Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6571478
-
Patent Number
6,571,478
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, December 5, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, June 3, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Swartz; Michael R.
- Flanagan; John R.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 030 133
- 030 216
- 030 123
- 030 124
- 030 132
- 030 415
- 015 339
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A vacuum attachment mountable on a forward end of a hair grooming clipper includes a conduit body enclosing an internal air flow passage between inlet and outlet ends thereof such that flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from front cutting blades of a cutting head mechanism of the clipper via the inlet end through the passage to an external hose coupled to the outlet end, and mounting wings integrally and externally formed on the conduit body and extending from opposite sides thereof such that the conduit body and mounting wings define a replacement cover that can substitute for and replace the original equipment cover removed from the forward end of the casing of the clipper in order to enclose the opening in the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to hair grooming clipper attachments and, more particularly, is concerned with a vacuum attachment for mounting to a hair grooming clipper and a method of converting a hair grooming clipper to mount a vacuum attachment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To obviate concerns of professional dog groomers with breathing of fine dog hair and other foreign matter in the lungs, vacuum systems are often employed with hair grooming clippers. Typically, a vacuum system includes a suction head that is attached to a hand-held clipper adjacent to its cutting head mechanism and is connected to one end of a flexible hose. The other end of the hose is connected directly or via an intermediate conduit to a vacuum generating unit for creating a vacuum in the hose. The vacuum condition draws air into the hose through the suction head, entraining hair cuttings in the air flow through the hose to the vacuum generating unit where the hair cuttings are collected, typically, in a container.
Attachments have been developed over the years which provide a vacuum system for the disposal of hair cuttings from the clippers. Highly effective prior art vacuum attachments are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,088,199 and 5,881,462 to Romani. These prior art vacuum attachments introduced features which operate to remove hair clippings in a highly effective way. However, to employ these vacuum attachments on particular prior art clippers the design of these attachments followed one of two approaches.
Under the first approach followed in the design of the vacuum attachment of U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,199, externally-exposed fastening elements already provided on the particular prior art clipper for other purposes were used to mount the vacuum attachment. However, a disadvantage of this first approach is that it cannot be followed with respect to those prior art clippers with no externally-exposed fastening elements.
Under the second approach followed in the design of the vacuum attachment of U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,462, with respect to prior art clippers having no such eternally-exposed fastening elements the design of the vacuum attachment was conformed to the external configuration of the particular prior art clipper so as to allow it to be adhesively fastened thereto. However, a disadvantage of this second approach is that it effects a more or less permanent alteration of the prior art clipper which cannot easily be reversed should that become desirable to do so later on.
Consequently, there is a need for a third approach to the design of a vacuum attachment that will take advantage of both internal and external fastening features of a particular prior art clipper without effecting a permanent modification of the prior art clipper.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a vacuum attachment and a method of converting a hair grooming clipper to mount the vacuum attachment which are both designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The vacuum attachment is adapted for mounting to the hair grooming clipper and a portion of the hair grooming clipper is adapted to be converted to a state of setup to accommodate mounting the vacuum attachment to it.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a vacuum attachment for use with a hair grooming clipper. The vacuum attachment comprises: (a) a conduit body for mounting on a forward end of a casing of a hair grooming clipper adjacent to front cutting blades of a cutting head mechanism of the clipper, the conduit body defining and enclosing an internal air flow passage extending between inlet and outlet ends of the conduit body such that when the conduit body is mounted on the forward end of the casing of the clipper a flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from the front cutting blades of the cutting head mechanism of the clipper via the inlet end of the conduit body through the passage thereof to an external hose coupled to the outlet end of the conduit body; (b) a pair of mounting wings integrally and externally formed on the conduit body and extending from opposite sides of the conduit body such that the mounting wings and a portion of the conduit body extending between the mounting wings define a replacement cover that can substitute for and replace an original equipment cover removably provided on the forward end of the casing of the clipper in order to enclose an opening in the casing through which is exposed the cutting head mechanism of the clipper; and (c) means for detachably fastening the mounting wings to the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
