Hair dryer with mist feature

Abstract

A hand-held hair dryer with mist feature characterized by a main body portion having an elongated handgrip portion projecting therefrom, an air inlet and air outlet means, an electric motor powered fan adjacent the air inlet and a heater element between the fan and air outlet, comb and brush holder means adjacent the air outlet means, a pump-reservoir body portion releasably mounted on the main body portion adjacent the handgrip portion and having a spray mist nozzle adjacent the air outlet means, and a trigger pivotally mounted on the handgrip portion for convenient actuation of the pump by a person holding the handgrip portion while styling his or her hair.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Our present invention pertains to a hand held hair dryer having a spray mist feature for convenient spot wet styling.

2. Description of the Prior Art

While hand held hair dryers are known to be old in the art, applicants are unaware of any prior art patents which disclose a hand held hair dryer having a mist spray attachment which is releasably attachable by hook-and-notch latch means to the dryer housing in a manner providing an attractive personal care product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with a hair dryer having a mist feature whereby spot wet styling is readily available to a person styling his or her hair. With the present trend in hairstyles being toward longer hair on both men and women, a personal care product of this type is in great demand. The hair dryer with mist feature of the present invention provides a hair styler which is extremely attractive and is well adapted for its stated purpose. As will be described in greater detail herein, this hair styler comprises a housing with a handle or handgrip portion. Mounted within the housing are an electric motor powered fan which is disposed adjacent an air inlet and a heater assembly which is disposed between the fan and an air outlet. A power cord is provided for energizing the motor and the heater assembly and a suitable heat selection switch is provided. Means are provided adjacent the heated air outlet of the housing for releasably mounting a fine or course comb or a brush depending on the needs of the particular hair style desired. Releasably mounted on the housing is a pump-reservoir body portion which completes the overall pleasing design of this hair styler and which includes a mist spray nozzle which is disposed adjacent the heated air outlet. A pump actuating lever is pivotably mounted on the handle portion with a finger-engageable portion thereof protruding from the underside of the handle portion whereby to facilitate convenient actuation of the spray mist pump during a hair styling operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and novel hair dryer having a mist feature.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a hair dryer which is characterized by hook-and-notch latch means for releasably attaching a body portion to the main housing of the hair dryer.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a hair dryer with mist feature wherein, as a safety feature, a reservoir filler cap on the pump-reservoir body portion is accessible for filling the reservoir only when the pump-reservoir body portion is detached from the main housing of the hair dryer.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a hair dryer wherein the housing includes an air inlet and a heated air outlet, a motor driven fan adjacent the air inlet and a heater assembly disposed between the fan and the air outlet, clip means adjacent the air outlet for releasably holding a comb or brush, and a pivotably mounted finger-engageable lever, and wherein the pump-reservoir unit releasably mounted on the main housing includes a pump adapted to be actuated by the lever, a fluid reservoir and a spray mist discharge nozzle disposed adjacent the heated air outlet.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hair dryer with mist feature embodying our invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken through the pump-reservoir body portion and adjacent portions of the main hair dryer housing;

FIG. 3 is a partially broken sectional view taken generally along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudual vertical sectional view taken through the hair dryer with mist feature of FIG. 1 with the pump-reservoir body portion being shown in side elevation except for a broken-away portion which is shown in vertical section;

FIG. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken generally along line 5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the pump-reservoir body portion;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the latching bar which is partially shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5; and

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of the electrical circuit of the hair dryer with mist feature shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings in which like parts are designated by like numerals in the various views, there is shown in FIG. 1 a perspective view of the hair dryer with mist feature, designated generally by the reference numeral 10, which embodies our invention. As is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the hair dryer with mist feature 10 of the present invention is characterized by two releasably interconnected portions including a main housing 12 and a second housing or pump-reservoir body portion 14.

