ATTACHMENT FOR A HAIRCARE APPLIANCE

Abstract

Disclosed is an attachment for a hair care appliance that has an air inlet end for receiving an airflow from the appliance, an air outlet end for emitting the airflow from the attachment, a wall defining and extending about an airflow path for the airflow and a noise attenuation member surrounded by the wall. The noise attenuation member is configured to guide the airflow along at least part of the airflow path.

Claims

1. An attachment for a hair care appliance comprising an air inlet end for receiving an airflow from the appliance, an air outlet end for emitting the airflow from the attachment, a wall defining and extending about an airflow path for the airflow, a noise attenuation member surrounded by the wall wherein the noise attenuation member is configured to guide the airflow along at least part of the airflow path.

2. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the noise attenuation member comprises a perforated wall.

3. The attachment according to claim 2, wherein the perforated wall is disposed about the longitudinal axis of the attachment.

4. The attachment according to claim 3, wherein the perforated wall comprises an annular wall, preferably located such that the centre of the perforated wall lies on the longitudinal axis of the attachment.

5. The attachment according to claim 2, wherein the perforated wall tapers outwardly towards the air outlet end.

6. The attachment according to claim 2, wherein the perforated wall comprises a plurality of through-holes.

7. The attachment according to claim 6, wherein the perforated wall is disposed about the longitudinal axis of the attachment and wherein the through holes extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal central axis of the attachment.

8. The attachment according to claim 1, the noise attenuation member comprises a sound-dampening material.

9. The attachment according to claim 8, wherein the sound dampening material is an acoustic felt material.

10. The attachment according to claim 8, wherein the noise attenuation member comprises a perforated wall and wherein the perforated wall is disposed between the wall and the sound dampening material.

11. The attachment according to claim 8, wherein the noise attenuation member comprises a perforated wall and wherein the sound dampening material is surrounded by the perforated wall.

12. The attachment according to claim 8, wherein the noise attenuation member comprises a perforated wall and wherein the noise attenuation member comprises a cap and the sound-dampening material is disposed between the perforated wall and the cap.

13. The attachment according to claim 12 wherein the perforated wall and the cap each comprises a plurality of retention members configured to retain the sound dampening material within the noise attenuation member.

14. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the wall comprises an annular wall extending around the longitudinal axis of the attachment, preferably located such that the centre of the annular wall lies on the longitudinal axis of the attachment.

15. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the wall is tapered.

16. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the wall is tapered outwardly away from the longitudinal axis of the attachment towards the outlet end.

17. The attachment according to claim 15, wherein the angle of taper of the wall varies between the inlet end and the outlet end.

18. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the wall and the noise attenuation member are shaped such that the cross-sectional area of the airflow path, as measured perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the attachment, decreases from the inlet end to the outlet end.

19. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein, the attachment comprises an external wall surrounding said wall of the attachment.

20. The attachment according to claim 19, wherein the wall comprises at least one support member located on a surface of the wall which faces the external wall, and each configured to provide a contact point between the wall and the external wall.

21. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the wall comprises a seat configured to accommodate an RFID tag.

22. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the inlet end is adapted to receive part of the appliance.

23. The attachment according to claim 1, comprising a magnet attached to the wall for securing the attachment to the appliance.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Preferred features of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0034] FIG. 1 is a left side, front perspective view of an attachment 10;

[0035] FIG. 2 is a right side, rear perspective view of the attachment 10;

[0036] FIG. 3 is a side view of the attachment;

[0037] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the attachment;

[0038] FIG. 5 is a left side, front exploded view of the attachment;

[0039] FIG. 6 is a right side, rear exploded view of the attachment;

[0040] FIG. 7a is a side sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 3;

[0041] FIG. 7b is a side sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 3;

[0042] FIG. 8 is a left side, front perspective view of an alternative attachment 100;

[0043] FIG. 9 is a right side, rear perspective view of the alternative attachment 100;

[0044] FIG. 10 is a side view of the alternative attachment;

[0045] FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the alternative attachment;

[0046] FIG. 12 is a left side, front exploded view of the alternative attachment;

[0047] FIG. 13 is a right side, rear exploded view of the alternative attachment;

[0048] FIG. 14a is a side sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 11;

[0049] FIG. 14b is a side sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 11; and

