Patent Abstract:
There is provided a hair setting assembly having a split top lid for improving heat conservation. The assembly also has a tilt adjustable housing that holds a set of hair rollers and encloses an electrical means for heating the rollers.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to personal care appliances. More particularly, the present invention relates to hair setting assemblies for holding and heating hair rollers. The present invention relates even more particularly to a hair setting assembly with a split top lid and a tiltable housing. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Devices for heating hair curlers are well known. A typical hair setting assembly has a housing with a number of electrically heated vertical elements and a number of rollers, generally of different size, disposed on the vertical elements. The rollers are usually provided with a hair gripping outer surface with a thermally insulated portion to allow handling without burning the user&#39;s fingers. The inner portion of each roller is usually made of a highly conductive material to facilitate heat transfer from the electrically heated vertical elements to the rollers. A lid, that serves to cover the rollers and retain heat during the warming process, closes the housing. A problem with this conventional configuration is that too much heat is lost when the lid is opened to access the rollers. Also, hair setting assemblies incorporating a steam boiler heating system, as a result of the heating process, tend to collect significant amounts of hot condensed water on the inner surface of the lid. When the lid of such a device is opened during the heating process or thereabouts, which is typical in use, the condensed water tends to spill off the lid and onto the hands of a user and the rollers, potentially burning the user and damaging the rollers. In addition, should a significant amount of water condensation collect on the inner surface of the lid, the condensation can drip off the lid and into the electrical disclosure and wet the insulation disposed therein, thereby creating a shock hazard. These drawbacks are overcome in the hair setting assembly of the present invention. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to provide a hair setting assembly for heating hair rollers used to curl hair. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a hair setting assembly with a housing that is sleek and lightweight. 
   It is still another object of the present invention to provide a hair setting assembly having a lid that is partitioned into at least two sections for improving heat conservation. 
   It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a hair setting assembly in which the at least two sections of the lid are configured to collect condensation from the inner surface of the lid and direct the condensation into one or more reservoirs in the housing. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hair setting assembly with a tilt adjustable housing to facilitate access to the heated rollers. 
   These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by a hair setting assembly of the present invention. The hair setting assembly has a housing with one or more supports for supporting one or more heatable curlers or rollers, a lid divided into at least two sections that are pivotally connected to the housing, and a stand or base. 
   The at least two sections of the lid are each separately connected to the housing. This aspect allows for selective access to the heated rollers. This selective access helps to reduce the loss of heat and thus improves efficiency. Also, each of the at least two lid sections are configured to collect any condensation that accumulates commonly on the under surface of each section and direct it, when the lid section is opened, into one or more reservoirs disposed in the housing. 
   In an alternative embodiment, the base is connected to the housing such that the housing can be tilted about an axis in a forward direction through a specified angle. This tilting action facilitates access to the heated rollers and reduces the risk of a user being burned. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention is more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment in combination with the drawings identified below. 
       FIG. 1  is a front view of a hair setting assembly, showing the lid in an opened position in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a top view of the hair setting assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a front view of the hair setting assembly of  FIG. 1 , showing the lid in a closed position; 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the hair setting assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of the hair setting assembly of  FIG. 4 , showing the housing in a tilted position; 
       FIG. 6  is a top view of the hair setting assembly of  FIG. 1 ; and 
       FIG. 7  is a hair curler for use in the hair setting assembly. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the drawings and, in particular,  FIG. 1 , there is shown a hair setting assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention generally represented by reference numeral  1 . The hair setting assembly  1  preferably has a housing  10 , a stand or base  30 , and a split top lid  20  divided into at least two sections. The assembly  1  may also have one or more supports  45  for supporting one or more heatable curlers or rollers  40 . Preferably, lid  20  has a first section  21  and a second section  23 , each pivotally connected to housing  10 . 
   Housing  10  preferably encloses at least one reservoir (not shown). Preferably, housing  10  also encloses one or more heat conductive supports, shown in  FIG. 6 , that has a heating resistor mechanism that is connectable to a power source (not shown). Preferably, the one or more heat conductive supports each sandwich a resistance heater (not shown) and are arranged or tilted on edge to engage rollers  40  directly. Preferably, as shown in  FIG. 7 , rollers  40  are forked over the edges of the heat conductive supports. It is noted that other configurations and adaptations may also be used to accomplish the same purposes of the arrangement just described. For example, a single heating plate provided on its top surface with one or more heat conducting elements protruding from the top surface for engagement with rollers  40  may also be used. 
   Rollers  40  preferably have an inner casing or surface of conductive material and an outer casing or surface of non-conductive material. The inner surface facilitates heat transfer from the conductive elements, as well as heat storage. The outer surface preferably optimizes the amount and effect of heat transferred from the conductive element to enhance the hair curling effect and allow handling by a user without the danger of burning the skin. As clearly shown in  FIG. 1 , each roller  40  preferably has a non-conductive cap  42  and a tab  44  to facilitate handling and further reduce the likelihood of the skin being burned. 
   As discussed above, split top lid  20  is preferably divided into at least two sections, first section  21  and second section  23 . Preferably, first section  21  is the same extent as second section  23 . Lid  20  may also be divided into three or more sections (not shown). 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , first section  21  preferably is pivotally connected at a first edge  12  of housing  10  by a first connector  13 , and second section  23  preferably is pivotally connected at a second edge  14  of housing  10  by a second connector  15 . Also, should split lid  20  be divided into three or more sections, preferably each additional section would be similarly pivotally connected to a rear edge  18  of housing  10 . 
   Preferably, first section  21  and second section  23  seal along a mid-line  16  that runs from a front edge  17  of housing  10  to rear edge  18 . First connector  13  and second connector  15  are preferably located at opposing ends of housing  10 . Should lid  20  include three or more sections, preferably each of the three or more sections will cooperate to selectively cover rollers  40 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 2 through 4 , first section  21  and second section  23  preferably are each configured with one or more channels  25 ,  27 ,  28  for directing any condensation, accumulating on the under surface of lid  20 , into the at least one reservoir disposed in housing  10 . Preferably, channel  25  is a central channel  25  and channels  27  and  28  are periphery channels. However, other configurations may also be used in order to accomplish different effects and efficiencies. 
   Thus, the split lid arrangement heretofore preferably described allows for selective access to rollers  40 . This selective access helps to reduce heat loss and improve efficiency. 
   Referring to  FIG. 5 , base  30  preferably is connected to housing  10  such that the housing can be tilted about an axis A in a direction D, through a predetermined angle. Axis A is the axis of the height or vertical extent of the hair setting assembly  1 . This tilting action facilitates access to rollers  40  and reduces the risk of a user being burned. Preferably, housing  10  is configured with a lower portion  31  that is shaped to rest snugly on base  30 . Preferably, lower portion  31  has at least one slidable connector  33  that cooperates with at least two abutments  32  to control the distance through which the connector can slide. Preferably, base  30  has an upper surface configured to receive and engage lower portion  31  via the slidable connector. Lower portion  31  and base  30  can also be configured to provide a variety of different tilt positions. For example, base  30  could be configured with at least one protrusion  34  that cooperates with one or more spring biased structures  35  independently located between the at two abutments of the slidable connector, to provide for the selective tilt positioning of housing  10  relative to base  30 . 
   The present invention having been thus described with particular reference to the preferred forms thereof, it will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined herein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8