The present disclosure relates generally to an electric hair grooming appliance, and more particularly to an electric hair grooming appliance including a touchscreen.
Many different types of electric hair grooming appliances are available for use in grooming hair. For example, such electric hair grooming appliances include curling irons, flat irons (which are also sometimes referred to as heated tongs or hair straighteners), blow dryers, hair setters (also known as hot rollers or curlers), and electric hair removers, such as foil shavers, rotary shavers, trimmers, clippers, and epilators.
Most electric hair grooming appliances include mechanical controls, such as buttons and knobs, to allow a user to control certain operations of the electric grooming appliance. These mechanical controls may be difficult to use for some users, particularly for users suffering from arthritis and other physical ailments of their hands. Moreover, the bulkiness of the mechanical controls limits the functions and operations of the hair grooming appliances that can be controlled by the user.
In one aspect, an electric, handheld hair grooming appliance generally comprises a housing, and at least one hair grooming device carried by the housing and adapted to facilitate grooming of hair. The at least one hair grooming device is adapted to perform an operation using electrical energy applied thereto. A control circuit is in the housing and in communication with the at least one hair grooming device. A touchscreen is on at least one of the at least one hair grooming device and the housing for receiving at least one input from a user and to facilitate communication between the user and the control circuit. The touchscreen is configured to send at least one command signal to the control circuit in response to receiving said at least one input from the user. The control circuit is configured to control the operation of the at least one hair grooming device in response to receiving the at least one command signal.
In another aspect, a method of controlling an operation of an electric hair grooming appliance generally comprises receiving an input using a touchscreen of the electric hair grooming appliance. The input corresponds to a desired setting of at least one operating parameter of the appliance. A command signal is sent from the touchscreen to a control circuit of the electric hair grooming appliance in response to receiving the input. The operation of the electric hair grooming appliance is controlled using the control circuit in response to receiving the command signal.
In yet another aspect, an electric hair grooming appliance is configured to have an operation to facilitate grooming of hair. The electric hair grooming appliance generally comprises a control circuit, and a touchscreen for receiving at least one input from a user and to facilitate communication between the user and the control circuit. The touchscreen is configured to send at least one command signal to the control circuit in response to receiving the at least one input from the user. The control circuit is adapted to control the operation of the electric hair grooming appliance in response to receiving the at least one command signal.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
Referring to the drawings, several embodiments of electric hair grooming appliances are provided. As explained in more detail below, each illustrated hair grooming appliance is configured to have at least one operation which facilitates grooming of hair. Each illustrated hair grooming appliance includes a touchscreen to allow a user to communicate with a control circuit of the hair grooming appliance. The touchscreen is configured to receive an input from a user and send a command signal to the control circuit. The control circuit is configured to control one or more operations of the hair grooming appliance in response to receiving the command signal.
Referring first to
The illustrated trimmer 101 also includes an adjustable comb assembly 150 (broadly, a hair grooming device), including a comb 151 that is selectively movable relative to the blade head assembly 114 through operation of a comb-driving assembly 154 (illustrated schematically in
Referring to
As seen in
The illustrated touchscreen 160 also generates graphical output 166 to communicate the selected hair-cut length setting to the user. In one example, the trimmer 101 may have hair cut-length settings ranging from about 0.2 mm to about 5.0 mm, in increments of about 0.2 mm. Thus, the graphical output 166 is able to output any numeral from 0.2 mm to 5.0 mm, in increments of 0.2 mm. The trimmer 101 may have other hair cut-length settings without departing from the scope of the present invention. Moreover, the output communicating the hair-cut length setting may be separate from the touchscreen 160 without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In the illustrated embodiment, the trimmer 101 also includes a locking control 170 (
The touchscreen 160 may also be configured to facilitate control of other operations of the trimmer 101 in addition to or in lieu of controlling the movement and positioning of the comb 151 relative to the blade head assembly 114. For example,
Within the scope of the present invention are other types of hair removing appliances including a touchscreen, which may be similar or identical to the touchscreen 160 and/or 160′ set forth above, to allow a user to communicate with a control circuit of the hair removing appliance. As non-limiting examples, other types of hair removing appliances within the scope of the present invention include foil shavers, rotary shavers, hair clippers, and epilators. Within the scope of the present invention, each of these hair removing appliances includes the touchscreen (e.g., touchscreen 160 or 160′) in communication with a control circuit; a drive assembly including, for example, an electric motor, which is driven by electric energy such as from a battery source or another source of electrical energy; and a movable hair-removing member (e.g., a rotary blade in the rotary shaver, an oscillating blade in the hair clipper, and pinching plates and/or tweezing members in the epilator) operatively coupled to the electric motor and configured for removing hair. Each of these exemplary hair removing appliances may include other hair grooming devices in addition to the hair grooming device comprising the hair-removing member and the drive assembly. In each of these additional exemplary hair removing appliances, the control circuit is configured to receive a command signal from the touchscreen in response to an input, and in response to receiving the command signal, the control circuit controls an operation of at least one of the hair grooming devices of the hair removing appliance by sending a control signal to the hair grooming device For example, in each of the exemplary hair removing appliances described herein, the control circuit may be configured to control the speed of the corresponding movable hair-removing member.
