GB2232588A

GB2232588A - Hair styling apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2232588A
Application number: GB9009317A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Macdonald Fursdon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-04-26
Filing date: 1990-04-25
Publication date: 1990-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 2010-04-25
Also published as: GB8909535D0; GB9009317D0; GB2232588B

Abstract

Hair styling apparatus (2) comprises support means (6, 8) for supporting hair to be styled, vacuum means (10) for providing a vacuum at the support means (6, 8) whereby the hair is sucked against the support means (6, 8) and is held by the suction in position against the support means (6, 8), and heater means (12) for enabling the wet hair to be dried whilst it is held in position against the support means (6, 8) whereby the hair is dried in a style determined by the support means (6, 8). <IMAGE>

Description

HAIR STYLING APPARATUS This invention relates to hair styling apparatus.

Persons style their hair in order that they will present a neat and/or attractive appearance. Hair styling is carried out in the home and in salons. Irrespective of whether the hair styling is carried out in the home or in salons, considerable time is usually required in effecting the required hair style. In the home, after washing, the hair is often turned around a curling brush whilst a hand dryer provides a stream of warm air for drying the hair. When the hair is dry, it generally holds the form that it took around the curling brush, less the many strands that were on the perimeter of the curling brush and that were not held in position. Alternatively, the hair may be styled with rollers and clips, the hair then being covered with a net to hold it in position whilst a hand dryer is employed.In addition to being time consuming, both of these home styling methods require quite a lot of skill. In salons, the hair is usually washed and it may then be wrapped around rollers of various sizes or nets may be placed over the hair to encase it, whereupon the person sits with their head under a large dome which blows warm air around the head, thereby drying the hair to the shape that it has been formed into by the roller or net: attachment.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide hair styling apparatus which can be used in the home or in salons and which may be used to simplify the styling of hair whilst also saving on the time required for the hair styling.

Accordingly, this invention provides hair styling apparatus comprising support means for supporting hair to be styled, vacuum means for providing a vacuum at the support means whereby the hair is sucked against the support means and is held by the suction in position against the support means, and heater means for enabling wet hair to be dried whilst it is held in position against the support means whereby the hair is dried in a style determined by the support means.

The support means may have at least one concave portion for forming the hair into waves and/or curls.

The support means may have at least one substantially flat portion for forming the hair into straight portions.

Usually, the support means will have both at least one concave portion and at least one substantially flat portion but, if desired, the support means may only have at least one concave portion or at least one substantially flat portion. The substantially flat portions may have a gentle curved shape.

The support means may have a plurality of vacuum ducts whereby air can be sucked from the support means.

The support means may have a plurality of hot air ducts for providing heated air to the support means for enabling the wet hair to be dried. Alternatively, the hair styling apparatus may have heating elements for heating part of the hair styling apparatus in contact with the hair, thereby avoiding the need for separate hot air ducts.

The hair styling apparatus may include valve means for enabling the heated air to be supplied for conventional blow drying purposes without the application of the vacuum.

The hair styling apparatus may include steam generating means for providing a supply of steam for damping dry hair for styling purposes. With the use of the steam generating means, it will then not be necessary to completely wet the hair prior to styling using the hair styling apparatus of the present invention and it will be simple to restyle any part of a completed hair style without disturbing the rest.

The hair styling apparatus may be a hand held apparatus. With the hand held apparatus, all the equipment required for the hair styling apparatus including the support means, the vacuum means and the heater means may be housed in a single hand held unit. Alternatively, the support means can be arranged to be in a hand held unit whilst the vacuum means and/or the heater means may be separate from the hand held unit. The hand held unit may be used in the home or in salons.

