WO2011048336A1

WO2011048336A1 - Hair-styling device having floating plates

Info

Publication number: WO2011048336A1
Application number: PCT/FR2010/052241
Authority: WO
Inventors: Martial Maisonneuve; Xavier Vacheron; Régis FEREYRE
Original assignee: Seb S.A.
Priority date: 2009-10-23
Filing date: 2010-10-20
Publication date: 2011-04-28
Also published as: EP2490567A1; FR2951620B1; CN102595958A; CN102595958B; FR2951620A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a hair-styling appliance comprising a handle (1) and at least one heating portion (3) engaging with a bearing portion (2), each mounted in a respective housing (6, 5) connected to the handle (1); the hair can be inserted between the heating portion (3) and the bearing portion (2), at least one of the heating (3) or bearing (2) portions being mounted such as to float inside the housing thereof (6, 5); one of the heating (3) or bearing (2) portions is connected to at least one ball-and-socket joint; the joint is defined by a projection (4) and a receiving portion (7) and forms a cavity for receiving the projection (4) by engagement; either the projection (4) or the receiving portion (7) is secured to the heating portion or the bearing portion, while the other element is secured to the housing (6, 5); and either the projection (4) or the receiving portion (7) is a permanent magnet, while the other element is at least partially metal.

Description

The present invention relates to a hair styling or shaping apparatus comprising a handle connected to a support part and a heating part between which can be inserted a lock of hair, more particularly an appliance comprising a device provided to exert pressure on the lock of hair to be treated.

Most hair shaping apparatus, such as hair straighteners, curling irons, embossing, comprise a handle supporting two mechanical elements of which at least one is heated, the other being intended to bring the hair in contact with the first, in particular by moving from an open position allowing the insertion of the hair to a closed position for their contact with the heating part. The passage from the open position to the closing position is done manually by pressing a lever for opening a tongue of pressure of the hair or by pressing two articulated arms of the apparatus towards each other to bring the heating part in contact with the hair. The problem encountered with such devices is that, by their pivoting about an axis of rotation remote from the treatment part, they do not ensure a uniform contact pressure on the hair. However, the quality of hair shaping by heat is defined by the heat transfer laws and takes into account parameters such as: the contact time, the temperature of the heat exchange, the diffusivity of the materials, the mass of the elements, the quality of the contact. The document EP 1 030 571 proposes a device providing a better contact between a cylindrical heating mandrel and the hair to be treated by using a compression member mounted by means of springs on the pivoting support retaining tongue of the hair. Now, such a pivoting tab with spring compression part increases the template in the radial direction of the device and then only allows to make loops of large diameter. Furthermore, the compression piece and the support tongue are linked by a mechanical link materialized by the spring, which is subject to friction in operation, which gives rigidity to the assembly which can not, therefore , adapt effectively to hair strands of thin thickness.

The document EP 1 967 089 describes an alternative hairdressing device to that of EP 1 030 571 comprising a handle, at least one heating part cooperating with a bearing part each mounted in its respective housing connected to the handle, the hair being able to between the heating part and the support part, at least one of the heating or support parts is mounted floating inside its housing, thanks to a first magnet cooperating with a second magnet in phase with the first and vis-à-vis belonging to its respective housing. By floating assembly of a portion relative to its housing, there is a mounting with play and possibility of movement in at least one direction when the part is subjected to the force exerted on it by a magnetic field. Such a floating assembly leaves one or more degrees of freedom to the support portion, the heating portion or both. Such a floating assembly of the heating or support part may be made for example by bonding it with at least one hinge type pivot or ball-type to its support, which allows a rotational movement along one or more axes or with a slide-type joint allowing it to be translated in the direction of the magnetic field.

Also, the document DE202008001677 describes a hairdressing device alternative to that of EP 1 030 571 comprising a handle, at least one heating part cooperating with a bearing part each mounted in its respective housing connected to the handle, the hair being able to inserting between the heating portion and the support portion, at least one of the heating or support portion is mounted floating within its housing, through a ball joint. So the strength of Uniform compression desired for smoothing always adjusts to closing the apparatus, and not only when closing the apparatus produces a force that exceeds the restoring force of the springs used in the apparatus of EP1 030 571. However, this floating assembly has the disadvantage that in the open position of the device, the plate remains mobile according to the degrees of freedom allowed by the ball joint. This deflection does not automatically allow an alignment of the plates in the open state of the device and can give a non-qualitative visual appearance because the floating plate will move or make noise. The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks and to provide a hairstyling device of reduced size, capable of achieving good shaping of the hair, uniform and durable, independent of a pressure threshold to be exerted by the user's hand and reduce wick treatment time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hair styling device adapted to adapt to the thickness of the wick to be treated for increased reliability in operation. Another object of the invention is to provide a hair styling device capable of transmitting substantially all the effort exerted by the user on the arms of the straightener on the plates.

