Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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AUTOMATIC HAIR CURLER
This application is a division of application no. 2,995,481 filed in Canada on
August 19, 2016 upon the National Entry of PCT/US2016/047757.
Background
100011 With the development of society, hair styling has become a
lifestyle in the
pursuit of beauty of people, thus various hair styling tools have come into
being, such
as hair straighteners, hair curlers and the like. The hair curler is a hand-
held electronic
product used for curling hair, and main components thereof are a handle and a
heating
drum. In the design of the hair curler, a circuit panel is used for
controlling the
temperature, and the heating drum is made of a tourmaline ceramic panel, which
can
averagely disperse heat, circularly heat, improve hair protein structures to
generate
curls and protect the hair during the curling.
[0002] The existing hair curlers on the market can be divided into manual
hair curlers
and semiautomatic hair curlers based on ways of using them, and heating parts
of the
hair curlers are generally exposed at the outside, so scald is likely to occur
in use. If
the manual hair curlers are used for curling hair at home, it can be completed
only
with the help of others, so the operation is inconvenient. If the
semiautomatic hair
curlers are operated by the users themselves, they have to choose hair curlers
with
clips, because hair curlers without clips are difficult to operate by the
users
themselves, and thus having certain limitation in use.
Summary
[0003] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that
are further
described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to
identify
key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to
be used
as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
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100041 In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure relate
to an automatic hair
curler that includes a handle, a hair curling component installed on the
handle,
wherein the hair curling component includes a heating rod extending from the
handle,
a shell disposed at least partially around the heating rod, a rotating seat
that is sleeved
around the heating rod and rotatable relative to the heating rod, and a hair
curling
cavity formed between an inner surface of the rotating seat and an outer
surface of
the heating rod, the hair curling cavity having an upper end opening, and a
driving
device operatively connected to the rotating seat to rotate the rotating seat
relative to
the heating rod.
[0005] In another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure
relate to an automatic
hair curler that includes a handle, a heating rod extending from the handle, a
rotating
seat extending at least partially around a circumference of the heating rod
and
extending a height from the handle at least partially overlapping a height of
the
heating rod, and a hair curling cavity formed between an inner surface of the
rotating
seat and an outer surface of the heating rod.
[0006] In yet another aspect, embodiments of the present
disclosure relate to an
automatic hair curler that includes a handle, a heating rod extending from the
handle,
a rotating seat extending at least partially around the heating rod, and a
hair curling
cavity formed between an inner surface of the rotating seat and an outer
surface of
the heating rod, the hair curling cavity having an opening formed at an upper
end of
the rotating seat opposite the handle.
[0006a] Provided is a method of curling hair, the method includes providing an
automatic hair curler, the automatic hair curler having a handle, a heating
rod
extending from the handle, a rotating seat extending at least partially around
a
circumference of the heating rod, a hair curling cavity formed between an
inner
surface of the rotating seat and an outer surface of the heating rod, a
driving device
operatively connected to the rotating seat to rotate the rotating seat
relative to the
heating rod, and a shell mounted to the handle, the shell extending a height
greater
than the height of the heating rod from the handle, the shell comprising a
notch
extending from an upper end of the shell towards the handle, the notch being
in
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communication with an opening of the hair curling cavity. Hair is inserted
into the
opening of the hair curling cavity via the notch of the shell. The driving
device is
actuated to rotate the rotating seat relative to the heating rod, and the hair
may be
wound on the heating rod by rotation of the rotating seat.
[0006b] An automatic hair curler is provided, which includes a handle and a
hair curling
component installed on the handle. The hair curling component has a heating
rod
extending from the handle, a shell disposed at least partially around the
heating rod,
and a rotating seat sleeved around the heating rod and rotatable relative to
the heating
rod. The rotating seat includes a sleeving part disposed within a portion of
the handle and
a shifting piece disposed around the heating rod and extending from the
sleeving part, the
shifting piece comprising a plurality of projections convexly arranged on a
side wall of the
shifting piece. There is a hair curling cavity formed between an inner surface
of the shifting
piece of the rotating seat and an outer surface of the heating rod, the hair
curling cavity
having an upper end opening. A driving device is operatively connected to the
rotating seat
to rotate the rotating seat relative to the heating rod.
