JPH05329021A - Portable electrically-driven hair curler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a handy electric hair curler that has a diameter considerably smaller than that of hair curler by the prior art and is capable of sending sufficient warm dried air flow to hair. CONSTITUTION: This handy electric hair curler has s diameter adjustable barrel 2 for sending warm air to hair so as to form curls with various diameters. The barrel 2 comprises plural barrel elements 3 capable of moving in the outward/inward radial direction to expand/contract the barrel. The barrel elements 3 are mutually over lapped on contraction but is made to flow air from the inner part of the barrel 3 to hair through a hole 3d without being interfered.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention is a handheld electric hair curler of the type having a holding handle and a barrel extending from said handle for wrapping hair to be curled outwards,
The barrel is hollow so that fluid can flow along it, and the barrel is provided with holes that allow the fluid to flow out towards the hair, which barrel forms curls of various diameters. To a hair curler whose diameter is adjustable between a fully expanded state and a fully contracted state.

Hubner DE-A-2528822 and the same Hubner
DE-A-2529016 (the latter is an additional patent application of the former) together describes a hair curler of the above type. Hubner
Describes a hair curler that uses steam as a fluid. The barrel consists of a hollow hollow cylinder of constant diameter and a plurality of semi-circular segments pivotally connected to its outside. By rotating these segments together, the diameter of the barrel can be increased, and by rotating them inward, the diameter of the barrel can be decreased.

Hubner hair curlers have many drawbacks. First, the Hubner barrel still has a large diameter when fully contracted. This large diameter comes from its construction, especially because the barrel consists of a segment fixed to the outside of the cylinder. The minimum barrel diameter is stated to be 20 mm, which is at the upper end of the desired curl diameter range. Second, Hubn
The hair curler of er is designed to apply a small amount of small pressure steam to the hair. In particular, in Hubner's hair curlers, fluid exits from the inside of the cylinder through a set of holes to the region between the cylinder and the segment, and then out through another set of holes. It may not be suitable for use in exposing hair to a significant amount of a stream of warm, dry air for drying and styling because it must flow along a detoured path, such as towards the hair. The two sets of holes are generally not aligned with each other. Finally, Hubner's proposed hair curl would have the problem of condensation, where water droplets fall from the hair curl onto the hair.

Barradas US-A-3921648 also describes a hair curler of the above type. This hair curla is a steam curl iron. The barrel consists of a perforated hollow central cylinder and an elastic stainless steel expandable perforated mandrel mounted on its outside. Barrad
The as hair curler has the same drawbacks as the Hubner hair curler, which is large in diameter when fully shrunk due to the two-layer construction, and a lot of warmth due to the roundabout path through two unmatched holes. It has the drawback of causing condensation, which is unsuitable for flushing dry air, causing water droplets to drop on the hair.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fully contracted state.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved type of hair curler having a diameter which is considerably smaller than that of prior art hair curlers.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved hair curler of the above type which is capable of delivering a large stream of warm air to the hair. The present invention provides a hair curler of the above type in which the barrels have a plurality of elongated barrel elements arranged in parallel radial relation to each other to form a barrel that is substantially symmetrical about an axis, the barrel elements comprising: A barrel that is movable radially inward and radially outward together to contract and expand the diameter of the barrel, said barrel elements together being substantially closed in a fully expanded state. And in the contracted state, the barrel elements overlap to form a substantially closed barrel, the barrel element allowing fluid to flow when the barrel is in the fully expanded state, the fully contracted state, or any intermediate state. A hair curler characterized in that it is provided with holes allowing it to flow directly into the hair from the inside of the hair curler.

The hair curlers according to the invention have many advantages. First, the structure of the present invention allows for the production of small diameter barrels. Second, a large amount of air can be applied to the hair by allowing air to flow directly from the interior of the barrel to the hair.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1-10 of the drawings, a warm air brush includes a handle 1, a barrel 2 used to brush hair, and a heater blower (not shown) located in the handle. The heater blower is for heating air and directing it along the barrel 2, and the heated air comes out from a hole described later to warm the hair being brushed.

