Electric hair grooming appliance including touchscreen

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

0001The present disclosure relates generally to an electric hair grooming appliance, and more particularly to an electric hair grooming appliance including a touchscreen.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

0002Many different types of electric hair grooming appliances are available for use in grooming hair. For example, such electric hair grooming appliances include curling irons, flat irons (which are also sometimes referred to as heated tongs or hair straighteners), blow dryers, hair setters (also known as hot rollers or curlers), and electric hair removers, such as foil shavers, rotary shavers, trimmers, clippers, and epilators.

0003Most electric hair grooming appliances include mechanical controls, such as buttons and knobs, to allow a user to control certain operations of the electric grooming appliance. These mechanical controls may be difficult to use for some users, particularly for users suffering from arthritis and other physical ailments of their hands. Moreover, the bulkiness of the mechanical controls limits the functions and operations of the hair grooming appliances that can be controlled by the user.

SUMMARY

0004In one aspect, an electric, handheld hair grooming appliance generally comprises a housing, and at least one hair grooming device carried by the housing and adapted to facilitate grooming of hair. The at least one hair grooming device is adapted to perform an operation using electrical energy applied thereto. A control circuit is in the housing and in communication with the at least one hair grooming device. A touchscreen is on at least one of the at least one hair grooming device and the housing for receiving at least one input from a user and to facilitate communication between the user and the control circuit. The touchscreen is configured to send at least one command signal to the control circuit in response to receiving said at least one input from the user. The control circuit is configured to control the operation of the at least one hair grooming device in response to receiving the at least one command signal.

0005In another aspect, a method of controlling an operation of an electric hair grooming appliance generally comprises receiving an input using a touchscreen of the electric hair grooming appliance. The input corresponds to a desired setting of at least one operating parameter of the appliance. A command signal is sent from the touchscreen to a control circuit of the electric hair grooming appliance in response to receiving the input. The operation of the electric hair grooming appliance is controlled using the control circuit in response to receiving the command signal.

0006In yet another aspect, an electric hair grooming appliance is configured to have an operation to facilitate grooming of hair. The electric hair grooming appliance generally comprises a control circuit, and a touchscreen for receiving at least one input from a user and to facilitate communication between the user and the control circuit. The touchscreen is configured to send at least one command signal to the control circuit in response to receiving the at least one input from the user. The control circuit is adapted to control the operation of the electric hair grooming appliance in response to receiving the at least one command signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0007<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an electric hair grooming appliance including a touchscreen;

0008<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a right elevational view of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>;

0009<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is an enlarged front elevational view of the touchscreen of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>;

0010<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a system of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, including the touchscreen, a control circuit, and a comb-driving assembly;

0011<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> is an enlarged front elevational view of a second embodiment of the touchscreen of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>;

0012<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a system of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, including the touchscreen, the control circuit, the comb-driving assembly, and a blade-driving assembly;

0013<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> is a perspective view of a second embodiment of an electric hair grooming appliance including a touchscreen;

0014<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> is an enlarged, perspective view of a lower arm of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>, with a heating member assembly exploded therefrom;

0015<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a system of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>, including the touchscreen, a control circuit, and a heating member assembly; and

0016<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> is an enlarged front elevational view of the touchscreen of the electric hair grooming appliance of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>.

0017FIG. 11 is an enlarged front elevational view of a screen displaying a graphical output of the electric hair grooming appliance of FIG. 1.

0018Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0019Referring to the drawings, several embodiments of electric hair grooming appliances are provided. As explained in more detail below, each illustrated hair grooming appliance is configured to have at least one operation which facilitates grooming of hair. Each illustrated hair grooming appliance includes a touchscreen to allow a user to communicate with a control circuit of the hair grooming appliance. The touchscreen is configured to receive an input from a user and send a command signal to the control circuit. The control circuit is configured to control one or more operations of the hair grooming appliance in response to receiving the command signal.

