HAIR IRON

Abstract

Disclosed is a hair iron comprising: a pair of bodies each including a fixing portion and a driver rotatably coupled to one side of the fixing portion; and a hinge portion which is coupled to the other side of the fixing portion of the pair of bodies and adjusts the angle of the pair of bodies, wherein the driver comprises: a rotating plate coupled to one end of the fixing portion so as to be rotatable in a longitudinal direction from the other end of the fixing portion to the one end thereof, as a rotary shaft; a heating module located on one surface of the rotating plate; and a cooling module located on the other surface of the rotating plate. Accordingly, by simultaneously or sequentially applying a hot/cold process, thermal damage to hair may be minimized and setting power may be increased.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a hair iron provided with hot and cold functions.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a hair iron is a device used to create a hairstyle by fixing the shape of the hair using high heat, and is also referred to as a hair straightener (also called a curling iron). Initially, the hair irons were similar to soldering irons, simply consisting of a metal road that was heated.

In recent years, hair straighteners designed to use metal to be heated by electricity have rapidly come into widespread use, and not only rod-shaped irons that form hair curls, but also plate-shaped irons that can straighten hair have also appeared.

In order to fix hair while maintaining heat and contact time of the hair, tong-shaped hair irons have become common, and plate-shaped hair irons with a hair-straightening function are also appearing.

Such a hair iron has a problem of damaging hair by applying high heat to the hair, and needs to have cold and hot functions to increase hair setting power in a manner that the hairstyle can be maintained for a long time.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a hair iron that minimizes thermal damage to hair through hot/cold processes.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a hair iron that can increase the hair setting power by simultaneously using hot/cold processes.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a hair iron that can easily switch between a hot mode and a cold mode.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a hair iron with a structure that can prevent burns when a heating plate is placed at the outer surface of the hair iron.

Technical Solutions

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a hair iron may include: a pair of bodies each including a fixing portion and a driver rotatably coupled to one side of the fixing portion; and a hinge portion coupled to the other side of the fixing portion of the pair of bodies, and configured to adjust an angle of the pair of bodies. The driver may include: a rotating plate coupled to one end of the fixing portion so as to be rotatable using a longitudinal direction from the other end of the fixing portion to one end of the fixing portion as a rotary shaft; a heating module located at one surface of the rotating plate; and a cooling module located at the other surface of the rotating plate.

The rotating plate may be configured to switch to any one of: a first state in which one surface of the rotating plate faces a neighboring body and the other surface of the rotating plate faces outward; and a second state in which the other surface of the rotating plate faces the neighboring body and the one surface of the rotating plate faces outward.

The body may further include: a stopper configured to allow the rotating plate to be fixed or to restrict rotation of the rotating plate in the first state and/or the second state.

The rotating plate may further include: a drive motor located at the fixing portion and configured to rotate the rotating plate.

The cooling module may include a thermoelectric element configured to maintain a temperature of 30° C. or less.

The hair iron may further include: a controller located in the fixing portion; and a signal cable configured to connect the heating module and the cooling module to the controller. The rotating plate may include a hole formed in the rotary shaft, and an opening that extends from the hole and penetrates one surface and the other surface of the rotating plate; and the signal cable is connected to the heating module and the cooling module through the hole and the opening.

The hair iron may further include a pair of safety covers coupled to outer surfaces of the pair of bodies.

The hair iron may further include: a fastening magnet located at an outer surface of the fixing portion; and a fastening metal located at each of the safety covers to face the fastening magnet.

The safety covers may be arranged to be spaced apart from an outer surface of the driver.

The safety cover may be configured such that a cross-section corresponding to a portion of the driver is formed in a semicircular shape, and the driver is rotatable in a state in which the safety cover is coupled.

Advantageous Effects

As is apparent from the above description, the hair iron according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can minimize thermal damage to hair through hot/cold processes.

The hair iron according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can increase hair setting power by simultaneously using hot/cold processes.

The hair iron according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can easily switch between a hot mode and a cold mode.

The hair iron according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can prevent burns when the heating plate is placed at the outer surface of the hair iron.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hair iron according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view and a swivel structure of a hair iron according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the hair setting principle of the hair iron according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view and a swivel structure of a hair iron according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a fastening relationship between the hair iron and a safety cover of the hair iron according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a wave setting method of the hair iron according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the result of comparison in performance between a conventional hair iron and the hair iron according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

BEST MODE

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings to be easily implemented by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs.

