EP2037770B1 - Hair-care appliance with ionization device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a hair care device having at least one ionization device for the electrostatic discharge of hair according to the preamble of claim 1.

State of the art

When brushing, combing or drying hair, unwanted electrostatic charges on the hair occur, which make it more difficult to achieve targeted shaping and styling. Apart from the inconvenience of the person concerned, more and more dust particles are deposited on electrified hair, which can also lead to faster pollution.

So are from the prior art, for example, the DE 80 18 566 U1 Ionization devices for hair dryers are known, by which the electric charges can be neutralized. The ionization device in this case comprises a high voltage circuit formed by a pulse generator circuit, which feeds a located in an end region of a hot air line ionizing electrode.

Furthermore, from the DE 103 51 265 A1 an ionization device is known in which the ionization electrode is integrally formed from the electrical conductor, which connects the ionization device with a high voltage source conductively.

Furthermore, the describes US 5,612,849 A a hair dryer with an ion source which adds ions to an air stream flowing from an air outlet. A point-shaped ion source, such as a needle, is hereby arranged beside or in the center of an air outlet. This has concentric guides and a concave reflector, which is arranged behind the ion source.

The DE 20 2004 003 593 U1 finally describes an application handle for screwing hair curlers with an ion-emitting electrode, which is formed with respect to the arrangement of its ion-emitting end for ion delivery directly on the wound in a hair curler held by the application handle hair.

The aforementioned, trained with an ionizer hair care equipment is based on the common problem that for the transport of ions to the neutralizing hair is always a carrier medium, such as a stream of air, is required. This necessarily forces the ionization device to be arranged in an air flow or in the immediate vicinity of an air flow. On the one hand, this limits the design freedom of the hair care appliance and, on the other hand, the field of application of such ionization appliances is limited to those hair care appliances which generate an air flow.

Furthermore, due to the turbulence inevitably located in the air stream, targeted and controlled application of ions to the hair is possible only in an inadequate manner. In particular, due to the unavoidable and difficult-to-control air turbulence in an air outlet, a not inconsiderable part of the ions does not even reach the hairs to be neutralized.

Furthermore, in the case of the ionization devices known from the prior art, the ionization tips are usually produced from needles or bent metal sheets which have tips which have an electric field concentrating effect not only in the direction of ion flow but also in many other directions.

Alone by an electrical connection of the ionization with the high voltage leading high voltage cable and by the storage of the tip, parallel capacitances and resistors result in the operation of the ionization parallel currents, whereby the achievable at the ionization peak voltage drops noticeably.

However, in order that a high voltage sufficient for the ionization can be made available at the ionization tip, in such arrangements, the high-voltage source must be dimensioned correspondingly large.

The from the DE 20 2004 003 593 U1 known ionization device is designed specifically for the delivery of ions directly to the hair wrapped around a hair curler. The hair or hair tufts to be acted upon with ions must in this case be arranged in the immediate vicinity of the ion-emitting electrode.

The JP 2004-249135A describes an ionizer in a comb-type hair styling device having a needle-like central electrode surrounded by a dielectric sleeve. Around the sleeve is a metal-safe ring as a counter electrode, which surrounds the central needle symmetrically.

The US 6,393,718 B1 discloses a hair dryer with a negative ion generator disposed in a unilaterally opened tubular ion chamber with a pin-shaped electrode in the ion chamber. As a counter electrode is a the air outlet of the hair dryer covering grating, which is arranged substantially radially offset from the pin-shaped electrode outside the ion chamber.

task □

The present invention has the object of providing a hair care device with an improved in terms of efficiency, efficiency, manufacturing costs and material cost ionization available. Furthermore, the invention aims to to create a wider scope for ionization sources. In particular, an efficient and far-reaching ion propagation even without a carrier medium or air flow and also the use of high voltage sources with small dimensions and low energy consumption will be made possible.

