The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 11, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 09, 2003
Walter Evanyk, Plano, TX (US);
Other;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a blower dryer appliance typically used for drying and styling hair. When electrically activated, these appliances virtually always route electrical power to the fan or blower motor prior to or simultaneously with the heating element(s). Semiconducting switching devices used for regulating, controlling and/or switching electrical power generate waste heat that must be dissipated. Typically, heat is conducted and/or channeled away from the semiconducting switching device through a heat sink which is thermodynamic-mechanically coupled to the device. The greater the coverage area of the heat sink, the more waste heat can be dissipated depending on the ability of the heat sink to make contact with cooler, ambient air. This adds costs to the dryer/blower for engineering the heat sink, cost of the sink itself, and necessary design changes in the dryer/blower for accommodating the sink. The presently disclosed invention utilizes the inherent characteristics of the dryer/blower for channeling and reusing waste heat generated from an active switching device by positioning the active device in the air path of the blower. Relocating the heat generation portion of the control circuitry to the air path has three major benefits: greater cooling effect for the switching transistor and therefore more efficient transistor conduction and switching operation; utilizing smaller and less costly heat sinks; and the cumulative effect of combining the waste heat generated by the switch to the intentional heat effect generated by heating element(s).