Haircare appliance

Abstract

A haircare appliance has a housing having an air inlet and an air outlet, an airflow generator for generating an airflow from the air inlet to the air outlet, and a heater for heating the airflow. The haircare appliance has an airflow temperature module for obtaining a value indicative of a temperature of the airflow at the air outlet, a distance sensor for sensing a distance to hair within a flow path from the air outlet and a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the hair. The haircare appliance has a moisture estimation module configured to estimate, based on received output values from the airflow temperature module, the distance sensor and the temperature sensor, a moisture content of the hair.

1 . A haircare appliance comprising a housing having an air inlet and an air outlet, an airflow generator for generating an airflow from the air inlet to the air outlet, a heater for heating the airflow, an airflow temperature module for obtaining a value indicative of a temperature of the airflow at the air outlet, a distance sensor for sensing a distance to hair within a flow path from the air outlet, a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the hair, and a moisture estimation module configured to estimate, based on received output values from the airflow temperature module, the distance sensor and the temperature sensor, a moisture content of the hair. 
     
     
         2 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the moisture estimation module is configured to estimate a temperature of airflow proximal to the hair based on the received outputs from the airflow temperature module and the distance sensor, and configured to estimate the moisture content of the hair based on the received output from the temperature sensor and the estimated temperature of airflow proximal to the hair. 
     
     
         3 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the moisture estimation module comprises a filter, and the filter is configured to process an output of the distance sensor and an output of the temperature sensor to provide a normalised temperature reading. 
     
     
         4 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the moisture estimation module comprises a mathematical model indicative of a relationship between the value indicative of a temperature of the airflow at the air outlet, the distance of the hair and the temperature of the hair, and the moisture estimation module is configured to estimate the moisture content of the hair based on the mathematical model. 
     
     
         5 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises a motion sensor for determining a speed of motion of the haircare appliance relative to the hair, and the moisture estimation module is configured to be inoperable when the speed of motion of the haircare appliance relative to the hair is above a threshold speed value. 
     
     
         6 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises an image sensor for capturing images, and the moisture estimation module is configured to be inoperable when an image captured by the image sensor does not indicate the presence of hair. 
     
     
         7 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises an ambient sensor for sensing ambient temperature and/or humidity conditions, and the moisture estimation module estimates a moisture content of the hair based on a received output from the ambient sensor. 
     
     
         8 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises an alert module to alert a user to the estimated moisture content of the hair. 
     
     
         9 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the alert module comprises at least one of a haptic feedback module, a visual indicia, and an aural indicia of the estimated moisture content of the hair. 
     
     
         10 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises a controller configured to control an output parameter of the haircare appliance based on the estimated moisture content. 
     
     
         11 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the output parameter comprises any of airflow, airflow temperature, or ion content. 
     
     
         12 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the moisture estimation module is configured to monitor a received output value from the temperature sensor over a time period, calculate a heating rate of the hair and estimate the moisture content of the hair based on the calculated heating rate. 
     
     
         13 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the moisture estimation module is configured to receive an output value indicative of airflow rate, and to estimate the moisture content of the hair based on the output value indicative of airflow rate. 
     
     
         14 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises a timer for timing a drying operation, and the moisture estimation module is configured to estimate the moisture content of the hair based on a received output from the timer. 
     
     
         15 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the moisture estimation module is configured to receive an input value indicative of a hair property of the hair, and to estimate the moisture content of the hair based on the input value indicative of the hair property. 
     
     
         16 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the hair property is any of hair type, hair length, hair colour, or haircare product used on the hair. 
     
     
         17 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises a user interface, and the input value indicative of the hair property is received via the user interface. 
     
     
         18 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the distance sensor is configured to sense a distance to hair outside of the flow path from the air outlet, the temperature sensor is configured to sense a temperature of the hair outside of the flow path from the air outlet, and the moisture estimation module is configured to estimate, based on received output values from the distance sensor and the temperature sensor, a moisture content of the hair outside of the flow path from the air outlet. 
     
     
         19 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the haircare appliance comprises a main body within which the airflow generator and the heater are housed, and an attachment releasably attached to the main body, the attachment comprising the airflow temperature module, the distance sensor, the temperature sensor and the moisture estimation module. 
     
     
         20 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 19 , wherein the attachment is configured to communicate the estimated moisture content of the hair to the main body. 
     
     
         21 . The haircare appliance as claimed in  claim 19 , wherein the attachment comprises an alert module to alert a user to the estimated moisture content of the hair, and a power source to power the alert module, the airflow temperature module, the distance sensor, the temperature sensor and the moisture estimation module. 
     
     
         22 . A method of estimating a moisture content of hair, the method comprising directing an airflow at the hair, receiving a value indicative of a temperature of the airflow, receiving a value indicative of a distance to the hair, receiving a value indicative of a temperature of the hair, and estimating the moisture content based on the received values indicative of the temperature of the airflow, the distance to the hair and the temperature of the hair. 
     
     
         23 . An attachment for a haircare appliance having an airflow generator configured to generate an airflow and a heater for heating the airflow, the airflow generator and the heater disposed in a housing, the attachment comprising an air inlet for receiving heated airflow from the housing, an air outlet, an airflow temperature module for obtaining a value indicative of a temperature of the airflow at the air outlet, a distance sensor for sensing a distance to hair within a flow path from the air outlet, a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the hair, and a moisture estimation module configured to estimate, based on received output values from the airflow temperature module, the distance sensor and the temperature sensor, a moisture content of the hair.