Abstract:
A flat iron for styling hair has head portions with heatable inner surfaces that may be pivotally positioned and locked relative to the handle portions to provide enhanced ergonomic comfort and control.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/561,314 filed on Apr. 12, 2004, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to devices for styling hair such as flat hot irons and, more particularly, to such devices that are provided with adjustable position components to enhance ergonomics and control. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   Typical flat irons comprise two pivotally hinged handles, hinged at one end, and having heated heads extending from each handle. The heads have inner surfaces that face each other and that are comprised of a heatable material, usually metal, for straightening or styling hair. An electric heater element located beneath each heatable surface is activated to warm the surfaces to a desired temperature. Then the inner surfaces are positioned around a strand of hair to be styled, and the hinged handles are closed toward each other, thus bringing the heated inner surfaces toward each other to close around the hair strand. The gripped handles are then slid relative to the strand of hair, so as to run along it until the strand exits from between the heads. 
   Common designs are made with the paddles extending longitudinally from the handles, so as to share a common longitudinal axis with the handles. This design is partly due to conventional belief in ergonomic simplicity and economics in manufacture and packaging. 
   Among the drawbacks of such design, however, are discomfort and comprised safety due to the need for a user, particularly applying the device to one&#39;s self instead of another person&#39;s hair, requires a user to bend the wrist of the hand holding the appliance. This causes fatigue and discomfort over prolonged periods. Potentially, if a user continues using the product in such an instance, control of movement is diminished. 
   It is desirable, therefore, to provide a flat iron appliance that overcomes the shortcomings of the known devices, including one that improves ergonomic comfort and control. 
   OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art mentioned above. These and other objectives are achieved by the present invention described herein. 
   The present invention achieves the above-mentioned objects by utilizing a design in which the heads are pivotable relative to the handles about an axis generally perpendicular to the flat heated surfaces of the heads. The heads can be locked into a particular position with the use of a button and detents located on the heads and handles. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention is more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment with the drawings identified below. 
       FIG. 1  is a top view image of a device according to the present invention showing heads in an un-pivoted position. 
       FIG. 2  is a top view image of a device according to the present invention showing heads in a pivoted position. 
       FIG. 3  is a partial perspective view of the head portions of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a partial view of the outside of a head portion and the inside of a handle portion according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a locking mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a device according to the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1–3 , a flat iron device  10  has a handle portion  12  and a head portion  14  joined by a spring-biased hinge  16 , of a conventional type, to another head portion  18  and handle portion  20 . The handle portions  12 ,  20  are biased away from each other by the spring-biased hinge  16 , as is known in the art. Each head portion  14 ,  18  has a heatable plate  22 ,  24 , heated by conventional electrical means (not shown) known in the art, so that hair can be positioned therebetween for styling. The handles  12 ,  20  can contain control buttons  17  to operate the device  10 . 
   According to a novel aspect of the present invention, each head  14 ,  18  is pivotally attached to its respective handle portion  12 ,  20  to pivot relative to the handle as shown by the arrows (A) in  FIG. 2 . A conventional hinge and lock may be provided to lock the heads in position. A button  26  may be provided on each handle to selectively lock or unlock each head in position relative to its handle. 
   A preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 .  FIG. 4  shows the outside of a head portion  14  and the inside of a handle portion  12 . The head  14  can be placed in one of five different positions in relation to the handle  12  through a set of outer detents  34  located on the handle  14 . A spring biased pin  36  can be located in a pinhole  38 , whereby the pin  36  can allow for movement between the head  14  and the handle  12  and snap into position at various angles about an axis generally perpendicular to the flat heated surfaces of the heads  14 ,  18 , such as 0°, 15° to either side of the handle, or 30° to either side of the handle, for example. 
   The end of the head portion  14  nearest the handle portion  12  can have head detents  28  that can complement handle detents  30  located on the inside of the handle portion  12  on the end that connects to the head portion  14 . The two sets of detents  28 ,  30  can be biased away from one another by a spring  32  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
   The position can be locked with a button  26  located on the outside of handle  12  on the end nearest the head  14 . A corresponding knob  40  can be located on the inside of the head  14  to interlock with the button  26 . This interlocking function can be accomplished by having a protrusion  42  extending from the button  26  and a hole  44  within the knob  40 , both with matching surfaces in the form of a hexagon, for example, or any other matching shape. The protrusion  42  and the hole  44  can be interlocked through openings  46 ,  48  on the head  14  and handle  12 . As the button  26  is rotated, the knob  40  is rotated along with it. A user can rotate the button  26  through the use of a semi-circular ring  50  located on the button  26 . However, any other method to rotate the button  26  may also be used. Grooves on the inside of the head  14  and the knob  40  cause the knob  40  and the button  26  to be squeezed together, thereby causing the head detents  28  and the handle detents  30  to intermesh and lock together. This prevents the head  14  from being rotated in relation to the handle  12 . To unlock the position, the button  26  is rotated in the opposite direction. This causes the knob  40  to also rotate and enable the detents  28 ,  30  to unmesh, allowing for rotation between the head  14  and the handle  12 . 
   The heatable surfaces of the heads may be any of metal, ceramic, ceramic-coated materials, glass, or other heatable surfaces. 
   While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein disclosed and described, it is understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.