HAND HELD APPLIANCE

Abstract

A hand held appliance includes a handle having an outer wall and an inner wall, a motor and a heater both housed within the inner wall, a wiring assembly including a power supply for the motor and a power supply for the heater wherein the power supply for the motor is substantially diametrically opposite the power supply for the heater within the handle. The power supply for the motor may be substantially diametrically opposite the power supply for the heater when the wiring assembly extends passed the motor. When the wiring assembly extends passed the motor, the wiring assembly may be located between the outer wall and the inner wall. The inner wall may include at least one channel extending along a radially outer surface for housing the wiring assembly and each of the at least one channel may house a wire of the wiring assembly.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of United Kingdom Application No. 1614664.9, filed Aug. 30, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a handheld appliance and in particular to a hair care appliance such as a hot styling device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a conventional hot styling appliance, air is drawn into an inlet by a fan unit and directed towards the hair by an outlet. Often, one appliance is provided with different attachments, each having a different outlet and thus a different function, for example drying, curling or volumising. Depending on the style desired, the air may or may not be heated. The attachment may include bristles onto which hair is wrapped and held for styling.

The appliance will have a power supply for providing power to the fan unit and heater amongst other things. A power circuit formed from wires that extend through the product linking the fan unit and heater to the power supply will need to be accommodated within the appliance. Often such wires are merely connected between one component and another and are left free within the appliance. In some circumstances this can cause problems such as with EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) where two wires in proximity cause an electromagnetic disturbance which radiates external to the appliance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to some embodiments, the invention provides a hand held appliance comprising a handle having an outer wall and an inner wall, a motor and a heater both housed within the inner wall, a wiring assembly including a power supply for the motor and a power supply for the heater wherein the power supply for the motor is substantially diametrically opposite the power supply for the heater within the handle.

Preferably, the power supply for the motor is substantially diametrically opposite the power supply for the heater when the wiring assembly extends passed the motor.

In a preferred embodiment, when the wiring assembly extends passed the motor, the wiring assembly is located between the outer wall and the inner wall.

Preferably, the inner wall comprises at least one channel extending along a radially outer surface for housing the wiring assembly.

In a preferred embodiment each of the at least one channel houses a wire of the wiring assembly.

Preferably, the each of the at least one channel is sized to accommodate a wire of the wiring assembly.

In a preferred embodiment each of the at least one channels have a depth within the radially outer surface adapted for one of wires of the wiring assembly.

Preferably, the handle further comprises a fluid inlet at one end and a fluid flow path extending along the handle within the outer wall.

In a preferred embodiment upstream of the fluid inlet the handle comprises a printed circuit board (PCB), the motor and the heater and a fluid outlet.

Preferably, for a portion of the length of the handle, the fluid flow path extends within the inner wall.

In a preferred embodiment the fluid flow path extends within the inner wall downstream of the PCB.

Preferably, the appliance is a hair care appliance.

In a preferred embodiment, the hair care appliance is a hot styling appliance.

In a preferred embodiment, the appliance is a hair care appliance and preferably, a hot styling device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 shows an appliance on which a user interface according to the invention can be utilised;

FIG. 2 shows a top view of a handle without the outer wall;

FIGS. 3a and 3b show side views of a first side of an inner wall according to the invention with and without wiring respectively;

FIGS. 4a and 4b show side views of a second side of an inner wall according to the invention with and without wiring respectively; and

FIG. 5 shows a cross section through a handle according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an example of a hand held appliance 10 is shown. The appliance has a handle 210 and an attachment 20 for styling hair. In order to enable a user to create different styles and to give the appliance multi functionality, the attachment 20 is removable and can be replaced with an alternative attachment. In addition, the attachment 20 can be removed to allow easier storage of the appliance when not in use. The handle 210 includes a number of different user operated buttons 38, 138 enabling the user to select between a number of different heat and flow settings. The handle 210 includes a PCB 90, a fan unit 70 which includes a fan and a motor, and a heater 80. In use, the fan unit 70 draws fluid in through a fluid inlet 212, the fluid passes the PCB 90, is drawn through the fan unit 70 and through the heater 80, which optionally heats the fluid, and is then emitted by the fluid outlet 22 in the attachment 20.

The handle 210 has an outer wall 200 and an inner wall 220. The inner wall 220 has a number of functions, it houses the PCB 90 fan unit 70 and the heater 80 internally. On a radially outer surface 220a the inner wall 220 includes multiple moulded features to retain features of the user interface (UI) including the UI PCB 92, internal features of the user operated buttons 38, 138 which connect the buttons to switches on the UI PCB 92 and wiring 140, 150 for example, which extends from the PCB 90 to other components within the handle 210.

