Hair coloring apparatus, kit and associated methods

An apparatus for coloring hair, comprising:

• a container including an inner container chamber formed in a medial body portion of the container to contain a first hair coloring solution therein, an interior recess inwardly extending from a proximal body end portion into the medial body portion to contain a second hair coloring solution therein and having outer recess surface regions, and at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess and extending from interior recess surface regions of the interior recess through the outer recess surface regions of the interior recess and into the inner container chamber;
• a valve positioned adjacent the at least one recess opening to close the at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess to thereby isolate the second hair coloring solution from the first hair coloring solution so that the second hair coloring solution when positioned in the interior recess is prevented from readily flowing from the interior recess into the inner container chamber;
• and
• a hair color mixture dispenser connected to an open distal body end portion of the container to dispense hair color mixture therefrom, the hair color mixture dispenser including:
• a brush applicator having a proximal brush applicator end, a distal brush applicator end, a plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels positioned between the proximal brush applicator end and the distal brush applicator end, and a plurality of flexible bristles associated with the distal brush applicator end, positioned along a length of the distal brush applicator end, and positioned adjacent at least one of the plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels, and
• an extrusion channel closing valve connected between the open distal body end portion of the container and the proximal brush applicator end of the brush applicator to selectively close the hair color mixture extrusion channels so that the hair color mixture within the inner container chamber is prevented from flowing into the plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels, the extrusion channel closing valve including a rotatable closure cap having a plurality of rotatable closure cap openings in fluid communication with a corresponding plurality of the hair color mixture extrusion channels, and wherein rotating the closure cap in a first direction allows the hair color mixture to flow through the plurality of rotatable closure cap openings and rotating the rotatable closure cap in a second direction substantially prevents the hair color mixture from flowing through the plurality of rotatable closure cap openings.

An apparatus for coloring hair, comprising:

• a container including an inner container chamber formed in a medial body portion of the container to contain a first hair coloring solution therein, an interior recess inwardly extending from a proximal body end portion into the medial body portion to contain a second hair coloring solution therein and having outer recess surface regions, and at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess and extending from interior recess surface regions of the interior recess through the outer recess surface regions of the interior recess and into the inner container chamber, the medial body portion of the container comprising a deformable flexible material to thereby allow the user to squeeze the medial body portion of the container to extrude the hair color mixture to hair of the user;
• a valve positioned adjacent the at least one recess opening to close the at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess to thereby isolate the second hair coloring solution from the first hair coloring solution so that the second hair coloring solution when positioned in the interior recess is prevented from readily flowing from the interior recess into the inner container chamber;
• a plunger having a distal plunger end portion positioned in the interior recess adjacent the second hair coloring solution so that positive pressure on the plunger induced by a user opens the valve to allow the first and second hair coloring solutions to mix in the inner container chamber to thereby form a hair color mixture within the inner container chamber by passage of the second hair coloring solution from within the interior recess through the at least one recess opening;
• and
• a medial body compression clasp positioned in a surrounding relationship to a section of the medial body portion of the container to compress the deformable flexible material of the medial body portion to thereby regulate an internal volume of the container to prevent self-expansion of the medial body portion of the container.

An apparatus for coloring hair, comprising:

• a container including an inner container chamber formed in a medial body portion of the container to contain a first hair coloring solution therein, an interior recess inwardly extending from a proximal body end portion into the medial body portion to contain a second hair coloring solution therein and having outer recess surface regions, and at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess and extending from interior recess surface regions of the interior recess through the outer recess surface regions of the interior recess and into the inner container chamber;
• a valve positioned adjacent the at least one recess opening to close the at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess to thereby isolate the second hair coloring solution from the first hair coloring solution so that the second hair coloring solution when positioned in the interior recess is prevented from readily flowing from the interior recess into the inner container chamber;
• and
• a hair color mixture dispenser connected to an open distal body end portion of the container to dispense hair color mixture therefrom, the hair color mixture dispenser including:
• a brush applicator having a proximal brush applicator end, a distal brush applicator end, a plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels positioned between the proximal brush applicator end and the distal brush applicator end, and a plurality of flexible bristles associated with the distal brush applicator end positioned along a length of the distal brush applicator end and positioned adjacent at least one of the plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels, the proximal brush applicator end of the hair color mixture dispenser integral with the open distal body end portion of the container to prevent opening of the container by the user to thereby prevent spilling of the hair color mixture,
• an extrusion channel closing valve connected adjacent the distal brush applicator end of the brush applicator to selectively close the hair color mixture extrusion channels, and
• a multi-prong closure cap positioned adjacent the distal brush applicator end and having a plurality of teeth each sealingly positioned within one of the plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels to selectively close the hair color mixture extrusion channels so that hair color mixture within the inner container chamber is prevented from flowing out of the plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels.