However, the present disclosure may be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to embodiments described herein. In addition, in order to clearly describe the present disclosure, components irrelevant to the description are omitted, and like reference numerals are assigned to similar components throughout the specification.

In this specification, duplicate descriptions of the same components are omitted.

Further, in this specification, it will be understood that when a component is referred to as being “connected with” another component, the component may be directly connected with the other component or intervening components may also be present. In contrast, it will be understood that when a component is referred to as being “directly connected with” another component in this specification, there are no intervening components present.

Further, in this specification, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing a specific embodiment only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

Further, in this specification, the singular forms “a” and “an” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Further, in this specification, it will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, and “including” specify the presence of the certain features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, and parts or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, and parts or combinations thereof.

Further, in this specification, the term ‘and/or’ includes a combination of a plurality of listed items or one of the plurality of listed items. In this specification, ‘A or B’ may include ‘A’, ‘B’, or ‘both A and B’.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hair iron 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view and a swivel structure of a hair iron 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The hair iron 100 of the present disclosure may include a hinge portion 130 coupled to one end of the hair iron 100 such that a pair of bodies can be disposed to overlap each other and an angle between the bodies 101 can be changed. One surface where the bodies 101 (one pair of bodies 101) face each other will be referred to as an inner surface, and the opposite surface to the one surface will be referred to as an outer surface.

The hinge portion 130 may maintain a state in which two bodies 101 are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined size so that the hair can be inserted between the two bodies 101. The hinge portion 130 may include at least one elastic member so that the inner surfaces of two bodies 101 (i.e., one pair of bodies 101) come into contact with each other by the elastic member pressed by the user, and the two bodies 101 (i.e., one pair of bodies 101) are spaced apart from each other when the user does not press the elastic member.

Each of the two bodies 101 may include a fixing portion 120 connected to the hinge portion 130, and a driver 110 rotatably coupled to one end of the fixing portion 120. The driver 110 may include a rotating plate 111, a heating module 112, and a cooling module 113. The rotating plate 111 may be coupled to the fixing portion 120 and rotate in a longitudinal direction extending from the other end to one end of the fixing portion 120. The heating module 112 may be coupled to one surface of the rotating plate 111. The cooling module 113 may be coupled to the other surface of the rotating plate 111.

The rotating plates 111 of the two bodies 101 may switch between a first state in which one surface thereof faces the inner surface and a second state in which the other surface thereof faces one side surface.

The heating module 112 may be a module that is heated to high temperatures, and may include a heating plate 112b made of a metal material exposed to the outside. The heating module 112 may adjust the temperature stepwise.

The cooling module 113 may include the heating plate 112b made of a metal material, and a thermoelectric element 113a for maintaining a low temperature. The heating plate 112b may maintain a temperature below room temperature, for example, about 30° C. or below, and may be exposed to the outside.

The thermoelectric element 113a may serve as a small heat pump, and may be a device that absorbs heat from a low-temperature heat source and emits heat to a high-temperature heat source.

The thermoelectric element 113a may include a pair of electrically conductive plates (i.e., two electrically conductive plates) in which a plurality of P-type semiconductors and a plurality of N-type semiconductors are disposed between the two conductive plates. When a direct current (DC) voltage is applied to both ends of the thermoelectric element 113a, heat is transferred from the heat absorbing portion to the heating portion.

Therefore, as time passes, the temperature of the heat absorbing portion may decrease and the temperature of the heating portion may increase. Using this principle, the heat absorbing portion can be arranged so as to be in contact with the cooling plate 113b and the heating portion is located on the opposite side of the cooling plate 113b. The heating portion may be placed in contact with the rotating portion.

Heat generated from the heating portion of the cooling module 113 may pass through the rotating portion and be transferred to the heating module 112 located inside the heating plate 112b, thereby contributing to an increase in the temperature of the heating plate 112b. The voltage applied to a piezoelectric element can be adjusted so that the cooling plate 113b can maintain a constant temperature.

In the present embodiment, the heating plate 112b may be configured to maintain a temperature of 25° C. Styling hair at high temperature may cause hair damage, so hair damage can be reduced by cooling the hair immediately after performing hair setting using the cooling module 113.

If the structure of the hair is modified by heat and then cooled, the modified hair structure is fixed and the hair setting retention power can be improved. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the hair setting principle of the hair iron 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Hair forms hydrogen bonds, and hair can be styled by fixing the bonding state of hydrogen and oxygen between water molecules in the hair.

