ATTACHMENT FOR A HAIR CARE APPLIANCE

Abstract

An attachment for mounting to a hair care appliance configured to supply a heated airflow. The attachment includes an airflow passage extending from an upstream airflow inlet for receiving an airflow from the appliance to a downstream airflow outlet for discharging the airflow onto a user's hair. The attachment also includes a first vane arranged in the airflow passage to deflect a portion of the airflow in a first direction, and a second vane arranged in the airflow passage to deflect another portion of the airflow in a second direction that is different to the first direction. Each vane has opposing surfaces extending between an upstream leading edge and a downstream trailing edge of the vane.

Claims

1. An attachment for mounting to a hair care appliance configured to supply a heated airflow, the attachment comprising: an airflow passage extending from an upstream airflow inlet for receiving an airflow from the appliance to a downstream airflow outlet for discharging the airflow onto a user's hair; and a first vane arranged in the airflow passage to deflect a portion of the airflow in a first direction, and a second vane arranged in the airflow passage to deflect another portion of the airflow in a second direction that is different to the first direction, each vane comprising opposing surfaces extending between an upstream leading edge and a downstream trailing edge of the vane.

2. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein each vane is configured to deflect a respective portion of the airflow outwardly from a central region of the airflow passage towards a peripheral region of the airflow passage.

3. The attachment according to claim 2, wherein the first vane is configured to deflect a portion of the airflow towards a first side of the airflow passage, and the second vane is arranged to deflect a portion of the airflow towards a second side of the airflow passage, the second side being opposed to the first side across the airflow passage.

4. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein each vane extends along a respective reference plane that is arranged obliquely with respect to a central axis of the airflow passage.

5. The attachment according to claim 4, wherein each reference plane forms an angle of less than 25 with the central axis of the airflow passage.

6. The attachment according to claim 4, wherein the opposing surfaces of each vane comprise an inner surface facing the central axis of the airflow passage and an opposing outer surface facing away from the central axis of the airflow passage.

7. The attachment according to claim 6, wherein the inner surface of each vane is curved between the leading and trailing edges of the vane.

8. The attachment according to claim 7, wherein the curvature of each inner surface is convex towards the central axis of the airflow passage.

9. The attachment according to claim 6, wherein the outer surface of each vane is substantially planar.

10. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the leading edges of the first and second vanes are substantially aligned along a shared axis extending transversely across the airflow passage.

11. The attachment according to claim 10, wherein the leading edges of the first and second vanes are connected end-to-end along the shared axis.

12. The attachment according to claim 10, wherein the outlet is elongate so as to have an elongate axis which is perpendicular to a central axis of the airflow passage, and wherein the shared axis is perpendicular to the elongate axis.

13. The attachment according to claim 12, wherein the shared axis is positioned substantially centrally between opposing sides of the airflow passage.

14. The attachment according to claim 10, comprising a plurality of said first vanes and a plurality of said second vanes arranged in an alternating pattern so as to be interdigitated along the shared axis.

15. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein a trailing portion of each vane tapers inwardly in a direction towards the trailing edge of the vane.

16. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein a leading portion of each vane tapers outwardly in a direction away from the leading edge of the vane.

17. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the leading edge and/or trailing edge of each vane is rounded.

18. The attachment according to claim 1, wherein the outlet of the attachment is larger than the inlet.

19. The attachment according to claim 18, wherein the cross-sectional area of the airflow passage increases gradually from the inlet to the outlet.

20. The attachment according to claim 1, comprising a row of comb teeth extending across the outlet.

Description

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE FIGURES

[0045] Embodiments will now be discussed with reference to the accompanying figures in which:

[0046] FIG. 1A is a cut-away perspective view of an attachment mounted to a hair care appliance;

[0047] FIG. 1B is a detailed view of a mounting portion of the attachment of FIG. 1A;

[0048] FIG. 2 is a side section view of the attachment of FIG. 1A;

[0049] FIG. 3 is a detail section view of vanes of the attachment in FIG. 1A;

[0050] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the attachment of FIG. 1A; and

