Abstract
A hair styling accessory for attachment to a blowing and heating device may include a cylindrical connector and a frustoconical-shaped mandrel, having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end having a greater diameter than the proximal end, the proximal end being connected to the cylindrical connector. The mandrel has a plurality of air outlet ports. A frustoconical-shaped baffle is located within the mandrel. The cylindrical connector has an annular slot enabling the creation, when in use, of a protective layer of hot air around the mandrel.
Claims
1. An accessory (1) for styling hair, designed to be attached to a blowing and heating device, comprising: a cylindrical connector (2); a frustoconical mandrel (3) comprising a distal side (7) and a proximal side (8), the distal side (7) having a diameter greater than the proximal side (8), said proximal side (8) being connected to the cylindrical connector (2), said mandrel (3) comprising a plurality of air outlet orifices (13); and a frustoconical deflector (4) located inside the mandrel (3); said cylindrical connector (2) comprising an annular slot (6) allowing, in use, a protective hot air knife (10) to be generated around the mandrel (3).
2. The accessory of claim 1, wherein a surface of the frustoconical deflector (4) comprises obstacles (5) configured, in use, to radially deflect an internal hot air flow (9) through the air outlet orifices (13) of the mandrel (3).
3. The accessory of claim 2, wherein the obstacles on the surface of the frustoconical deflector (4) comprise shoulders (5) formed by a succession of interconnected cylinders (14) having increasing diameters.
4. The accessory of claim 3, wherein a distance between the cylinders (14) is 8 to 14 mm.
5. The accessory of claim 3, wherein a conicity of the deflector (4) is greater than that of the mandrel (3).
6. The accessory of claim 3, wherein the shoulders (5) are perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the deflector (4).
7. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the mandrel (3) is connected to the cylindrical connector (2) by a star-shaped attachment (16).
8. The accessory of claim 1, wherein a ratio of the diameter of the distal side (7) of the mandrel (4) to the diameter of the proximal side (8) of the mandrel is 1.1 to 2.
9. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the mandrel (3) comprises, at a base of the mandrel, an opening (15) configured to allow passage of the internal hot air flow (9) supplying the deflector (4), a ratio of a surface area of the opening (15) to a surface area of the annular slot (6) being 2 to 5.
10. The accessory of claim 1, wherein a ratio of a total surface area of all the air outlet orifices (13) to a surface area of the annular slot (6) is 15 to 25.
11. The accessory of claim 1, wherein a height of the annular slot (6) is 0.5 to 2 mm.
12. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the mandrel (3) comprises a conductive metal.
13. The accessory of claim 12, wherein the mandrel comprises aluminum or copper.
14. The accessory of claim 12, wherein the mandrel includes a ceramic layer.
15. A blower brush (11) comprising: a handle; a blowing and heating device; and the accessory (1) of claim 1 attached to the handle of the blower brush.
16. The blower brush (11) according to claim 15, further comprising a lock engaging with the lock (12) of the accessory (1) on the brush (11), such that the accessory is removable.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of an example of the accessory according to the present disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 2 corresponds to the three-dimensional view of FIG. 1, but with a slot visible at the base of the mandrel. Said slot allows the air coming from the hot air source to pass through, making it possible to generate a cylindrical hot air knife around the mandrel, protecting the latter against heat losses.
[0027] FIG. 3 corresponds to FIG. 1 and shows the internal air flow, namely the flow blown inside the mandrel and exiting through the air outlet orifices of the mandrel of the accessory.
[0028] FIG. 4 represents a two-dimensional side view of the accessory of FIG. 1.
[0029] FIG. 5 corresponds to the side view of FIG. 4, in which the external air flow generating the air knife for protection against thermal losses is shown.
[0030] FIG. 6 represents a longitudinal section of the accessory shown in FIG. 4 (section AA). This Figure shows the internal air flow, namely the flow blown inside the mandrel and exiting radially through the air outlet orifices of the mandrel following the impact of said air flow on the structural obstacles, herein e.g. shoulders, of the deflector.
[0031] FIG. 7 shows an example of the deflector of the accessory shown in FIG. 6.
[0032] FIG. 8 shows a lateral section of the accessory of FIG. 4 (section BB).
