Hairbrush, methods of use, and methods of manufacturing the same

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a hairbrush for detangling human or animal hair. In some embodiments, the hairbrush includes a field of bristles where bristle height is substantially random and substantially independent of position on the hairbrush. In some embodiments, within the bristle field, the bristle width and/or the bristle material may vary between bristles—for example, substantially randomly with respect to position and/or in a manner that is correlated with bristle height.

1 - 93 . (canceled) 
     
     
         94 ) A hairbrush comprising a bristle-retaining surface and a bristle field of at least 100 bristles that are individually deployed to the bristle-retaining surface such that bristle heights vary in a substantially random manner and are substantially independent of bristle location on the bristle-retaining surface, the bristle field providing the following properties:
 (i) height properties such that at least 5 different heights that significantly differ from each other are represented;   (ii) width properties such that each bristle has a width that is at least 0.5 mm; and   (iii) bristle end properties such that at least 60% of the bristles have a rounded end.   
     
     
         95 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein:
 i) the bristle field further provides width variation properties such that a ratio between a bristle width standard deviation and a bristle width average is at least 0.07 and such that there a is positive correlation between bristle height and bristle thickness for bristles of the bristle field such that, on average, taller bristles of the field are thicker than shorter bristles; and 
 ii) bristles of the bristle field are each deployed substantially normally to a respective local plane of bristle-retaining surface. 
 
     
     
         96 ) The hairbrush of  claim 95  wherein bristles of the bristle field are deployed at a substantially constant density on the bristle-retaining surface. 
     
     
         97 ) The hairbrush of  claim 96  wherein the range of heights for the bristle field substantially is between about 3.5 mm and about 16 mm. 
     
     
         98 ) The hairbrush of  claim 95  wherein bristles of the bristle field are deployed at a substantially constant density of at least 4 bristles/cm̂2 on the bristle-retaining surface. 
     
     
         99 ) The hairbrush of  claim 98  wherein the range of heights for the bristle field substantially is between about 3.5 mm and about 16 mm. 
     
     
         100 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein the bristle field further provides width variation properties such that a ratio between a bristle width standard deviation and a bristle width average is at least 0.07 and such that there a is positive correlation between bristle height and bristle thickness for bristles of the bristle field such that, on average, taller bristles of the bristle field are thicker than shorter bristles. 
     
     
         101 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein bristles of the bristle field are each deployed substantially normally to a respective local plane of bristle-retaining surface. 
     
     
         102 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein bristles of the bristle field are deployed at a substantially constant density that is at least 4 bristles/cm̂2. 
     
     
         103 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein the range of heights for the bristles field substantially is between about 3.5 mm and about 16 mm. 
     
     
         104 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein a ratio between a height standard deviation and the average height of the bristle field is at least 0.075 
     
     
         105 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein the average bristle thickness for the field exceeds 0.85 mm. 
     
     
         106 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein the average height of the bristles of the field is at least about 8.5 mm. 
     
     
         107 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein bristles of the bristle field are deployed at a density that is at most 12 bristles/cm̂2. 
     
     
         108 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein the average height of the bristles of the bristle field is between 8 mm and 14 mm. 
     
     
         109 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein the field of bristles are deployed within the selected area so that:
 i) at least 80% of the bristles substantially reside on a constant lattice; and 
 ii) at least 2% of the bristles of the field reside in positions that reside away from the lattice. 
 
     
     
         110 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein bristles of the field are deployed so that they are substantially parallel to each other. 
     
     
         111 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein:
 i) an average height of the bristle field is defined as HEIGHT_AVG, a height standard deviation of the bristle field is defined as HEIGHT_SD; 
 ii) the bristle field includes a very-short-bristles (VSB) subset of bristles whose height is less than a difference between HEIGHT_AVG and HEIGHT_SD, 
 iii) a majority of bristles of the very-short-bristles (VSB) subset of bristles has a height that is at least 5 mm and/or that is at least 0.33*HEIGHT_AVG. 
 
     
     
         112 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein at least 10% of bristles of the bristle field have a height between 5 mm and 9 mm, at least 25% of the bristles have a height that is between 9 mm and 13 mm, and at least 10% of the bristles have a height that is between 13 mm and 18 mm; 
     
     
         113 ) The hairbrush of  claim 94  wherein:
 i) each bristle b of the field of bristles is associated with a respective nearest bristle distance describing the respective closest distance d CLOSEST  (b) between bristle b and a different bristle of the bristle field b CLOSEST  that is closer to the bristle b than any other bristle of the bristle field (d CLOSEST  (b)=DISTANCE(b, b CLOSEST )), thereby establishing a one-to-one mapping between each bristle b of the bristle field and a closest distance d CLOSEST  (b) to form a set of numbers CLOSEST_BRISTLE_DISTANCE whose members are the closest distances d CLOSEST (b) for the field of bristles; and 
 ii) an SD/AVG ratio between a standard deviation of the set of numbers CLOSEST_BRISTLE_DISTANCE and an average value of the set of numbers CLOSEST_BRISTLE_DISTANCE is at most 0.25.