Hair Styling Appliance Plenum and Air Deflector Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hair styling appliances lack efficient mechanisms for consistently heating and styling hair, particularly in achieving uniform airflow and temperature distribution, which can result in uneven styling and user discomfort.
Innovation Solution
A hair styling appliance design featuring reciprocally moving arms with integrated plenums and air deflectors, where the plenums have a tapered cross-sectional area and S-shaped airflow paths to ensure consistent airflow and heating, and air deflectors are strategically positioned to direct airflow away from the hair, enhancing user comfort and styling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a conventional air outlet is used in hair styling appliances, then the device structure is simple, but the airflow distribution is uneven resulting in inconsistent heating and styling quality
Solution Approach 1:
The air outlet is segmented into multiple individual outlets distributed along the arm, each feeding air directly to specific regions. This segmentation ensures uniform airflow distribution across the entire hair styling zone, eliminating the uneven heating and styling problems of conventional single outlet designs.
Solution Approach 2:
A plenum chamber is introduced as an intermediary component between the fan unit and the air outlets. The plenum receives air from the fan and distributes it uniformly through multiple outlets, acting as a mediator that transforms the simple fan-air outlet connection into a complex but controlled multi-outlet system with uniform distribution.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If air is blown directly onto the hair, then heating is effective, but user comfort is reduced due to direct air contact
Solution Approach 1:
Air deflectors are positioned strategically at specific locations along the arm to redirect airflow. These deflectors create localized airflow patterns that direct air away from direct user contact zones while maintaining effective heating of the hair through indirect airflow paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The direct airflow that would normally cause user discomfort is converted into a benefit by using air deflectors to redirect this airflow. The same air that could be uncomfortable when direct is redirected to flow along the arm and reach the hair indirectly, maintaining heating efficiency while eliminating discomfort.
3Speed
If the air outlet is positioned close to the hair entry point, then airflow reaches hair quickly, but temperature distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The air outlet is divided into multiple segments distributed along the arm length. This allows air to be delivered to different hair regions simultaneously at optimal speeds while maintaining uniform temperature distribution across the entire styling zone, preventing the temperature unevenness that occurs with single-point outlets.
Solution Approach 2:
The air outlet arrangement transitions from a single-point (0D) or linear (1D) configuration to a distributed two-dimensional array of outlets along the arm. This dimensional change allows airflow to reach hair quickly while distributing temperature uniformly across the broader styling area.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The appliance achieves uniform heating and styling by ensuring consistent airflow and temperature distribution, improving user comfort and the quality of hair styling by reducing temperature and enhancing airflow entrainment.
Implementation Method 1
a plenum (40, 44) within at least one of the first arm (12) and the second arm (14), the plenum comprising an air inlet (42, 46) for receiving airflow from an air outlet of a fan unit and an air outlet (48, 50) for emitting airflow towards hair within the region
Implementation Method 2
The hair styling appliance may comprise at least one heating element positioned to heat the airflow before it is emitted by the air outlet
Implementation Method 3
Each projection may comprise a planate member formed from a resiliently deformable material
Data Source
AI summary
A hair styling appliance has first and second arms coupled together for reciprocal movement towards and away from each other, and arranged to receive hair within a region between each other. A plenum is disposed within at least one of the first arm and the second arm, the plenum including an air inlet for receiving airflow from a fan unit and an air outlet for emitting airflow towards hair within the region. A hair clamp including a pair of clamping members for gripping hair therebetween, includes at least one flexible projection for guiding hair.