Patent Grant
8651118
This application is a U.S. national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/GB2011/052506 filed Dec. 16, 2011, which in turn claims priority of United Kingdom Patent Application No. 1021458.3 filed Dec. 17, 2010. The disclosures of such international patent application and United Kingdom priority patent application are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties, for all purposes.
This invention relates to a hair styling device, and in particular to an improvement upon the hair styling device disclosed in WO2009/077747.
For brevity, in the present application reference is made to the styling of a female's hair, but the invention is not limited thereby.
The hair styling device described in WO2009/077747 has a rotatable element which collects a length of hair to be styled, and winds the length of hair around an elongate member. The preferred embodiments described in WO2009/077747 utilise a chamber surrounding the elongate member, the chamber being heated by way of heat applied to the walls of the chamber and/or to the elongate member. The hair within the chamber becomes styled by the application of heat whilst it is located around the elongate member.
The present invention shares many of the features of the preferred embodiments of the hair styling device described in WO2009/077747, and so the disclosure of that document is incorporated herein in order to avoid unnecessary repetition.
In addition, it is believed that the hair styling device described in WO2009/077747 represents the closest prior art to the present invention.
Notwithstanding the practical and commercial attractiveness of the hair styling devices described in WO2009/077747, the present inventors have conceived certain improvements and the present invention is directed to those improvements.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hair styling device having:
a body defining a chamber adapted to accommodate a length of hair, the chamber having a primary opening through which the length of hair may pass into the chamber; a rotatable element adapted to engage the length of hair adjacent to the primary opening;
an elongate member around which, in use, the length of hair is wound by the rotatable element, the elongate member having a free end;
the chamber having a secondary opening through which the length of hair may pass out of the chamber, the secondary opening being located adjacent to the free end; and
a movable abutment which can engage the length of hair in use, the movable abutment having an open position in which the length of hair can pass through the secondary opening, and a closed position in which the length of hair is retained within the chamber.
The present invention therefore shares a feature of the hair styling device of WO2009/077747 in having a (primary) opening through which the length of hair passes into the chamber; the present invention differs in having a secondary opening adjacent to a free end of the elongate member. This permits the length of hair to be removed from the chamber without passing back through the primary opening.
Desirably, the secondary opening is annular and surrounds the free end of the elongate member. Such a secondary opening permits a formed curl to be slid off the end of the elongate member without being uncurled.
The inventors have realised that the avoidance of a requirement to force a wound curl to unwind as it is removed from the hair styling device has significant benefits in terms of the hair styling. Thus, since the chamber and therefore the hair is still hot as it is pulled out of the chamber, the hair continues to be styled as it is removed from the chamber, and a significant proportion (perhaps around 25% for example) of the curvature of a wound curl can be lost as the length of hair is pulled out of the chamber, despite the hair being subjected to only a small force during such removal.
The secondary opening can be permanently connected to the primary opening whereby a length of hair can pass from the primary opening to the secondary opening during operation of the device. The movable abutment can be located within the secondary opening whereby directly to prevent a wound length of hair from passing out of the chamber until the end of a styling operation. Alternatively, the movable abutment can be located within the primary opening, or between the primary and secondary openings. In these alternative embodiments the movable abutment can hold the length of hair away from the secondary opening until the end of a styling operation, and thereby indirectly prevent a wound length of hair from passing out of the secondary opening. Thus, it will be understood that the primary and secondary openings must be connected together if the length of hair is to enter the chamber through the primary opening and leave the chamber through the secondary opening, but it is not necessary that the openings are permanently interconnected.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hair styling device having:
a body defining a chamber adapted to accommodate a length of hair, the chamber having a primary opening through which the length of hair may enter the chamber;
a rotatable element adapted to engage the length of hair adjacent to the primary opening;
an elongate member around which, in use, the length of hair is wound by the rotatable element;
a movable panel having a closed position and an open position, the movable panel in the closed position overlying the primary opening, the movable panel having a pressing part which acts to press a portion of the length of hair towards the primary opening.
Whilst WO2009/077747 discloses an embodiment utilising a movable (door) panel to close off the (primary) opening, that document did not also disclose the use of a pressing part of the panel acting to press the hair towards the opening.
