WO2006097750A1

WO2006097750A1 - Hair cleaning comb

Info

Publication number: WO2006097750A1
Application number: PCT/GB2006/000971
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andrew Douglas NEILSON
Original assignee: Neilson Jones Limited
Priority date: 2005-03-16
Filing date: 2006-03-16
Publication date: 2006-09-21
Also published as: GB0505357D0

Abstract

A hair comb in the field of healthcare, especially hair combs for removing debris or organisms. In particular, a comb is described having teeth or sets of teeth wherein one or more teeth of the comb have a recessive profile. A comb is also described wherein the gap between the teeth closely conforms with the thickness of the hair they pass through. Such combs are particularly useful for removing lice and/or nits.

Description

Hair cleaning comb Field of the invention

The present invention relates to combs in the field of healthcare and in particular hair combs for removing debris or organisms.

Background of the invention

Head lice affecting the scalp (Pediculosis capitis) is a very common problem, especially in school children. There are various treatments, but whatever approach is used, the head lice and associated nits can be a persistent and recurring nuisance.

The main symptom, if noticed by the individual, is an itchy scalp. This is sometimes especially so behind the ears. The louse feeds by sucking blood through the skin and can grip on to the hair with its six claws. The female lays its eggs (nits) in sacs which are glued to a hair. These take seven to ten days to hatch. The lice then take seven to fourteen days to become mature and ready to reproduce and total numbers of lice can thus rise very quickly. Head lice do not jump, fly, or swim. They can spread by direct contact, "walking" from one hair or head to another. They can occur in the best of social circles, and an infestation does not in particular mean that a child is particularly unhygienic, unclean or dirty. Head lice do not recognise the creed or class of humans and infestations can rage indiscriminately through populaces.

About half of the children affected with head lice infestations will notice itching of their scalps. The lice themselves are small, about the length of a match head, and may be difficult to see (as opposed to the nits, which can be very visible), as their colour is often close to the hair colour. However, darker or finer hair may exacerbate this problem of noticability of the infestation, which may be especially embarrassing in social circles.

Newly laid eggs are usually close to the scalp and as the hair grows this, and subsequently the empty sac, once it is hatched, will move further from the scalp. When the egg is still in the sac, the sac is small and rather dull in colour, and more difficult to see. Once the egg has hatched, (7-10 days) the sac is white, and far easier to see. The highly visible nature of the white empty egg sacks or shells, which can be far more noticeable than the live eggs (which are less 'bright' in appearance), can an cause an unfortunate social stigma to the human host. The mental stress resulting may not simply be limited to the host, but extend to those who look after, are related to or have some other close association with the host. The empty egg sacks or shells produced may often persist long after any infestation has been cleared and may lead to further complications for the host e.g. hairdressers to refuse to cut hair on the basis that the host is still infested! Another tell tale sign of dead eggs on hair is how far from the scalp or root of the hair the attached egg or egg debris resides, as hair only grows at a certain rate (quite slowly) an eggs that are further than about 0.25 inch away from the scalp on a hair, may be quite dead, and those much farther away, definitely dead. The eggs will, if viable, hatch at roughly the same position along the hair as where they werelaidTTrϊis fact ^"will become clear when the 7-10 day life cycle of the nitis taken into^' account (it takes a matter of days from laying to hatching of the lice eggs - no time at all when compared to the timings of the growth of human hair. )

The social stigma experienced, must not be under estimated, and may be at its most unpleasant for school children/teenagers. Teenagers are a main group of humans likely to be infested. As teenagers are in the formative stage of life, they may be especially sensitive to factors which affect their appearance. Additionally, school children may be especially susceptible to bullying or teasing. If the affected teenagers or children are not properly cared for or looked after by their patents or school, they may become psyco logically stressed, with lasting effects, extending out into their later life. With modern parenting (working parents etc), children may be more likely to have to look after themselves for longer periods, and may not be able to take advantage of old fashioned constant and attentive fostering that was given by the permanent housewife mother, and therefore the child may be left on their own to try to deal with the problem and its negative social effects.

