Handle-less Hair Dryer with Adjustable Strap

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional hand-held hair dryers with handles lead to awkward hand and body positions, causing discomfort and health issues such as arthritis, carpal tunnel, muscle spasms, and nerve damage due to unnatural gripping and holding.

Innovation Solution

A handle-less hair dryer with an adjustable strap and ergonomic design, allowing users to hold the device by its housing without gripping, featuring a rotating strap and strategically placed buttons for easy access, and the option to be cordless with a rechargeable battery.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a handle is added to the hair dryer for easy holding, then ease of operation is improved, but it causes awkward hand and body positions leading to health issues

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of holdingVSAvoidhealth issues from awkward positioning

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the handle entirely from the hair dryer design. The housing is shaped to be held directly in the hand without requiring a separate handle component, thus extracting the harmful element (handle causing awkward positioning) while maintaining the essential function of holding the device.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of adding a handle to facilitate holding (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by removing the handle and designing the housing itself to be ergonomically shaped for direct hand holding. This reversal eliminates the problem of handles causing awkward positions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Ease of manufacture

If the hair dryer is designed with a fixed grip structure, then manufacturing is simplified, but it cannot be used comfortably with either hand

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructural simplicityVSAvoidbidirectional usability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The housing features asymmetric design elements including recesses positioned at specific locations that accommodate the natural curvature of hands. This asymmetric configuration allows the device to be comfortably held in either hand, providing bidirectional usability while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through a single integrated housing design.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #4Asymmetry

Data Source

PatentUS11517092B1Ergonomic handle-less hair dryer

Publication Date: 2022.12.06 SALTER DAMIEN

AI summary

An ergonomic handle-less hairdryer having a rotating adjustable strap allowing a user to hold and use the hairdryer in either hand without causing undue strain on the user's hand.