[0033] FIG. 9 represents a three-dimensional view of an example of an accessory according to the present disclosure, removably mounted on a heating handle.
[0034] FIG. 10 compares the evolution of the temperature on the external surface of an accessory according to the present disclosure with the temperature of an accessory of the same type known from the prior art. The accessory of the prior art used for the comparison is shown in FIG. 11 and does not comprise an internal frustoconical deflector or an external slot generating the flow in the form of a protective air knife. The temperature is measured as a function of time, at three different locations, by sensors attached to the external surface of the accessories (at the base, middle and head of the accessories).
[0035] FIG. 11 shows the accessory of the prior art, used for the temperature measurements of FIG. 10.
[0036] FIG. 12 shows a three-dimensional view of another example of a deflector of the accessory according to the present disclosure (the structural obstacles being, in this case, protuberances).
LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS
[0037] 1 Hair styling accessory [0038] 2 Cylindrical connector [0039] 3 Mandrel [0040] 4 Deflector [0041] 5 Structural obstacles on the surface of the deflector (shoulders in FIGS. 6 and 7, and protuberances in FIGS. 12 and 13) [0042] 6 Annular slot of the cylindrical connector [0043] 7 Mandrel head [0044] 8 Mandrel base [0045] 9 Internal airflow [0046] 10 External air knife [0047] 11 Blowing and heating handle [0048] 12 Means for attaching the accessory to the handle [0049] 13 Radial air outlet orifices of the mandrel [0050] 14 Frustoconical cylinder of the deflector [0051] 15 Opening surface supplying the deflector [0052] 16 Star-shaped attachment of the mandrel to the connector
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0053] The present disclosure discloses a hair styling accessory 1 for shaping hair, and in particular for forming curls. An example of said accessory is shown in FIGS. 1 to 8. In FIG. 9, the accessory is shown in combination with a handle 11 comprising a blowing and heating device.
[0054] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the accessory comprises an external mandrel 3, around which the user winds locks of hair to be curled. The mandrel has a frustoconical shape and is connected to a cylindrical connector 2 that can be removably or permanently attached to a blowing and heating device. Throughout the description of the present disclosure, the head of the mandrel 7 refers to the distal end of the latter with respect to the cylindrical connector, whereas the base of the mandrel 8 refers to its proximal end with respect to the cylindrical connector.
[0055] Said mandrel includes a set of air outlet orifices 13 uniformly distributed over its lateral surface, thereby allowing hot air to be blown through the surface of the mandrel. As illustrated in FIG. 6, an internal air flow 9 is generated by the heating and blowing device. The mandrel is connected to the cylindrical connector at its smallest diameter so that the shape of the frustoconical mandrel is inverted, starting from the connector of the accessory. Preferably, the ratio of the diameter of the distal side (head) of the mandrel to the diameter of the proximal side (base) of the mandrel is between 1.1 and 2, preferably between 1.3 and 1.7.
[0056] Preferably, the mandrel is connected to the cylindrical connector by a star-shaped attachment 16, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8.
[0057] The cylindrical connector 2 of the accessory of the present disclosure comprises an annular slot 6, which allows a second air flow 10, referred to as the external flow throughout the description of the present disclosure, to be blown around the mandrel. Said external flow forms an air knife, such as a sheath for protection against heat losses around the mandrel, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. In this way, it is possible to limit said heat losses from the mandrel when the latter is in contact with ambient air. By means of the protective air knife, energy savings can be achieved because less power is used for a same air outlet temperature. In the embodiment of the present disclosure as shown in the Figures, the annular slot is interrupted here and there by the star-shaped attachment lugs 16 of the mandrel on the cylindrical connector. The height of the annular slot is comprised between 0.5 and 2 mm, preferably between 0.7 and 1.3 mm.
[0058] A deflector 4 is located inside the mandrel 3, as shown in FIG. 6. The frustoconical deflector includes a surface structure with obstacles 5 allowing the internal air flow to be deflected axially toward the outside of the accessory, through air outlet orifices provided on the surface of the mandrel. The surface structure of the frustoconical deflector may be of any type of shape serving to create an obstacle deviating the air gradually and more homogeneously through the mandrel. The structure may be, for example, in the form of a spiral, of protuberances suitably placed on the deflector (FIG. 12), of specific rough spots, of shoulders (FIGS. 6 and 7), or others.