The housing 12 is formed of a pair of front and rear side shells 16 and 18 which are secured together along a longitudinal vertical plane, as best illustrated in FIG. 5, by a series of screw fasteners 20 in a manner well known in the art. The housing 12 as viewed in side elevation and as shown in FIG. 1 is generally rectangular with a top wall 22, front and rear side walls 24 and 25, and front and rear end walls 26 and 27. The bottom is left open to define a heated air outlet 28. A separate grill member 30 is suitably mounted in the open bottom of the housing 12 to prevent a person's fingers from coming into contact with a heater assembly 32 which is mounted within the housing 12 adjacent the air outlet 28. As viewed in end elevation, as shown in FIG. 5, the upper portion of the housing 12 is rounded with the lower portion of the front and rear side walls 24 and 25 converging slightly in a downward direction.

The top wall 22 and the upper curved or rounded portions of the front and rear side walls 24 and 25 are extended rearwardly of the rear end wall 27 whereby to define a handle or handgrip portion 34 which may be described as projecting rearwardly in a longitudinal direction from the rear end wall 27. The portions of the front and rear side shells 16 and 18 defining the handle 34 are characterized by bottom walls which provide a bottom wall or underside 36 of the handle 34, which bottom wall 36 generally meets the rear end wall 27 at a right angle, as shown at 37 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the second housing or pump-reservoir body portion 14 providing the mist feature of the hair dryer 10 is removably attachable to the housing 12 in the right angle corner 37 defined by the rear end wall 27 and the adjacent portion of the underside 36 of the handle 34. The external configuration of the pump-reservoir body portion 14 is gracefully curved whereby the outer surfaces thereof blend into the adjacent outer surfaces of the housing 12 whereby to provide the very pleasing appearance which is evident in FIG. 1.

The grill member 30 is provided with a pair of spring clips 38 which permit a variety of comb and brush attachments, such as the comb 39 shown in broken line in FIG. 5, to be attached to the hair dryer 10 in alignment with the heated air outlet 28 as may be required by different hair styling techniques.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 8, the internal components of the hair dryer 10 comprise a small 12 volt D.C. motor 40 which is mounted in the handle portion 34 and a cross-flow tangential fan 42 of a well known type which is disposed in the upper portion of the housing 12 above the heated air outlet 28. One end of the fan 42 is drivingly supported by a drive shaft 43 of the motor 40 with the other end of the fan 42 being supported on a stub shaft 44 which is mounted in a suitable bearing 46. The upper portion of the rear side wall 25 is provided with a series of vertical slots 48 (FIG. 4) which define an air inlet 49 adjacent the fan 42.

The heater assembly 32, which is mounted between the fan 42 and the air outlet 28, is characterized by a pair of cards 50 (only one of which is visible in FIG. 4) which are wound with heating elements 51a, b and c, and a thermostat 52. The heater assembly 32 is shielded and spaced from the adjacent front and rear side walls 24 and 25 of the housing 12 in a suitable manner.

A power cord 54 enters the housing 12 through the end of the handle 34 and is connected through a switch 56 and a rectifier 58 to the motor 40 and the heater assembly 32 by means of suitable leads or wires. As shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 8, the thermostat 52 is connected to one side of the power supply with the switch 56 being connected to the other side. The switch 56 is a three-position switch having "Off," "Low Heat" and "High Heat" positions. As is evident from the circuit diagram of FIG. 8, the motor 40 in this embodiment operates at the same speed in either the "Low Heat" or "High Heat" positions of the switch 56. The switch 56 has a thumb-engageable button 57 which protrudes upwardly through a suitable slot 60 formed in the top wall 22 of the handle 34 for convenient slidable actuation by a person holding the hair dryer 10.

The second housing or pump-resevoir body portion 14 is characterized by front and rear side walls 62 and 63, a front end wall 64 having a forwardly raised surface 66, a top wall 68, a rear end wall 70 which is curved and inclined in a downward direction toward the front end wall 64, and a bottom wall 72 which is provided with a recess 74 adapted to receive a spray nozzle 76. The interior of the body portion 14 comprises a fluid reservoir 78 which may be filled through a filler port 80 formed in the top wall 68. The port 80 is normally closed by a cap 82 which has an arm portion 83 secured to the top wall 68 so that the cap 82 will not be accidentally misplaced.

