NAIL CARE DEVICE FOR COSMETIC TREATMENT OF FINGERNAILS

(B) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]Not Applicable

(C) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002]Not Applicable

(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention.

[0003]The disclosure relates to nail care devices and more particularly pertains to a new nail care device for fingernails with gel polish. Gel polish requires treatment using a curing light that emits ultraviolet (UV) light or is a light-emitting diode (LED) light. As a result, multiple devices, such as a nail stand, lights, and filing or polishing tools, are used that take up substantial space. The new nail care device combines multiple devices into a single compact device. It should be noted that any reference to “fingernails” or “nails” as used herein refers to both natural and artificial fingernails.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1 . 97 and 1.98

[0004]The prior art relates to nail care devices for treating nails with gel polish. The prior art, as best understood, does not disclose a nail care device that has a body portion for supporting an arm or hands of person, a first curing light to cure gel polish on at least two of the fingernails of a person simultaneously, and a second curing light to cure gel polish on one of the fingernails at a time while a forearm of the person is resting on the body portion.

(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005]An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above in a nail care device generally comprising a frame, a first foot, and a second foot. The frame has a body portion, a first leg portion positioned at a first end of the body portion, and a second leg portion positioned at a second end of the body portion. The first leg portion and the second leg portion are designed to support the body portion a distance from a support surface such that the frame is in the form of an arch. The first foot is attached to the first leg portion, and the second foot is attached to the second leg portion. A first curing light is mounted in the body portion of the frame. The first curing light is positioned to project light under the body portion to cure gel polish on at least two of the fingernails of a person simultaneously. An arm is attached to the frame adjacent the first leg portion. The arm is positioned to project upwardly away from the first leg portion. A second curing light is attached to the arm. The second curing light is positioned to project horizontally from the arm over a section of the body portion adjacent the first leg portion to project light and cure gel polish on one of the fingernails at a time while a forearm of the person is resting on the body portion of the frame.

[0006]There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

[0007]The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

[0008]The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0009]FIG. 1 is a front side view of a nail care device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0010]FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0011]FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0012]FIG. 4 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0013]FIG. 5 is a front side view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

[0014]FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

[0015]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use.

[0016]FIG. 8 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use.

[0017]FIG. 9 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use.

(J) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018]With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 9 thereof, a new nail care device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

[0019]As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 9, the nail care device 10 generally comprises a frame 12, a first foot 14, and a second foot 16. The frame 12 has a body portion 18, a first leg portion 20 positioned at a first end of the body portion 18, and a second leg portion 22 positioned at a second end of the body portion 18. The first leg portion 20 and the second leg portion 22 are designed to support the body portion 18 a distance from a support surface such that the frame 12 is in the form of an arch. The first foot 14 is attached to the first leg portion 20, and the second foot 16 is attached to the second leg portion 22. A first curing light 24 is mounted in the body portion 18 of the frame 12. The first curing light 24 is positioned to project light under the body portion 18 to cure gel polish on at least two of the fingernails of a person simultaneously. An arm 26 is attached to the frame 12 adjacent the first leg portion 20. The arm 26 is positioned to project upwardly away from the first leg portion 20. A second curing light 28 is attached to the arm 26. The second curing light 28 is positioned to project horizontally from the arm 26 over a section of the body portion 18 adjacent the first leg portion 20 to project light and cure gel polish on one of the fingernails at a time while a forearm of the person is resting on the body portion 18 of the frame 12.

[0020]The nail care device 10 further includes a filing tool 30. The filing tool 30 is attached to the second leg portion 22. The filing tool 30 includes a housing 32, a motor 34 in the housing 32, and a bit 36 connected to the motor 34 and projecting out of the housing 32. The filing tool 30 is selectively actuatable to file one of the fingernails at a time. As shown in FIG. 4, a button 38 can be included to turn the filing tool 30 on and off. A power source 40 is located in the housing 32, which power source 40 could be a replaceable battery, a rechargeable battery, or a converter for a plug into a wall outlet as is well known for powered devices. FIGS. 5 and 6 show an alternative embodiment in which the filing tool 30 has been omitted.

[0021]The body portion 18 of the frame 12 includes a cushion 42 positioned to face upwardly toward the second curing light 28. The cushion 42 is designed to support the forearm of the person while one of the fingernails is positioned under the second curing light 28, as shown in FIG. 9.

[0022]The cushion 42 extends along the length of the body portion 18. However, in another possible embodiment the cushion 42 could be shorter in length. The cushion 42 could be made of foam and could include a plastic cover.

[0023]In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the first curing light 24 extends along the length of the body portion 18 and is designed to cure gel polish on up to all fingers of both hands of the person. Another button 38 is included to turn the first curing light 24 on and off. Another button 38 is included to turn the second curing light 28 on and off. In another possible embodiment, the frame 12 is smaller such that the body portion 18 is shorter in length. In that embodiment, the first curing light 24 extends along the length of the body portion 18 and is designed to cure gel polish on up to all fingers of only one hand of the person.

[0024]Each of the first curing light 24 and the second curing light 28 is a light-emitting diode lamp, though other types of lamps could be used.

[0025]In use, the body portion 18 can be used to support the hands or the arms on the cushion 42 during application of gel polish to the fingernails or other manual treatments. As shown in FIG. 7, the person can place multiple fingernails on one or both hands under the first curing light 24 to cure the gel polish. For a more concentrated curing, one fingernail can be placed under the second curing light 28, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The arm 26 is rested on the cushion 42 during this curing step. As shown in FIG. 8, the body portion 18 projects high enough so that the arm of the person can rest comfortably over the filing tool 30. The filing tool 30 can be used as needed to file the fingernails.

[0026]With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0027]Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.