There are various proprietary, active chemical treatments available which attempt to cure the problem of head lice, including so-called "bug-busting" treatments. Unfortunately, the lice can become resistant to many of the treatments. Chemical treatments may have the potential for unwanted side effects, and addition, there is an increasing problem with lice which are resistant to such treatments. Other treatments include conditioners and/or oils.

Head lice (Pediculus capitis) are small parasitic insects exquisitely adapted to living mainly on the scalp and neck hairs of their human host. Their six legs are evolved to grasp hair shafts. Long associated with people, head lice have been recovered from prehistoric mummies. As referred to before head lice are equal opportunity parasites and they do not respect socio-economic class distinctions and their presence does not connote a lack of hygiene or sanitation practiced by their host. Head lice are mainly acquired by direct head-to-head contact with an infested person's hair, but may infrequently be transferred with shared combs, hats and other hair accessories. They may also remain on bedding or upholstered furniture for a brief period. In North America and Europe, children are more frequently infested than are adults, and Caucasians more frequently than other ethnic groups. Lice are also unlikely to wander far from their preferred habitat and are unable to burrow into the scalp.

Head lice derive nutrient by blood-feeding once or more often each day, and cannot survive for more than a day or so at room temperature without ready access to a person's blood. A nymphal louse hatches from its egg after about 8 days of development, and begins to feed, grow and develop until it attains the adult stage about 9-12 days after hatching. A female louse may deposit more than 100 eggs at a rate of about six eggs each day. Only those eggs deposited by inseminated female lice will hatch. Generally, an infested person has fewer than a dozen active lice on the scalp at any time, but may have hundreds of viable, dead and hatched eggs. With adequate magnification, the developing nymph can be seen within the egg- Body lice (Pediculus humanus) are closely related to head lice, but are less frequently encountered. Body lice can serve as vectors of certain human pathogens. Epidemics of louse-borne typhus, louse-borne relapsing fever and trench fever decimated the populace through the ages, and millions more perished from these infections during the 1900's during major conflicts and famines. Fear of these diseases fuelled atrocious and perverse campaigns to quarantine and assault unpopular ethnic groups suspected of promoting risk. Current efforts to seek out and quarantine individuals infested with head lice may be driven, in part, by those who misinterpret or intentionally misapply certain principals of public health.

Pubic or crab lice (Pthirus pubis) have a short crab-like body easily distinguished from that of head and body lice. Pubic lice are most frequently found around the pubic region of the infested person, but may also be found elsewhere on the body (including facial hair and eyelashes). The infestation by pubic lice is termed pthiriasis. Mechanical removal of these lice and their eggs is the preferred method of treatment. Because pubic lice are acquired mainly through sexual contact, their presence may be associated with other sexually-transmitted diseases. Pubic lice on a child may cause the physician to consider the possibility that the child may have had inappropriate contact. Pubic lice may also be acquired through more innocent means, such as by sharing a bed with an infested person.

Lice may occasionally be burdensome because of annoyance; their presence may cause itching and loss of sleep. The louse's saliva and faeces may sensitize people to their bites, thereby exacerbating the irritation and increasing the chance of secondary infection from excessive scratching.

The greatest harm associated with head lice may result from the well-intentioned but misguided use of caustic or toxic substances to eliminate the lice.

Grooming (e.g. with a comb) can be an effective method to remove lice, and engenders several associated physiological and behavioral benefits as well.

Head lice are acquired from other infested people and human lice likely co-evolved with people and our primate relatives harbour their own species of lice. Lice are quite host specific. Human lice, for instance, will not feed upon other animals, and lice of other animals would rarely feed upon a person.

Mechanically removing lice and nits is an effective although time-consuming method of de-lousing. However, as chemical treatments are almost always not completely successful in eliminating the infestation on their own, and because the chemicals to not remove the lice bodies/nit at all, mechanical removal of lice and nits is necessary in order to treat the host. It therefore follows that a lice or nit removal tool is an essential piece of equipment to remove the infestation. Most eggs will be non-viable after their removal, but their remains (still in the hair) can be most unsightly and should need removing because of this.

