Hair curling appliance with a heating element comprising a heating wire wound around an inner core

Claim 1

A hair curling appliance comprising a handle, a heating element fixedly extending from said handle, said heating element comprising an inner member including an inner surface and an outer surface, said inner member being generally elongated and tapered and made of heat insulating material and including an end fixed in said handle, a low resistance wire which has a periferial surface, which is disposed on said inner member, which comprises coated wire ranging between 14.20 mils and 25.35 mils in diameter, which is wound between 50 turns and 145 turns around said inner member, and which is between 5 feet and 18 feet in wound length, a generally elongated outer member fabricated of elastromeric material and including an end fixed in said handle, an outer surface, and an inner tapered surface telescopically receiving said inner member, and being deformed around said wire peripheral surface so as to increase the amount of surface contact and resultant heating by conduction between said low resistance wire and said outer member, means for energizing said low resistance wire comprising rechargeable power storage means secured in said handle, and means for connecting said power storage means to said low resistance wire and including manually operable switch means for energizing said low resistance wire.