Method and hair care tool for dynamic and optimum hair styling temperature control

Abstract

Method and hair tool for styling hair, the hair tool having at least one heatable element, a temperature regulator associated with the heatable element to control the temperature of the heatable element, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the heatable element, a compensation means operatively connected to the temperature regulator for compensating temperature drops or increases to which the heatable element is subjected when styling a hair lock. The hair tool further contains a programmable electronic control that controls operational features of the hair tool to implement a method of analyzing the hair lock and setting the hair tool to an optimal styling temperature calculated for the hair lock.

1 . A hair tool comprising:
 at least one heatable element;   a temperature regulator associated with the heatable element comprising a heat source and a temperature sensor associated with the heatable element for measuring the temperature of the heatable element; and   a compensation means operatively connected to the temperature regulator, for compensating changes in temperature that the heatable element is subjected to when applied to a hair.   
     
     
         2 . The hair tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the compensation means comprise a detection device for detecting a diagnostic or operational state of the hair tool and adapted to control the temperature regulator to adjust the temperature of the heatable elements. 
     
     
         3 . The hair tool according to  claim 2 , wherein the temperature regulator is adapted to regulate the temperature of the heatable elements according to the optimal temperature setting value obtained from a lookup table. 
     
     
         4 . The hair tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the heat source comprises a heating element, adapted to heat the heatable element. 
     
     
         5 . A method for obtaining an ideal temperature setting for styling a hair lock of a subject comprised of keratinous fibers, the method comprising:
 providing a hair tool comprising at least one heatable element configured to be heated by a heater to a first temperature;   turning on the heater to heat the at least one heatable element to the first temperature;   contacting the at least one heatable element to the entire length of the hair lock;   measuring the temperature of the at least one heatable element to obtain a second temperature;   calculating the difference of degrees between the first temperature and the second temperature to obtain a ΔT value.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the steps are performed sequentially on the hair lock more than one time to obtain ΔT values that are added to obtain a D value. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the steps are performed sequentially on the hair lock more than one time to obtain ΔT values that are averaged to obtain a D value. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the D value is compared to a lookup table to obtain an styling temperature setting. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the D value is compared to a lookup table to obtain an styling temperature setting. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the heater is turned off prior to contacting the at least one heatable element to the hair lock. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the hair tool further comprises a temperature regulator for changing the temperature setting of the hair tool to the ideal temperature setting. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the styling temperature setting is from about 265° F. to 301° F. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the styling temperature setting is from about 50° F. to about 264° F. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the ideal temperature setting is from about 302° F. to 450° F. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the hair tool is a member selected from the group consisting of: flat iron, curling iron, curling-iron styling brush, crimping iron, spiral iron, hair wand, hair dryer, hot-air styling brush, and hot roller. 
     
     
         16 . The hair tool of  claim 1 , further comprising an embedded processor subsystem to store or transfer user identification information or diagnostic data collected by the hair tool to another storage device, remote database or computer.