Louse or nit combs can be useful in removing lice and eggs. Whereas straight hair is usually readily combed, tight curls may present an impossible and impractical challenge. Hair should be cleaned and well-combed or brushed to remove tangles before attempting to use a louse comb. The louse comb should be cleaned freαuentlv to remove anv cautrht lice or eggs, so as not to reintroduce them to the host (with subsequent combing of the host's hair). It may require several hours each night for several nights to tackle the problem.

There are a number of different lice or nit combs currently available to treat infestations, but none appear to work particularly effectively and offer satisfactory performance.

Louse or nit combs frequently require many hours of brushing of the hair to obtain results, if any at all. Combing periods of up to even 6 hours have been found to be necessary in certain cases.

Teeth in such combs must be both able to perform a combing function and a cleaning or debris removing function, and with a certain level of efficiency.

"Electronic" louse combs that resemble small bug "zappers" (kill bugs with an electric shock), or those with oscillating or agitational teeth would seem to offer little advantage, if any, over a well-designed traditional louse comb. Teeth of these devices may not effectively reach to the scalp and may not kill or remove any eggs, because of the design of the teeth of the combs.

More traditional combs may face the problem that the teeth may be pushed apart by e.g. eggs fastened to the hair, thus leaving those eggs remaining in the hair (to continue to infest), as the teeth are pushed just wide enough to allow the eggs to pass through the inter-tooth gap. In these combs, a lack or proper design, selection of inappropriate or poor quality of materials of manufacture can be to blame.

GB 2342291 discloses a comb having multiple rows of circular sectioned teeth, with fore mounted rows aligning the hair and aft rows of teeth being more closely spaced., e.g. to trap debris etc. to attempt to overcome problems of infestations.

US 4671303 discloses a comb having minimum inter - tooth clearances and means for fixedly interconnecting the tooth members side by side, for resisting tooth flexure during the rather strenuous nit combing process.

It is a general objective of the present invention to provide a method and a comb for conveniently addressing the above problems and for removing lice, nits and debris.

Summary of the invention

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a comb having teeth or sets of teeth wherein one or more of teeth of the comb have a recessive profile on or down one or more surfaces of the tooth or teeth.

In another aspect of the invention the recesses are formed at least along part of the length of the tooth or teeth of the comb. In another aspect of the invention, the recesses are formed in line with the length of the teeth.

Some preferred aspects of this embodiment is where the recessive profile in the tooth or teeth of the comb possess one or more recesses which may be a "V" shaped groove, a rounded or square shaped grove, or in the form of canal or concave recesses, disposed in or about one or more sides of the comb tooth or teeth. Indeed, any form of recess in the teeth that perform the function of the present invention may be included. Some presently preferred recesses are simple recesses, whereby grooves are molded into the teeth, or grooves are drilled out of or cut into the teeth, e.g. by milling.

The depth of the recesses or channels can be variable, but the recesses should be so deep and/or so shaped or profiled to perform their function sufficiently.

In a further preferred embodiment the recesses run continually or intermittently on or down the teeth.

In yet another preferred embodiment, the recesses run in a continuous line or lines down the teeth.

In yet another embodiment, the recesses face or are angled towards the hair they are about to pass through.

In yet another embodiment, the recesses face the same or similar direction.

In yet a further embodiment, the recesses are so formed as to present a edge or surface to the hair and/or lice/nits or debris they are about to pass through or towards. The edge may serve the function of a cutting, digging, dragging or pulling tool , which may pull, prise or cut insects from their grip on the hair and/or the edge may serve to harvest eggs, pupae, larvae or other attached embryonic or intermediate forms of animals which may be stubbornly attached to hair by whatever means e.g. a 'glue' or a hook, anchor or loop produced by biological means or otherwise.

The edge of the teeth according to the present invention may be square, pointed, sharpened, blunt or rounded, rough or castellated in form. Indeed, any shape or profile which serves to remove the undesirable materials from the hair, skin or scalp may be adopted. However, normal profile teeth, such as those use in conventional combs, e.g. those with a circular section are not found to be very suitable. One reason is that they do not present to the hair, a suitably profiled edge or surface in order to assist the removal process.

The comb according to the present invention may have teeth which may be solid, hollow, filled or part filled with same, similar or different material as to that which forms the structure of the teeth. For examole. the teeth mav be made from solid stainless steel or hollow stainless steel members. The teeth may be more thickened towards their base, for added strength, and they may be 3 times as thick at their base as they are at their distal end.

