Hair Straightener with Wind Gathering Function

This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2025/083667, filed on May 20, 2025, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410648973.X, filed on May 23, 2024, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of hair care tools, and specifically relates to a hair straightener with a wind gathering function.

Hair straighteners with a blow-drying function are currently one of mainstream hair care tools. A hair straightener with a hot air-blowing function usually includes clamping plates, air ducts and air outlets connected to the air ducts are disposed in the clamping plates, and after heating elements in the air ducts heat the airflow in the air ducts, the airflow is discharged from the air outlets and acts on the user's hair; for example, the Chinese Patent CN117958540A titled “Blow-Drying Hair Straightener” includes hair clamping plates, an air delivery chamber communicated with a motor and a heating element in a handle are disposed in the hair clamping plate, a first strip-shaped air outlet is disposed on one side of the air delivery chamber, the motor drives fan blades to rotate such that the airflow heated by the heating element forms hot air and then is blown out from the first strip-shaped air outlet, and the hot air acts on the hair between the two hair clamping plates and is then discharged from a second strip-shaped air outlet; and however, since the heating element is usually a heating wire with a temperature ranging from 90° C. to 135° C., energy loss may occur during the flow process, and therefore, the temperature of the hot air blown out is even lower and unstable, which greatly compromises the thermal care effect and the user experience.

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a hair straightener with a wind gathering function, so as to solve the problems raised in the above background art.

To achieve the above objective, the present disclosure provides the following technical solution:

A hair straightener with a wind gathering function includes an airflow generating part with a heating function. The airflow generating part is provided with two output ends communicated with a first clamping arm and a second clamping arm respectively. Both the first clamping arm and the second clamping arm are provided with heating assemblies. At least one first air outlet hole is formed on either of the first clamping arm and the second clamping arm on a same side thereof, and a second groove is formed at a position near the first air outlet hole. The first air outlet hole is formed horizontally or obliquely, such that a wind gathering area is formed at the second groove. Negative pressure is formed in the wind gathering area, and heat radiated by the heating assemblies is mixed with airflow blown from the first air outlet hole, such that waste heat from the heating assemblies is reasonably utilized to act on hair.

According to a further technical solution, air chambers independent of the heating assemblies are arranged in both the first clamping arm and the second clamping arm, the two air chambers are respectively communicated with the two output ends of the airflow generating part, at least one second air outlet hole is formed on one side of the air chamber corresponding to the same side of the first air outlet hole, and at least one arc-shaped airflow guide plate is arranged in the air chamber to divide an interior of the air chamber into at least one air duct.

According to a further technical solution, n arc-shaped airflow guide plates are arranged in either of the air chambers to divide the interior of the air chamber into n+1 air ducts, and each of the air ducts corresponds to one second air outlet hole.

According to a further technical solution, a distance M from the first air outlet hole to the heating assembly is ≤15 mm, one side of the heating assembly is located at a bottom of the second groove, and the bottom of the second groove extends horizontally.

According to a further technical solution, a convex edge is arranged in a circumferential direction of the second air outlet hole, and an embedding groove is formed in a circumferential direction of the first air outlet hole, and the convex edge is fitted with the embedding groove.

According to a further technical solution, the first air outlet hole gradually expands from inside to outside.

According to a further technical solution, end portions of the first clamping arm and the second clamping arm are combined to form a “V”-shaped first groove, the first clamping arm and the second clamping arm are combined only on one side to form the second groove, the first groove and the second groove form an “L”-shaped hair entry space, the first groove and the second groove are smoothly transitioned and communicated, the bottom of the second groove is formed by a surface of one side of the heating assembly exposed in the second groove, and a hair-styling curved surface is disposed on the other side of either of the first clamping arm and the second clamping arm opposite to the second groove.

According to a further technical solution, the airflow generating part includes a flexible three-way air duct, one end of the flexible three-way air duct forms an air inlet portion, and the other two ends thereof form air outlet portions, where the air outlet portions are symmetrically spaced apart from each other and extend reversely relative to the air inlet portion; and

According to a further technical solution, either of the air outlet portions is provided with a rectangular flat-shaped air outlet.

According to a further technical solution, the mounting base includes a fixing ring and an arc-shaped mounting plate, the fixing ring is matched with the entrance of the air inlet portion in shape and is fixedly disposed on an inner wall thereof, a plurality of positioning columns are disposed on an outer periphery of the fixing ring, the positioning columns are connected to the arc-shaped mounting plate, and an inner side of the arc-shaped mounting plate is fitted with an outer side of the air inlet portion.