Invention and advantageous effects

The object underlying the invention is achieved by means of a hair care device with the features of claim 1. Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

The hair-care appliance according to the invention has at least one ionization device for generating an air ionization and a high-voltage source which is connected to the ionization device by means of at least one electrical conductor. The free end of the conductor is designed as an ionization electrode and has for this purpose at least one pointed area.

The invention is characterized in particular by the fact that the ionization electrode is arranged inside a sleeve-like ionization chamber open towards one side.

The open side or the region of the ionization chamber formed as an opening allows unhindered escape of ions which are formed within the ionization chamber at the ionization electrode. In this case, it is of particular importance that on the construction side no objects, such as, for example, an insulation grid and securing grid, cover the opening of the ionization chamber.

Thus, it is provided in the operation of the hair-care appliance or the ionization device that the ions formed on the ionization electrode escape from the ionization chamber solely by electrostatically induced effects and preferably propagate to form a large-volume ion cloud.

Since the ionization device according to the invention enables an automatic and large-area spreading of an ion cloud, can be dispensed with an air flow as a carrier medium for the ions generated, whereby the ionizer can be used more versatile and universal overall.

The hair care device according to the invention thus comprises all hair driers and hair styling devices, such as Straightener or Curler and is not limited to such, an air flow generating devices.

According to the invention, a counter electrode is provided at a distance from the ionization electrode. By means of this counterelectrode, the ion cloud emerging from the ionization chamber can be purposefully influenced and controlled. By means of a predetermined potential gradient between the ionization electrode and the counterelectrode, the quantity, the propagation direction as well as the propagation velocity of the ions generated within the ionization chamber can be controlled and controlled.

Furthermore, it is provided that the counterelectrode is arranged outside the ionization chamber. The counterelectrode in this case comes to lie on the open side of the ionization chamber, so that the ions which can be generated by the ionization tip move in the direction of the counterelectrode on exiting the ionization chamber.

Another advantage is that the counter electrode has a substantially plate-like geometry. The two electrodes, counter electrode and ionization electrode are in particular asymmetrical. The ionization electrode preferably has a radius of curvature of less than 3 mm and is in particular round or cylindrical in section. In contrast, the counter electrode is plate-like, flat and / or formed with a radius of curvature greater than 1 cm. By this arrangement of the two electrodes in particular corona discharges are to be generated, in which a preferably permanent current flow is generated by air between the two electrodes with the generated ions as charge carriers.

According to a further embodiment, it is provided that the counter electrode is arranged radially and / or axially offset relative to the ionization electrode with respect to the geometry of the ionization chamber. The relative positioning, the mutual alignment and the distance of the two electrodes, ionization electrode and counter electrode is of great importance for the generation of the ion cloud and for the efficiency of the entire ionization device.

The parameters which relate to the geometry of the ionization chamber, the relative orientation and arrangement of the electrodes are preferably optimized and matched to one another in such a way that a maximum of ions can be generated for a given voltage value between ionization electrode and counterelectrode.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the ionization electrode is arranged approximately centrally within the ionization chamber.

Furthermore, it is provided that the tip region of the ionization electrode extends essentially in the axial direction of the ionization chamber. The ionization electrode or its free end, which tapers at least in regions, is preferably aligned parallel to the direction of the resulting ion current or the propagation direction of the ion cloud.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the ionization electrode comes to lie in the axial direction of the ionization chamber in the region of the opening of the ionization chamber. According to a further embodiment of the invention, an axial region for the positioning of the ionization electrode is an arrangement of the ionization electrode such that its free end also extends beyond the edge of the ionization chamber.

According to a further embodiment, it is provided that the free end of the ionization electrode is arranged inside the ionization chamber and set back from the edge of the ionization chamber. Other intermediate embodiments, such as a flush arrangement of the ionization electrode to the edge of the ionization chamber are also conceivable.

The axial positioning of the ionization electrode with respect to the geometry of the ionization chamber is of crucial importance for the formation of the largest possible ion cloud.

Furthermore, it is provided that the ionization chamber is cylindrical.

