US2982030A - Hair dryer - Google Patents

Description

A. ZEMOUR May 2, 1961 HAIR DRYER Filed May 25, 1958 INV EN TOR $5587 .ZZ-vvame ATTORNEY United States Patent HAIR DRYER Albert Zemour, Chatillon-sous-Bagnenx, France, assignor to Ditedis Dilfusion-Technique-Distribution, Paris,

France, a corporation. of France:

Filed May 23, 1958, Ser, No. 737,244. Claims priority,-application France ,June 1, 1957 2 Claims. cue-1001 The present invention relates to a hair dryer which has fan, is only in contact with air which has already been humidified and cooled;;, In consegugnpe, the drying of thetop, of ,the head is very s19, In order to,c.ornplete this drying, it is necessary tofprolong in an undesirable manner the drying of the contour of the hair close to the walls of the drying helmet, which causes local over-heating with dehydration of the hair and the production of static electricity which is troublesome for subsequent work on the hair. The dryer in accordance with this invention has for its object to remedy these drawbacks and to elfect in a rapid manner a drying which is comparable in its efiects to natural drying.

The dryer is characterised in that, on the path of the hot air circulated by the fan along the wall of the helmet, there are arranged one or more means for guiding a portion of this hot air, bringing it into the central zone corresponding to the hair on the top of the head, during the course of drying.

In particular, as a guiding means, use is made of frusto-conical deflectors concentric with the wall of the helmet and spaced apart therefrom, the said deflectors diverting the hot air so as to compel it to flow into the central zone of the helmet.

By this means, the blown air is distributed in a balanced manner between the top of the hair and the contour of the hair. There is obtained an efiective and rapid drying under good conditions of comfort and pleasure, without over-heating and without undesirable production of static electricity. To these advantages is added a substantial economy in electric current.

There may be any number of these frusto-conical defiectors. There is an advantage in providing at least two of them, in order to form multiple passages which guide and distribute the hot diverted air towards the central zone. In the passages between successive deflectors, it is advisable to provide fixed fins or vanes, which on the one hand distribute the hot air into the passage, and on the other hand tend to prevent production of vortex movements of the hot air.

The dryer, thus provided with guiding deflectors for the air in the central zone of the helmet, is provided with heating means constituted by electric resistance elements. In particular, it is an advantage to arrange these resistance elements in the vicinity of the deflectors.

I In accordance with a particular construction, these resistance elements are in the form of rings in suitable 2,982,030 Patented May 2, 1961 24-. glass tubes. It ,is'preferably to, provide-two concentric rings which can beput into use separately or simultaneon sly, dependingonthe intensity: of heating to be obtained.

With these heating rings in the vicinity of'thedeflectors; there is obtained a good' efiectivenessofheating, theair being preferentiallyhated in its portion which is directed towards the crown of the hair. V

The accompanying drawings show byway of example one. formof construction ,of the dryer in accordance witlr the invention. i

Fig. 1 is a viewof. the dryer, in longitudinal'cross; section. j V

Fig. 2'is aview in cross-section taken alongthe line- II -II of Fig, 1.

Fig. 3 is a partial view in cross-sectionofan alternative form.

Thedryer, is composed ofjahelmet in three portions assembled, together: an ,entry portion 10 a .body 11 and afbottQm 12. 1 6. body 1.1 comprises a fullbase 13; which carries the fan 14 with its motor 15,; thelatter be r ge n. the. bott m 12,.

In r n f. he an Hismo ntedaprote r ar d; carried, by rods 17 fix ed on the bottom 1,3,1

h same s. 7 J also. e vet s ppo t t deflectors 19- he at er. re. o m d otrbncentric. ne t d frustogconical; elements. They de=limit a, passage. 20 which iv rts. apa t .Q ...h..- '9t i blqwn..pe .nh ral y. y the fan'14, and'guides it towards the centralz one 219: the helmet on the top of the hair. i

One of the deflectors, 18 for example, carries fins 22 which divide the passage 20 into radial channels and prevent the production of vortices of the hot air passing along this passage 20.