The hair styling apparatus may also be in the form of a hood mainly for use in salons. In this case, the hair styling apparatus will usually be floor mounted hair styling apparatus.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows first hair styling apparatus; Figure 2 shows second hair styling apparatus; Figures 3 and 4 are respectively cross sectional and underneath views illustrating the general principle of operation of the hair styling apparatus as shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 5 shows third hair styling apparatus; Figure 6 shows fourth hair styling apparatus; Figure 7 is an enlarged section of part of the hair styling apparatus shown in Figure 6; Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of part of the hair styling apparatus shown in Figure 6; Figure 9 shows part of fifth hair styling apparatus; and Figure 10 shows sixth hair styling apparatus.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown hair styling apparatus 2 comprising a styling head 4 having support means in the form of a concave portion 6 and a substantially flat portion 8. The concave portion 6 and the flat portion 8 are for supporting hair to be styled. More specifically, the concave portion 6 will support hair such that the hair can be formed into waves and/or curls. The flat portion 8 will support hair for forming the hair into straight portions.

The apparatus 2 further comprises vacuum means 10, for example an electric fan motor, for providing a vacuum at the concave portion 6 and the flat portion 8. Thus hair to be styled is sucked by the vacuum means 10 against the concave portion 6 or the flat portion 8 as desired and the hair is held by the suction in position against the concave portion 6 or the flat portion 8. The vacuum means may be any motor providing a suction and it will be apparent that a suction effect rather than a complete vacuum is required to hold the hair in position. Thus the vacuum means 10 may be regarded as suction means.

The apparatus 2 further comprises heater means 12, for example heating elements, for enabling wet hair to be dried whilst it is held in position against the concave portion 6 or the flat portion 8.

Thus the hair can be dried in a style determined by the shape of the portions 6,8.

The vacuum means 10 and the heater means 12 are housed in a housing 14 which extends into a handle 16. The handle 16 is provided with a mains on/off switch 18. The apparatus 2 is hand held and hand operated and it is mains powered via a cable 20.

An on/off switch 22 is provided for switching the heat on and off. A valve device 24 is provided for directing the suction and the hot air to one or both of the portions 6,8. Air is vented to the atmosphere via an air vent 26.

Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown hair styling apparatus 28 having a hood 30. A suction is applied inside the hood via a vacuum pipe 32. The hood 30 has its inside provided with concave wave forming portions 34. Warm air vents 36 are provided and also vacuum vents 38 are also provided as shown. Warm air vents 36 and vacuum vents 38 are also shown provided in Figure 1. The hood 30 may be fitted with various types of portions 34 to form any combination of waves or curves as may be desired. Vacuum and warm air manifolds may be self connecting or they may be manually hooked up by external means.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the principle by means of which air is sucked from the apparatus 2 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 whilst hot air is supplied to the wet hair to dry it in a required style. As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, there is shown part of hair styling apparatus which can be the apparatus 2 or the apparatus 28. The hair styling apparatus has a hot air manifold 40 and a vacuum manifold 42. Perforated sheet material 43 (or a permeable filter) is provided against which the hair is pulled by the vacuum in the vacuum manifold 42. The hot air manifold 40 communicates with hot air supply ducts 46. The ducts 46 may be more frequent than shown as long as the rate of the vacuum extraction exceeds the hot air supply. Generally, the unit shown in Figure 3 may have a curvature from flat to horseshoe and of any radius and any size.If desired, the apparatus 2 can have convex portions 6 instead of concave portions 6.

Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown third hair styling apparatus 48 which has a hair styling head 50 similar to that shown in Figure 1. Similar parts as in Figure 1 have been given to same reference numerals for ease of comparison and understanding. The apparatus 48, instead of being substantially self contained as the apparatus 2 shown in Figure 1, is such that the handle 16 communicates with twin flexible lightweight air hose 52 having two ducts 54,56. Qle duct can act as the vacuum duct whilst the other duct can act as the hot air duct.

The necessary suction/vacuum and the necessary hot air are provided by a floor standing motor unit 58. The motor unit 58 is provided with castors 60 so that it is easily movable. The apparatus 48 is more for use in a hairdressing salon, whereas the apparatus 2 shown in Figure 1 is more for use in the home.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 show fourth hair styling apparatus 62. The apparatus 62 has a hood 64 which is made up of a framework 66 able to hold different segments 68 in position. The hood 64 has hot air vents 70 and vacuum ducts 72. As can be seen from Figure 7, spaces 74 occur between the segments 68 to allow the segments 68 to be inserted into the framework 66. The hood 64 is covered by a thin plastics dome 76 which covers the framework 66 and locks the segments 68 in position. The dome 76 is provided with connection means 78 for connecting to a vacuum pipe 80 and a warm air supply pipe.

