NAIL GROOMING DEVICE

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of nail grooming and generally describes a novel nail-grooming device whose purpose is to allow a user to groom his or her own fingernails in both hands in an accurate, symmetrical and uniform manner, with minimal effort and without being required to acquire any skills that might be required by other devices. The device comprises a finger placement wherein a user places his or her finger, and a nail grooming machine with a nail grooming head suitable for nail grooming tasks such as filing, wherein the nail grooming head is capable of performing a cyclic movement against a nail of the finger placed on the finger placement for filing or other nail-grooming task, and wherein the nail filing machine also comprises a mechanism capable of triggering a sideways movement of the nail grooming head on a curved horizontal axis around the nail to allow circumferential grooming of the fingernail while the finger is statically placed on the finger placement.

Claims

1. A nail grooming device comprising a finger placement unit, a nail filing machine comprises a nail filing head, and a control unit; wherein said finger placement unit is suitable for accommodating a user's finger in a fixed position within said nail grooming device such that the fingernail on said finger is facing said nail filing head; and wherein said nail filing machine is capable of propelling cyclic movement of said nail filing head to allow filing of nail while finger is placed on said finger placement unit; and wherein said nail filing machine is also capable of propelling sideways movement of said nail filing head on a curved horizontal axis to allow circumferential movement around outline of nail while a finger is placed on said finger placement unit; and wherein said nail grooming device is operable through said control unit to circumferentially file nail of finger placed on said finger placement unit without changing the position of said nail grooming device or finger.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises an adapter suitable for fixing a mold around finger placement unit.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises a set of adaptable molds in different shapes and sizes, such that each of said set of adaptable molds is capable of being fixed to said adapter to restrict movement of said nail file around a nail of a finger placed on said finger placement unit.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail filing machine and said finger placement unit comprises, respectively and interchangeably, a magnetic part and ferromagnetic part, such that said nail filing machine is attracted towards said finger placement unit.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail filing machine and each of said set of adaptable molds comprising, respectively and interchangeably, a magnetic part and ferromagnetic part, such that said nail filing machine is attracted towards each of said set of adaptable molds.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail filing machine comprises a spring configured to push said nail filing machine towards said finger placement unit.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device is operated by an electromechanical motor.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device is operated manually by a mechanical mechanism.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein said finger placement unit is detachable from said nail grooming device and replaceable.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises a mechanism for adjustment of width of said finger placement unit.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail filing machine comprises an adapter for mounting a removable nail filing head.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises a set of removable nail filing heads adaptable to said adapter on said nail filing machine.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail filing machine is capable of performing a variety of patterns of said cyclic movement.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail filing machine is capable of performing a variety of patterns of said sideways movement.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the speed of said cyclic movement is adjustable through said control unit.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the speed of said sideways movement is adjustable through said control unit.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises nail polish head installable on said nail filing machine, and wherein said nail polish head comprises a nail polish brush and a container fillable with liquid nail polish.

18. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises a nail trimming head installable on said nail filing machine.

19. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises a nail filing wheel head installable on said nail filing machine.

20. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises a nail cleaning head installable on said nail filing machine.

21. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device comprises multiple sets of said nail filing machine and said finger placement unit for simultaneous filing of multiple nails.

22. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device is designed to accommodate toes on a foot and to file nails of toes on a foot.

23. The device of claim 1, wherein said nail grooming device is controllable via a computer application.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Embodiments and features of the present invention are described herein in conjunction with the following drawings:

[0035] FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b and FIG. 1c depict a nail-grooming device; FIG. 1a depicts an external view thereof and FIG. 1b depicts an internal view thereof.

[0036] FIG. 2 depicts an external view of another embodiment of a nail-grooming device;

[0037] FIG. 3a, FIG. 3b and FIG. 3c depict internal views of the nail-grooming device shown in FIG. 2;

[0038] FIG. 4 depicts a top internal view of the nail-grooming device shown in FIG. 2;

[0039] FIG. 5 depicts a manually operated nail-grooming device;

[0040] FIG. 6a, FIG. 6b, FIG. 6c and FIG. 6d depict different types of filing heads;

[0041] FIG. 7a and FIG. 7b depict different types of nail-grooming heads;

[0042] FIG. 8 depict different molds corresponding to different nail shapes;

[0043] FIG. 9a and FIG. 9b illustrate a method for filing a nail.