With the deflectors 18, 19, there can be used the usual heating means for hair-dryers, in particular, electric resistance elements arranged in the vicinity of the wall of the body 11, so as to be swept by the air blown by the fan 14. There is however an advantage in arranging this heating in such manner as to make its effect more marked in cooperation with the deflectors 18 and 19.

As shown in Fig. 1, in this case the heating is pro- 'vided by annular resistance elements mounted in glass tubes 23 and 24, which is resistant to heat (Pyrex glass for example). These resistance elements are arranged concentrically in the vicinity of the protective grid 16 at the side of the fan 14. The resistance element 23 is placed opposite the opening 25 of the passage 20 formed between the deflectors 18 and 19. The resistance element 24 is arranged in the interior of the resistance element 23.

In practice, during drying, the inner annular resistance.

element 24 is kept continuously at work: it ensures the maintenance of the temperatures of the air drawn-in by the fan 14. The annular outer resistance element 23 serves as a supplementary heating device and is controlled by a thermostatic regulator.

A lamp 26 is mounted inside the helmet to light its interior and serves as a check for the application of electric current. The entry portion 10 of the helmet, which is preferably of transparent material (Plexiglas for example) is provided with fins 27.

The helmet thus constituted is mounted on a housing 28 which carries the articulation 29 pivoting with the foot 30. In this housing 28 are mounted the members 31 and 32 which control the fan and the heating, together with their regulation. A screw 33 co-operating with a heel 34 of the pivot 29 serves to adjust the angle of the helmet on the foot 30.

In the dryer so constructed, the air delivered by the fan 14 is divided into two streams, one following the arrow A along the wall of the helmet and the other into the passage 20 following the arrow B, which is directed on to the central portion ofthe helmet and thus on to the top of the hair. The top of the head is thus dried by a direct deflected and hot flow of airand not by the return of air from the periphery. Thernoist air drawn-in at the-center along the arrow is immediately dried by the resistance element 24 before again passing through the previous cycle;

a With this dryer, the drying period for a normal head of hair is of the order of 12 minutes,,while the usual dryers require at least 30 minutes under the helmet. In a general manner, this period is reduced by about 70% as compared with the usual period, which is greatly appreciated by the hairdresser's clients. This gain of time is also'accompaniedby reduced periods of use of the dryer and a betterutiliza'tionof the equipment. The power consumed is also reduced in. aproportion or about 80%.

In addition, the dryer according to the invention only requires a moderate heat. For this reason, and because of. the shortduration of drying, the dried hair is not de-hydrated, but remains flexible and glossy. Also the hair is not electrified, so that it is easy to dress it afterwards without being troubled by the static electricity produced by the drying. v

Instead of the deflectors 18 and 19 or in combination with these, there may be provided in the "icinity of the wall 11 of the helmet (Fig. 3) a deflector comprising a cylindrical portion 35 and ,a frusto-conical portion 36, the function of which is to divide and deflect the current bf hot air close to'the wall so as to'direct a part of it towards the central zone of the dryer and the top of the head.

The deflectors 18 and 19, and also the deflector 35- 36 can be displaced in the longitudinal direction, depending on the distribution effects which it is desired to obtain for the blown air.

What I claim is: L

1. A hair dryer comprising a member forming a helmet enclosing the head of a person having a fan for blowing air, a deflector unit positioned adjacent said fan having at least two concentric and nested deflectors positioned to define oblique passages to the axis of said deflector unit to direct'air-along parallel paths onto the crown and other portions of the head respectively, an-

so U

nularv heating elements-positioned between said fan and said unit for heating the air blown by said fan, one of said annular heating'elements being placed at the entrance of one of said passages, and another of said annular heating elements arranged concentrically with and inside said one element.

2. A hair dryer according to claim 1 in which a supply of electrical energy is connected to said heating elements, and means for separately controlling said supply to said heating elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,207,201 Kurth July 9, 1940 2,656,782 Labus Oct. 27, 1953 2,718,067 Carson Sept. 20, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS I 644,644 Great Britain Oct. 18, 1950

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