HAIR BRUSH

[0001] This application claims the benefit of foreign application filing priority based on Japanese Utility Model Application No. 2020-5120, filed Nov. 27, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to a hair brush used for barber shops, beauty salons, etc. or a hair brush for home use. In particular, a brush pedestal for mounting brush pins is provided with hot air injection holes to heat the brush pedestal, thereby increasing the heat effect on the hair and shortening the hair styling time and enabling to form beautiful curl and volume up on the hair.

[0003] Conventionally, a roll brush in which brush bristles are projected radially from a flocked portion is used for finishing hair styling. When it is desired to straighten, curl, or volume up the hair, this roll brush straightens the roots and tips of the hair while blowing hot air with a dryer. The technologies shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are directed to such a roll-shaped hair brush.

• [0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-151658
• [0005] [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-112835

[0006] Since the hair brushes disclosed by Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a structure in which hair styling is performed while applying heat using a separate dryer, it is necessary to operate the hair brush and dryer with both hands, and thus, it is not possible to easily carry out the hair styling with one hand.

[0007] In addition, there is a problem that the hot air from the dryer is blocked by the root of the brush portion and can not reach the entire hair, which requires an additional time and effort for the hair styling.

[0008] Furthermore, since such a conventional hair brush does not have an ironing function, the hair styling effect due to the high temperature of the ironing function cannot be obtained.

[0009] The present invention has been made to solve such problems involved in the conventional hair brushes, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide hot air injection holes on the brush pedestal so as to heat the brush pedestal and to increase the heat efficiency toward the hair, thereby enhancing the hair styling works, shortening the hair styling time, and enabling to efficiently form beautiful curl and volume increase on the hair.

[0010] In the hair brush according to the first aspect of the present invention as a means for achieving the above objects is a hairbrush having a grip for gripping and operating a main body and a brush portion at the grip end, where the brush portion is provided with a cylindrical brush pedestal and a large number of brush pins erected radially from the brush pedestal. The brush pedestal has a plurality of hot air injection holes, a heater and a fan for injecting the hot air from the hot air injection holes.

[0011] In the hair brush according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to hair brush according to the first aspect noted above, the cylindrical brush pedestal is heated by receiving the heat generated by the heater.

[0012] In the hair brush according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the hair brush according to the second aspect noted above, the cylindrical brush pedestal is made of metal, where the heater is closely attached to the inside of the metal brush pedestal, and a large number of hot air injection holes are formed on the cylindrical brush pedestal in an area other than the area where the heater is arranged.

[0013] In the hair brush according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the hair brush according to the third aspect noted above, the brush pins include thin rod-shaped brush pins each having a constant thickness, and flexible brush pins each having a wide portion and a narrow portion.

[0014] In the hair brush according to fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the hair brush according to the fourth aspect noted above, the brush portion is formed by aligning brush pins in a front-rear direction to form brush pin rows, where the brush pin rows are arranged around the brush pedestal at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction of the brush pedestal, where at least a part of the brush pin rows is configured by the flexible brush pins.

[0015] In the hair brush according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the hair brush according to the first to fifth aspects noted above, a temperature setting adjusting function of the heater is provided.

[0016] In the hair brush according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the hair brush according to the first to sixth aspects noted above, a motor for rotating the fan is arranged inside the grip, where the motor is installed in the grip via a mount to fix the motor where an outer circumference of the motor and the mount are attached via a support piece for reducing transmission of vibration caused by the motor.

[0017] In the hair brush according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the brush portion includes the cylindrical brush pedestal and a large number of brush pins erected radially from the brush pedestal, various types of hair styling can be performed by using this roll-shaped hair brush.

[0018] The hot air injection holes are formed on the brush pedestal, and the heater and the fan for injecting the hot air from the hot air injection holes formed on the brush pedestal are provided. Therefore, hair styling using the hot air by one-handed operation is possible.

[0019] In the hair brush according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the cylindrical brush pedestal is heated by receiving the heat generated by the heater, the brush pedestal in contact with the hair becomes hot and thus an iron effect at the time of hair styling can be obtained.

[0020] In the hair brush according to the third aspect of the present invention, the cylindrical brush pedestal is made of metal, and the heater is closely attached to the inside of the metal brush pedestal, and a large number of hot air injection holes are formed on the cylindrical brush pedestal in an area other than the area where the heater is arranged. Since the hot air injection holes are formed in such a manner, the hot air is generated by using the heat from the heater and, accordingly, the brush pedestal is heated.

