Patent Application
20100162585
The present invention relates to an electric appliance. In particular, the present invention relates to an electric hair dryer.
Electric hair dryers are available in various forms offering attractive features. Regardless of the variations, the electric hair dryers available in the market are configured with two or more of distinct buttons/switches, or combination of both for normal operations.
Typically, at least one button/switch is adapted to control the motor driving electric fan components, whereas the heating components are controlled by the distinct button/switch. Each of these buttons/switches further provides control of fan and heat in various levels. For user friendliness, these buttons/switches are usually placed at the handle where they are reachable easily through the fingers of the hand holding the hair dryer. Due to the size restrain on the handle, the various levels are limited. For example, a full-featured hair dryer comprises both buttons/switches employing three-level adjustments, wherein, level 0 represents no airflow for the electric component, level 1 represents regular airflow and level 2 represents high airflow for the electric component. Similarly, level 0-2 for button/switch associated to the heating component represents no heat, regular heat and high heat respectively. Some hair dryers can even feature with more distinct buttons/switches as the features and controls increase.
There are of course some mini- or portable or travel hair dryers available on the market. These hair dryers adopt one single switch that switching between regular heated air, regular air, and no air blow for simplicity. In addition, such travel hair dryers or those ordinary or professional hair dryers, also feature with a mechanical switch for switching between different voltages.
In high power (generally above 1500 W) hair dryers, or professional grade hair dryers, it is generally not practical to adapt dual voltages switching. The hair dryers are generally made to suit the voltage level of intended region/market.
It can be seen and understood to users that controlling the hair dryer via two or more distinct buttons/switches can be complicated. It can also be wasteful in energy usage due to the limited level controls, and thus decrease users' satisfactions in many regards.
It can thus be seen that there exists a need for a simple and robust way for a hair dryer.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hair dryer having a fan and a heater. The hair dryer comprises a PCB board having programmable integrated circuit (IC) components mounted thereon, wherein the fan and the heater are also connected to the PCB board; a plurality of presets defining operating levels of the fan and the heater, alone or in any combinations; and a multi-mode switch connected to the PCB board for controlling the plurality of presets, the multi-mode switch is positioned at an one-hand operable location on the hair dryer, wherein user is able to operate the hair dryer with only a hand holding hair dryer and controlling the plurality of presets through the multi-mode switch.
In one embodiment, the multi-mode switch is a rotary dial. It is also possible that the multi-mode switch is a toggle switch. The toggle switch may be toggleable in an up-down direction or a left-right direction. It is also possible that the toggle switch is an omni-directional toggle switch that is able to toggle in at least up-down and left-right directions.
Alternatively, the multi-mode switch is a push button. Further, the button may comprise a first button and a second button, or the button may be a single button. It is also possible that the multi-mode switch comprises a combination of any one of the above multi-mode switches. The multi-mode switch may be located on an upper side of the handle of the hair dryer.
In another embodiment, the hair dryer may further include a far infrared emitter and an ionic generator connected to the PCB board, wherein their operating status is defined in one of the presets. The PCB may further comprises a switch mode power supply unit and a auto-cut-off circuit.
This invention will be described by way of non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In line with the above summary, the following description of a number of specific and alternative embodiments are provided to understand the inventive features of the present invention. It shall be apparent to one skilled in the art, however that this invention may be practiced without such specific details. Some of the details may not be described at length so as not to obscure the invention. For ease of reference, common reference numerals will be used throughout the figures when referring to the same or similar features common to the figures.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an electric hair dryer comprises a heater, a fan, a multi-mode button/switch and a printed circuit board (PCB) connecting the heater, the fan and the multi-mode button/switch. The PCB provides a simultaneous control over the heater and the fan via the multi-mode button/switch. With simple operations for the electric hair dryer in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, a user can simultaneously control the working temperature and airflow easily with one hand. Because the power of an electric hair dryer is controlled and adjusted by built-in programs, it saves energy consumption. The advantages offer more users' satisfactions. For avoidance of doubt, the fan referred herein includes a motor and fan blades, wherein the motor is operationally driving the fan blades to generate airflow. A skilled person would appreciate that any means of generating airflow can be desired. Further, it is also understood that controlling fan or the like has the same meaning as controlling the airflow.
Further, the present invention is adaptable in high power hair dryer, which includes professional grade hair dryer.
Still referring to
For the electric hair dryer 200 adapting the Controller 104 for controlling the major operations, the built-in program resided in the IC component is configured to read the signals from the multi-mode trigger 102, and provide a relevant response to control the heater and fan. For example, the Controller 104 of the electric hair dryer 200 are configured to control the heater 106 and the fan 108 thereof such that the heat generated by the heater 106 is adjusted to a required level A and the airflow supplied by the fan 108 is adjusted to a required level B, upon the signal is received by the Controller 104, the heat generated by the heater 106 is adjusted to the required level A, and the airflow supplied by the fan 108 is adjusted to the required level B.
In yet a further embodiment, the multi-mode trigger can be one single trigger integrating one or more of the aforementioned triggers.
The triggers provide in the aforesaid embodiments, may or may not provide intermediate values. Certainly, those that provide intermediate values are capable of providing more operational controls on the electric hair dryer.
In another embodiment, the multi-mode trigger is stepless multi-mode trigger, i.e. continuous signal measurements. The controller 104 may have a sampling rate for acquiring the signal measurements during the operation.
In further embodiment, the Controller 104 controls the heat and airflow levels in a fixed-step manner i.e. each step associated to a prescribed heat/airflow level. In yet a further embodiment, the Controller 104 includes a plurality of operational modes that pre-store level of heat or airflow or combination of both.
In a further embodiment, the multi-mode trigger may be located on the handle of the electric hair dryer. Certainly, the multi-mode trigger may also be located on other positions of the electric hair dryer, such as airflow cylinder or external remote control apparatus.
In yet a further embodiment, the multi-mode trigger may integrate switch function with respect to the different embodiments as described above, e.g. to turn on or turn off the power supply by turning the rotary component to a certain angle or the like.
The electric hair dryer according to the other embodiments of the present invention comprises a heater, an electric component, an multi-mode trigger and an integrated circuit component connecting with the heater, the electric component and the multi-mode trigger, the integrated circuit component being used for simultaneously controlling the heater and the multi-mode trigger in response to the signal from the multi-mode trigger, such that the working temperature and airflow of the electric hair dryer are controlled simultaneously through simple operations. Because the power of the electric hair dryer is controlled and adjusted by built-in programs, it can save energy, and thus the user's satisfaction is increased. In addition, various multi-mode triggers can be provided for user's various operation needs.
The PCB is further mounted within the cavity of the handle. The PCB is positioned within the handle, as it is furthest away from the heating elements of the electric hair dryer 950.
The above are the detailed embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that some modifications and variations could be made within the spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art, and these modifications and variations should be regarded within the protection scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008202357526 | Dec 2008 | CN | national |
| PCT/SG2009/000335 | Sep 2009 | SG | national |
This application claims the benefit of Chinese utility model application entitled “Hair Dryer” filed on 29 Dec. 2008 having application number 2008202357526 and International patent application entitled “Hair Dryer” filed on 14 Sep. 2009 having application number PCT/SG2009/000335.
