GB2427358A

GB2427358A - Head lice remover

Info

Publication number: GB2427358A
Application number: GB0512774A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Lee Clark
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-06-23
Filing date: 2005-06-23
Publication date: 2006-12-27
Also published as: GB0512774D0

Abstract

A head lice remover comprising a pocket-size dispenser 1 with a roll of self adhesive tape 4 held by a reel holder 3. A shaped piece of sponge 5 is fixed to a tray 6 with fits into the dispenser body. Tape is drawn from the roll over the sponge, with the sticky side uppermost, and secured to the side of the dispenser. A lid 2 covers the exposed tape. In use the lid is removed, and the device pressed against the head, any insects being picked up on the sticky tape. Used tape can be removed, and replaced by new tape from the roll.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REMOVING HEAD LICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION Description The present invention relates to a method and device for the removal of head lice.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Head lice (Pediculus Capitis) have been with us for centuries and no doubt they will be with us for many to come. A tiny parasite living from the blood sucked through our scalps, although relatively harmless they will soon establish an infection/infestation, mainly in children. For the first couple of months of infection there is not always an itch, the scalp may then start to itch badly due to an allergy oppose to the head lice irritating the scalp, a small infestation, less than 5 head lice can go undetected for many years if the host has become desensitised to head lice, this could be an adult who would provide an on going source of head lice and unwittingly transmitting them onto their children who in turn pass them on to best friends and other close family members. They can also cause a non-infested person into a itching frenzy merely by them being raised in conversation. There are several ways of dealing with head lice, this mostly involves wetting and then combing the hair through with a conditioner or a insecticide head lice lotion, effective ways of dealing with head lice yet can be strenuous and time consuming methods, particularly with young children and can only be performed at convenient times. If for example a parent checked their child's hair after morning nursery and immediately noticed several head lice, and wetting was inconvenient, some parents will wait until bath time, possibly early evening, by which time the head lice could have laid a number of eggs which are extremely hard to detach from the hair shaft even after extensive combing, or some will take a hands on approach and literally pull the head lice from the hair.These methods can often by painful and eye watering, which certainly deters children further from letting you check in the first place. The object of the present invention is to provide a fun, painless way of removing head lice effectively without the need to wet, comb or apply any lotion to the hair. Insect killing or entrapping devices such as Shuster U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,811, Rose U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,248, Urso U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,034 and Pritzinger U.S. Pat no. 2,673,042, if modified within any specific embodiments mentioned within the applications, would be impractical, or possibly dangerous, the aforementioned patent applications if modified to use as a head lice remover, were being the serrated edge for cutting the self adhesive roll after use would be not be suitable for use near the human scalp for obvious reasons and if the patents mentioned were modified within the scope of the specific embodiments claimed in such applications, if scaled down two hands would be required to operate such a device, or would need major modifications to use as such a device which would be outside the scope of preferred embodiments listed in such applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was developed in view of providing a comfortable and effective method for removing head lice from human hair and from other items such as clothing or furniture. This is achieved by the use of a shaped piece of sponge, used in conjunction with a self adhesive roll and a convenient hand held dispenser. The self adhesive roll is tacky enough to grab head lice and hold them indefinitely, but not tacky enough to pull on the hair strands to any extent of causing any pain. When the device is pressed onto the scalp the shaped piece of sponge provides a cushioning effect for the recipient and at the same time creating the little pressure that is needed to detain head lice. According to the present invention, head lice removal will be easy, nontoxic, no need to wet or comb the hair and most importantly pain free. Head lice can be removed with maximum comfort to the recipient with very effective results, parents will also have the opportunity of showing the head lice to their child and other family members who are waiting for their turn to be checked or deloused, and hopefully they will talk and educate their children as to what is living in their hair and explain why there is a need to remove the head lice, which in turn should leave a more cooperative child. With the said device head lice can be seen wriggling, trying to escape the self adhesive surface they are stuck to, present procedures don't give children much chance to inspect head lice in their true form, unless they are pulled from the hair and placed on a piece of tissue for example. Another big advantage to this method and device oppose to many other methods, is being able to carry out head lice removal effectively where and when ever you feel is most convenient