10006c1 The invention also pertains to an automatic hair curler that includes
a handle
and a hair curling component installed on the handle. The hair curling
component
has a heating rod extending from the handle, a shell disposed at least
partially around
the heating rod, and a rotating seat sleeved around the heating rod and
rotatable
relative to the heating rod. The rotating seat includes a sleeving part
disposed within
a portion of the handle, a shifting piece disposed around the heating rod and
extending from the sleeving part, an elastic piece gradually inclined outwards
from
an upper end of the shifting piece, and a shifting part located at a juncture
between
the shifting piece and the elastic piece. There is a hair curling cavity
formed between
an inner surface of the shifting piece of the rotating seat and an outer
surface of the
heating rod, the hair curling cavity having an upper end opening. A driving
device
is operatively connected to the rotating seat to rotate the rotating seat
relative to the
heating rod.
[0007] Other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following
description
and the appended claims.
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Brief Description of the Drawings
[0008] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hair curler according to embodiments
of the
present disclosure;
[0009] Fig. 2 is a cross sectional schematic diagram of a hair curler
according to
embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0010] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a rotating seat according to
embodiments of
the present disclosure;
[0011] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a rotating seat according to
embodiments of
the present disclosure.
[0012] Reference signs: 10: handle, 20: shell, 21: notch, 30: heating rod,
31: cover
body, 40: rotating seat, 41: shifting part, 41': shifting part, 42:
positioning elastic part,
43: sleeving part, 44: shifting piece, 45: elastic piece, 51: motor, 52:
mounting shaft,
53: gear, 54: bearing and 60: hair curling cavity.
Detailed Description
[0013] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to hair
styling tools,
and particular embodiments relate to an automatic hair curler.
[0014] Automatic hair curlers according to embodiments of the present
disclosure,
which can achieve automatic hair curling, may improve hair curling efficiency
while
also being simple to operate.
[0015] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, an automatic hair
curler
may include a handle, a hair curling component installed on the handle. The
hair
curling component may include a shell arranged on the handle, a heating rod
arranged
on the handle and a rotating seat that is sleeved at the outside of the
heating rod and
rotatable relative to the heating rod. A hair curling cavity with an upper end
opening
may be formed between an inner surface of the rotating seat and an outer
surface of
the heating rod. A notch extending downwards from a top end face of the shell
for
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placing hair may be formed at an upper end of the shell, where the notch may
be
communicated with the opening of the hair curling cavity. A shifting part for
shifting
the hair to wind the hair on the heating rod when the rotating seat rotates
may be
arranged on the rotating seat. The automatic hair curler may also include a
driving
device used for driving the rotating seat to rotate relative to the heating
rod. When
hair is inserted into a hair curling cavity of the automatic hair curler and
the driving
device drives the rotating seat, one or more features on the rotating seat
(e.g., a
shifting part or a positioning elastic part) may wind the hair around the
heating rod
as the heating rod is heated, thereby automatically curling the inserted hair.
[0016] The driving device may include a motor installed on the handle, a
mounting
shaft fixedly connected with the handle, a bearing for pivoting the rotating
seat on
the mounting shaft and a gear that is fixed on the rotating seat and is
synchronously
coupled with a rotating shaft of the motor. The heating rod may be installed
at an
upper end of the mounting shaft.
[0017] A rotating seat may include a sleeving part that is sleeved on an
outer ring of
the bearing and fixedly connected with the outer ring of the bearing and a
shifting
piece distributed on the periphery of the sleeving part, where the hair
curling cavity
may be located between an inner surface of the shifting piece and the outer
surface
of the heating rod.
[0018] A shifting part may be composed of projections that are convexly
arranged on
a side wall of the shifting piece, and a positioning elastic part may be
arranged on an
inner wall of the shifting piece.
[0019] An elastic piece gradually inclined outwards from bottom to top may be
arranged at an upper end of the shifting piece, and the shifting part may be
located at
a juncture of the shifting piece and the elastic piece.
[0020] The automatic hair curler may further include a cover body installed at
a top
end of the heating rod, where an outer surface of the cover body is an arc
surface.
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[0021] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, hair may be put in
a notch
formed in the shell of an automatic hair curler, and since the notch is
communicated
with the opening of the hair curling cavity, the hair put in the notch can
enter the hair
curling cavity, and the shifting part can wind the hair on the heating rod
during
rotation of the rotating seat to achieve automatic hair curling in a simple
operation.
In addition, due to the arrangement of the shell and the rotating seat, the
heating rod
may be effectively prevented from scalding a user, and thus may be safer to
use when
compared with prior art hair curlers.
