GB2226953A - Hand-held personal care devices - Google Patents

Abstract

The specification relates to hand-held personal care devices exemplified by hairdryers, massagers and shavers. A hairdryer (10) designed to be held in the manner of a brandy goblet, has a bulbous body (12) defining a first handle portion to be held in the palm of the hand, and a base (14) defining a second handle portion to overlie the back of the user's hand and fingers. The body (12) and the base (14) are connected by a stem (16) that is intended to pass between the user's fingers. <IMAGE>

Description

Hand-held Personal Care Devices This invention relates to hand-held personal care devices, including hairdryers, shavers, massagers and the like.

Numerous hand-held personal care devices are now available. These devices generally include a body which encloses power means such as a motor. The body has a head which is directed toward a subject in use. The term head includes features such as the air outlet of a hairdryer, the blades of a shaver, and the massaging fingers of a massager.

Personal care devices usually have a handle of some description. A specially-shaped part of the body may act as the handle or the handle may include a distinct member depending from the body in the manner of a pistol's handgrip. This pistol-like arrangement is particularly common in hairdryers.

Existing hand-held personal care devices suffer from several disadvantages. For instance, a user may have to hold the handle at an uncomfortable angle in order to direct the head of the device as desired. This causes particular difficulty in the case of hairdryers when the hairdryer is. used behind the user's head.

Moreover, the device can easily slip from a user's grasp.

An object of this invention ns on overcome or mitigate the disadvantages of existing hand-held personal care devices.

According to this invention, a hand-held personal care device includes first and second handle portions which are spaced apart from one another, and a stem which connects the first and second handle portions, wherein the device is arranged to be held in a user's hand in the manner of a brandy goblet with the stem passing between adjacent fingers.

It is preferred that the first handle portion is arranged to be held in the palm of the hand and that the second handle portion is arranged to overlie the back of the hand. Suitably, the first handle portion is also a body portion of the device.

Advantageously, the first and second handle portions are symmetrical about a common longitudinal axis. The first and second handle portions preferably have a substantially circular section taken across this axis.

In preferred embodiments, the device has a body with two opposed ends, a head being situated towards one end and the handle portions being situated towards the other end.

Embodiments and aspects of this invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hairdryer according to a preferred embodiment of this invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment; Figure 3 is a part-sectioned side view of the preferred embodiment; Figure 4 is an end view taken along arrow IV in Figure 2; Figure 5 is an end view taken along arrow V in Figure 2, and; Figure 6 shows a detail of the preferred embodiment, in partial cross-section.

Although this invention is applicable to a wide range of personal care devices, it is envisaged that the invention will bring particular benefits when applied to a hairdryer. Accordingly, this invention is described hereinafter with reference to a hairdryer although it will be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to hairdryers alone.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, in a preferred embodiment of this invention a hairdryer 10 is shaped like a goblet, having a bulbous body 12 and a disc-shaped base 14 connected by a stem 16. The body 12 and the base 14 each have a substantially circular cross-section. The stem 16 is suita6ly broader in one direction than in another transverse direction so as to encourage the user to grasp the hairdryer 10 in a particular way.

The shape and size of the hairdryer 10 are preferably similar to those of a brandy goblet, with a large body about 10 cm across and a short stem about 4cm long. Conveniently, the hairdryer 10 may be stood on its base 14 in the manner of a goblet when not in use although, unlike a goblet, the hairdryer may of course be used in any orientation.

The hairdryer 10 is suitably made of injection moulded plastics material.

The hairdryer 10 has a head in the form of an outlet opening 18 from which air is expelled in use.

The outlet opening 18 is situated in the end of the body opposite the base 14.

As shown in Figure 3, the body 12 houses a motor 20 which drives an impeller 22. The motor 20 is cylindrical in shape and is encircled by a heating element 24.