0020Referring first to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1-3</figref>, in this illustrated embodiment the electric hair grooming appliance is generally in the form of a hair removing appliance, generally indicated at <b>101</b>. More specifically, the illustrated hair removing appliance <b>101</b> is generally in the form of a hair trimmer including a housing <b>112</b>, a blade head assembly (broadly, a hair-removing assembly), indicated generally at <b>114</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>), and a drive assembly (not shown) for operating the blade head assembly. Together, the blade head assembly and drive assembly constitute a hair-removing device (broadly, a hair grooming device). The illustrated housing <b>112</b>, or a portion thereof, is suitably sized and shaped as a handle so that it is easily held in a user's hand. The drive assembly generally comprises an electric drive motor (not shown) or other electric device. The drive motor may be powered by one or more batteries within the housing and/or by another suitable internal or external electrical power source. Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, the blade head assembly <b>114</b> generally comprises a stationary blade <b>140</b> and a reciprocating blade <b>142</b> (broadly, a hair-removing member). The drive assembly <b>116</b> is configured to drive reciprocating motion of the reciprocating blade <b>142</b> relative to the stationary blade <b>140</b>. Such reciprocating motion of the reciprocating blade <b>142</b> cuts hair disposed between the blades. The trimmer <b>101</b> may be of other configurations without departing from the scope of the present invention.

0021The illustrated trimmer <b>101</b> also includes an adjustable comb assembly <b>150</b> (broadly, a hair grooming device), including a comb <b>151</b> that is selectively movable relative to the blade head assembly <b>114</b> through operation of a comb-driving assembly <b>154</b> (illustrated schematically in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>) within the housing. The comb assembly <b>150</b> allows a user to control a hair cut-length setting of the trimmer, which corresponds to the length of hair after being cut. The comb-driving assembly <b>154</b> may include an electric drive motor or other electrical device, and a transmission mechanism (not shown) coupling the motor to the comb to drive movement of the comb <b>151</b> to a plurality of different hair cut-length settings. The comb <b>151</b> may be selectively positionable to a discrete number of predetermined hair cut-length settings, or the comb assembly may be positionable to an infinite number of hair cut-length settings. It is understood that the trimmer <b>101</b> may not include a comb assembly without departing from the scope of the present invention. Moreover, the trimmer <b>101</b> may include other hair grooming devices, in addition to or in lieu of one or both of the illustrated hair grooming devices set forth above.

0022Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1, 3 and 4</figref> and as set forth above, the trimmer <b>101</b> includes a touchscreen, generally indicated at <b>160</b>, to allow a user to control one or more operations of the trimmer. The touchscreen <b>160</b> is in electrical communication with a control circuit <b>162</b>, which is disposed in the housing <b>112</b>. The control circuit <b>162</b> may include a single controller (e.g., microcontroller), one or more controllers (e.g., microcontrollers), or one or more other electrical devices (e.g., processor, memory, and input/output peripherals) in communication with one another. In one embodiment, illustrated schematically in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, the touchscreen <b>160</b> provides a user interface for a user to communicate with the control circuit <b>162</b> so that the user can select a desired hair cut-length setting of the trimmer <b>101</b>. Thus, the touchscreen <b>160</b> is adapted to receive one or more inputs from the user. The touchscreen <b>160</b> may be any suitable type of touchscreen, including but not limited to a resistive touchscreen, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) touchscreen, a surface capacitance touchscreen, a projected capacitance touchscreen, an infrared touchscreen, an optical imaging touchscreen, a dispersive technology touchscreen, and an acoustic recognition touchscreen. The touchscreen <b>102</b>, or another screen 161 (FIG. 11), may function as an output interface having a visual indicator indicative of the operation controlled by the touchscreen.

0023As seen in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1 and 3</figref>, in the illustrated embodiment, the touchscreen <b>160</b> generates graphical inputs, such as icons in the form of right and left arrows <b>160</b>a, <b>160</b>b, respectively, to indicate the input locations on the touchscreen to respectively increase and decrease the cut-length setting. The icons <b>160</b>a, <b>160</b>b may be of other configurations and/or of other symbols without departing from the scope of the present invention. In response to a finger or other object (e.g., a stylus) touching the location on the touchscreen <b>160</b> corresponding to the right arrow icon <b>160</b>a (i.e., in response to an input by the user), the touchscreen sends a first command signal to the control circuit <b>162</b>. In response to receiving the command signal, the control circuit <b>162</b> sends an electrical first control signal to the comb-driving assembly <b>154</b>. The comb-driving assembly <b>154</b>, in turn, moves the comb <b>151</b> a predetermined amount relative to the blade head assembly <b>114</b> to increase the cut-length setting by a predetermined increment in response to receiving the electrical first control signal. In response to a finger or other object (e.g., a stylus) touching the location on the touchscreen <b>160</b> corresponding to the left arrow icon <b>160</b>b (i.e., in response to an input by the user), the touchscreen sends a different, second command signal to the control circuit <b>162</b>. In response to receiving the second command signal, the control circuit <b>162</b> sends a different, electrical second control signal to the comb-driving assembly <b>154</b>. The comb-driving assembly <b>154</b>, in turn, moves the comb <b>151</b> a predetermined amount relative to the blade head assembly <b>114</b> to decrease the cut-length setting by a predetermined increment in response to receiving the electrical second control signal. In an alternative embodiment, indicia including up and down arrow markings may be applied to the surface of the touchscreen instead of the touchscreen generating graphical icons.

