INSULATIVE AND SECUREMENT SLEEVE FOR CONDUITS

Abstract

A sleeve attachable to a barrel of a heated conduit to insulate users handling the nozzle, wherein the sleeve can increase the securement of a nozzle attachment to the barrel. The sleeve provides an alternating arrangement of elastic sheets and more plastic insulative sheets that define the generally tubular sleeve body. The elastic sheets urge the coextensive insulative sheets toward an aligned, stacked position when the sleeve is unloaded. In the loaded condition, when the nozzle is slid through the sleeve, the elastic sheets impose a compressive force thereto. A securement mechanism along one or each of the insulative sheets enables a user to increase or decrease the compressive force.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device and method for insulating conduits and securing attachments thereto and, more particularly, an insulating sleeve for a barrel of a handheld dryer that also facilitates securement of an attachment nozzle to the handheld dryer.

A blow dryer (sometime referred to as a hair dryer) is an electromechanical device that blows ambient or hot air over damp hair. Most blow dryers consist of a heating element and a fan that blows the hot air out of a nozzle. The nozzle's barrel allows a user to add one of many different nozzle attachments to the blow dryer. Different nozzle attachments come in different shapes (for instance, frequently the nozzle attachment's cross-section dramatically changes as it extends from a round attachment end to an oblong outlet with flared out sidewalls). It is notable that typically the attachment end is the “universal” round opening that may not form a secure fit to certain nozzle barrel types and sizes.

Moreover, the nozzle barrel and their nozzle attachments can absorb the passing heat from and so both can be a burn hazard to a user, especially when users are rushing through their morning routine and/or interchanging two or more attachments in one sitting.

As can be seen, there is a need for a heat-resistant sleeve for a blow dryer that facilitates securement of a nozzle attachment to the blow dryer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The heat-resistant sleeve prevents the user from being burned when handling the blow dryer or its nozzle attachment. Furthermore, the heat-resistant sleeve provides elastic arrangement and a compressive mechanism to selectively secure the sleeve to the barrel of the blow dryer. With the sleeve secure to the barrel of the blow dryer, a user is insulated from its heat.

Furthermore, the elasticity and the selective compressive mechanism of the present invention enables the heat-resistant sleeve to further secure an extrinsic nozzle attachment to the intrinsic dryer barrel.

Additionally, an alternating arrangement of elastic sheets and more plastic insulative sheets urges the sleeve toward an unloaded flat (or flatter) condition for efficient storage. In the flat condition the coextensive insulative sheets tend to align or stack, thereby forming the flat condition, while the elastic sheets bow either inwardly or outwardly.

The plasticity of the insulative sheets affords stiffness to facilitating the selective securement of the compressive mechanism.

In one aspect of the present invention, a sleeve for a barrel of a handheld dryer, the sleeve including the following: an alternating arrangement of elastic sheets and insulative sheets, wherein said sheets are joined by way of their longitudinal edges or inward thereof to define a tubular body; and a securement mechanism connecting along one of the insulative sheets for selectively stretching adjacent elastic sheets joined thereto.

In another aspect of the present invention, the sleeve further includes wherein the elastic sheets bias the tubular body toward a flat condition, wherein the insulative sheets are approximately coextensive, and wherein the flat condition is defined by the insulative sheets aligned in a stacked position, wherein the securement mechanism is a reclosable fastener connected at two spaced apart connection points along said one insulative sheet, wherein the reclosable fastener is movable between an open condition and a closed condition that stretches the adjacent elastic sheets joined thereto, wherein the securement mechanism is a zipper.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown in use.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a closed position of the reclosable fastener 22 pulling the edges of its supporting insulative sheet 12 toward each other.

FIG. 3 is the side elevation view of FIG. 2, illustrating the reclosable fastener 22 moving from the closed position to an open position.

FIG. 4 is the section view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 1, showing the elasticity and thus the loaded, stretched condition, of the elastic sheet 16.

FIG. 5 is the section view of FIG. 4 with the blow dryer removed, showing the unloaded condition of the elastic sheet 16, wherein the lateral width of the more plastic thermal sheets 12 and 18 remain generally constant between FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 6 is the section view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 4, showing the used/loaded, stretched condition of the elastic sheets 14 and 16 so that the sleeve 10 defines a circular opening.

FIG. 7 is the section view of FIG. 6 with the blow dryer removed, showing the unused/unloaded condition, illustrating the sleeve 10 moving toward a flat condition as the elastic sheets 14 and 16 return to their unstrained lateral widths.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown in a used condition with a nozzle attachment.

FIG. 9 is an elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown in the used condition with a nozzle attachment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a sleeve attachable to a barrel of a heated conduit to insulate users handling the nozzle, wherein the sleeve can increase the securement of a nozzle attachment to the barrel. The sleeve provides an alternating arrangement of elastic sheets and more plastic insulative sheets that define the generally tubular sleeve body. The elastic sheets urge the coextensive insulative sheets toward an aligned, stacked position when the sleeve is unloaded. In the loaded condition, when the nozzle is slid through the sleeve, the elastic sheets impose a compressive force thereto. A securement mechanism along one or each of the insulative sheets enables a user to increase or decrease the compressive force.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 9, the present invention may include a sleeve 10 made, in part, from thermal-insulating material and elastic material. In some embodiments, the thermal-insulating material may be neoprene, but it is to be understood that any material that is a sufficient thermal insulator to function as disclosed herein would be suitable.

