Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
  • A45D—HAIRDRESSING OR SHAVING EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT FOR COSMETICS OR COSMETIC TREATMENTS, e.g. FOR MANICURING OR PEDICURING
  • A45D20/00—Hair drying devices; Accessories therefor
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
  • A45D—HAIRDRESSING OR SHAVING EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT FOR COSMETICS OR COSMETIC TREATMENTS, e.g. FOR MANICURING OR PEDICURING
  • A45D20/00—Hair drying devices; Accessories therefor
  • A45D20/04—Hot-air producers
  • A45D20/08—Hot-air producers heated electrically
  • A45D20/10—Hand-held drying devices, e.g. air douches
  • A45D20/12—Details thereof or accessories therefor, e.g. nozzles, stands
  • A45D20/122—Diffusers, e.g. for variable air flow
  • A45D20/124—Diffusers, e.g. for variable air flow comprising rotating elements
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
  • A45D—HAIRDRESSING OR SHAVING EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT FOR COSMETICS OR COSMETIC TREATMENTS, e.g. FOR MANICURING OR PEDICURING
  • A45D20/00—Hair drying devices; Accessories therefor
  • A45D20/04—Hot-air producers
  • A45D20/08—Hot-air producers heated electrically
  • A45D20/10—Hand-held drying devices, e.g. air douches
  • A45D20/12—Details thereof or accessories therefor, e.g. nozzles, stands
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
  • A45D—HAIRDRESSING OR SHAVING EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT FOR COSMETICS OR COSMETIC TREATMENTS, e.g. FOR MANICURING OR PEDICURING
  • A45D20/00—Hair drying devices; Accessories therefor
  • A45D20/48—Hair-drying combs or hair-drying brushes, with internal heating means
  • A45D20/50—Hair-drying combs or hair-drying brushes, with internal heating means and provision for an air stream

