged to abut the sides of the mouth and provide a better hand grip and prevent end play of the rod in the tube.

In operation a tress of hair is caught in the slot of the nipple and then wound round the tube; after securing it to the tube in any suitable way the rod is twined relatively to the tube to tighten the hair-winding. Heat or/and solutions are applied in any suitable way.

With the wedging action of this invention, the inside of the tube with which the laterally projecting wedge member co-operates, can be smooth so that no special operations are required in the making of the tube, although, if desirable especially where an extremely heavy load has to be taken, the inside of the tube can be suitably scored or grooved or otherwise provided with suitable teeth which engage with a cammed portion on the projecting end so that the latter slips over the teeth whenleading, but locks therein when reverse rotation is applied.

I claim:

1. A hair curler consisting of a tube and a rod rotatable therein, hair-engaging means on one end of the rod and a hook on the other end, said hook having a resilient free limb compressed against the rod inside the tube, and a projection on the extremity of the limb extending laterally out of the general plane of the hook engaging the inside of the tube, said projection keeping the limb normally spaced from the tube and permitting rotation of the rod relatively to the tube in one direction only.

2. A hair curler device according to claim 1 wherein the outer face of the laterally projecting end is flattened so as to give a larger surface in contact with the inner surface of the tube and thereby a better and more positive action.

3. A hair curler comprising a tube, a rod rotatable therein, hair engaging means on one end of said rod, the other end portion of said rod being bent upon itself to provide a hook member having a resilient limb, said limb being pressed toward the rod and being disposed within said tube, and a projection on said limb extending laterally relative to a plane including the rod and said limb into engagement with said tube, so that by rotating the hook member in a direction with said projection trailing said limb, the engagement between said projection and the tube causes said limb to tend. to twist and force the limb toward the rod, thereby resisting rotation of the hook member, and so that by rotating the hook member in the opposite direction, the engagement of said projection with the tube prevents said twisting tendency and thereby permits the hook member to rotate freely within the tube.

JOSEPH CHARLES.

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