An alternative embodiment of the ionization chamber has an elliptical cross section with two axes of symmetry. Such symmetrical geometries of the ionization chamber, as well as the cylindrical configuration for the formation of a homogeneous cloud of ionized air molecules of advantage.

According to a further preferred embodiment, it is provided that the electrical conductor between the high voltage source and the ionization device, or ionization electrode is formed as a continuous and insulated high voltage cable.

If the hair-care appliance has a plurality of ionization devices arranged spatially separated from each other, a separate high-voltage cable is provided for each ionization electrode so that high-voltage cables between the high-voltage source and the ionization devices can be avoided except for the branching.

The electrodes of the ionization devices are connected without interruption and without further connecting means directly to the high voltage source. Edges, steps or the like, which would result in the transition of a separate metal electrode to the connecting cable are bypassed by the formation of a continuous connection. The field concentrations associated with such edges or steps and the associated efficiency penalty for ion ejection can thus be avoided in a simple manner.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the tip region of the ionization electrode is formed by clipping. For this purpose, in particular an oblique section of the free end of the electrical conductor connected to the high voltage source is provided. Thus, a sharp-edged and tapered region of the ionization electrode can be produced, at which a high field concentration occurs, which is advantageous for efficient ion emission.

The oblique cutting of the conductor is easy to implement and also favors the emission of the ions formed at the electrode. Furthermore, it is provided that the electrical conductor is designed as a stranded cable and the ionization electrode has a plurality of spaced-apart and / or diverging pointed areas. These are then designed as strand or wire ends. In this way, the ion output can be increased. The stranded or wire ends can in this case be arranged both radially and axially offset from one another.

The oblique section for forming a tip of the ionization electrode is preferably at an angle of 30 ° to 70 °, preferably approximately 45 ° to 60 ° to the conductor direction, so that a tip of the ionization electrode of about 20 ° to about 60 °, preferably about 30 ° is formed to 45 ° to the conductor direction.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the high voltage source has an open circuit voltage of 2 kV to 7 kV, wherein its internal resistance is preferably 5 to 30 megohms, in particular 10 megohms. This high internal resistance ensures that a sufficiently low short-circuit current is achieved.

In addition, a high internal resistance of the high voltage source for the one-side open design of the ionization chamber and arranged therein exposed ionization of advantage, especially since the propagation of the ion cloud by any structural protection measures, such as a grid should be affected.

According to a further embodiment of the invention it is provided that the high voltage source, the electrode and the electrical conductor are formed such that at the electrode a negative high voltage of 2.5 kV to 6 kV, measured against 1 gigaohm of the measuring device. In this case, provision is made in particular for the electrical conductor connected to the high-voltage source and the ionization electrode to form a high parallel impedance to the internal resistance of the high-voltage source.

A low parallel impedance would be disadvantageous because it would form a voltage divider with the internal resistance of the high voltage source. This would mean that a high voltage drop occurs at the internal resistance of the high voltage source, which is not usable for ionization. The useful voltage at the electrode is almost the open circuit voltage of the high voltage source by the electrode formation according to the invention.

Open circuit voltages below 6 kV are possible with high efficiency and high internal resistance of, for example, 10 megohms. The comparatively low voltage thus enables the use of a low-cost transformer for the high voltage source.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the diameter of the ionization chamber is in the range between 3 mm and 10 mm. The ionization electrode can be arranged in a range by protruding up to 2 mm from the edge of the ionization chamber or by up to 6 mm from the edge of the ionization chamber.

The strand diameter of the cables can range from 2.5 mm to 0.05 mm. It is preferably between 0.15 mm and 0.3 mm. The electrical conductor may itself consist of copper, nickel silver or other comparable conductive alloys or metals. Furthermore, carbon fibers can be used which have a strand diameter in the range greater than 3 microns.

It is further provided that the counter electrode is arranged in the axial direction between 5 mm to 20 mm from the ionization electrode spaced.