According to a further technical solution, a flange is disposed in a circumferential direction of the fixing ring, a third groove in cooperation with the flange is formed on an inner side of the air inlet portion, the fixing ring extends from the entrance of the air inlet portion to the outside, a boss is disposed on the inner side of the arc-shaped mounting plate, and one side of the boss abuts against an edge of the fixing ring.

According to a further technical solution, a partition strip is disposed in a middle of the fixing ring, the partition strip divides an interior of the fixing ring into two first holes corresponding to the air outlet portions, and one side of the partition strip near the heating assembly is designed with an arc-shaped contour.

According to a further technical solution, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of convex strips are disposed on an outer side of the arc-shaped mounting plate, a first snap-fit groove is formed between every two adjacent convex strips, and the first snap-fit grooves are snap-fitted with first snap-fit blocks on a first outer shell.

According to a further technical solution, the heating assembly includes a bracket, a heating wire is wound around the bracket, a fixing member is fixedly disposed thereon, a plurality of “L”-shaped second snap-fit grooves are formed on the fixing member, the second snap-fit grooves are snap-fitted with second snap-fit blocks on a second outer shell, a limiting groove snap-fitted with the bracket is formed on an inner side of the mounting base, a limiting block extends transversely from one side of the fixing member near the fan, and the limiting block may be snap-fitted into a third outer shell.

According to a further technical solution, the arc-shaped mounting plate is provided with a mounting portion configured to fix the fan, and a honeycomb-shaped noise reduction net is integrally formed on the arc-shaped mounting plate at a position near an air inlet of the fan.

The present disclosure has the following beneficial effects:

An air duct for airflow output in the present disclosure is separated from the heating assembly, such that the heat of the heating assembly is not lost during the process of airflow output to an external environment, which ensures a more stable heating temperature when the hair straightener heats and cares for the hair, and further ensures a more stable airflow temperature in a way of independently heating the airflow; and

Additionally, under the action of the wind gathering area, since at least one side of the heating assembly is located at the bottom of the groove in the wind gathering area, the distance from the air outlet on the inclined surface of the groove is very small, i.e., the distance is ≤15 mm. Therefore, the heat radiated by the heating assembly is adsorbed to the air outlet to continue acting on the hair, which significantly increases the temperature, thereby achieving the effect of rapid drying by reasonably utilizing heat energy.

Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will be described in detail in the following detailed implementation mode.

Reference numerals in the figures:—first clamping arm,—second clamping arm,—first air outlet hole,—first groove,—second groove,—embedding groove,—housing,—heat insulation groove,—hair-styling curved surface,—airflow generating part,—flexible three-way air duct,—air inlet portion,—air outlet portion,—third groove,—second hole,—mounting base,—fixing ring,—partition strip,—first hole,—positioning column,—flange,—arc-shaped mounting plate,—convex strip,—first snap-fit groove,—mounting portion,—noise reduction net,—limiting groove,—boss,—heating assembly,—bracket,—fixing member,—second snap-fit groove,—second snap-fit block,—limiting block,—fan,—box body,—upper shell,—lower shell,—air chamber,—second air outlet hole,—arc-shaped airflow guide plate,—air inlet,—convex edge,—protrusion-recess structure,—heating assembly,—airflow path,—heat radiation path, and—hair.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Please refer to;

Notably, when a thickness of the hairclamped by the first clamping armand the second clamping armis uniform and a pressure applied to the hairis relatively large, very little or even no external air passes through the heating assembly, and however, an interior of the heating assemblyis heated usually based on a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) or a metal ceramic heater (MCH) for conductive heat transfer, and a heat source operates in a radiative manner; since a side of the heating assemblyis exposed at a bottom of the second grooveand extends parallelly along the bottom thereof, the first air outlet holeis formed on the inclined surface, and a distance M from the first air outlet holeto the side of the heating assemblylocated at the bottom of the second grooveis ≤15 mm; and setting of the distance M ensures that the heat source radiated from the side of the heating assemblyis absorbed to the vicinity of the first air outlet holeto continue acting on the hair, thereby making full use of heat that is otherwise lost.

No matter which of the above embodiments is adopted, during the process of entering the wind gathering area, external air is attracted by the two streams of airflow and moves toward the two streams of airflow, such that the hairoriginally stacked floats in a direction of the airflow, and the hairoriginally stacked is separated and straightened in the direction of the airflow; and preferably, when the airflow is ejected obliquely, the airflow eventually converges at an intersection point and then flows in a vertical direction of the hair, that is, the direction of the airflow is the same as the vertical direction of the hair, which further improves the hair straightening effect.