Desirably, the movable panel has two pressing parts, the pressing parts being spaced apart along the length of the primary opening. Desirably also, the device includes at least one inclined surface located adjacent to the primary opening, the movable panel being designed to cover the inclined surface(s) in its closed position, with the respective pressing parts lying adjacent to the inclined surface(s). In this way, as the panel is moved towards its closed position the pressing parts will drive the length of hair across the inclined surface(s) towards the primary opening, to better ensure that all of the hair is engaged and collected by the rotatable element. There may be two inclined surfaces, for example, the inclined surfaces converging towards the primary opening.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hair styling device having:
a body defining a chamber adapted to accommodate a length of hair, the chamber having a primary opening through which the length of hair may pass;
a rotatable element adapted to engage the length of hair adjacent to the primary opening;
an elongate member around which, in use, the length of hair is wound by the rotatable element;
a handle by which the device may be gripped by a user, the handle comprising a fixed handle part and a movable handle part, the fixed handle part being connected to the body and the movable handle part being movable relative thereto.
It is preferably arranged that the movable panel is connected to the movable handle part, so that a user can move the panel to its closed position simply by moving the movable handle part towards (or preferably into engagement with) the fixed handle part.
Desirably, the device is activated when the movable panel is moved to its closed position, i.e. the device carries a switch which is automatically actuated when the movable handle part reaches a predetermined position relative to the fixed handle part, or when the movable panel (or pressing part) reaches a predetermined position relative to the body. In this way, the device will not operate (and in particular the rotatable element will not move any of the length of hair) until the panel is in its closed position. As above indicated, pressing part(s) can act to press the length of hair towards the primary opening as the panel is moved towards its closed position, so increasing the likelihood that all of the hair is engaged and collected by the rotatable element. This reduces the likelihood of the hair becoming entangled, as entanglement is understood to occur only if the rotatable element engages and collects a portion of a length of hair but does not collect another portion of the length of hair.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hair styling device having:
a body defining a chamber adapted to accommodate a length of hair, the chamber having a primary opening through which the length of hair may pass;
a rotatable element adapted to engage the length of hair adjacent to the primary opening;
an elongate member around which, in use, the length of hair is wound by the rotatable element;
the body carrying at least one sensor adapted to detect misplaced hair.
For example, the end of an inclined surface opposed to the primary opening can carry a sensor which cooperates with the movable panel. The sensor is adapted to detect the presence of hair between the end of the inclined surface and the panel when the panel is in its closed position, it being determined that hair in such location might not be engaged and collected by the rotatable element and therefore might be likely to lead to entanglement.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hair styling device having:
a body defining a chamber adapted to accommodate a length of hair, the chamber having a primary opening through which the length of hair may pass;
a rotatable element adapted to engage the length of hair adjacent to the primary opening;
an elongate member around which, in use, the length of hair is wound by the rotatable element;
a control system which includes means to detect the load applied to the length of hair.
The present invention shares the benefits of WO2009/077747 in not applying tension to the length of hair during the styling process, so that the force required to rotate the rotatable element will be relatively small. However, if a portion of the length of hair becomes entangled the force will increase significantly, and this can be detected either by an increase in the current drawn by the motor, or preferably in a reduction in speed of the motor. The control system can be configured to react to a speed reduction (or load increase) above a certain threshold by reversing the rotation of the rotatable element.
In embodiments in which the rotatable element has a predetermined starting position, the control system can preferably reverse the rotatable element until it reaches the starting position. By arranging for the rotatable element to reverse, tension which has been put into the length of hair due to the entanglement will be relieved, and the tangled length of hair can be removed from the device (by way of the primary and/or secondary openings).
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Whilst WO2009/077747 is included herein by reference, a brief description of the operation of the device is provided in relation to
The hair styling device 10 has a body 12 and a handle 14. Within the body 12 is a chamber 16. An elongate member 20 is located within the chamber 16, the diameter of the elongate member 20, and the diameter of the wall 22 of the chamber, being chosen to produce curls of the desired curvature. (It will be understood that the elongate member 20, and the chamber 16, need not be of circular cross-section, and so the reference to “diameter” refers only to those circular embodiments).
The body 12 has a primary opening 24 (
The device has a rotatable element 34 which can be driven to rotate about a longitudinal axis A-A. The rotatable element 34 projects beyond the primary opening 24, and the inclined surfaces 30 and 32 have cut-outs 36 formed therein to accommodate the rotatable element 34 during its rotation.
In this embodiment the longitudinal axis A-A around which the rotatable element 34 rotates is coincident with the axis of the elongate member 20, but that is not necessarily the case. Also, in this embodiment the elongate member 20 is fixed relative to the body 12, i.e. it does not rotate with the rotatable element, but that is also not necessarily the case, and in other embodiments the elongate member 20 rotates with the rotatable element.