Referring especially to Figure 8, there is shown a segement with a wave formation 82.The wave formation may be positioned anywhere as may be desired and appropriate in the segments 68. Also, by varying the position of the segments 68 shown in Figure 8 in the framework 66 it will be apparent that waves can be formed ina personas hair at desired positions, or linked to form a long wave where desired.

Referring now to Figure 9, there is shown part of fifth hair styling apparatus 84 in which segments 68 have lugs 86 to assist in the removal of the segments.from inside the framework 66. This is as opposed two being fitted from the outside of the framework 66 under the dome.

The framework 66 has locking lugs 88 into which the segments 68 are push fit to form the required hair style.

Figure 9 also shows a vacuum manifold 42 and a dome 76.

Generally, the illustrated different types of hair styling apparatus 2, 28, 48, 62, 84 use vacuum or suction power to lift strands of hair against a perforated plate or filter material, thus holding the hair : firmly in position against the plate whilst the vacuum remains switched on. The perforated plate may be provided with the perforations or holes by any desired and appropriate means.

The perforated plate may be of any desired shape from-flat to convex to concave and it may be in any combination of these shapes. With the hair held in position by the suction, a valve may then be opened to supply hot air to a series of holes which surround the perforated plate or which form an integral part of the perforated plate. The hot air at an appropriate hair drying temperature is then sucked past the hair strands on its way to the vacuum perforations. This has the effect of drying the hair by normal evaporation but, because the hair strands cannot blow about, they will set in the desired style without further attention.

In use of the hair styling apparatus of the present invention, if it is desired to form the hair into a wave along a parting, for example, it is only necessary to position one edge of the U-shaped vacuum forming head shown in Figure 1 into the hair parting and to switch on the vacuum valve. The vacuum will then draw the hair strands up into the U-shape and the vacuum will hold the hair strands firmly in position. When the heat valve is opened, warm air then passes into the U-shaped wave forming head.

The warm air is then drawn out by the vacuum along with the moisture in the hair so that the hair is dried to the U-shape.

It will thus be seen that the hair can be styled with one hand in a very short time, and without the need for curlers, clips, brushes or net. Where a section of hair does not require curling or waving, the large substantially flat portion 8 (which may be gently curved if desired) may be used to give a smooth dried even finish simply by drawing the portion 8 slowly over the area of the hair to be dried, in a direction away from the hair root. The hair styling apparatus of the present invention thus allows the hair to be dried with precision and without having the hair blown everywhere as usually occurs with current hair drying blowers.

As was mentioned above, the vacuum power and air will normally be supplied to the various styling heads by an integral electric motor driving suitable fans or rotors, whilst the warm air and any steam required to be generated may be the product of suitable heating elements. In portable hair styling apparatus such for example as shown in Figure 1, the fan motor, heating elements and styling vacuum heads may be in one unit of a similar size and weight to current hair dryers. In larger salons-type models, the vacuum segments may be assembled together in any combination to form waves, curls, other shapes or smooth sections as required.

Several sections may be assembled by slotting together to make up a larger section or a complete head unit. The segments will usually all communicate with a single vacuum manifold. Salon-type models of the hair styling apparatus will usually have floor mounted movable motor units such as the motor unit 58 shown in Figure 5. Generally, with the use of a hood, such as the hood 30 shown in Figure 2, a complete wet head of hair may be dried and styled without any preparation other than oombing the hair all flat. The hood 30 would then suck the hair up into the required shape and would apply hot air to dry the hair and thus set it in the required shape.A person requiring the same style each day could therefore order a salon to make up a custom-made hood to give them an identical style each morning without any outside help.

By using automotive-type air filter materials, it may be possible to pre-form complete hair styles into one full size hood insert. These could be bought preformed in any style and simply pressed into a purpose made hood.