Preferably, a distance between an outermost end of the heating assemblyand the first air outlet holeis ≤15 mm, when a thickness of the hairclamped by the first clamping armand the second clamping armis uniform and a pressure applied to the hairis relatively large, very little or even no external air passes through the heating assembly, and however, an interior of the heating assemblyis heated usually based on a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) or a metal ceramic heater (MCH) for conductive heat transfer, and a heat source operates in a radiative manner; the bottom of the second grooveis formed by a surface of one side of the heating assemblyexposed in the second groove, the surface forming the bottom of the second groove extends longitudinally and linearly, the first air outlet holeis formed on the inclined surface of the second groove, and a distance M from the first air outlet holeto the side of the heating assemblylocated at the bottom of the second grooveis ≤15 mm; and setting of the distance M ensures that the heat source radiated from the side of the heating assemblyis absorbed to the vicinity of the first air outlet holeto continue acting on the hair, thereby making full use of heat that is otherwise lost.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, with reference to, the first clamping armand the second clamping armare structurally identical, the second clamping armincludes a housing, a heat insulation grooveis formed in the housingat a position corresponding to the first air outlet hole, and formation of the heat insulation groovemay reduce the heat transfer to the housingand an outer shell of the clamping arm, and reduce the temperature of outer surfaces of the first clamping armand the second clamping armto prevent scalding or discomfort caused by excessively high temperature.

When an unfolding rotation angle of the first clamping armand the second clamping armis not large enough, the problem of difficulty in hair entry may occur, and therefore, in the present disclosure, end portions of the first clamping armand the second clamping armare combined to form a “V”-shaped first groove; when the user uses the hair straightener, the hairenters from an end surface of the clamping arm, and the “V”-shaped first groovemay play a guiding role and guide the hairto a middle position between the first clamping armand the second clamping arm; however, when the hairenters a hair straightening area between the first clamping armand the second clamping arm, edge positions of the first clamping armand the second clamping armmay block the hair, such that the hairis stacked and entangled when entering the hair straightening area; therefore, in this embodiment, the second grooveis further formed by combining the first clamping armand the second clamping armon at least the same side, and formation of the second groovecauses formation of a clearance space between side edges of the first clamping armand the second clamping arm, which does not block the entry of the hair; and in the present disclosure, an “L”-shaped hair entry space is formed through smooth transition and communication between the first grooveand the second groove, such that the hairenters the hair straightener more smoothly, thereby enhancing the user experience.

It should be noted that the first grooveand the second grooveare communicated with each other, i.e., smoothly transitioned, and during use, the hairenters the hair straightening area toward the first groove, and also enters the hair straightening area toward a bend where the first grooveand the second grooveare smoothly communicated with each other.

Furthermore, in an alternative embodiment, the user may directly put the hairinto the hair straightening area from one side of the second grooveand then take same out from the other side of the second groove, which offers more choices for the user.

Additionally, the second grooveis only disposed on one side of either of the first clamping armand the second clamping arm, a hair-styling curved surfaceis disposed on the other side of either of the first clamping armand the second clamping arm, the present disclosure is a hair care and styling tool that further has a curling function in addition to the hair straightening function, and after the hairis clamped by the first clamping armand the second clamping arm, the hair straightener is turned over, and the hair bends along the hair-styling curved surface, thereby achieving the purpose of curling.

Further, the first grooveand the second grooveare communicated with each other, i.e., smoothly transitioned, and during use, the hairenters the hair straightening area toward the first groove, and also enters the hair straightening area toward a bend where the first grooveand the second grooveare smoothly communicated with each other.

Preferably, the edge positions of the first clamping armand the second clamping armare designed to have an inclined arc surface b, the arc-shaped positions designed specifically refer to positions corresponding to the hair straightening area, and since the hair straightener usually is not linearly aligned with the hairduring the hair straightening operation, the hairabuts against the edge position of the first clamping armor the second clamping arm; and when the edge positions are linearly arranged, an area of contact with the hairis very small, and relative movement therebetween damages the hair, such that the arc-shaped surface design not only increases the contact area, but also reduces a resistance during relative movement, thereby ensuring smoother movement.

Regarding a specific structure of an air chamber, reference may be made to the relevant description in the Chinese Patent CN117958540A titled “Blow-Drying Hair Straightener”, where the airflow passes through the heating assemblyand then is blown from the air outlet hole; in this embodiment, the air chamberand the heating assemblyare independent of each other, and for example, an independent box bodyis arranged in either of the clamping arms to form the independent air chamber; with reference to, the box bodyis provided with a second air outlet holeconnected to first air outlet hole, which prevents noise and unsmooth air output caused by air leakage; and additionally, the airflow generating parthas a heating function, i.e., the airflow generating part is independent of the heating assembliesin the first clamping armand the second clamping arm, and the airflow may increase the temperature without passing through the heating assemblyto dry the hair;

Preferably, the box bodyincludes an upper shelland a lower shell, and edges of the upper shelland the lower shellare provided with protrusion-recess structuresfor interfitting connection, which effectively achieves a sealing effect; and notably, a sealing gasket or the like may be arranged for positionally matching to enhance the sealing performance.

