US2789348A - Attachment for self-operated hair clippers - Google Patents

Description

April 23, 1957 E. -w. CLARK ATTACHMENT FORSELF-OPERATED HAIR CLIPPERS Filed Feb. 8, 1956 51 .11. FiqEI. 4

34 INVENTUR.

Fiqg.

ATTACHMENT FOR SELF-OPERATED HAIR CLIPPERS Earl W. Clark, Stuart, Fla.

Application February 8, 1956, Serial No. 564,176

Claims. (Cl. 30233.5)

This invention relates to an attachment for an electric hair clipper which greatly facilitates the use of an electric clipper in cutting hair on the head.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide an attachment for electric hair clippers which will enable practically anyone to do, all by himself, a very good job of cutting his own hair.

Another object is to provide an attachment wherein the clipper may be held at a fairly wide range of angles relative to the scalp and still cut the hair on same at substantially a predetermined length.

An additional object is to provide an attachment with component parts so arranged that one can cut and taper the longer hairs on the head, particularly those hairs near the top of the head and also those hairs above the cars.

A further object is to provide means whereby my attachment may be readily fitted to an existing clipper or also to a clipper which is especially designed to receive same.

Other objects will appear further along in this specification.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation of an electric clipper with one form of my attachment in place on same.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional elevation taken on line 3-4) in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of an electric clipper similar to Fig. 1, but shows my attachment made up of diiferent materials than that in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of an electric clipper and shows one form of my attachment applied to an existing clipper and means for attaching same.

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a plan or top view of the attachment with hinged comb.

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of Fig. 7, but the comb shown in Fig. 7 is omitted. I

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the comb shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of Fig. 10. p

In my drawings, Fig. 1, 2 and 3 show my hair cutting attachment applied to an electric clipper where the upper half of the clipper housing is adapted to receive my attachment. 1 is the upper and 2 is the lower portion of the clipper housing, 3 is the reciprocating and 4 is the stationary cutter. 1a is that portion of housing 1 which is modified to receive my attachment. 1b is a slot in the top surface of 1a which takes screw 5 which is provided with a knurled nut 6, and this nut and screw clamp my attachment to the clipper. 1c are bosses on 1a and they are provided to prevent the head 5a of screw 5 from turning and also, in conjunction with plate 7 and screws 8, to form a retainer for screw 5. The combined comb and length-of-cut gauge 9 is adjustable on 1a as indicated by dotted and dot and dash lines in Fig. 1 in order to cut the hair at different lengths. This adjustment provides a means of tapering the hair cut. 9a are length-of-cut gages on 9 and are located on each side of cutters 3 and 4, and these gauges 9a are so shaped and so located that the clipper, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1, when gauges 9a are in contact with the scalp, may be tilted downwardly, from the horizontal position shown, through an angle of more than 30 degrees without appreciably changing the length of hair cut for a given setting of the comb and gauge attachment 9 on housing portion 1a. The angle A which is shown in Fig. 1 is 30 degrees. The comb 9b is part of attachment 9 and this comb is tilted upwardly with respect to the longitudinal length of the clipper housing and is located above and in advance of the cutting edges of cutters 3 and .4 to lift the hairs from the scalp and cause these hairs to fall successively from the comb and into the cutters as the clipper is advanced over the scalp. 9c are vertical side plates on 9 to act as guides for attachment 9 on housing portion 1a.

In'cutting ones hair one stands in front of and with his back to a mirror on a wall. He then either holdsanother mirror in one hand or uses a stand placed in front of him on which are mounted two mirrors spaced about four inches apart horizontally, and which have the outer edges of the two mirrors inclined inwardly toward him at an angle of about thirty degrees. He thus has both hands free and can see in one mirror more than half the back of his head and all of the side of his face. The

other mirror shows the other side of his head. The mirtors mentioned are well known and are not shown on the drawing. When the two mirrors are used, the free hand can be used to assist in locating the clipper squarely against the head. I find that it is sometimes an advantage to use the sense of feel as a help in placing the clippers squarely against the head at a selected place.