In use, rotation of the impeller 22 creates a region of low pressure within an annular inlet passage 26 upstream of the impeller. The inlet passage 26 communicates with inlet openings 28 provided in the side of the body 12. Air is drawn into the body 12 in use through the inlet openings 28, as a consequence of the low pressure within the inlet passage 26.

The inlet passage 26 is shaped such that3 once air enters the body through the inlet openings 28, the air is led as a flow towards the base end of the hairdryer 10. The flow of air is then turned through 180 degrees towards the head end of the hairdryer and, after passing the impeller 22, enters an annular outlet passage 30.

Outlet passage 30 lies substantially within the inlet passage 26 and encircles the motor 20. The heating element 24 is situated within the outlet passage 30 and air flows through the element to be heated if desired. After passing the heating element 24 the air is expelled from the body 12 through the outlet opening 18 as a continous stream to be directed towards a subject's hair.

In the illustrated embodiment, the inlet openings 28 take the form of a plurality of slots situated side by side in a band which extends completely around the broadest part of the body 12.

At the head end of the hairdryer 10, the outlet opening 18 is provided with a recessed safety grille 32 which prevents fingers from touching the heating element 24. Suitably, the head end of the hairdryer is also provided with a nozzle 34 for concentrating the stream of air from the outlet opening. The nozzle 34 may be an integral part of the body 12 but, in the preferred embodiment illustrated, the nozzle is a discrete, removable component.

The nozzle 34 illustrated has a tubular portion 36 which is shaped to fit closely within the wall 38 defining the outlet opening 18. The nozzle 34 is retained in position at the head end of the hairdryer 10 by means of an annular rib 40 on the tubular portion 36.

The rib is received within a shallow annular groove 42 provided in the wall 38 , so as to give a 'snap-fit' attachment.

As best shown in Figure 4, the nozzle 34 has an elongated outlet opening designed to concentrate the airflow in one direction. The nozzle 34 can be rotated through 360 degrees relative to the body 12 to direct the airflow as desired.

As will be clear, the nozzle 34 may readily be interchanged with other attachments such as a diffuser, a comb or a brush.

The hairdryer 10 is designed to be grasped in the manner of a brandy goblet, with the body 12 seated in the palm of a user's hand. The stem passes between the user's fingers and the base overlies the back of the user's hand and fingers.

The hairdryer 10 of this invention enjoys many advantages over known arrangements. Firstly, the hairdryer 10 can easily be picked up by a user because his or her fingers can readily pass around the stem, particularly when the hairdryer is stood in its upright position like a brandy goblet.

As will be clear, it is comfortable and natural to hold a device cupped isn the hand in the manner of a brandy goblet. Surprisingly, this arrangement has also been found to be extremely comfortable in use where the device is rarely, if ever, upright. Another advantage of this arrangement is that the head end can easily be pointed in the desired direction even when the hairdryer 10 is used to dry awkward places such as the back of the user's head. These advantages arise because the palm of the user's hand faces towards the head end, and therefore faces towards the subject, at all times when the hairdryer 10 is in use.

The arrangement of this invention is particularly advantageous where the user is drying his or her own hair, because it is natural and comfortable to have the palm of the hand facing towards oneself whether the hand is held adjacent the front, the back or the sides of the head. Indeed, this applies to whichever part of the body the device may be applied, and therefore the invention offers particular benefits when applied to massagers, shavers for the legs and the like.

The body 12 may be given a slightly rough-textured finish (by spark erosion for example) to improve the user's grip. The stem 16 may be gripped between the user's fingers and therefore also helps to prevent the hairdryer 10 slipping from the user's grasp.

Furthermore, the base 14 helps to prevent slipping because the base overlies the back of the user's hand and fingers. This helps to retain the hairdryer in the user's hand, even if the user relaxes his grip on the body 12.

The hairdryer 10 has rocker switches 44 for selecting on/off states, optional heat output levels, optional air flow speeds and the like. The switches 44 are situated on the body 12 for easy operation by a user's fingers when the hairdryer 10 is held as described above.

