FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hair styler, and more particularly to a hair styler operable with an external temperature influencer to be heated up and/or cooled down for enhancing styling effects.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hair rollers are common tools for curling hair. A conventional hair roller is a small tube, and a hair portion to be curled is wound around the tubular roller and then fixed with a separate part such as a clip or a rubber band. The tubular roller is generally hard and not suitable for ‘sleep in’ use.
Another conventional hair roller, which is so called as Peco roll, has thus been developed. The Peco roll is goblet-shaped and is able to secure a hair portion rolled up therearound by pushing its cup-shaped end to flip over the hair portion, and snapping it in place. The Peco roll is integrally formed of a soft material, so it is suitable for ‘sleep in’ use. Unfortunately, commercially available Peco rolls, e.g. Spoolies® Hair Curlers, easily slip off hair and do not securely hold hair in place. When used with larger volumes of hair, they are likely to pop open and hard to keep closed. Moreover, they are hard to get smooth ends or curl at the user's hair roots. Furthermore, it requires a quite long duration of time to curl the hair portion to a desired degree.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hair roller, which is soft enough for ‘sleep in’ use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hair roller, which is easily operable and keeps stable in a working state.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a hair roller, which has an improved efficiency to curl hair to a desired degree.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a hair styler comprises: a top cover including a funnel body with a wide mouth and a narrow neck, and formed of a flexible material so as to be pliable or restorable in response to an external force, wherein the funnel body radially includes a plurality of segments, which are different in at least one parameter; a roller body having a first end connected to the narrow neck of the top cover for winding therearound a hair portion, wherein the top cover is flipped over by the external force to confine the hair portion within a space between the top cover and the roller body; and a base connected to a second end of the roller body, which is opposite to the first end, and functioning as a flange of the roller body to stop the hair portion from escaping from the space.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a hair styler comprises: a top cover including a funnel body with a wide mouth and a narrow neck, and formed of a flexible material so as to be pliable or restorable in response to an external force; a roller body having a first end connected narrow neck of the top cover for winding therearound a hair portion, wherein the top cover is flipped over by the external force to confine the hair portion within a space between the top cover and the roller body; a base connected to a second end of the roller body, which is opposite to the first end, and functioning as a flange of the roller body to stop the hair portion from escaping from the space; and a temperature retaining structure disposed inside the roller body for making a thermal and/or cold effect work longer.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a temperature-influencing device for heating/reheating or cooling/recooling a hair styler as described above, comprising: a housing that is formed with an open space for holding the hair styler; a closed space for holding an electronic system; and a temperature influencing unit for generating heat and/or cold and transmitting heat to the open space to adjust a temperature of the hair styler.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above contents of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating a hair styler according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 1B is a schematic top plane view of the hair styler of FIG. 1A;
FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram illustrating a base of the hair styler of FIG. 1A;
FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C are schematic diagrams illustrating different examples of a friction member optionally provided on an outer surface of a roller of the hair styler of FIG. 1A;
FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D are schematic diagrams illustrating alternative examples of a temperature retaining structure of the hair styler of FIG. 1A;
FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are schemes illustrating respective operational configurations of two different hair stylers according to the present invention;
FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are cross-sectional diagrams schematically illustrating standby and operational configurations of a hair stylers according to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 5C-5G are schematic partial side views illustrating alternative examples of openings included in a top cover of the hair styler of FIG. 1A;
FIGS. 5H-5J are schematic partial side views illustrating alternative examples of gripping structures included in a top cover of the hair styler of FIG. 1A;
FIG. 5K and FIG. 5L are schematic top views exemplifying alternative shapes of a top cover of the hair styler according to the present invention;
FIG. 5M is a schematic side view illustrating the top cover of FIG. 5K in a flipped state;
FIGS. 6A-6D are schematic top views exemplifying alternative shapes of a base of the hair styler according to the present invention, and contours of a flipped top cover relative to the base;
FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams illustrating temperature-influencing devices according to different embodiments of the present invention;