In cutting ones own hair, the length-of-cut gauges 9a are brought close in to the cutting edges of knives 3 and 4 as shown by the full lines in Fig. 1, and, starting at the bottom of the scalp hair, one cuts upwardly about an inch or as far as one wan-ts his hair very short. One then sets gauges 9a out say A; to /1 inch and cuts up an additional to /2 inch. This operation is repeated, setting the gauges 9a out a little further each time, until one reaches the long hairs near the top of the head. By this time the gauges 9a should be set out from the cutting edges of knives 3 and 4 about /2 to inch. The ends of comb 9b should, after the first or bottom cut, always be brought into contact with the scalp before the clipper is moved upward. Doing this will enable one to get a nicely tapered haircut.

When one is cutting the hair near the top of the head and also above the ears, in both places the hair normally is long, one finds that the arrangement of the comb 9b as shown in Fig. 1 is of invaluable assistance. This is due to the fact that the ends of comb 9b may lead the cutting edges of the clipper to 1 inch or more and all but the very longest hairs will leave the comb 9b and fall into the cutters as the-clipper is moved upwardly on the scalp.

I have tried locating the comb loosely in front of the cutters as shown in Fig. 5 part 25 and find that the comb when so located will let the very short hairs pass through the comb and fall into the cutters but will push the long hairs, that one encounters near the top of the head and above the ears, away from the cutters. To overcome this I first tried using clippers without a comb but with gauges 9a. I found that I could then cut the long hairs, but I also found that I could not get a tapering cut Without a comb.

The attachment shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is designed to be made of plastic.

My hair cutting attachment shown in Fig. 4 is very similar to that shown in Fig. 1 except that it is made of brass plate and spring brass wires or other suitable materials and the comb is made so that it maybe adjusted independently of the length-of-cut gauges. This attachment acts in the same manner as the one shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. In Fig. 4, is the upper half ofv the clipper housing and 11 is the lower half to which stationary cutter 12 is attached. 13 is the reciprocating cutter. 14 are the two length-ofcut gauges and they are made of spring brass wire or other suitable material and are soldered or fastened to channel shaped bent platelS which rests on 10a which is part of housing 10. The bent down ends of plate 15 serve to keep my attachment straight on the clipper housing. 16 are the comb wires or teeth .and these wires are soldered or otherwise fastened to plate 17 which has a slotted hole 17a so that the comb may be adjusted in position independently of gauges 14. 18 and 19 are screw and knurled nut the same as in Fig. l and clamp my attachment to the clipper housing 10a in any desired position. The dotted lines show 16 and 14 in an adjusted position.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a method of mounting my attachment on an existing clipper where no provision has been made for mounting same on the clipper housing. I find that, where I mount my attachment on a vibrator motor type clipper, the mounting must be very rigid, otherwise the attachment will vibrate excessively. The frame 18 is made of brass plate or other suitablematerial and is bent into a box type section. The bottom portions 18a and 18b contact the bottom of stationary cutter 19, and clamp 29 and screw 21 securely clamp the frame sides 18c and 18d t-o stationary cutter 19. 18 are bent over portions on 18a and 18b to form lips which serve to locate frame 18 properly on the clipper. 18e is the top of the frame 18 which carries channel shaped plate 23 to which lcngth-ofcut gauges 24 are fastened. Comb 25 is attach-ed to plate 26 which rests on bent plate 23 and plates 23 and 26 are clamped to frame 18 at 18c byscrew 28 knurled nut 27. Screw 28 is permanently attached to rectangular shaped plate 29 which forms a head for same. 30 is the upper half and 31 is the lower half of the clipper housing. 18g is a slotted hole in 18s to permit the in and out adjustment of gauges24 and comb 25. Curved dot and dash lines a and b in Fig. 5 are drawn to show the outline of the scalp near the top of the head with dotted gauges 24 and dotted comb 25 contacting same. This shows clearly that at this part of the head the gauges 24 will maintain the cutters at substantially a predetermined distance from the scalp, while the comb 25 alone will not do so. Dot and dash lines it and d also show that comb 25 will not keep the cutters at a predetermined distance from the scalp when the clipper is tilted downwardly from a horizontal position, while the gauges 24 will do so.

