Patent Description:
In general, a hair dryer refers to an electronic device used to dry moist hair with cool or hot air and uses the principle of drying hair by accelerating evaporation of water particles attached to the hair.

Most of the hair dryers in the related art are wired hair dryers with power plugs connected to power terminals. A cordless hair dryer has been developed for convenience of use, and the cordless hair dryer uses a battery. Therefore, it is important to ensure efficiency and safety of the battery. In particular, because excessive heat may be generated from the battery, studies are being conducted on a structure for arranging the battery.

In addition, in the case of most of the currently known cordless hair dryers, a battery is disposed in a handle of the dryer, because it is convenient to place the battery in the handle in consideration of the structure of the dryer. However, this structure may cause problems in that a user's hand may be burned by heat generated and transferred from the battery and the hair dryer may be damaged due to the heat generated from the battery.

For example, the cordless hair dryer, which is commercially available, is designed such that power consumption is <NUM>,<NUM> W at <NUM> V In this case, if a high current of about <NUM> A is discharged, for example, there may be a remarkably high risk that an accident occurs as the battery is overheated. For example, in a case in which a high-output battery with highest performance is discharged at <NUM> A, a temperature of a surface of the battery is rapidly raised up to approximately <NUM>. In this case, it can be assumed that the battery disposed in the handle may cause a great danger.

Accordingly, there is a need for development of a cordless hair dryer having a new structure capable of inhibiting overheating of the battery to enable stable use, and using heat emitted from the battery to heat air, thereby improving efficiency of a drying process.

As the related art, there is <CIT>. This patent application discloses a configuration in which a battery is mounted in a handle part.

<CIT> discloses a rechargeable hair dryer for dissipating heat of built-in batteries. The rechargeable hair dryer comprises a handheld part, a shell and a battery pack, wherein the battery pack is arranged at the rear end of the shell, an air inlet is formed in the surface of the battery pack, a plurality of battery compartments used for installing the batteries are formed in the battery pack, and a front-and-back through cavity is formed among the battery compartments.

The present invention provides a high-efficiency cordless hair dryer, in which a power supply module is mounted at a rear side of a main body housing, and a battery is disposed in a direction of a flow of air, such that the battery may be prevented from being heated, safety of use may thus be improved, and air used to cool the battery may be heated, thereby improving efficiency of a drying process.

A high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to the present invention includes: a main body housing having, at a rear side thereof, an air inlet port through which air is introduced, having, at a front side thereof, a discharge port through which the air is discharged, and having an internal space in which a heating element is mounted; and a power supply module configured to supply power and detachably coupled to the rear side of the main body housing at which the air inlet port is formed, in which the power supply module is detachably coupled to the main body housing so as to be coincident with a direction of a flow of air in the main body housing.

In addition, the power supply module according to the present invention includes: a battery mounting body including a plurality of battery mounting members disposed in a circumferential direction in a movement passage for air and configured such that a plurality of batteries is detachably coupled to the plurality of battery mounting members, respectively; the power supply module according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a module plate coupled to a rear side of the battery mounting body and mounted with a switch member for turning on/off the batteries or a remaining power level display member for indicating a remaining power level.

In addition, the power supply module according to the present invention includes a thermally conductive thin film disposed along an inner surface of the battery mounting body and configured to dissipate heat generated from the batteries.

In addition, the battery mounting member according to the present invention may have a "⊏" cross-sectional shape or a semicircular cross-sectional shape and configured such that the battery is coupled to or separated from the battery mounting member, and a conductive thin film may be formed along an inner surface of the battery mounting member.

In addition, the battery according to the present invention may be fixed, by silicone, to a groove formed in the battery mounting member.

In addition, according to the present invention, a capacity of the battery or the number of batteries and the number of battery mounting members may be selectively determined in accordance with the amount of required power.

In addition, the battery according to the present invention may be disposed such that a longitudinal direction of the battery is coincident with or perpendicular to the direction of the flow of air.

In addition, the power supply module according to the present invention may be configured as a pouch type and detachably coupled to the rear side of the main body housing.

In addition, the module plate according to the present invention may have a charging terminal for charging the battery.

In addition, the power supply module according to the present invention may further include at least one filter disposed in front of or behind the battery mounting body.

In addition, the high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to the present invention may further include a suction fan configured to suck air into the internal space of the main body housing, in which the suction fan is disposed between the module plate and the internal space of the main body housing or the battery mounting body.

In addition, the high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to present invention may further include a handle part mounted at a lower end of the main body housing and having an operation adjustment unit, in which the operation adjustment unit is adjustable after the switch member is turned on.