FIGS. 7C and 7D are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating hair stylers according to further embodiments of the present invention, which are adapted to be used with the temperature-influencing devices of FIG. 7A or 7B; and
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram exemplifying the use of a temperature-influencing device for influencing the temperature of hair stylers according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
In order to coax hair to assume any shape or style other than its natural shape or style efficiently, it is preferable to apply heat or cold to a hair roller. The temperature change is for styling purpose. Heat will change hair texture and make it easy to style. On the other hand, cold will make the hair in style longer. The commercially available designs may employ moisture from user's wet hair but has no internal ability to employ heat and/or cold. Therefore, there is a need to design a hair styler, which is heat- and/or coldness-resistant enough for user to handle, and able to remain at an adequate working temperature for efficiently styling hair. Meanwhile, an objective of improving the hair handling mechanism for securing hair is also concerned. It is desirable to be sufficiently soft to have the desired ‘sleep in’ quality. The instant invention is to effectively provide a specific high and/or low temperature condition to hair while being able to be safely operated with wet or dry hair, to further lock-in moisture, protect hair from damage, reduce frizz, improve shine, and enable a longer-lasting style. Furthermore, there is also a need to design a temperature-influencing device for conveniently heating, reheating, cooling and recooling the hair styler.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an embodiment of a hair styler according to the present invention includes a top cover 1, a roller body 2, a base 3 and an optional temperature retaining structure 4 inside the roller body 2. Each of the top cover 1, roller body 2, base 3 of the hair styler is made of a temperature resistant material from heat and/or coldness, and can be integrally formed by, for example, injection molding into one piece.
In this embodiment, the base 3 is substantially flat or slightly curved, and flexible to conformally deform with the curving of user's head. The base 3 has an upper surface 301 and a bottom surface 302. The upper surface 301 is secured to the roller body 2. The bottom surface 302 is exposed to air or in contact with user's scalp. The bottom surface 302 has a gripping structure 31 to prevent the hair styler from slipping off hair easily. The upper surface 301 has a gripping structure 32 to secure hair better within the hair styler. The gripping structure 31 and 32 may be, but not limited to, mini teeth, dots, posts or their combinations. The gripping structure 31 and 32 and the base 3 may be integrally formed by, for example, injection molding into one piece. The base 3 further has at least one opening 33 for better air flow and evaporating moisture from wet hair.
FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C schematically illustrate the top cover 1 and the base 3 of the hair styler illustrated in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 1C, the base 3 also has an opening 300 at, but not limited to, the center of the base 3 and further may be, but not limited to, a circle shape, through which heat and/or cold source can be supplied to the temperature retaining structure 4 inside the roller body 2. The details of heat and/or cold supply will be described later. As shown in FIG. 1B, the top cover 1 includes a funnel body 10 with a wide mouth 101, a narrow neck 102 that connects to the roller body 2, and a bottom pad 103 that becomes a top of the roller body 2. It should be understood that the bottom pad 103 can be omitted so that the hollow extends all the way through the top cover 1, the roller body 2 and the base 3. The top cover 1 is made of a flexible material, which is pliable and restorable. The top cover 1 can be flipped inside out, covers over the roller body 2 within and the upper surface of the base 3 to retain hair in a space among the top cover 1, the roller body 2, and the base 3. The top cover 1 has at least one opening 12 in the funnel body 10 for better air flow and elaborating moisture for wet hair. The top cover 1 has a gripping structure 11 on outer and inner surfaces of the funnel body 10 to provide better friction for hand operating and flipping the funnel. The gripping structure 11 on the inner surface of the funnel body 10 further provides a gripping function to secure hair within the styler when the top cover 1 is flipped over hair around the roller body 2 with the base 3. In this embodiment, the thickness of the funnel body 10 preferably, but not necessarily, varies with positions, e.g. increasing thickness from the neck 102 to the mouth 101. The thickened mouth 101 is advantageous in providing better hold of the hair styler for the user, while the thinned neck 102 is advantageous in easy folding of the top cover 1 toward the base 3. This design prevents from a kink instability triggered by folding the top cover 1 and secures the closure.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A, the roller body 2 is, but not limited to, a cylinder shape. Preferably, the shape of the bottom of the roller body 2 meets the opening 300 of the base 3 such that the heat source can be supplied seamlessly to the temperature retaining structure 4, if present inside the roller body 2, through the opening 300 of the base 3. The roller body 2 has an outer surface and an inner space. The roller body 2 has a gripping structure 21 on the outer surface to secure hair while hair is wrapped around the roller body 2. The gripping structure 21 can be, but not limited to, a ring like tracks (FIG. 2A) or spiral like tracks (FIG. 2B) around the outer surface of the roller tube 20, mini teeth and/or dots (FIG. 2C), etc. The mini teeth 21 may be in different length and thickness to provide detangling for the hair.
