US2980940A - Device for the removal of nail polish - Google Patents

Description

, 1961 A. M. CROWE DEVICE FOR THE REMOVAL OF NAIL POLISH April 2 5 Filed Sept. 4, 1958 IOcx. INVENTOR. ALBA-R721 M. CROWE A T TOP/VEVS 7 tion in 'accordance with theinvention.

"a 14.1, This construction permitsthepad" 2,980,940 p H Faliterrted Apr. 25, 1961 DEVICE FOR THE REMOVAL OF NAIL POLISH Alberta M. Crowe, 2230;1urk St., San Francisco, Calif.

Filed Sept. 4, 1958, Ser. No; 759,052

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-506) This invention relates to means for the removal of nail polish, and more particularly relates to a combination device by which the hands can be protected from the nail polish remover during the removal operation. This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application, Serial No. 714,442, filed February 10, 1958, now abandoned.

As is well known by the great majority of women who use nail polish, the removal of the polish is a tedious, messy operation. Typically such operation involves the saturating of 'a small piece of cotton with the nail polish remover while the cotton is held in the fingers of one hand, and thereafter removing the polish from one nail at a time by rubbing the cotton over each individual nail. As can be testified to by countless women, this. process generally results in getting old polish on hands and fingers,

so that removing old polish smear from the skin is frequently as difficult as removing the polish from the nails themselves. In addition, the various solvents customarily used in the polish remover (e.g. acetone) have a harsh drying effect on the hands so that the entire operation becomes a constant source of annoyance and irritation.

In general it is an object of the present invention to provide a combination device-for removing nail polish by which the hands can be protected during the removal operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a combination device which eliminates all contact of the old polish, or the polish remover, with the hands.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for removing nail polishrby'which all the fingers of a hand are treated simultaneously, so that the procedure is greatly expedited.

Additional objects and features of the invention will 2 v be conveniently supported in one hand by means of the holder, and without contact between the exposed portions of the pad and the hands during the nail polish removal operation. a i 1 Referring to the drawing in detail, 16 indicates a blank which may be suitably stamped from a die and subsequently fabricated into a substantially U-shaped holder, as illustrated in Figure 5. The holder preferably has substantially planar sides 18 and 20, one of which is longer than the other. Thus, as best seen in Figures 4 and 5, the protruding edge of the side 20 extends a substantial distance beyond the edge of the side 18, and preferably is provided with rounded protruding corners 21 for a purpose which will appear. The holder 14 may be fabricated from any suitable material, such as metal or plastic. In general, I prefer to employ color-anodized aluminum because of its desirable characteristics of strength, durability 7 rate the portion 10a, to thereby expose a portion of the.

and attractive appearance. a

As is particularly shown in Figures 4 and 7, the pad 10 comprises a hollow envelope formed of two layers of pliofilm or other suitable material secured at their edges to form a vapor-tight enclosure for the pad 12. It will be understood that the pad is first saturated with nail polish remover, positioned between the layers, and the layers heat sealed or otherwise secured, as by an adhesive, etc., in a well known manner. The resulting continuous 'seal about the edge of the envelope acts to prevent loss of the volatile solvents and other ingredients of the polish remover over prolonged periods of time.

In accordance with the invention, the walls of the envelope 10 are provided with lines of weakness 22 forming a tear strip 23 which preferably protrudes beyond one edge of the envelope to provide the pull tab 24. As will be understood, pulling on the tab 24 will cause the envelope to separate on the lines of weakness, and permit removal of the lower envelope portion 10a. In an actual use of the device,.the pad 10 is first inserted between thesides of the holder 14 so that it is resiliently grasped with the tear strip 23 just below the lower edgeof the side 18, as illustrated in Figure 3. The tab 24 is then pulled to sepasaturated pad 12.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the manner in which the exposed portion of the pad is employed to remove polish from the nails. As illustrated in Figure 1, the device is held in one hand in such manner that the longer side 18 is immediately adjacent to the fingernails of the other hand. This position permits the exposed portion of the appear from the following description in which a pre-' Figure l is a view in perspective showing one step in removing nail polish with the device of the invention.

Figure 2 is a like view showing a second step. Figure 3 is a view in perspective of a combination pad and holder embodying the principles of the invention, Figure4 is a view from the lefthand side thereof.

and a blank useful'in forming such device.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate,respectively, a holder device Figures 7 and .8 illustratetwo forms of a pad 'construc Generally stated, the-combination device of the present invention comprises a vapor proof envelope 10 containing a pad 12 saturated with nail polish removerfand a suband el'op :tio'n 10a, to expose the opposite 'edgeyof; the saturated pad 12b The etlectpf course is to permitfull' use of'the" ,Fro'rnthe above description, it .will'b'e;..apparent jthat the; p combinationdevic e of the invention permitspolishjo'be 1 reinovedgfrom the. nails j simfiiy and 7 with a; minimum of 'elfor't. The construction of the device is'is'uch that all the fingernails of fone handv can be simultaneously. treated; I

w thotit' -a r1y.necessitypf contact 'b'etweeri other- ,portion pad 12 to be bent downwardly and pressed against the nails to moisten the nail polish. The device is now reversed to permit forcing of the saturating pad into the,

cuticle area-with the edge of the longer side 20, and with the rounded corners 21, as illustrated in Figure 2. The

' moistened nail polish can now be removed by a series of swift downward and sidewar-d bufiing strokes ofjthe pad 12 against the nails. Figure 8 illustrates a modified version of the invention Iwhereinthe pad 10 is providedwith additional lines of weakness26 to form the tear strip 28 having thepull tab.

30. This construction permitsthe. pad ,12 to be reversed within the holder 14, and the upper envelope portion1101?;

to be removed in' a manner similar tothe removal of per pad 12' and the nail polishremover containedtherein.

the hand n'd hepadfsauratedj the hail polis remover. There is therefore no mess and the device acts to keep the hands free andclean of both the polish remover, and old polish smear.

I claim:

1. A device to facilitate the removal of nail polish without smearing, comprising in combination: a rectangular absorbent pad saturated with a nail polish remover containing volatile solvents, a sealed vapor proof envelope having linear lines of weakness providing a tear strip surrounding said pad, and a resilient substantially U-shaped holder having spaced apart planar sides adapted to receive a portion of said envelope and pad therebetween, the sides of said holder corresponding in width to a dimension of said pad from one edge thereof to said tear strip, the length of said'sides being less than that of the pad, each of said sides having a substantially linear free edge portion of greater dimension than adjacent portions of said sides, said edge portions terminating in rounded corners which cooperate to facilitate manipulation of the saturated pad when exposed by removal of said tear strip, whereby said envelope and pad can be firmly grasped in one hand to permit smear proof exposure and use of the pad to remove polish from the finger-nails of the other hand.

2. A device as in claim 1 wherein one of the free edge portions of said holder is longer than the other whereby the pad can be bent in the direction of the shorter edge portion to moisten the nail polish to be removed and can then be bent in the other direction to permit forcing of the pad into the cuticle area with the rounded corners of the longer edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,560,681 Fisher Nov. 10, 1925 2,042,073 Rose May 26, 1936 2,109,404 Trevellyan Feb. 22, 1938 2,218,738 Boysen Oct. 22, 1940 2,402,981 Beal et al. July 2, 1946 2,565,887 Salfisberg Aug. 28, 1951 2,759,212 Bachelder Aug. 21, 1956 2,888,133 Betteridge May 26, 1959

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