without the need to wet, comb, or apply any lotion to the hair. Head lice have a natural self adhesion process for laying their eggs, plus have specially designed claws that can hang onto hair strands, even under the most extreme conditions, for example wet conditioned hair being combed with a fine tooth comb. The present invention uses the same principles as the head lice's, which is self adhesion aided with the shaped piece of sponge, the structure of the head lice, including freshly hatched lice are susceptible to self adhesive material which is one of the concepts of this invention. Once head lice have come into contact with this material it is near impossible for them to escape, and therefore can be handled and disposed of with complete confidence. The present device does not remove eggs from the hair shaft, but eggs can be left to hatch, around 9 days after being laid, and with daily checks the head lice can be removed with this method and device before the head lice reach adulthood, within 14 days, not normally before 9 days and start laying eggs of their own. If head lice seem to be a problem in any particular community or school, and re-infection being all to common daily checks of the scalp should be carried out regardless of the device or method that is being used.Just one undetected female head louse, with access to a male louse can soon lead to many eggs being laid which is just the beginning of a big problem. 1 female head lice can lay anything from 60 to 120 eggs, approximately 3 to 6 a day in its 30 day life span, approximately 20 days as a adult, unfortunately female head lice out number males at a ratio of 4: 1, their rapid repopulating process is almost beyond believe which is not surprising why head lice have been with us for centuries. The present method and device is very effective when used solely or in conjunction with other methods and treatments already practiced as part of the ongoing problem with head lice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 illustrates the components of the head lice remover, Fig. 2 illustrates the self adhesive roll pulled across the buffer and stuck down against the dispenser, Fig. 3 illustrates the head lice remover being used, Fig. 4 illustrates how head lice are removed from the dispenser, Fig. 5 illustrates how the self adhesive roll can be slid down the dispenser body to increase the density of the shaped piece of sponge, also, to increase the tackiness of the self adhesive roll, and, to curl the edges of the shaped piece of sponge.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Fig. 1 illustrates the components of the device, a dispenser 1 body being small in size, comfortable to hold and requiring only one hand to operate, a lid 2 for storage, a tray 6 which houses the shaped piece of sponge 5, a reel holder 3 to house the self adhesive roll 4. The reel holder 3 is fixed to the tray 6 by way of male and female clip features 13,14, the self adhesive roll 4 is placed on the reel holder 3 and the self adhesive roll 4 is fed through the peripheral 17 on the tray 6, the tray 6, reel holder 3 and self adhesive roll 4 are then fixed into the dispenser 1 by way of male and female clip features 12,15, the shaped piece of sponge 5 is then fixed into the tray 6 by use of glue in the two wells 16 of the tray 6, the lid 2 is then fixed to the tray 6 by way of male and female clip features 10,11.The device components are made from plastic via plastic injection moulding tools. Fig 2 illustrates how the self adhesive roll 4 is used in conjunction with the shaped piece of sponge 5, once the self adhesive roll 4 is pulled across the shaped piece of sponge 5 and in place against the dispenser 1 body it is then that the head lice remover becomes very effective, a couple of simple dabs onto the located head lice and if contact is made it will remain stuck to the self adhesive roll 4.When the head lice remover is pressed onto the located head lice this enables the head lice to be squashed between the scalp and the self adhesive roll 4, the shaped piece of sponge 5 creates a cushioning effect and at the same time producing the little pressure that is needed to stick the head lice to the self adhesive roll 4, the softness of the shaped piece of sponge 5 allows it to sink into the contours of the scalp, if any part of the head lice comes into contact with the self adhesive roll 4 it will be removed from the hair, there is no need to reload a fresh piece of self adhesive roll 4 every time a head lice is removed, this method can be continued until the area of self adhesive roll 4 over the shaped piece of sponge has been exhausted, normally after 10-15 head lice have been removed.Fig 3 illustrates that not only is the head lice remover easy to use, but it would be ideal for using absolutely anywhere, for instance, with most traditional head lice removal methods, hair wetting and combing being the most common, this is not always a viable option, and pulling the head lice 8 from the hair by hand generally results in a painful tug on a few hair strands, also some people will refuse to come into contact with head lice 8 and will rely on head lice shampoo's to get rid of this irritating problem. The present invention overcomes the need to wet, comb or brush the hair and furthermore can be applied for example, a child can be easily distracted whilst watching their favorite cartoon on the television oppose to being stood near a water source such as the bathroom or kitchen where head lice 8 are swilled from the comb, which is often boring and painful.Or maybe immediately after nursery a parent notices say four head lice 8 in the fringe of their child, which is not necessarily unusual and often painfully embarrassing, the present method and device allows head lice 8 to be dealt with swiftly and painlessly before the