US3731396A

US3731396A - Hair dryer with selective tiltable hood

Info

Publication number: US3731396A
Application number: US00221748A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Mclean
Original assignee: GEC BRIDGEPORT
Current assignee: GEC BRIDGEPORT; GEC BRIDGEPORT US
Priority date: 1972-01-28
Filing date: 1972-01-28
Publication date: 1973-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-08

Abstract

A hair dryer that may be collapsed for carrying and erected for operation, including a base assembly, a rigid tiltable hood assembly to be positioned about the head of the user for distributing heated air to the head and a strut assembly for supporting the rigid hood assembly elevated from the base assembly. The strut assembly includes two members hingedly attached to each other with one of the members being secured to the hood assembly. One of the members has a support shoulder and the other member has an opening in the walls. A resiliently mounted depressible limiter member having a step-like portion is located in the wall opening and protrudes through the opening such that the limiter member cooperates with the support shoulder to apply supporting force to the hood assembly at various tilt positions.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 McLean 1 May 8, 1973 [54] HAIR DRYER WITH SELECTIVE TILTABLE HOOD [75] Inventor: James O. McLean, Milford, Conn.

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company,

Bridgeport, Conn.

[22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1972 [211 App]. No.: 221,748

[52] US. Cl. ..34/99, 34/239, 248/122, 248/291 [51] Int. Cl. ..A45d 20/24 [58] Field of Search ..34/90, 91, 96-99, 34/239; 248/122, 179, 185, 248, 291

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,025,172 12/1935 Martin ..248/122 3,300,872 1/1967 Thiebolt... ..34/99 3,320,679 5/1967 Collins ..34/99 3,322,144 5/1967 De Boer et al. ..34/98 3,513,563 5/1970 Ziegler ....34/99 3,702,031 11/1972 Ryckman ..34/99 Primary ExaminerKenneth W. Sprague Assistant Examiner-James C. Yeung Attorney-Lawrence R. Kempton et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A hair dryer that may be collapsed for carrying and erected for operation, including a base assembly, a rigid tiltable hood assembly to be positioned about the head of the user for distributing heated air to the head and a strut assembly for supporting the rigid hood assembly elevated from the base assembly. The strut assembly includes two members hingedly attached to each other with one of the members being secured to the hood assembly. One of the members has a support shoulder and the other member has an opening in the walls. A resiliently mounted depressible limiter member having a step-like portion is located in the wall opening and protrudes through the opening such that the limiter member cooperates with the support shoulder to apply supporting force to the hood assembly at various tilt positions.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED HAY 81973 SHEET 2 OF 3 PATENTED 81% 3,731,396

SHEET 3 U? 3.

HAIR DRYER WITH SELECTIVE TILTABLE HOOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to hair dryers and, more particularly, to hair dryers having a rigid hood.

2. Description of the Prior Art Hair dryers generally fall into two types, namely, those which are usually permanently installed in beauty parlors, and those of the household type which are small portable appliances. The professional type is massive, costly, and does not lend itself to feasible utilization in the home. This invention relates particularly to household type hair dryers that utilize a rigid hood.

In a beauty parlor any adjustments that are necessary to properly position the hair dryer hood relative to the head of the person whose hair is being dried are made by an attendant, whereas, when a household rigid hood hair dryer is employed the user usually must make any necessary adjustments. In such household rigid hood hair dryers, the problem of providing a satisfactory adjustable means for the hood so that it can be readily selectively adjusted for convenient and proper positioning by the user on her head during the hair drying operation has not been completely solved. Normally hair dryers are constructed so that when erected to the operating position the hood position is fixed at an incline of approximately 20 25 degrees off the horizontal plane. Height adjustment of the rigid hood relative to the users head may be accomplished by telescoping ducts between the base of the hair dryer and the rigid hood. This height adjustment technique is commonly found in hair dryers presently on the market. However, if the user during the hair drying operation wishes to orient her head downwardly, as to'perhaps read, manicure, sew, etc., the hood should be tiltable to accommodate the user's head. Tilting of the hood should be easy, convenient to the user, and effective in holding the hood at the desired adjusted tilt angle.

