Case for a comb
[451 Apr. s, 1975 Primary E.\&#39;aminerG. E. McNeilI Attorney, Agent, or FirmMillen Raptes &amp; White [57] ABSTRACT This invention relates to a novel case for a comb with which all the dandruff or dirt left on the comb can be readily disposed. Said case comprises a handle portion and a container portion for storing a comb and having at its lower part a set of teeth corresponding to the comb dents such that each of the teeth can be tightly fitted into the individual gap between two adjacent comb dents and each of the comb dents can in return be tightly engaged into the individual gap between two adjacent teeth, whereby upon moving the comb dents with respect to the teeth, all the dandruff and dirt left in the dent gaps are repelled by the teeth to the tips thereof and thereby are readily erased off.  
 CASE FOR A COMB Inventor: Lung Shin Yang, No. 187  
 Lu-Kuang. 6th Village, Chung-Li. Tao-Yuan Hsien,Taiwan Filed: Nov. 8, 1973 Appl. No.: 413,774  
 US. Cl. l32/ll9 Int. A45d 24/42 Field of Search.................... l32/l 19, 109-112,  
 l32/123, 125, I43, HO  
 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS United States Patent Yang l32/ll9 Rainville.......,.,......... l32/l43 132/143 l,3l9,l44 lU/l9l9 Duede.............,.....  
 2,l 10.294 3/1938 Gessner 2,260,093 l(l/ l 94] 2 M8 276 ll/l9 2 Hamparson et PATENTEBAPR 8191s SHEET 1 [if 2 F/G.3 FIG.4 F/G.5  
 PATENTEDAPR&#39; alsrs FIG. 6  
 P- HHliHHHHHHHHMHIHHHHHHHWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH1% ZJJVM/A FIG. 8  
 CASE FOR A COMB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The greatest difficulty encountered in using a comb is that it is very difficult to clean the dandruff and dirt left in the gaps between the comb dents. Cleaning it tooth by tooth or cleansing it with water is very tiresome and inconvenient.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a method for removing dandruff and dirt left in the dent gaps of a comb and a novel comb case adapted for that purpose. Said case is used in combination with the comb and functions as a container for storing the comb as well as a means for removing all the dandruff and dirt left thereon.  
  The novel case of the present invention comprises a solid handle portion for handling the comb and a hollow container portion for containing the comb. The lower part of said container portion forms into a row of teeth corresponding to the comb dents such that when the comb is stored unused in the case. the comb dents and the container teeth are inter-spaced by each other and their tips stay on the same level. When the comb is pressed down to have its dents protruded from the case. the dents assume a usable position. After use, push the comb dents back into the case. and upoiLthis movement the dandruff and dirt left in the dent gaps are repelled by the container teeth to the tips thereof and thereby are readily erased off.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I shows a front view of a conventional comb;  
  FIG. 2 shows a front view of a comb case according to the present invention;  
  FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the case taken from line A-A of FIG. 2;  
  FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the case taken from line 8-8 of FIG. 2;  
  FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the case taken from line C-C of FIG. 2;  
  FIG. 6 is a top view of the comb case shown in FIG.  
  FIG. 7 is a front view of the comb case of FIG. 2 with the comb of FIG. I stored therein; and  
  FIG. 8 is a front view of the comb and the case in usable position.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a conventional comb I having a set of longer dents II which have tapered end tips 12.  
  A preferred embodiment of a novel comb case according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 2. Said case 2 comprises a solid handle portion 21 having a cross section as shown in FIG. 3 and a hollow container portion 22 having two different kinds of cross sections as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper part of the container portion forms a sink while the lower part of the container portion forms into a row of teeth 23. Said lower part of the container portion has two different kinds of constructions. one is shown in FIG. 4 and the other is shown in FIG. 5.  
  FIG. 4 shows a sectional view taken from line BB of FIG. 2, i.e.. from a line passing through the protruding teeth 23. This section comprises a hollow main portion 231 and a tapered solid lower portion 232. The junction of said two portions being at a level designated by HI. FIG. 5 shows another sectional view taken from line C-C of FIG. 2, Le, from a line passing through the gaps 24 between two adjacent teeth 23. This section has a hollow passage 24] formed therein, allowing a comb dent to pass therethrough. As shown in FIG. 5, the lowest limit of this section is at a level designated by H2.  
