GB2236248A

GB2236248A - Hair dryer cabinet

Info

Publication number: GB2236248A
Application number: GB8928397A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Vano Jose Beneyto
Original assignee: INGENIERIA ELECTRONICA S L EMP
Current assignee: INGENIERIA ELECTRONICA S L EMP
Priority date: 1989-09-28
Filing date: 1989-12-15
Publication date: 1991-04-03
Also published as: ES1011734U; GB8928397D0; ES1011734Y

Abstract

A cabinet (1) for a hair dryer comprises a casing, in the interior of which a conventional hair dryer is able to be accommodated. The casing has a frontal door (2) for access to the interior of the casing, and electric power supply means (17) for the dryer. Wall hanging elements (3) on the rear of the casing are associated with separators (4) between the wall hanging elements and the rear wall of the casing, which also has an air entry grating (6). The lower part of the casing has a base (7) provided with a frusto-conical opening (9) for receiving a body portion of a hair dryer, and a recess means (10) provided adjacent said opening for receiving a handle of the dryer. Besides being a hair-dryer it can also be used as a hand-dryer, clothes dryer or air-freshener. <IMAGE>

Description

HAIR DRYER CABINET DESCRIPTION PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION This invention refers to a hair dryer cabinet, and more specifically an air generator intended for domestic use, whose structural characteristics give the same a wide range of ttsage possibilities, so that besides being a hair dryer as such it can be used as a hand-dryer, a clothes dryer ad even as an air freshener, also permitting wall attachment as well as to a suitable support or frame.

HISTORY OF THE INVENTION The applicant himself is at the same time the owner of Models 8703606 and s802919, both referring to separate domestic use air generating appliances, the second of these consisting of a perfecting of the first. The appliances referred to are based on a sort of cabinet in which a conventional hand dryer can be connected which at the same time can be used independently of the cabinet or casing referred to, in which latter case the dryer will be used as a normal hair dryer, and in the second case the assembly will consist of, for example, a hand dryer when these are arranged as the assembled appliance.

Although the appliances protected in the said utility models are efficient and are giving excellent results, it is obvious that they can be improved, and in fact this occurs between Model 8703606 and utility Model 8802P19, the second consisting of a perfecting of the first and both being based on the same idea and a similar structure.

In any case the second model, which may be said to be the most perfected, has the disadvantage that the general casing of the appliance or cabinet is mounted on a fixed base, which does not make it fully effective and if we add to this the fact that the body of the dryer must be immobilized by means of being fixed to the casing or cabinet, and then the assembly placed on a .stable surface. All this means that the appliance does not have fixed attachment, but that a suitable place must be found and the same is not always available. Besides, the casing with its base cannot, for security reasons, be so slenderas to endanger its security.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The dryer proposed in the invention has been conceived in order to solve all these problems satisfactorily, which is obviously based on the concept of the detachable cabinet or casing featured in utility Models 8703606 and 8802919, but with a series of innovations and improvements which together determine a highly efficient appliance, as well as convenient to attach and also as a whole make up an esthetic element.

More specifically, the dryer is formed on the basis of a generally parallelepiped or prismatic body with a lower pedestal and a frontal door, which is endowed with special hinging devices formed on the basis of a pair of single parts formed by separate injected plates which on their extreme edges are lodged in slots provided in the cabinet itself.

The door also has closing devices based on a single latch activated by means of a knob which emerges from one of the walls of the body of the cabinet. Also provided in conjunction with these closing devices is a centring element in the connection of the door to the open frontal edge of the repeated cabinet or general casing of the appliance.

The rear wall is provided with a number of openings forming a grating or air entry, also having on this rear side a wall attachment device with which separators act, so that the assembly is separated from the wall itself thus permitting air entry through the grating mentioned above.

The dryer as such consists of a conventional appliance, such as a hair dryer, preferably of a conical shape, which fits by simple placing into a trunk-conical opening in the lower part of the body of the cabinet. This has the peculiarity that the dryer has its handle articulated in order to remain either entirely erects thus constituting the handle as such, or forming an angle with the body to which this is articulated and which is an extension of the body of the dryer itself, so that in this position the handle is lodged in another complementary opening similarly provided in the lower part of the cabinet or casing of the appliance. Thus the dryer is perfectly positioned and situated without the need of additional devices.