Another feature of the hairdryer 10 is a hanging loop 46 by means of which the hairdryer may be hung upon a hook for storage purposes. When not in use, the hanging loop 46 rests within a part-circular groove 48 provided in the base 14. When required, the hanging loop 46 is hinged away from its rest position in the groove 48, as shown in Figure 6. This operation is facilitated by a recess 50 provided in the base 14 to give access to the hanging loop 46 for a fingernail or the like.

The hanging loop 46 is suitably made of a soft plastic or rubber material, the resilience of which helps to retain the loop within the groove 48 when not in use. In an advantageous embodiment, the hanging loop 46 lies slightly proud of the base 14 when in the groove 48, and can therefore act as a non-slip mat when the hairdryer 10 is stood on its base.

The hairdryer of this invention may be battery powered and/or rechargeable but is preferably powered by mains electricity. To this end, the hairdryer 10 is provided with a power lead 52. The power lead 52 may enter the hairdryer 10 at any suitable location but preferably enters an edge of the base 14 through a stress-relieving guide'54. The power lead 52 extends radially from the base 14 and is positioned such that the lead lies along the back of a user's hand when the user holds the hairdryer 10 with his fingers adjacent the buttons 44.

Means may be provided for adjusting the hairdryer 10 to suit two or more different supply voltage levels.

Suitably, these means include a slot-headed switch 56 set into the base 14, for operation by a screwdriver, a fingernail, a small coin, a nailfile or the like.

It is envisaged that the power lead 48 can be wound around the stem 16 when not in use, for convenient storage.

In some embodiments of this invention, the length of the stem 16 may be adjustable to suit differentlysized hands.

It is preferred that the inlet openings 28 extend around the entire periphery of the body 12 as shown.

This arrangement ensures that the user's fingers cannot block all of the inlet openings 28 at once.

The location of the inlet openings 28 at the side of the body 12 can give rise to recirculation problems, because some heated air from the outlet opening 18 may be drawn back into the inlet openings and be heated over again. If significant recirculation occurs, the temperature of the hairdryer may rise to troublesome levels. The recirculastion problem may be overcome or mitigated by swirling the outlet air stream. For this purpose, in certain embodiments of this invention the outlet passage 30 may be provided with vanes 58. The vanes 58 are analogous to "rifling" within the barrel of a gun.

Claims (16)

1. A hand-held personal care device including first and second handle portions which are spaced apart from one another, and a stem connecting the first and second handle portions, wherein the device is arranged to be held in the manner of a brandy goblet with the stem passing between adjacent fingers.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the first handle portion is arranged to be held in the palm of the hand and the second handle portion is arranged to overlie the back of the hand and fingers.

3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first handle portion is a body portion of the device.

4. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the first and second handle portions, and the stem, are symmetrical about a common longitudinal axis.

5. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the stem is broader in one direction than in another, transverse direction.

6. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the first and second handle portions are of substantially circular cross-section.

7. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the handle portions are situated at one end of a body, the body having a head at an end opposite the handle portions.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein the body has one or more side-mounted inlet openings and one or more outlet openings at the head end.

9. A device according to claim 8, having an array of inlet openings extending around at least a substantial part of the side periphery of the body.

10. A device according to claim 8 or claim 9, having swirl vanes situated upstream of the or each outlet opening.

11. A device according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the head end carries a movable nozzle.

12. A device according to claim 11, wherein the nozzle is removable.

13. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein control means are positioned on or adjacent the first handle portion for operation by a user's fingers.

14. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the second handle portion is part of a base upon which the device may be stood.

15. A device according to claim 14, wherein the base incorporates a hanging loop that is foldable between stowed and deployed positions.

16. A device according to claim 15, wherein the hanging loop, when stowed, lies proud of the base surface to provide a non-slip mat upon which the device may be stood.