[0051] FIG. 5 is top view of the attachment of FIG. 1A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] Aspects and embodiments will now be discussed with reference to the accompanying figures. Further aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0053] FIG. 1A illustrates an attachment 100 mounted to a hair care appliance in the form of a hair dryer 101 (for clarity, this is a cut-away view of the attachment and hair care appliance). In particular, the attachment 100 is mounted to the outlet 102 of the hair dryer 101 (which is a tubular structure) so as to receive heated airflow from the hair dryer 101. This heated airflow flows through the attachment 100 via an airflow passage 103 (defined by a peripheral wall 120) that extends from an upstream airflow inlet 104 to a downstream airflow outlet 105 for discharging the heated airflow onto a user's hair.

[0054] The upstream end of the attachment 100 (i.e. at the inlet 104) comprises a mounting portion 106 configured to provide releasable mounting of the attachment 100 to the hair dryer 101. The mounting portion 106 is shown in more detail in FIG. 1B. As is apparent from this figure, the mounting portion 106 includes an annular magnet 125 held within a corresponding annular recess 126 of the mounting portion 106. An exposed (upstream) face of the magnet 125 seats on a metallic (i.e. ferrous) peripheral lip 127 defining the outlet 102 of the hair dryer 101 (as shown in FIG. 1A). In this way, the attachment 100 is retained on the hair dryer 101 by the magnetic force between the magnet 125 and the lip 127.

[0055] Although not immediately apparent from the figures, the mounting portion 106 is configured so as to be mounted to the outlet 102 in a fixed manner, such that it is not able to rotate relative to the hair dryer 101. On the other hand, the connection between the mounting portion 106 and the peripheral wall 120 of the attachment 100 is such that the peripheral wall 120 is able to rotate relative to the mounting portion 106 (and thus relative to the hair dryer 101 when mounted thereto). To provide this rotational connection, a downstream rim 128 of the mounting portion 106 is received in a corresponding upstream-facing annular recess 129 of the peripheral wall 120.

[0056] The rim 128 is retained in the recess 129 by an annular clip 130 that extends from a circumferential inwardly facing groove 131 of the rim 128 to a circumferential outwardly facing groove 132 formed in a sidewall of the recess 129. The clip prevents detachment of the peripheral wall 120 from the mounting portion 106 but permits relative rotation therebetween (about an axis extending centrally though the passage 103).

[0057] To facilitate the relative movement, an annular resilient bearing element 133 is provided between an inwardly extending peripheral ledge 134 of the mounting portion 106 and an upstream end surface 135 of the peripheral wall 120. In addition to facilitating such relative rotation, the bearing element 131 biases the peripheral wall 120 away from the mounting portion 106. This has the effect of urging the peripheral wall 120 against the clip 130 so as to form a secure connection between the mounting portion 106 and the peripheral wall 120, and so as to reduce (or prevent) unwanted relative movement between the two components.

[0058] At the opposing downstream end of the attachment 100 (i.e. at the outlet 105), the attachment 100 comprises an annular outer casing 123 that is mounted to the peripheral wall 120 of the airflow passage 103, at the outlet 104, and which extends in an upstream direction (towards the inlet 104) to a free annular edge. Also mounted at the downstream end of the attachment 100 is a comb 107 having a row of teeth that extend across the outlet 105 and that is mounted by way of two mounting fasteners 108 that each extend through the peripheral wall 120 and the outer casing 123, and into opposing ends of the comb 107. Air discharged from the outlet 105 passes between the teeth of the comb 107 and across any hair that is positioned between the teeth. The rotatable mounting of the peripheral wall 120 to the mounting portion 106, and the rigid mounting of the comb 107 to the peripheral wall 120, means that the comb 107 is able to rotate relative to the hair dryer 101 in use.

[0059] The attachment 100 may be referred to as a comb attachment, or a wide-tooth comb attachment. As should be appreciated, such an attachment 100 is intended to be used by moving the comb 107 along a tress of hair and may be particularly suited for styling type 3 or type 4 hair (e.g. curly/coily hair). Given the necessary proximity of the outlet 105 to the tress of hair in use, it is desirable to maintain the temperature of the discharged airflow at a level that does not damage hair and that will not cause discomfort to a user if the outlet 105 is close to user's scalp.