In actual production, a position of the first air outlet holeis adjusted, the box bodyis fixedly installed in the housing, and to connect the first air outlet holewith the second air outlet hole, in this embodiment, the second air outlet holedisposed on one side of the box bodyis moved down to align vertically with the first air outlet holeto achieve installation, and an inclined arc surface a for transitioning is disposed at a position of a bottom surface of the lower shellnear the second air outlet holeto ensure smooth airflow, with reference to; and additionally, inclined arc surface a is disposed at the position of the bottom surface of the lower shellnear the second air outlet hole, which is matched with the shape of the heating assemblywith a high middle and low sides, such that the space layout is compact and reasonable, which helps to reduce an overall size of the hair straightener.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a length of the box bodyis equal to or greater than three times a width thereof, a height thereof is equal to or less than half of the width, and a thickness of the heating assemblyis approximately equal to a thickness of the box body, which reduces an overall volume of the clamping arms, and ensures an area of a heating area of the heating assembly; since a heat-conducting profile on an outer surface of the heating assemblyis usually processed by means of aluminum extrusion punching, the heating assemblyhas an overall rectangular thin-sheet cuboid structure, the box bodyis also shaped like a rectangular thin-sheet cuboid for overall matching, and the heating assemblyand the box bodyare stacked vertically, such that the rectangular thin-sheet cuboid shape thereof may reduce an overall thickness of the clamping arms, and ensure the area of the heating area of the heating assembly; and when the thickness of the clamping arm is too large, the hair straightener looks bulky overall, thus affecting the appearance on the one hand, and the curling function of the hair straightener is compromised on the other hand.

At least one arc-shaped airflow guide plateis arranged in the air chamberto divide an interior of the air chamberinto at least one air duct; in the present disclosure, the air chamberis designed to be rectangular to match the heating assembly, when airflow is output, an entire space of the air chamberneeds to be fully filled, and in this case, the airflow encounters a significant resistance, which not only causes unsmooth air output, but also causes relatively large noise; and therefore, the arc-shaped airflow guide plateis arranged to achieve smooth angle change of airflow, which reduces resistance, and solves the problems of noise and unsmooth air output.

There are three embodiments based on the arc-shaped airflow guide plate:

Embodiment 1: With reference to, when only one arc-shaped airflow guide plateis arranged, only one corresponding second air outlet holeis formed, and an air duct is formed between the arc-shaped airflow guide plate and one side wall of the air chamber, where an entrance of the air duct fully covers an entrance of the air chamber;

Embodiment 2: With reference to, when only one arc-shaped airflow guide plateis arranged, two corresponding second air outlet holesare formed, and an end of the arc-shaped airflow guide plateis disposed in a middle of the air chamber, such that two air ducts are formed between both sides of the arc-shaped airflow guide plateand both sides of the air chamber, and the two air ducts correspond to the two second air outlet holesrespectively; and

Embodiment 3: With reference to, n arc-shaped airflow guide platesare arranged in either of the air chambersto divide the interior of the air chamberinto n+1 air ducts, and an end portion of each of the airflow guide plates corresponds to the entrance of the air chamber; for example, when three arc-shaped airflow guide platesare arranged, two air ducts are formed between the three arc-shaped airflow guide plates, and the first arc-shaped airflow guide plateand the third arc-shaped airflow guide plate, together with the two sides of the air chamber, form air ducts respectively, that is, a total of four air ducts are formed, and each of the air ducts corresponds to one second air outlet hole.

Further, with reference to, a convex edgeis arranged in a circumferential direction of the second air outlet hole, and an embedding grooveis formed in a circumferential direction of the first air outlet hole, where the convex edgeis fitted with the embedding grooveto prevent air leakage.

Additionally, the first air outlet holegradually expands from inside to outside, and transition of high-speed airflow from a narrow opening to a wide opening causes the airflow to be dispersed, which covers a wider range.

A structure of the airflow generating partis described below with reference to; and

During operation, the fansucks in external airflow and conveys the external airflow to the heating assembly, the heating assemblyheats the airflow to increase the temperature of the airflow, and then the heated airflow is input from the air inlet portionof the flexible three-way air duct, divided into two streams of airflow, and output from the two air outlet portionsrespectively; and in this embodiment, the air inlet portion, the heating assembly, and the fanare sequentially distributed and coaxially arranged, which may minimize the resistance to the airflow, achieve more direct access to the flexible three-way air duct, and reduce the generation of noise.