0024The illustrated touchscreen <b>160</b> also generates graphical output <b>166</b> to communicate the selected hair-cut length setting to the user. In one example, the trimmer <b>101</b> may have hair cut-length settings ranging from about 0.2 mm to about 5.0 mm, in increments of about 0.2 mm. Thus, the graphical output <b>166</b> is able to output any numeral from 0.2 mm to 5.0 mm, in increments of 0.2 mm. The trimmer <b>101</b> may have other hair cut-length settings without departing from the scope of the present invention. Moreover, the output communicating the hair-cut length setting may be separate from the touchscreen <b>160</b> without departing from the scope of the present invention.

0025In the illustrated embodiment, the trimmer <b>101</b> also includes a locking control <b>170</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) for selectively locking the touchscreen <b>160</b> to prevent inadvertent adjustment of the hair cut-length setting, and to facilitate selective unlocking of the touchscreen to allow adjustment of the hair cut-length setting. In particular, the locking control <b>170</b> of the illustrated embodiment comprises one or more mechanical push buttons or other mechanical switches. The push button <b>170</b> has indicia indicating its functions of selectively locking and unlocking the touchscreen <b>160</b>. The touchscreen <b>160</b> may generate one or more icons, such as locking icon <b>172</b> for indicating when the touchscreen is locked. In another example, the touchscreen <b>160</b> may generate one or more graphical icons to indicate the location(s) on the touchscreen to respectively lock and unlock the touchscreen. Other ways of providing a way of locking and unlocking the touchscreen <b>160</b> do not depart from the scope of the present invention.

0026The touchscreen <b>160</b> may also be configured to facilitate control of other operations of the trimmer <b>101</b> in addition to or in lieu of controlling the movement and positioning of the comb <b>151</b> relative to the blade head assembly <b>114</b>. For example, <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> depicts an exemplary second embodiment of a touchscreen <b>160</b>′ for use on a trimmer. This touchscreen <b>160</b>′ allows the user to adjust a speed-setting of the reciprocating blade <b>142</b>, as well as control the hair cut-length setting, such at set forth above. In such an example, the touchscreen <b>160</b>′ may generate graphical inputs, such as icons in the form of up and down arrows <b>160</b>b, <b>160</b>c, respectively, or other symbols, in addition to the left and right arrows for controlling the hair cut-length setting. In response to the user touching the respective locations on the touchscreen <b>160</b>′ corresponding to the respective up and down arrow icons, <b>160</b>c, <b>160</b>d, the touchscreen sends respective third and fourth command signals to the control circuit <b>162</b>. The control circuit <b>162</b>, in response to receiving the respective third and fourth command signals, sends respective third and fourth control signals to the drive assembly, illustrated schematically at <b>166</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, to respectively increase and decrease the speed of the reciprocating blade <b>142</b> by a selected increment to a selected speed-setting. The selected speed-setting may be communicated to the user as a graphical output <b>168</b>, which may represent a percentage of the full speed of the reciprocating blade. Other ways of communicating the selected speed-setting to the user do not depart from the scope of the present invention.

0027Within the scope of the present invention are other types of hair removing appliances including a touchscreen, which may be similar or identical to the touchscreen <b>160</b> and/or <b>160</b>′ set forth above, to allow a user to communicate with a control circuit of the hair removing appliance. As non-limiting examples, other types of hair removing appliances within the scope of the present invention include foil shavers, rotary shavers, hair clippers, and epilators. Within the scope of the present invention, each of these hair removing appliances includes the touchscreen (e.g., touchscreen <b>160</b> or <b>160</b>′) in communication with a control circuit; a drive assembly including, for example, an electric motor, which is driven by electric energy such as from a battery source or another source of electrical energy; and a movable hair-removing member (e.g., a rotary blade in the rotary shaver, an oscillating blade in the hair clipper, and pinching plates and/or tweezing members in the epilator) operatively coupled to the electric motor and configured for removing hair. Each of these exemplary hair removing appliances may include other hair grooming devices in addition to the hair grooming device comprising the hair-removing member and the drive assembly. In each of these additional exemplary hair removing appliances, the control circuit is configured to receive a command signal from the touchscreen in response to an input, and in response to receiving the command signal, the control circuit controls an operation of at least one of the hair grooming devices of the hair removing appliance by sending a control signal to the hair grooming device For example, in each of the exemplary hair removing appliances described herein, the control circuit may be configured to control the speed of the corresponding movable hair-removing member.