[0044] FIG. 10 depicts internal view of a nail grooming device comprising a spring configured to pull nail filing head towards nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit.

[0045] FIG. 11 depicts an adapter for nail filing mold on nail grooming device and an adaptable nail filing mold.

[0046] FIG. 12 depicts a detachable finger placement unit.

[0047] FIG. 13 depicts a finger placement unit with a width adjustment mechanism.

[0048] FIG. 14 depicts a set of adaptable nail filing heads.

[0049] FIG. 15 depicts a nail polish head.

[0050] FIG. 16a, FIG. 16b and FIG. 16c depict another embodiment of nail grooming device and mechanism of sideways movement of the nail filing machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0051] The present invention will be understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which are meant to be descriptive and not limiting. For the sake of brevity, some well-known features, methods, systems, procedures, components, and so on, are not described in detail.

[0052] FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b depict one embodiment of the present invention, wherein a nail grooming device comprising a finger placement unit and a nail file; said nail file is capable of cyclic movement to allow filing of a nail; furthermore, said nail file is also capable of movement sideways around a nail on a curved horizontal axis to allow circumferential filing of a nail while a finger is statically placed on said finger placement unit; the nail grooming device can be operated by a user for circumferential filing of a nail of a finger placed on said finger placement unit without changing the position of the nail grooming device.

[0053] The illustration in FIG. 1a depicts the nail-grooming device with its casing covering the filing head and mechanism operating the cyclic movement and sideways movement, to protect said mechanism and to provide a comfortable and aesthetic design of the device for a user, whereas the finger placement unit is not covered by the casing to allow comfortable access for a user to place his finger. The illustrations in FIG. 1b depicts the nail-grooming device shown in FIG. 1a without a casing covering the said filing head and mechanism. These illustrations display one embodiment of the nail grooming device and mechanisms operating the cyclic movement and sideways movement.

[0054] In the current embodiment, the nail grooming device (100) is operated electro-mechanically, utilizing a motor powered by a power source to move both the cyclic movement and sideways movement of the nail filing machine (110). Accordingly, the control unit (120) of the device comprising two switches, one intended to turn on and off the cyclic movement of the filing head, and the other switch intended to turn on and off the sideways movement thereof. The invention should be understood to allow incorporation of all variations of controllers known from prior art, such as switches, buttons, knobs, triggers and touch-screen control.

[0055] In this embodiment, the nail filing head (115) of the nail filing machine (110) comprises a cylindrically shaped wheel (116) capable of rotating around its own axis. The wheel (116) is mounted horizontally and is configured to have its frontal side facing a nail placed on the finger placement unit (130). The wheel (116) on the nail filing head (115) has an abrasive surface such as sandpaper or glass-paper, such that rotation of the wheel (116) around its own axis causing filing of a nail's edge when pushed against a nail, while the sideways movement of the arm (114) allows a circumferential filing of the nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit (130).

[0056] The cyclic movement of the nail filing head in this embodiment is formed by the rotation of the wheel (116) around its own axis, while the sideways movement is formed by an arm (114) on the nail filing machine (110) capable of rotating sideways, upon which the wheel (116) is mounted. Said arm is configured to turn the direction of the wheel centrally towards the nail when the arm is rotating sideways, such that the frontal side of the wheel (116) is facing the nail of a finger resting on the finger placement unit (130) at all positions throughout the movement range of the arm (114) to enable the wheel (116) to access all circumference of a nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit (130). A mold (140) is installed on the distal end of the finger placement unit (130). The mold (140) is designed in the shape of the desired nail outline and having a narrow aperture with width and height suitable for a fingernail to cross through the mold (140), such that the reach of the nail filing head is restricted only to part of the nail crossing through the mold (140) to the internal space of the nail grooming device (100). The internal part of the wheel (116) is formed from a magnetic material, while the mold (140) is formed from a ferromagnetic material, thereby causing the nail filing head (115) to be attracted to the mold (140), such that the nail filing head (115) is getting gradually closer to the mold (140) during the filing of a nail until the wheel (116) is engaging contact with the mold (140) when the outline of the nail is aligned with the shape of the mold (140). Alternatively, the mold (140) may be formed from a magnetic part and the internal part of the wheel (116) may be formed from a ferromagnetic part. Various embodiments of this feature allow for any other configuration of magnetic attraction between two parts in the nail grooming device (100) that would result in attraction of the nail filing head (115) towards the nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit (130).