Many hair dryers are used not only for drying hair but also for applying water vapor to the hair to help set it. In such hair dryers a vapor generator is associated with the hair dryer such that the vapor is distributed to the hair via the rigid hood in the same manner as heated air. It has been found advantageous to have the hood positioned relatively horizontal to get better water vapor distribution characteristics as compared to the normal hood position of approximately 20 25 degrees off the horizontal.

By my invention, there is provided a rigid hood hair dryer that includes a hood tilt mechanism that accomplishes the above-mentioned desirable results.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, there is provided a hair dryer having a tiltable rigid hood assembly to be positioned over the head of the user for distributing air to the hair, a base assembly, means for producing a flow of heated air to be distributed to the hair by the hood assembly, and a strut assembly for supporting the rigid hood assembly elevated from the base assembly. The strut assembly includes two walled members hingedly attached to each other with one of the members being secured to the hood assembly. One of the members has a support shoulder and the other member an opening in the walls thereof. A resiliently mounted depressible limiter member having a step-like portion is located in the wall opening such that the limiter member'and support shoulder cooperate to apply supporting force to'the hood assembly. The hair dryer is constructed so that the hood assembly may be lowered or collapsed relative to the base assembly for carrying or storing the hair dryer and also raised or erected relative to the base assembly for operating the hair dryer.

It is an object of this invention to provide a hair dryer that has a hood that may be conveniently tilted by the user.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a hair dryer with a rigid hood that is selectively tiltable and retained automatically in its selected position.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rigid hood hair dryer whose hood may be tilted by the user when in operation and collapsed onto the base assembly for easy carrying and storage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevational view of my rigid hood hair dryer in condition for operation.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the components of the tilt mechanism of my hair dryer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tilt limiter members and connector spring portion of my hair dryer tilt mechanism.

FIG. 4 is the same as FIG. 1 showing various tilt positions of my hair dryer hood relative to a horizontal plane.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the hood and air duct latch arrangement.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of my hair dryer in the collapsed condition for carrying or storage.

FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment of the tilt mechanism of my hair dryer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates my hair dryer in erected condition, ready for operational use, such as in the home, and it generally includes a hair dryer having a base assembly 10, a rigid hood assembly 11 to be placed over the head of the user, and a strut in the form of a connecting air conduit between the hood assembly and base assembly that includes a hollow air duct assembly 12 which may be selectively adjustable as by telescoping the sections to position the hood at a height comfortable for the user. The hair dryer may be the type shown in FIG. 1 where it is contemplated to be used by placing the entire hair dryer on a table or similar appropriate countertop support and the user sits on a chair and positions her head within the rigid hood assembly 11. It is to be understood, however, that other hood type hair dryers may also be employed in my invention and that the hair dryer shown in the drawings is merely illustrative of my invention.

The base assembly 10 includes a housing which contains the usual means for producing a flow of heated air. That is, the housing contains an electrical heating means for heating air, electrically operated impeller means for causing the heated air to flow and regulating means for both the heating and impeller means including a manually operated selector switch accessible from the exterior of the housing. There are also suitable air passages formed in the housing including an ambient air inlet and an integral heated air outlet which communicates with the air duct assembly 12.

The housing of the base assembly includes a base member 14 and a cover 15 which are secured to each other in any convenient manner. The base member and cover may be made of rigid plastic material of any suitable known type. The top of the cover 15 forms a deck 16. Centrally, on the upper side of the deck is an air inlet grill 17. An air outlet tubular section is molded integrally with cover 15. A selector switch operating knob 18 is mounted on the deck 16 and is accessible to the user for manually operating the hair dryer. The air duct assembly 12 between the base and hood assemblies comprises three sections of air ducts lower duct 22, upper duct 24, and hood duct 26. These ducts may be made of the same rigid plastic material as that from which the base housing is made. The ducts are hollow tubular members that are generally rectangular in cross section. The lower duct 22 comprises a vertically disposed elongated tubular section of similar cross section to that of air outlet tubular section 20; however, it is slightly smaller in lateral cross section so that it can be telescopically slidably disposed inside air outlet tubular section 20. Along each side of both air outlet tubular section 20 and lower duct 22 is a guide track means 27 to aid in orienting the lower duct 22 and air outlet tubular section 20 relative to each other for ease of raising and lowering the duct 22 thereby adjusting the height of hood assembly 11 relative to the base assembly 10. Stop means, not shown, may be used to prevent complete removal of lower duct 22 from air outlet tubular section 20. Hingedly fastened to the upper rear edge of lower duct 22 is upper duct 24. Upper duct 24 is slightly curved and when the hair dryer is erected upper duct 24 extends forwardly of the base assembly 10. Hinged to the upper rear edge of upper duct 24 is hood duct 26 which in turn is hinged to the rigid hood assembly ll.