Head lice themselves appear not to be too difficult to remove from hair, provided that the hair brushing operation is carried out with sufficient care, vigour and speed (the lice may have the particular problem of being mobile, and if the combing operation is too slow, then they may simply be able to move to other sites on or about the head, and effectively 'take cover' from the combing.)The eggs of the lice (the nits) as compared to the actual lice themselves, however pose a rather different problem in that, although they are immobile, they are affixed or anchored to the hair quite strongly and may vigorously resist removal. One result of this is that, for combing of eggs from the hair to be effective, greater forces may need to be applied to combing , and so these forces are in turn transmitted to the comb teeth, which when addressing eggs attached to hairs, the teeth may experience lateral forces attempting to bend the teeth outwardly or towards one another or backwards from the direction of combing, or indeed a combination any. Therefore the quality and/or resilience or rigidity of the teeth of the comb is an important factor in the design of the comb.

Preferred embodiments of the invention include teeth with thickened portions of material along the tooth.

It may be appreciated from the invention that teeth of a certain resilience may be required, so that they are effective, as the process is not just a combing action, but also a cleaning action. Teeth, according to the present invention may be made of metal , alloys or plastics, but indeed any material that can be formed into effective teeth may be used. Further, teeth may be made of more resilient, lighter or more rigid materials, e.g. more resilient plastics materials/composites, metals, e.g. aluminium, steel, stainless steel, surgical steel, spring steel.

Yet further, the actual shape of tooth, using the tooth profiles according to the present invention, in addition to improving efficiency of the harvesting process of eggs etc, by e.g. the cutting or dragging action, can also have the extra function of increasing the rigidity/strength of the teeth (for a given mass of structural material), so that the teeth may resist flexing in certain directions and may maintain their designed spatial position (during the harvesting of the eggs). An example of this is where the teeth have a v- shaped cross section, either produced by milling/cutting or by bending or forming a (flat) piece of metal. Plastics may also be moulded into suitably shaped teeth. The v-shaped cross-section may, for a given mass of material, offer greater strength/rigidity as opposed to a flat piece of metal. Advantages in production are therefore envisaged in some aspects of the present invention, as teeth may be made from sheet metal cheaply, with simple conversion to the desired shape.

Yet another advantage utilizing the tooth profiles according to the present invention, is that the eggs, instead of pushing the teeth apart (reducing the efficiency of the teeth) may actually pull on the teeth, as the sides of the teeth actually 'dig' into or onto the hair, egg or it's anchor point, e.g. during the cutting/dragging action. In one aspect, this process may be loosely compared with a ploughing action, synonymous with 'harvesting'.

Yet a further advantage of the tooth profiles or channels according to the present invention is that they can function as storage 'reservoirs' for nits, lice and other debris. The 'reservoirs' in the teeth can to fill up during the combing process and may hold this material until the brushing stroke is completed. The comb teeth may then be cleaned or disinfected or otherwise treated. The importance of this additional function of the profiled teeth must not be under estimated, as indeed any viable biological matter left to remain in the hair may easily reproduce to form another full and vigorous infestation in a short matter of time.

One additional problem that the egg presents for removal is the positional way it attaches itself to the hair, or indeed its orientation, plus the fact that it is semi ovoid in shape. When the egg is laid, it is not laid symmetrically - it always points away from the root of the hair. This means that, in a combing action, a streamlined portion of the egg is presented to the teeth of the comb, and this will explain the eggs tendency to wedge teeth apart (as it presents its wedge end to the teeth). Trying to overcome this, combing the hair towards the scalp is obviously not a practical proposition and so addressing the other side of the egg for removal of it, is not an option. The present invention serves to address this aspect, at least in part by offering to the egg a profiled tooth or a set of profiled teeth with a cutting, grabbing and/or dragging action. In a combing action, as the comb teeth address each egg during the combing of a section of hair, the comb can be passed through complete lengths of hair, thus moving all the eggs that have been addressed along the hair, until the ends of the hair lengths have been reached. The eggs then simply drop off the ends of the hair and can be collected and conveniently disposed of. In this way, complete eggs or substantially complete eggs may be removed from the hair mass, thus importantly removing/destroying the infestation and importantly removing unsightly viable/dead eggs and egg debris from the hair mass. This result may differ from many other combs which may kill eggs, but leave unsightly egg debris behind in the hair of the host, e,g, because of the way the comb teeth are designed. Infestations may well be temporary in the long term , but mental scarring from social stigma at a tender age ( e.g. due to unsightly egg remains) may linger on with the ex host for the rest of their life. It is therefore a significant advantage of the present invention where unsightly eggs and egg debris is are also removed.