As the rotatable element 34 rotates (counter-clockwise as drawn in
Considering the length of hair 26 shown in
As the rotatable element 34 rotates, the distal portion of the length of hair 26 (which lies between the rotatable element 34 and the free end 40), is pulled through the primary opening 24 to the far side of the rotatable element as drawn in
In this embodiment, the primary opening 24 is connected by a passageway 46 (
In common with the hair styling devices of WO2009/077747, the hair is not clamped by any part of the device 10. The part 42 of the length of hair 26 is, however, substantially fixed in position relative to the device 10. Accordingly, as the rotatable element 34 continues to rotate, the distal portion of the length of hair 26 is gradually pulled from the far side of the rotatable element 34 to the near side, as drawn in
The chamber 16 is preferably heated, either directly by way of one or more heating elements within the elongate member 20 and/or within the wall 22 of the chamber 16, or indirectly by way of hot air directed into the chamber 16, perhaps by a separate hair dryer. Other suitable means of generating heat can alternatively be used to heat the chamber indirectly, for example microwave radiation or electrical induction.
The panel 56 is connected to a “movable” handle part 60 which is hinged to a “fixed” handle part 62 (
The hair styling device 10 is therefore particularly suited for use by a person styling her own hair, the user grasping the length of hair 26 with one hand and grasping (and operating) the hair styling device 10 with the other hand. The ability to grasp and manipulate the hair styling device 10 with one hand will also be advantageous for hairdressers and the like when using the device to style another person's hair.
When the length of hair 26 has been styled, for example by remaining within the heated chamber 16 for a predetermined length of time, the user can relax the grip upon the handle parts 60 and 62, permitting the resilient bias to move the panel 56 away from the body 12. In this embodiment it is arranged that the abutment 52 is spring-biased to its “open” position, and is driven to its “closed” position as the handle part 60 is moved towards the handle part 62. Accordingly, as the handle parts 60 and 62 are separated at the end of a styling operation, the abutment 52 automatically moves from the closed position shown in
It has been recognised that the most significant likelihood of entanglement of the length of hair 26 is caused by a portion of the length of hair 26 being captured by the rotatable element 34, and another portion of the length of hair 26 not being captured by the rotatable element. In such circumstances the captured portion becomes wound around the elongate member 20 whereas the uncaptured portion does not. The present invention seeks to reduce the likelihood of such entanglement by increasing the likelihood that all of the length of hair 26 is captured by the rotatable element 34.
This is achieved at least in part by the provision of the inclined surfaces 30 and 32, which serve to guide the length of hair towards the primary opening 24. Additionally, the length of hair 26 is driven along the inclined surfaces, towards the primary opening 24, by pressing parts 54 (
In this embodiment, it is arranged that the device is actuated automatically when the panel 56 is moved to its closed position, i.e. in addition to the abutment 52 being moved to its closed position, the rotatable element 34 begins to rotate, and the heating element(s) (not shown) are activated whereby to heat the chamber 16, when the handle parts 60 and 62 are brought together.
In other embodiments the handle part 60 or 62 can carry a switch for manual actuation of the device, the switch either having a single position in which the abutment 52 is moved to its closed position, the rotatable element 34 is rotated, and the heating element(s) are activated, or else separate sequential positions for each of these operations. In these embodiments it is preferably arranged that at least the rotatable element 34 cannot be rotated unless the panel 56 is in its closed position.
It is arranged that when the panel 56 is in its closed position as shown in
It will therefore be understood that any of the length of hair 26 lying adjacent to the inclined surfaces 30,32 when the panel 56 is in its open position, will be driven by the pressing parts 54 along the inclined surfaces towards the primary opening 24 as the panel 56 is moved to its closed position. The length of hair 26 will therefore be held adjacent to the primary opening 24 as the rotatable element begins to rotate, whereby the likelihood of any portion of the length of hair not being captured by the rotatable element 34 is much reduced or eliminated.
It has been recognised that a portion of the length of hair might not be captured by the rotatable element 34 if it is placed beyond the end of the inclined surface 32. This might for example occur when the user is seeking to style her own hair and is unsighted, perhaps whilst styling the hair at the back of her head for example. In some embodiments of the invention, the body 12 can carry one or more sensors, suitably optical sensors, which can detect the presence of hair in unsuitable locations, and can prevent operation of the device until the misplaced hair is removed. In the embodiment shown, an optical transmitter 58 is positioned adjacent to the extreme end of the inclined surface 32, and a corresponding detector (not seen) is positioned on the underside of the panel 56. When the panel is closed any misplaced hair between the transmitter 58 and detector can prevent actuation of the rotatable element and cause the issuance of a warning signal to the user.