[0021] Since the hair brush according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is provided with a plurality of flexible brush pins each having a wide portion and a narrow portion, it is possible to perform hair styling while securely entangling the hair with the hair brush because of such unique shapes of the flexible brush pins.

[0022] In the hair brush according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the brush portion, the brush portion is formed by aligning brush pins in the front-rear direction to form brush pin rows, where the brush pin rows are arranged around the brush pedestal at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of the brush pedestal. Since at least a part of the brush pin rows is made up of the flexible brush pins each having a wide portion and a narrow portion, it makes it easy to grasp the hair while the hair will not be overly entangled, which is suitable for the hair style by achieving smooth entanglement and release of the hair.

[0023] Since the hair brush according to the sixth aspect of the present invention is provided with the heater temperature setting adjusting function, an iron temperature can be selected and a suitable temperature is set according to the condition of the hair, quality of the hair, the purpose of hair styling, and the like.

[0024] In the hairbrush according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the mount for fixing the motor and the outer circumference of the motor are attached via the support piece, when using the hair brush, it is possible to reduce the transmission of vibrations and sounds caused by the motor rotation toward the outside.

[0034] The hair brush according to the first embodiment of the present invention is a hair brush 1 having a hot air injection function and an ironing function, and as shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, a grip 2 for gripping the hair brush is provided at a base portion, and a brush portion 3 is provided at a tip portion.

[0035] The grip 2 has a thickness and shape suitable for gripping the hair brush, where a power cord 4 is connected to the rear end of the grip 2. As shown in FIG. 2, a substrate 5 (electronic circuit) for controlling the functions of the hair brush 1 is formed inside of the grip 2 where a motor 6 connected to the substrate 5 and a fan 7 driven by the rotation of the motor 6 are also housed inside of the grip.

[0036] Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a power switch 8, a temperature setting adjustment switch 9, and a temperature display unit 10 are provided on the upper surface of the grip 2. In this structure, by operating the temperature setting adjustment switch 9, it is possible to adjust the temperature in 5 steps from 150° C. to 190° C. in increments of 10° C.

[0037] The brush portion 3 includes a cylindrical brush pedestal 11 made of metal and a large number of brush pins erected radially from the brush pedestal 11.

[0038] The brush pins are composed of thin rod-shaped brush pins 12 each having a constant thickness, and flexible brush pins 13 each having a wide diamond shape, i.e., a narrow portion and a wide portion.

[0039] Each of the flexible brush pins 13 is formed to be slightly thicker than the rod-shaped brush pin 12. The flexible brush pins 13 and the rod-shaped brush pins 12 are erected in rows in a front-rear direction of the main body (hair brush 1), respectively. Here, the brush pin rows 12 and 13 are arranged at equal intervals, thereby forming a brush group in a manner of orbiting the brush pedestal 11.

[0040] In this embodiment, one brush pin row is composed of 15 flexible brush pins 13 or rod-shaped brush pins 12, and the brush pin rows are arranged with an interval of an angle of about 26 degrees in the circumferential direction of the brush pedestal 11.

[0041] In this embodiment, the total of 14 rows of brush pins 12 and 13 are arranged in the entire brush portion, where 2 rows of the flexible brush pins 13 are arranged on the brush pedestal at an interval of 180 degrees, and 6 rows of bar-shaped brush pins 12 are arranged at intervals between the flexible brush pins 13 (see FIG. 4).

[0042] Each of the flexible brush pins 13 is formed of a flexible material such as fluoro-rubber, and its surface is roughened, thereby having a function of adhering the hair contacted with the pins 13 due to its frictional property of the material during the hair styling.

[0043] The flexible brush pins 13 can also be formed of other materials such as synthetic resin, silicon, or the like, and its surface can be smoothly formed without forming irregularities.

[0044] On the other hand, each of the rod-shaped brush pins 12 is made of a material having a low frictional resistance similar to that of a normal comb.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 2, the shape of the flexible brush pin 13 is such that the base is short and rises straight, the shortly rising tip thereof gradually widens, where the central part is wide, and the wide central part is extended to the tip while its width is gradually decreasing. Therefore, the flexible brush pin 13 has a diamond shape when viewed from the side.

