Hair foil dispenser

Abstract

A hair foil dispenser (100) has a main casing (101); a removable covering (200); a roller arrangement including a driving roller (142) and a tensioning roller (140) for pulling foil (300) from a foil roll (320); a motor (830) provided to drive the driving roller (142); a cutting mechanism (160) for cutting at least one sheet of the foil (300) with a predetermined length; a proximity sensor (100, 810); and a control unit (500) provided to receive at least one signal from the proximity sensor and, upon sensing the presence of a user, to actuate the motor (830) to cause the roller arrangement to pull foil from the foil roll (320); and to actuate the cutting mechanism to cut the foil. The user can repetitively direct the dispenser to dispense a predetermined number of the foil sheets without requiring physical contact of the dispenser by the user.

1 . A hair foil dispenser comprising:
 a main casing;   a removable covering;   a roller arrangement including a driving roller and a tensioning roller for pulling foil from a foil roll;   a motor provided to drive the driving roller;   a cutting mechanism for cutting at least one sheet of the foil with a predetermined length;   a proximity sensor;   a control unit provided to receive at least one signal from the proximity sensor and, upon sensing the presence of a user, to actuate the motor to cause the roller arrangement to pull foil from the foil roll; and to actuate the cutting mechanism to cut the foil;   said removable covering being provided with at least one input arrangement enabling the user to pre-set a number and/or length of foil sheets to be dispensed;   whereby the user can repetitively direct the dispenser to dispense foil sheets of the pre-set number and/or length without requiring physical contact of the dispenser by the user.   
     
     
         2 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , in which the proximity sensor is chosen from the group that includes optical, infrared, ultrasound, radar, laser, and capacitive sensors. 
     
     
         3 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , in which:
 the covering includes a front panel; and   the control unit is mounted on an inner surface of the front panel;   whereby predetermined operational parameters of the dispenser may be changed by changing the front panel.   
     
     
         4 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , in which the control unit includes a parameter input module that sets at least one predetermined operation parameter of the dispenser according to a pattern of gestures made by the user sensed by the proximity sensor. 
     
     
         5 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , in which the tensioning roller is replaceable and is provided with a non-smooth surface, whereby the foil passing through the roller arrangement is given a corresponding non-smooth surface. 
     
     
         6 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a foil roll holder onto which the foil roll is mounted;   a collar member that is slidable on the foil roll holder and an end cap said collar member and end cap having respective, opposing, inwardly narrowing conical portions between which the foil roll is mounted,   whereby foil rolls of different widths may be secured on the holder by pushing the collar member against a respective end of the foil roll, an opposite end of the foil roll thereby being pushed against the conical portion of the end cap.   
     
     
         7 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , further comprising an authentication reader provided to read data from an authentication marker located on the foil roll. 
     
     
         8 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 7 , in which authentication marker is chosen from the group that includes RFID tags, optically readable labels, and optically readable patterns of symbols, characters, or holes. 
     
     
         9 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 8 , in which the authentication marker encodes an identifier of the foil roll and/or information about the physical characteristics of the foil on the foil roll. 
     
     
         10 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least one Hall effect sensor and at least one magnetic member;   in which the covering is provided with at least one marking indicating at least one operating parameter of the dispenser; said at least one marking being located adjacent to a corresponding one of the Hall effect sensors when the covering is placed on the casing;   whereby the user may set the at least operational parameter by placing the at least one magnetic member on a corresponding one of the markings.   
     
     
         11 . The hair foil dispenser according to  claim 1 , in which the control unit includes a module configured to input at least one operational parameter of the dispenser wirelessly from an external device.