Versatile accessory holder for a barber chair

Abstract

The invention relates to a versatile accessory holder for a barber chair and method to attach the versatile accessory holder to the back of one of a plurality of barber chair types. Certain embodiments of the invention have a plurality of slots that may be used to receive an appendage in the form of a tongue or one or more sets of pins to attach the versatile accessory holder to the back of a chair. Certain embodiments of the versatile accessory holder have a tray with compartments to receive accessories, such as clipper blades. In some embodiments, the compartments have an opening at the bottom, and some embodiments have compartment stops to enable hair to fall from a blade resting in the compartment onto the floor. In some embodiments, the outer wall of the tray has a strip adapted to fasten a magnet to the outer wall of the tray.

Claims

1. A versatile accessory holder for a barber chair, a headrest of the chair having one or more appendages adapted to be inserted into at least one opening in a chair back, the versatile accessory holder comprising: an attachment plate having a plurality of slots, and an attachment plate tray coupled to the attachment plate, the attachment plate tray having one or more compartments adapted to receive one or more accessories such as a plurality of clipper blades, wherein the plurality of slots on the attachment plate are adapted to receive the one or more appendages of the headrest to selectively secure the attachment plate to the chair back, wherein the plurality of slots comprises one slot adapted to receive one appendage in the form of a tongue, and two or more other slots adapted to receive two or more appendages in the form of a set of pins.

2. The versatile accessory holder of claim 1 wherein one or more walls of the attachment plate tray is coupled to a strip adapted to fasten a magnet to the attachment plate tray.

3. The versatile accessory holder of claim 2 wherein the strip is made of metal.

4. The versatile accessory holder of claim 3 wherein the strip is made of stainless steel.

5. The versatile accessory holder of claim 1 wherein a bottom of one or more of the one or more compartments of the attachment plate tray has one or more openings.

6. The versatile accessory holder of claim 5 wherein a bottom of one or more of the one or more compartments of the attachment plate tray has one or more compartment stops.

7. The versatile accessory holder of claim 6 further comprising wherein the one or more compartment stops comprises the entire bottom of the one or more compartments of the attachment plate tray.

8. The versatile accessory holder of claim 1 wherein one or more of the plurality of slots on the attachment plate are circular.

9. The versatile accessory holder of claim 1 wherein the attachment plate tray is rectangular.

10. The versatile accessory holder of claim 1 wherein the one or more compartments of the attachment plate tray are rectangular.

11. The versatile accessory holder of claim 1 wherein the one or more compartments of the attachment plate tray are square.

12. A versatile accessory holder for a barber chair, a headrest of the chair having one or more appendages adapted to be inserted into at least one opening in a chair back, the versatile accessory holder comprising: an attachment plate, comprising: a slot adapted to receive one appendage in the form of a tongue, a separate first pair of slots adapted to receive a pair of appendages in the form of a first pair of pins, and a separate second pair of slots adapted to receive a pair of appendages in the form of a second pair of pins; an attachment plate tray coupled to the attachment plate, the attachment plate tray having one or more compartments adapted to receive one or more accessories such as a plurality of clipper blades; and means for attaching the attachment plate to the at least one opening in the chair back, thus facilitating the exchange of accessories stored in one or more of the compartments.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1A shows a prior art barber chair utilizing a tongue appendage to connect the headrest to the back of the barber chair.

(2) FIG. 1B shows a prior art barber chair utilizing appendages in the form of spaced pins to connect the headrest to the back of the barber chair.

(3) FIG. 1C shows a prior art barber chair utilizing appendages in the form of spaced pins to connect the headrest to the back of the barber chair.

(4) FIG. 2A shows a top view of one embodiment of the present invention.

(5) FIG. 2B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 2A.

(6) FIG. 2C shows a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 2A incorporating strip 330.

(7) FIG. 3A shows a top view of one embodiment of the present invention utilizing a tongue for use with barber chairs with a back having a tongue opening.

(8) FIG. 3B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 3A.

(9) FIG. 3C shows the embodiment of FIG. 3A from a side view, having an appendage in the form of a tongue attached.

(10) FIG. 3D shows the embodiment of FIG. 3A with the attachment plate mounted onto a barber chair utilizing the appendage in the form of a tongue inserted into openings in the chair back.

(11) FIG. 3E shows the embodiment of FIG. 3A with the attachment plate mounted onto a barber chair utilizing a headrest with an appendage in the form of a tongue inserted into openings in the chair back.

(12) FIG. 4A shows a top view of one embodiment of the present invention for use with barber chairs with a back having a first set of pin openings.