Referring now to
Each of the first and second arms 203a, 203b comprises an outer shell or housing member 209, 210, respectively, and a heating member assembly secured thereto (only heating member assembly 214 associated with the first arm is illustrated). The heating member assemblies 214 of the first and second arms 203a, 203b may be substantially identical, and for ease of description only, the heating member assembly of the first arm only is described herein, with the understanding that the description of the heating member assembly of the first arm may apply equally to the heating member assembly of the second arm. Referring to
The heating unit 217 suitably comprises one or more heaters, such as electrical resistance heaters (e.g., PTC heating units), positioned in contact with or in sufficiently close proximity to the heating member 216 to heat the heating member during use of the flat iron 201. For example, in one suitable embodiment the heating unit 217 is operable to heat the heating member 216 to a styling temperature of at least about 100 degrees Celsius, and may heat the heating member up to a temperature of about 250 degrees Celsius. In another embodiment the heating unit 217 is operable to heat the heating member 216 to a styling temperature in the range of about 180 to about 230 degrees Celsius. It is understood that other suitable heating units or heating methods may be used to heat the heating member 216 without departing from the scope of this invention.
The heating members 216 of the respective heating member assemblies 214 of the first and second arms 203a, 203b are sufficiently located longitudinally on the respective arms so that in the closed position of the flat iron 201 the heating members 214 sandwich and compress hair therebetween. In the open position of the flat iron 201, the heating members 216 are spaced apart from one another a sufficient distance to allow the introduction of hair between the heating members.
As set forth above and seen throughout
In one embodiment, the touchscreen 260 generates graphical inputs, such as icons in the form of right and left arrows 260a, 260b, respectively (
The illustrated touchscreen 260 also generates graphical output 266 to communicate the selected temperature setting, or other selected operation, to the user. It is understood, however, that the output communicating the temperature setting to the user may be separate from the touchscreen 260, such as on a separate display screen, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The touchscreen 260 may also be configured to facilitate control of other operations of the flat iron 201 in addition to or in lieu of controlling the temperatures of the heating members 216.
In the illustrated embodiment, the flat iron 201 also includes a locking control 270 for selectively locking the touchscreen 260 to prevent inadvertent adjustment of the temperature setting, and to facilitate selective unlocking of the touchscreen to allow adjustment of the temperature setting. In particular, the locking control 270 of the illustrated embodiment comprises one or more push buttons or other mechanical switches. The push button 270 has indicia indicating its functions of selectively locking and unlocking the touchscreen 260. The touchscreen 260 may generate one or more icons, such as icon 272, for indicating when the touchscreen is locked and/or unlocked. In another example, the touchscreen 260 may generate one or more icons to indicate the location(s) on the touchscreen to respectively lock and unlock the touchscreen. Other ways of providing a way of locking and unlocking the touchscreen 260 do not depart from the scope of the present invention.
Within the scope of the present invention are other types of hair styling appliances for applying heat to hair and including a touchscreen, such as the touchscreen 260 set forth above, to allow a user to communicate with a control circuit of the hair styling appliance. As non-limiting examples, other types of hair styling appliances within the scope of the present invention include curling irons, blow dryers, and hair setters (also known as hot rollers). Within the scope of the present invention, each of these hair styling appliances includes the touchscreen in communication with a control circuit; and a heating member assembly, which is heated by electric energy such as from a battery source or another source of electrical energy. In each of these exemplary hair removing appliances, the control circuit is configured to receive a command signal from the touchscreen in response to an input, and in response to receiving the command signal, the control circuit controls an operation of the hair removing appliance. For example, in each of the exemplary hair removing appliances set forth, the control circuit may be configured to control the temperature of the heating member assembly. With respect to an exemplary blow dryer, the touchscreen may allow the user to control the speed of the fan, in addition to the temperature of the air.
When introducing elements of the present invention or preferred embodiments thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the”, and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
As various changes could be made in the above constructions and methods without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
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