Hand-held hair styling device

Abstract

A hand-held hair styling device has a body having a wider side between narrower sides. A rotatable base is mounted on the body for rotation relative to the body. The rotatable base has an exposed surface facing generally away from the body. An axis of rotation of the rotatable base extends substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the body. A plurality of hair styling elements extending generally away from the body are mounted on the exposed surface of the rotatable base for rotation relative to the body with the rotatable base. A method of styling hair includes rotating the rotatable base and the hair styling elements thereon while at least some of the hair styling elements are in contact with a person's hair.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A hand-held hair styling device, the hair styling device comprising:
 a body having a wider side between a pair of narrower sides on opposite sides of the wider side, the wider side of the body having a width that is wider than the narrower sides of the body;   a rotatable base mounted between the narrower sides on the body for rotation relative to the body about an axis of rotation, the rotatable base having an exposed surface facing generally away from the body, the axis of rotation of the rotatable base extending substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the body; and   a plurality of hair styling elements mounted on the exposed surface of the rotatable base for rotation relative to the body with the rotatable base, said plurality of hair styling elements extending generally away from the body.   
     
     
         2 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  further comprising a selectively activatable drive system for driving rotation of the rotatable base relative to the body. 
     
     
         3 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 2  wherein the selectively activatable drive system is configured to hold the rotatable base in a fixed position relative to the body when the selectively activatable drive system is not activated. 
     
     
         4 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 2  wherein the selectively activatable drive system comprises a set of gears and a manual actuator connected to the gears so that a user may drive rotation of the rotatable base by manually manipulating the manual actuator. 
     
     
         5 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein at least some of the hair styling elements mounted on the rotatable base have a paddle-shaped configuration. 
     
     
         6 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 5  wherein said at least some of the hair styling elements having a paddle-shaped configuration have recesses formed in sides of the hair styling elements. 
     
     
         7 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein each of the hair styling elements mounted on the rotatable base is spaced from each of the other hair styling elements. 
     
     
         8 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein all of the hair styling elements are mounted on the rotatable base. 
     
     
         9 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the hair styling elements are substantially parallel to one another. 
     
     
         10 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the wider side of the body is substantially flat. 
     
     
         11 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the wider side of the body has a width that is at least about 2 inches. 
     
     
         12 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the body has a length that is at least about 4 inches. 
     
     
         13 . A hand-held hair styling device as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the rotatable base has a diameter of at least about 0.75 inches. 
     
     
         14 . A method of styling a person's hair comprising:
 holding a body having a rotatable base thereon, the rotatable base being mounted on the body for rotation relative to the body and having a plurality of hair styling elements mounted thereon, the body having a wider side between a pair of narrower sides on opposite sides of the wider side, the rotatable base being mounted on the wider side;   moving the body to place the hair styling elements in the person's hair;   activating a selectively activatable drive system operably connected to the rotatable base to drive rotation of the rotatable base relative to the body about an axis of rotation and thereby rotate the rotatable base and the hair styling elements thereon while at least some of the hair styling elements are in contact with the person's hair, the axis of rotation of the rotatable base extending substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the body.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein activating the selectively activatable drive system comprises moving an actuator of the drive system from a first position to a second position. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising removing the styling elements from contact with the person's hair while the actuator is in the second position. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising biasing the drive system to the first position such that once the actuator is released the actuator automatically moves from the second position back to the first position. 
     
     
         18 . A hand-held hair styling device, the hair styling device comprising:
 a body having a wider side between a pair of narrower sides on opposite sides of the wider side, the wider side of the body having a width that is wider than the narrower sides of the body;   a rotatable base mounted between the narrower sides on the body for rotation relative to the body about an axis of rotation, the rotatable base having an exposed surface facing generally away from the body, the axis of rotation of the rotatable base extending substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the body; and   at least one hair styling element mounted on the exposed surface of the rotatable base for rotation relative to the body with the rotatable base, said at least one hair styling element extending generally away from the body and having recesses therein opening radially outward from the axis of rotation of the rotatable base.