As will be evident hereinafter, the filler cap 82 may be removed for refilling the reservoir 78 only when the pump-reservoir body portion 14 is disassembled from the housing 12, as a safety feature. As this hair dryer 10 is an electrical device which is plugged into the home power supply while in use, it is of great importance that a person using the hair dryer for drying and styling his or her hair not be able to refill the reservoir by holding the whole unit under a household water tap while same is plugged in.

A tubular gland 84 formed in the top wall 68 of the body portion 14 projects both inwardly and outwardly of the top wall 68. An end wall 86 of the spray nozzle recess 74 provided with a tubular boss 88 which extends into the reservoir 78 with the bore 89 thereof being axially aligned with the tubular gland 84. A stem portion 90 of the spray nozzle 76 is press-fitted in one end of the bore 89. A generally cylindrical pump housing 92 has an open end telescopically secured on the inwardly projecting portion of the tubular gland 84 whereby to define a pump chamber 93 and a tubular stem end 94 press-fitted in the other end of the bore 89 whereby to define an outlet from the pump chamber 93 to the spray nozzle 76.

a piston 96 in the pump chamber 93 is mounted on the end of a piston rod 98 which extends outwardly of the body portion 14 through the tubular gland 84 formed in the top wall 68 thereof. A sealing member 100 is provided between the piston rod 98 and the tubular gland 84 and a return spring 102 seated between a pair of spring retainers 103 and 104 serves to bias the piston rod 98 toward its outermost position.

The pump housing 92 is provided with an inlet port 106 having an inlet tube 108 connected thereto with a check valve 110 and a screen 112 being provided at the other end of the inlet tube 108 to filter fluid drawn into the pump chamber 93 from the reservoir 78. A pressure relief check valve 114 is also provided in the top wall 68 of the body portion 14.

Projecting upwardly from the periphery of the top wall 68 of the body portion 14 and spaced slightly inwardly of the side and rear outer surfaces thereof is an upstanding peripheral flange formation 116.

The front and rear side portions of the flange formation 116 are provided with aligned notches 118 and 119 for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

The rear end wall 27 of the housing 12 is provided with a shallow recess 120 which is adapted to receive the forwardly raised front surface portion 66 of the pump-reservoir body portion 14 and the portion of the underside 36 of the handle 34 adjacent the rear end wall 27 is provided with a shallow recess 122 which is adapted to receive the upstanding flange formation 116 disposed at the upper end of the pump-reservoir body portion 14. Thus, when the pump-reservoir body portion 14 is positioned in the right angle 37 defined by the rear end wall 27 and the underside 36 of the handle 34, the front and rear side walls 62 and 63 and the curved rear wall 70 of the body portion 14 blend evenly into the adjacent surfaces of the housing 12 to provide a hair dryer having a very pleasing appearance, as evidenced by FIG. 1. Latch means to be further described hereinafter are provided for releasably retaining the pump-reservoir body portion or second housing 14 in operable position against the rear end wall 27 of the housing 12 and against the underside 36 of the handle 34.

It is noted that when the pump-reservoir body portion 14 is attached to the housing 12, the filler port cap 82 is not exposed and may not be opened to refill the reservoir, 78. In addition, an integral transverse depending rib 124 is provided in the shallow recess 122, which rib 124 is seated against the filler port cap 82, as is best illustrated in FIG. 2, whereby to prevent accidental loosening of same and the possible leakage of fluid from the reservoir 78 into the electrical circuitry of the hair dryer 10. The notches 118 and 119 in the upstanding flange formation 116 accomodate the rib 124 and also aid in positioning the pump-reservoir body portion 14 relative to the housing 12.