(13) FIG. 4B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 4A.

(14) FIG. 4C shows the embodiment of FIG. 4A from a side view, having appendages in the form of a first set of pins attached.

(15) FIG. 4D shows the embodiment of FIG. 4A with the attachment plate mounted onto a barber chair utilizing appendages in the form of a first set of pins inserted into openings in the chair back.

(16) FIG. 4E shows the embodiment of FIG. 4A with the attachment plate mounted onto a barber chair utilizing a headrest with appendages in the form of a pins inserted into openings in the chair back.

(17) FIG. 5A shows a top view of one embodiment of the present invention for use with barber chairs with a back having a second set of pin openings with different spacing than the pin openings of FIG. 4A.

(18) FIG. 5B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 5A.

(19) FIG. 5C shows the embodiment of FIG. 5A from a side view, having appendages in the form of a second set of pins attached.

(20) FIG. 5D shows the embodiment of FIG. 5A with the attachment plate mounted onto a barber chair utilizing appendages in the form of a second set of pins inserted into openings in the chair back.

(21) FIG. 5E shows the embodiment of FIG. 5A with the attachment plate mounted onto a barber chair utilizing a head rest with appendages in the form of a pins inserted into openings in the chair back.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

(22) The invention relates to a versatile accessory holder adapted to attach accessories, such as stylist or barber tools, to one of a plurality of barber chair types. In some embodiments, the versatile accessory holder includes a plurality of slots, the slots being adapted to receive one or more appendages to selectively secure a tray to the chair. In one embodiment, the appendage is a tongue. In other embodiments, the appendages are pins.

(23) In some embodiments, a tray may be coupled to the versatile accessory holder to store stylist and barber tools. In some embodiments, this tray is adapted to receive a plurality of accessories, such as clipper blades, cutting guards, or other styling tools. For example, the tray may be divided into a plurality of compartments to receive a plurality of clipper blades. In this way, the present invention advantageously allows a barber or stylist to quickly access a plurality of clipper blades from the back of the barber chair where he or she is working. Thus, cost and space is reduced compared to utilizing storage away from the chair or work area, and the speed of the haircut may be increased.

(24) In some embodiments, the compartments in the tray may further be partially open at the bottom with stops to hold the contents in place. This is advantageous when storing clipper blades in the compartments, for example, to allow hair from the clipper blades to fall through the open portions of the compartments onto the floor. Therefore, the compartments would require less frequent cleaning and the excess hair may be swept from the floor when the barber or stylist is cleaning the floor following a haircut. Thus, cost and space is reduced compared to a system in which the tray must be cleaned on a more frequent basis.

(25) One of ordinary skill in the art would further recognize that the versatile accessory holder could be adapted to attach other types of trays or storage, including circular trays, square trays, cylindrical trays, and other tray types. Further aspects and advantages of the various embodiments of the invention are apparent to one of skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure from consideration of the following description and drawings.

(26) Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, three prior art barber chairs are shown. A difference between these three barber chairs is the manner of coupling a headrest to the barber chair. In each prior art example from FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, the headrest is coupled to the top of the back of the chair. For example, in FIG. 1A, the headrest 15 is coupled to the top of the chair back 10 of barber chair 5 utilizing an appendage, such as a tongue 20, which is inserted into an opening 22 at the top of the chair back 10. In FIG. 1B, the headrest 35 is coupled to the top of the chair back 30 of barber chair 25 utilizing appendages in the form of pins 40 which are inserted into openings 42 in the top of the chair back 30. In FIG. 1C, the headrest 60 is coupled to the top of the chair back 55 of barber chair 50 utilizing appendages in the form of pins 65 which are inserted into openings 67 in the top of the chair back 55.

(27) Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, one embodiment of the present invention is shown. Versatile accessory holder 100 is comprised from attachment plate 200 and attachment plate tray 300. Attachment plate 200 includes apertures in the form of tongue slot 210, a first set of pin slots 220, and a second set of pin slots 230. By having each of these different types of slots, attachment plate 200 is adaptable to attach to any one of a plurality of different types of barber chairs that have different types of openings to accept different types of appendages, such as a tongue or sets of pins, for attaching a headrest. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that attachment plate 200 need not contain each type of slot and that a subset of slots would be sufficient for versatile accessory holder 100 to be compatible with at least a subset of barber chairs. Additionally, as would be realized by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure, the slots in the attachment plate could take on any type of shape necessary to fit different types of appendages. Further, a means for attaching the versatile accessory holder to the chair back is described. For instance, the means of attaching attachment plate 200 to the back of a barber chair include the slots that accept one or more appendages, including a tongue or pins, as described herein.

