Hair styling appliance

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hair straightening apparatus having two arms pivotably coupled together and a heating plate on a facing side of at least one arm. A flexible protective rim substantially surrounds the periphery of a hair contacting surface of each heating plate.

1 . A hair styling apparatus comprising;
 a first arm and a second arm coupled together at one end thereof to allow the first arm and the second arm to be moveable between a closed position, in which a facing side of the first arm and a facing side of the second arm are adjacent, and an open position, in which the facing side of the first arm and the facing side of the second arm are spaced apart;   a heating plate located on the facing side of at least one of the first arm and the second arm, the heating plate having a hair contacting surface;   a protective rim extending around a periphery of the hair contacting surface of the heating plate and forming a contiguous surface with the hair contacting surface of the heating plate; and   wherein the protective rim is flexible.   
     
     
         2 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the protective rim extends from the heating plate, aligned with the hair contacting surface, a distance in the range of 1 mm-5 mm. 
     
     
         3 . The hair styling apparatus as claimed in of  claim 1 , wherein the protective rim extends from the heating plate, aligned with the hair contacting surface, a distance in the range of 2 mm-3 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , comprising a flexible skirt substantially surrounding extending around the periphery of the protective rim, wherein the protective rim engages with the heating plate and the flexible skirt. 
     
     
         5 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein an outer surface of the protective rim is smooth. 
     
     
         6 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the protective rim comprises at least one protrusion positioned to retain a gap between the facing side of the first arm and the facing side of the second arm, when the first arm and the second arm are in the closed position. 
     
     
         7 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one protrusion has a height in the range of 0.1 mm to 1.0 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one protrusion has a height in the range of 0.15 mm to 0.25 mm. 
     
     
         9 . The hair styling apparatus  claim 6 , wherein the protective rim has a generally elongate rectangular form having two opposing long sides and two opposing short sides, wherein two protrusions are disposed on each long side of the protective rim. 
     
     
         10 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the protective rim is comprised of PFA or PTFE. 
     
     
         11 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the protective rim has a Young's Modulus in the range of 0.3 GPa to 0.7 GPa. 
     
     
         12 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the protective rim has a Young's Modulus of approximately 0.5 GPa. 
     
     
         13 . The hair styling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heating plate is flexible.