Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6604287
-
Patent Number
6,604,287
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, September 19, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, August 12, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Greer, Burns & Crain, Ltd.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 030 122
- 030 123
- 030 201
- 030 3405
- 030 341
- 030 125
- D28 53
- D28 54
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A hair clipper has a housing and a pair of blades secured outside of the housing. One of the blades is stationary, and the other reciprocates. A hair trimmer or other attachment is tethered to the hair clipper so that it can be selectively placed over the hair clipper blades in use, but is not lost when removed from the blades. The attachment is stored in a recess in the housing when not in use.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to hair clippers, and more particularly, to hair clippers having tethered trimmer attachments that can be stored in the hair clipper.
Conventional hair clippers are often sold with one or more blade attachments. Some attachments set the distance between the clipper blades and the head or face. An attachment that has hair trimmer blades will be described here.
When attachments are removed they can easily be misplaced. Thus, there is a need for hair clippers having tethered attachments. Storing hair clipper attachments is inconvenient and often disorganized. There is also a need to conveniently store hair clipper attachments in an orderly manner.
Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide new and improved hair clippers.
Another object is to provide new and improved hair clippers having a tethered attachment.
Still another object is to provide new and improved hair clippers that store attachments in a convenient, orderly manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In keeping with one aspect of this invention, a hair clipper has a housing and a pair of blades secured outside of the housing. One of the blades is stationary, and the other reciprocates. A hair trimmer or other attachment is tethered to the hair clipper so that it can be selectively placed over the hair clipper blades in use, but is not lost when removed from the blades. The attachment is stored in the housing when not in use, preferably in a recess.
A variety of attachments can be used. One such attachment is a hair trimmer attachment that has a stationary blade and a moving blade that cut hair when the moving blade reciprocates. The moving blade of the attachment is driven by the moving blade of the hair clipper, which also reciprocates. The attachment has indentations and a snap that secure the attachment to the stationary blade or other part of the hair clipper when the attachment is in use. A drive member engages the moving blade of the hair clipper when the attachment is secured to the hair clipper in this manner, and the drive member in turn drives the moving blade of the hair trimmer attachment to cut hair.
The attachment also is attached to the hair clipper by a tether that is connected to the hair clipper on one end, and connected to the attachment on the other end. The tether itself can be stiff or flexible. The tethered attachment can be easily removed from the stationary blade and stored in the housing, so that the hair clipper blades can be used to cut hair in the usual manner.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above mentioned and other features of this invention and the manner of obtaining them will become more apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a hair clipper having an integral hair trimmer attachment made in accordance with this invention, shown with the attachment inside the clipper.
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of the hair clipper of
FIG. 1
, showing the hair trimmer attachment removed from the housing of the hair clipper.
FIG. 3
is another perspective view of the hair clipper of
FIG. 1
, showing the attachment removed from the hair clipper housing.
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of the hair clipper of
FIG. 1
, shown with the hair trimmer attachment secured to the stationary blade of the hair clipper.
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the hair clipper of FIG.
1
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1
shows a hair trimmer attachment
10
, and a hair clipper
12
having a housing
14
, a stationary blade
16
and a moving blade
18
. The attachment
10
is secured to the housing
14
for storage purposes.
The blades
16
,
18
have complimentary blade teeth separated by spaces. In operation, the moving blade
18
reciprocates across the spaces to cut hair that enters the spaces. The moving blade
18
can be driven by any suitable motor (not shown). The stationary blade
16
is secured to the housing
14
, typically with screws (not shown). A blade height adjustment
20
can be provided to adjust the height of the moving blade
18
with respect to the stationary blade
16
. The hair clipper
12
can be used to cut hair in the usual manner when the attachment
10
is in the housing, as in FIG.
1
.
FIG. 2
shows the attachment
10
removed from the housing
14
. Thus,
FIG. 2
reveals a recessed area
21
into which the attachment
10
fits for storage.
FIGS. 3 and 4
also show this recessed area.
As seen in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the attachment
10
is secured to the hair clipper
12
by a tether
22
. The tether
22
can be a solid material such as metal or plastic, as shown, or it can be made of flexible material. In this embodiment, the tether
22
is flat and contoured to fit inside the recessed area
21
, but it could also be round or any other suitable shape. One end of the tether
22
is hingedly secured to the housing
14
, and the other end is hingedly secured to the attachment
10
. The housing
14
includes at least one embossment
24
. A pin
26
passes through an opening in the embossment
24
and openings provided in the tether
22
to secure the tether
22
to the hair clipper
12
. The attachment
10
is also hingedly secured to the tether
22
, as will be described.
