Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Apparatus – For hair on head
Patent
1994-05-20
1996-02-06
Bennet, Henry A.
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Apparatus
For hair on head
34283, 392385, A45D 2048
Patent
active
054887836
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a diffuser suitable for use with hair dryers.
The jet of air discharged from a hair dryer is usually strong and unfocused so that wet hair can be dried quickly and efficiently. Some hair dryers do have the facility to switch the speed of the jet of air between fast and slow settings, and the temperature of the jet of air between cool, warm and hot settings. Nevertheless, not all hair styles can be dried satisfactorily using such a conventional hair dryer. Therefore, a range of devices such as concentrators have been devised for attachment to the nozzle of a hair dryer. One such attachment is the diffuser enabling the velocity of the discharged jet of air to be reduced.
A diffuser generally comprises a bowl-shaped outer shell the base of which has an aperture therein which leads to a tubular adapter to facilitate attachment to the nozzle of a hair dryer. The open end of the bowl-shaped outer shell is closed by a further bowl-shaped inner shell of a radius smaller than that of the outer shell so that an enclosed space is defined between the facing surfaces of the inner and outer shells. A plurality of in particular hollow and in particular open-ended fingers extend from the outer surface of the inner shell, and in use air from the hair dryer is expelled through the open-ended fingers of the diffuser.
The effect of a diffuser is to diffuse the jet of air from the nozzle of a hair dryer through a plurality of apertures of relatively small diameter. This has the effect of both slowing the flow of air and, where applicable, of cooling it. This gives a very much more gentle drying action than does a hair dryer without the diffuser fitted. The hair is not disturbed by the air expelled from the apertures in the ends of the fingers. This makes the diffuser particularly suitable for drying naturally curly hair as well as permed and waved hair.
A diffuser of this type is known, for example, from applicant's printed specification EP 0 439 781 A1. This known diffuser is comprised of a diffuser dome flaring outwardly in the shape of a funnel and a diffuser screen. On the outer surface of the diffuser screen, a plurality of finger spacers are provided having outlet apertures in their ends, thereby enabling the discharged air to reach also sections of hair close to the scalp and improving the aeration of the hair. However, for curling or waving in particular naturally straight hair, conventional diffusers are not particularly well suited or are complicated to manipulate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a diffuser that allows ready styling, in particular curling or waving, of hair as it is dried.
This object is essentially accomplished by a diffuser for a hair dryer comprising a diffuser body which is adapted to be secured to a nozzle of the hair dryer and includes a plurality of hair pickup elements extending away from the diffuser body, wherein at least one of the hair pickup elements is movably arranged on the diffuser body. In use, the diffuser of the present invention is used in much the same way as a conventional diffuser. When hair enters the range of the hair pickup elements in use of the diffuser, these hair pickup elements will immerse in the hair, separating it into strands which will arrange themselves between the hair pickup elements. When the operator subsequently moves at least one of the hair pickup elements, those strands of hair that lie between the movable hair pickup element and the adjacent fixed hair pickup elements will be styled to form a curl, wave or some other shape while being exposed to the jet of air discharged from the diffuser. Thus the strands of hair caught between the hair pickup elements and styled on account of the displacement of at least one hair pickup element are dried by the diffuser of the present invention as a natural curl or wave is formed.
Advantageously, the hair pickup elements are moved relative to each other, causing the strands of hair that have entered the space between the hair pickup elements to form several waves or curls t
REFERENCES:
patent: D354152 (1995-01-01), Mathews
patent: 2626618 (1953-01-01), Collison
patent: 3840030 (1974-10-01), Baker
patent: 4759135 (1988-07-01), Scivoletto
patent: 5275339 (1994-01-01), Andis et al.
Liebenthal Dieter
Parkinson James W.
Bennet Henry A.
Braun Aktiengesellschaft
Podszus Edward S.
Tinker Susanne C.
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