Another peculiarity shown by the appliance is that in close proximity to the air outlet opening, that is, the trunkconical opening in which the hand dryer as such is lodged, a presence detector has been provided which activates a switch by which the hair dryer as such is set in motion. This obviates any possibility of an electric discharge though activation of the corresponding switch with wet hands.

Also as is conventional and as has been provided in the two appliances claimed for in the models which make up the predecessors to this application, the appliance has a tank to contain a sublimatable solid or an absorbent material soaked in a disinfectant and/or perfumed product, which is drawn by the hot air flow, releasing the corresponding exhalations into the atmosphere.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To complement the description which is being made and with the object of aiding better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, this descriptive report is accom pan led, as an integral part of the same, by a set of plans in which in an illustrative and non-limiting way, the following has been represented: Figure 1. This shows a representation from a frontal perspective of the appliance of the invention with the door open and without the incorporation of the corresponding hand dryer.

Figure 2. This shows a couple of views of the hand dryer, in one of which the handle appears in the position mounted on the cabinet represented in Figure 1, while in the other representation the handle appears in the normal use position when the dryer is used independently.

Figure 3. This shows a detail from a perspective, by a sectioned part, of the closing system incorporated in the cabinet door.

Figure 4. This shows another detail also in perspective of one of the hinging devices on the door, consisting as we have said of a hinge formed by a plate which at the ends is lodged in corresponding slots, one provided in the door and the other provided in the cabinet.

Figure 5. This shows, finally, a perspective of the lower part of the body of the appliance, that is, the cabinet, where the air outlet opening can be seen and in close proximity to the same the detector of the presence of any object.

PREFERENTIAL PRODUCTION OF THE INVENTION In view of these figures it can be observed that the air generating appliance or dryer which the invention proposes is formed on the basis of a casing which forms a cabinet (I) with a frontal door (2) hinged to one of the side edges of the cabinet.

On the rear side some wall attachment devices (3) have been provided associated to separators (41, which permits hanging of the cabinet assembly (1) on a wall, merely by hanging it from hooks (5), for example, in such a way that the separators (4) keep the rear wall of this cabinet (1) separated from the wall or partition it is hung on and permit external air entry through the grating (6) formed by a number of openings provided precisely on this rear wall.

Underneath it has a pedestal (7), while above this internally, the floor of the cabinet itself (1) is made up of a base (8) in which an opening has been provided, preferably trunkconical (9) and a hollow (10). The opening (9) is provided for the location and positioning of the respective hair dryer (11), so that the former is open below forming the air outlet planned for the stated dryer (11), the latter having its corresponding handle (12), which is articulated, according to (13), in order to permit two usage positions, as is demonstrated in Figure 2.In one case the handle (12) forms an angle with the projection (14) to which it is articulated, with the aim of the body (11) of the hair dryer remaining lodged in the opening (8) and the stated handle (12) lodged in the hollow (10), while in the other view of this Figure 2, the handle (12) is arranged as an extension of the portion itself (14) to which it is articulated, permitting its use independently.

In the first case, that is, when the handle (12) is bent with regard to the projection or portion (14), and is lodged in the cavity (10), this means that the assembly of the stated dryer (11) remains perfectly stable and connected without the need of additional devices.

In any case, the said dryer (11) and through its handle (12), is extended in the power intake wire (15) ending in the respective input or plug (16), permitting its use independently when taken out of the cabinet (1), while when it is connected to the latter, the power intake is carried out directly from the appliance or cabinet (1) through the inputs (16) provided in the cabinet.The dryer (11) is activated when a switch (18) is connected and is de-activated when the latter is disconnected, although, as explained above, in close proximity to the lower outlet opening the pedestal (7) incorporates an object detector (19) so that on placing the hands below the opening (9) for the drying of these, the dryer (11) is activated through this detector without the need of connecting the switch (10), thus avoiding the danger of electric discharge when the user's hands are damp and touch the switch (18) referred to.

As for the hinging and closing device on the door (2) regarding the cabinet (1), in Figures 3 and 4 these are shown in detail, and it can be seen in Figure 1 how the closing device consists of a simple crook or hook (19) externally activated by means of a knob (20) which fits into a curved security device (21) provided on the inner side of the door itself (2). A head (22) has been provided below the said security device (21), which on closing the said door (2) is positioned between a pair of ribs (23) provided precisely on the inner side of the cabinet wall below the hook itself (19). This head (22) and the ribs (23) constitute a self-centring device on closing the door itself (2).

