US3027654A - Electric hair dryer - Google Patents

Description

April 3, 1962 J. H. KREMER ETAL 3,027,654

ELECTRIC HAIR DRYER Filed March 6, 1959 United States Patent() 3,027,654 ELECTRIC HAIR DRYER Joseph H. Kremer and Jack Ashford, both of 105 E. 29th St., New York, N.Y. Filed Mar. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 797,753 3 Claims. (Cl. 34-96) This invention relates to electric hair dryers, and more particularly to electric dryers of this type, which are intended for use in drying hair that has been given special treatments, as for example a waving treatment, or coloring, tinting, dyeing and the like.

In the past various types of electric hair dryers have been proposed and produced. One widely used and com monly of the hand-held kind, has consisted of an electric, centrifugal air blower in conjunction with an electric heating element, whereby a stream of warm or hot air is produced, which may be directed against different portions of the head, to effect a drying of the hair, etc. In addition to this hand-held type of hair dryer, circulating air dryers of larger size, arranged on brackets or stanchions, have been employed, involving also the principle of utilizing an electric source of heat in conjunction with a stream of air to carry away moisture and dry the hair and head.

Another type of dryer in common use has employed infra-red lamps or bulbs disposed in the upper portion of a dryer casing or housing, which have been directed downward to concentrate the infra-red rays on the hair and effect a drying by such procedure. This infra-red type of electric hair dryer has an advantage over the circulating-air type in that the moist air and chemical vapors which were sometimes involved in the drying, setting, waving and coloring process, were not driven off but instead remained within the dryer casing, to exert an influence on the hair or head.

A drawback of the circulating-air type of dryer has been the removal of such vapors, often resulting in undesirable streaks of color, and a non-uniform drying and waving of the hair. While the infra-red lamp type of dryer has to an extent improved this situation, it has not completely eliminated the difficulty inasmuch as there still remained concentrations of heat below the bulb itself, which resulted in the chemicals in the hair drying unevenly or non-uniformly, and this again caused color streaks, and a poor dyeing and waving procedure.

The above drawbacks and disadvantages of prior types of electric hair dryers are obviated by the present invention, and one object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved electric hair dryer which effects a substantially uniform heating of the entire head or hair of the user, while at the same time retaining to a great extent the moisture and chemical vapors found to be necessary to obtain a complete and satisfactory hair treatment, whether this be a wave, a coloring or tinting process, or a dyeing process.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved electric hair drying device as above set forth, wherein concentrations of heat are mainly avoided even though the source of heat itself is to an extent of a concentrated nature as distinguished from being uniformly distributed throughout the entire interior of the dryer casing.

A still further object of the invention is to Provide an improved electric hair dryer as above set forth, which may be constructed of materials and components readily available on the market, without requiring special or highlytechnical fabricating procedures or materials.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved and advantageous electric hair dryer as above characterized, which is extremely simple in its construction, foolproof in its operation, and economical to fabricate and manufacture.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of an improved electric hair dryer having the above advantages and which is virtually maintenance-free, whereby it requires very little if any servicing throughout an extended period of use.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. l is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of an improved electric hair dryer as provided by the invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional View, taken on the line 2 2 ofFIG. l. 'L u y Y FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electric heating element per se, of the improved hair dryer.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational viewv of one end of the heating element assembly, illustrating the mounting bracket by which vthe element'is secured in the casing of the dryer. i

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section, taken on the line 5 5 of FIG. 2.

Referring iirst to FIGS. l and 2, the electric hair dryer of the invention as illustrated therein comprises a casing or housing designated generally by the numeral 10, said casing being especially arranged to be placed about the upper portion of the head of a user as indicated in FIG. l. The casing 10 has a large opening'12 in its lower portion, to receive the head, and has a central, raised hollow crown portion 14 and also a curved or circular hollow rim portion 16 communicating with and carried by the crown portion 14.

The casing 10 may be fabricated in any suitable manner and of suitable materials, being shown as formed of stamped sheet metal inthe form of a large shell or inverted cup having an enlarged peripheral or rim portion which forms the upper part of the curved hollow rim 16. The lower part of the hollow rim 16 may be constituted of a cooperable metal shell arranged to telescope with the upper rim part, as shown in FIG. l. Thus, the lower rim part is provided with the large central opening 12 for admitting the head, as will be readily understood.

Any suitable type of supporting means may be provided, that shown in FIG. l comprising an upright stanchion 18 having a laterally extending arm 20 provided with a downwardly bent extremity 22 which is secured to the casing 10 by a suitable, manually operable adjustment bolt 24.

In accordance with the present invention, the casing 10 is provided with the distinctive shape illustrated, involving the raised central crown portion 14 and the lower circular or annular hollow rim portion 16 of appreciably larger diameter than the crown portion 14 for the purpose of uniformly heating and treating the hair, as will be brought out in greater detail below.

By the present invention, there is provided within the hollow rim portion 16 of the casing 10 an electric heating means which does not require an air blast to remove vapors as with prior circulating-air heaters, and which further does not produce concentrations of heat as with infra-red electric lamps and the like, but instead effects a uniform and desirable heating of the entire head and hair of the user, in conjunction with the special casing shape shown. Moreover, the electric heating means as j provided by the invention is of extremely simple and durable construction, and is trouble-free in its operation whereby it will have a long period of usefulness without requiring servicing operations or the like.