[0059] Preferably, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the frustoconical deflector comprises air deflecting obstacles on the surface of the shoulders 5, generated by an assembly of interconnected cylinders 14 with increasing diameters. Said shoulders, similar to staircase steps as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, form an obstacle to the air flow which is blown along a longitudinal direction inside the mandrel. In this way, the internal flow abuts against each shoulder and then emerges radially from the mandrel via the air outlet orifices. The internal flow is already divided into a set of sub-flows, distributed evenly over the entire length of the mandrel. In the case of said particular deflector, the shoulders are preferably perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the deflector. The deflector preferably comprises between 8 and 12 shoulders. The distance between said shoulders is preferably between 8 and 14 mm.
[0060] The mandrel and deflector diameters are smaller at their base than at their head. Preferably, the conicity of the deflector is greater than that of the mandrel, with a ratio of the conicity of the deflector to the conicity of the mandrel between 1.1 and 1.5, preferably between 1.2 and 1.3. The slope of the truncated cone of the mandrel is between 1 and 5 and preferably between 2 and 3, whereas the slope of the deflector is between 2 and 5, preferably between 2.5 and 4 with respect to the horizontal axis.
[0061] The combination of the two air flows, internal and external, allows on the one hand to achieve a rapid rise in the temperature of the mandrel and on the other hand a more homogeneous distribution of the flow over the entire length of the accessory. The graph in FIG. 10 compares the change in mandrel temperatures of an example of an accessory of the present disclosure (FIGS. 1-9) with those of a similar prior art accessory (FIG. 11), for the same heating power. Measurements are taken using temperature sensors positioned on the surface of each mandrel, at the base, center and head of the mandrels.
[0062] The prior art accessory is illustrated in FIG. 11. Same does not comprise an internal frustoconical deflector or a slot that generates a protective air knife. Moreover, the mandrel has a frustoconical shape with a diameter larger on the proximal side than on the distal side, unlike the mandrel of the present disclosure. As regards the accessory of the present disclosure used for the comparison, same is illustrated in FIGS. 1-9, namely the accessory comprising the deflector with the different shoulders.
[0063] For each point of comparison, the graph of FIG. 10 clearly shows a higher temperature for the accessory of the present disclosure, for identical heating power and air flow. Moreover, the graph shows that the accessory of the present disclosure is more rapidly brought to a higher temperature. After 15 seconds, the mandrel of the present disclosure is already at 89 degrees on the proximal side (47 degrees for the mandrel of the prior art), 93 degrees at the center (73 degrees for the mandrel of the prior art) and 38 degrees on the distal side (26 degrees for the mandrel of the prior art).
[0064] The mandrel of the accessory is generally made of conductive metal, preferably aluminum or copper, and preferably includes a ceramic layer for more uniform heat distribution.
[0065] The mandrel comprises, at its base, an opening 15 allowing the internal hot air flow 9 to pass through (see FIG. 8). The internal flow generated inside the mandrel is blown by the blowing device through the opening surface 15.
Preferably, the ratio of the surface area of the opening 15 supplying the deflector to the surface area of the annular slot is between 2 and 5, and more preferably between 2.5 and 3.5. The open surface area of the annular slot is preferably between 60 and 100 mm2, while the open surface area supplying the deflector is preferably between 200 and 300 mm2.
[0066] The total surface area of all the air outlet orifices 13 distributed over the mandrel is preferably between 1200 mm2 and 2000 mm2, preferably between 1500 mm2 and 1700 mm2. The ratio of the total surface area of all the air outlet orifices to the surface area of the annular slot is preferably between 15 and 25, preferably between 18 and 22.
[0067] The present disclosure is not limited to a hairstyling accessory, but may also extend to any type of blower brush comprising the accessory as described hereinabove.
[0068] The attachment can be removably attached to the blower brush, which then acts as a handle (see FIG. 9). The accessory can thus be part of a set of various accessories suitable for being attached to the same blower brush so as to provide different hairstyles. In such case, the accessory comprises locks 12 cooperating with locks provided on the brush (not shown), enabling the accessory to be reversibly locked on the brush.
[0069] The accessory can also be permanently attached to a blower brush, such as a fixed attachment.
