Powered Rotary Hairbrush

Abstract

A powered rotary hairbrush can be used to make curls or waves in a thick texture hair. The powered rotary hairbrush generally comprises a housing, brush heads, a rotation arrangement, a power source, and a button to turn it on and off. Each of the brush heads includes a brush face and brush projections. Each of the brush projections is rotatable either individually or in groups by a rotation arrangement powered by the power source to thereby style thick texture hair with minimal effort.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A powered rotary hairbrush for creating curls or a wavy pattern in thick texture hair comprising:
 a housing being ergonomically designed to be held by a hand of a user;   said housing comprising a brush side and a gripping side;   brush heads being disposed partially in said housing at said brush side;   each of said brush heads comprising a brush face disposed essentially parallel to said brush side and brush projections projecting out from said brush face;   each of said brush projections being rotatable either individually or in groups;   a rotation arrangement being disposed in said housing and configured to impart rotational movement to said brush projections;   a power source being disposed in said housing and configured to power said rotation arrangement; and   a button being disposed on said housing and operatively connected to said power source to permit a user to activate and deactivate said rotation arrangement to permit a user to start and stop styling thick texture hair with said brush projections.   
     
     
         2 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 1 , wherein each of said brush projections has a conical or tubular shape or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 2 , wherein said brush projections comprise foam, sponge, or plastic material. 
     
     
         4 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 3 , wherein said brush heads comprise foam, sponge, or plastic material and said brush projections are formed integrally with said brush heads. 
     
     
         5 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 4 , wherein:
 said power source comprises a rechargeable battery;   said housing comprises a charging port to permit a user to charge said rechargeable battery; and   said housing comprises an ergonomic knob-style handle detachably connected to said gripping side.   
     
     
         6 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 5 , wherein said housing comprises a compartment configured to store a pick or similar handheld hair styling tool and accessible via a slidable cover in said gripping side. 
     
     
         7 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 6 , wherein:
 each of said brush heads comprises a disk-shaped structure rotatable in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner about a center axis; and   said brush projections are mounted in a stationary manner on their corresponding brush head such that each of said brush projections is moved along a circular path upon rotation of its corresponding brush head.   
     
     
         8 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 7 , wherein:
 said brush heads comprise a first brush head and a second brush head; and   said rotation arrangement is configured to rotate said first brush head clockwise and said second brush head counterclockwise or vice versa.   
     
     
         9 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 8 , wherein:
 said rotation arrangement comprises: a gear motor, a first gear arrangement, and a second gear arrangement;   said gear motor is operatively connected to said power source;   said first gear arrangement comprises a first gear connected to said first brush head;   said second gear arrangement comprises a second gear connected to said second brush head; and   said gear motor is disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said first gear and said second gear to rotate said first gear and said second gear simultaneously and in opposite directions to one another.   
     
     
         10 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 6 , wherein:
 each of said brush heads comprises a disk-shaped structure mounted in a stationary manner in said housing and comprising a plurality of brush head apertures therein one for each of said brush projections;   each of said brush projections comprises a brush projection axle; and   each of said brush projection axles is disposed to pass through a corresponding brush head aperture and be operatively connected to said rotation arrangement to rotate each of said brush projections individually about said brush projection axle.   
     
     
         11 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 10 , wherein:
 said brush heads comprise a first brush head and a second brush head;   said brush projections comprise:
 a first inner set of brush projections and a first outer set of brush projections disposed at said first brush head with said first inner set of brush projections disposed closer to the center of said first brush head than said first outer set of brush projections; and 
 a second inner set of brush projections and a second outer set of brush projections disposed at said second brush head with said second inner set of brush projections disposed closer to the center of said second brush head than said second outer set of brush projections; 
   said rotation arrangement is configured to rotate said first inner set of brush projections clockwise and said first outer set of brush projections counterclockwise or vice versa; and   said rotation arrangement is configured to rotate said second inner set of brush projections clockwise and said second outer set of brush projections counterclockwise or vice versa.   
     
     
         12 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 11 , wherein:
 said rotation arrangement comprises: a gear motor, a first planetary gear arrangement, and a second planetary gear arrangement;   said gear motor is operatively connected to said power source;   said first planetary gear arrangement comprises a first planetary gear that comprises:
 first outer gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said first outer set of brush projections; 
 first inner gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said first inner set of brush projections; 
   said second planetary gear arrangement comprises a second planetary gear that comprises:
 second outer gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said second outer set of brush projections; 
 second inner gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said second inner set of brush projections; 
   said gear motor is disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said first planetary gear and said second planetary gear to rotate said first planetary gear and said second planetary gear simultaneously and in opposite directions to one another, such that said first inner set of brush projections and said second inner set of brush projections rotate in the same clockwise or counterclockwise direction and said first outer set of brush projections and said second outer set of brush projections rotate in the same clockwise or counterclockwise direction.   
     
