US2154179A - Hair curler - Google Patents

Description

April 1939- J. A. MURDOCK 2,154,179

HAIR CURLER Filed May 27, 1938 Patented Apr. 11, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,154,179 HAIR CURLER James A. Murdock, Chicago, Ill.

Application May 27, 1938, Serial No. 210,310.

6 Claims.

This invention relates to hair curlers and has for its principal object the provision of an improved hair curler which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and easily adjusted by the user.

According to the present invention I provide a hair curler comprising a bar on which the curl may be wound. I prefer to employ a suitable gripper whereby one end of the curl may be secured to the bar. I also provide means for preventing the curl from unwinding, which means is adjustable with respect to the curling bar, and nevertheless, is adapted toremain in any desired relation thereto.

I prefer to employ a hollow curling bar. As the means for preventing uncurling I prefer to employ a lock member having two principal portions, one of which is adapted to extend into the hollow bar, the other being adapted to extend along the exterior of the bar to bear against the hair or head of the user. The portion of the lock member which is inserted into the hollow bar is arranged to have a rotation resisting engagement with the interior of the bar so that it tends to remain in any position into which it is moved. For this purpose the lock member is preferably formed of spring stock and the portion inserted into the hollow bar is deformed so that it resiliently engages opposite sides of the bore.

The invention will readily be understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a woman's head with the hair curlers in curling relation thereon;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through a curler embodying my invention with the lock member omitted; I r

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the lock member;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to Fig. 2, with the lock member in operative relation thereto;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 4 illustrating one method of using the curler;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating another method of using the curler; and

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modified lock member.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral I0 designates a curling bar on which the hair is to be wound. The bar is hollow and may suitably be formed of metal stock, which is perforated for the sake of lightness and to allow free circulation of air about the curl to hasten drying. The tubular bar III has pivotally mounted thereon by means of a pivot I I, a gripping member I2, which preferaby is of similar material and is of arcuate section conforming to the exterior of the bar I0 upon which it normally lies. Be-

yond the pivot II the bar III and gripping member I2 are provided with extensions or handles I3 and I4. These handles are normally pressed apart by a spring I5 so that the gripping member I2 is normally forced against the bar I0.

When the handles I3 and I4 are manually pressed together the gripping member I2 is moved away from the bar I0, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that the end of a strand of hair may be located between the gripping member and bar. When the handles I3 and I4 are released the spring I5 returns the gripping member I2 to initial position and the strand of hair is firmly. gripped to the bar Ill.

The strand of hair may now be wound up toany desired extent by simply rotating the bar I0, I

and it is then held in that condition by the looking member I6 which will now be described.

The locking member I6 comprises two legs 11,

at least one of which is adapted to be inserted within the hollow bar I0 so as to establish resist ance to relative rotation between the bar and locking member. The other leg is so adapted to extend along the exterior of the bar III so as to overlie the wound curl and engage the wearers hair or scalp. I prefer to make the lock member I6 symmetrical so that either of its legs Il may be used for either purpose.

As shown in Fig. 3, the lock member I6 may suitably be formed from fiat spring stock. The two legs I! are connected by a kinked end member I8 which serves both as a return bend connecting the two legs I1 and as a convenient handle portion whereby the lock member It may be manipulated.

Each or either leg I! is arranged to provide an inherent rotation resisting relation with the interior of the bar I0, when inserted therein. Thus the legs I'I may be bowed so that portions thereof resiliently bear against opposite sides of the interior of the bar as shown in Fig. 4. This inherent resistance of the leg I! and the bar II] to relative rotation may be increased in various ways. Thus burrs I9 or other formations may be provided on the interior of the bar for the purpose of resisting but not preventing relative rotation between the bar and the lock member.

When the curl is wound up on the bar l0 one of the legs I1 is inserted into the bar I0 and the other leg I1 is brought into overlying relation to the curl. The lock member I6 is then rotated to desired position relative to the bar l0 and it then holds that position indefinitely. The ability of the member I6 to maintain that position is not dependent upon the frictional engagement of the outer leg I! with a large curl. It depends primarily upon the inherent resistance to rotation which the inserted leg I! has with the tube In.

The improved curler may, therefore, be used with curls of very small volume, and moreover it may be used for curling the ends or outer parts of strands of hair as well as complete strands. Thus, as shown in Fig. 6, the outer leg I! engages a partially wound up strand of hair 20. Since the inserted leg I] is inherently resistant to rotation within the bar [0, the relation shown in Fig. 6 is maintained indefinitely. As shown in Fig. 7 the strand may be completely wound up and the curler may be maintained in the relation shown by the engagement of the wearers neck or scalp by the outer leg H.

The improved curler may also be used with the lock member IS in place with respect to the bar Iii during the winding of the curl. When operating in this manner the lock member 46 is manually held against rotation when the strand of hair is being wound up on the bar to, When the winding is completed the outer leg l1 bearing against the head or hair of the user prevents unwinding of the curl.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a further embodiment of the invention in which a lock member 2| is employed. This lock member, which may be formed from a spring strip, comprises two outer legs 22, an intermediate length 23 located between and in generally parallel relation to said legs, and a pair of return bends 24 connecting opposite ends of said intermediate length 23 to one of the outer legs 22.

As shown in Fig. 8, one of the return bends 24 is inserted into the hollow bar iii, thus 10- cating the intermediate length 23 and one of the legs 22 within the bar. The return bends 24 are such that the length 23 and the inserted leg 22 are resiliently pressed against the inner surface of the bar l0. It will be understood that this embodiment of the invention operates precisely like the previously described embodiment, the outer leg 22 functioning in the same manner as the outer leg I! of the embodiment previously described.

Although the invention has been described in connection with the specific details of a preferred embodiment thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what I claim is:

1. A hair curler comprising a hollow bar on which a strand of hair may be wound, and a lock member adapted to maintain the strand in wound condition, comprising an exterior arm adapted to overlie the curl and a portion extending into said bar and having an inherent rotation resisting relation therewith.

2. A hair curler comprising a hollow bar on which a strand of hair may be wound, and a lock member adapted to maintain the strand in wound condition, comprising an exterior arm adapted to overlie the curl and a portion extending into said bar and having an inherent rotation resisting engagement with opposite sides of the interior of the hollow bar.

3. A hair curler comprising a hollow bar on which a strand of hair may be wound, gripping means for securing an end of said strand to the bar and a lock member adapted to maintain the strand in wound condition, comprising an exterior arm adapted to overlie the curl and a portion extending into said bar and having an inherent rotation resisting relation therewith.

4. A hair curler comprising a hollow bar on which a strand of hair may be wound, and a lock member having two generally parallel resilient legs and means connecting them, said members being symmetrical and either of said legs being adapted to be inserted into said hollow bar so as to have an inherent rotation resisting relation therewith.

5. A hair curler comprising a hollow bar on which a strand of hair may be wound, a gripping member extending along said bar, a pivot securing said bar and gripping member together, handle extensions on said bar and member on one side of said pivot, a spring engaging said handles and biasing said member towards said bar, and a lock member having a portion adapted to be inserted into said bar to establish a rotation resisting relation therewith and a portion overlying the exterior of the bar.

6. A hair curler comprising a hollow bar on which a strand of hair may be wound, and a lock member comprising two outer legs, an intermediate length therebetween and a pair of return bends connecting the ends of said intermediate member to said legs, either of said return bends being adapted to be inserted into said hollow bar in such manner that the intermediate length and the adjacent leg are resilicntly forced against the interior of the bar, whereby the member is resistantly held against rotation with the outer leg in overlying relation to the bar.

JAMES A. MURDOCK.

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