[0046] Thus, the adjacent distance between the flexible brush pins 13 is such that the distance becomes larger toward the tip end, gradually narrows toward the center, and becomes wider toward the base end. As a result, the hair can be easily fitted in the hair brush from the wide open tip parts when brushing. The hair that once fits into the base of the flexible brush pins 13 is prevented from falling off because of the narrowed part, thereby making it difficult to pull out from the hair brush.

[0047] On the outer peripheral side surface of the brush pedestal 11, mounting grooves 14 for mounting brush pin rows are formed at predetermined intervals in the front-rear direction (see FIGS. 3 and 4). In this embodiment, the mounting grooves 14 for the flexible brush pins 13 are formed on the upper and lower sides, and the mounting grooves 14 for the 6 rod-shaped brush pins 12 are formed on the left and right sides, respectively. Then, hot air injection holes 15 are formed at predetermined intervals in each of the four mounting grooves on the left and right sides.

[0048] In addition, heaters 16 are closely attached to the top and bottom of the inside of the brush pedestal 11 to heat the entire brush pedestal.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 5, the rod-shaped brush pins 12 are arranged as a horizontal series of fifteen (15) resin pins formed on a continuous and integral base, and holes 15a corresponding to the hot air injection holes 15 is formed between the rod-shaped brush pins 12 (see FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b)).

[0050] A mounting rail 17 is used for mounting the rod-shaped brush pins 12 on the brush pedestal 11 (see FIG. 6). The mounting rail 17 is made of a metal having high thermal conductivity, and has a length similar to that of the mounting groove 14. The mounting rail 17 has a plurality of holes 12a through which rod-shaped brush pins 12 are inserted and a plurality of holes 15c corresponding to the hot air injection holes 15 (each has 15 injection holes in this embodiment).

[0051] When mounting on the mounting grooves 14, the rod-shaped brush pins 12 are inserted in the corresponding holes 12a on the mounting rail 17, and the mounting rail 17 covers the rod-shaped brush pins 12 from the above, and then the mounting rails 17 are mounted on the base of the rod-shaped brush pin rows. Then, the mounting rails 17 are attached to the mounting grooves 14 of the brush pedestal 11 in a manner of slide in, thereby fixing the rod-shaped brush pins 12 on the brush portion 3.

[0052] As a result, the rod-shaped brush pins 12 are erected radially on the outer periphery of the brush pedestal 11. At this time, the hot air injection holes 15 and the holes 15c on the mounting rail 17 communicate with each other at the same positions, and thus, hot air ejection paths from the hot air injection holes 15 are formed.

[0053] The holes 15c corresponding to the hot air injection holes 15 are not formed in the mounting rail 17 at an area to be attached to the mounting groove 14 of the brush pedestal without the hot air injection holes 15.

[0054] Similar to the rod-shaped brush pins 12, the flexible brush pin 13 are arranged as a horizontal series of fifteen (15) resin pins formed on a continuous and integral base. However, since the hot air injection hole 15 is not formed in the brush pedestal 11 to which the flexible brush pins 13 are attached, the base of the flexible brush pins 13 does not have a hole corresponding to the hot air injection hole.

[0055] Further, in this embodiment, the base of the flexible brush pin 13 is shaped to fit directly into the mounting groove 14, and the base is directly slid into the mounting groove 14 to fix the flexible brush pins 13 to the brush portion 3 without using the mounting rail 17.

[0056] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, a pair of heaters 16 with elongated flat plate shape are closely arranged on the upper surface and the lower surface of the inside of the brush pedestal 11 over the entire length of the brush pedestal.

[0057] By arranging the heaters 16 in close contact with the brush pedestal 11, the heat generated by the heaters 16 is transmitted over the entire brush pedestal 11, so that the brush pedestal 11 becomes hot, and the ironing function is performed for the hair.

[0058] Next, the mounting structure of the brush portion 3 is shown in the exploded view of FIG. 7.

[0059] The heaters 16 are brought into close contact with the inner upper surface and the inner lower surface of the brush pedestal 11, where the heaters 16 are mounted via fixing members 16a.

[0060] The brush pin row 12 or 13 is inserted together with the mounting rail 17 into the mounting groove 14 formed on the outer periphery of the brush pedestal 11, and the brush pin row is erected radially on the outer periphery of the brush pedestal 11. The flexible brush pin rows 13 are directly mounted on the upper and lower rows of the brush pedestal 11 without using the mounting rail 17.

