Patent Application
20160165670
The present invention generally relates to hair styling appliances, and in particular to an induction heating mat adapted for heating hair styling appliances.
Many hair styling appliances are required to be heated for styling hair. Depending on the use, different hair styling appliances have different ways of heating up. For example, curling tongs and hair straightening devices, such devices require electrical power to continuously heat up the heating elements thereon. Most commonly, the electrical power is supplied through a power cord/wire connected thereto. Such power cord/wire often gets in the users' way when they operate these appliances.
Induction heating pots offer a flexible way of heating up the appliances quickly and effectively. The heating pots are initially manufactured in a fixed size for adopting the appliances of the intended sizes, which are limited in options. Further, the pot is usually adapted for heating up one appliance at one time.
Further, such heating pots are relatively bulky, i.e. immobile, for carrying around. The size of the pot is a massive disadvantage as most salons have limited space.
Once the roller is placed into the pot it is only visible and accessible from the top. Small items could fall into the pot unbeknown to the user causing possible damage or even fire. Dust can settle and cleaning can be difficult.
The pot is very made from plastic and could easily be damaged if dropped on the floor.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an induction-heater mat for heating up hair-styling appliances. The induction-heater mat comprises a mat that is made up of a flexible material, the mat having an induction coil embedded therein; and a power supply and controlling unit that is electrically connected to the induction coil of the mat, the power supply and controlling unit operationally controls the power supply to the induction coil to heat up the hair-styling appliance that is placed on the mat.
In one embodiment, the mat is fabricated form a monolithic body to house the induction coil there between. The mat may comprise two substrates, laminating the induction coil there between.
In another embodiment, the induction coil is made up of flexible, re shapeable wire. The induction coil may be positioned on the mat in a serpentine manner or a swirling manner.
In a further embodiment, the induction-heater mat may further comprise a sensor unit operationally detecting the temperature of the appliance and feeding back information to the power supply and controlling unit. The sensor unit may be embedded on the mat at a suitable location. Alternatively, the sensor unit may be positioned on the power supply and controlling unit.
In yet a further embodiment, the induction-heater mat may be a low/mid frequency induction-heater mat. The mat may be detachable from the power supply and controlling unit.
Preferred embodiments according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the figures accompanied herein, in which like reference numerals denote like elements;
Embodiments of the present invention shall now be described in detail, with reference to the attached drawings. It is to be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
The induction-heater mat 100 comprises a mat 110 and a power supply and controlling unit 150. The mat 110 is attached to the power supply and controlling unit 150 physically and electrically. Operationally, the power supply and controlling unit 150 is connected to a power source. The user places the appliance to be heated on the mat 110 and powers up the power supply and controlling unit 150. The appliance to be heated may be heated up automatically once the power supply and controlling unit 150 is powered up, or user can operate the induction-heater mat 100 with the available operating modes controllable to heat up the appliances through the buttons 155 disposed on the power supply and controlling unit 150.
The mat 110 comprises a substrate layer 112 and a coil 114 embedded within the substrate layer 112. The substrate layer 112, which is preferably a flexible material formed in a mat form. In one embodiment, the substrate layer 112 is a dielectric material suitable for induction heating. The substrate layer 112 is made of high-temperature engineering thermoplastic which is the same as, or compatible with the materials of the other components and connectors of the heater so that, when at the end of the assembly process the components are laminated together. Preferably, the materials shall be able to fuse or bond the components (i.e. coil and connectors/terminators) to form a monolithic body and will not delaminate. The materials may include Poly(p-phenylene sulfide) (PPS), silicone, thermoset plastic, or any other known suitable materials. If another embodiments, the mat may be made up of any non-electrically conducted, rubberized material that is able to withstand heat of at least 150-200 degree Celsius.
The coil 114 illustrates in the
In one embodiment, the substrate layer 112 may be fabricated through molding, extrusion or any known industrial process. It can be also made up of two thermoplastic sheets to sandwich the components between. Preferably, the stack of assembled components can be dispersed or merged into one another to form the monolithic unit when the thermoplastic material is heated to above its melt point and pressure applied.
In one illustrative example, a sheet of dielectric material can be cut into a desired shape and size form the substrate layer or half part of the substrate layer, a mask may be used to flame spray a conductive metal (e.g. copper) or metal alloy onto a main surface of the substrate layer 112 to form the coil 114. At this stage, all the necessary components, such as sensor(s), and the connectors/terminators can also be lay down accordingly. Once the components are set properly, another sheet of same dielectric material can be laid on top for sandwiching and sealing the components beneath.
The above is exemplified for illustrations only. It is understood that all known materials and fabrication methods suitable for fabricating the induction-heating mat 100 can be desired for the present invention.
Still referring to
The power supply and controlling unit 250 is adapted to supply power to the coil mat 210. The power supply and controlling unit 250 may be adapted to operate as a high-frequency power supply unit, or it can also be adapted to operate as a low to mid frequency power supply unit.
Power supply 252 can be a low/mid-frequency power supply, and desirably, it is a mid-frequency power supply having an output frequency up to about 1.5 kHz. In another embodiment, the induction-heating unit that operates in the range of 80 kHz-120 kHz can also be desired, although the scope of the invention shall not be restricted to the suggested range of frequencies.
The controller 254 may include a microprocessor that receives inputs from the sensor(s) 212 and the input buttons 356 to control the heating power according to predefined operation modes stored on the controller 254. Operationally, the user selects an operating mode through the input buttons 356 to initiate a heating sequence to heat up the appliance. The heating sequence may include sensing the initial temperature of the appliance, heating up the appliance by supplying an appropriate power to the heater element (i.e. induction coil) 215, triggering a timer, monitoring the temperature of the appliance, cutting off the power when the timer has ended, or the temperature has reached a predefined threshold temperature.
In another embodiment, the power supply and controlling unit 250 may further comprise a display screen for outputting the operating statuses.
In one further embodiment, the induction-heater mat is battery operated.
In yet a further embodiment, the induction-heater mat of the present invention may include an appliance identifier for detecting the presence of the appliances and to detect the type of the appliances placing thereon. Such appliance identifier serves as a safety feature to operate the induction-heater mat. The induction-heater mat can be adapted to detect if the object that is placed on the mat is an appropriate appliance to be heated up. With the appliance identifier, the induction-heater mat can also detect the type and/or model of the appliances, which allows the power supply and controlling unit to operate automatically without the need of pressing any button as required above.
In one embodiment, the appliance identifier can be an optical scanner to scan an optical-readable tag that is provided on the appliance. In another embodiment, the appliance identifier can be a radio frequency (RF) reader for scanning a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag provided on the appliances.
While specific embodiments have been described and illustrated, it is understood that many changes, modifications, variations and combinations thereof could be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201305737-7 | Jul 2013 | SG | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SG2014/000348 | 7/24/2014 | WO | 00 |