According to the present invention, the power supply module is mounted at the rear side of the main body housing, and the battery is disposed in the direction of a flow of air, such that the battery may be prevented from being heated, safety of use may thus be improved, and air used to cool the battery may be heated, thereby improving efficiency of the drying process.

Advantages and/or features of the present invention and methods of achieving the advantages and features will be clear with reference to exemplary embodiments described in detail below together with the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention is limited by the appended claims. Like reference numerals indicate like constituent elements throughout the specification.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a schematic configuration of a high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, <FIG> is a view illustrating a power supply module detachably coupled to a main body housing illustrated in <FIG>, <FIG> is a modified example of <FIG>, and <FIG> is a view illustrating a cross section taken along line A-A in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, a high-efficiency cordless hair dryer <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a main body housing <NUM>, a power supply module <NUM> detachably coupled to the main body housing <NUM>, a suction fan <NUM> configured to suck outside air into the main body housing <NUM>, and a handle part <NUM> mounted on the main body housing <NUM> and configured to serve as a handle.

With this configuration, it is possible to efficiently remove moisture from a user's hair, for example, while preventing heat generation caused by use of a battery, thereby improving safety of use.

Each configuration will be described. First, the main body housing <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment defines a basic external appearance and has an internal space <NUM>. An air inlet port <NUM> may be formed at a rear side of the main body housing <NUM>, and a discharge port <NUM> through which cool air or hot air is discharged may be formed at a front side of the main body housing <NUM>. Although not illustrated, a cover (not illustrated) may be coupled to the discharge port <NUM> of the main body housing <NUM>, and an expanded flow of air may be provided through the cover.

Referring to <FIG>, a heating element <NUM> may be disposed in the internal space <NUM> of the main body housing <NUM> so as to be adjacent to the discharge port <NUM>. The heating element <NUM> may be operated by power provided from the power supply module <NUM> to be described below and may heat air passing through the heating element <NUM>, such that a flow of air having an adjusted temperature may be provided through the discharge port <NUM>.

For example, the heating element <NUM> may be configured in the form of a spiral coil having a tube shape, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and other types of heating elements <NUM> may be used.

Meanwhile, as described above, in the case of a cordless hair dryer in the related art, a module for supplying power is provided in a handle, which causes a problem in that a user is injured due to heat generated when the battery operates.

Therefore, in the present exemplary embodiment, the power supply module <NUM> is detachably coupled to the main body housing <NUM>, such that a structure for mounting and separating the power supply module <NUM> is simplified. Further, the amount of heat, which may be generated from the power supply module <NUM>, may be minimized, and the generated heat may be used, such that the high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to the present invention is more efficient and stable than that in the related art.

As illustrated in <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, the power supply module <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment may include: a battery mounting body <NUM> having a plurality of battery mounting members <NUM> disposed in a circumferential direction and configured such that batteries <NUM> are detachably coupled to the plurality of battery mounting members <NUM>, respectively; and a module plate <NUM> coupled to a rear side of the battery mounting body <NUM>. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the batteries <NUM> are disposed in the circumferential direction, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the batteries <NUM> may be disposed in a movement passage for air.

First, as illustrated in <FIG>, the battery mounting body <NUM> has a hollow cylindrical shape corresponding to the shape of the internal space <NUM> of the main body housing <NUM>, and the plurality of battery mounting members <NUM> is provided on an inner surface of the battery mounting body <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, a total of six battery mounting members <NUM> may be provided on the battery mounting body <NUM>, and the batteries <NUM> may be mounted on the battery mounting members <NUM>, respectively. As illustrated in <FIG>, the battery mounting member <NUM> may have a schematically "⊏" shape closed (outward) at a lower side thereof, and the battery <NUM> may be mounted in a groove formed in the battery mounting member <NUM>. In this case, the battery <NUM> may be fixed to the battery mounting member <NUM> by means of silicone.

However, the number of batteries <NUM> and the number of battery mounting members <NUM> may be selectively determined in accordance with performance to be implemented by the hair dryer <NUM>. <FIG> and <FIG> illustrate a total of six battery mounting members <NUM> and the batteries <NUM> coupled to the battery mounting members <NUM>, respectively. However, there may of course be provided more than six batteries <NUM> and more than six battery mounting members <NUM> in order to prepare for a case in which a larger amount of power is required. Likewise, a battery with a larger capacity may also be used as the battery <NUM>, as necessary.