0028Referring now to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 7-10</figref> a second embodiment of an electric hair grooming appliance including a touchscreen is generally indicated at <b>201</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>). In general, this embodiment <b>201</b> is adapted to apply heat to hair, as explained in more detail below, and more specifically, the illustrated hair styling apparatus is in the form of a flat iron. The illustrated flat iron <b>201</b> is generally elongate with opposite longitudinal ends and has first and second arms, generally indicated at <b>203</b>a and <b>203</b>b, respectively, held in assembly with each other by a suitable pivot connection <b>204</b> at one of the longitudinal ends of the flat iron. The first and second arms <b>203</b>a, <b>203</b>b are thus moveable relative to one another and about a pivot axis of the pivot connection <b>204</b> between an open position (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>) of the flat iron <b>201</b> and a closed position (not illustrated) thereof. A biasing member in the form of a compression spring (not shown) is suitably positioned between the first and second arms <b>203</b>a, <b>203</b>b adjacent to the pivot connection <b>204</b> to urge the arms toward the open position of the flat iron <b>201</b>.

0029Each of the first and second arms <b>203</b>a, <b>203</b>b comprises an outer shell or housing member <b>209</b>, <b>210</b>, respectively, and a heating member assembly secured thereto (only heating member assembly <b>214</b> associated with the first arm is illustrated). The heating member assemblies <b>214</b> of the first and second arms <b>203</b>a, <b>203</b>b may be substantially identical, and for ease of description only, the heating member assembly of the first arm only is described herein, with the understanding that the description of the heating member assembly of the first arm may apply equally to the heating member assembly of the second arm. Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref>, the heating member assembly <b>214</b> comprises a thermally conductive heating member <b>216</b>, which may be constructed of any suitable material, such as, without limitation, metal, ceramic materials or combinations thereof; a heating unit <b>217</b> disposed within the housing member <b>209</b>; and a temperature sensing unit (not shown), which may include a thermistor and heat conductor in thermal contact with the heating unit (or heating member) and the thermistor.

0030The heating unit <b>217</b> suitably comprises one or more heaters, such as electrical resistance heaters (e.g., PTC heating units), positioned in contact with or in sufficiently close proximity to the heating member <b>216</b> to heat the heating member during use of the flat iron <b>201</b>. For example, in one suitable embodiment the heating unit <b>217</b> is operable to heat the heating member <b>216</b> to a styling temperature of at least about 100 degrees Celsius, and may heat the heating member up to a temperature of about 250 degrees Celsius. In another embodiment the heating unit <b>217</b> is operable to heat the heating member <b>216</b> to a styling temperature in the range of about 180 to about 230 degrees Celsius. It is understood that other suitable heating units or heating methods may be used to heat the heating member <b>216</b> without departing from the scope of this invention.

0031The heating members <b>216</b> of the respective heating member assemblies <b>214</b> of the first and second arms <b>203</b>a, <b>203</b>b are sufficiently located longitudinally on the respective arms so that in the closed position of the flat iron <b>201</b> the heating members <b>214</b> sandwich and compress hair therebetween. In the open position of the flat iron <b>201</b>, the heating members <b>216</b> are spaced apart from one another a sufficient distance to allow the introduction of hair between the heating members.

0032As set forth above and seen throughout <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 7-10</figref>, the flat iron <b>201</b> includes a touchscreen, generally indicated at <b>260</b>, to allow a user to control one or more operations of the flat iron. The touchscreen <b>260</b> is in electrical communication with a control circuit <b>262</b>, which is disposed in one of the housing members <b>209</b>, <b>210</b>. In one embodiment, illustrated schematically in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref>, the touchscreen <b>260</b> provides a user interface for a user to communicate with the control circuit <b>262</b> so that the user can select a desired temperature setting of the flat iron <b>201</b>, more specifically, a temperature setting of the heating member assemblies <b>214</b>. Thus, the touchscreen <b>260</b> is adapted to receive one or more inputs from the user. The touchscreen <b>260</b> may be any suitable type of touchscreen, including but not limited to a resistive touchscreen, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) touchscreen, a surface capacitance touchscreen, a projected capacitance touchscreen, an infrared touchscreen, an optical imaging touchscreen, a dispersive technology touchscreen, and an acoustic recognition touchscreen. The touchscreen <b>260</b>, or another screen, may function as an output interface to communicate to the user the selected temperature setting.