Definitions

• the invention relates to hair dryers.
• the devices known up to now generally consist in drying the hair by sending air that is drawn and heated by means of a heating resistor.
• the device These accessories allow the hair to be dried while preparing it for the type of hairstyle provided, for example by waving it, giving it volume, etc.
• Accessories often have styling elements such as rigid bristles or fingers which come into contact with strands of wet hair and facilitate combing and separation of wet hair stuck together.
• the effectiveness of the drying operation depends to a large extent on the skill of the user in handling the device provided with the accessory, especially when it comes to drying hair quickly on their entire length or to give the hair all the desired volume.
• the drying and styling operation is more difficult due to the discomfort of the position of the arms.
• the invention aims to overcome these drawbacks by proposing an apparatus which facilitates and accelerates the drying of the hair and gives it volume without any particular action by the user.
• the invention therefore relates to an accessory integral with the blowing end of a hair dryer, this accessory being arranged to be traversed by the air sent to the outside of the hair dryer, and comprising elements intended to come into contact with the hair such as rigid hair or fingers.
• this accessory is characterized in that it includes vibrating means for vibrating said elements during the drying of the hair.
• vibrating means means imparting cyclic movement to the elements. It may for example be a vibration of very small amplitude on the order of the thickness of the element or of amplitude equal to several times this thickness. In addition, the frequency of this vibration can be very variable and for example visible or invisible to the naked eye.
• This movement of, rigid hair or fingers vibration facilitates their penetration into the hair and promotes detachment of hair still wet. It increases the exchange surface of the hair with the air, especially near the roots, which facilitates and accelerates drying and makes the hairstyle naturally swell without any particular action by the user.
• the drying apparatus can be held so as to bring the elements of the accessory into contact with the scalp by choosing for the blown air a suitable temperature.
• the vibration of the elements is transmitted to the scalp, which causes the massage of the latter.
• the vibrating means comprise a part mounted in rotation on an axis integral with a wall carrying the elements, this axis passing through points of the part other than its center of gravity, means being provided to rotate the part around the axis.
• the part is therefore mounted on an axis so as to have unbalance. During the rotation of the part, this imbalance generates a vibration of the wall supporting this axis, vibration which is transmitted to the aforementioned elements.
• the means for rotating the part may be internal to the accessory or to the device, and of different natures.
• the part is a free helix in rotation around the axis and being at least partially in the flow path of the blown air so as to be rotated by it .
• This version makes it possible to avoid providing the device or the accessory with specific means for rotating the part.
• the vibration of the elements corresponds to the operating phases of the heater.
• the invention also relates to an apparatus for drying hair, characterized in that it comprises an accessory according to the aforementioned invention.
• Figure 1 is an axial sectional elevation view of a hair dryer device provided with an accessory according to a first embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 2 is a view in axial section in elevation of part of a hair dryer device provided with an accessory according to the invention, the upper and lower halves of the figure respectively illustrating a second and a third mode of realization of the invention.
• FIGS. 3a and 3b are views in axial section in elevation of a part of a hair dryer device provided with an accessory according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 4 is an axial sectional elevation view of a hair dryer with an accessory according to a fifth embodiment of the invention.
• Figures 5a and 5b are views in axial section of a sixth embodiment respectively along the planes a-a and b-b of Figures 5b and 5a.
• Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention.
• the hair dryer 1 comprises a grip handle 2 secured to the body 3 of the appliance.
• the apparatus conventionally comprises a grid 4 for entering the outside air, a propeller 5 for propelling the outside air into the body 3, a motor 6 for driving the propeller 5 in rotation and a heating resistor 7 for heating the air propelled by the propeller 5.
• the heated air is directed towards the blowing end 8 of the appliance.
• a button 17 controls the starting of the motor 6.
• the means for regulating the temperature of the supply air have not been shown and are conventional.
• the end 8 is provided with a removable accessory 9 integral with the latter.
• the accessory 9 is arranged to be traversed by the air sent to the outside of the apparatus 1 in order to dry the hair.
• the accessory 9 has a general shape flaring from the blowing end 8 and limited on the opposite side by a wall 10. It has on the wall 10 elements intended to come into contact with the hair such as rigid bristles 11 or fingers 12. This configuration of an accessory is known.
• the accessory 9 comprises vibrating means for vibrating the elements 11, 12 during the drying of the hair.
• the vibrating means here comprise a part 13 rotatably mounted on an axis 14 integral with the wall 10 carrying the elements 11, 12, means being provided to put the part 13 in rotation around the axis 14.
• the axis 14 passes by points of the part 13 other than its center of gravity so that the part 13 is not balanced on the axis 14. Such an arrangement can be obtained by arranging the axis 14 without passing through the center of the part 13, or alternatively by confusing the axis 14 with this geometrical axis and by fixing a load on one side of the part 13.
• the part 13 is a free helix rotating around the axis 14 and disposed on the side of the wall 10 facing the body 3.
• the axis 14 is parallel to the direction of air flow and is located substantially in the center of this flow, in alignment with the axis 19.
• the propeller 13 is therefore in the flow path of the blown air in order to be rotated by it.
• the propeller could be located only partially in this flow path so as to be rotated by the blown air.
• the propeller 13 can be made of plastic or metal for example.
• the wall 10 carrying the propeller 13 is connected to the body 3 of the device by a wall 15 made of a vibration absorbing material, for example an elastomer.
• the wall 10 has orifices 16 for the outlet of the blown air.
• the device which has just been described operates in the following manner.
• the user actuates the button 17 to start the motor 6.
• the propelled air is heated by the resistor 7 and arrives at the end 8 carrying the accessory 9 as indicated by the arrows 20.
• the air propelled parallel to the axis 14 carrying the propeller 13 rotates the latter.