The temperature retaining structure 4 is made of a temperature conduction material for heat and/or cold and disposed inside the inner space of the roller body 2 in a fixed manner or a removable manner, and heat and/or cold is provided to hair through the wall of the roller body 2. The temperature retaining structure 4 illustrated in FIG. 1A is, but not limited to, a hollow cylinder shape so that heat and/or cold can be efficiently supplied to the hair styler by inserting a temperature influencing source into the hollow (portion of the cylindrical temperature retaining structure 4, which will be described in detail later. For example, the cylindrical temperature retaining structure 4 may be made of a metal plate. Alternatively, the temperature retaining structure 4 may be implemented with a coil spring, as illustrated in FIG. 3A. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3A, the coil spring 41 has a higher coil density at the middle of the roller body 2, such that heat is gradually cooler near the top cover 1 and the base 3 when the heat source is applied. A heat retaining fluid may be captured in a chamber internal to the styling device so as to avoid from having any solid device which may be uncomfortable for the user to sleep on. Furthermore, the cold is also gradually less cool near the top cover 1 and the base 3 when the cold source is applied. Therefore, while the hair styler is heated and/or cooled to a required temperature and ready to curl the hair, it is not too hot and/or cold for the user to hand on the top cover 1 or the base 3. Preferably, but not necessarily, the coil spring 41 is disposed at the middle of the roller body 2 with at least one cooling air layer 23 reserved at either or both of the opposite ends of the roller body 2, as shown in FIG. 3B. For creating the cooling air layer or layers 23, the coil spring 41 is confined in the middle of the roller body 2 by way of stoppers 22.
Alternatively, the stoppers may be implemented with one or two stopping disks 42 disposed at either or both of the opposite ends of the roller body 2, as shown in FIG. 3C. The stoppers 22 and 42 can also prevent the bottom 103 of the cover top 1 and the user from overheat or cold burning. The stoppers 22 and 42 can be, but not limited to, ceramic. The stopping disks 42, if sealing the roller body 2, can further improve the temperature retaining effect by locking heat and/or cold in the sealed roller body 2. In another embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 3D, the coil spring 41 is wrapped around a heat-conductive pillar 43, and inserted into the roller body 2. The conductive pillar 43 helps retaining heat and/or cold supplied to the temperature retaining structure 4 and makes the thermal and/or cold effect of the hair styler work longer.
More alternative examples of temperature retaining structure 4 may be used in the hair styler of the (present invention. For example, the temperature retaining structure 4 and the roller body 2 are injected into one piece where the thickness of the injected material is used to differentiate the heat and/or cold transition, or a double injection technology may be used to make the temperature retaining structure 4 and the roller body 2 into one piece with more than one injected material to differentiate the heat and/or cold transition. All in one piece is to reduce the cost of mass production from labor assembly and furthermore making the roller body 2 and the temperature retaining structure 4 fixing together stronger.
The structures of hair stylers according to the present invention have been described hereinbefore. For the styling hair, hair can be divided into small portions. Each hair portion is wrapped around the roller body 2, and then the funnel body 10 of the top cover 1 is folded outwards and downwards until the roller body 2 with the hair portion is completely covered by the funnel body 10 together with the base 3, as illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B.
