Hair dryer with safety guard air outlet nozzle

Claim 1

A hair dryer comprising a housing, said housing defining an air inlet and an air outlet, blower means disposed within the housing for drawing a stream of air into the air inlet, through the dryer housing and forcing it out the air outlet, said air outlet being generally in the shape of a square, heating means disposed within the housing for heating the stream of air as it passes through the dryer housing and a guard member secured to the dryer housing over the air outlet and in communication therewith so that air flowing from said outlet flows through said guard member, said guard member having an open end, an air exit, and a casing generally in the shape of a truncated pyramid in spaced relationship to the dryer housing providing flow communication between the open end and air exit, the space between the casing and the dryer housing having a cross sectional area at the air outlet of at least about 50% of the cross-sectional area of the air outlet, to allow sufficient heated air from the air outlet to exit between the casing and the dryer housing out the open end in the event of complete blockage of the air exit of said guard member without causing overheating of the heating means, dryer housing or guard member, or alternatively under normal operation with no blockage present, to allow a sufficient flow of ambient air to be induced to flow into the open end and through the space as a result of the flow of heated air from the air outlet through the air exit, the ambient air mixing with the heated air passing through said air exit, a protective grill over the air exit and means for maintaining the casing in spaced relationship with respect to the dryer housing, wherein the distance between the protective grill and the air outlet is greater than about one-half the inside width of the air outlet and wherein the protective grill contains air outlet openings having a total area greater than the cross-sectional area of the air outlet.