head lice 8 can establish a stance in the child's hair and in turn start laying eggs. The method is simply achieved by parting the hair with one hand until head lice are exposed and with the device held in the other hand the device is dabbed onto the located head lice. According to the present invention head lice removal could be made as a pleasurable fun time oppose to a painful miserable time, particularly with very young children, when each time the head lice remover is applied silly noises can be made such as "pee-hown, gotcha," gun firing, or "nnnnnnnn, coming to get the little spiders" plane flying, as it is painless it can be turned into a game, and once the head lice 8 are caught it can then be shown to the child, best results with a magnifying glass, who then can see for them self that these tiny parasites actually look like little spiders which will generally make the child more compliant. If trouble is encountered locating the head lice 8 the use of a magnifying glass and good light will help. Once daily checks have been established and this method and device have been put into practice the human eye is soon trained into locating head lice 8 of all sizes, obviously easier with short light hair types. Head lice 8 will soon be caught with ease once the user gets used to looking for head lice 8, this is simply achieved by parting the hair with the hand to expose the scalp, if head lice 8 are present, they can be seen close to the scalp, varying in shape and colour, usually dark brown or red if they have just fed, if not they will tend to have a transparent appearance. Another advantage to this method and device particularly with children who totally refuse to let head lice removal take place, is being able to carrying out head lice removal whilst the subject sleeps. A test was carried on a child with head lice, Fourteen head lice 8 including recently hatched head lice were removed from the hair of the said child, the purpose of the test was to record the time that was taken from sighting the head lice 8 to capturing them with the said head lice remover. The results showed that the average time taken was four seconds to remove each head lice 8, fastest 2 seconds, longest being 11 seconds. The test also showed that the child did not feel any pain during the test, the child was also intrigued to see the head lice trying to escape from the device. The whole test process took five minutes and 28 seconds whilst the child was watching T.V. The present method and device also shows to be effective when the subjects hair is damp, for example after wet combing. Fig. 4 illustrates how the self adhesive roll 4 can be torn away from the dispenser 1, once contact has been made with the head lice 8 it will be securely attached to the self adhesive roll 4 with slim chance of escaping which becomes advantageous as it makes discarding of the head lice 8 a fool proof method, the self adhesive roll 4 is removed from the side of the dispenser 1 and then folded over on itself, it is then easily torn away 18 from the device leaving approximately 1cm of self adhesive roll 4 exposed from the device for future use, the self adhesive roll 4 is then placed in the bin with the head lice 8 totally entrapped between the self adhesive roll 4. Another possibility that could be achieved with this device, although it is not the responsibility of a school nurse or teacher to remove head lice 8, with the said head lice remover, subject to prior permission from the parent, any stray head lice 8 that are spotted can be dealt with swiftly and discretely by the teacher/school nurse, they then can be saved, name tagged and shown to the parent, who then could be advised accordingly on the best treatments/techniques available which should create more awareness. This method also overcomes the need to come into contact with the head lice 8. The self adhesive side 9 of the self adhesive roll 4 does not come into contact with the shaped piece of sponge 5. The non-adhesive side 19 of the self adhesive roll allows it to slide across the shaped piece of sponge and the dispenser 1 body freely. Fig. 5 illustrates how the self adhesive roll 4 can be slid down the dispenser 1 body with the thumb 7 or finger to adjust the density of the shaped piece of sponge 5 and at the same time making the self adhesive roll 4 increase in tackiness. This method can be used for more stubborn head lice particularly where the head lice burrows under many lengths of the hair close to the scalp. The self adhesive roll 4 can be slid down the dispenser 1 body to make the shaped piece of sponge 5 more dense but still soft and cushioning, and creating maximum adhesion to the self adhesive roll 4, it then can be dabbed or held gently on the scalp over the area of the head lice for a couple of seconds whilst rocked back and fourth. Also the self adhesive roll 4 can be slid down the dispenser body to curl the edges of the shaped piece of sponge 5 either side of the self adhesive roll 4, the self adhesive roll 4 is not as wide as the shaped piece of sponge 5, this allows the two curled edges to form a barrier to stop the head lice escaping from left or right when the said head lice remover is applied onto the head lice. Although this invention has been described in detail with regard to specific embodiments, modifications may be made to the head lice remover without departing from the spirit or scope of the method and device. For example, dispenser body may vary in shape, design or may have magnifying glass within the lid. The shaped piece of sponge may well vary in shape or material, it may even be impregnated with a harmless sour solution to deter young children from chewing the material. Variations of self adhesive roll will also apply, the self adhesive roll may be hypoallergenic or non-hypoallergenic and may vary in size.