A disposable container for coloring hair, comprising:

• an inner container chamber formed in a medial body portion of the container to contain a first hair coloring solution therein, the medial body portion of the container comprising a deformable flexible material to thereby allow a user to squeeze the medial body portion of the container to extrude the hair color mixture onto hair of a user by passage of the hair color mixture from within the inner container chamber;
• an interior recess inwardly extending from a proximal body end portion of the container into the medial body portion to contain a second hair coloring solution therein, the interior recess comprising a rigid material to support housing a plunger and having outer recess surface regions;
• at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess and extending from interior recess surface regions of the interior recess through outer recess surface regions of the interior recess and into the inner container chamber;
• and
• a medial body compression clasp positioned in a surrounding relationship to a section of the medial body portion of the container to compress the deformable flexible material of the medial body portion to thereby regulate an internal volume of the container to prevent self-expansion of the medial body portion of the container.

A kit for coloring hair, comprising:

• a kit container;
• a hair color mixture dispensing container positioned within the kit container including:
• an inner dispensing container chamber formed in a medial body portion of the dispensing container and containing a first hair coloring solution therein,
• an interior recess inwardly extending from a proximal body end portion into the medial body portion and containing a second hair coloring solution therein and having an outer recess surface regions,
• at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess and extending from interior recess surface regions of the interior recess through the outer recess surface regions of the interior recess and into the inner dispensing container chamber, and
• a flexible valve recess opening cover positioned over the at least one recess opening to close the at least one recess opening formed in the interior recess to thereby isolate the second hair coloring solution from the first hair coloring solution so that the second hair coloring solution positioned in the interior recess is prevented from readily flowing from the interior recess into the inner dispensing container chamber;
• a plunger positioned within the kit container and having a distal plunger end portion positioned in the interior recess adjacent the second hair coloring solution so that positive pressure on the plunger induced by a user opens the flexible valve recess opening cover to allow the first and second hair coloring solutions to mix in the inner dispensing container chamber by passage of the second hair coloring solution from within the interior recess through the at least one recess opening to thereby form a hair color mixture within the inner dispensing container chamber;
• and
• a hair color mixture dispenser positioned in the kit container and connected to an open distal body end portion of the dispensing container to dispense hair color mixture therefrom, the hair color mixture dispenser including:
• a brush applicator having a proximal brush applicator end including a proximal lengthwise extent and a proximal widthwise extent, a distal brush applicator end including a distal lengthwise extent and a distal widthwise extent whereby the distal widthwise extent is substantially shorter than the proximal widthwise extent, a plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels positioned between the proximal brush applicator end and the distal brush applicator end, and a plurality of flexible bristles associated with the distal brush applicator end, positioned along the distal lengthwise extent of the distal brush applicator end, and positioned adjacent at least one of the plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels to provide substantially uniform lengthwise distribution of the hair color mixture, and
• an extrusion channel closing valve positioned adjacent the open distal body end portion of the container to close the hair color mixture extrusion channels so that the hair color mixture within the inner container chamber is prevented from flowing out of the plurality of hair color mixture extrusion channels.

A method of providing a kit for coloring hair, the method comprising the steps of:

• manufacturing an apparatus for coloring hair including a single container having a medial body portion and an inner container chamber formed in the medial body portion for containing a first hair coloring solution and having an interior recess inwardly extending into the inner container chamber for containing a second hair coloring solution, the apparatus further including a plunger positioned adjacent and in contact with the second hair coloring solution and adapted to be used for applying pressure to the second hair coloring solution to mix the second hair coloring solution into the first hair coloring solution within the inner container chamber, a valve positioned within the inner container chamber in a surrounding relationship over a plurality of recess openings in the interior recess and responsive to a positive pressure on the plunger induced by a user to allow passage of the second hair coloring solution through the plurality of recess openings to allow the second hair coloring solution to mix with the first hair coloring solution in the inner container chamber to form a hair color mixture, and a hair color mixture dispenser connected to the container and including a brush applicator having a plurality of flexible bristles for applying the hair color mixture to the hair of the user and a rotatable closure cap to allow passage of the hair color mixture from within the inner container chamber of the container to the plurality of clusters of flexible bristles;
• and
• packaging the apparatus as a combined unit in a single package such that the user can open the package, read any instructions, press the plunger inwardly to mix the first and second hair coloring solutions, rotate the rotatable cap to allow passage of the hair color mixture, and squeeze outer surface regions of the medial body portion to produce a flow of the hair color mixture onto the hair of the user.