In conjunction with such electric heating means and casing there is further provided by the invention a curved screen or shield adapted to enable heat and warm air to pass through it for the purpose of obtaining the abovestatedY desired result of uniformly heating the air without requiring forced circulating air and without involving removal of moisture and chemical vapors, or extreme localized` concentrations of heat.

Accordingly, referring to FIGS. l, 2 and 3, the electric heating means as illustrated therein comprises a curved, clad electric heating element indicated generally by the numeral 28, said heating element being constituted of an electric heating wire surrounded by an insulating layer or medium and the said wire and insulation being. enclosed in a seamless tubular metal jacket or sleeve, this construction being commonly known in the heating art asa Calrod unit or heater. While. such Calrod heaters have been produced with variousshapes, including spirals,A

loops and the like, in accordance with this invention the heating means 28 is constituted or arrangedy inthe form of a pair of elongate rod elements 30 and 31, the rod element'31 being disposed b'elow the rodzelement, and the latter being of a discontinuous nature; having a point of discontinuity intermediatel its length as indicated by the numerat34, where-.connector portions 35 and 36are provid'ech,extending'laterally of the rod 30 and upward, to enable electrical connections to be established to the heating wire constituting a' portion of the element 28. The ends of the upper and lower rod elements`30 and 31 are joined together by folded yoke portions 40 and 42 as clearly illustrated in FIG. 3. As seen in this figure, the heatingelement 28 is generally of curved shape, and by virtueY of the double-bar or rod construction it is somewhat 'ati or strip-like in nature in that the upper and lower rod elements define a curved surface which may constitute .arportion ofa hypothetical cylinder.

The'curved heating element 28 preferably extends along only a` portion ofthe hollow rim 16 of the casing 10, being shown in FIG. 2 as occupying approximately one half of: the rim, circumferentally.

The ends or yoke portions 40, 42 of the heating element 28 supported in the rim 16 by means of suitable supporting. brackets 44 the upper and lower edges of which are. accommodated. in circular beaded portions 4S of the rim, as clearly shown in FIG. 5.

In conjunction with the curved. heating element. 28 there is provided, within. the rim 16 a curved and preferably circular screen 47, which may be advantageously constituted of wire screening, mesh or the like. As also.

shown in FIG. 5, the screen 47 may be carried by circular beaded portions 48 ofthe rim 16. Thus, in assembling they hair drying device, they heating element 28 may beV first secured to the upper part of the rim 16 by a suitable connector fitting 50. as shown in FIG. l, with the end brackets 44 of the heating element already in place. Then, the circular screen 47 may be put in place, whereupon the lower part of the rim 16 may be fitted to the upper part and secured thereto, thereby positioning and holding treatments, including waving,` curling, tinting, coloring orV The provision of thei curved screen 47 results in much of the direct radiatiorrof heat from the element- 28 beingv intercepted, and this in conjunction with the;

dyeing.

relatively'low degree'V ofheat produced by the element, effectively prevents undesirable localized concentrations of heat'at the heador hair. The screen 47 permits a It will beunderstood that elec-- limitedV circulation of air, whereby heated air from the element 28 may pass through the screen and into the upper or crown portion 14 of the casing 10. We have found that by such construction the head and hair of a user are uniformly heated and dried, and that it is not necessary for the heating element 28 to extend come pletely around the rim 16 because of the slow convection heating resulting from the arrangement shown, with the limitations placed by the screen 47 upon direct radiation of heat from the element 28 to the hair. Instead, the casing 10 becomes uniformly heated, and warm moist air is present in lthe interior of the casing, together with chemical vapors, to effecta uniform and desirable, advantageous heating and drying of the hair whereby streaking of the latter and irregularities in the waving and coloring processes are virtually entirely eliminated.

Moreover, it. will now be undersetood that the construction. of the improved electric hair dryer is extremely simple and that it involves relatively few, non-moving componentswhich may be economically fabricated and assembled, andv which will not. readily get out of. order.

Variations andA modifications may beY made within the scope of the claims,` and portions of the improvements may be used withoutothers.l

We claim:

l. An electric hair-dryingdevice especially adapted for use in-connection with moist,dyed hair,V comprising a casing arranged to `be placed about the upper portion of the head and having an opening in its lower portion to receive the headthe inner periphery of said casing around said opening lbeing larger than the head to permit said casing to be spaced from the head and hair of the user at all points, said casing having a central, raised hollow closed crown portion and having below the crown, portion and communicating therewith a curved hollow rim extending beyond the diameter of said crown portion and forming a continuation thereof extending outwardly and then downwardly and then inwardly to form an inwardly directed enclosed space; a curved clad electric heating means disposed in the said enclosed portionof said hollow rim and arranged to heat the interior of thecasing by radiation and convection; said heating means comprising a pair 0f elongate rod elements disposed side by side and arranged to be coextensive with each other, said rod elementsat their ends being joined by folded yoke portions and having substantially the same curvature, one of the rod elements being disposed above the other within the said hollow rim; and a curved foraminous screen around the inner part of said hollow rim inside of the heating,

means to permit heat from said heating means to reach the head and to prevent strands of hair from contacting said heating means.

2. The invention as defined in claim l, in which one of the said pair of elongate rod elements is discontinuous at a. point intermediate its length and has two connector portions which are angularly bent to extend laterally of the rod element, for effecting electrical connection thereto,

3. The invention as defined in claim l, in which there aresupporting brackets engaging the folded yoke portions of the heating means, for supporting said portions within the hollow rim. i

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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