The attachment
10
is described in greater detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/955,690, filed concurrently herewith, and entitled “Attachment For Hair Clippers”, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Among other things, the attachment
10
includes a base
122
, a reciprocating blade
130
and a stationary blade
132
. Guides
134
,
136
are also provided. While two guides are shown, a one-piece construction is also contemplated. A rod
137
extends between the openings in the guides
134
,
136
and through an opening
139
in the tether
22
. The guides
134
,
136
also include recesses
194
into which the stationary blade
16
fits, the guides
134
,
136
extending over the top of the blade teeth of the stationary blade
16
, as seen in FIG.
4
.
The base
122
includes a bottom
138
and sides
140
,
142
. The sides
140
,
142
lie along and capture the sides of the hair clipper blades. A snap
144
is provided for securement to the stationary blade of the hair clipper
10
in use, and an elongated depression
146
can be provided, if desired, to accommodate the embossment
24
when the attachment is stored in the housing.
The recessed area
21
can be any suitable design that holds and secures an attachment in place. In
FIG. 3
, the recessed area
21
includes a lip
30
and a recess
32
. The blades
130
,
132
of the attachment
10
fit into the recess
32
, so that the outside surface of the base
122
in
FIG. 3
is flush with the housing
14
when the attachment is stored. Another lip
34
and recess
36
are also provided. The snap
144
fits into the recess
36
and is retained by the lip
34
when the attachment
10
is stored. That end of the bottom of the attachment is also flush with the housing
14
. Ears
37
are provided to pull the attachment away from the hair clipper. Another recess
38
is provided in the recessed area
21
for the tether
22
.
FIG. 4
shows the attachment
10
secured to the stationary blade
16
of the hair clipper
10
. The attachment is secured by rotating it over the hair clipper stationary blade and latching the snap
144
. In this manner, the attachment is stored on one side of the hair clipper (FIG.
1
), and used on the hair clipper blades on the other side of the hair clipper (FIG.
4
).
In
FIG. 5
, a hair clipper
200
includes an attachment
202
tethered by arms
204
,
206
, located on either side of the attachment
202
. The arms
204
,
206
are secured to the attachment
202
by any suitable means, such as a ball and socket joint. The arms
204
,
206
can be secured to the hair clipper
200
in a similar manner, such that the attachment
202
can rotate from a stationary blade
208
on the hair clipper
202
to a recessed area
210
for storage purposes. The recessed area
210
includes a lip
212
and recess
214
into which blades
216
of the attachment
202
fit, and a recess
218
into which a snap
219
on the attachment
202
fits.
The many advantages of this invention are now apparent. Hair trimmer attachments are tethered to the hair clipper, so they are not lost. The attachments can be easily stored in the housing, which is convenient and orderly, and further prevents loss of the attachment. If the attachment is concealed in the hair clipper housing, the attachment does not interfere with the regular use of the hair clipper.
While the principles of the invention have been described above in connection with specific apparatus and applications, it is to be understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention. While a hair trimmer attachment has been described, it is contemplated that other devices, such as massagers, ear and nose hair trimmers and the like, could be attached to the hair clipper and driven in a similar manner.
Claims
- 1. A hair clipper comprising:a housing; hair clipper blades; and an attachment selectively secured to and removed from the hair clipper blades; wherein the housing having means for receiving the attachment therein for storage purposes when the attachment is not secured to the hair clipper blades.
- 2. The hair clipper of claim 1, wherein the means for receiving is a recessed area and the attachment is stored in the recessed area so as to not interfere with regular use of the hair clipper when the attachment is stored.
- 3. The hair clipper of claim 2, wherein the recessed area includes at least one lip and one recess for securing the attachment in the housing.
- 4. The hair clipper of claim 1, wherein the attachment includes means for releasing the attachment from storage in the housing.
- 5. The hair clipper of claim 4, wherein the releasing means includes ears on the attachment.
- 6. A hair clipper comprising:a housing; a stationary blade, a reciprocating blade, a blade attachment; and a tether attached to the housing on one end by a first hinge and the attachment on the other end by a second hinge.
- 7. The hair clipper of claim 6, wherein the tether includes a first opening at the one end and a second opening at the other end, the tether being attached to the housing by a rod inserted through the first opening, the tether being attached to the blade attachment by a rod extending through the second opening.
- 8. The hair clipper of claim 6, wherein the tether is a single piece of flat material.
- 9. The hair clipper of claim 6, wherein the tether includes two arms located at sides of the blade attachment.
- 10. A hair clipper comprising:a housing; a stationary blade, a reciprocating blade, a blade attachment; and a tether attached to the housing on one end and the attachment on the other end; wherein the tether includes two arms located at the sides of the blade attachment.
- 11. A hair clipper comprising:a housing; a stationary blade, a reciprocating blade, a blade attachment; and a tether attached to the housing on one end and the attachment on the other end; wherein the tether includes a first opening at the one end and a second opening at the other end, the tether being attached to the housing by a rod inserted through the first opening, the tether being attached to the blade attachment by a rod extending through the second opening.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
443 680 |
Aug 1991 |
EP |
965 419 |
Dec 1999 |
EP |
0010779 |
Mar 2000 |
WO |