Hair Dryer for Professional and Domestic Use

My present invention relates to a hair dryer usable both domestically and professionally.

In principle, hair dryers usable by a professional in a beauty parlor and those suitable for use in the home do not differ very much from each other. The basic distinction, however, resides in the position of a handle which in the first instance must be easily gripped by a hairdresser standing behind a seated customer and in the second instance must be conveniently held by the person whose hair is being dried.

Conventional hair dryers commonly available have come to adopt a compromise solution with the handle disposed at right angles to the axis of the generally cylindrical body serving for the generation of a flow of hot air discharged by a nozzle at one end of the body. This solution does not fully satisfy the requirements of either a professional or a private user. The alternative of manufacturing two sets of hair dryers for household and for the shop is burdensome.

Thus, the object of my present invention is to provide a hair dryer which can be readily adjusted for either type of use.

I realize this object, in accordance with my present invention, by securing a base substantially midway to the periphery of the hair-dryer body and providing it with a contact surface substantially parallel to its axis. The handle, securable by fastening means to that base, has a coacting surface inclined to its centerline at an acute angle of less than 45.degree., this coacting surface coming to lie flat against the contact surface of the base. With the fastening means designed to enable relative rotation of the body and the handle about a line perpendicular to the two contacting surfaces, a handle is able to occupy two diametrically opposite positions in which it respectively slants toward the rear and the front of the body.

The base, advantageously, is generally saddle-shaped.

According to a more particular feature of my invention, the fastening means may comprise a bolt which is centered on the aforementioned perpendicular line and anchored to the base while traversing an end wall of the handle forming its coacting surface. With the aid of spring means engaging a free end of the bolt while bearing upon that end wall, the handle is firmly urged against the base.

I further prefer to provide the end wall of the handle with a generally semicircular cutout which is penetrated by a pin on the base of the body for limiting the relative rotation of the handle to 180.degree.. This cutout can also give passage to an electric supply line serving to energize the heating and blowing means inside the body.

The above and other features of my present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view of my improved hair dryer adjusted for professional use;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the hair dryer adjusted for domestic use;

FIG. 3 is an axonometric exploded view of the hair dryer, drawn to a larger scale; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail view of the hair dryer, illustrating the coupling between its base and its handle.

The hair dryer shown in the drawing, generally designated 1, has a substantially cylindrical body 2 which is centered on an axis 0 and contains conventional means for generating a hot-air stream exiting at a nozzle 18. Body 2 has a peripheral groove occupied by a slightly projecting ring 16 which enters a pair of recesses 17 on opposite edges of a saddle-shaped base 3 to locate it in a predetermined position relative to the body. Base 3 has a flat underside 3' serving as a contact surface confronting a coacting flat surface 4' at the upper end of a hollow handle 4 which is partly closed by a wall having a semi-circular cutout 10 bounded by diametrically opposite faces 10', 10". A central hub flanked by faces 10' and 10" is traversed, perpendicularly to surface 4', by a bolt 5 which also passes through a central hole of the bottom of base 3, with a knob 5' resting on that bottom. Bolt 5 is centered on an axis A (FIG. 4) which is inclined at an acute angle to the centerline B of handle 4 seen in FIG. 3. The lower end of bolt 5 is internally threaded and engaged by a screw 8 which, through the intermediary of a washer 7, compresses a coil spring 6 between that washer and the end wall of handle 4, thereby tightly holding surfaces 3' and 4' onto each other. That pressure, however, is not so strong as to prevent a relative rotation of handle 4 about the axis of bolt 5 between the positions of FIGS. 1 and 2.

A pin 9 eccentrically depending from base 3 projects into the cutout 10 to limit that rotation to an angle of 180.degree.. Surface 3' is provided with several depressions 12 selectively engageable, in the end positions and also in intermediate positions of rotation, by a detent 11 of the usual ball-check type serving to stabilize the handle with reference to the base. An electric supply line 13 with a non-illustrated plug extends into body 2 by way of cutout 10 and an eccentric aperture 14 in the bottom of base 3, that aperture so guiding the line 13 as to prevent its entanglement with bolt 5.

A trigger 19 on handle 4 serves for turning the hair dryer on and off.