For further improving configuration stability of the hair styler after being folded to fix hair well, the structure of the top cover 1 is particularly designed as illustrated in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional diagram schematically illustrating another embodiment of the hair styler according to the present invention. The hair styler, similar to the hair styler illustrated in FIG. 1A, includes a top cover 1, a roller body 2 and a base 3. in this embodiment, the top cover 1 consists of at least 3 segments 104, 105 and 106 having different slopes. The segment 104 and segment 105 are adjacent to create a ridge 107. The segment 105 and segment 106 are adjacent to create a ridge 108. The ridge 107 creates folding crease to secure the closure. The ridge 108 creates reinforcement of lock-in mechanism to prevent the hair slipping out of the hair styler when the base 3 meets the inner surface of the segment 106, as shown in FIG. 5B. Furthermore, the gripping structure 11 of the top cover 1 in this embodiment or any other embodiment may include a plurality of small bumps, which are arranged to conformally surround the heart-shaped opening 12 of the top cover 1.
In addition to the above-described embodiments and examples, the present invention may have more variations, which can achieve the purpose of the present invention. For example, FIGS. 5C-5G are schematic diagrams illustrating alternative examples of openings included in a top cover of the hair styler of FIG. 1A; and FIGS. 5H-5J are schematic diagrams illustrating alternative examples of gripping structures included in a top cover of the hair styler of FIG. 1A. The gripping structure 11 of the top cover 1 can be, but not limited to, dots and bars. The openings 12 of the top cover 1 can be, but not limited to, in shapes of circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, diamond, star, heart and moon. Furthermore, the shape of the edge of the funnel body 10 can be, but not limited to, a circle, flower, heart and star shape, as illustrated in FIG. 5K and FIG. 5L.
The hair styler is preferably soft for user to roll the hair and sleep in. The openings 12 of the funnel body 10 and the openings of the base 3 can be venting the moisture of wet hair with or without external temperature influencer (i.e. heating or cooling means) while the user is sleeping. Since the contour of the funnel body 10 in the embodiments of FIG. 5K and FIG. 5L is wavy, there are recesses 14 remained as passages for venting humid air from hair after the top cover 1 is flipped over the roller body 2 with hair and the base 3. Therefore, the air-venting openings 12 of the funnel body 10 and/or the air-venting holes 33 of the base 3 may be omitted, as illustrated in FIG. 5M.
Similar to the top cover 1, the shape of the edge of the base 3 may be, but not limited to, a circle, flower, heart and star shape, as illustrated in FIGS. 6A-6D. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the shapes of the top cover 1 and the base 3 conform to each other so that the flipped top cover well encloses the base 3. Preferably, openings 33 are provided for air venting. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, the top edge of the top cover 1 is circular, so there are recesses 34 remained as passages for venting humid air from hair after the top cover 1 is flipped over the roller body 2 with hair and the base 3.
Practically, the hair styler should be able to be repetitively used. If the temperature retaining structure is included, it is desirable that the temperature retaining structure can be restored to an effective temperature at any time. Therefore, a temperature-influencing device is developed according to the present invention to reheat or re-cool the hair styler. Referring to FIG. 7A, the temperature-influencing device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 60 that is foiled with an open space 61 for holding the hair styler, a closed space for holding an electronic system 63, and a temperature influencing unit 62 for generating heat and/or cold and transmitting heat to the open space 61 to adjust a temperature of the hair styler. In this embodiment, the temperature influencing unit 62 is inserted into a hollow portion of the roller body, where a heat or coldness source is supplied.
The housing 60 is provided on an outer surface thereof with the electronic system 63 including a switch 631, a power indicator 632, a heat sensor indicator 633, a power line (not shown), etc. Functions of the switch and the power indicator can be simply made by a pushbutton with indicating light. When the pushbutton is pressed once, the light is lit to show the power is turned on. When the pushbutton is pressed once more, the light is off to show the power is turned off. The electronic system further includes a control circuit (not shown) that is electrically connected to the switch, the power indicator, the temperature-influencing unit, and further electrically connected to the power line via the switch. The heat generator generates heat by electromagnetic induction and the thermoelectric cooler generates cold. Both are controlled by the control circuit to supply heat and/or cold to the temperature-influencing unit to heat and/or cool the hair styler.