Being cheap, they could be disposable if desired.

The hair styling apparatus, and especially the hair styling apparatus when designed for use in salons, will preferably be such that any motors employed are heavy duty quiet motors.

Referring now to Figure 10, there is shown hair styling apparatus 90 comprising support means 92 for supporting hair to be styled. The support means 92 has apertures 94 through which warm air is sucked, via a person's hair. The apparatus 2 further comprises vacuum means 96 for providing a vacuum at the support means 92 for sucking the warm air through the apertures 94. The vacuum means 96 comprises a vacuum fan 98 which is powered by an electric motor 100. The motor 100 also powers a warm air fan 102.

The vacuum fan 98, the motor 100 and the warm air fan 102 operates as shown in a hood-shaped housing 104.

The housing 104 has an outer wall 106 and an inner wall 108 defining a duct 110 in which the warm air fan 102 operates. The outer wall 106 has an air intake 112. The air intake 112 may be a grill (not shown).

During operation of the apparatus 90, air is sucked by the warm air fan 102 through the air intake 112, The air passes in the direction of arrows 114 over heater means in the form of heating elements 116.

The air thus becomes heated and warm air leaves the duct 102 at outlet 118 and is then sucked in the direction of arrows 120 through the apertures 94. The air then is exhausted through exhausts 122, this air being sucked through the exhausts 122 by the vacuum fan 98, The apparatus 90 may be switched on and off by a switch 124. The apparatus 90 may be hand held or floor mounted via a portion 126.

Figure 10 shows an alternative support means 128, this support means 128 being an alternative shape to the illustrated shape of the support means 92 if desired.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus1 for example, a valve may be fitted to enable the hot air to emit from a manifold for conventional blow drying, without the vacuum if this should be desired. Also, an additional device may be incorporated into the hair tying apparatus to provide a small amount of steam which can be injected into the hot air supply or wherever else that may be desirable and suitable. With such steam, it will be possible to flatten existing curls or to curl existing flat portions of hair in an already dried and completed head of hair very quickly and easily. The use of the steam may avoid the need for a person to keep having to wet or wash his or her hair. Further, instead of blowing in hot air for air drying purposes, heating elements may be provided in the hood 30 or, if desired, in the concave portion 6 or the flat portion 8. Thus one of the hoses 54 or 56 as shown in Figure 5 would then be replaced by an electrical supply flex. IS desired, the vacuum motor may be built into the hood 30 with the hood 30 being stand mounted to take the weight of the hood 30.

If desired, the hot air may be supplied to a separate ring or loop pipe/manifold which is rested on a person's shoulders and not connected to the hood. The hood would then have a vacuum supply only connected, and it would suck the warm air in through the hair from the outside loop.

Claims

1. Hair styling apparatus comprising support means for supporting hair to be styled, vacuum means for providing a vacuum at the support means whereby the hair is sucked against the support means and is held by the suction in position against the support means, and heater means for enabling wet hair to be dried whilst it is held in position against the support means whereby the hair is dried in a style determined by the support means.

2. Hair styling apparatus according to claim 1 in which the support means has at least one concave portion for forming the hair into waves and/or curls.

3. Hair styling apparatus according to claim I or claim 2 in which the support means has at least one substantially flat portion for forming the hair into straight portions.

4. Hair styling apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which the support means has a plurality of vacuum ducts whereby air can be sucked from the support means.

5. Hair styling apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which the support means has a plurality of hot air ducts for providing heated hair to the support means for enabling the wet hair to be dried.

6. Hair styling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 - 4 and including heated elements for heating part of the hair styling apparatus in contact with the hair.

7. Hair styling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 - 5 and including valve means for enabling the heated air to be supplied for conventional blow drying purposes without the application of the vacuum.

8. Hair styling apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims and including steam generating means for providing a supply of steam for damping dry hair for styling purposes.

9. Hair styling apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims and which is hand held apparatus.

10. Hair styling apparatus according to any one of claims I - 8 and which is floor mounted hair styling apparatus.

Hair styling apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.