Hair styling appliance

Abstract

A hair styling appliance is described that includes an airflow unit for generating an airflow, a heating unit for heating the airflow, and a control unit for controlling the airflow unit and the heating unit. The control unit receives user data relating to at least one of a desired style, a hair type and a previous styling by the appliance. The control unit controls the airflow unit and the heating unit in a sequence of modes to style the hair of a user, the airflow unit having a different flow rate and/or the heating unit having a different heat setting in different modes. The control unit uses the user data to define the sequence of modes.

1 : A hair styling appliance comprising:
 an airflow unit for generating an airflow;   a heating unit for heating the airflow; and   a control unit for controlling the airflow unit and the heating unit,   wherein:   the control unit receives user data relating to at least one of a desired style, a hair type and a previous styling by the appliance,   the control unit controls the airflow unit and the heating unit in a sequence of modes to style the hair of a user, the airflow unit having a different flow rate and/or the heating unit having a different heat setting in different modes, and   the control unit uses the user data to define the sequence of modes.   
     
     
         2 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit uses the user data to define parameters of the sequence of modes, the parameters comprising any of: a number of modes, an order of modes, durations of modes, heat settings within modes, and flow rates within modes. 
     
     
         3 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the user data relates to a previous styling by the appliance when using a sequence of modes having a first set of parameters, the control unit uses the user data to define a second set of parameters, and the control unit controls the airflow unit and the heating unit in a sequence of modes having the second set of parameters. 
     
     
         4 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the user data relate to a hair type and comprise any of: hair thickness, hair length, natural hair style, hair condition, presence of hair product, and presence of hair dye. 
     
     
         5 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the user data relate to a previous styling by the appliance and comprise any of: a user satisfaction rating, and a quality of styled hair. 
     
     
         6 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the quality of styled hair comprises a measure of any of: condition of the styled hair, retention of the styled hair, and shape of the styled hair. 
     
     
         7 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the appliance comprises a wireless interface for receiving the user data wirelessly from a remote device. 
     
     
         8 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit receives user settings data, and the control unit uses the user settings data to define the sequence of modes. 
     
     
         9 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the appliance comprises one or more sensors for sensing a characteristic of the hair and the control unit uses the sensed characteristic to define the sequence of modes. 
     
     
         10 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein the characteristic comprises a temperature or a moisture content of the hair. 
     
     
         11 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit determines when to transition between modes based on at least one of a time spent in a mode, a presence or absence of the hair, and the characteristic of the hair. 
     
     
         12 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit automatically transitions between modes. 
     
     
         13 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit generates a user alert to notify a user when to transition between modes, and the control unit transitions between modes in response to a user input. 
     
     
         14 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the sequence of modes comprises a first mode, a second mode and a third mode, and the heat setting in the third mode is lower than the heat settings in the first and second modes. 
     
     
         15 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein the flow rate in the third mode is lower than the flow rates in the first and second modes. 
     
     
         16 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein the flow rate or the heat setting in the second mode is lower than that in the first mode. 
     
     
         17 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the sequence of modes comprises a mode in which the airflow unit and/or the heating unit are powered off. 
     
     
         18 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the hair styling appliance comprises a predefined default sequence of modes and the control unit controls the airflow unit and the heating unit in the predefined default sequence of modes in the event that there are no user data. 
     
     
         19 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the appliance comprises a main body within which the airflow unit and the heating unit are housed, and an attachment releasably attachable to the main body, wherein the control unit defines the sequence of modes according to the attachment. 
     
     
         20 : The hair styling appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the control unit initiates the sequence of modes in response to a user input.