US2910988A - Hair straightening device - Google Patents

Description

NOV. 1959 A. P. TREADAWAY 2,910,938

HAIR STRAIGHTENING DEVICE Filed Feb. 1, 1956 INVENTOR ANNE P. TREADAWAY ATTORNEYS 1 2,910,988 HAIR STRAIGHTENING DEVICE Anne P. Treadaway, Oyster Bay, N.Y. Application February 1, 1956, Serial No. 562,791

1 Claim. (Cl. 132-31) This invention relates to an apparatus for straightening hair, particularly kinky, growing human hair, and the principal object of the invention is to provide an apparatus or device by means of which a person with kinky hair can straighten her or his hair, as the case may be, in a short time, with little labor and in such manner that the hair, without applied ointments of any kind, will remain substantially straight for several Weeks.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for the purpose described which can be successfully employed without previous skill or experience, and Without expense, save the initial cost of a single piece or" simple apparatus.

More specifically, the invention contemplates a device for straightening hair which includes a pair of cooperating heating rollers carried at the ends of a pair of pivoted arms or tong members with the axes of the rollers being nited States Patent offset from the handles at an angle of about 45 so that V the device can more conveniently and more efrectively be held in proper position when engaging the hair close to ones head during use.

in the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the apparatus and its manner of use, and in the said drawmgs:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing my improved apshown are of angular configuration and with the pivot d of the tongs parallel to the pins b, b whereby when the tongs are opened and closed the rollers move toward and away from each other with their axes parallel.

The ends e, e of the tong members 0, c are shaped to be readily grasped with one hand and when squeezed together will bring the rollers a, a into contact with each other throughout their entire length. As will be noted, the ends 2, e are bent away from the pins b, b, or the portions of the arms which carry the rollers a, a so that such portions of the arms extend at an angle of the order of 45 to a common plane passing through the axes of the handles. With the rollers extending at such an angle to the handles, the rollers can more readily be held in proper position, particularly when engaging the hair close to a persons head. Thus when the rollers are to engage the hair close to the top of the head, the device will be held so that the angle subtended by the rollers and the handles will be at the side of the device adjacent the head. On the other hand, when the rollers are to engage the hair closed to the sides of the head, the rollers can better and more conveniently be held in proper position close to thee head by turning the device over so thatthe angle subtended by the rollers and the handles is at the side of the device remote from the head, with the handles extending away from the sides of the face at a substantial angle. In each case, the device will be held so that the hand grasping the device will not interfere with the lock of hair being straightened.

The rollers a, a are heated when used. If of solid metal as shown, they may be heated by an alcohol flame or any other suitable source such as employed for the Patented Nov. 3, 1959 conventional curling tongs. The rollers also may be internally heated as indicated, for example, in Fig. 2 by electric resistance wires 1, f.

In straightening hair with the improved device the hair is combed into a thin, flat lock as long as possible and with an average thickness of four or five hairs. With the rollers heated to the desired temperature, for example 350 E, the lock of hair is gripped between the rollers near the scalp and the device moved slowly away from the head in a direction to apply substantially the same pull to the hair across the width of the lock. When the rollers are far enough from the head the hair may be grasped between the rollers and the scalp and held against-the pull of the rollers during the rest of their movement to the end of the lock. The operation is repeated on each lock of hair until it remains as a lock substantially straight in waves, if the hair is long enough to be waved. 7

After all the hair to be straightened has been separated into locks and treated as described the locks may be combed out, beginning with the first locks to be straightened. This allows sufiicient time for the individual hairs to set while still held by the other hairs making up the lock. The degree to which the hair is straightened depends to a substantial extent on the preparation of the locks to which the heated rollers are applied. The lock should not be too thick and should be well combed out so that the heat and pressure will flatten the hair into the plane of movement of the adjacent faces of the rollers. After the hair is relieved of the tension applied by the pull of the rollers it tends to resume its kink but if held until cooled to normal temperature it will remain substantially straight. If the locks are of the thickness described above, which may be varied with experience depending on the type of hair, the hairs mutually resist curling in any particular direction because each tends to resume its own kink and consequently if the straightened locks are not combed out until set, the straightening will last for several weeks.

In the foregoing description the device of the invention has been described as particularly adapted for self treatment, but it may obviously be employed by barbers and I hair dressers with equal advantage. In fact, an experienced barber or hair dresser can straighten the average head of kinky hair in twenty or thirty minutes. The rollers permit the hair to be gripped tightly but without subjecting the scalp to painful pulls during the straightening operation, and the oil-set handles greatly facilitate the operation, particularly by enabling the rollers conveniently to be held in proper position when engaging hair close to the head and in shifting the device from lockto lock.

I claim:

In a device of the class described, a pair of crossed arms pivoted together at a point intermediate their length, handles on the ends of the arms at one side of the pivot, the arms on the opposite side of the pivot having portions extending at an angle of the order of 45 to a common plane passing through the axes of the handles, the axes of said portions of the arms being parallel, heat-retaining rollers mounted on said portions of the arms, electric heating elements positioned axially within said rollers, and conductors for said electric-heater elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,014,952 Cox Jan. 16, 1912 1,382,568 Swan June 21, 1921 1,845,208 Tankins Feb. 16, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 270,437 Germany Feb. 14, 1914 345,148 Germany Dec. 6, 1921

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