The present invention also is directed to a method of converting a hair grooming clipper to mount a vacuum attachment. The converting method comprises the steps of: (a) providing a vacuum attachment including a conduit body and mounting wings integrally and externally formed thereon, the conduit body enclosing an internal air flow passage extending between inlet and outlet ends of the conduit body such that when the vacuum attachment is mounted on a forward end of a casing of a hair grooming clipper a flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from front cutting blades of a cutting head mechanism of the clipper via the inlet end of the conduit body through the passage thereof to an external hose coupled to the outlet end of the conduit body; (b) removing from the forward end of the casing of the clipper an original equipment cover removably provided thereon adjacent to the cutting head mechanism to expose an opening in the forward end of the casing overlying the cutting head mechanism; (c) installing the conduit body on the forward end of the casing of the clipper so as to close the opening therein with a replacement cover, formed by the mounting wings and a portion of the conduit body extending between the mounting wings, that can substitute for and replace the original equipment cover removed from the forward end of the casing of the clipper in order to enclose the opening in the forward end of the casing of the clipper; and (d) detachably fastening the mounting wings to the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the attached drawings in which:
FIG. 1
is a side elevational view of a prior art hair grooming clipper having a cover for a forward cutting head mechanism being shown in solid line form installed on the clipper and in dashed line form removed from the clipper.
FIG. 2
is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the clipper showing its forward cutting head mechanism with the cover removed.
FIG. 3
is a side elevational view of the prior art clipper of
FIG. 1
now showing a vacuum attachment of the present invention installed on the clipper in place of the cover of the clipper.
FIG. 4
is a view similar to that of
FIG. 2
but now showing the vacuum attachment installed on the clipper.
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of the vacuum attachment of the present invention by itself.
FIG. 6
is a top plan view of the vacuum attachment of FIG.
5
.
FIG. 7
is a side elevational view of the vacuum attachment as seen along line
7
—
7
of FIG.
6
.
FIG. 8
is a front elevational view of the vacuum attachment as seen along line
8
—
8
of FIG.
7
.
FIG. 9
is a rear elevational view of the vacuum attachment as seen along line
9
—
9
of FIG.
7
.
FIG. 10
is a side elevational view of the vacuum attachment showing upper and lower components thereof prior to being assembled and attached together as shown in FIG.
7
.
FIG. 11
is an enlarged top plan view of the lower component of the vacuum attachment as seen along line
11
—
11
of
FIG. 10
after being rotated 180°.
FIG. 12
is an enlarged bottom plan view of the lower component of the vacuum attachment as seen along line
12
—
12
of FIG.
10
.
FIG. 13
is an enlarged bottom plan view of the upper component of the vacuum attachment as seen along line
13
—
13
of FIG.
10
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings and particularly to
FIG. 1
, there is illustrated a prior art hair grooming clipper, generally designated
10
, having an elongated casing
12
, a hair cutting mechanism
14
with front cutting knives
14
A supported at a forward end
16
of the casing
12
, and a cover
18
removably installed on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
. As seen in solid line form in
FIG. 1
, when the cover
18
is installed on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
, the cover
18
overlies and closes an opening
20
defined in the forward end
16
of the casing
12
. As seen in dashed line form in FIG.
1
and as also seen in
FIG. 3
, when the cover
18
is removed from the forward end
16
of the casing
12
, the cover
18
allows access through the opening
20
of the casing
12
to an internal portion
14
B of the cutting head mechanism
14
that is housed in the forward end
16
of the casing
12
. The cover
18
has tabs
22
integrally formed on, spaced from one another along, and projecting outwardly from a peripheral edge
18
A of the cover
18
. The tabs
22
are shaped to frictionally and releasably engage and mate with complementarily shaped elements
24
on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
which are defined on the casing
12
and spaced from one another about the perimeter of the opening
20
of the casing
12
. The internal portion
14
B of the cutting head mechanism
14
that is exposed through the opening
20
of the casing
12
when the cover
18
is removed includes a pair of threaded female sockets
26
disposed in the casing
12
and a pair of threaded male fasteners
28
, such as screws, which are threadably screwed therein.