When moisture or heat is applied to the hair in a hydrogen bonded state as in FIG. 3(b), the existing hydrogen bonds of the hair are broken as shown in FIG. 3(c), the hair is then dried and cooled to remove moisture and heat, and the hydrogen bonded state is fixed as shown in FIG. 3(d), so that the wave state of the hair can be maintained.

Similarly, the straight state of the hair can be maintained through a process of changing and fixing the hydrogen bond state.

Therefore, as in the present disclosure, the hair iron 100 including a cooling plate 113b can apply heat and cool the hair at the same time, thereby maintaining the styled hair shape for a longer period of time.

The heating module 112 may include a heater 112a or a thermoelectric element 113a. In the case of the thermoelectric element 113a, opposite to the cooling module 113, the heating portion may be disposed on the heating plate 112b and the heat absorbing portion may be disposed opposite to the heating portion.

The heater 112a may have a simpler structure than the thermoelectric element 113a, may generate heat upon receiving power, and may control the temperature of the heating portion by adjusting the voltage of the power source.

For hair straightening styling, in a state in which the driver 110 is disposed such that the heating plate 112 faces inward as shown in FIG. 1(a), the hair is straightened by heat applied thereto, the driver 110 is rotated as shown in FIG. 1(b) so that the cooling plate 113b is disposed to face inward as shown in FIG. 1(c). Then, the hair is cooled using the cooling plate 113b so that the styling state (straight hair state) can be maintained.

As shown in FIG. 2, the driver 110 may include a rotating plate 111 that has a rotary shaft 114 protruding in the direction of the fixing portion 120, and the heating module 112 and the cooling module 113 may be coupled to one surface and the other surface of the rotating shaft 111, respectively.

A hole 114a may be formed in the rotary shaft 114, and a cable may pass through the hole 114a. The cable may connect the controller located in the fixing portion 120 to the heating module 112 and the cooling module 113. For arrangement of the cable, an opening 111a may be included inside the rotating plate 111 as shown in FIG. 2(b).

The driver 110 may further include a stopper for enabling the rotating plate to be fixed in the first state or the second state, and the user may remove the stopped state of the stopper using a separate button or lever so that the driver 110 can rotate.

When the hinge shaft of the rotating plate 111 includes an elastic member, the hair iron can be automatically switched from the first state to the second state or from the second state to the first state when the elastic member is pushed with a force equal to or greater than the reference magnitude.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view and a swivel structure of the hair iron 100 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. The hair iron 100 may further include a drive motor 115 that rotates the rotating plate 111. When the user presses the rotation button of the hair iron 100, the controller may control the drive motor 115 to rotate the driver 110.

Since an additional drive motor 115 must be provided in the hair iron 100, the structure of the hair iron 100 becomes more complicated and fabrication costs increase, but use convenience is improved and the risk of burns is lower than that of manual rotation, resulting in increased safety.

When the cooling plate 113b moves inward for cooling and the heating plate 112b moves outward for cooling, the heating module 112 can be controlled to lower the temperature of the heating plate 112b. However, even if the power applied to the heating module 112 is cut off, there is a risk of burns because residual heat may remain immediately after the power is cut off.

A safety cover 140 may be further included as shown in FIG. 5 to prevent a user's hand from touching the heating plate 112b. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a fastening relationship between the hair iron 100 and the safety cover 140 of the hair iron 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The safety cover 140 may include an insulation material with low thermal conductivity, and may be coupled to the outer surface of the body 101. A fastening magnet 123 that provides magnetic force to the fastening metal 143 located on the safety cover 140 may be provided on the outer surface of the fixing portion 120. The fastening magnet 123 may fix the safety cover 140 to the outer surface of the body 101 as shown in FIG. 5(b).

The safety cover 140 may be configured so that the first cover 141 coupled to the fixing portion 120 is in close contact with the fixing portion 120 without deteriorating the grip feeling of the user's hand, and at the same time the coupling force between the fastening magnet 123 and the fastening metal 143 can be increased.

The second covers 142 coupled to the driver 110 may be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and may not directly contact the heating plate 112b, as shown in FIG. 4. The second covers 142 may be spaced apart from the heating plate 112b so that heat generated from the heating module 112 is not directly transmitted to the hair, and a horizontal cross-section of each second cover 142 may have a semicircular shape in the drawing, so that the driver 110 can rotate in a state in which the second covers 142 are covered with the safety cover 140.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a wave setting method of the hair iron 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. When wave setting of the hair is performed, in a state in which the heating plate 112b faces inward as shown in FIG. 5, the hair is wound on one side of the body 101, and the hinge portion 130 of the body 101 can be driven so that the heating plates 112b come into contact with each other.