[0022] Specific embodiments according to the present disclosure will be
further
described below in combination with the drawings.
[0023] An automatic hair curler, as shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 4, may include
a handle 10,
a hair curling component installed on the handle 10 and a driving device. When
in
use, under the action of the driving device, the hair curling component starts
working
to accomplish a hair curling process, and since a user holds the handle 10,
scalding
may be avoided.
[0024] The hair curling component may include a shell 20, a heating rod 30 and
a
rotating seat 40. The shell 20 may extend at least partially around (and up to
entirely
around) the circumference of the heating rod 30, and may extend a height
axially
overlapping the entire height of the heating rod 30. The shell 20 may be
radially
spaced from the heating rod 30, such that hair may be inserted between the
shell 20
and the heating rod 30. In some embodiments, the rotating seat 40 may be
disposed
between the heating rod 30 and the shell 20, wherein the heating rod 30,
rotating seat
40 and shell 20 may be radially spaced apart from each other, and wherein hair
may
be inserted between the heating rod 30 and the rotating seat 40. The rotating
seat 40
may extend at least partially around a circumference of the heating rod 30 and
may
extend a height from the handle 10 that at least partially overlaps the
heating rod 30.
[0025] Fig. 1 shows a partial sectional view of an automatic hair curler
according to
embodiments of the present disclosure, where a portion of the shell 20 is
sectioned
to show the internal features, including the heating rod 30 and the rotating
seat 40.
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As shown, a shifting part 41 for shifting hair may be arranged on the rotating
seat 40.
Both of the heating rod 30 and the shell 20 are fixed on the handle 10, while
the
rotating seat 40 is sleeved around the outside of the heating rod 30 and can
rotate
relative to the heating rod 30 under the drive of the driving device.
Meanwhile, a
hair curling cavity 60 used for curling the hair can be formed between an
outer
surface of the heating rod 30 and an inner surface of the rotating seat 40,
where an
upper end of the hair curling cavity 60 is open. In addition, a notch 21
communicated
with the hair curling cavity 60 is formed on the shell 20, where the notch 21
extends
from a top end face of the shell 20 downwards. In this way, during use by the
user,
the hair may be put in the hair curling cavity 60 from the notch 21, and under
the
drive of the driving device, the rotating seat 40 starts rotating. Since both
of the shell
20 and a mounting shaft 52 are fixed relative to the handle 10, a shifting
part 41
arranged on the rotating seat 40 can wind the hair on the heating rod 30 with
the
rotation of the rotating seat 40, where a curling effect of the hair wound on
the heating
rod 30 can be achieved in a continuous heating process of the heating rod 30.
Furthermore, due to the arrangement of the shell 20 and the rotating seat 40,
the user
can be effectively isolated from a heat source of the heating rod 30 to avoid
scalding
the user by the heating rod 30 in a hair curling process, thus being safer to
use.
[0026] Fig. 2 shows a cross sectional view of the hair curler shown in
Fig. 1. As shown
in Fig. 2, a driving device of the hair curler may include a motor 51, the
mounting
shaft 52, a bearing 54 and a gear 53. The motor 51 may be installed on the
handle
10, and the gear 53 may be fixedly connected with the rotating seat 40, where
the
gear 53 is synchronously coupled with a rotating shaft of the motor 51. In
addition,
the mounting shaft 52 may be fixed to the handle 10, the heating rod 30 may be
fixed
at the upper end of the mounting shaft 52, and the rotating seat 40 may be
pivoted on
the mounting shaft 52 by the bearing 54. In this way, under the drive of the
motor
51, the gear 53 starts rotating, and the rotating seat 40 can rotate under the
action of
the gear 53 and the bearing 54, and the rotating seat 40 can stably rotate
relative to
the heating rod 30.
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[0027] As shown in Fig. 3, a rotating seat 40 may include a sleeving part 43
and a
shifting piece 44, where the shifting piece 44 is distributed on the periphery
of the
sleeving part 43 and extends outwardly from the sleeving part 43. The sleeving
part
43 may be sleeved on an outer ring of the bearing 54 and fixedly connected
with the
outer ring of the bearing 54. A hair curling cavity 60 can be formed by the
inner
surface of the shifting piece 44 and the outer surface of the heating rod 30
in
cooperation, so the entire structure is more stable.