The hood assembly 11 comprises two main rigid plastic molded

head receiving members

28 and 30. They are nested with respect to each other in spaced relationship to define an air distributing space or manifold 32 therebetween. The outer shell 28 is air tight, whereas the inner liner has a plurality of air distributing apertures 34 formed throughout the surface thereof for the purpose of directing heated air into the hair of the user. The inner liner 30 has an outwardly and upwardly directed peripheral flange 36 formed integrally therewith which engages the bottom edge of the outer member 28 along a meeting line 38 that may be covered by a trim member if desired. The top of the outer shell 28 has a handle 39 for carrying the hair dryer when it is in its collapsed carrying position. In that event, hood assembly 11 is collapsed onto the top of base assembly 14 with the heated air duct assembly 12 folding inside the hood. The hood assembly is latched to the base by conventional latches 40 and then the entire hair dryer may be carried as a unit by the handle.

With reference particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a detailed description of the components of the hair at its upper end an outwardly and upwardly directed curved portion 48.

Upper duct 24 is secured to lower duct 22 at the rearward edges thereof by hinge 42 again as by rivets 44 such that both ducts are hingedly secured to each other to afford hinged movement of one relative to the other. The body of upper duct 24 is slightly curved and terminates at its upper end with an upwardly curved lip portion 53 formed in forward wall 54 of the air duct. Hinge 58 is secured to rear wall 56 of air duct 24 and also to hood duct 26 again as by rivets 44.

Hood duct 26 has formed in its forward wall 60 a curved portion 61 to cooperate with the curved Iip portion 53 of upper duct 24. These curved portions are telescopically complementary to each other so that when hood duct 26 and upper duct 24 are moved relative to each other by pivoting about hinge 58 they will not bind each other yet they are spaced only slightly apart to minimize air leakage during operation of the hair dryer and also provide maximum air movement through the ducts without significant interval obstruction by portions of the ducts. Hinge 62 is in turn attached to the inner hood liner 30 by rivets 44.

A limiter member assembly 70, as shown in FIG. 3, is retained within upper duct 24. The limiter member assembly comprises two members 71 connected by a U-shaped spring 72. The limiter members 71 are blocks of plastic material and each has a base 73 which extends outwardly from the upper portion of the member to provide a peripheral outwardly extending flange area 74. Above the base is a step-like portion 69 having a series of steps 75 separated by rises 76. The number of rises may vary depending upon the desired number of hood tilt position settings. The top 77 of the limiter member acts as the push button area for the user to depress by finger pressure to allow the hood to be tilted downwardly, as will be discussed further in connection with FIG. 4. The U-shaped spring 72 connecting the limiter members 71 may be made from suitable spring material and is dimensioned to fit within the upper duct 24 as shown in FIG. 2. The spring 72 has outwardly turned terminals ends which are embedded into the base 73 of each of the limiter members 71. To accommodate the limiter members 71 in the upper duct 24 openings 79, one on each of the side walls 80 of upper duct 24 are provided. These openings 79 are the same shape but slightly smaller than the outside dimension of the base 73 of limiter members 71. By this construction the limiter members 71 may protrude through the openings 70 to thereby expose the step-like portion 69 of the limiter member, but will be prevented from passing completely through the openings from the inside to the outside by the larger dimensioned peripheral flange 74 around the base of the limiter members. The U-shaped spring 72 exerts a constantly applied bias force on both of the limiter members 71 to urge them in a direction outwardly of the duct and thereby retain them in their proper position in the openings 79. The openings 79 are located in the upper portion of upper duct 24 such that shoulders 82 on each side of hood duct 26 will engage the rises 76 of each of the limiter members 71.