Referring now to
FIGS. 2 and 4
, and more particularly to
FIGS. 5
to
13
, there is illustrated the vacuum attachment of the present invention, being generally designated
30
, for use with the hair grooming clipper
10
. The vacuum attachment
30
basically includes a conduit body
32
and a pair of mounting wings
34
. The conduit body
32
is adapted by the mounting wings
34
for mounting on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
adjacent to the front cutting blades
14
A of the cutting head mechanism
14
of the clipper
10
.
The conduit body
32
has a forward portion
36
and a rearward portion
38
which are integrally connected with one another and together define and enclose an internal air flow passage
40
through the conduit body
32
. The conduit body
32
further has an inlet end
42
defined at a front end
36
A of the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
and an outlet end
44
defined at a rear end
38
A of the rearward portion
38
of the conduit body
32
. When the conduit body
32
is mounted on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
, a flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from the front cutting blades
14
A of the cutting head mechanism
14
of the clipper
10
via the inlet end
42
of the conduit body
32
through the internal air flow passage
40
of the conduit body
32
to an external hose (not shown) coupled to the outlet end
44
of the conduit body
32
.
More particularly, the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
is formed by an upper wall
46
, a lower wall
48
and a pair of side walls
50
extending between and interconnecting the upper and lower walls
46
,
48
so as to define a forward section
40
A of the passage
40
through the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
. The forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
includes a rearwardly tapered segment
52
such that the forward section
40
A of the passage
40
of the conduit body
32
, which is defined through the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
, is greater in cross-sectional size than a rearward section
40
B of the passage
40
of the conduit body
32
, which is defined through the rearward portion
38
of the conduit body
32
. The rearward portion
38
of the conduit body
32
is a continuous sidewall of tubular configuration and is integrally connected to and extends rearwardly from the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
. As in the vacuum attachment disclosed in above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,462, the rearward portion
38
of the conduit body
32
of the vacuum attachment
10
of the present invention has a nipple
54
formed on and protruding outwardly from the exterior of the rearward portion
38
for securable insertion into a notch (not shown) defined in an external hose (not shown) so as to couple the attachment
10
to the external hose. For performing different lengths and styles of hair cuts on pets, the vacuum attachment
10
of the present invention, like in the case of the vacuum attachment of the above-cited patent, further has a vacuum relief port
56
defined in the upper wall
46
of the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
. A closure (not shown) in the form of a flexible sealing lid can be mounted to the upper wall
46
so as to overlie the port
56
and is movable in order to vary the amount of area of the vacuum relief port
56
closed by the closure and thereby regulate the degree of relief through the port
56
of the vacuum condition within the passage
40
of the conduit body
32
.
The mounting wings
34
have generally triangular configurations and are integrally and externally formed on and extend downwardly from opposite sides of the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
. The mounting wings
34
and the lower wall
48
of the forward portion
36
of the conduit body
32
that extends between the mounting wings
34
together define a replacement cover
58
that can substitute for and replace the original equipment cover
18
removably provided on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
in order to enclose the opening
20
in the casing
12
through which is exposed the cutting head mechanism
14
of the clipper
10
.
The vacuum attachment
10
also includes means on the mounting wings
34
for detachably fastening the mounting wings
34
and thereby the conduit body
32
to the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
so as to overlie and enclose the opening
20
in the forward end
16
of the casing
10
. The fastening means includes a pair of tabs
60
each attached on one of the mounting wings
34
for frictionally interfitting with the complementarily shaped elements
24
on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
. The fastening means also includes a pair of elongated holes
62
each defined in one of the mounting wings
34
and a pair of fasteners, such as replacement screws
64
, each insertable through one of the holes
62
and being securable into one of the threaded female sockets
26
formed in the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
. The replacement screws
64
are greater in length than the original screws
28
they replace.