[0050] FIG. 15 is a left side, front perspective view, from above, of an example of a hair dryer to which the attachment and the alternative attachment may be connected.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0051] FIGS. 1 to 4 are external views of an attachment 10. The attachment comprises an air inlet 12 for receiving airflow from an airflow outlet end of a hair dryer and an air outlet 14 for enabling the airflow to exit the attachment. With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the air inlet 12 is generally annular in shape, and is in the form of an aperture located at the air inlet end 16 of a wall 18. The wall 16 has an air outlet end 20 which is larger than the air inlet end 16, and an outwardly tapering wall 18 extending between the air inlet end 16 and the air outlet end 20.

[0052] As illustrated in FIGS. 7a and 7b, the tapering wall 18 defines an airflow path 22 through which the airflow passes within the attachment 10. The tapering wall 18 is arranged to guide the airflow from the air inlet 12 to air outlet 14 of the attachment 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1, directly towards the air outlet 14.

[0053] The wall 18 comprises an annular inlet channel 24 for receiving airflow from the air inlet 12 and from which the airflow is guided along the airflow path 22 towards the air outlet end 20.

[0054] A noise attenuation member 26 is surrounded by the wall 18 and disposed about the longitudinal axis C of the attachment. The noise attenuation member 26 is configured to guide the airflow towards the air outlet 14 and is generally conical in shape. The noise attenuation member 26 comprises a perforated wall 28 which further defines the airflow path and guides the airflow towards the air outlet end 20. The perforated wall 28 is an annular wall and tapers outwardly towards air outlet 14.

[0055] The perforated wall 28 comprises an array of perforations 30 through which sound waves can be emitted. The perforations 30 have the same size and shape. Each of these perforations 30 is circular in cross-section. Each of the perforations 30 may be cylindrical in shape, but in this embodiment each of the perforations 30 is frustoconical in shape, tapering inwardly from the external surface of the perforated wall 28 towards the internal surface of the perforated wall 28. At the external surface of the perforated wall 28, each of the perforations 30 has a diameter which is in the range from 1 to 3 mm. However, in this embodiment the diameter of perforations is in the range from 1.2 to 1.6 mm.

[0056] The perforations 30 may be arranged in a plurality of arrays. Within each array, the perforations 30 are regularly spaced. The spacing between neighbouring perforations in each array is in the range from 0.5 to 2 mm. In this embodiment the perforations 30 in each array are arranged such that the perforations are aligned along the longitudinal axis C of the attachment.

[0057] With reference to FIG. 7b, the perforations 30 extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal central axis C of the attachment 10. Furthermore, the perforations 30 may comprise a plurality of blind holes. However, in this embodiment, the perforations 30 comprise a plurality of through holes extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal central axis C of the attachment 10.

[0058] With reference to FIGS. 5, 6, 7a and 7b, the noise attenuation member 26 comprises a sound dampening material 32. The sound dampening material 32 is disposed between the perforated wall 28 and a cap 34. It will be clear to the skilled person that a variety of materials or combination of a plurality of materials may be used as a sound dampening material 32. In this embodiment, the sound dampening material 32 is an acoustic felt material disclosed and secured between the perforated wall 28 and the cap 34.

[0059] As airflow passes through the attachment 10, the airflow passing around the noise attenuation member 26 is guided by the boundary layer formed on the surface of the perforated wall 28. To reduce the noise generated by the airflow, the perforations 30 act as decoupling means to decouple sound waves from the airflow. Furthermore, the direction of the perforations 30 enable minimum disturbance on the boundary layer and the airflow speed at the air outlet 14.

[0060] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the perforated wall and the cap each comprises a plurality of retention members 36 and 38. Upon assembly, the retention members 36 and 38 secure the sound dampening material 32 and prevent it from undesirable movement in normal use of the attachment 10.

[0061] The attachment 10 further comprises an external wall 40 and the external wall 40 surrounds the wall 18 of the attachment 10. In normal use, the air passing through the attachment 10 increases the temperature of the wall 18. There is provided an air gap 42 between the wall 18 and the external wall 42 for isolation purposes and improves the end-user comfort.