[0057] FIG. 2 depicts another embodiment of the present invention, wherein a nail-grooming device (200) has a casing (210) covering the nail filing machine and mechanism operating the cyclic movement and sideways movement, to protect said nail filing machine and mechanism and to provide a comfortable and aesthetic design of the device, whereas the finger placement unit (220) is not covered by the casing (210) to allow comfortable access for a user to place finger.

[0058] The nail grooming device (200) comprises a mold (230) that restricts the reach of the nail filing head, having the shape of the desired nail outline and having a narrow aperture with width and height suitable for a fingernail to cross through the mold (230). The mold is mounted on the distal end of the finger placement unit (220), allowing the nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit (220) to be inserted through the narrow aperture, and into a position wherein the nail is situated in proximity with the nail filing head.

[0059] This embodiment further comprising a nail size adjustment knob (240), allowing the user to set the position of the mold (230) vis--vis a finger placed on the finger placement unit (220), and a finger selector knob (250), allowing the user to switch between different apertures on the mold (230) in different sizes, each suitable for a different finger.

[0060] FIG. 3a, FIG. 3b and FIG. 3c depict the nail-grooming device shown in FIG. 2 without a casing covering the said filing head and mechanism. These illustrations display another embodiment of a nail grooming device (300) with another mechanism operating the cyclic movement and sideways movement.

[0061] In this embodiment, the nail filing head (310) comprising a wheel (315) capable of rotating around its axis. The wheel (315) is mounted on a floating chassis (320) capable of sideways movement on a curved horizontal axis. The floating chassis (320) is installed on two helix shaped screws (330) transversely fixed on base of nail filing machine (390). An electromechanical motor (340) drives the rotation of the wheel around its axis, while a pulley (350) is installed beside the wheel (350) on the wheel shaft (360), using the torque of the shaft to pull a belt (370), which in turn spins another pulley (350) causing a shaft with cylinder having grooves in the form of a leadscrew of both handednesses (allowing for infinite rotation) (380) to rotate. The grooves of the cylinder (380) are installed on the rear part of the base of nail filing machine (390), thus the rotation of the cylinder (380) propels the sideways movement of the floating chassis (340) on the rear helix shaped screw (330). The sideways movement of the rear part of the floating chassis (320) occurs while the wheel (315) is pressed against the nail of a finger placed in the finger placement unit (345), thus forming a curved sideways movement axis of the wheel (315) allowing the filing of a nail around its circumference according to the shape of the mold (346).

[0062] This embodiment further comprises a cleaning brush (316) on the nail filing head (310) that can be used after filing of a nail to clean the nail from nail debris left on the nail. The cleaning brush (316) is an additional wheel covered by a soft surface that allows cleaning of a nail. The cleaning brush (316) is installed on the same wheel shaft (360) upon which the wheel (315) is installed and using the torque of the wheel shaft (360), being accessible to a nail through another aperture on the casing of the device.

[0063] FIG. 4 depict the nail-grooming device shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3a, FIG. 3b and FIG. 3c without a casing covering the said filing head and mechanism, from a top view. This illustration demonstrates the curved axis sideways movement of the floating chassis on the helix shaped screws.

[0064] FIG. 5 depicts another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the cyclic movement and the sideways movement of the filing head are propelled manually without utilizing a power source. In this embodiment, the nail grooming device (500) comprises a revolving handle (510) which is used to drive the cyclic and sideways movement of the nail filing machine. This embodiment further comprises a knob (520) for adjustment of the position of the mold. The invention should be understood to allow incorporation of all variations of manual controllers known from prior art, such as revolving handles, buttons, knobs and triggers. Furthermore, the invention should be understood to allow combination of different mechanisms, manual, electromechanical or others, each for a different function of the device.

[0065] FIG. 6a, FIG. 6b, FIG. 6c and FIG. 6d depict different types of filing heads, each with a different pattern of cyclic movement. FIG. 6a is a flat nail file configured to have a sideways cyclic movement. FIG. 6b is a cylindrical nail file with its rotation axis facing the nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit, configured to have a drill-like rotational cyclic movement. FIG. 6c is a flat nail file configured to have an up-and-down cyclic movement. FIG. 6d is a wheel shaped nail file with its front side facing the nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit, configured to have an infinite upward or downward cyclic movement.