At this time, by slowly allowing the hair to escape between the bodies 101, the hair can move from the heating plate 112b to the cooling plate 113b, so that the hair wave state can be maintained.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the result of comparison in performance between a conventional hair iron 100 and the hair iron of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7(a), the conventional hair iron 100 includes only an inner heating plate 112b, and the temperature of an outer case of the conventional hair iron 100 may increase due to an increase in temperature of the heating plate 112b. Experimentally, the inner heating plate 112b may reach a temperature of 140° C. and the outer case may reach a temperature of 90° C. The result of hair curling using the conventional hair iron 100 may be used as a comparison group of A depicted in Table (c).

FIG. 7(b) illustrates the hair iron 100 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 7(b), in a state in which the heating module 112 is disposed at the inner surface of the hair iron 100 and the cooling module is disposed at the outer surface of the hair iron 100, hair wave setting can be performed using the hair iron 100. The temperature of the cooling module 113 is kept constant at 25° C., and the temperature of the heating module 112 may be set to 135° C., 105° C., 95° C., and 85° C. in four experimental groups (1, 2, 3, 4) of Table (c), and the testing of the hair iron 100 can be performed in such four experimental groups.

Compared to the high temperature of the conventional hair iron 100, the hair wave of the experimental group I can be formed better, and even when the temperature of the heating portion is low (Group 3 or 4), hair wave having a similar shape to that of the conventional heating plate 112b can be obtained.

When hair styling is performed at high temperatures, there is a high risk of damage to the hair and the risk of burns. Therefore, if excellent styling results can be obtained at low temperatures, using the hair iron at low temperatures may be beneficial to hair health.

As described above, the embodiments of the present disclosure can minimize thermal damage to hair through hot/cold processes.

Additionally, the embodiments of the present disclosure can increase hair setting power by simultaneously using hot/cold processes.

Additionally, the embodiments of the present disclosure can easily switch between hot and cold modes.

Additionally, the embodiments of the present disclosure can prevent burns when the heating plate 112b is located at the outer surface of the hair iron.

Although a specific embodiment of the present disclosure has been illustrated and described above, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains will appreciate that various modifications are possible within the limits without departing from the technical spirit of the present disclosure provided by the following claims.

Claims

1. A hair iron comprising: a pair of bodies each including a fixing portion and a driver rotatably coupled to one side of the fixing portion; anda hinge portion coupled to the other side of the fixing portion of the pair of bodies, and configured to adjust an angle of the pair of bodies,wherein the driver includes: a rotating plate coupled to one end of the fixing portion so as to be rotatable using a longitudinal direction from the other end of the fixing portion to one end of the fixing portion as a rotary shaft;a heating module located at one surface of the rotating plate; anda cooling module located at the other surface of the rotating plate.

2. The hair iron according to claim 1, wherein the rotating plate is configured to switch to any one of: a first state in which one surface of the rotating plate faces a neighboring body and the other surface of the rotating plate faces outward; anda second state in which the other surface of the rotating plate faces the neighboring body and the one surface of the rotating plate faces outward.

3. The hair iron according to claim 2, wherein the body further includes: a stopper configured to allow the rotating plate to be fixed or to restrict rotation of the rotating plate in the first state and/or the second state.

4. The hair iron according to claim 1, wherein the rotating plate further includes: a drive motor located at the fixing portion and configured to rotate the rotating plate.

5. The hair iron according to claim 1, wherein: the cooling module includes a thermoelectric element configured to maintain a temperature of 30° C. or less.

6. The hair iron according to claim 1, further comprising: a controller located in the fixing portion; anda signal cable configured to connect the heating module and the cooling module to the controller,wherein the rotating plate includes a hole formed in the rotary shaft, and an opening that extends from the hole and penetrates one surface and the other surface of the rotating plate; andthe signal cable is connected to the heating module and the cooling module through the hole and the opening.

7. The hair iron according to claim 1, further comprising: a pair of safety covers coupled to outer surfaces of the pair of bodies.

8. The hair iron according to claim 7, further comprising: a fastening magnet located at an outer surface of the fixing portion; anda fastening metal located at each of the safety covers to face the fastening magnet.

9. The hair iron according to claim 7, wherein: the safety covers are arranged to be spaced apart from an outer surface of the driver.

10. The hair iron according to claim 9, wherein: the safety cover is configured such that a cross-section corresponding to a portion of the driver is formed in a semicircular shape; andthe driver is rotatable in a state in which the safety cover is coupled.