Another object of the invention is a hairdressing device of simplified structure, compact and can be industrialized for a low cost.

These objects are achieved with a hairdressing appliance comprising a handle 1, at least one heating part 3 cooperating with a support part 2 each mounted in its respective case 6.5 connected to the handle 1, the hair being able to fit between the heating part 3 and the support part 2, at least one of the heating or support portions 3 is mounted floating inside its housing 6,5, one of the heating parts 3 or support 2 is linked with at least one link ball-type or straight linear type, where the connection is defined by a protuberance 4 and a receiving part 7 forming a cavity for receiving in contact the protuberance 4, one of the two of the protuberance 4 and the receiving part 7 is integral with the heating part or the support part while the other is secured to the housing 6, 5, one of the two of the protrusion 4 and the receiving part 7 is a permanent magnet while the other is at least partially metallic.

Any unwanted "free float" is then avoided by means of a magnetic force applied to the ball joint or annular linear type connection. "Free floating" means that the heating or support part is free to move, floats when the appliance is not in the closed position and most of the time it is moved or grasped by the appliance. 'user. This heating or support part remains floating mobile each time a pressure by the support piece or a lock of hair is actuated on.

Thus, it has been surprisingly found in laboratory tests that such an assembly allows the moving part to adapt very rigorously to the least thickness of lock of hair inserted between the heating and support parts vis-à-vis.

Such a system therefore makes it possible to absorb the variability of the thickness of the lock of hair introduced inside the shaping means which are floating and thus to transmit the calories to the wick, without taking into account its variable thickness. The result is a faster hair shaping (there is no need to return to the untreated parts correctly during the first pass), uniform in appearance and durable over time.

The connection type ball joint is identified by its degrees of freedom: it completely binds a first part (heating part or support part) in translation to a second part (housing) but leaves them free in rotation. It has three degrees of connection (the three translations) and three degrees of freedom (the three rotations). It is the association of non-coplanar punctures whose normals concur at the same point which constitutes the center of this link. The simplest case is that of two male and female spheres.

The annular linear connection is obtained when the contact is distributed according to a set of coplanar points and whose contact norms compete. This set is a circle if we have a sphere in a cylinder of the same diameter. Then the contact normals meet at the center of the sphere which merges with the circle of points of contact. This connection opposes the two transverse translations (radial with respect to the cylinder of the example). All other movements are free. The free translational movement will be along the longitudinal axis of the straightener.

Advantageously, the protuberance is metal while the receiving part is a permanent magnet.

Advantageously, the apparatus has a protuberance 4 which is convex, more particularly which has the shape of a truncated sphere.

More particularly, the receiving part 7 may be a ring for at least partially receiving the protrusion 4. In this case, the cavity is a hole passing through the receiving part.

Alternatively, the receiving part 7 may have a concave cavity, for example spherical or conical, to receive the protrusion 4. In this case, the cavity is a blind hole in the receiving room.

Advantageously, the protuberance 4 is arranged substantially in the middle of the heating portion 3 or support 2 or the housing 6, 5. This includes the possibility where the protuberance is absolutely in the middle of the part in question to have a heating part or support completely aligned (180 °) with respect to the flat surface 35, 36 of the inside of the handle of a straightener type device with two articulated arms. This also includes the possibility that the protuberance is placed at medium and slightly offset distal to the axis of the straightener with two articulated arms, so that the support portion or heating is slightly inclined relative to the inner flat surface of the handle, forming inside the straightener a angle between about 160 ° and about 180 ° with the inner flat surface of the handle.

Advantageously, the support portion 2 is heating.

This makes it possible to obtain improved shaping of the hair, since they are heat-treated simultaneously with the two facing treatment surfaces, that of the heating part and that of the support part facing each other. .

Advantageously, the support portion 2 or the heating portion 3 have a treatment surface 17, 18 of flat shape hair.

