Electric curling iron

Claim 1

An electrical curling iron including a stationary handle portion, a rotary handle portion mounted for rotation on said stationary handle portion, a heat-conducting tube rigidly connected at one end to said rotary handle portion, hair clamping means pivotally mounted on said heat-conducting tube, a heating element mounted internally of said heat conducting tube, hand engageable support means mounted adjacent the other end of said heat-conducting tube for permitting the axis of said heat-conducting tube to be stabilized by one hand of a user while said rotary handle portion and said heat-conducting tube are rotated as a unit by the index finger and/or the thumb of the other hand of a user holding said stationary handle portion, rotary bearing means rotatably connecting said hand engageable support means to said heat-conducting tube to permit relative rotation of said hand engageable support means with respect to said heat-conducting tube about the axis of said heat-conducting tube, said rotary bearing means comprising a bearing bushing made of resilient material secured in the heat-conducting tube by a clamping effect, the periphery of the bearing bushing being provided with a groove receiving an expandable clamping ring having portions urged outwardly towards the inner surface of said heat-conducting tube and wherein said rotary bearing means has an outer bifurcated end on which a mating portion of said hand engageable support means is received for permitting relative rotation of said hand engageable support means and said heat-conducting tube while retaining said hand engageable support means.