An alternate embodiment of my invention is shown in FIG. 7. As in the hair dryer tilt mechanism described above, upper duct 24 is secured to hood duct 26 by a hinge'58-at the rearward edge'thereof so that the ducts may move relative to each other and they are telescopically complementary to each other to provide minimum air leakage from the ducts and maximum air flow through the members during operation of the hair dryer; In. this alternate embodiment an opening is provided in upper duct 24 in the forward wall 54 through which the step-like portion 69-of limiter member 71 protrudes. The limiter member 71 is prevented from passing completely through the opening by the peripheral flange 74 as the opening is slightly smaller than the outside dimension ofthe flange 74. The bias force on the limiter-member 71 to urge it outwardly is, in this embodiment, a spring 102 having one end secured to the base 730f limiter member 71, as by a rivet 104', and the other end secured on the interior side of the forward wall 54'-of upper duct 24 also by a rivet 106. The support shoulder in this embodiment is the lower, forward edge 108 of hood duct 26, and it engages the rises 76 of limiter member 71 to cooperatively apply supporting force to the hood assembly.

To securely fasten the hood assembly 11 to hood duct 26there is provided a finger-operated releasable latch assembly 85 as shown in FIG. 5. The latch assembly 85 comprises a channel-shaped portion 88 integrally formed on hood duct 26 just below the at tachment of hinge 62 and adjacent the bottom edge of the hood liner 30. A pair of opposing latch elements 90 are located in this channel 88 at opposite ends thereof. A coil spring 92 is positioned between the latches 90 to bias them in'an outward direction. The latch elements 90 and coil spring 92 are retained in channel 88. Holes 93 are provided inthe side walls-66 of hood duct 26 so that the outer ends 91 of latch elements 90 may protrude therethrough. These latches protrude into notches 94 formed in the inner liner 30 of the hood assembly. When the outer ends 91 of latch elements 90 catch in notches 94 the hood is retained in a fixed position relative to hood duct 26'. To release the latch elements 90, it is necessary to move the latches out of notches 94. This is accomplished by squeezing fingergripping latch elements 96 toward each other against bias spring 92. The finger grip elements 96 are accessible through finger openings 98 formed in the upper end of front wall 60 of hood duct 26. A finger-grip channel 100 is formed in upper duct 26 behind the openings-98 to prevent leakage of air from the air duct assembly during the hair drying operation. After the outer ends 91 of latch elements 90 are withdrawn from notches 94 the hood assembly 11 can be moved to a stored position on base assembly with a single lowering operating or movement during which time the hood pivots about hinge 62 and the other hinges 42 and 58 operate to collapse the air duct assembly 12 toward the base assembly 10. When the hood assembly and base assembly are centered with respect to each other the latch elements 40 are aligned so that the hood assembly can be latched closed on the base assembly 10. This position is shown in FIG. 6 wherein the hair dryer is ready for carrying or storage. To erect the hair dryer the latches'40 are released and the hood assembly is lifted up and forward thus unfolding the hinged components thereby readying the hair dryer for operation. At the end of the lifting movement of the hood assembly the outer ends 91 of the spring-biased latch elements will snap into latch notches 94. At this point the setup operation is completed. It should be noted that the preferred embodiment has the hood duct 26 attached to the hood assembly by hinge 62 and latch assembly 85. Such an ar rangement is to aid in the ease of erecting and lowering the hood assembly relative to the base assembly, however, that arrangement is not required for my invention. The hood duct 26 and hood assembly may be secured to each other by any means including removably fitting one into the other.