To further explain the special problems that eggs present in relation to their removal, it is important to note that it is almost impossible to remove an egg, especially intact, from a hair, by trying to pull it from the hair at right angles to the line of the hair. The egg will 'cling on' due to its efficient biological anchoring mechanism. Inevitably, the egg needs to be attacked in line with the hair. It has been found that the biological 'glue' which attaches the egg to the hair maybe seen as to form a loop around the hair. This loop which grips the hair, may be torn from its hold on the hair, by the teeth of the comb according to the present invention, but the loop itself still left intact, because of its own structural resilience. The result is now that we have a dead or live egg, partial or whole, which is slideable up or down the hair, so as to be removable from the hair if such hair is combed in a particular way. Additional shampooing and or wetting and/or conditioning of the hair may well inevitably help this process of movement of the egg down the length of the hair, e.g. by a cleaning action or by lubrication/softening, which helps the loop slide along the hair. Water, oil, soap or other ingredients in the materials may all assist.

Accordingly, in one preferred method in accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of combing hair wherein the hair is washed with shampoo, conditioned and lightly towel dried. Complete lengths of hair are then combed to remove eggs, which may be combed off the hair.

In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a comb, with teeth of varying lengths. In a preferred embodiment, the teeth are arranged so as to follow the contours of the scalp/head. During normal combing of hair, this aspect is not so important, however, for the removal of live nits (which may be or are most usually anchored approximately 1 quarter of an inch from the scalp), the head shaped contour pattern of the distal ends of the teeth of the comb proves more advantageous and purposeful, as the proximity to the scalp of the working areas of the teeth needs to be close or very close to the scalp, otherwise there is the prospect of eggs being missed and passing under the distal ends of the teeth. This aspect of the invention, may at first instance appear not so crucial, however, the combing of nits is labour intensive, and it is easy or very easy to miss a few eggs and not remove them from the hair. The consequence of this can be very serious especially when the speed of reproduction of the lice is taken into consideration. In a case of a few live eggs remaining, the hair of the host could be left well infested with many lice again within a period of about 2 weeks.

With the extra forces involved in the combing action relating to the present invention, a result may be that the comb becomes angled as the hair mass 'grabs hold' of the comb teeth. This may result in the comb addressing the hair at a more oblique angle. Whether or not the comb adopts this stance, there remains the opportunity for eggs/lice etc to just slip underneath the distal ends of the comb teeth. Accordingly, in a further aspect of the present invention there is provided additional grooved profiles which can be disposed at intervals down the length of the teeth, and these may be especially prevalent towards the distal ends of the teeth. These profiles may be angled to suit the angle of combing e.g. when the hair begins to pull on the comb and may serve to catch eggs which may otherwise just escape the ends of the teeth. Again, it cannot be stressed too much that re-infestation can occur from just one viable lice organism remaining in the hair or on the scalp, and any small advantage in the mechanical efficiency of the comb could result in a truly massive effect on the efficacy of the comb for the purposes of removing infestations. In addition to and in connection with the above, due to the greater combing forces and stresses which can inevitably occur during lice and nit combing (as compared to normal combing of the hair), a larger comb handle can be provided. This will give the comber greater purchase, in order to allow more vigorous combing. In this regard, there may be further provided areas on or in the comb handle, which are softer and/or provide more grip, e.g. rubber or soft plastics inserts or grooved or otherwise milled surfaces.

