Abstract:
A hair-curling roller heating system including a plurality of rollers supported on posts heated by both a resistive heating plate and a halogen bulb which emits both visible light and radiant heat in the form of infrared radiation. The posts have open top ends and the rollers have differently colored translucent upper tips which receive light from the posts and thereby identify different types of rollers.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a system for heating haircurling rollers. Hair-curling roller heating systems having a plurality of hair curling rollers mounted on post members that conduct heat to the rollers are well known in the prior art. The rollers in a particular system might be of several different types; smaller and larger diameters, more or fewer bristles, longer or shorter bristles, etc. 
     Typically in such systems the high temperature of the rollers can only be realized by touching them. There is typically no visual indicator at the rollers themselves to alert the user that the system is energized and producing heat. The use of an indicator lamp has been tried to provide an indication that the system is energized and hot, but such an indicator, separate from the rollers themselves, has proven ineffective in preventing users from improperly handling hot rollers and burning themselves. This is a drawback common among prior art hair-curling roller heating systems. 
     Also typically, in such systems, the rollers of various types can be difficult to differentiate at a glance. The user must generally remove a hot roller to examine it closely in order to know what type it is. This is another drawback common among prior art hair-curling roller heating systems. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide an improved hair-curling roller heating system. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system in which the rollers are illuminated when the system is energized to warn the user that the system is energized and the rollers are likely to be hot. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide the rollers with translucent ends that glow in various colors to differentiate one roller type from another at a glance. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide such a system wherein the source of illuminating the rollers is combined with the heating source. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide such a system wherein the source of illuminating the rollers and the source of heating the rollers is a single source. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The hair-curling roller heating system in accordance with the present invention includes a plurality of rollers and a housing having a lid. The housing includes a plurality of hollow posts on which the rollers are removably mounted for heating. 
     The housing further includes heating means, which comprise both a resistive heating plate and a halogen bulb. The bulb emits both visible light and radiant heat in the form of infrared radiation. The visible light glows through the open top ends of the posts. 
     The rollers are adapted with colored translucent upper tips to allow the light from the posts to glow through. The tips of each roller type share a common color, but rollers of different types, say for instance different diameters or different bristle densities, may be made of different colors. 
     When the rollers are mounted on the posts and the system is energized, the roller tips glow in various colors according to their type, even though the rollers are not themselves electrically energized. The user can immediately ascertain that the system is energized and the rollers are likely hot just by glancing at the rollers. The user can instantly recognize the type of each roller without the need to remove and examine them. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hair-curling roller heating system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2A is a cut-out portion of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a diagram of the electrical circuit of the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hair-curling roller of the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of the roller of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of the roller of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 8 is a top view of the roller of FIG. 5; and 
     FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the roller of FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIGS. 1 through 4, with a typical roller of the preferred embodiment depicted in FIGS. 5 through 9. The hair-curling roller heating system  100  comprises housing  101 , lid  102 , and rollers  103 . 
     The housing includes a cup-shaped base  105  with a similarly shaped shroud  106  affixed thereupon. Encased within the housing are a heating post assembly  107  including a resistive heating plate  108  that is sandwiched between an upper plate  110  and a lower plate  111 . The upper plate includes sixteen cylindrical hollow posts  113  and is made of a thermally conductive material, preferably aluminum. The upper plate is affixed in planar contact to the heating plate in a thermally cooperative manner such that heat emitted from the heater plate is quickly conducted through the upper plate and into the posts. The hollow posts extend upwardly through the bottom wall  114  of the shroud and have open upper ends  115  and open lower ends that form holes  117  through the upper plate. Each of the heating plate and the lower plate also has sixteen holes  118 , 119 , respectively that are aligned with the upper plate holes and the posts. It is also anticipated and intended that these holes could be filled or covered with any suitable translucent material, so long as light may pass from under the lower plate and upwardly through and from the posts. 
     Also enclosed within the housing is a halogen lamp  121  that is captured by mounting connectors  122  and immediately surrounded by insulating basket  123 . When the halogen lamp is energized, it emits both infrared heat and visible light. A portion of the light  125  (FIG. 2A) glows upwardly through the holes  118 , 119  and posts and from the open upper ends  115 . The heat generated by the lamp is insulated below and around, but not above, by the insulating basket  123  to avoid overheating of the surrounding base  105 . This infrared heat is eventually absorbed by the heating post assembly and conducted to the posts. This heat is contained within the system by the closed transparent lid  102 , which is removably mounted on the shroud  106  and over the posts. The transparency of the lid allows the rollers to be viewed without removing the lid. 
     A typical roller, as shown in FIGS. 5 through 9, is comprised of a thermally conductive tube  130  having open top  131  and bottom  132  ends. The inner diameter  133  is adapted to fit matingly over the outer diameter  135  of any one of the posts, as best seen in FIG. 2, with enough precision and contact to provide for effective thermal transfer from the post to the tube, thus heating the roller. There are sixteen rollers to the system, one for each post. 
     The tube is surrounded by a wider cylindrical roller body  136  which might have any known roller construction; it might be bristled or smooth, it might have a large or small outer diameter  135 , it might be hard or soft, etc. FIGS. 5 through 9 show a smooth cylindrical roller, but it is anticipated that any of these alternate prior art roller types can be adapted to the system and would only vary from the shown roller in outer diameter, material, outer shape, and tip color. 
     Upper tip  140  is affixed to the top end of the roller and is translucent so that light glowing from the open upper end  115  of a post shines through the tip and is viewable by the user even when the roller is fitted over the post. Since various rollers might have various qualities, as stated, the basic color of the translucent tips varies according to the qualities of the roller to which it is affixed. For instance, larger diameter smooth soft rollers  136  (FIG. 7) might have green tips  142  (FIG. 9) while smaller diameter hard rollers  141  (FIG. 9) might have red tips  143 . 
     In use, the sixteen rollers are positioned on the sixteen posts and the system is energized, whereupon the heating plate begins to emit heat and the halogen lamp begins to emit infrared heat and visible light. The light passing upward through the posts shines through, but is colored by the roller tips  140 , 142 , 143 . At a glance, the user instantly appreciates that the rollers are being heated and knows to select a particular roller type according to its glowing color. When use is completed, the user is reminded by the glowing light that the system is still energized, and should be deenergized. 
     It should be understood that the described embodiment is merely the preferred of many possible embodiments still within the spirit of the invention, and that the scope of the invention should be limited only by the following claims.