[0066] FIG. 7a and FIG. 7b depict different types of nail-grooming heads. FIG. 7a depicts an embodiment of the invention, wherein the nail-grooming head is a nail clipper. FIG. 7b depicts an embodiment of the invention, wherein the nail-grooming head is a nail cleaner.

[0067] FIG. 8 depict different molds to be installed on the device. Each mold restricts the reach of the nail filing head, such that only the part of nail crossing the mold is accessible to the nail filing head, causing the nail to be filed in accordance with the shape of the mold. In some embodiments, the device further comprises of a set of different molds corresponding to different nail shapes, allowing the user to switch between different molds. The present invention should be understood to allow any means to set a movement pattern known from prior art, such as elevated surfaces, molds, frames, grooves, cams, circumferential tracks, and the like.

[0068] FIG. 9a and FIG. 9b illustrate a method for utilizing the nail-grooming device for filing a nail using the steps: [0069] a. Positioning a finger on the finger placement unit, such that the nail rests on the elevated surface on the inner side of the finger placement unit and operating the device to activate cyclic movement of the nail file (FIG. 9a); [0070] b. Operating the device to engage sideways movement of the nail file, while cyclic movement is activated, such that the device is performing at least one full sideways movement cycle for filing of the circumference of the nail (FIG. 9b);

[0071] FIG. 10 depicts internal view of a nail grooming device (1000) comprising a spring (1010) configured to push nail filing head (1020) towards nail of a finger placed on the finger placement unit (1030).

[0072] FIG. 11 depicts an adapter (1110) in the form of an elongated slot for mounting a nail filing mold on nail grooming device (1100), and an adaptable nail filing mold (1120) configured to fit into said adapter (1110).

[0073] FIG. 12 depicts a nail grooming device (1200) with a detachable finger placement unit (1210). The nail grooming device having a concave part (1220) upon which the detachable finger placement unit (1210) is installed, and suitable for accommodating replaceable finger placement units.

[0074] FIG. 13 depicts a finger placement unit with a width adjustment mechanism in its narrowest setting and widest setting. This embodiment should be interpreted to allow any kind of mechanism known from the prior art suitable for width adjustment.

[0075] FIG. 14 depicts a set of adaptable nail filing heads. The set in the illustration contains a horizontally mounted filing wheel, a vertically positioned filing surface, and a drill-like filing wheel with its axis point facing the finger placement unit. This embodiment should be interpreted to incorporate all known forms of nail filing heads varying in shapes, sizes, textures, angles and surface profiles, to fit to specific purposes.

[0076] FIG. 15 depicts a nail polish head (1500) adaptable to an adapter on arm of nail filing machine, said nail polish head (1500) comprising a nail polish brush (1520) for applying nail polish on a nail of a finger placed on finger placement unit and a container (1510) fillable with liquid nail polish. The container (1510) is in flow communication with the nail polish brush (1520), thereby feeding nail polish into the nail polish brush (1520).

[0077] The described method should be applied mutatis mutandis on each of the different nail-grooming applications mentioned in this description.

[0078] The foregoing description and illustrations of the embodiments of the invention have been presented for the purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the above description in any form.

[0079] Any term that has been defined above and used in the claims, should be interpreted per this definition.

[0080] FIG. 16a, FIG. 16b and FIG. 16c depict a nail grooming device and mechanism of sideways movement of the nail filing machine. FIG. 16a depicts a rear view of a nail grooming device. FIG. 16b depicts the nail grooming device from a top view, with the nail filing machine pulled to the left side of nail grooming device during its operation. FIG. 16c depict the nail grooming device from a top perspective view. A shaft (1620) is vertically fixed on base part of the nail grooming device (1610). The nail filing machine (1640) having a cylindrical wheel (1630) rotatably installed in horizontal position within nail filing machine (1640). The cylindrical wheel (1630) is driven by a motor to generate continuous rotation, said motor also generates rotation of the filing wheel on nail filing head. The cylindrical wheel (1630) has a single groove (1650) surrounding its circumference and twisting transversely across the width of the surface of the cylindrical wheel (1630). The top end of the shaft (1620) is positioned inside the groove (1650), whereas the rotation of the cylindrical wheel (1630) causing the cylindrical wheel to continuously change its position transversely vis--vis the shaft (1620), thereby forcing the entire nail filing machine (1640) which the cylindrical wheel (1630) forms a part thereof to sway sideways on a curved axis resulting in a sideways movement of the nail filing head (1660).