0033In one embodiment, the touchscreen <b>260</b> generates graphical inputs, such as icons in the form of right and left arrows <b>260</b>a, <b>260</b>b, respectively (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 8 and 10</figref>), to indicate the locations on the touchscreen to respectively increase and decrease the temperature setting. The icons <b>260</b>a, <b>260</b>b may be of other configurations and/or of other symbols without departing from the scope of the present invention. In response to a finger or other object (e.g., a stylus) touching the location on the touchscreen <b>260</b> corresponding to the right arrow icon <b>260</b>a (i.e., in response to an input by the user), the touchscreen sends a first command signal to the control circuit <b>262</b>. In response to receiving the first command signal, the control circuit <b>262</b> sends an electrical first control signal to the heating member assemblies <b>214</b> (e.g., to the PTC heating units <b>217</b>), which increases the heat output of the heating units <b>217</b> to increase the temperatures of the heating members <b>216</b> by a predetermined increment. Moreover, in response to a finger or other object (e.g., a stylus) touching the location on the touchscreen <b>260</b> corresponding to the left arrow icon <b>260</b>b (i.e., in response to an input by the user), the touchscreen sends a different second command signal to the control circuit <b>262</b>. In response to receiving the second command signal, the control circuit <b>262</b> sends a different, second electrical control signal to the heating member assemblies <b>214</b>, which decreases the heat output of the heating units <b>217</b> to decrease the temperatures of the heating members <b>216</b> by a predetermined increment. In an alternative embodiment, indicia, including right and left arrow markings, may be applied to a surface of the touchscreen instead of the touchscreen generating the icons.

0034The illustrated touchscreen <b>260</b> also generates graphical output <b>266</b> to communicate the selected temperature setting, or other selected operation, to the user. It is understood, however, that the output communicating the temperature setting to the user may be separate from the touchscreen <b>260</b>, such as on a separate display screen, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

0035The touchscreen <b>260</b> may also be configured to facilitate control of other operations of the flat iron <b>201</b> in addition to or in lieu of controlling the temperatures of the heating members <b>216</b>.

0036In the illustrated embodiment, the flat iron <b>201</b> also includes a locking control <b>270</b> for selectively locking the touchscreen <b>260</b> to prevent inadvertent adjustment of the temperature setting, and to facilitate selective unlocking of the touchscreen to allow adjustment of the temperature setting. In particular, the locking control <b>270</b> of the illustrated embodiment comprises one or more push buttons or other mechanical switches. The push button <b>270</b> has indicia indicating its functions of selectively locking and unlocking the touchscreen <b>260</b>. The touchscreen <b>260</b> may generate one or more icons, such as icon <b>272</b>, for indicating when the touchscreen is locked and/or unlocked. In another example, the touchscreen <b>260</b> may generate one or more icons to indicate the location(s) on the touchscreen to respectively lock and unlock the touchscreen. Other ways of providing a way of locking and unlocking the touchscreen <b>260</b> do not depart from the scope of the present invention.

0037Within the scope of the present invention are other types of hair styling appliances for applying heat to hair and including a touchscreen, such as the touchscreen <b>260</b> set forth above, to allow a user to communicate with a control circuit of the hair styling appliance. As non-limiting examples, other types of hair styling appliances within the scope of the present invention include curling irons, blow dryers, and hair setters (also known as hot rollers). Within the scope of the present invention, each of these hair styling appliances includes the touchscreen in communication with a control circuit; and a heating member assembly, which is heated by electric energy such as from a battery source or another source of electrical energy. In each of these exemplary hair removing appliances, the control circuit is configured to receive a command signal from the touchscreen in response to an input, and in response to receiving the command signal, the control circuit controls an operation of the hair removing appliance. For example, in each of the exemplary hair removing appliances set forth, the control circuit may be configured to control the temperature of the heating member assembly. With respect to an exemplary blow dryer, the touchscreen may allow the user to control the speed of the fan, in addition to the temperature of the air.

0038When introducing elements of the present invention or preferred embodiments thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the”, and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.

0039As various changes could be made in the above constructions and methods without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.