Gel Nail With Variable Thickness For Curvature Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing artificial nail tips face challenges in fitting different nail surfaces due to varying curvatures and stiffness, leading to reduced durability and attachment issues, as they are either too rigid or too flexible.
Innovation Solution
A gel nail design with a root end wider than the tip end and thinner side edges, allowing for flexible attachment and enhanced durability, along with a manufacturing method using a mold assembly to produce nails with varying thicknesses and curvatures, enabling close-fitting and adjustable curvature for individual nail surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the artificial nail tip is made thinner to enable bending and matching nail surface curvature, then the flexibility and adaptability improve, but the stiffness and durability of the extension portion are weakened
Solution Approach 1:
The nail tip employs different thicknesses at different locations: the attachment portion is made thinner to provide flexibility for matching nail surface curvature, while the extension portion is made thicker to maintain sufficient stiffness and durability. This local differentiation of structural properties resolves the contradiction between adaptability and strength.
2Ease of manufacture
If the artificial nail tip is made with uniform thickness, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the nail tip cannot simultaneously provide flexibility for attachment and stiffness for durability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements variable thickness design where the attachment portion has a first thickness and the extension portion has a second thickness greater than the first. This local quality differentiation enables the nail tip to be both flexible at the attachment zone for fitting various curvatures and stiff at the extension zone for durability, while still using a relatively simple molding process.
3Strength
If the artificial nail tip is made thicker to enhance stiffness and durability, then the strength improves, but the flexibility for bending to match nail curvature is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The nail tip structure differentiates thickness locally: the extension portion is made thicker to provide sufficient stiffness and durability, while the attachment portion is made thinner to maintain flexibility for bending and matching the curvature of the nail surface. This resolves the contradiction between strength and adaptability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The gel nail design ensures better attachment and increased durability by accommodating different nail curvatures while maintaining flexibility, allowing for easy customization and mass production without complex structures.
Implementation Method 1
during the gel nail process, phototherapy is used for accelerated weathering
Data Source
AI summary
A gel nail for attaching to a fingernail of a user includes an elongated nail body having a root end, a tip end and two side edges, and defining an attachment portion at said root end for attaching on the fingernail and an extension portion at said tip end for being extended beyond the fingernail. A curvature at the root end is smaller than a curvature of the tip end, such that the root end is more flatten than the tip end. Each of the side edges has a reduced thickness to enable the attachment portion to be bent for matching with a curvature of the fingernail of the user.