US3263342A - Hair dryers - Google Patents

Description

A. A. GIUFFRE Aug. 2, 1966 HAIR DRYERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1963 FIGZ INVENTOR. ANTHONY A. GIUFFRE BY I,

ATTORNEY A. A. GIUFFRE Aug. 2, 1966 HAIR DRYERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1963 INVENTOR. AN TH ONY A GI U FFRE ATTO RNEY United States Patent 3,263,342 HAIR DRYERS Anthony A. Giulfre, 4344 N. 70th St., Milwaukee, Wis. Filed Mar. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 265,483 6 Claims. (Cl. 34-76) This invention relates to improvements in hair dryers, and more particularly to a novel system for dehumidifying and heating air for use in the moisture abstraction process.

The major purpose of the present invention is to create a hair drying structure utilizing refrigeration processes for dehumidifying as well as heating air delivered by the dryer, the system being so arranged that it is ready for the drying operation a few moments after the start of the cycling system, all while efiiciently utilizing electrical energy for driving power with a relatively high BTU output from the system. The system also advantageously embodies a novel arrangement of elements for heating air and regulating the temperature of the air delivered by the system.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described that is mobile and compact and which may be easily moved from one location to another.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device that has manually actuated control means, that may be set to produce various and selected temperatures of the air delivered through a drying hood.

Still another object of the invention is to permit hair to be dried at a lower temperature.

Other and further objects of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, when taken with the claims and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a drying unit embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the cabinet, illustrated in FIGURE 1 but open at its back, thus illustrating the arrangement of interior partitions, air duct for the hood and louvers;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic layout of the complete circuit employed within the cabinet; and

FIGURE 4 is a vertical cross section of the cabinet of FIGURE 1 and the arrangement of the component parts within the cabinet.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and referring specifically now to the same, the character generally designates a cabinet, or enclosure, equipped with a deflecting hood 11, attached at 12 to an air duct. The entire unit is shown mounted at its four corners on swivel casters, or adjustable supports shown as 13.

Thecabinet 10 is shown as a boxlike form.

The enclosure or cabinet consists of a pair ofside walls 14 and 15, afront plate 16, atop plate 17, abottom plate 18, and a back plate (not shown) which is removably attached to the cabinet. Obviously either the back plate or the front may be removable, and mounted in any efficient or convenient manner, to provide access to the interior of thecabinet 10.

An air delivery duct extending vertically within the cabinet, projects outwardly at 21 through thetop plate 17 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4. Theduct 20 is open at itslower end 22 to permit engagement with the outlet from ablower 23, driven in a conventional manner by amotor 24, mounted on thebottom plate 18 of the cabinet assembly.

Ahorizontal partition 25 extends laterally from the outer wall 14 (see FIG. 4), at an upper level within the cabinet to avertical plate 34.Partition 25 supports anevaporator unit 26. Anotherhorizontal partition 27 ex- "ice tends from a vertical plate 33 to theother side wall 15 for supporting acondenser 28 at a high level within the cabinet. Thusevaporator 26 andcondenser 28 are on opposite sides of the cabinet with theair delivery duct 20 therebetween.

Still anotherhorizontal partition 29 extends across the entire cabinet, from oneouter wall 14 to the otherouter wall 15. Thispartition 29 supports adrain pan 30 beneathevaporator 26, and is provided with an opening 31 belowcondenser 28 to permit air circulation past acompressor unit 32.Unit 32 is a self-contained motor driven compressor, and is mounted on thebottom plate 18 beneathcondenser 28.

Theduct 20 is encased between the twovertical plates 33 and 34. The plate 33 is provided with alouvered opening 35. Theplate 34 is provided with anopening 36. Sinceduct 20 is smaller than the enclosure formed byplates 33 and 34, air may circulate around theduct 20 and through the openings in the plates 33 and 34 (see FIG. 2). Plate 33 terminates at the level ofpartition 27 to permit air to circulate above the plate and to condenser 28.

Thetop plate 17 is provided with anair inlet 37 which may have afilter 38 positioned immediately below it.

Theevaporator 26 is provided with an adjustable pressureresponsive expansion valve 39 connected therewith by atube 40. Arefrigerant tube 41 equipped with atransparent glass gauge 42 extends between liquid accumulator 43 andvalve 39. Arefrigerant tube 44 extends between accumulator 43 and thecondenser 28, anothertube 45 extends between thecompressor 32 andcondenser 28 and atube 46 leads from thecompressor 32 back to theevaporator 26. Valve 39 is a manually adjustable type which maintains a predetermined and selected pressure in theevaporator 26 andsuction line 46.