[0062] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the wall 18 further comprises at least one support member 44 and at least one external wall fixing member 46 located on an outside surface of the wall 18 which faces the external wall 42 when assembled. The support member 44 provides a contact point between the wall 18 and the external wall 40, in addition to the external wall fixing members 46. The support member 44 is a deformable member and recovers to its initial state once the applied pressure is removed. In this embodiment, there is a plurality of support members 44 equally angularly spaced about the longitudinal axis C of the attachment 10.

[0063] With reference to FIG. 7b, the wall 18 further comprises an RFID slot 47 located at on the outer surface of the air inlet channel 24, suitable for receiving an RF ID tag 48. The RFID tag 48 further comprises an RFID tape 49 and the RFID tag 48 is seated in the RFID slot 47 with this RFID tape 49 in between. The purpose of the RFID tag 48 is to alert a control circuit of a hair dryer 200 regarding the type of attachment, i.e. a rough dryer attachment 10 or a gentle dryer attachment 100, being used. The control circuit of the hair dryer 200 may then adjust relevant settings such as air temperature and airflow rate accordingly.

[0064] The features defined for the attachment 10 similarly apply to the alternative attachment 100. Each of the components of the attachments 10 and 100 is formed from a plastic material. In these embodiments the components are formed from glass filled nylon.

[0065] To assemble the attachments 10 and 100, the sound dampening material 32 is first located on the perforated wall 28 so that the sound dampening material 32 rests on the inner surface of the perforated wall 28. The sound dampening material 32 comprises cut-out sections 50 and these cut-out sections align with the plurality of retention members 36 located on the inner surface of the perforated wall 28. In this embodiment, the plurality of retention members 36 are arranged equally angularly spaced about the longitudinal axis C of the attachment 10 and 100. The cap 34 is then located along the periphery of the perforated wall 28 proximate to the air outlet 14. Accordingly, the outer periphery of the cap 34 sits on the outer periphery of the perforated wall 28. In this embodiment the fixing is done by ultrasonic welding. It would be obvious to the skilled person that other fixing methods such as gluing or snap-fit arrangements can be used. The assembly of perforated wall 28, sound dampening material 32 and the cap 34 forms the noise attenuation member 26.

[0066] The noise attenuation member 26 is then positioned along the central axis C on an assembly seat 54 of the wall 18. The assembly seat 54 comprises an assembly aperture 56 The perforated wall 28 further comprises a fastening screw receptacle 58 and is configured to receive a main fastening screw 60 which goes through the assembly aperture 56 and fixes the noise attenuation member 26 to the wall 18.

[0067] The external wall 40 has an inner surface comprising a plurality of assembly supports 62. Each of the assembly supports 62 comprises a peripheral assembly aperture 64. The external wall fixing members 46 of the wall 18 further comprises a plurality of peripheral fastening screw receptacles 66 arranged equally angularly spaced about the longitudinal axis C of the attachment 10 and 100. The peripheral fastening screw receptacles 66 are configured to receive peripheral fastening screws 68 which go through the peripheral assembly apertures 64 and secures the wall 18 to the peripheral assembly supports 62 of the external wall 40.

[0068] Accordingly, the assembly of the attachments 10 and 100 is completed by securing the noise attenuation member 26 to the wall 18 and then securing the wall 18 to the external wall 40. Furthermore, an RFID cap 69 is provided to cover RFID tag 48.

[0069] In use the attachment 10,100 is attached to the airflow outlet end 202 of a hair dryer 200. For example, the attachment 10, 100 may be attached to the hair dryer by a magnet 70 located at the air inlet end 16 of the wall 18.

[0070] With reference to FIGS. 8 to 14, any features defined for attachment 100 which are equivalent to the features defined for attachment 10 have the same reference numerals. Whilst 10 and 100 have the same features of noise attenuation, the outlet profile 72 of the attachment 10 and the outlet profile 172 of the attachment 100 are different. More specifically with reference to FIGS. 3 and 7b, the outlet profile 72 of the attachment 10 is configured to emits the airflow in a direction D tapering inwardly towards the longitudinal axis C of the attachment. With reference to FIGS. 10 and 14b, the outlet profile 172 of the attachment 100 is configured to emit the airflow in a direction D tapering outwardly away from the longitudinal axis C of the attachment.

[0071] Whilst particular examples and embodiments have been described, it should be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.