Reusable nail tip

Abstract

The present invention relates to a reusable nail tip, and more particularly, to a nail tip that can be easily attached to a nail, used for a predetermined period of time, removed and reused again. The nail tip of the present invention adopts a TPU material with desirable elasticity to thus attain convenience of use and excellent retention, and uses an adhesive composition that includes various antibacterial and moisture components, thereby minimizing side effects and nail damage.

Claims

1. A nail tip, comprising: a nail body; a design layer formed on the nail body; and an adhesive layer formed under the nail body, wherein the nail body is a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composite, while the adhesive layer includes an adhesive composition comprising a styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) copolymer, propylene glycol, polyisobutene, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), silica and zeolite, wherein the adhesive composition comprises 25 to 35 parts by weight (wt. parts) of styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) copolymer, 15 to 25 wt. parts of propylene glycol, 10 to 20 wt. parts of polyisobutene, 5 to 15 wt. parts of carboxymethyl cellulose, 0.1 to 1 wt. part of silica, and 0.1 to 3 wt. parts of zeolite.

2. The nail tip according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane composite is formed by introducing zinc oxide (ZnO) into thermoplastic polyurethane.

3. The nail tip according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive composition exhibits antibacterial and antifungal activity.

4. The nail tip according to claim 1, wherein the design layer is formed of polypropylene (PP) film.

Description

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT EMBODIMENTS OF INVENTION

(1) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail by means of examples. However, these examples are for illustrative purposes only and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Preparative Example 1. Production of Reusable Nail Tips

Preparative Example 1-1. Preparation of Nail Tips of Example 1

(2) The adhesive layer of the nail tip of the present invention was prepared in a hot-melt type. Specifically, 30 wt. parts of a styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) copolymer is put into an agitator heated to 150-160 C. and mixed until coarse particles are visible. Thereafter, 15 wt. parts of polyisobutene was added and mixed for 5 to 15 minutes until a uniform mixture was obtained and, after reducing the temperature to 100-110 C., 20 wt. parts of propylene glycol, 0.5 wt. parts of silica and 1 wt. part of zeolite were added and mixed. Finally, 10 wt. parts of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was added and agitated until it was completely dissolved, thereby preparing an adhesive composition.

(3) Next, a nail body of the nail tip of the present invention was formed using a thermoplastic polyurethane composite. Specifically, after adding 0.5 wt. parts of zinc oxide (ZnO) and 15 wt. parts of 1.4-butane-diol to 135 wt. parts of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), this was mixed at 160 C. for 10 minutes using a HAAKE rheocord to prepare the thermoplastic polyurethane composite, followed by an injection process at an injection temperature of 160 to 180 C., thereby preparing a nail body specimen.

(4) Following this, the adhesive composition was applied to a lower end of the nail body to a thickness of 300 to 350 m and dried to form an adhesive layer, thereby completing the nail tip of Example 1.

Preparative Example 1-2. Preparation of Nail Tips of Comparative Example 1

(5) After preparing the adhesive composition except for propylene glycol among the components of the adhesive composition of Preparative Example 1-1, a nail tip of Comparative Example 1 was prepared in the same manner as the nail tip of Example 1.

Preparative Example 1-3. Preparation of Nail Tips of Comparative Example 2

(6) After preparing an adhesive composition except for zeolite among the components of the adhesive composition of Preparative Example 1-1, a nail tip of Comparative Example 2 was prepared in the same manner as the nail tip of Example 1.

Preparative Example 1-4. Preparation of Nail Tips of Comparative Example 3

(7) A nail tip Comparative Example 3 was prepared in the same manner as the nail tip of Example 1 except that, instead of the adhesive composition of Preparative Example 1-1, an acrylic adhesive, which is generally used for artificial nails and commercially available in the market, was used as a material for the adhesive layer.

Preparative Example 1-5. Preparation of Nail Tips of Comparative Example 4

(8) A nail tip Comparative Example 4 was prepared in the same manner as the nail tip of Example 1 except that, instead of the thermoplastic polyurethane composite of Preparative Example 1-1, an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABC) resin, which is generally used for artificial nails, was used as a material of the nail body.

(9) The components and materials of the nail tips of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1-4 are summarized in Table 1 below.

(10) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Comparative Comparative Comparative Comparative Configuration Example 1 Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Adhesive SIS 30 30 30 Commercially 20 composition copolymer available Propylene 20 20 adhesive 35 glycol Polyisobutene 15 15 15 15 CMC 10 10 10 10 Silica 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Zeolite 1 1 1 Nail body Thermoplastic polyurethane composite ABS

Experimental Example 1. Assessment of Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity of Adhesive Composition

(11) In the case of nail tips used on nails, a humid environment such as no compliance with the recommended period of use or prolonged exposure to water may cause an increase in the growth of bacteria or mold as a gap is widened between the nail and the nail tip, therefore, Infectious skin disease may occur. Accordingly, the antibacterial and antifungal activity of the adhesive compositions of Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-3 were assessed.

