Hair Colorant Applicator and Methods

Abstract

A hair coloring applicator including a body forming a handle, a brush which rotates relative to the body, a housing wherein the brush is rotatable within the housing. The brush may be designed as a plurality of flexible squeegee arms. The housing is designed to receive a liquid hair colorant such that the brush contacts the hair colorant within the housing. The housing includes at least one opening for receiving at least one strand of hair and placing the at least one strand of hair in contact with the brush. The hair colorant and/or the brush may be provided in a disposable cartridge.

1 . A hair coloring applicator, comprising: 
 a body forming a handle;    a brush, wherein the brush rotates relative to the body; and    a housing, wherein the brush is rotatable within the housing, and wherein the housing is designed to receive a liquid hair colorant such that the brush contacts the hair colorant within the housing,    wherein the housing includes at least one opening for receiving at least one strand of hair and placing the at least one strand of hair in contact with the brush.    
   
   
       2 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 1 , wherein the brush is generally annular.  
   
   
       3 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 1 , wherein the brush comprises a support and at least one of the group consisting of bristles, napped material and absorbent material arranged on the support.  
   
   
       4 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 1 , wherein the housing is removable from the body.  
   
   
       5 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 4 , wherein the housing forms a disposable cartridge.  
   
   
       6 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 5 , wherein the cartridge is pre-loaded with hair colorant.  
   
   
       7 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 5 , wherein the cartridge is pre-loaded with the brush.  
   
   
       8 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 7 , wherein the cartridge includes a coupling designed to mate with a complementary coupling provided on the hair coloring applicator for providing power to rotate the brush.  
   
   
       9 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 5 , wherein the cartridge includes a removable lid allowing access to the interior thereof.  
   
   
       10 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 5 , wherein the cartridge includes a break-away panel allowing access to the interior thereof.  
   
   
       11 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 5 , wherein the cartridge includes openings covered with peel-away material allowing access to the interior of the cartridge.  
   
   
       12 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 1 , wherein the housing includes at least one opening designed to mate with a container of hair colorants, allowing hair colorant to be placed in the housing through said at least one opening.  
   
   
       13 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 1 , further comprising a slider movably coupled to the housing for placing at least one strand of hair in contact with the brush.  
   
   
       14 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 13 , wherein the slider comprises a convex inside surfaces.  
   
   
       15 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 13 , wherein the slider is biased toward the brush.  
   
   
       16 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 15 , wherein the slider is biased toward the brush into two selectable positions, a first position leaving no gap between the slider and the housing, and a second position leaving a small gap between the slider and the housing, the small gap being sized to allow a strand of hair to be drawn therethrough.  
   
   
       17 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 13 , further comprising an operating mechanism that operates both the slider and a motor that drives the brush.  
   
   
       18 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 17 , wherein the operating mechanism is biased to a position whereby the slider is closed and the motor is off.  
   
   
       19 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 1 , further comprising a motor having a shaft that rotates the brush.  
   
   
       20 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 19 , further comprising a gear assembly configured to couple the shaft of the motor to the brush.  
   
   
       21 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 20 , further comprising a power source.  
   
   
       22 . The hair coloring applicator of  claim 21 , wherein the power source is at least one battery.  
   
   
       23 . A hair coloring applicator comprising: 
 a handle;    a receptacle that is coupled to the handle and is configured to receive one or more hair colorant ingredients, the receptacle having an opening through which the one or more colorant ingredients are discharged as a mixture;    a shaft that is rotatably mounted to the handle;    a squeegee member that is operatively coupled to the shaft so that it rotates therewith and includes a plurality of squeegee arms that extend from the shaft; and    a slider that slides relative to the receptacle and is positioned between a mix position in which the slider seals the opening in the receptacle during a mixing operation in which the one or more colorant ingredients are mixed into the mixture and an apply position in which the slider is spaced from the opening to create a gap for receiving at least one strand of hair and placing the strand of hair into contact with the plurality of squeegee arms so as to apply the mixture to the strand of hair.    
   
   
       24 . The applicator of  claim 23 , wherein the receptacle is detachably coupled to the handle.  
   
   
       25 . The applicator of  claim 23 , wherein the receptacle is substantially bowl shaped and the opening is formed within a side wall of the receptacle and an underside of the receptacle defines a track which a portion of the slider is received to permit the slider to slide relative to the receptacle.  
   
   
       26 . The applicator of  claim 23 , wherein the slider includes a part which engages and interferes with the slider and when the part is positioned in the mix position, the slider seals the receptacle opening and when the part is positioned in the apply position, the slider is angled relative to the receptacle to create the gap and permit the colorant to be applied to the hair.  
   
   
       27 . The applicator of  claim 23 , wherein there are four squeegee arms extending circumferentially about the shaft.  
   
   
       28 . The applicator of  claim 23 , further including a motor assembly including a motor that is operatively connected to the shaft by a plurality of gears to cause rotation of the shaft when the motor is operated.  
   
   
       29 . The applicator of  claim 23 , wherein the squeegee member is detachably mounted on the shaft.  
   