  The top view of the case of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 6.  
  Now, refer to FIG. 7 where shows the case according to the present invention with a comb of FIG. 1 stored therein. The lower teeth portion of the case 2 is so designed that when the comb l is stored in the hollow container portion of the case, the comb dents II can be tightly engaged into the individual hollow passage 241 (see FIG. 5) yet still allow the comb dents to pass therethrough. As shown in FIG. 7, when the comb is staying unused in the case, only the comb dents protruding downward below the level H2 and the comb standing above the sink part of the container portion are visible, with the comb dents and the tapered teeth interspaced. Also, the whole outline of the comb-case assembly is a regular rectangular thus is very compact, good-looking and readily portable.  
  When in use, one may just press down the back of the comb exposing above the sink of the container portion to have the comb dents passed through the hollow passage 241 and protruded downward until the upper extremity of the dent gaps are stopped at level H] by the tapered solid teeth portion 232 (see FIG. 4), as shown in FIG. 8. and thereby assume a usable position. After use, push the protruding comb dents back into the case during which all the dandruff or dirt retained in the dent gaps can be scraped by the tips of the tapered solid teeth 232 and collected thereon. When the comb restores to its original position as shown in FIG. 7, all of the dandruff and dirt collected on the tips may be readily erased off, simply by using tissue or toilet paper or the like.  
  It is imperative that the case teeth be of exactly the same shape as that of the comb dents so as to ensure that when they are moving with respect to each other until all the dent gaps of the comb or all the teeth gaps of the case are completely filled by the corresponding teeth or dents respectively, all the dandruff and dirt in the dent gaps are surely repelled to the tips where they can be readily removed off.  
  One of the most important feature of the present invention is that the tapered portion 232 of the teeth 23 becomes an auxiliary cleaning means to the comb dents in combing the hair. because all the dandruff and dirt on the hairs that pass through this portion are now retained there and finally erased off.  
  It is to be noted that the width of the hollow passages 24] is so designed that by pushing the comb. the comb dents can just&#34; pass therethrough. yet while combing the hair. the comb dents are so tightly clamped that they are prevented from retracting back into the case. Similarly, the tapered teeth 23 of the case should be also tightly engaged into the dent gaps of the comb so as to ensure complete removing of the dandruff and dirt left in the dent gaps. Besides, since thus formed gaps between the comb dents and the case teeth are so small, no hair would be caught therein during combing operation. These requirements are necessary in order to make the present invention a practical and feasible one. Also, all of these requirements have been achieved by the present invention Though the invention has been explained with reference to one embodiment thereof as described above. it should be appreciated that various changes and modifcations are still possible. For example, in another possible embodiment, the handle of the comb may be formed integrally with the comb dents and a separate cleaning tool substantially of the same construction as the lower teeth portion of the case as described above and having a set of teeth each of which can be tightly engaged into the individual dent gaps is normally located at the upper part of the comb dents and when necessary by pushing said tool downward one can also repel the dandruff and dirt existing in the dent gaps to the tips and thereby remove it off.  
 What is claimed is:  
  l. A method for cleaning comb dents comprising disposing said comb and dents in a cleaning means containing a row of alternating teeth means identical in shape to said dents and open gap means whereby said dents are snugly engaged on all sides thereof in said open gap means between said teeth means, moving said comb dents relative to said gap means whereby any material adhered on said dents is moved towards the ends of said dents.  
  2. A comb and case for storing and cleaning said comb; said case comprising a handle portion, an elongated hollow comb container portion open at its top portion and at its bottom portion containing a row of alternating open gap means which communicate with said container portion and teeth means which extend below said open gap means; said comb movable to an extended combing position and storable within said container portion whereby the dents thereof extend into said gap means and adjacent said teeth means and are snugly engaged within said gap means on all sides thereof in the stored and extended positions; said teeth means and said dents forming a continuous surface and bottom portion in the stored position of said comb in said case; said dents adapted to be passed through said open gap means to a suitable distance out of the bottom portion of said case for purposes of combing hair; whereby when said dents are withdrawn through said gap means back into said case into the stored position, any material adhered on said dents from combing operations will be removed from all sides of said dents thereby cleaning said dents.  
  3. The comb and case of claim 2 wherein said teeth means of said container bottom and said comb dents are tapered at their respective ends and identical in shape.