A lice or nit comb should be frequently cleaned throughout the combing process to prevent re-introduction of debris to the hair or indeed re-introduction to the hair of viable organisms. It is therefore important that it is easy to clean the comb and teeth, efficiently and effectively, as a dirty comb may be severely compromised in its effectiveness.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the area near or where the teeth enter the body of the comb, or where it forms part of the handle may be angled or chamfered. Any shape which does not trap debris and/or which allows access, space and more easy cleaning of the comb teeth, may be adopted. If area at or near where teeth enter the handle or body of a comb, presents a surface which is at a steep angle or is at right angles to the line teeth, it may be found that this area is difficult to clean.

In an aspect of the present invention, the teeth of the comb may have fore and aft portions or sections. However, aft sections may not have to have any particular shape, in one embodiment of the invention. The fore section of the tooth, in a combing action, will be the side of the tooth which first addresses the hair or faces the hair, and correspondingly the aft portion or section will face in substantially the opposite direction (e.g. it faces the hair leaving the comb teeth in a combing action). It has been found that the fore and aft portions of the teeth may be advantageously shaped or fashioned to perform their function properly. The fore portions may have material removed from them so that they may form edges and may also form inwardly projecting depressions such as canals, grooves or any such form or shape which results from removal of material or forming process. The aft portions may be extended, subtended, pointed, tapering, rounded or indeed any such shape which facilitates and assists the combs function of removal of material. One example is where the comb's teeth will have fore portions which are v shaped canals which are cut into the teeth down the length of the teeth (e.g. for harvesting / storing debris) and teeth having aft portions which have a shape or sides which come together forming an end extremity, or which forms a point or are pointed). In further examples for and aft portions may both be v shaped with straight, round or curved sides or edges. This may assist in the removal process, as the shape of the aft portion as it approaches the fore portion may result in a specially shaped edge which advantageously address the hair to be cleaned. The shape of the aft portion can also be important in reducing the tooth's contact with the hair during the brushing action ( as the aft portion may be tapered, touching the hair onlv at a fraction of its surface). The rest of the material which may form the 'non-contact' area of the aft portion of the tooth, can serve to strengthen the tooth , providing extra rigidity.

In further examples fore and aft portions may both be v shaped with straight, round or curved sides or edges. In the example where fore and aft portions are v shaped with straight sides, the sides of the aft potion may have to be angled such to meet the fore portion, in order to form an edge. These angles are further discussed in this document. The spcial angles may be replaced by other means which achive the same result e.g. by the use of curves or curved profiles. Smooth or roughened or otherwise treated surfaces may also be used to enhance the result.

In another aspect of the invention, the teeth of the comb may be pulled together by the combing action through the hair, as they address the hair. The effectiveness of the comb may be increased by this effect, as the teeth may urge closely along the lengths of the hairs thus cleaning them.

In certain aspects of the invention it may be seem that the comb may be effective using one only side of the comb's teeth, however, in yet a further embodiment, the teeth of the comb may have 2 or more oppositely facing fore portions ( e.g. forming recesses and/or cutting edges), so that the comb can be used using both sides of the teeth.

According to the present invention, teeth with an inter-tooth gap clearance of between 0.1mm and 0.2mm have been found to be preferable. As the nits dimensions are approximately 3mm x 8mm in size, the gap has to be smaller than the smaller of the dimensions of the nit, so that it cannot pass through the gap between the teeth.

A preferable tooth thickness of between lmm and 3mm, and a tooth length of about 2.5cm, are found to be suitable.

Further, the teeth may be so profiled as to present an aft angle of between 10-20 degrees, preferably 15 degrees, to the hair. The teeth may preferably have fore angles of between 90 and 165 degrees with respect to the hair or 115 to 150 degrees with respect to the hair. For an explanation of what is meant by fore and aft angles, see figure 3.

For production of the teeth/comb in many of its dimensional variations, CNC or 'computer numerical control techniques', now commonly used, are suitable for production, e.g. for production in stainless steel or plastic.

Example

A comb was manufactured in accordance to drawings shown in figures 10 and 11 to produce comb shown in figure 12, by the following procedure: A single piece of 3mm stainless steel was machined to the correct profile on the top and bottom faces using conventional machining techniques.

Small V sections in the tops of the teeth were spark eroded using a micro- machining electrode (tiny wire for removing material using a high voltage discharge).