[0060] To reduce the temperature of the discharged airflow, the attachment comprises six vanes 109, 110. Each vane 109, 110 is arranged in the airflow passage 103 to deflect a portion of the airflow received through the inlet 104. The vanes 109, 110 can be divided into two types: first vanes 109 and second vanes 110. As will be discussed further below, the first vanes 109 deflect a portion of the incoming airflow in a first direction, and the second vanes 110 deflect another portion of the incoming airflow in a second direction that is different to the first direction. This distributes the airflow discharged at the outlet 105 over a greater area, which ultimately reduces the concentration of heat within the discharged airflow so as to provide an overall reduction in temperature.

[0061] The attachment 100 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5 in a dismounted state and without the comb 107 and outer casing 123 mounted thereto. FIGS. 4 and 5 depict the inlet 104 and the outlet 105 of the airflow passage 103. The airflow inlet 104 has a circular shape (with a radius of about 13 mm) and the outlet 105 has a rectangular shape. In particular, the outlet 105 has two spaced opposing long sides 118 (each about 60 mm long) connected by opposing short sides 119 (each about 18 mm long). Thus, an elongate axis of the outlet 105 extends parallel to the long sides.

[0062] The outlet 105 is larger in area than the inlet 104, and the airflow passage 104 expands along its length (i.e. from the inlet 104 to the outlet 105) to accommodate this. In particular, the peripheral wall 120 defining the airflow passage 103 diverges (i.e. tapers outwardly) from the inlet 104 to the outlet 105. An angle between the diverging part of the peripheral wall 120 and a central axis C (depicted in FIG. 2) of the airflow passage 103 is about 40 degrees (this angle being greater than the angle formed between each vane 109, 110 and the central axis C).

[0063] As is most apparent from FIG. 2, each vane 109, 110 comprises opposing inner 111 and outer 112 surfaces extending between an upstream leading edge 113 and a downstream trailing edge 114 of the vane 109, 110. The inner surface 111 of each vane 109, 110 faces the central axis C of the airflow passage 103, while the outer surface 112 of each vane 109, 110 faces a periphery of the airflow passage 103. As should be appreciated, it is the inner 111 and outer 112 surfaces of each vane which cause deflection of the airflow.

[0064] To minimise the airflow pressure drop caused by the presence of the vanes 109, 110, each vane 109, 110 is configured to have a streamlined, aerofoil shape. Thus, for example, the leading 113 and trailing 114 edges of each vane 109, 110 are rounded (each having a radius of about 0.5 mm). Likewise, each vane 109, 110 includes a trailing portion 115 that tapers inwardly in a direction towards the trailing edge 114 of the vane 109, 110 (i.e. each vane 109, 110 narrows towards its trailing edge 114).

[0065] Each vane 109, 110 also includes a leading portion 116 that tapers outwardly in a direction away from the leading edge 113 of the vane 109, 110. In this respect, each vane 109, 110 has a thicker intermediate portion 117 and tapers from the intermediate portion 117 to each of its respective leading 113 and trailing 114 edges. Each vane 109, 110 has a maximum thickness of about 3 mm, which is at this intermediate portion.

[0066] The outer surface 112 of each vane 109, 110 is substantially planar, while the inner surface 111 is curved between the leading 113 and trailing 114 edges. This means that air flowing across the inner surface 111 takes a longer path than air flowing across the outer surface 112. FIGS. 2 and 3 present a minor variation from the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B in that the curve of the inner surface 111 is approximated by three planar surface portions (in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the inner surface is formed of a single curved surface). The curves of the inner surfaces 111 are such that each inner surface 111 is convex towards the central axis C. The provision of vanes 109, 110 with this shape means separation of airflow from the inner surface 111 of each vane 109, 110 is minimised.

[0067] In the illustrated embodiment, each inner surface 111 includes a step 124 formed therein (such that the curve is not continuous from the leading edge 113 to the trailing edge 114 of each vane 109, 110). In other embodiments, such a step may be omitted, such that the curve is continuous between the leading 113 and trailing 114 edges.