A heat sensor is connected to the heat sensor indicator, the temperature influencing unit and the control circuit. When the desired temperature is reached, the heat sensor will trigger the heat indicator to alert the user but not limited by a digital display, changing color and/or voice (i.e. beeping sound). Further, the heat sensor will also trigger the control circuit to shut off the power to prevent the hair styler from overheat and/or chill, and meanwhile the power light is off to indicate the power is turned off. The sensor indicator can be also changing colors to show temperature is raised and/or lowered to different setting.
FIG. 7B schematically illustrates another embodiment of the temperature-influencing device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the temperature-influencing device 70 includes at least one heating room for receiving a hair styler to be heated and/or cooled. By separating the front and rear heating pieces 701 and 702, and inserting one hair styler into one heating room, one or more hair stylers can be simultaneously heated and/or cooled. The heating may be performed by way of conduction, convention or radiation, depending on practical designs. The hair styler may further include a heat sensor and indicator 40, as illustrated in FIG. 7B. When the desired temperature is reached, the heat sensor and indicator 40 will alert the user by, for example, changing color, light lit and/or voice (i.e. beeping sound). The heat sensor and indicator 40 can also change colors to show different temperature setting. The heat sensor and indicator 40 may be integrated as one or implemented with separate devices in communication with each other. Furthermore, the heat sensor and indicator 40 can be powders mixed in the injected material as part of the hair styler. Alternatively, the color indicating a specified temperature range may be displayed partially and/or fully shown on the surfaces of the top cover 1, the roller body 2 and/or the base 3 of the hair styler,
FIG. 7C schematically illustrates a temperature-influencing device 801 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the temperature-influencing device 801 can stay in the roller body 2 while curling hair, and thus can also perform as a temperature retaining structure. In this embodiment, the temperature-influencing device 801 is a liquid captured in a capsule or chamber inside the roller body 2 and can be heated in warm water or microwave or cooled in the refrigerator or the freezer before being applied to the hair styler to curl the hair. There is no need for some plug-in device to complicate your styler.
FIG. 7D schematically illustrates a temperature-influencing device 901 according to a further embodiment of the present invention. Like the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7C, the temperature-influencing device 901 can be heated in warm water or microwave or cooled in the refrigerator or the freezer, and stay in the roller body 2 while curling hair to perform as a temperature retaining structure. In this embodiment, the temperature-influencing device 901, also serving as the temperature retaining structure of the hair styler, is a layer provided on an inner surface of the roller body 2 instead of filling the hollow portion of the roller body 2. Alternatively, the structure 901 is simply a temperature retaining structure to be heated or cooled by a temperature-influencing device, e.g. the one shown in FIG. 7A or 7B. The material of the layer 901 should be heat/cold conductive, resistant and retainable. Furthermore, the material of the structure 901 may be the same or different from the material of the roller body 2, and the structure 901 and the roller body 2 may be integrally foiled with the same or different injecting molding processes.
An example of a temperature-influencing device for heating/cooling a plurality of hair stylers at the same time, which is also feasible for accommodating hair stylers, is shown in FIG. 8. The temperature-influencing device includes a heating/cooling plate 80 supplied with electricity by way of electric wire 800, and a housing cover (not shown) to protect the hair stylers. A plurality of temperature influencing posts 81 are installed on the heating/cooling plate 80, and the temperature of the temperature influencing posts 81 is influenced by the of temperature influencing posts 81. The diameter of an upper section of the temperature influencing posts 81 is smaller than that of a lower section of the temperature influencing posts 81. As such, a smaller hair styler 82 and a larger hair styler 83 can be put on the same post 81 to be heated/cooled.
Since heat is capable of changing hair texture and making it easy to style, and coldness is capable of making the hair in style longer, it is proper to supply heat and coldness in sequence within one hair styling procedure or two manually activate procedures for better styling effects.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
Patent Application
20200069022