Figs. 7 and 8 show my attachment with a hinged comb that may be adjusted to different angles to vary thedistance by which the comb leads the cutters. 32 are comb teeth which are attached to hinge plate 33. 34 is the other part of the hinge. Bent plate 35 is fastened to hinge part 3% and is tapped to take screw 36 which clamps comb 32 in any selected angular position. 34a is a slot in 34 to permit the comb to be adjusted independently of channel shaped plate 37 which carries length-of-cut gauges 3S and also guides my attachment on the clipper housing where provision has been made for same or on the frame 13 shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 shows a side view of the channel-shapel plate 37 shown in Fig. 7 with the length-of-cut gauges attached,

Figs. 10 and ll show the same comb 25 and comb plate 26 as is shown in Fig. 5. 26a is a slotted hole in 26 to ermi't independent adjustment of the comb 25 with respect to length-of-cut gauges 24 in Fig. 5.

My attachment described herein has been in actual luse by myself and others for some time and it has been demonstrated that one can, when using my attachment in the manner herein described, cut his own hair unaided by others in a satisfactory manner. I find, further, that. where one cuts another persons hair, he can with my attachment do the complete hair cutting job very readily.

I ciaim as my invention:

1. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used to control the length .at which the hairs are cut and a comb acting independently of said gauge is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of the cutting edges of said clippers, the combination of, a length-of-cut gauge which contacts said scalp and is positioned with respect to said cutting edges to bring the line of cut of said cutting edges within the perimeter of the surface on said gauge which contacts said scalp when viewed parallel with said line of cut, a comb acting independently of said gauge and located above said cutters, a support attached to said clipper for adjustably supporting said gauge on said clipper, and means for moving the surface on said gauge which contacts said scalp toward and away from said cutting edges.

2. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used to control the length at which the hairs are cut and a comb acting independently of said gauge is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of the cutting edges of said clippers, the combination of, a length-of-cut gauge which contacts said scalp and is positioned with respect to said cutting edges to bring the line of cut of said cutting edges within the perimeter of the surface on said gauge which contacts said scalp when viewed parallel with said line of cut, a comb acting independently of said gauge and located above said cutters, a support attached to said clipper for adjustably supporting said gauge on said clipper, and means for moving the surface on said gauge which contacts said scalp toward and :away from said cutting edges, said comb being hingedly supported on said clipper and the hinge for said hinged comb being located above the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters whereby the ends of the teeth of said comb may be moved by a substantial amount toward and away from the said cutting edges as measured in a direction parallel to said common plane.

3. in an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used to maintain the cutting edges of said clippers for a given setting of same at substantially a predetermined and adjustable distance from the scalp of the head and wherein a comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of the cutting edges during the hair cutting operation, the combination of, a length-of-cut gauge positioned with respect to said cutting edges to bring the line of cut of said cutting edges within the perimeter of the length-of-cut gauging surfaces when viewed parallel with said line of cut, the said gauging surfaces being shaped to substantially coincide through a substantial arc with circles drawn with the said line of cut as a center within .the normal range of adjustment of said gauging surfaces, a comb acting independently of said len-gth-of-cut gauge and located above said cutters, said lengthcfcut gauge being movablymounted on said clipper for movementin a direction intersecting the common plane of the cutting surfaces ofsaid cutters, wherein the housing of said clipper may, with said length-of-cut gauging surfaces contacting said scalp, be tilted through a considerable angle without substantially changing the distance of said cutting edges from said scalp.

4. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is; used to maintain the cutting edges of said clippers for a given setting of same at substantially a predetermined-and adjustable distance from the scalp of the head and wherein a comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of said cutting edges during the'hair cutting operation, the combination of, a length-ofcut gauge located adjacent to the cutters of said clipper,

for adjustably supporting and positioning on same said length-of-cut gauge and for moving said length-of-cut gauge on same toward and away from the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters and said inclined plane being located in a plane which intersects the said common plane of said cutters, said comb being hingedly movable independently of said length-of-cut gauge and hingedly mounted on said inclined plane to vary the angular relationship of the plane of said comb with said inclined plane and to move the ends of the teeth of said comb toward and away from the cutting edges of said cutters by a substantial amount as measured in a direction parallel to the said common plane of said cutters.

5. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used to maintain the cutting edges of said clippers for a given setting of same at substantially a predetermined and adjustable distance from the scalp of the head and wherein a comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of said cutting edges during the hair cutting operation, the combination of, a length-of-cut gauge positioned with respect to said cutting edges to bring the line of cut of said cutting edges within the perimeter of the length-of-cut gauging surfaces when viewed parallel with said line of cut, a comb acting independently of said length-of-cut gauge and located above said cutters, an inclined plane on said clipper located above said cutters for adjustably supporting and positioning on same said length-of-cut gauge and for moving said length-of-cut gauging surfaces on same toward and away from the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters and said inclined plane being located in a plane which intersects the said common plane of said cutters.

6. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used for a given setting of same to maintain the cutting edges of said clippers at substantially a predetermined and adjustable distance from the scalp of the head during the hair cutting operation, the combination of, a length-of-cut gauge positioned with respect to said cutting edges to bring the line of cut of said cutting edges within the perimeter of the length-of-cut gauging surfaces when viewed parallel with said line of cut, an inclined plane on said clipper located above said cutters for adjustably supporting and positioning on same said length-of-cut gauge and for moving said length-ofcut gauge on same toward and away from the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters and said inclined plane being located in a plane which intersects the said common plane of said cutters, and said gauging surfaces being shaped to reasonably coincide through a substantial arc with circles drawn with said line of cut as a center within the normal range of adjustment of said length-of-cut gauge, wherein the housing of said clipper may, with said gauging surfaces contacting said scalp, be tilted through a considerable angle without appreciably changing the distance of said cutting edges from said scalp.

7. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used to maintain the cutting edge of said clippers for a given setting of same at substantially a predetermined and adjustable distance from the scalp of the head and wherein a comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of said cutting edges during the hair cutting operation, the combination of, a length-ofcutt gauge positioned with respect to said cutting edges to bring the line of cut of said cutting edges within the perimeter of the length-of-cut gauging surfaces when viewed parallel with said line of cut, a :comb acting independently of said length-of-cut gauge and located above said cutters, an inclined plane on said clippers located above said cutters for adjustably supporting and positioning on same said length-oflcut gauge and for moving said lengtho f-cut gauge on same toward and away from the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters, and said inclined plane being located in a plane which intersects the said common plane of said cutters, and said gauging surfaces being shaped to reasonably coincide through a substantial arc with circles drawn with said line of cut as a center within the normal range of adjustment of said length-of-cut gauge, wherein the housing of said clipper may, with said gauging surfaces contacting said scalp, be tilted through a considerable angle without appreciably changing the distance of said cutting edges from said scalp.

8. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of the cutting edges of said clippers during the cutting operation, the combination of, a comb located above the cutters of said clippers, a hinge mounted on said clipper and said hinge being located above the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said clipper and said hinge being attached to said comb whereby the ends of the teeth of said comb may be moved by a substantial amount toward and away from the said cutting edges as measured in a direction parallel with the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters.

9. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used to maintain the cutting edges of said clippers for a given setting of same at substantially a predetermined and adjustable distance from the scalp of the head and wherein a comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of said cutting edges during the hair cutting operation, the combination of, a lengthof-cut gauge located adjacent to the cutters of said clipper, a comb acting independently of said length of cut gauge and located above the cutters of said clipper, an inclined plane on said clipper located above said cutters for adjustably supporting and positioning on same said lengthof-cut gauge and for moving said length-of-cut gauge on same toward and away from the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters and said inclined plane being located in a plane which intersects the said common plane of said cutters, the ends of the teeth of said comb being spaced away from said cutting edges whereby the ends of the teeth of said comb lead the said cutting edges by a substantial amount as measured in a direction parallel to said common plane.

10. In an attachment for hair clippers wherein a lengthof-cut gauge is used to maintain the cutting edges of said clippers for a given setting of same at substantially a predetermined and adjustable distance from the scalp of the head and wherein a comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of said cutting edges during the hair cutting operation, the combination of, a length-ofcut gauge on each side of said cutters, a comb acting independently of said length-of-cut gauge and located above said cutters, an inclined surface located on the housing of said clipper and above said cutters and said inclined surface being located in a plane which intersects the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters, said attachment including a channel shaped member shaped to fit on said inclined surface and the flanges of said channel shaped member extending forwardly to ward and on each side of said cutters and having the forward ends of said flanges shaped to encircle within their perimeter the said cutting edges when viewed in a direction parallel to their line of cut to form the gauging surfaces of said length-of-cut gauge, said length-of-cut gauge and said comb being mounted on said inclined surface for movement toward and away from the common plane of the cutting surfaces of said cutters.

No references cited.

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