Reference is made above to the use of a sensor on the inclined surface 32, and it will be understood that in some embodiments it may be advantageous to provide one or more sensors also on the inclined surface 30. In the present embodiment, however, it is arranged that the separation of the handle parts 60,62 in their open position is insufficient to move the panel 56 away from the inclined surface 30 (alternatively stated, even when the handle parts 60 and 62 are in the fully open position as shown in
As stated above, the abutment 52 acts to prevent the proximal portion of the length of hair 26 from rotating around the free end of the elongate member 20, so that the length of hair 26 is curled or wound around the elongate member 20 rather than simply being twisted as the rotatable element rotates. It will be understood that it is not necessary for an abutment to close a part of the secondary opening 50 in order to perform this function, and in an alternative embodiment an abutment could be provided in the passageway 46, whereby to separate the primary opening 24 from the secondary opening 50. In another alternative the abutment could be provided at the proximal end of the primary opening 24, it being recognised that an abutment located anywhere between the rotatable element and the free end of the elongate member will perform this function.
If the abutment is located either in the passageway 46 or in the proximal end of the primary opening 24, it should be moved to its closed position before a length of hair is placed adjacent to the primary opening. The abutment should be moved to its open position (whereby to interconnect the primary and secondary openings) at the end of a styling operation, and in particular after the rotatable element 34 has stopped rotating, for example as the handle parts 60 and 62 are separated.
The rotatable element 34 is shown in its starting position in
It is another desirable feature of the hair styling device 10 that the device can automatically reverse the rotation of the rotatable element 34 in the event that the user's hair becomes entangled. For example, the control means of the device 10 (not seen) can measure the rate of rotation of the motor which drives the rotatable element 34. If the rate of rotation drops below a predetermined threshold this will indicate an unacceptable load being applied by the rotatable element, and the possible entanglement of the user's hair. In such circumstances, the control means can stop the rotatable element 34 and reverse it to the start position. The control means will also move the abutment member 52 to its open position. The reverse rotation of the rotatable element 34 will release any tension which has been applied to the length of hair and when the tension has been removed the length of hair can be removed from the device 10 and the entanglement released.
It is not necessary that the rotatable element 34 reverse all of the rotation which has been imparted into the length of hair. If, for example, the rotatable element has undertaken three rotations before the control means detects entanglement, it will preferably still only be reversed to its starting position and will not reverse past that starting position whereby to seek to remove all of the curls. The reason for this is that it is only necessary to remove the unwanted tension in the length of hair for it to be removed from the device 10, and it will be easier to release any entanglement once the length of hair 26 has been removed from the device. Seeking to remove all of the curls by reversing all of the rotations which have occurred will likely introduce more entanglement.
It will be understood that the secondary opening 50 could in an alternative embodiment be partially or fully closed by a part of the panel 56, i.e. the panel 56 could carry a projection which overlies the secondary opening. That is not preferred, however, as it is expected that the projection would have to be a very close sliding fit over the free end of the elongate member 20 in order to prevent any of the length of hair passing therebetween; any hair which did pass around the free end of the elongate member 20 would become twisted rather than curled, and would be liable to entanglement.
It will also be understood that the primary opening 24 does not need to remain open during the styling procedure, and in an alternative embodiment the primary opening could be closed as the handle parts 60 and 62 are brought together. In such an alternative embodiment the primary opening could be located at a position approximately 90° clockwise from the position shown in
The present embodiment has two inclined surfaces 30 and 32, and it is expected that a hair styling device for personal use will preferably include two inclined surfaces which converge towards the primary opening 24. In another embodiment only the inclined surface 30 is provided, it being possible for a single inclined surface to provide the necessary guidance for a skilled user to position the length of hair adjacent to the primary opening, even if the user cannot see the length of hair. In addition, for hair styling aids which are primarily intended for professional use, neither of the inclined surfaces 30 and 32 may be required.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1021458.3 | Dec 2010 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB2011/052506 | 12/16/2011 | WO | 00 | 11/16/2012 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2012/080751 | 6/21/2012 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20130068245 A1 | Mar 2013 | US |