In an exemplary embodiment, the conduit body
32
is manufactured using an suitable conventional technique, such as injection molding, in the form of separate upper and lower components
32
A,
32
B which are then mated to one another by aligning and interfitting protuberances
66
on the lower component
32
B into recesses
68
in the upper component
32
A. Then, the interfitted upper and lower components
32
A,
32
B are permanently attached together, such as by electronic welding, gluing, fusing, etc. The mounting wings
34
are molded with the lower component
32
B so as to be integrally attached to the lower component
32
B of the conduit body
10
.
The present invention also is directed to the method of converting the hair grooming clipper
10
in order to mount the vacuum attachment
10
on the casing
12
of the clipper
10
. The converting method comprises the following steps. First, the vacuum attachment
10
is provided having the construction as described above. Second, the original equipment cover
18
, provided on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
adjacent to the cutting head mechanism
14
, is removed to expose the opening
20
in the forward end
16
of the casing
12
overlying the cutting head mechanism
14
. Third, the conduit body
32
is installed on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
so as to close the opening
20
therein with the replacement cover
58
formed by the mounting wings
34
and the lower wall
48
of the conduit body
32
extending between the mounting wings
34
. The integral replacement cover
58
of the conduit body
32
and mounting wings
34
can substitute for and replace the original equipment cover
18
which was removably provided on the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
. The replacement cover
58
of the conduit body
32
thereby encloses the opening
20
in the casing
12
through which is exposed the cutting head mechanism
14
of the clipper
10
. Fourth, by screwing replacement screws
64
, being of greater length than the original screws
28
, into the threaded female sockets
26
in the casing
12
, the mounting wings
34
and thus the vacuum attachment
10
are detachably secured to the forward end
16
of the casing
12
of the clipper
10
.
It is thought that the present invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely preferred or exemplary embodiment thereof.
Claims
- 1. A vacuum attachment for use with a hair grooming clipper, comprising:(a) a conduit body for mounting on a forward end of a casing of a hair grooming clipper adjacent to front cutting blades of a cutting head mechanism of the clipper, said conduit body having a forward portion and a rearward portion which together define and enclose an internal air flow passage through said conduit body, said conduit body also having an inlet end defined at a front end of said forward portion of said conduit body and an outlet end defined at a rear end of said rearward portion of said conduit body such that when said conduit body is mounted on the forward end of the casing of the clipper a flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from the front cutting blades of the cutting head mechanism of the clipper via said inlet end of said conduit body through said passage of said conduit body to an external hose coupled to said outlet end of said conduit body; (b) a pair of mounting wings integrally and externally formed on and extending from opposite sides of said forward portion of said conduit body such that said mounting wings and said forward portion of said conduit body together define a replacement cover that can substitute for and replace an original equipment cover removably provided on the forward end of the casing of the clipper in order to enclose an opening in the casing through which is exposed the cutting head mechanism of the clipper; and (c) means on said mounting wings for detachably fastening said mounting wings and thereby said conduit body to the forward end of the casing of the clipper so as to overlie and enclose the opening in the forward end of the casing.
- 2. The attachment as recited in claim 1, wherein said conduit body includes upper and lower components mated with and fixedly attached to one another.
- 3. The attachment as recited in claim 2, wherein said mounting wings are integrally attached to said lower component of said conduit body.
- 4. The attachment as recited in claim 1, wherein said fastening means includes tabs on said mounting wings for frictionally interfitting with complementarily shaped elements on the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
- 5. The attachment as recited in claim 1, wherein said fastening means includes a pair of holes each defined in one of said mounting wings and a pair of fasteners each insertable through one of said holes and being securable into one of a pair of threaded sockets formed in the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
- 6. The attachment as recited in claim 1, wherein said forward portion of said conduit body has an upper wall, a lower wall and a pair of side walls extending between and interconnecting said upper and lower walls so as to define a forward section of said passage through said forward portion of said conduit body.
- 7. The attachment as recited in claim 6, wherein said forward section of said passage of said conduit body defined through said forward portion of said conduit body is greater in cross-sectional size than a rearward section of said passage of said conduit body defined through said rearward portion of said conduit body.