Such an apparatus is more particularly intended for smoothing the hair, the hair then being able to be smoothed between a flat treatment surface and a left surface or a slice of the support surface or between two flat treatment surfaces, that of the heating part. and that of the support part.

Advantageously, the apparatus comprises guide means 21 for the heating portion 3 or the support portion 2 arranged in a median plane perpendicular to the plane of the treatment surface 18, 17 of the hair or on both sides of the this plan.

Such guiding means may be means in translation or in rotation and, when they are arranged in a median plane of the treatment surface or on either side of this median plane, they ensure the application of a uniform effort on the entire treatment surface and, therefore, the hair to be treated. More particularly, the guide means may comprise a rod 21 'whose axis is arranged in the median plane perpendicular to the plane of the treatment surface 17, 18 of the hair and capable of sliding inside an oblong groove 21 "formed inside the housing 6, 5.

In an alternative embodiment of the apparatus, the housings of the support portion and the heating portion are pivotally mounted about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X of the handle.

Such an apparatus makes it possible to pass from an open position or to introduce the hair to a closed position in order to carry out the hair treatment.

In another embodiment of the apparatus, relating to a curling iron for example, the heating portion 3 may have a hair treatment surface having a shape of revolution and the bearing portion 2 has a treatment surface of conforming to the shape of the heating part 3.

Such a form of revolution may be a cylinder or a cone, the treatment surface then making it possible to make loops by winding the hair around the axis of the treatment surface, while keeping them against this surface by the surface of support.

According to this variant, the apparatus may comprise radial guide means for the support part 2.

The invention will be better understood with the study of the embodiments taken in no way limiting and illustrated in the accompanying figures in which:

- Figure 1 is a side view of a complete apparatus according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is an axial sectional view of a housing of the apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the heating or support part provided with the protuberance according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a housing of the apparatus according to the invention;

- Figure 5 is a side view of the heating portion or support provided with the protuberance of the invention.

Detailed description of an embodiment

The hairdressing appliance according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 comprises a handle 1 comprising two articulated arms rotated elastically, by means of a spring (not shown) around the axis X of a hinge located at one of the ends of the handle, between an open position and a closed position of the arms. The articulated arms support at their free end the shaping means of the hair. Thus, there is a lower arm 15 supporting a housing 5 of a bearing portion 2 and an upper arm 14 supporting the housing 6 of a heating portion 3. The housings 6, 5 can each be attached to their respective arm 14 , Or be made in one piece therewith, being for example made of a plastic material by an injection technique.

The heating portion 3 may be electrically heated, or gas, steam, or even using a hot air flow from a blower. The heating portion 3 has on its outer surface a hair treatment surface 18 having a generally rectangular shape (it preferably has the same shape and the same dimensions as the heating portion 3 that it dresses) made of a thermally conductive material, polished, possibly covered with an enamel, a ceramic material, a layer of glass, etc. The bearing portion 2 may be a simple metal plate having, on its outer face, a hair treatment surface 17 having a generally rectangular shape (it preferably has the same shape and the same dimensions as the support portion 2 polished, possibly covered with an enamel, a ceramic material, a layer of glass, etc. In a variant, the support portion 2 is made in the same manner as the heating portion 3 and can also provide calories to the lock of hair to be treated. Handle 1 and swivel arms are made so that when the arms are in the open position a lock of hair can be inserted between the arms and that when the arms are in the closed position, the hair is in pressure contact between the treatment surfaces 17, 18.

More particularly according to this first embodiment of the invention, the heating portion 3 is mounted floating in its housing 6, a game 9 being formed between the bottom of the housing 6 and the heating portion 3, the heating portion 3 can move in its housing 6 when subjected to pressure by the user on the handle. By the ball joint or annular connection, the heating part will match the lock of hair and distribute it evenly and thanks to the magnet, no uncontrolled floating is possible. The heating portion 3 is made at least in part of a magnetic material of the type comparable to iron or ferromagnetic, for example a ferrous alloy, nickel-based or cobalt-based. The size of the magnets is chosen according to the effort that one wants to obtain, as well as the nature of the material used. In Figures 2 to 5, the receiving part 7 is the magnet and has a ring shape of inner diameter equal to about 6mm and an outer diameter of about 15mm, a thickness equal to about 2.5mm. The magnet used can be for example the model No. N35 BH (max) 33-37 MGOe (263 ~ 295Kj / cube m).