FIG. 4 shows a hair dryer and the various angles at which the hood assembly 11 may be tilted when the hair dryer hood is in position for operational use. The hood shown in solid lines is tilted upwardly with respect to the horizontal plane h at an angle relative to a plane through the lower edge 84 of the rigid hood assembly 1 1. This tilt position is designated a in FIG. 4 and as can be seen it represents the largest degree of angle between the horizontal plane h and the lower edge of the hood assembly in the embodiment shown in the drawing. Should the user desire to reduce the amount of tilt then both of the limiter members 71 are depressed simultaneously as by finger pressure to allow the forward end 81 of the hood assembly 11 to be lowered while the hood assembly is pivoted at the rearward end about the hinge 58 thereby permitting shoulder 82 of hood duct 26 to contact the next successive rise 76 on each of the limiter members 71. This then is position b shown in FIG. 4 in dotted line. In the case of the alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the single limiter member 71 is depressed inwardly to accomplish the same result. To reduce the amount of tilt further, the same procedure is followed for positions 6 and d, the latter of which is the lowest tilt position. It should be noted that position d is below the horizontal plane h, however, the tilt positions of the hood assembly may be varied depending upon what is desired. Should the user desire to increase the angle of tilt of the rigid hood assembly 11, then all that is needed is some slight upward force applied to the assembly by the user at the forward end 81 which results in the shoulder 82 being disengaged from one rise 76 and to contact the next successive rise whereupon the U-shaped spring 72 acts to urge both of the limiter members 71 outwardly through opening 79. Upon release of the upwardly applied force the shoulder 82 engages the newly oriented rise 76' and thereby prevents the hood assembly 11 from falling back down.

The foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hair dryer comprising:

a. a base assembly,

b. means for producing a flow of heated air.

c. a rigid hood assembly arranged to be positioned about the head of the user and having means for distributing heated air to the head,

d. a strut assembly secured to the rigid hood assembly and supporting the hood assembly elevated from the base assembly, said strut assembly including two walled members hingedly attached to each other with one of said members having a support shoulder and the other member having an opening in the walls thereof, and

e. a resiliently mounted depressible limiter member having a step-like portion located in said opening, said limiter member and said support shoulder cooperating with each other to apply supporting force to said hood assembly. I

2. The hair dryer of claim 1 wherein the means for producing a flow of heated air is in the base assembly and the strut assembly is a hollow air duct for directing heated air from the base assembly to the hood assembly.

3. A hair dryer comprising:

a. a base assembly housing means for producing a flow of heated air,

b. a rigid hood assembly arranged to be positioned about the head of the user and having means for distributing heated air to the head,

c. air conducting means for directing heated air from said producing means to said hood assembly, aid air conducting means including two walled hollow air duct members hingedly attached to each other with one being secured'to the hood assembly, one of said duct members having two support shoulders and the other duct member having two openings in the walls thereof,

d. means including the air duct assembly for lowering said hood assembly relative to said base assembly for carrying the hair dryer and for raising the hood to an elevated position relative to the base assembly to an operative position, and

e. limiter members having step-like portions located in each of said wall openings, said limiter members being biased outwardly of the duct member, said limiter members and said support shoulders cooperating to apply supporting force to said hood assembly.

' 4. The hair dryer of claim 3 wherein the limiter members, are biased outwardly by a U-shaped spring interconnecting the limiter members.

5. A hair dryer comprising:

a. a base assembly including therein means for producing a flow of heated air,

0. a hollow air duct assembly for supporting the rigid hood assembly elevated from the base assembly in an operative position and for directing heated air from the base assembly to the hood assembly, said duct assembly including two'walled duct members one of which has a wall opening, and the other a support shoulder, said duct members being hin gedly attached and telescopically complementary -to each other to provide minimum air leakage from the duct assembly and maximum air flow through the duct assembly throughout hinged movement of the duct members relative to each other while the hair dryer is in the operative position, and

d. a resiliently mounted depressible limiter member having a step-like portion located in said wall opening of the duct member, said support shoulder and step-like portion of the limiter member being positioned to cooperate with each other to apply supporting force to said hood assembly.

6. The hair dryer of claim 5 wherein the duct member having the support shoulder is secured to the rigid hood assembly.

7. The hair dryer of claim 5 wherein the walled duct members each have rearward, forward and side walls and the duct members are hingedly attached at the rearward walls and the opening and limiter member are in the forward wall of said duct member.