- 8. The attachment as recited in claim 1, wherein said forward portion of said conduit body has a rearwardly tapered segment.
- 9. The attachment as recited in claim 1, wherein said rearward portion of said conduit body is a continuous sidewall of tubular configuration being integrally connected to and extending rearwardly from said forward portion of said conduit body.
- 10. A vacuum attachment for use with a hair grooming clipper, said attachment comprising:(a) a conduit body for mounting on a forward end of a casing of a hair grooming clipper adjacent to front cutting blades of a cutting head mechanism of the clipper, said conduit body defining and enclosing an internal air flow passage extending between inlet and outlet ends of said conduit body such that when said conduit body is mounted on the forward end of the casing of the clipper a flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from the front cutting blades of the cutting head mechanism of the clipper via said inlet end of said conduit body through said passage thereof to an external hose coupled to said outlet end of said conduit body; (b) a pair of mounting wings integrally and externally formed on said conduit body and extending from opposite sides of said conduit body such that said mounting wings and a portion of said conduit body extending between said mounting wings define a replacement cover that can substitute for and replace an original equipment cover removably provided on the forward end of the casing of the clipper in order to enclose an opening in the casing through which is exposed the cutting head mechanism of the clipper; and (c) means for detachably fastening said mounting wings to the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
- 11. The attachment as recited in claim 10, wherein said conduit body includes upper and lower components mated with and fixedly attached to one another.
- 12. The attachment as recited in claim 11, wherein said mounting wings are integrally attached to said lower component of said conduit body.
- 13. The attachment as recited in claim 10, wherein said fastening means includes tabs on said mounting wings for frictionally interfitting with complementarily shaped elements on the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
- 14. The attachment as recited in claim 10, wherein said fastening means includes a pair of holes each defined in one of said mounting wings and a pair of fasteners each insertable through one of said holes and being securable into one of a pair of threaded sockets formed in the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
- 15. The attachment as recited in claim 10, wherein said conduit body includes a forward portion having an upper wall, a lower wall and a pair of side walls extending between and interconnecting said upper and lower walls so as to define a forward section of said passage through said forward portion of said conduit body.
- 16. The attachment as recited in claim 15, wherein said conduit body also includes a rearward portion defining a rearward section of said passage.
- 17. The attachment as recited in claim 16, wherein said forward section of said passage of said conduit body defined through said forward portion of said conduit body is greater in cross-sectional size than said rearward section of said passage of said conduit body defined through said rearward portion of said conduit body.
- 18. The attachment as recited in claim 15, wherein said forward portion of said conduit body has a rearwardly tapered segment.
- 19. The attachment as recited in claim 15, wherein said conduit body further includes a rearward portion in the form of a continuous sidewall of tubular configuration being integrally connected to and extending rearwardly from said forward portion.
- 20. A method of converting a hair grooming clipper to mount a vacuum attachment, comprising the steps of:(a) providing a vacuum attachment including a conduit body and side mounting wings integrally and externally formed thereon, the conduit body enclosing an internal air flow passage extending between inlet and outlet ends of the conduit body such that when the vacuum attachment is mounted on a forward end of a casing of a hair grooming clipper a flow of hair cuttings entrained in air can be drawn from front cutting blades of a cutting head mechanism of the clipper via the inlet end of the conduit body through the passage thereof to an external hose coupled to the outlet end of the conduit body; (b) removing from the forward end of the casing of the clipper an original equipment cover removably provided thereon adjacent to the cutting head mechanism to expose an opening in the forward end of the casing overlying the cutting head mechanism; (c) installing the conduit body on the forward end of the casing of the clipper so as to close the opening therein with a replacement cover, formed by the side mounting wings and a portion of the conduit body extending between the side mounting wings, that can substitute for and replace the original equipment cover removed from the forward end of the casing of the clipper in order to enclose the opening in the forward end of the casing of the clipper; and (d) detachably fastening the side mounting wings to the forward end of the casing of the clipper.
US Referenced Citations (9)