Referring to <FIG>, the power supply module <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment may have a thermally conductive thin film <NUM> made of aluminum having high thermal conductivity, for example, disposed along the inner surface of the battery mounting body <NUM>, and configured to dissipate heat generated from the batteries <NUM>.

In particular, as described above, the battery mounting member <NUM> has a "⊏" shape. The conductive thin film <NUM> is also formed along inner surfaces of the battery mounting members <NUM>, such that the heat generated from the batteries <NUM> may be appropriately dissipated from a center of the battery mounting body <NUM> along the thermally conductive thin film <NUM>.

As can be seen from <FIG>, the conductive thin film <NUM> mounted on the battery mounting members <NUM> has a separation space to some extent from the batteries <NUM>, such that outside air may be appropriately transmitted to the batteries <NUM>, the heat generated from the batteries <NUM> may be appropriately dissipated through the conductive thin film <NUM>, and thus the batteries <NUM> may be more quickly cooled.

With the arrangement structure and the configuration of the power supply module <NUM>, it is possible to prevent the batteries <NUM> from being overheated and to efficiently used the heat generated from the batteries <NUM>.

In addition, when the high-efficiency cordless hair dryer <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment operates as described above, the outside air may be introduced, by the suction fan <NUM>, into the internal space <NUM> of the main body housing <NUM> via the power supply module <NUM>, heated by the heating element <NUM>, and then provided to the user's hair and the like.

In this case, the batteries <NUM> may be heated due to the use of the batteries <NUM> or an influence of the heating element <NUM>, but the amount of heat generated from the batteries <NUM> may be minimized by the outside air because the outside air is introduced into the power supply module <NUM>, as described above. In addition, the heat generated from the batteries <NUM> is dissipated through the thermally conductive thin film <NUM>, and the dissipated heat is provided to the air directed toward the main body housing <NUM>, such that the air may be heated.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the module plate <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment is coupled to the rear side of the battery mounting body <NUM> and may include a switch member <NUM> for turning on/off the batteries <NUM>, a remaining power level display member <NUM> for indicating a remaining power level of the batteries <NUM>, and a charging terminal <NUM> for charging the batteries <NUM>.

The switch member <NUM> may be provided in various forms, but because the high-efficiency cordless hair dryer <NUM> is often carried by the user, the switch member <NUM> may be configured to turn on/off the batteries while sliding. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the switch member <NUM> may of course be configured as a touch type, a button type, or the like.

Since the remaining power level display member <NUM> indicates the remaining power level of the batteries <NUM>, the user may check the remaining power level of the batteries <NUM> and charge the batteries <NUM> by using the charging terminal <NUM>. The charging terminal <NUM> may be provided in accordance with several standards, and thus the hair dryer <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment may be charged by a portable auxiliary battery.

Meanwhile, the handle part <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment is mounted at a lower end of the main body housing <NUM> and may include an operation adjustment unit <NUM> including an on/off switch <NUM> for operating the hair dryer <NUM>, an adjustment member <NUM> for adjusting intensity of hot air, and a cool air button <NUM> for generating cool air.

Because the operation adjustment unit <NUM> of the handle part <NUM> may be unintentionally pushed when the user carries the hair dryer <NUM> in a bag or the like as described above, the operation adjustment unit <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment may operate in conjunction with the switch member <NUM> provided on the module plate <NUM>. In other words, an instruction for operating the operation adjustment unit <NUM> may be executed only after the batteries <NUM> are turned on by the switch member <NUM>.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in <FIG>, the power supply module <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment may include filters <NUM> disposed in front of and behind the battery mounting body <NUM>. The filters <NUM> may filter the air to be introduced into the hair dryer <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment, thereby providing clean air to the user's hair or the like.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the filters are provided in front of and behind the battery mounting body <NUM>, one by one, respectively, such that the operation of filtering the air may be repeatedly performed, thereby providing clean air to the user.

In addition, referring to <FIG>, in the present exemplary embodiment, the suction fan <NUM> may be provided in the internal space <NUM> of the main body housing <NUM>, particularly, between the heating element <NUM> and the filter. The suction fan <NUM> may also be operated by power provided from the power supply module <NUM>, and the outside air may be introduced into the main body housing <NUM> via the power supply module <NUM> when the suction fan <NUM> operates.