(28) Attachment plate tray 300 includes a plurality of compartments 310. Although this embodiment includes twelve compartments 310, attachment plate tray may 300 may include any number of compartments 310. Compartments 310 are shown to be at least partially open at the bottom in this embodiment to allow hair to fall through the compartments. Compartments 310 further includes compartment stops 320 to prevent contents from falling through a compartment 310 when those contents are placed in the slot. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that instead of two compartment stops 320 for each compartment 310, any number of compartment stops 320 may be used, including one, three, four or more compartment stops 320. Alternatively, compartments 310 may have no compartment stops and contents, e.g., clipper blades, could be held in place by the top of the contents, e.g., the top of the clipper blades, being wider than compartments 310.

(29) Versatile accessory holder 100 may be made from any suitable material, including plastic, metal, silicone, glass, stone, wood, or the like. Further, attachment plate 200 may be made from a different material than attachment plate tray 300 provided that attachment plate 200 and attachment plate tray 300 are otherwise coupled. Moreover, each of attachment plate 200 and attachment plate tray 300 may be comprised of more than one material.

(30) Referring to FIG. 2C, in one embodiment of the present invention, strip 330 is coupled to the outer wall of attachment plate tray 300. Strip 330 may be coupled to the outer wall of attachment plate tray 300 by utilizing glue, welding, or the strip may be built into the outer wall of attachment plate tray 300. Strip 330 may be made from any material to which a magnet can attach magnetically, such as certain types of stainless steel. Strip 330 may then be used to fasten magnetic objects, such as certain clipper blades, in place without the need to place them in one of compartments 310, as would be realized by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Although in this embodiment, strip 330 occupies only a small area at the top of the outer wall of attachment plate tray 300, in other embodiments, strip 330 may be any size and placed in any position on the outer wall of attachment plate 300, and it may even comprise the entire outer wall of attachment plate 300.

(31) Referring to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, an embodiment of the present invention utilizing a tongue is shown. The tongue slot 210 of attachment plate 200 is adapted to receive tongue 410. FIG. 3D further shows this embodiment as attached to the back 510 of a barber chair with a tongue opening 515. Tongue 410 first fits through tongue slot 210 of attachment plate 200 and then fits directly into the tongue opening 515 of the back 510 of the barber chair. The top portion of tongue 410 may be larger than tongue slot 210 so that the top of tongue 410 holds versatile accessory holder 100 in place. Alternatively, a tongue may be coupled to a headrest so that when inserted, the headrest secures versatile accessory holder 100 using a tongue, as would be realized by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. This is shown in FIG. 3E in which the versatile accessory holder 100 is secured to the back 510 of a barber chair with a tongue opening 515 by fitting the tongue 518 of headrest 517 through both the tongue slot 210 of the attachment plate 200 and the tongue opening 515 of the back 510 of the barber chair.

(32) Referring to FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, an embodiment of the present invention utilizing a first set of pins is shown. Each of the first set of pins 420 is received through one of first set of pin slots 220 of attachment plate 200. FIG. 4D further shows this embodiment as attached to the back 520 of a barber chair with a first set of pin openings 525. The first set of pins 420 first fit through first set of pin slots 220 of attachment plate 200 and then fit directly into the first set of pin openings 525 of the back 520 of the barber chair. The top portion of each of the first set of pins 420 may be larger than first set of pin slots 220 so that the top of each of the first set of pins 420 hold versatile accessory holder 100 in place. Alternatively, the first set of pins may be coupled to a headrest so that when inserted, the headrest secures versatile accessory holder 100 using the first set of pins, as would be realized by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. This is shown in FIG. 4E in which the versatile accessory holder 100 is secured to the back 520 of a barber chair with a first set of pin openings 525 by fitting a first set of pins 528 of headrest 527 through both the first set of pin slots 220 of the attachment plate 200 and the first set of pin openings 525 of the back 520 of the barber chair.

(33) Referring to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, an embodiment of the present invention utilizing a second set of pins is shown. The second set of pins are closer together than the first set of pins, as shown, but this is not necessary. Each of the second set of pin slots 230 of the attachment plate 200 is adapted to receive each of the second set of pins 430. FIG. 5D further shows this embodiment as attached to the back 530 of a barber chair with a second set of pin openings 535. Each of the second set of pins 430 first fits through the second set of pin slots 230 of attachment plate 200 and then fits directly into the second set of pin openings 535 of the back 530 of the barber chair. The top portion of each of the second set of pins 430 may be larger than each of the second set of pin slots 230 so that the top of each of the second set of pins 430 hold versatile accessory holder 100 in place. Alternatively, a second set of pins may be coupled to a headrest so that when inserted, the headrest secures versatile accessory holder 100 using the second set of pins, as would be realized by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. This is shown in FIG. 5E in which the versatile accessory holder 100 is secured to the back 530 of a barber chair with a second set of pin openings 535 by fitting the second set of pins 538 of headrest 537 through both the second set of pin slots 230 of the attachment plate 200 and the second set of pin openings 535 of the back 530 of the barber chair.