Claims

1. A method and device used for the removal of head lice which comprises of a self adhesive roll which as one adhesive side and one non-adhesive side which is housed within a dispenser, a piece of shaped sponge which is fixed into a tray, the tray is fixed into the dispenser, then a lid, the method comprising of; (a) self adhesive roll is drawn from dispenser and pulled across the shaped piece of sponge; (b) the end of the self adhesive roll is folded over on itself and stuck onto the dispenser body; (c) head lice are located by parting the hair with the hand to expose the scalp until head lice are sighted; (d) single dabs from the head lice remover will remove any size head lice; and, (e) head lice are removed from the device by way of unsticking the self adhesive roll from the side of the dispenser, folding the self adhesive roll over on itself, trapping the head lice between the two sticky surfaces of the self adhesive roll and then tearing the self adhesive roll away from the device.

2. A head lice remover as claimed in claim 1, wherein once the self adhesive roll is in place over the shaped piece of sponge and stuck down against the dispenser body, the self adhesive roll can be slid down the side of the dispenser using the finger or thumb to allow the shaped piece of sponge to become more dense.

3. A head lice remover as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the self adhesive roll is slid down the dispenser body the adhesion of the self adhesive roll can be increased depending on how far the self adhesive roll is slid down the dispenser body.

4. A head lice remover as claimed in claim 1 (d), wherein the head lice remover can be held gently on the located head lice for a couple of seconds, gently rocked back and fourth.

5. A head lice remover as claimed in claim 1 (d), wherein when the head lice remover is used correctly it will not pull on the hair strands to the extent of causing any pain.

6. A head lice remover as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the self adhesive roll is slid down the dispenser body, this allows the edges of the shaped piece of sponge to curl up creating a barrier which prevents head lice escaping to the left or right when the device is applied.

7. A head lice remover as claimed in claim 1, wherein head lice removal can be carried out whilst the subject sleeps.

8. A head lice remover as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method and device requires no insecticide lotions, shampoo's, conditioners, wetting or combing applying to the hair.