In this case, as described above, the introduced air may cool the heated batteries <NUM> to some extent, and the heat generated from the batteries <NUM> may heat the air. Therefore, because the battery <NUM> is not mounted in the handle part <NUM> unlike the related art, it is possible to completely prevent the handle part <NUM> from being heated, and the outside air may prevent the battery <NUM> from being heated despite the structure in which the handle part <NUM> is coupled to the main body housing <NUM>, thereby preventing the entire hair dryer <NUM> from being heated.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in <FIG>, the suction fan <NUM> may be mounted in the main body housing <NUM>, but as illustrated in <FIG>, the suction fan <NUM> may be mounted in the power supply module <NUM>. In other words, the suction fan 140a may be disposed between the battery mounting body <NUM> and the filter <NUM> at the rear side. In this case, the suction fan 140a may be closer to the outside, thereby more strongly sucking the outside air.

Meanwhile, the following table shows temperatures of a surface of the battery <NUM> with respect to velocities of air introduced into the hair dryer <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment.

It can be seen from the table that the temperature of the surface of the battery decreases when the velocity of air is high, and it can be ascertained that the temperature of the surface of the battery less increases when a discharge current is low. According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as described above, the power supply module <NUM> is mounted at the rear side of the main body housing <NUM>, and the battery <NUM> is disposed in the direction of a flow of air, such that the battery <NUM> may be prevented from being heated, safety of use may thus be improved, and air used to cool the battery <NUM> may be heated, thereby improving efficiency of the drying process.

Meanwhile, a configuration of a hair dryer according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described, and a description of parts substantially identical to the parts of the above-mentioned exemplary embodiment will be omitted.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a configuration of a power supply module of a high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated, a power supply module <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a battery mounting body <NUM>, and a groove of each of a plurality of battery mounting members <NUM> provided on the battery mounting body <NUM> may have a semicircular shape corresponding to a shape of a battery <NUM>. In this case, since the shape of the groove of the battery mounting member <NUM> corresponds to the shape of the battery <NUM>, the battery <NUM> may be more stably mounted.

In addition, a conductive thin film <NUM> is mounted along inner surfaces of the battery mounting members <NUM>, such that the heat generated from the batteries <NUM> may be dissipated to the outside through the conductive thin film <NUM>, thereby improving efficiency in cooling the batteries <NUM>.

<FIG> is a top plan view illustrating a configuration of a power supply module of a high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of the power supply module of the high-efficiency cordless hair dryer according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, a power supply module <NUM> according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a battery mounting body <NUM>. A plurality of battery mounting members <NUM> provided on the battery mounting body <NUM> may have one or more holders <NUM>-<NUM> configured to surround a battery pack including a plurality of batteries <NUM>, and a support <NUM>-<NUM> configured to fix the body to the battery mounting body <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the support <NUM>-<NUM> may fix the plurality of batteries <NUM> so that the plurality of batteries <NUM> is disposed at a center of the battery mounting body <NUM>.

In addition, a conductive thin film <NUM> is mounted along inner surfaces of the holders <NUM>-<NUM> of the battery mounting members <NUM>, such that the heat generated from the batteries <NUM> may be dissipated to the outside through the conductive thin film <NUM>, thereby improving efficiency in cooling the batteries <NUM>.

In the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments and the drawings, the case in which the plurality of batteries is disposed in the direction corresponding to the direction of the flow of air has been described above, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the batteries may of course be disposed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the flow of air or disposed to be inclined.

Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments, the power supply module has been described as having the structure attachable to and detachable from the main body housing, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the power supply module may be configured as a pouch type and detachably coupled to the rear side of the main body housing.

Claim 1:
A high-efficiency cordless hair dryer (<NUM>) comprising:
a main body housing (<NUM>) having, at a rear side thereof, an air inlet port (<NUM>) through which air is introduced, having, at a front side thereof, a discharge port (<NUM>) through which the air is discharged, and having an internal space (<NUM>) in which a heating element (<NUM>) is mounted; and
a power supply module (<NUM>) configured to supply power and detachably coupled to the rear side of the main body housing (<NUM>) at which the air inlet port (<NUM>) is formed,
wherein the power supply module (<NUM>) is detachably coupled to the main body housing (<NUM>) so as to be coincident with a direction of a flow of air in the main body housing (<NUM>), and
wherein the power supply module (<NUM>) is characterised in that it comprises:
a battery mounting body (<NUM>) comprising a plurality of battery mounting members (<NUM>) disposed in a circumferential direction in a movement passage for air and configured such that a plurality of batteries (<NUM>) is detachably coupled to the plurality of battery mounting members (<NUM>), respectively; and
a thermally conductive thin film (<NUM>) disposed along an inner surface of the battery mounting body (<NUM>) and the battery mounting members (<NUM>), and configured to dissipate heat generated from the batteries (<NUM>).