The profiles of the teeth were created using 'continuous wire erosion', whereby a block of stainless steel was tilted to the desired angle and the face of each tooth is cut by a vertical pass of the eroding wire.

Teeth with a gap of approximately 0.1mm were produced.

The infested hair (fine, dark) of a 10 year old girl was washed and allowed to dry until slightly damp, the manufactured comb was then brushed through the girl's hair and after a period of 20 minutes, the hair was seen to be free of nits and lice and any evidence thereof. The girl's mood and confidence rose appreciably almost immediately after the treatment. This was demonstrated by the fact that she tried various hair styles, which she would certainly not have done prior to the treatment.

Explanation of drawings

The drawings are mere examples of the invention and are no intended to limit the invention in any way.

Figure 1 shows the head louse (1) and its nit (2) anchored on the shaft of a hair (3), showing root end of hair (3) and direction of combing (x)

Figure 2 diagrammatically shows direction of brushing (a), and direction of teeth from a traditional comb being forced apart in directions (b), by impinging on egg sac (2) glued to hair shaft (3)

Figure 3 shows v shaped teeth (5) addressing hair shaft (3) according to the present invention, with aft angle (L) and fore angle (M) shown.

Figure 4 shows v shaped teeth (5) attacking egg sac (2) at point (x), and thus to drag it down hair shaft (2)

Figure 5 shows large plastic comb handle (6) with inserts (7) to provide easy grip when comb is wet, and curved profile (8) along the array of teeth, with varying teeth length to facilitate teeth to be kept closer to scalp when combing hair for more effective removal of e.g. nits. Sloped profile of shoulder of comb handle (9) is shown, proximate to where teeth approach handle, to facilitate ease of cleaning. Figure 6 shows some varying options of profiles for teeth according to the present invention. Some surfaces may be roughend, castellated, polished or otherwise processed to form a surface with desired properties.

Figures 7 - 9 show isometric representations of examples of teeth along part of their lengths.

Figures 10 and 11 show detailed drawings of an example of a comb according to the present invention, showing dimensions in mm (the material used was stainless steel, , which was cleaned and deburred.)

Figure 12 shows a representation of a comb manufactured in accordance with the present invention, with detailed section of teeth (z) shown

Claims

1) A hair comb comprising one or more teeth having one or more recesses which are exposed

2) A hair comb as in claim 1 wherein the one or more recesses face forwardly to the line or direction of combing.

3) A hair comb as in claim 1 wherein the recesses generally face the same direction.

4) A hair comb in accordance with claims 1 or 2 wherein the one or more recesses run partially or completely down the line of the teeth

5) A hair comb as in any preceding claim wherein the one or more recesses are concave shaped.

6) A hair comb according to claims 1 to 4 wherein the one or more recesses are "V" shaped

7) A hair comb as in any previous claim wherein the gap between the teeth closely conform with the thickness of the hair they pass through.

8) A hair comb as in any previous claim wherein the inter - tooth clearance is less than the diameter of a nit and/or a louse.

9) A hair comb as claimed in any previous claim whereby the aft profile of the teeth is the opposite profile to the profile on the fore side of the teeth.

10) A hair comb as claimed in any previous claim wherein the teeth of the comb have varying lengths

H) A hair comb as claimed in claim 10 wherein the length of the teeth at the centre of the comb are shortest, the remainder of the teeth gradually becoming longer as they approach either end of the comb

12) A hair comb as claimed in any previous claim wherein said comb has a large handle

13) A hair comb as claimed in any previous claim wherein the comb handle has softened areas for increased grip.

14) A hair comb as claimed in any previous claim wherein the area about or near where the teeth connect with the handle of the comb, is chamfered or angled.

15) A hair comb having a plurality of teeth with one or more such teeth having one or more fore portions which are concave or recessed.

16) A hair comb having a plurality of teeth with one or more such teeth having 2 or more oppositely facing fore portions which are concave or recessed.

17) A comb according to claim 15 or 16 whose teeth also posses one or more aft portions which are convex, extended or tapered.

18) A comb as hereinbefore described in the description and/or any of the drawings.

19) A method of combing the hair using a comb hereinbefore described.