As is best illustrated in FIG. 2, an opening 126 is provided in the shallow recess 122 to accomodate the piston rod 98 whereby same is permitted to project generally upwardly into the interior of the handle 34. A bell-crank type lever 128 is pivotally mounted in an opening 130 provided in the underside 36 of the handle 34 on a suitably supported pivot pin 132. The lever 128 is characterized by a finger-engageable portion 134 which protrudes from the underside 36 of the handle 34 for convenient actuation by one holding the hair dryer 10 while drying and styling his or her hair. The lever 128 is further characterized by an actuating portion 136 which is disposed within the handle 34 and which is provided with an enlarged end portion 137 which is engageable with the end of the piston rod 98. Thus, when the finger-engageable portion 134 of the lever 128 is actuated, the piston 96 is forced inwardly of the pump chamber 93 by engagement of the actuating portion 136 of the lever 128 with the end of the piston rod 98 whereby a spray of mist is discharged from the spray nozzle 76. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, the spray nozzle 76 is disposed adjacent the heated air outlet 28 whereby the spray mist is provided adjacent the specific portion of a person's hair being styled.

The latch means for releasably attaching the pump-reservoir body portion or second housing 14 to the housing 12 is characterized by a hook-and-notch arrangement wherein a vertically disposed recessed and undercut notch 138 is formed in the front surface 66 of the pump-reservoir body portion 14 in a manner such that a downwardly extending latch member 140 is provided at the upper end of the notch 138. An upwardly directed hook member 142 engageable with the latch member 140 (as illustrated in FIG. 2) is formed on a latching bar 144 which is disposed in the housing 12 for vertical sliding movement adjacent the inner surface of the rear end wall 27. Suitable guide structure is provided in the housing 12 for guiding the vertical sliding movement of the latching bar 144.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 7, the latching bar 144 is characterized by a generally rectangular body portion 146 which is disposed generally parallel to the rear end wall 27 with the integral hook member 142 projecting rearwardly from the lower edge thereof and through a vertically extending slot 148 formed in the rear end wall 27 for latching engagement with the latch member 140 provided on the pump-reservoir body portion 14. To facilitate actuation of the latching bar 144, an integral knurled fingerengageable button 150 projects from an upper portion of the latching bar 144 through a vertical slot 152 formed in the rear side wall 25 of the housing 12. The button 150 may be conveniently actuated by anyone using the hair dryer 10 to assemble or disassemble the pump-reservoir body portion 14 to or from the housing 12. To bias the latching bar 144 upwardly whereby to resiliently retain the hook member 142 in latching engagement with the latch member 140, a spring-engageable abutment 154 is integrally formed on the latching bar 144 and the free end of a leaf spring 156, whose opposite end is sedurely anchored in the housing 12, as shown at 158 in FIG. 7, is resiliently engageable with the underside of the abutment 154.

To attach the pump-reservoir body portion 14 to the housing 12, the button 150 is moved downwardly against the force of the spring 156 and the body portion 14 is positioned, as described herein, against the rear end wall 27 after which the button 150 is released whereupon the latching bar 144 is urged upwardly by the spring 156 with the hook member 142 moving upwardly into latching engagement with the latch member 140 on the body portion or second housing 14. To detach the pump-reservoir body portion 14 from the housing 12, the button 150 is moved downwardly to disengage the hook member 142 from the latch member 140 and the body portion 14 if removed.

To use the hair dryer 10 for wet styling, the pump-reservoir body portion 14 is first detached from the housing 12 and the reservoir 78 is filled after which the body portion 14 is latched to the housing 12 in the manner described herein. The power cord 54 is then plugged into an electrical outlet and the hair dryer 10 is gripped by the handle 34. The switch button 57 may be moved by the thumb into one of the two "heat" positions and when a spray mist is desired the lever portion 134 is merely squeezed by the finger. It is evident that with this personal care appliance, wet styling may be accomplished without the necessity of putting down the styler, turning on a faucet, and applying water directly to the hair.