The barrel 2 consists of six elongate barrel elements 3 arranged in parallel radial relation to each other to form a generally cylindrical barrel. Each barrel element 3 includes a base 3a, a row of protruding brush teeth 3b, a lateral protrusion 3c located on one side of the base and below the base 3a of an adjacent barrel element, and a base 3a. A row of holes 3d provided in the
It is composed of a row of depressions 3e. Each barrel element 3 is integrally formed of a plastic material but has a stiffening metal rod 3f. FIG. 8 shows the barrel 2 in a completely contracted state in which the bases 3a are in contact with each other. FIG. 5a shows the barrel 2 in its fully expanded state with the gaps between the bases 3a, these gaps being blocked by the lateral protrusions 3c. Since the barrel 2 is substantially closed due to the closing of the gap, the warm air flowing in the barrel flows out only through the hole 3d. The outer diameter of the barrel 2 is 14 mm in the fully contracted state and 21 m in the fully expanded state.
m.

As best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the holes 3d are not always closed and allow a fair amount of warm, dry air without risk of back pressure or overheating of the heater blower. Can be delivered directly to the hair from inside. When the barrel 2 is in the fully expanded state, as shown in FIG. 5, air exits through the holes 3d and also through the recess 3e. When the barrel 2 is in the fully contracted state, as shown in FIG. 6, the recess 3e moves and aligns with the hole 3d, so that the hole remains unblocked.

The user uses the adjusting knob 4 located at the tip of the barrel to expand or contract the barrel 2. The user grips the knob 4 and pushes the knob axially along the barrel 2 toward the handle 1 against the biasing force of the spring to disengage the knob 4 from the locking mechanism. Then, the user turns the knob 4 clockwise to expand the barrel 2,
Alternatively, when the barrel 2 is contracted by rotating counterclockwise and then the knob 4 is released, the knob 4 is returned axially along the barrel 2 by the action of the biasing force of the spring, and is re-engaged with the locking mechanism. Prevents further rotation.

Next, the locking mechanism will be described. A fixed central shaft 5 extends from the handle 1. Central axis 5
A washer 6 and a cap 7 are provided at the outer end of the. The flanged collar 8 is the cap 7 at the end of the central shaft 5.
And is fixedly installed just inside the washer 6,
The flanged collar 8 has gear teeth 8a on the outer circumferential surface of the flange. The adjusting knob 4 has teeth 4a on its inner circumferential surface, and the teeth 4a are engaged with the gear teeth 8a of the flanged collar 8 to rotate the adjusting knob 4 in a normal position as shown in FIG. Is being prevented. The adjustment knob 4 is held in a normal position by a coiled compression spring 9, and the coiled compression spring 9 urges the adjustment knob 4 toward the outer end of the central shaft 5 so as to contact the washer 6. ing.

Next, the adjusting mechanism will be described. When the adjusting knob 4 is pushed down against the action of the coiled compression spring 9, the inwardly projecting tooth 4a of the adjusting knob 4 moves and meshes with the outwardly projecting tooth 8a of the flanged collar 8. Comes off, and the adjusting knob 4 is rotated. Subsequent rotation of the adjusting knob 4 rotates the nut 10, and the adjusting knob 4 and the nut 10 are held together by the engagement of the teeth 4a, 10a. The nut 10 is screwed to the male screw 11a of the shank of the front cam 11 which is slidably attached to the central shaft 5. Double-helix screws are used for safety. The nut 10 is held in a constant axial position between the front cam housing 18 and the flanged collar 8. As a result, rotation of the adjusting knob 4 and subsequent rotation of the nut 10 causes a longitudinal axial movement. The axial movement of the front cam 11 is transmitted by the connecting rod 13 to the rear cam 12 slidably mounted on the central shaft 5. When the front cam 11 and the rear cam 12 move in the axial direction, the axial movement of the barrel element 3 is blocked by the stop member 16 fixed to the central shaft 5 by the locking pin 19 (see FIG. 9), and the barrel element The barrel 3 expands and contracts in the radial direction because the front and rear cams 11 and 12 ride on and abut on the front cam 11. The front cam 11 and the rear cam 12 are positioned in the front cam housing 18 and the rear cam housing 17, respectively. The front cam housing 18 is fixed to the stop member 16, the rear cam housing 17 is fixed to the central shaft 5, and air flows inside the barrel 2.

For further explanation, barrel element 3, cam 1
The cooperation of 1, 12 and the connecting rod 13 will be described below. The outer end of each barrel element 3 is provided with a pair of angled lateral slots which form an angled neck 20 for engaging the inclined radial slots of the front cam 11. The inner end of the barrel element 3 has a beveled portion 3g which, in combination with the six barrel elements, forms a flared inner end, the maximum diameter portion of which is flared and which is approximately the diameter of the handle 1. In agreement, this allows a large amount of airflow to be introduced into the barrel. One large triangular hole 3h is formed in each bevel, which has two purposes: to send air to the outer surface of the curled hair and to vent the created air pressure to prevent overheating of the heater blower. To help. Furthermore, each inclined portion 3g has an inclined neck 22.
Terminating in, the neck engages a beveled radial slot 23 in the rear cam 12. The connecting rods 13, as best seen in FIG. 7, are arranged along the central axis 5 and each end of these connecting rods is provided with an outwardly bent right angle bend 13a, which bends are The holes 24 of the cam 11 and the holes 25 of the rear cam 12 are engaged with each other.