All absolute size data are only exemplary and are intended to represent only the distance and size ratios of the individual components, but not an absolute dimensioning of the individual elements of the ionization.

The invention is not limited to a single hair care device, but can be universally applied to a variety of different hair care devices, such as curlers, curling irons, straighteners or curlers. Further fields of use are, for example, hair stylers, hair brushes and drying hoods or hair driers. A use in air conditioners, humidifiers, air conditioners and the like is in principle conceivable.

embodiments

Other objects, advantages, features and advantageous applications of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the drawings. All described and / or illustrated features constitute the subject matter of the invention, also independent of the patent claims or their dependency.

Figur 1

eine schematische Darstellung der Ionisationsvorrichtung im Längsquerschnitt,

Figur 2

eine schematische Darstellung des Haarpflegegeräts mit einer Ionisationsvorrichtung,

Figur 3

eine Darstellung eines Haarpflegegeräts gemäß Figur 2 mit einer weiteren Ionisationsvorrichtung,

Figur 4

eine schematische Darstellung der Ionisationsvorrichtung gemäß Figur 1 im Querschnitt,

Figur 5

eine elliptisch ausgebildete Ionisationskammer im Querschnitt,

Figur 6

eine Darstellung der Elektrode,

Figur 7 - Figur 11

Varianten der Elektrode,

Figur 12

eine Darstellung eines Schnittbereiches der Elektrode und

Figur 13

ein Schaltbild der Ionisationsvorrichtung mit einer parallelen Kapazität und einem parallelen Widerstand, wobei zusätzlich ein uneffektiver Ionenfluss (nach oben gerichteter Pfeil) dargestellt ist.

Show it:

FIG. 1

a schematic representation of the ionization device in longitudinal cross section,

FIG. 2

a schematic representation of the hair care device with an ionization device,

FIG. 3

an illustration of a hair care device according to FIG. 2 with a further ionization device,

FIG. 4

a schematic representation of the ionization according to FIG. 1 in cross section,

FIG. 5

an elliptical ionization chamber in cross section,

FIG. 6

a representation of the electrode,

FIG. 7 - FIG. 11

Variants of the electrode,

FIG. 12

a representation of a cutting region of the electrode and

FIG. 13

a circuit diagram of the ionization device with a parallel capacitance and a parallel resistor, wherein additionally an ineffective ion flow (upward arrow) is shown.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the ionization device 17 in a longitudinal cross-section. The cylindrically formed ionization chamber 34 can be integrated into a housing of a hair care device 10 in almost any desired manner. For example, it is provided in particular that the ionization chamber 34 is flush with its open area integrated into a housing wall.

The tapered section of an electrical conductor 15 tapered electrode 12 is arranged centrally within the ionization chamber 34. The high voltage cable 13 is enclosed in a bearing 16, which may be formed, for example, as an aluminum sleeve or else of insulating material, for example in the form of a silicone tube or a plastic sleeve. When Plastic materials are in particular PBT, polyamide, polyurethane, ABS and PC in question.

The counter electrode 20 is formed asymmetrically to the ionization electrode 12 and therefore has a plate-like, but at least substantially rectilinear geometry. It is arranged both outside the ionization chamber 34 and radially and axially offset from the ionization electrode 12.

For a most efficient generation of ions or formation of a corona discharge between the electrodes 12 and 20, the dimensioning of the individual elements and their orientation and arrangement is of great importance. The diameter 28 of the exit channel for the ions should be in a range between 3 mm and 10 mm.

The distance 22 between the free end of the counter electrode 20 and the tapered end of the ionization electrode 12 is to be selected in a range between 5 mm and 20 mm. Similarly, the supernatant 24 of the insulated area 13 of the electrical conductor 15 from the bearing 16 should be in a range of 0.5 to 5 mm.