Adamper control 47, in the form of a pressure responsive bellows fed by atube 48, connected to theline 45, moves the damper of the louvered opening to and from open and closed positions in response to certain variances in pressure in the refrigerant line between the compressor and condenser.

The system, as herein described, is highly advantageous in use. The system is so arranged that very little time is required between the start of the system and the time that the systemis delivering dehumidified air at the desired temperature through hood 11.

When the system is turned on, as by a manual control switch (not shown) for the compressor and blower motor, the pressure conditions in the condenser and evaporator are substantially the same. At this time thedamper control 47 holds thelouvers 35 in the open position. Air thus flows in throughinlet 37, past theevaporator 26, through the louver openings for delivery through theduct 20, thus bypassing the condenser. As the compress-or continues its operation, the electrical energy applied thereto is converted into heat and the refrigerant passed to the condenser includes this heat. With substantially no air passing over and around the condenser to remove this heat, the condenser temperature and pressure rise rapidly, thus creating .a pressure differential between the condenser and the evaporator.

The increased heat in the condenser and the attendant increased condenser pressure puts the refrigerant passing therethrough in rapid rmotion where it collects in front of theexpansion valve 39. With this increase in pressure,valve 39 further restricts flow to the evaporator so as to maintain the selected evaporator pressure.

At this time, the system is ready for the drying operation which now commences some three to five minutes after the start of the cycling system.

With the increase in the condenser pressure,damper control 47 is actuated to close thelouvers 35. With this bypass closed, the inflowing air passes from the evaporator to the area around the condenser where it picks up heat from the condenser and thence past the compressor where it again may pick up heat before delivery through thehood duct 12..Damper control 47 is so designed that it maintains the dampers in closed position until the pressure condition inline 45 achieves a predetermined low level, which is generally that low pressure condition existing whencompressor 22 is idle. In this regard, the condenser is not cooled sufficiently by the inflowin g air as to cause a drop in pressure suflicient to open the dampers.

Since the temperature of the infl-owing air is reduced byevaporator 26, moisture may be condensed therefrom where it may collect in thedrain pan 30. The temperature of this air is then raised before delivery through the hood 11. Thus, the system may deliver warm air of a relatively low humidity content through hood 11, where it may absorb moisture from the hair of the patron using the dryer.

Expansion valve 39 is of a type which may be set to regulate the pressure inevaporator 26 by varying the flow area through the valve in response to pressure changes in theline 41. This valve may fluctuate slightly toward and away from the closed position during the drying operation, but it remains essentially in the set position. This valve acts as a thermostat to control the hood discharge temperature. By regulating this setting the temperature of the air discharged from hood 11 may be varied. For example, with a one-half horse power compressor and with avalve 39 variously set to maintain varying pressures ranging from on the order of 17 to 28 pounds per square inch, and with the incoming air at temperatures of approximately 70 F., the temperature of the air discharged from hood 11 may be varied from around 105 F. to 120 F. At the lower pressure setting, the temperature of the discharged air is lower. At higher pressure settings the temperature is higher.

The result is a relatively high B.t.u. discharge from the hood 11 While utilizing small amounts of electrical energy, as compared to conventional drying equipment utilizing electrical heating elements, with or without desiccant chambers to absorb moisture from the air delivered through the hood.

The passage arrangement within the dryer efficiently utilizes a relatively small amount of space to enable the sequential passage of air through a cooling and dehumidifying stage as represented by the evaporator and then a heating stage as represented by the condenser and compressor.

The system also enables a constant withdrawal of moisture fromthe air in the room in which the equipment is located. In this regard the room air which is passed into the cabinet is constantly dehumidified before it is returned to the room.

Whereas I :have shown and described certain operative forms of the invention, it should be understood that many variations in and to the invention are possible within the scope and spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention should be limited only by the scope of the hereinafter appended claims.