[0061] The brush portion 3 is fixed to the main body by assembling a mounting member 18, a positioning member 19, a heat insulating plate 20, a fixing seat 21, and a cap 22, where a screw 23 is inserted from the tip for connecting these members.

[0062] The rear end of the brush portion 3 is joined to the grip 2 via a washer 24.

[0063] A motor 6 is mounted on the inside of the grip 2. The structure for fixing the motor 6 to a mount 25 in the grip 2 is shown in FIG. 8. The mount 25 has a circular outer shell, and a support member 26 extends inside the mount 25 to support a mounting seat formed inside of the mount 25 where the motor 6 is fitted and mounted on the mounting seat. Since the support member 26 of the mount 25 is a thin plate shape, the transmission of the rotational vibration caused by the motor 6 to the grip 2 is reduced. In addition, a rubber sheet wraps around the outer circumference of the mount 25 to further reduce the vibration.

[0064] Hereafter, the way of using the hair brush of this embodiment will be described.

[0065] The power switch 8 is turned on, and the temperature setting adjustment switch 9 is operated to select the temperature on the temperature display unit 10. As a result, the heater 16 generates heat, and when the temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, the fan 7 rotates.

[0066] The brush pedestal 11 is heated by the heat generated by the heater 16. At the same time, due to the rotation of the fan 7, the air flow passes through the motor 6 and flows toward the tip end, and comes into contact with the heater 16 to be made into hot air, which is blown out from the hot air injection holes 15.

[0067] In a state that the brush pedestal 11 and the hot air reaches an appropriate temperature, by using the brush portion 3, operations like rolling-in the hair bundle, combing the hair, and shaping the hair such as curling, waving or straightening can be performed. Here, since the brush pedestal 11 is heated to the high temperature by the heater 16, the hair can be ironed by contact with the metal mounting rail 17 and the brush pedestal 11.

[0068] Since the flexible brush pins 13 of diamond shape are provided, the hair is easily fitted in the hair brush from the wide open tip portions when brushing, and the hair once fitted to the base of the flexible brush pins 13 is prevented from falling off by the narrowed portions and is prevented from coming off.

[0069] Since the hair brush 1 of this embodiment does not clip the hair with hair holding members but entangles the hair with the flexible brush pins 13, even when the hair treatment is performed from a tip of the hair bundle or from a middle part of the hair bundle, the flexible brush pins 13 smoothly entangle or seize the hair, thereby easily curling, waving, or straightening the hair.

[0070] That is, hair styling can be performed by wrapping the hair from the tip of the hair, or by wrapping the hair from the root or middle part of the hair and then going through the hair brush, or hair styling of straightening the hair by simply going through the hair brush.

[0071] When the curl, wave, or straight shape of hair is sufficiently formed, the grip 2 is rotated or tilted in the direction to loosen the coupling, the entanglement between the flexible brush pins 13 and the hair is released, and the brush portion 3 from the hair is released, thereby enabling to pull out the brush portion 3.

[0072] In this embodiment, each of the flexible brush pins 13 is formed with a narrowed portion where the hair is difficult to fall off, and since the gaps between the flexible brush pins 13 are close to each other, the hair is easily grasped and is difficult to come off.

[0073] Further, since the flexible brush pins 13 exert a moderate resistance to the hair, it is also possible to organize the hair epidermis (cuticle) of the hair, which produces an effect of hair gloss.

[0074] Next, the hair brush according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0075] The hairbrush of the second embodiment is characterized in that the brush pedestal 11, the rod-shaped brush pins 12 and the flexible brush pin 13 of the first embodiment described above contain multi-element mineral powders or far-infrared radiation powders.

[0076] In the hair brush of this embodiment, far-infrared rays radiated from the far-infrared radiation powders can effectively obtain thermal conductivity to the hair.

[0077] The multi-element mineral powders emit weak energy toward the hair which is effective for styling while caring for the hair, and the far-infrared rays emitted from the far-infrared radiation powders promote blood circulation in the scalp for hair growth as well as scalp care.

[0078] In addition, static electricity is not generated even when brushing the hair due to the action of multi-element mineral powders, so that blowing can be performed smoothly and hair styling can be facilitated.

[0079] Moreover, the blood circulation of hair and scalp can be improved simply by brushing the hair with negative ions generated from the multi-element mineral powders, and the negative ions cause a crusher phenomenon (the ability to minimize the molecular population of water) in the hair, thereby enabling to enhance the gloss and moisture of the hair and create a smooth and cohesive design of the hair.