     
         13 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of (i)-(v):
 (i) said brush projections comprise foam, sponge, or plastic material;   (ii) said brush heads comprise foam, sponge, or plastic material and said brush projections are formed integrally with said brush heads;   (iii) said power source comprises a rechargeable battery; and   said housing comprises a charging port to permit a user to charge said rechargeable battery;   (iv) said housing comprises an ergonomic knob-style handle detachably connected to said gripping side; or   (v) said housing comprises a compartment configured to store a pick or similar handheld hair styling tool and accessible via a slidable cover in said gripping side.   
     
     
         14 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 1 , wherein:
 each of said brush heads comprises a disk-shaped structure rotatable in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner about a center axis; and   said brush projections are mounted in a stationary manner on their corresponding brush head such that each of said brush projections is moved along a circular path upon rotation of its corresponding brush head.   
     
     
         15 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 14 , wherein:
 said brush heads comprise a first brush head and a second brush head; and   said rotation arrangement is configured to rotate said first brush head clockwise and said second brush head counterclockwise or vice versa.   
     
     
         16 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 15 , wherein:
 said rotation arrangement comprises: a gear motor, a first gear arrangement, and a second gear arrangement;   said gear motor is operatively connected to said power source;   said first gear arrangement comprises a first gear connected to said first brush head;   said second gear arrangement comprises a second gear connected to said second brush head; and   said gear motor is disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said first gear and said second gear to rotate said first gear and said second gear simultaneously and in opposite directions to one another.   
     
     
         17 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 1 , wherein:
 each of said brush heads comprises a disk-shaped structure mounted in a stationary manner in said housing and comprising a plurality of brush head apertures therein one for each of said brush projections;   each of said brush projections comprises a brush projection axle; and   each of said brush projection axles is disposed to pass through a corresponding brush head aperture and be operatively connected to said rotation arrangement to rotate each of said brush projections individually about said brush projection axle.   
     
     
         18 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 17 , wherein:
 said brush heads comprise a first brush head and a second brush head;   said brush projections comprise:
 a first inner set of brush projections and a first outer set of brush projections disposed at said first brush head with said first inner set of brush projections disposed closer to the center of said first brush head than said first outer set of brush projections; and 
 a second inner set of brush projections and a second outer set of brush projections disposed at said second brush head with said second inner set of brush projections disposed closer to the center of said second brush head than said second outer set of brush projections; 
   said rotation arrangement is configured to rotate said first inner set of brush projections clockwise and said first outer set of brush projections counterclockwise or vice versa; and   said rotation arrangement is configured to rotate said second inner set of brush projections clockwise and said second outer set of brush projections counterclockwise or vice versa.   
     
     
         19 . The powered rotary hairbrush of  claim 18 , wherein:
 said rotation arrangement comprises: a gear motor, a first planetary gear arrangement, and a second planetary gear arrangement;   said gear motor is operatively connected to said power source;   said first planetary gear arrangement comprises a first planetary gear that comprises:
 first outer gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said first outer set of brush projections; 
 first inner gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said first inner set of brush projections; 
   said second planetary gear arrangement comprises a second planetary gear that comprises:
 second outer gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said second outer set of brush projections; 
 second inner gear teeth disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said brush projection axles of each of said second inner set of brush projections; 
   said gear motor is disposed in meshed rotary engagement with said first planetary gear and said second planetary gear to rotate said first planetary gear and said second planetary gear simultaneously and in opposite directions to one another, such that said first inner set of brush projections and said second inner set of brush projections rotate in the same clockwise or counterclockwise direction and said first outer set of brush projections and said second outer set of brush projections rotate in the same clockwise or counterclockwise direction.   
     
     
         20 . A method of using a powered rotary hairbrush to create curls or a wavy pattern in thick texture hair comprising the steps of:
 manually holding a housing being ergonomically designed and comprising a brush side and a gripping side;   placing brush heads disposed partially in said housing at said brush side facing thick texture hair of a person to be styled with a brush face disposed essentially parallel to said brush side;   inserting brush projections projecting out from said brush face into the thick texture hair;   pushing a button being disposed on said housing and operatively connected to a power source in said housing and thereby activating a rotation arrangement disposed in said housing;   imparting rotational movement from said rotation arrangement to each of said brush projections and thereby rotating said brush projections either individually or in groups in a clockwise and/or counterclockwise manner;   creating curls or waves with said moving brush projections in a portion of the thick texture hair;   moving the powered rotary hairbrush from one portion of the thick texture hair to the next until all desired portions have been styled in a desired manner with curls or a wavy pattern; and   pushing said button and deactivating said rotation arrangement.