(12) Specifically, each composition against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is the most representative bacterium causing dermatitis on nails, and Candida albicans as a fungus, was subjected to MIC measurement using a standard broth serial dilution method. Each composition was diluted in distilled water and used.

(13) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 MIC (g/ml) P. aeruginosa C. albicans Example 1 3.1 7.8 Comparative Example 1 6.2 15.6 Comparative Example 2 50 250 Comparative Example 3 >200 >1000

(14) As a result, as shown in Table 2, it was confirmed that the adhesive composition of Example 1 has the most excellent antibacterial and antifungal activity against P. aeruginosa and Candida. On the other hand, the composition of Comparative Example 1 or Comparative Example 2 that does not contain propylene glycol or zeolite has somewhat lower antibacterial and antifungal activity, and the commercially available general acrylic adhesive has almost no antibacterial and antifungal activity. That is, it could be seen that the adhesive composition of the present invention included in the adhesive layer in direct contact with the nail exhibits excellent inhibitory activity against P. aeruginosa or Candida, which may cause infectious skin diseases.

Experimental Example 2. Assessment of Touch Feeling of Nail Tips

(15) In order to confirm subjective satisfaction of using the nail tips of the examples and comparative examples directly, a comparative evaluation was conducted on 20 adult women. Specifically, the nail tips of Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-4 were attached to the nails, respectively and removed after 5 days, followed by subjective assessment in regard to the convenience of use, touch feeling while being attached, and moisturizing and nourishing feelings after removal. For the rating, a 9-point rating method was used. It was determined such that the higher the preference/satisfaction, the higher the score.

(16) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Compara- Compara- Compara- Compara- tive tive tive tive Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- Exam- ple 1 ple 1 ple 2 ple 3 ple 4 Conve- 7.8 7.8 7.7 6.9 6.1 nience Touch 7.6 7.1 7.2 7.1 5.7 feel Moisture 8.2 6.3 6.9 4.4 8.0 feel

(17) As a result, as shown in Table 3, it was confirmed that the nail tip of Example 1 has high subjective satisfaction in all items including the convenience of use, touch feeling while being attached, and moisturizing and nourishing feelings after removal. Specifically, in the case of the nail tips of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 using the adhesive composition which includes SIS copolymer, propylene glycol, polyisobutene, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), silica and zeolite, the moisturizing feeling after removal was assessed to be excellent, therefore, it could be confirmed that the adhesive composition of the present invention can minimized nail damage in using artificial nails. On the other hand, the nail tip of Comparative Example 1 using an adhesive composition not containing propylene glycol and the nail tip of Comparative Example 3 using a general acryl adhesive, respectively, have somewhat lower assessment of moisturizing feeling. Further, in the case of the nail tip of Comparative Example 4 using ABS instead of TPU of the present invention as a material of the nail body, the nail tip had a hard feeling with little elasticity, therefore, touch feeling while being attached as well as the convenience during use were negatively demonstrated. That is, it could be seen that the nail tip of the present invention includes an adhesive layer capable of providing moisture and nutrition to the nail, and the nail body is a soft TPU material so that the subjective touch feeling is excellent.

Experimental Example 3. Evaluation of Physical Properties of Nail Tips

(18) The reusable nail tips are a reusable product that may be used by simply attaching them to the nails for a predetermined period of time, removed, and then, reused by attaching an adhesive thereto again. Therefore, if the nail body is hard or has no elasticity, it is hardly in close contact with the nail, which in turn may decrease a retention force allowing the nail body to be attached to the nail or reduce wearing comfort. Accordingly, the nail tip of Example 1 and the nail tip of Comparative Example 4, which use different materials from each other, were subjected to comparison of resilience of the nail tips. Specifically, using a ball rebound elasticity tester (Hildebrand Ball Rebound Tester), the nail tips were measured three times according to ASTM D3574-17 standard, and then averaged.

(19) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Comparative Example 1 Example 1 Rebound elasticity (%) 39.8 5.6

(20) As a result, as shown in Table 4, the rebound value of the nail tip of Example 1 using the TPU composite as the nail body material was significantly higher than the nail tip of Comparative Example 4 using acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin, which is generally used for artificial nails. This means that the nail tip of Example 1 has a remarkably excellent elastic modulus. In other words, the nail tip of the present invention has a desirable elastic modulus and exhibits soft property that allows restoration to its original state even when wrinkled and unfolded. Therefore, the nail tip of the present invention may be in close contact with the nail to attain excellent touch feelings and retention. In addition, since an adhesive layer having antifungal and moisturizing activity is included, it is possible to prevent side effects and nail damage when using the nail tips.

(21) From the above description, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential characteristics thereof. In this regard, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. With regard to the scope of the present invention, it should be construed that, rather than the above detailed description, all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims described below and their equivalents are being included in the scope of the present invention.