[0080] In addition, the negative ions act on the cuticle (glass-like fiber) of the hair and can always keep the hair in a glossy state, which is especially effective for damaged hair and thin and hard-to-organize hair.

[0081] The multi-element mineral used in the present invention refers to a kind of minerals such as pearlite, pine fat rock, and tourmaline that contain silicon as the main component and contains a large number of elements in a well-balanced manner. The multi-element mineral is known to emit the negative ions.

[0082] The multi-element mineral powders are formed by pulverizing the multi-element mineral with a ball mill or the like. In this case, the pulverization value is preferably 1 to 3 microns, however other pulverization value may also be use. One kind of the multi-element mineral powders can be used alone or two or more kinds in combination, but it is preferable to use two or more kinds in appropriate combination.

[0083] This multi-element mineral powders may be used as it is, or it may be used after the powers are mixed with water, heated or pressurized, and then the supernatant liquid is powdered by a vacuum freeze-drying process or a jet drying process.

[0084] The term “contain multi-element mineral powders or far-infrared radiation powders” referred to in the present invention includes the multi-element mineral powders or the far-infrared radiation powders kneaded into the brush pedestal 11, the rod-shaped brush pins 12, and the flexible brush pins 13 and molded into a predetermined shape. It also includes the multi-element mineral powders or the far-infrared radiation powders in a form of a coating layer applied on the surfaces of the brush pedestal 11, the rod-shaped brush pins 12, and the flexible brush pins 13. Such a coating layer is produced by mixing the multi-element mineral powders or far-infrared radiation powders with a coating agent thereby creating a coating layer, which include, for example, ceramic coating layer, plating layer, fluorine coating layer, nylon layer, synthetic resin layer, silicon rubber layer, fluorine rubber layers, etc.

[0085] Regarding the method of forming the ceramic coating layer, the multi-element mineral powders or the far-infrared radiation powders are added to a heat-resistant formica, which is a coating agent, and a resultant paint is applied to the tubular body, which is then applied to a heating furnace, thereby forming the ceramic coating layer by blowing (baking) the coating agent there through.

[0086] The mixing ratio of the multi-element mineral powders or the far-infrared radiation powders to the heat-resistant formica is preferably 3 to 15% by volume, although the mixing ration is not limited to this value.

[0087] Then, in order to mix the multi-element mineral powders in the brush pedestal 11, the rod-shaped brush pins 12, and the flexible brush pins 13, for example, the multi-element mineral is pulverized to about 1 to 3 microns with a ball mill, a jet mill, or the like to form the powders. The powders are mixed with the raw material of the multi-element minerals (for example, molten metal and molten resin) at a ratio of 0.5 to 10% to form them via a mold process.

[0088] In this case, it is preferable to use two or more kinds of multi-element mineral powders by appropriately blending them, although only one kind can also be used.

[0089] Further, the multi-element mineral powders may be mixed with water, and the supernatant obtained after heating or pressurizing may be mixed, or the powders obtained by vacuum freeze-drying or spray-drying may be mixed.

[0090] The components of perlite, which is an example of the multi-element mineral, are shown in the list below.

	cilicic oxide (SiO2)	71.94%
	aluminum oxide (A12O3)	14.94%
	ferric oxide (Fc2O3)	2.54%
	magnesia oxide (MgO)	0.44%
	calcium oxide (CaO)	2.47%
	alkaline oxide	6.87%
	(K2O + Na2O)
	manganese oxide (MnO)	0.03%
	phosphoric oxide (P2O3)	0.14%
	ignition loss	3.43%
	drying loss (at 110° C.)	0.07%
	other titanium	trace

[0091] In the above list, ignition loss conforms to that of cosmetic standard of kaolin (500° C., constant temperature).

[0092] Examples of the far-infrared radiation powdery material includes alumina (Al₂O₃), titania (TiO₂), ferrite (Fe₂O₃), chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃), silica (SiO₂), yttria (Y₂O₃), magnesia (MgO), etc., which can be used singly or in combination.

[0093] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, specific configurations of the present invention are not limited to that described with respect to the first and second embodiments, and even if there is a change in settings or the like not deviating from the gist of the invention, such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

[0094] For example, the shape of the brush pin and the attachment structure to the brush pedestal described in the above embodiments are included in the present invention even when other configurations of them are adopted.