While there has been shown and described a single embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects and it is, therefore, contemplated in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by letters patent of the United States is:

1. In a hair styling appliance of the type having a housing including a hand grip portion, a motor actuated fan mounted in said housing, air inlet and air outlet means formed in said housing, and heater means mounted in said housing between said fan and said air outlet means, a spray mist attachment comprising a body portion having a reservoir defined therein and adapted to be releasably attachable to an outer surface of said housing, a piston pump mounted in said body portion and having an inlet in communication with said reservoir, a spray nozzle mounted in said body portion in communication with the outlet of said pump and positioned adjacent said air outlet means, latch means for releasably and positively attaching said body portion to said housing, and a finger actuated lever pivotally mounted on said housing for actuating said piston pump.

2. In the hair styling appliance of claim 1, a capped port in said body portion for filling said reservoir with said capped filler port being located in a position such that it is accessible for filling the reservoir only when said body portion is detached from said housing.

3. The hair styling appliance of claim 1 wherein the outer configuration of said body portion blends into the contiguous external configuration of said housing when said body portion is attached to said housing.

4. A hair dryer with mist feature comprising a generally rectangular first housing having a top wall, side walls, and front and rear end walls, an integral handle extending rearwardly from the upper portion of said rear end wall with the top surface thereof defining a continuation of said top wall of said first housing and with the underside of said handle being spaced above the bottom edges of said side walls and said front and rear end walls, air inlet means provided in one of said side walls adjacent said top wall, air outlet means defined by an open bottom of said first housing, a motor actuated fan disposed in said first housing adjacent said air inlet means, heater means disposed in said first housing between said fan and said air outlet means, a second housing removably mounted on said rear end wall and disposed against a portion of the underside of said handle, said second housing defining a fluid reservoir and having a pump and spray nozzle mounted therein with said spray nozzle being disposed adjacent said air outlet and being in communication with an outlet of said pump, manually controlled positively acting latch means on said first housing for removably mounting said second housing on said rear end wall of said first housing, and a lever pivotably mounted on said handle for actuating said pump.

5. The hair dryer with mist feature of claim 4 wherein said portion of the underside of said handle against which said second housing is disposed is characterized by a shallow recess and wherein the upper portion of said second housing is characterized by a peripheral flange adapted to be received in said shallow recess, and wherein said rear end wall of said housing is characterized by a shallow recess and wherein a front surface of said second housing is characterized by a forwardly raised portion adapted to be received in said rear wall recess, whereby to aid in properly positioning said second housing relative to said dryer housing prior to engagement of said latch means.

6. The hair dryer with mist feature of claim 4 wherein said latch means comprises a latch member which is mounted in said housing for vertical sliding movement and which is characterized by a hook portion which projects rearwardly through an opening provided in said rear end wall of said housing and by a finger-engageable portion which projects through a slot formed in one of said side walls of said housing, a vertically extending recessed notch formed in said front surface of said second housing for engagement by said hook portion of said latch member when said latch member is in its uppermost position, and spring means biasing said latch member toward its uppermost position.

7. A hair dryer with mist feature comprising a housing having a handle portion, air inlet means and air outlet means in said housing, an electric motor mounted in said housing and having a fan operable thereby disposed adjacent said air inlet means, heater means mounted in said housing between said fan and said air outlet means, means for energizing said motor and said heater means, a pump reservoir body portion removably mounted on an outer surface of said housing and having a piston pump mounted therein with a piston rod thereof projecting into said housing, a spray nozzle mounted in said pump-reservoir body portion and adjacent said air outlet means, a capped filler port formed in said pump-reservoir body portion in a location whereby same is accessible for filling said reservoir only when said pump-reservoir body portion is removed from said housing, said piston pump having an inlet in communication with said reservoir and an outlet in communication with said spray nozzle, and a lever member pivotably mounted in said housing and having an actuating portion engageable with said projecting portion of said piston rod and a finger actuating portion projecting from the underside of said handle portion.

8. The hair dryer with mist feature of claim 7 having a manually controlled latch member slidable in said housing and having a rearwardly projecting hook portion engageable with notch means formed in said pump-reservoir body portion for latching said body portion to said housing.