The axial extent of the stripped region 32 of the free conductor end 15 is in a range of 1 mm to 5 mm. The distance 30 between the tip of the ionization electrode and the edge of the ionization chamber 34 is in a range of -2 mm to 6 mm. The negative indication here means that the tip of the ionization electrode 12 can not only lie within the ionization chamber 34, but can also be arranged slightly protruding from the edge of the chamber.

The radial distance 26 between the ionization electrode 12 and the inner wall of the ionization chamber 34 is in this embodiment in a range of 0.5 to 6 mm.

The absolute size specifications given here are by no means to be understood as absolute values, but merely serve to provide an exact representation of the size relationships of the individual elements and their distances from one another. It goes without saying that the ionization device 17 can also be realized in a correspondingly larger or smaller scale.

According to the purely schematic representation of the hair care device 10 after FIG. 2 the high voltage source 11 is electrically connected via an uninterrupted high voltage cable 13 to the ionization device. The high-voltage source, which may be designed in particular as a transformer, is designed to form a preferably negative high voltage of at least 2 kV and less than 6 kV, in particular less than 5 kV (each measured with 1 gigaohm of the measuring device at the electrode tip). Such a dimensioning of the high voltage source is made possible in particular by the one-piece design of the electrode 12 and the electrical conductor 15.

For example, if several ionization devices, as in FIG. 3 shown, provided on the hair care device 10, they are preferably electrically connected with separate cables 13 to the high voltage source 11 or provided with a suitable for high voltage purposes connection point. This type of connection serves to avoid other branches of the high-voltage cable 13, so that the electrical conductor ultimately has no solder joints, rivet joints or the like joints, which would lead to a field concentration and thus to a reduction of the ion output due to edges or steps.

In the FIGS. 4 and 5 in each case an embodiment of an ionization chamber 34, 38 is shown in cross section. According to the embodiment FIG. 4 the ionization chamber 34 has a radially symmetric cross-section and thus a cylindrical geometry, while in the embodiment according to FIG. 5 the ionization chamber 38 has an elliptical cross-sectional profile. In both embodiments, the ionization electrode 12 is mounted centrally in the ionization chamber 34, 38, which is intended to achieve the most homogeneous possible propagation of the producible ion cloud.

FIG. 6 illustrates the integral formation of ionization electrode 12 and the electrical conductor 15. The free, stripped end of the cable 13 is therefore the electrode 12 itself. The electrode 12 is held directly and preferably only by the cable 13. This is according to FIG. 1 with its isolated region attached to the sleeve-like holding element 16 within the ionization chamber 34.

In order to achieve a better ion ejection, the conductor 15 is cut off obliquely, so that a tip 18 of preferably about 20 ° to 60 °, preferably about 30 ° to 45 ° is formed. The conductor can also be trimmed several times at an angle from several sides so that the tip 18 is in the middle of the conductor. The conductor cross section of the electrode 12 is stripped off, preferably about 0.8 mm to 2 mm.

The conductor 15 or the electrode 12 may comprise a single core, as it FIG. 7 shows, or consist of strands with multiple wires, as in FIG. 6 illustrated. To form the electrode 12, a multi-core cable with a plurality of insulated conductors or even a multi-core stranded cable can be used (see FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 ).

The conductor end may be spread radially outwards, such as FIG. 9 shows or bent, for example, and bent in a preferred direction, such as FIG. 10 shows. The individual wire ends, preferably designed as strands, then lie one behind the other and next to each other. It is advantageous that a plurality of pointed areas 18a, 18b, 18c, etc. are present. Preferably, the tips are arranged in the direction of action to the hair and in the direction of the ion ejection.

Particularly favorable are individual burrs 21, which arise during cutting, such as FIG. 12 illustrated. These in turn form further tip regions 21 a, 21 b, etc., or a plurality of ionization tips and sharp edges. They thereby increase the effect of the electrode.

It is particularly advantageous that not only the electrode tip 18, but the entire electrode 12 is exposed and / or that the tip 18 points directly to the opening of the ionization chamber, as shown FIG. 1 illustrated. The internal resistance Ri of the high voltage source has little influence on the voltage at the emitter point of the electrode 12. The voltage Uah approximately corresponds to the voltage Uaw, such as FIG. 13 shows.