The sleeve 10 may include two thermal insulative sheets (a first thermal insulative sheet 12 and a second thermal insulative sheet 18) and two elastic sheets (a first elastic sheet 14 and a second elastic sheet 16) connected in an alternating pattern or arrangement. The longitudinal edges of each sheet may be connected to the longitudinal edge of the adjacent, alternating sheet. This alternating arrangement defines a generally tubular sleeve. In some embodiments, more than two of each insulative and elastic sheets is contemplated.

The alternating arrangement is movable between a generally cylindrical shape, in a used/loaded condition, and a generally flat condition in an unloaded condition. In the unloaded state, the first and second elastic sheets 14 and 16 would urge the first and second thermal insulative sheets 12 and 18 from a generally cylindrical shape toward a generally flat condition, as illustrated in FIG. 7. In other words, the sleeve 10 is biased toward the flat condition, but can be loaded and stretched to (and beyond) a cylindrical shape. As a result, the sleeve 10 may be slid onto a cylindrical barrel of a blow dryer 26, where the biasing of the sleeve 10, urged of the first and second elastic sheets 14 and 16, provides a compressive force along the surface of said barrel. Likewise, if the blow dryer 26 has a nozzle attachment 28, then the sleeve 10 can overlap the joint between the two, thereby urging a more secure connection between the nozzle attachment 28 and barrel of the dryer 26. Accordingly, the present invention may be used to further secure the nozzle attachment 28 to the barrel as sometimes their so-called ‘universal’ fitting does not mesh well with the barrel of the dryer 26. The present invention also protects the user from being burned by the nozzle attachment that also heats up to very high temperatures during use of the dryer 26.

Furthermore, the modulus of elasticity of the first and second elastic sheets 14 and 16 allow a user to expand the opening and/or lumen defined by the alternatingly connected first and second elastic sheets 14 and 16 and first and second thermal insulative sheets 12 and 18. As a result, the opening/lumen can be stretched to fit over irregularly, non-cylindrical shapes like flared nozzle attachments.

A reclosable fastener 22 may connected along a longitudinal length of one or each of the thermal insulative sheets 12 or 18 so that when the reclosable fastener 22 moves from an open condition to a closed condition, the lateral width of that thermal insulative sheet decreases. For instance, the reclosable fastener 22 may be a zipper connected at two spaced apart connections points along the longitudinal length of the thermal insulative sheet, whereby closing the zipper urges the two spaced apart connections points toward each other adding compressive force to the sleeve 10 by way of the resulting tug on the connected elastic sheets 14 and 16. Conversely, the sleeve 10 with the reclosable fastener 22 in the open condition may facilitate sliding the sleeve 10 over the barrel of the blow dryer 26 (and any nozzle attachment), so that the user may then move the reclosable fastener 22 to the closed condition increasing the compressive force exerted by the sleeve 10. Thereby the present invention provides a selective engagement mechanism (as the reclosable fastener 22 need not be fully closed or open). It should also be noted that the reclosable fastener 22 could be a different fastener type (e.g., hook and loop fasteners, snaps, a slider, etc. if they function in accordance with this disclosure. If the reclosable fastener 22 is a zipper it may have a pull 24. Connection material 20 may help for the connection of the reclosable fastener 22 to the insulative sheet. The reclosable fastener 22 can be one or more inches long. The overall length of the sleeve 10 can be an inch and a half to up to six inches.

As used in this application, the term “about” or “approximately” refers to a range of values within plus or minus 10% of the specified number. And the term “substantially” refers to up to 80% or more of an entirety. Recitation of ranges of values herein are not intended to be limiting, referring instead individually to any and all values falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated, and each separate value within such a range is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.

For purposes of this disclosure, the term “aligned” means parallel, substantially parallel, or forming an angle of less than 35.0 degrees. For purposes of this disclosure, the term “transverse” means perpendicular, substantially perpendicular, or forming an angle between 55.0 and 125.0 degrees. Also, for purposes of this disclosure, the term “length” means the longest dimension of an object. Also, for purposes of this disclosure, the term “width” means the dimension of an object from side to side. For the purposes of this disclosure, the term “above” generally means superjacent, substantially superjacent, or higher than another object although not directly overlying the object. Further, for purposes of this disclosure, the term “mechanical communication” generally refers to components being in direct physical contact with each other or being in indirect physical contact with each other where movement of one component affect the position of the other.

The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (“e.g.,” “such as,” or the like) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the embodiments and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the embodiments or the claims. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any unclaimed element as essential to the practice of the disclosed embodiments.

In the following description, it is understood that terms such as “first,” “second,” “top,” “bottom,” “up,” “down,” and the like, are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms unless specifically stated to the contrary.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A sleeve for a barrel of a handheld dryer, the sleeve comprising:

an alternating arrangement of elastic sheets and insulative sheets, wherein said sheets are joined by way of their longitudinal edges or inward thereof to define a tubular body; and

a securement mechanism connecting along one of the insulative sheets for selectively stretching adjacent elastic sheets joined thereto.

2. The sleeve of claim 1, wherein the elastic sheets bias the tubular body toward a flat condition.

3. The sleeve of claim 2, wherein the insulative sheets are approximately coextensive, and wherein the flat condition is defined by the insulative sheets aligned in a stacked position.

4. The sleeve of claim 3, wherein the securement mechanism is a reclosable fastener connected at two spaced apart connection points along said one insulative sheet, wherein the reclosable fastener is movable between an open condition and a closed condition that stretches the adjacent elastic sheets joined thereto.

5. The sleeve of claim 4, wherein the securement mechanism is a zipper.

6. The sleeve of claim 5, wherein the sleeve is dimensioned to circumscribe a nozzle attachment operatively associated with the barrel.