(34) In operation, a barber would identify a chair on which he or she would like to place an attachment plate tray 300. The barber would then remove the appendages, including the headrest, if any, from the back of the barber chair. Once the barber chair has no appendages, e.g., tongue 410, first set of pins 420, or second set of pins 420, in the chair back, the barber would identify which type of openings the back of the barber chair utilizes to accept one or more appendages, including the headrest. Once the openings are identified, the barber would selectively place one or more slots 210, 220, or 230 of the attachment plate 200 over the corresponding type of opening 515, 525, 535 in the back of the barber chair, and the barber would then place an appropriate attachment appendage through the now lined-up corresponding attachment plate 200 slot or slots 210, 220, or 230 and the opening or openings 515, 525, or 535 in the back of the barber chair. For example, if the back of the barber chair includes a tongue opening 515, then the barber would place the tongue slot 210 of the attachment plate 200 over the tongue opening 515 of the back of the barber chair. The barber would then place a tongue 410 or a headrest 517 with a tongue 518 through tongue slot 210 of attachment plate 200 and the tongue opening 515 of the back of the barber chair. The tongue may be selectively coupled to a headrest, or the top portion of the tongue may be slightly larger than tongue slot 210 to secure attachment plate 200 into place.

(35) Once the attachment plate 200 is secured in place, the attachment plate tray 300 should be directly behind the barber chair. A barber could then place one or more accessories, such as clipper blades, into the one or more compartments 310 or onto the strip 330 of the attachment plate tray 300 if the accessory is magnetic. During a haircut or style, the barber would then be able to readily access one or more of the tools from the attachment plate tray 300 on the back of the barber chair. If the barber desired to switch clipper blades for example, the barber would remove the current blade on the clipper, place that blade into an open compartment 310 of the attachment plate tray 300, and the barber could then select a different clipper blade for use from a different compartment 310 of attachment plate tray 300. The barber would then remove the desired clipper blade from a compartment 310 and install it on his clipper. In this way, the barber could readily exchange accessories without leaving his position behind the chair during the haircut, as would be realized by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

(36) Although various embodiments have been shown and described, the invention is not so limited and will be understood to include all such modifications and variations as would be apparent to one of skilled in the art. For example, the versatile accessory holder 100 of the present invention could accommodate unconventional barber chairs that have a plurality of attachment mechanisms, such as barber chairs that receive both a first set of pins and a second set of pins or both pins and a tongue. In those instances, versatile accessory holder 100 could simultaneously receive pins and/or a tongue in the appropriate slots. Similarly, attachment plate 200 could include additional or alternative slots for compatibility with additional types of barber chairs.

(37) The following table lists the description and the reference numbers as used herein and in the drawings attached hereto:

(38) TABLE-US-00001 Number Name 5 Barber Chair with Tongue Attached Headrest 10 Back of Barber Chair with Tongue Attached Headrest 15 Headrest 20 Tongue 22 Tongue opening 25 Barber chair with First Set of Pins Attached Headrest 30 Back of Barber chair with First Set of Pins Attached Headrest 35 Headrest 40 First Set of Pins 42 First Set of Pin Openings 50 Barber chair with Second Set of Pins Attached Headrest 55 Back of Barber chair with Second Set of Pins Attached Headrest 60 Headrest 65 Second Set of Pins 67 Second Set of Pin Openings 100 Versatile Accessory Holder 200 Attachment Plate 210 Tongue Slot 220 First Set of Pin Slots 230 Second Set of Pin Slots 300 Attachment Plate Tray 310 Compartment 320 Compartment stop 330 Strip 410 Tongue 420 First Set of Pins 430 Second Set of Pins 510 Back of Barber Chair With Tongue Opening 515 Tongue Opening 517 Headrest 518 Tongue 520 Back of Barber Chair With a First Set of Pin Openings 525 First Set of Pin Openings 527 Headrest 528 First Set of Pins 530 Back of Barber Chair With a Second Set of Pin Openings 535 Second Set of Pin Openings 537 Headrest 538 Second Set of Pins