In FIGS. 2 to 5, the protuberance is integral with the heating or support portion while the cavity is integral with the housing. Also the protuberance 4 is a truncated sphere whose largest diameter measures for example about 10mm, it is galvanized steel. At rest, the ring and the protuberance 4 are in indirect contact, or advantageously in direct contact.

The left play allows an angular movement of 0.7mm or 4 degrees for each side.

FIG. 4 illustrates a particular assembly of the ball joint comprising the protuberance 4 in the shape of a truncated sphere, the magnetic ring 7, and a piece additional 8 for receiving the ring 7, to maintain fixed secured to the housing and / or to reduce the heat exchange between the housing and the ring.

In operation, after warming up the apparatus, the user introduces her lock of hair between the heating portions 3 and support 2 of the appliance, preferably by placing the appliance as close to the scalp. It then exerts pressure on the pivotally mounted arms 14, 15 of the handle 1 to close the apparatus. When pressure is exerted by the user, the support portion 2 and the heating portion 3 pinch the wick, the support portion, via the ball joint or the annular linear connection, will move according to the degrees of freedom left to best distribute the thickness of the wick. The heating portion 3 then perfectly matches the variations in thickness of the lock of hair that keeps in contact with the support portion 2. The user then moves the device along the lock of hair, the root towards the tip of the hair, the heating support portion 2 and the heating portion 3 adapting to the thickness of the wick.

The guide means 21 may comprise an oblong groove 21 ", or advantageously two oblong grooves 21". In the case of two oblong grooves arranged on each side of the support portion or heating, they may be of the same length. Alternatively, they may be of different length: the distal oblong groove is advantageously shorter than the proximal oblong groove. Indeed, in practice, it has been found that the thickness of the wick may be, before pressure by the user, higher handle side end side of the straightener. Thus the thickness of the wick will be better distributed at the pressure.

In a variant it is possible to envisage a floating assembly not only of the support part 2, but also of the heating part 3.

Other variants and embodiments of the invention may be envisaged without departing from the scope of its claims. Thus, the magnetic field can be achieved by replacing the permanent magnet (s) with an electromagnet. Furthermore, the principle of the invention can be applied to other types of hairdressing apparatus, in particular to embossing or curling tongs comprising plates having a profile in relief or having protuberances facing them. screw.

Claims

Hairdressing apparatus comprising a handle (1), at least one heating part (3) cooperating with a support part (2) each mounted in its respective housing (6,5) connected to the handle (1), the hair being able to insert between the heating part (3) and the support part (2), at least one of the heating parts (3) or support

(2) is mounted floating inside its housing (6.5), one of the heating parts

(3) or support (2) is linked with at least one ball joint type connection,

characterized in that

- the connection is defined by a protrusion (4) and a receiving part (7) forming a cavity to receive the protuberance (4) in contact,

- one of the two among the protuberance (4) and the receiving part (7) is integral with the heating part or the support part while the other is integral with the housing (6, 5),

- one of the two among the protuberance (4) and the receiving part (7) is a permanent magnet while the other is at least partially metallic.

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protuberance (4) is convex.

Apparatus according to the preceding claim wherein the protuberance (4) has the shape of a truncated sphere.

Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, where the receiving part (7) is a ring (7) for at least partially receiving the protuberance

(4).

5. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 3, where the receiving part (7) has a concave cavity.

6. Apparatus according to the preceding claim wherein the receiving part (7) has a spherical or conical shape to receive the protuberance (4).

7. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims where the protuberance (4) is arranged substantially in the middle of the heating part (3) or support part (2) or of the housing (6, 5).

8. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support part (2) is heated.

Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the support part (2) or the heating part (3) have a hair treatment surface (17,18) of planar shape.

10. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises guide means (21) of the heating part (3) or the support part (2) arranged along a median plane perpendicular to the plane of the surface treatment (18,17) of the hair or on either side of this plane.

1 1 . Apparatus according to the preceding claim wherein the guide means comprise a rod (21') whose axis is arranged in the median plane perpendicular to the plane of the treatment surface (17,18) of the hair and capable of sliding inside an oblong groove (21") formed inside the housing (6.5).

12. Apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, where the housings of the support part and the heating part are pivotally mounted around an axis perpendicular (X) to the longitudinal axis of the handle.

13. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the heating part (3) has a hair treatment surface (18) having a shape of revolution and that the support part (2) has a treatment surface (17) conforming to the shape of the heating part (3).