• the imbalance of the propeller 13 produces a vibration in the axis 14 then the wall 10. This vibration is transmitted to the bristles 11 and to the fingers 12 which imparts to them a cyclic movement substantially orthogonal to the axis 19.
• the user When drying the hair, the user applies the accessory 9 to the hair.
• the bristles 11 and the vibrating fingers 12 penetrate the hair and facilitate the separation of the hair and its drying over the entire length.
• the vibrating elements 11, 12 cause the scalp to massage when the accessory is gently pressed against the head, a suitable temperature being then chosen for the heated air.
• the wall 15 absorbs the vibrations which pass through the wall 10 so that no vibration is transmitted to the body 3 and to the handle 2.
• the upper half of Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of the invention.
• the wall 21 which connects the accessory to the body 3 is a rigid wall, for example made of plastic.
• the wall 10 carrying the propeller 13 is connected to the wall 21 by a flexible wall 22 which joins the walls 10 and 21.
• the flexible wall 22, made of rubber or of suitable plastic, constitutes for example a bellows.
• the wall 22 curls or undulates and thus absorbs the vibrations of the wall 10, preventing their transmission to the body 3.
• the flexible wall 22 is replaced by elastic damping means constituted for example by helical springs 23 or rods made of a vibration-absorbing material, arranged on the periphery of the wall 10 and connecting the latter to the wall 21.
• the wall 10 is arranged so as to be sufficiently distant from the wall 21 so as not to strike the latter while vibrating.
• the damping means 23 absorb the vibrations of the wall 10 and prevent their transmission to the body 3.
• Figures 3a and 3b show a fourth embodiment of the invention.
• the wall 30 which carries the elements 11, 12 and the propeller 13, is a continuous flexible wall, for example made of elastomer. It is held by a rigid circular frame 31 which is connected to the rigid wall 21 by several spokes 32 distributed around the periphery of the frame 31. Thus the wall 30 is connected discontinuously by its edge to the wall 21 so that the air can flow on the periphery of this wall 30, between the frame 31 and the wall 21, between the spokes 32.
• Figure 3b shows the device during operation.
• the air arriving from the body 3 causes the rotation of the propeller 13.
• the wall being flexible, the imbalance of the propeller 13 causes the rotation of the axis 14 substantially around the axis 19 of the device and the deformation of the wall 30 which undulates and curls.
• the inclination of the axis 14 and the deformation of the wall 30 have been deliberately exaggerated in FIG. 3b.
• the elements 11, 12 have a substantially cone-shaped trajectory.
• the volume or swelling given to the hair is increased by this embodiment as well as the massage effect.
• the flexible wall 30 has openings for the passage of air.
• FIG. 4 shows a fifth embodiment of the invention which constitutes another variant of the previous mode.
• the axis 14 of the propeller 13 is extended in the direction of the body 3 so that the propeller 13 is distant from the wall 30.
• the accessory comprises ring-forming means, fixed relative to a rigid part of the accessory, here the wall 21, and spaced from the flexible wall 30 in the direction of flow.
• the ring thus produced has its center substantially on the axis 14 and has a diameter substantially greater than the diameter of this axis and substantially less than the diameter of the propeller 13.
• the ring-forming means comprise a slightly curved rigid circular plate 35 extending between the propeller 13 and the wall 30 and fixed by its edge to the frame 31.
• the plate 35 has in its center a circular opening 36 for the passage of the axis 14. This opening has a diameter substantially larger than that of the axis 14.
• the accessory also comprises means for preventing significant movement of the propeller 13 in its axial direction in the direction opposite to the ring means.
• These means here include a ring 37 having axis 1'axe 14, fixed to the wall 30 and extending in the direction of the plate 35 to the vicinity thereof.
• the internal diameter of the crown 37 is substantially greater than the diameter of the axis 14.
• the wall 30 is deformed as in the previous mode.
• the plate 37 limits the lateral movement of the propeller 13 and the axis 14, the latter abutting against the edge of the opening 36.
• crown 37 maintains a minimum distance between the plate 35 and the wall 30 because, in the absence of crown 37 or similar means, the propeller
• the configuration of the plate 35 and of the crown 37 make it possible to choose the amplitude of the movement of the elements 11, 12.
• a sixth embodiment is shown in Figures 5a and 5b.
• the device 40 is here a styling brush with axis 41 and of generally cylindrical or prismatic shape, which in particular makes it possible to dry and style the locks of hair. in isolation from each other.
• the propeller 42 driven by the motor 43 propels the air towards the resistor 44.
• the vibrating means comprise a propeller which is here an impeller 45 whose geometric axis is orthogonal to the direction of the 'flow.
• the propeller 45 is mounted in rotation about an axis 46 in order to be unbalanced on this axis as in the previous modes.
• the accessory 48 of the apparatus has fingers 49 on either side of an orifice 50 for the outlet of the blown air.
• the fingers are oriented in a direction orthogonal to the axis 41.
• the air causes the propeller 45 to rotate, which generates vibrations in the fingers 49 as in the previous modes.
• a bellows 52 made of a vibration absorbing membrane prevents the transmission of these vibrations to the part 53 of the device which includes the handle.
• the invention relates to hair dryers but it can also be applied to other fields.
• the invention can advantageously use
• the invention finds its industrial application in the production of accessories for hair dryers.

Landscapes

• Cleaning And Drying Hair (AREA)
• Hair Curling (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=9454609

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (12)

Families Citing this family (40)

Family Cites Families (13)

• 1993
  • 1993-12-30 FR FR9315919A patent/FR2714580B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1994
  • 1994-12-27 PT PT95905173T patent/PT687151E/pt unknown
  • 1994-12-27 KR KR1019950703667A patent/KR960700648A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 1994-12-27 CN CN94191339A patent/CN1047726C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-12-27 CA CA002156263A patent/CA2156263C/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-12-27 WO PCT/FR1994/001537 patent/WO1995017836A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 1994-12-27 US US08/505,344 patent/US5671547A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-12-27 JP JP7517819A patent/JPH08507246A/ja not_active Ceased
  • 1994-12-27 DE DE69431712T patent/DE69431712T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-12-27 ES ES95905173T patent/ES2187548T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-12-27 EP EP95905173A patent/EP0687151B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-12-27 DK DK95905173T patent/DK0687151T3/da active

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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