The appliance 10 is powered using a mains supply and a power cable 102 which is attached to the appliance at the fluid inlet 212 and connects to internal wiring via a connector 100. In this embodiment, the power supply is follows a circuit from the connector 100 via the heater power supply 140 to the heater 80 three wires return from the heater 80 a pair of neutral wires 142, 144 and a live wire 94 to power the UI PCB which is connected by a further wire 96 to the PCB 90 which has a connection for the motor cable 150.

The motor cable 150 is a two core cable and is a relatively large size. In order to stop EMC effects and to more easily package all the different wires within the appliance, the motor cable 150 and the heater wires 140, 142, 144 are split within the product with one located on either side of the inner wall 220. The inner wall 220 is provided with moulded channels 110 which are formed from ledges that extend radially outwardly from an outer surface 220a of the inner wall with retaining pips 112 that retain the wiring in a channel 110. As the different wires 94, 96, 140, 142, 144, 150 within the appliance are different diameters, the channels 110 are formed with different widths and depths. For example and referring to FIG. 5, the motor cable 150 has a relatively large diameter, so the channel 110a adapted to accommodate this cable is larger, with a longer ledge than the channel 110b adapted to accommodate the heater power supply 140. The spacing between channels 110 also varies according to the diameter of the wiring housed within the channel 110.

The motor cable 150 extends from the PCB 90 to a downstream end 70b of the motor 70 where it connects to motor contacts (not shown). In this embodiment, the heater wiring 140, 142, 144 and the motor cable 150 are separated for the length of the motor 70 and the motor cable 150 attaches to the PCB 90 via a terminal 152 which is located on the adjacent side of the PCB 90. The heater power supply 140 is conveniently routed along the distal side of the PCB 90 so the power supply for the heater 80 and the motor 70 are diametrically disposed along their lengths.

The channels 110 extend longitudinally along the inner wall 220; they are not necessarily continuous as this would hinder assembly, they are long enough to retain the relevant wire so the wires do not come out of the channel and so that different wires do not cross. In this embodiment, the outer wall 200 fits snuggly over the inner wall 220 so if wires are not flush with the outer surface 220a of the inner wall 220, the outer wall 200 will not slide over the inner wall 220 during assembly of the appliance 10.

As well as channels 110 for retaining the wires, struts 120 are also provided to retain wiring in the correct position. The struts 120 are orthogonal to the channels 110 thus, the struts 120 extend partially around the outer circumference of the inner wall 220. In contrast, the channels extend partially along the outer circumference of the inner wall 220. The struts 120 achieve the same effect as the channels 110, namely that of retaining the wiring in the required location.

The invention has been described in detail with respect to a hot styling device however, it is applicable to any appliance that draws in a fluid and directs the outflow of that fluid from the appliance.

The appliance can be used with or without a heater; the action of the outflow of fluid at high velocity has a drying effect.

The fluid that flows through the appliance is generally air, but may be a different combination of gases or gas and can include additives to improve performance of the appliance or the impact the appliance has on an object the output is directed at for example, hair and the styling of that hair.

The invention is not limited to the detailed description given above. Variations will be apparent to the person skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A hand held appliance comprising a handle having an outer wall and an inner wall, a motor and a heater both housed within the inner wall, and a wiring assembly including a power supply for the motor and a power supply for the heater, wherein the power supply for the motor is diametrically opposite the power supply for the heater within the handle.

2. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the power supply for the motor is diametrically opposite the power supply for the heater as the wiring assembly extends past the motor.

3. The appliance of claim 1, wherein as the wiring assembly extends past the motor, the wiring assembly is located between the outer wall and the inner wall.

4. The appliance of claim 3, wherein the inner wall comprises at least one channel extending along a radially outer surface for housing the wiring assembly.

5. The appliance of claim 4, wherein each of the at least one channel houses a wire of the wiring assembly.

6. The appliance of claim 5, wherein the each of the at least one channel is sized to accommodate a wire of the wiring assembly.

7. The appliance of claim 5, wherein each of the at least one channels have a depth within the radially outer surface adapted for one of the wires of the wiring assembly.

8. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the handle further comprises a fluid inlet at one end and a fluid flow path extending along the handle within the outer wall.

9. The appliance of claim 8, wherein upstream of the fluid inlet, the handle comprises a printed circuit board (PCB), the motor and the heater, and a fluid outlet.

10. The appliance of claim 9, wherein for a portion of the length of the handle, the fluid flow path extends within the inner wall.

11. The appliance of claim 10, wherein the fluid flow path extends within the inner wall downstream of the PCB.

12. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the appliance is a hair care appliance.

13. The appliance of claim 12, wherein the hair care appliance is a hot styling appliance.