8. A hair dryer comprising:

a. a base assembly including therein means for producing a flow of heated air,

c. a hollow air duct assembly for supporting the rigid hood assembly elevated from the base assembly in an operative position and for directing heated air from the base assembly to the hood assembly, said duct assembly including two walled duct members each having rearward, forward and side walls, one of said duct members has two openings in opposite side walls thereof, and the other having two support shoulders at opposite side walls thereof, said duct members being hingedly attached at the rearward walls and telescopically complementary to each other to provide minimum air leakage from the duct assembly and maximum air flow through the duct assembly throughout hinged movement of the duct members relative to each other while the hair dryer is in the operative position,

d. means including the air duct assembly for lowering said hood assembly relative to the base assembly for carrying the hair dryer and for raising the hood to an elevated position relative to the base assembly to an operative position, and

e. a limiter assembly comprising two limiter members each having a step-like portion and a U-shaped spring connecting each limiter member to apply force in a direction outwardly of the duct assembly, each of said limiter members being located in each of said openings, said limiter members and said support shoulders cooperating to apply supporting force to said hood assembly.

9. The hair dryer of claim 6 wherein the duct member having the support shoulders is secured to the rigid hood assembly.

Claims

1. A hair dryer comprising: a. a base assembly, b. means for producing a flow of heated air, c. a rigid hood assembly arranged to be positioned about the head of the user and having means for distributing heated air to the head, d. a strut assembly secured to the rigid hood assembly and supporting the hood assembly elevated from the base assembly, said strut assembly including two walled members hingedly attached to each other with one of said members having a support shoulder and the other member having an opening in the walls thereof, and e. a resiliently mounted depressible limiter member having a step-like portion located in said opening, said limiter member and said support shoulder cooperating with each other to apply supporting force to said hood assembly.

3. A hair dryer comprising: a. a base assembly housing means for producing a flow of heated air, b. a rigid hood assembly arranged to be positioned about the head of the user and having means for distributing heated air to the head, c. air conducting means for directing heated air from said producing means to said hood assembly, aid air conducting means including two walled hollow air duct members hingedly attached to each other with one being secured to the hood assembly, one of said duct members having two support shoulders and the other duct member having two openings in the walls thereof, d. means including the air duct assembly for lowering said hood assembly relative to said base assembly for carrying the hair dryer and for raising the hood to an elevated position relative to the base assembly to an operative position, and e. limiter members having step-like portions located in each of said wall openings, said limiter members being biased outwardly of the duct member, said limiter members and said support shoulders cooperating to apply supporting force to said hood assembly.

4. The hair dryer of claim 3 wherein the limiter members are biased outwardly by a U-shaped spring interconnecting the limiter members.

5. A hair dryer comprising: a. a base assembly including therein means for producing a flow of heated air, b. a rigid hood assembly arranged to be positioned about the head of the user and having means for distributing heated air to the head, c. a hollow air duct assembly for supporting the rigid hood assembly elevated from the base assembly in an operative position and for directing heated air from the base assembly to the hood assembly, said duct assembly including two walled duct members one of which has a wall opening, and the other a support shoulder, said duct members being hingedly attached and telescopically complemeNtary to each other to provide minimum air leakage from the duct assembly and maximum air flow through the duct assembly throughout hinged movement of the duct members relative to each other while the hair dryer is in the operative position, and d. a resiliently mounted depressible limiter member having a step-like portion located in said wall opening of the duct member, said support shoulder and step-like portion of the limiter member being positioned to cooperate with each other to apply supporting force to said hood assembly.

8. A hair dryer comprising: a. a base assembly including therein means for producing a flow of heated air, b. a rigid hood assembly arranged to be positioned about the head of the user and having means for distributing heated air to the head, c. a hollow air duct assembly for supporting the rigid hood assembly elevated from the base assembly in an operative position and for directing heated air from the base assembly to the hood assembly, said duct assembly including two walled duct members each having rearward, forward and side walls, one of said duct members has two openings in opposite side walls thereof, and the other having two support shoulders at opposite side walls thereof, said duct members being hingedly attached at the rearward walls and telescopically complementary to each other to provide minimum air leakage from the duct assembly and maximum air flow through the duct assembly throughout hinged movement of the duct members relative to each other while the hair dryer is in the operative position, d. means including the air duct assembly for lowering said hood assembly relative to the base assembly for carrying the hair dryer and for raising the hood to an elevated position relative to the base assembly to an operative position, and e. a limiter assembly comprising two limiter members each having a step-like portion and a U-shaped spring connecting each limiter member to apply force in a direction outwardly of the duct assembly, each of said limiter members being located in each of said openings, said limiter members and said support shoulders cooperating to apply supporting force to said hood assembly.