[0028] The shifting piece 44 may extend at least partially around a
circumference of
sleeving part 43 (such that the shifting piece may extend at least partially
around an
assembled heating rod). For example, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 4,
two shifting pieces 44 may be spaced apart around the circumference of the
sleeving
part 43, thereby extending less than the entire circumference of the sleeving
part 43.
In some embodiments, one or more shifting pieces may extend the entire
circumference around the sleeving part or less than the entire circumference
of the
sleeving part. Further, the shifting piece 44 may include at least one
shifting part 41,
where shifting parts 41 may be formed of projections that are convexly
arranged as
part of a side wall of the shifting piece 44. Shifting parts 41 may help
shifting or
otherwise maneuvering of hair inserted into the automatic hair curler.
Meanwhile, a
positioning elastic part 42 may be arranged on an inner wall of the shifting
piece 44,
so the hair can be wound on the heating rod 30 more smoothly in a hair curling
process, and accordingly, the hair curling effect may be better. The
positioning
elastic part 42 may extend inwardly from the side wall of the shifting piece
44, such
that the positioning elastic part 42 may extend into the hair curling cavity
60 formed
between the inner surface of the shifting piece 44 and the outer surface of
the heating
rod 30.
[0029] In some embodiments, a rotating seat may adopt the structure as shown
in Fig.
4, where an elastic piece 45 may be arranged at an upper end of the shifting
piece 44.
The elastic piece 45 may gradually incline outwards from the upper end of the
shifting piece 44, inclining in a direction from a bottom of the elastic piece
to a top
of the elastic piece. The elastic piece 45 may have certain flexibility, and
thus may
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shake during rotation of the rotating seat 40 and may also play a certain
combing
function on the hair, so as achieve the effect of winding the hair on the
heating rod
30 more smoothly. The shifting part 41' may be located at a juncture of the
shifting
piece 44 and the elastic piece 45. The positioning elastic part and the
elastic piece
described above may be made of a silica gel material or such elastic materials
as
rubber blocks or plastic blocks, etc.
[0030] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, an automatic
hair
curler may include a handle, a heating rod extending from the handle, a
rotating seat
extending at least partially around the heating rod, a hair curling cavity
formed
between an inner surface of the rotating seat and an outer surface of the
heating rod,
a motor installed in the handle, a mounting shaft fixedly connected to the
handle, and
a gear fixed on the rotating seat and synchronously coupled with a rotating
shaft of
the motor, wherein the heating rod is installed at an upper end of the
mounting shaft.
A sleeving part of the rotating seat may be sleeved around at least a partial
axial
length of the mounting shaft, such that the sleeving part may be axially
retained to
the handle of the automatic hair curler and rotatable around the mounting
shaft. For
example, the hair curler shown in Fig. 2 includes a mounting shaft 52 fixed to
the
handle and a heating rod 30 fixed to the mounting shaft 52. A rotating seat 40
is
disposed around at least a portion of the heating rod 30 and rotatably
retained to the
handle. Particularly, a sleeving part of the rotating seat 40 may be sleeved
around at
least a partial axial length of the mounting shaft 52 and rotatable around the
mounting
shaft 52 by gear 53 when driven by the motor 51. In some embodiments, the
diameter
of the heating rod 30 may be greater than the diameter of the mounting shaft
52,
whereby the diameter of the heating rod may act to axially retain the sleeving
part of
the rotating seat 40. In some embodiments, one or more gears 53 may act to
axially
retain the sleeving part of the rotating seat 40 to the handle.
[0031] In some embodiments, such as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a bearing 54 may
be
disposed between a mounting shaft 52 and a sleeving part 43 of a rotating seat
40,
where the bearing 54 may be fixed to either the mounting shaft 52 or the
sleeving
part 43. In some embodiments, an outer surface of a mounting shaft and/or an
inner
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surface of a sleeving part may be coated with a bearing material, such as a
reduced
friction material, where the coated surface may act as the bearing between the
mounting shaft and the sleeving part of a rotating seat.
[0032] As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, an automatic hair curler may further include
a cover
body 31 installed at a top end of the heating rod 30. An outer surface of the
cover
body 31 may be an arc surface, which may provide a better guide function for
the
hair in the hair curling process.
[0033] While the present disclosure has been described with
respect to a limited
number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this
disclosure,
will appreciate that other embodiments may be devised which do not depart from
the
scope of the disclosure as described herein. Accordingly, the scope of the
disclosure
should be limited only by the attached claims.
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