   
       30 . The applicator of  claim 23 , further comprising: a control mechanism including a lever, a slider actuator that is spring mounted to the lever such that the actuator pivots on the lever, the slider actuator being coupled to the slider to cause the slider to move between the mix and apply positions, wherein the lever and actuator are disposed outside of the handle.  
   
   
       31 . The applicator of  claim 30 , wherein the lever has a round pin associated therewith that extends through a through-hole in the handle for engaging and turning a motor on and off, the motor being operable to rotate the shaft.  
   
   
       32 . The applicator of  claim 23 , wherein the receptacle has an opening in a floor thereof through which the shaft extends and the slider includes a slot which is in registration with the opening in the floor to permit the shaft to extend therethrough.  
   
   
       33 . The applicator of  claim 23 , wherein each squeegee arm is flexible member an the handle includes a slide button which at least two positions corresponding to the mix position and the apply position, wherein the slide button is operatively connected to the slider so that when the slide button is slid to the apply position, the slider is inclined relative to the receptacle to create the gap.  
   
   
       34 . A hair coloring applicator comprising: 
 a handle;    a housing that is coupled to the handle and is configured to receive one or more hair colorant ingredients, the housing having a first part and a second part that can be moved relative to the first part to create a gap for receiving a strand of hair;    a shaft is rotatably mounted to the handle and is at least partially disposed within the receptacle;    a squeegee member that is coupled to the shaft so that it rotates therewith and includes a plurality of squeegee fingers that extend radially outward from the shaft into mixing contact with the one or more hair colorant ingredients to define a mixture;    a motor operatively connected to the shaft for controllably rotating the shaft and the squeegee member coupled thereto causing the squeegee fingers to contact the strand of hair so as to apply the mixture thereto, the squeegee fingers being initially positioned in a rest position prior to operation of the motor in which none of the squeegee fingers extend into the gap; and    a cycle switch electrically connected to the motor for controlling the rotation of the shaft and position of the squeegee fingers such that after the motor is turned off, the squeegee fingers assume the rest position where none of the fingers extend into the gap.    
   
   
       35 . The applicator of  claim 34 , wherein the cycle switch is configured such that when the motor is turned off, the motor stops receiving full current and a separate circuit feeds the motor with a reduced amount of current by means of a resistor to cause minimal rotation of the squeegee member until the squeegee fingers assume the rest position.  
   
   
       36 . The applicator of  claim 34 , wherein there are four squeegee fingers that are positioned in equidistant from one another.  
   
   
       37 . The applicator of  claim 34 , wherein the second part comprises a slider that slides relative to the first part and is positioned between a mix position in which the slider seals an opening formed in the first part during a mixing operation in which the one or more colorant ingredients are mixed into the mixture and an apply position in which the slider is spaced from the first part to create the gap for receiving at least one strand of hair within the gap and placing the strand of hair into contact with the plurality of squeegee fingers so as to apply the mixture to the strand of hair.  
   
   
       38 . The applicator of  claim 35 , further including a lid that is detachably mounted to one of the first and second parts.  
   
   
       39 . The applicator of  claim 37 , wherein the slider has a horizontal portion that is slidingly received within a track that is formed in the underside of the first part.  
   
   
       40 . The applicator of  claim 37 , wherein the first part has an opening in a floor thereof through which the shaft extends and the slider includes a slot which is in registration with the opening in the floor to permit the shaft to extend therethrough.  
   
   
       41 . The applicator of  claim 37 , wherein an inner surface of the first part comprises an arcuate surface, while an inner surface of the slider is a planer surface such that when the slider is in the apply position, a radius of the squeegee finger is greater than a radius from the shaft to an inner surface of the receptacle.  
   
   
       42 . The applicator of  claim 34 , wherein there are four squeegee fingers, each of which assumes one of four rest positions prior to operation of the motor and after the motor is stopped and the cycle switch is activated, each finger assumes one of the four rest positions which can be different from the rest position prior to operation of the motor.  
   
   
       43 . A hair coloring applicator comprising: 
 a handle;    a housing that is detachably coupled to the handle and is configured to receive and hold one or more hair colorant ingredients, the housing being formed of a first part and a second part that slides relative to the first part so as to create a gap between the two parts to permit the one or more colorants to be discharged from the first part as a mixture;    a shaft that is rotatably mounted to the handle and extends at least partially into the housing;    a squeegee member that is coupled to the shaft so that is rotates therewith within the housing and includes a plurality of flexible squeegee fingers that extend radially outward from the shaft into mixing contact with one or more hair colorant ingredients to define the mixture; and    a control mechanism positionable between at least a mix position in which the first and second parts are sealed to one another and the colorant is contained within the housing and an apply position in which the second part is spaced from the first part creating the gap that receives a strand of hair and places the strand of hair into contact with the plurality of squeegee members so as to apply the colorant to the strand of hair.    
   
   
       44 . The applicator of  claim 43 , wherein the control mechanism includes a slide button that is operatively connected to the second part such that the sliding of the button between the mix position and the apply position causes movement of the second part relative to the first part.