With regard to the hinging devices which are shown in isolation in Figure 4, each of these consists of hinges (24) which in each case are formed by injected plates (25) with an intermediate reinforcement (26) and also doubly stepped, as can be clearly seen in Figure 4, reinforcements (26) which are joined by means of a weakening or thinner area (27), in which a rib (28) is provided that makes bending easy to constitute the corresponding hinging, it being provided that the plates (25) fit into slots (29) provided in both the door (2) and the inner side of the corresponding cabinet (1) wall.

Finally, it is mentioned that in both the body of the cabinet and in the door itself are incorporated retention devices (30) and (31) in order to anchor them into a socket.

It is not considered necessary to make this description more extensive, so that any expert on the subject will understand the scope of the invention and the advantages deriving from the same.

The materials, shape, size and arrangement of the elements will be subject to variation provided that this does not entail alteration of the essence of the invention.

The terms in which this report has described it must always be taken in the broadest, not the limited sense.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A cabinet for a hair dryer, said cabinet comprising a casing having a front and a back, door means for access to the interior of said casing, air outlet means connecting the inside of said casing with the outside, air inlet means connecting the inside of said casing with the outside through said back of said casing, means for supporting the hair dryer for delivering air through said air outlet means, and means located on said back of said casing for mounting said casing to a wall with said back of said casing spaced from said wall.

2. A cabinet according to claim 1, further comprising base means at the bottom of said casing, wherein said air outlet means comprises aperture means through said base means adapted to accommodate a body portion of a hair dryer.

3. A cabinet according to claim 2, further comprising a recess adjacent said aperture means for accommodating a handle portion of the hair dryer when the body portion is accommodated in said aperture means.

4. A cabinet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said door means is located at said front of said casing.

5. A cabinet according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising means located inside said casing for connecting a hair dryer to a source of electrical power.

6. A cabinet according to claim 5, further comprising optical switch means activatable by a user's hand being placed adjacent said optical switch means.

7. A cabinet according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one hinge means connecting said door means to said casing, wherein the or each said hinge means comprises two plate means joined together by a flexible portion, each said plate means comprising a flat portion for fitting into a respective slot provided on the inside of the casing and door means and a reinforced portion adjacent said flexible portion.

8. A cabinet according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising door locking means for securing said door means in its closed position, said door locking means comprising engaging means located on said casing and movable by an external knob for engaging with retaining means located on said door means, and projecting means adjacent said retaining means for engaging with slot means adjacent said engaging means.

9. A hair dryer cabinet comprising a casing, in the interior of which a conventional hair dryer is able to be accommodated, the casing having a frontal door for access to the interior of the casing and electric power supply means for the dryer, wall hanging elements on the rear of said casing and associated with separators between the wall hanging elements and the rear wall of the casing, an air entry grating provided in the rear wall of said casing, the lower part of the casing having a base provided with a frusto-conical opening for receiving a body portion of a hair dryer, and a recess provided adjacent said opening for receiving a handle of the dryer.

10. A hair dryer cabinet according to claim 10, wherein the door is hinged to the casing through hinges each of which comprises two injected plates with an intermediate weakened portion which joins two intermediate stepped reinforcements, this intermediate weakened portion being provided with a rib which facilitates bending of the hinge, and retention means in order to anchor each plate into a socket, said retention means being formed of respective projections on the upper and lower edges of each plate, wherein the plates are lodged in respective slots provided for this purpose in both the door means and on the inner side of the corresponding wall of the casing.

11. A hair dryer cabinet according to claim 10, further comprising door closing means comprising a hinge externally activatable by means of a knob, which fits into a curved security device provided for this purpose on the inner wall of the door and, below the said security device a self-centring head which on closing the door remains positioned between a pair of ribs situated on the inner side of the casing, below the axis of the activating knob.

12. A cabinet for accommodating a hair dryer, said cabinet comprising an air inlet means, an air outlet means, and means for supporting a hair dryer for delivering air through said air outlet means.

13. In combination a cabinet according to any one of the preceding claims and a hair dryer adapted to be supported in said supporting means.

14. A cabinet for a hair dryer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.