11 and 12 show a modification in which the diameter of the barrel 102 can be adjusted by a knob 104 at the inner end of the barrel. With this configuration, the hair curler can be held by one hand and the diameter of the barrel can be adjusted by the fingers. No locking mechanism is provided to prevent the knob 104 from rotating. The components include a shaft mounting bracket 130 fixed to a handle (not shown), a fixed central shaft 105, a front cam 111 fixed to the shaft 105, and a shaft 105.
Rear cam 112, front cam housing 11 fixed to
8, washer 106, cap 107, bolt 131,
A heat shield 131 fitted inside the barrel element 103, the barrel element stiffening rod 103 f, and the knob 104 is included. A key element of this mechanism is the withdrawal element 132.
This component is such that the foot 132 has a hole 112 in the rear cam 112.
Rotation is hindered by engaging a
Free to move axially along 5. Extraction element 132
Comprises three equally spaced outer lugs 132b which cooperate with a spiral groove 104a provided on the inner surface of the rotatable knob 104.

When the knob 104 is rotated, the pulling element 1
32 is a shaft 1 by the cooperation of the lug 103b and the groove 104a.
Moved along 05. This axial movement is sequentially transmitted to the barrel elements 103 by the neck 103a of each barrel element 103 engaging the corresponding slot 132c of the withdrawal element 132. As the barrel elements 103 move axially, they move forward cam 1
11 and the rear cam 112 are moved up and down to expand or contract the barrel 102.

The present invention is not limited to warm air brushes. The present invention may be applied to a variety of different hair care appliances, such as hair curling irons.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a hot air brush having an adjustable diameter barrel according to the present invention shown in an expanded state.

2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the barrel shown in cross section.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the barrel showing the major components.

4 is an enlarged view of one of the components shown in FIG. 3, namely a barrel element.

FIG. 5: Adjacent two when the barrel is in a fully expanded state
Figure showing two barrel elements.

FIG. 6 shows two adjacent barrels when the barrel is in a fully contracted state.
Figure showing two barrel elements.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2 showing the barrel in an expanded state.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2 showing the barrel in a contracted state.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the adjustment mechanism of the barrel, similar to FIG. 2, but showing the inner end of the barrel.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the adjustment mechanism of the barrel, similar to FIG. 2, but showing the outer end of the barrel.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 3, showing a deformed structure of the warm air brush.

FIG. 12 is a side cutaway view of the barrel and adjustment mechanism with a modified structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Handle 2 Barrel 3 Barrel element 4 Adjustment knob

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hand-held electric hair care device of the type having a holding handle (1) and a barrel (2) extending from the handle for wrapping the hair to be curled on the outside, the barrel (2). Is hollow so that fluid can flow along this barrel, and the barrel (2)
Comprises a hole (3d) that allows the fluid to flow out towards the hair, and the barrel (2) is between a fully expanded and a fully contracted state in order to be able to form curls of different diameters. In a hair care device whose diameter can be adjusted with
The barrel (2) comprises a plurality of elongate barrel elements (3) arranged in parallel radial relation to each other to form a barrel which is substantially symmetric with respect to the axis, said barrel element (3) comprising: 2) are movable radially inward and outward together so as to contract or expand the diameter of 2), said barrel elements (3) being substantially together when fully expanded. Barrels closed (2)
And in the contracted state the barrel elements (3a, 3c) overlap to form a substantially closed barrel (2), wherein the barrel element (3) is such that the barrel (2) is in the fully expanded state and the fully contracted state. Or a hair care device, characterized in that it comprises a hole (3d) allowing the fluid to flow out of the interior of the barrel (2) directly towards the hair in any intermediate state. 2. Each barrel element (3) comprises an elongated base (3a), a row of brush teeth (3b) projecting radially outward from said base, and a row of holes (3) provided in said base. 3d) and a lateral direction extending along one side of the elongate base (3a) and below the base (3a) of the adjacent barrel element (3) when in the contracted or partially contracted state. The hair curler according to claim 1, having a protrusion (3c).