Hair Twisting System With Movable String Grid
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hair care products for African-American hair fail to provide a simple, durable, portable, and washable solution for creating long-lasting, natural hair coils, particularly for short naturally curly hair, and often involve complex mechanisms, excessive costs, and unsanitary materials.
Innovation Solution
A hair twisting system comprising a circular frame with intersecting strings forming a grid network, allowing for movable intersections, which is durable, washable, and free from sponge-like materials, enabling effective and sanitary hair twisting without the need for heating or electric components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If heating or steaming elements are added to retain curl, then curl retention is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes heating or steaming elements from the hair twisting device, extracting the thermal styling function entirely. The device relies solely on mechanical twisting action through the string grid to create and maintain curls, eliminating complex heating mechanisms while achieving sufficient curl retention through proper mechanical tension and string material selection.
2Productivity
If electric motors and cords are used to power rotating elements, then twisting effectiveness is improved, but cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hair twisting device is designed to be manually operated by the user's hand movements. The fingers naturally manipulate the device to twist hair sections, eliminating the need for electric motors, batteries, or cords. The mechanical advantage is provided by the user's own hand motion, simplifying the device to just the essential string grid structure within a handle.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex electromechanical systems (motors, batteries, cords) with a simple manual mechanical system. The twisting action is achieved through direct manual manipulation of the string grid, substituting electrical power with human hand motion while maintaining effective hair twisting capability.
3Quantity of substance
If sponge or sponge-like material is used, then moisture retention is improved, but sanitation deteriorates due to dirt accumulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent completely removes sponge or sponge-like materials from the device. Instead of relying on moisture-retaining sponges, the device uses a string grid structure that allows hair to be twisted and secured mechanically. Any necessary moisture application is done separately before twisting, eliminating the sanitation problem of moisture-retaining materials while maintaining effective hair styling.
Solution Approach 2:
The string grid structure inherently provides porosity and breathability, allowing air circulation and preventing moisture buildup that would lead to bacterial growth. The open grid structure with strings creates a non-porous surface that doesn't trap moisture or dirt, maintaining sanitation while still effectively twisting and holding hair in place.
4Ease of operation
If brushes and combs with bristles and teeth are used, then hair separation is improved, but compact coil formation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the hair twisting function into a grid of individual string elements rather than using continuous bristles or teeth. Each string acts as an independent element that can be manipulated to twist small sections of hair, providing both separation capability and the ability to form compact coils through the grid structure's geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a circular or curved grid arrangement of strings rather than straight parallel bristles. This curved geometry naturally guides hair into coil and curl formations as it passes through the grid, improving compact coil formation while maintaining ease of hair separation through the spaced string elements.
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 system effectively creates beautiful, long-lasting natural hair coils by allowing the strings to deform around hair locks and spring back, providing a cost-effective, easy-to-use, and sanitary solution for styling African-American hair.
Implementation Method 1
The strings can be pressed down into hair towards a scalp and then simultaneously moved out away from the scalp while being rotated until the strings disengage from the hair for creating twisted locks
Data Source
AI summary
A hair twisting system and method of can include: a frame having an annular shape, the frame defining a frame inner surface, a frame outer surface, and a frame front surface; a handle extending from a proximal end of the frame in a direction away from the frame, the handle including side walls which converge toward one another in the proximal direction to define a proximal tip, where the side walls define an exterior griping surface and are separated by an opening in a proximal portion thereof to provide an interior griping surface; and strings extending linearly between opposing portions of the frame inner surface, wherein the strings intersect to form a grid network defining openings between adjacent strings, where the intersections are moveable.