[0068] The leading edges 113 of the six vanes 109, 110 are aligned along a shared axis S (illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 with dashed lines) that extends transversely and centrally across the airflow passage 103 at the inlet 104. In particular, the shared axis S extends in a direction that is perpendicular to the elongate axis of the outlet 105. The leading edges 113 (and leading portions 116) of the vanes 109, 110 are joined end-to-end along this shared axis S such that the vanes 109, 110 form an integrally formed unit that extends across the airflow passage 103. In this way, the leading edges 113 form a single leading edge at the inlet 104 from which the vanes 109, 110 extend.

[0069] In general, the vanes 109, 110 are configured to deflect the airflow received through the inlet 104 outwardly from a central region of the airflow passage 103 towards a peripheral region of the airflow passage 103. To provide such outward deflection, each first vane 109 is configured to deflect a portion of the airflow towards a first side 121 of the airflow passage 103 (i.e. on a first side of the shared axis S), and each second vane 110 is configured to deflect a portion of the airflow towards a second side 122 of the airflow passage 103 (i.e. on an opposite side to the first side of the shared axis S).

[0070] Each vane 109, 110 is therefore angled with respect to the central axis C of the airflow passage 103. The outer surface 112 of each vane 109, 110 extends along a respective reference plane R1, R2 (see FIG. 3) that is obliquely arranged with respect to the central axis C. In each vane 109, 110, this reference plane R1, R2 forms an angle .sub.1, .sub.2 with the central axis C (or a central plane that extends vertically through the central axis C) of about 15 degrees.

[0071] As set forth above (and as evident from the figures), the first vanes 109 direct airflow in a different direction to the second vanes 110. Thus, while both form the same angle with the central axis C, the first vanes 109 are angled from the central axis C towards the first side 121 of the airflow passage 103 and the second vanes 110 are angled from the central axis C towards the second side 122 of the airflow passage 103. The first vanes 109 lie in substantially the same plane R1 as one another, and likewise the second vanes 110 lie in substantially the same plane R2 as one another. In this way, the vanes 109, 110 form a generally V-shaped arrangement (as is evident from FIG. 2).

[0072] To provide an even distribution of airflow, the vanes 109, 110 are arranged in an alternating pattern, so as to interdigitate, along the shared axis S (i.e. a first vane 109 is followed by a second vane 110, followed by a further first vane 109, and so on). Thus, the first vanes 109 are spaced evenly along one side of the shared axis S, and the second vanes 110 are spaced evenly along the other side of the shared axis S.

[0073] All of the vanes 109, 110 have substantially the same shape (except that the first vanes 109 are a mirror images of the second vanes 110). Each vane 109, 110 has a width dimension parallel to the shared axis S, and the width of each vane is about 2.6 mm. Each first vane 109 is spaced from one or more other first vanes 109 by a spacing distance (parallel to the shared axis S) of about 2.5 mm. Similarly, each second vane 110 is spaced from one or more other second vanes 110 by a spacing distance of about 2.5 mm.

[0074] To further minimise pressure drop in airflow passing through the passage 103, the row of vanes 109, 110 is connected to the peripheral wall 120 (at either end of the shared axis S) by way of airflow guides 136 that are raised from the peripheral wall 120. Each airflow guide 136 includes opposed outer curved convex surfaces 137 (facing away from the shared axis). The nature of these surfaces is such that the two connections between the vanes 109, 110 and the peripheral wall 120 present minimal pressure drop (that could otherwise be created by a more abrupt change in surface shape).

[0075] The exemplary embodiments set forth above are considered to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0076] For the avoidance of any doubt, any theoretical explanations provided herein are provided for the purposes of improving the understanding of a reader. The inventors do not wish to be bound by any of these theoretical explanations.

[0077] Any section headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the subject matter described.

[0078] Throughout this specification, including the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word comprise and include, and variations such as comprises, comprising, and including will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

[0079] It must be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms a, an, and the include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Ranges may be expressed herein as from about one particular value, and/or to about another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by the use of the antecedent about, it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment. The term about in relation to a numerical value is optional and means for example +/10%.