I claim: 1

1. A hair dryer system including an outlet hood, a duct connected to said hood and means for delivering air through said duct and to said hood for discharge through said hood, means defining air dehumidifying and heating passages connected to one another, air inlet means in said 70 dehumidifying passage and means establishing communication between said heating passage and said duct, a refrigerant evaporator in said deh-umidifying passage for cooling and dehumidifying air passing therethrough, a

condenser and a compressor in said heating passage for heating air flowing therethrough, said compressor, condenser and evaporator being connected together for cycling refrigerant therethrough, bypass means for directing the 5 flow of air direct from the evaporation to the compressor to thereby avoid a heat exchange relation with said condenser, means for maintaining the pressure of said evaporator at a preselected amount whereby the pressure and temperature of said condenser builds up rapidly to a predetermined amount, and means responsive to a buildup in the condenser pressure to a predetermined level for thereafter closing said bypass means to enable heat abstraction from said condenser.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said last named means includes pressure responsive means in a refrigerant line between said compressor and condenser, and a louver assembly interconnected therewith .to close said bypass means upon attainment of a predetermined pressure in said line.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said pressure maintaining means is in the form of a manually adjustable, pressure responsive valve which is formed and adapted to maintain a preselected pressure in the evaporator.

4. The system of claim 1 characterized by and including means beneath said evaporator for trapping condensed moisture therein.

5. A hair dryer including a base having walls formed and adapted to define compartment means therewithin, a duct positioned centrally within said base and an outlet 30 hood fixed to said base and in communication with said duct, said hood being formed and adapted for positioning over the human head, refrigerant means including an evaporator condenser, and compressor in said compartr ment means and refrigerant tubing for circulating liquid refrigerant from said compressor to said condenser and then to said evaporator so as to cool the area adjacent said evaporator so as to condense moisture from said are-a, means in said area for collecting moisture condensed from said air circulated past said evaporator, means for admitting air from the area adjacent said condenser so as to heat said air, and means for delivering said heated air under a forced flow through said duct and hood, so as to discharge a flow of heated, dehumidified air through said hood and into the area surrounding said hood, said base including partition means dividing the space within said base into a dehumidifying compartment on one side of said duct in which said evaporator is located, and a heating compartment in which the condenser is located on the other side of said duct, said partition means having passages therein for the flow of air from the dehumidifying compartment to the heating compartment and from the heating compartment to the duct.

6. The dryer of claim 5 wherein a blower is located in 55 the bottom of said base and connected to said duct for causing said forced flow of air, and said compressor is located in the bottom of said base.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,837,798 12/1931Shipley 34 77 2,314,101 3/1943 Phipps 34-77 2,335,553 11/1943 Valverde 34-77 2,527,745 10/1950 Lawrence 3477 2,570,808 10/1951Hermes 34 77 2,716,289 8/1955Lauck 34 77 2,732,628 1/1956 Giuffre 34-47 WILLIAM F. ODEA, Primary Examiner.

NORMAN YUDKOFF, Examiner.

F. E. DRUMMOND, C. R. REMKE,

Assistant Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. A HAIR DRYER SYSTEM INCLUDING AN OUTLET HOOD, A DUCT CONNECTED TO SAID HOOD AND MEANS FOR DELIVERING AIR THROUGH SAID DUCT AND TO SAID HOOD FOR DISCHARGE THROUGH SAID HOOD, MEANS DEFINING AIR DEHUMIDIFYING AND HEATING PASSAGES CONNECTED TO ONE ANOTHER, AIR INLET MEANS IN SAID DEHUMIDIFYING PASSAGE AND MEANS ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID HEATING PASSAGE AND SAID DUCT, A REFRIGERANT EVAPORATOR IN SAID DEHUMIDIFYING PASSAGE FOR COOLING AND DEHUMIDIFYING AIR PASSING THERETHROUGH, A CONDENSER AND A COMPRESSOR IN SAID HEATING PASSAGE FOR HEATING AIR FLOWING THERETHROUGH, SAID COMPRESSOR, CONDENSER AND EVAPORATOR BEING CONNECTED TOGETHER FOR CYCLING REFRIGERANT THERETHROUGH, BYPASS MEANS FOR DIRECTING THE FLOW OF AIR DIRECT FROM THE EVAPORATION TO THE COMPRESSOR TO THEREBY AVOID A HEAT EXCHANGE RELATION WITH SAID CONDENSER, MEANS FOR MAINTAINING THE PRESSURE OF SAID EVAPORATOR AT A PRESELECTED AMOUNT WHEREBY THE PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE OF SAID CONDENSER BUILDS UP RAPIDLY TO A PREDETERMINED AMOUNT, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO A BUILDUP IN THE CONDENSER PRESSURE TO A PREDETERMINED LEVEL FOR THEREAFTER CLOSING SAID BYPASS MEANS TO ENABLE HEAT ABSTRACTION FROM SAID CONDENSER.

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