In this way, the formation of parallel impedances or parallel capacitances, which reduce the voltage Uaw by voltage division and thus worsen the ionization effect, is avoided. The existence of such parallel impedances becomes noticeable in particular with a high internal resistance of the generator Ri and is also dependent on the voltage form. Especially with steep pulses or high frequencies, such a parallel capacitance acts as a short circuit, so that ion emission is almost completely prevented.

Due to the one-piece electrode formation, electrical and mechanical connection points, at least in the region of the ionization electrode between electrode and Avoid cables, which in turn can lead to such unfavorable parallel impedances. So there are no further electrical components in the tip area between the single branch point and the ionization required.

Due to the low-capacitance arrangement and the electrode provided here, a low-power high voltage generator with lower voltage and / or lower current can be used. Thus, it is provided in particular that the internal resistance of the high voltage source or the resistance of the entire arrangement meets the requirements for a protective insulation according to IEC 335. In particular, two independent resistors are provided for realizing such a protective impedance.

It is also possible that the tip 18 of the ionization electrode is formed by ultrasonic welding or formed by spark erosion. Also, the conductor end or the electrode can be squeezed, pulled or formed from a predetermined breaking point, so that field concentration points arise in the desired manner.

Claims (11)

1. A hair care device (10) with at least one ionization mechanism (17) for generating air ionization, with a high voltage source (11) and at least one electrical conductor (15), which connects the at least one ionization mechanism (17) to the high voltage source (11), wherein the free end of the conductor (15) is designed as an ionization electrode (12) comprising at least one pointed region (18), wherein the ionization electrode (12) is arranged within a sleeve-like ionization chamber (34; 38) that is open on one side and the pointed region (18) of the ionization electrode (12) extends essentially in the axial direction of the ionization chamber (34; 38), and wherein a counter electrode (20) that is arranged outside the ionization chamber (34; 38) is provided at a distance to the ionization electrode (12), wherein the counter electrode (20) has a plate-like geometry and the ionization electrode (12) is asymmetrical,
   characterized in that the counter electrode (20) rests against the open side of the ionization chamber (34; 38) so that the ions generated by the pointed region (18) of the ionization electrode (12) toward the counter electrode (20) when exiting the ionization chamber (34; 38).
2. The hair care device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the counter electrode (20) is arranged radially with respect to the geometry of the ionization chamber (34; 38) and/or axially offset with respect to the ionization electrode (12).
3. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ionization electrode (12) is approximately centrically arranged in the ionization chamber (34; 38).
4. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ionization electrode (12) rests within the ionization chamber (34; 38), set back from the edge of the ionization chamber (34; 38).
5. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ionization chamber (34) is cylindrical.
6. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrical conductor (15) between the high voltage source (11) and the ionization mechanism (17) is designed as a continuous and insulated high voltage cable (13).
7. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pointed region (18) of the ionization electrode (12) is produced by cutting, in particular by a diagonal cut of a conductor end of the electrical conductor (15).
8. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrical conductor (15) is designed as a stranded wire cable and the ionization electrode (12) comprises several pointed regions (18) that are arranged at a distance from one another and/or fanned out from each other.
9. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the high voltage source (11) has an open-circuit voltage of 2 kV to 7 kV, wherein its internal resistance is preferably 5 to 30 megohm, in particular 10 megohm.
10. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the high voltage source (11), the electrode (12) and the electrical conductor (15) are designed such that a negative high voltage of 2.5 kV to 6 kV, measured with 1 gigaohm of the measuring device, is applied to the electrode (12).
11. The hair care device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the diameter of the ionization chamber (34; 38) is in the range between 3 mm and 10 mm and the ionization electrode (12) rests within the ionization chamber (34; 38) in the axial direction in positions protruding up to 2 mm from the edge of the ionization chamber and set back up to 6 mm from the edge.

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