The invention provides a hair cutter comprising a housing having an inlet opening, said housing being connectable to a source of vacuum for drawing air into said housing through said inlet opening and cutting means arranged in said housing for cutting hair drawn into said housing with the air when the housing is coupled to the source of vacuum.

Preferably the housing has a first portion and a second portion arranged at an angle to the first portion and the cutting means is arranged in the housing where the first portion meets the second portion so that air and hair drawn

into the housing are caused to change direction in the vicinity of said cutting means to facilitate cutting of the hair by the cutting means.

Preferably the housing has a spacer member which is adjustable relative to the housing so that the inlet opening and therefore the cutting means can be adjusted in distance relative to a person so that a desired length of hair is drawn into the housing to cut the hair to a predetermined length.

Preferably the housing is the form of a tubular member which has a handle portion which forms one of said portions of the housing and an inlet portion, which forms the other portion of the housing, arranged at an angle to the handle portion of the housing.

In a further preferred embodiment a cutting device, having said cutting means, is arranged and supported outside said housing with said cutting means extending in to said housing through an aperture in said housing so that said cutting means is arranged in said housing.

The invention also provides a hair cutter comprising a housing having an inlet opening and a cutting aperture spaced from said inlet opening, said housing being for supporting a cutting device having a cutting means so that said cutting means can project through said aperture into said housing, said housing being connectable to a source of vacuum for drawing air into said housing through said inlet opening, so that the cutting means when projecting through said aperture cuts hair drawn into said housing with the air when the housing is coupled to the source of vacuum.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example in more detail with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 of the drawing which shows a cross-sectional view through an apparatus embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of a second embodiment;

Figure 3 is a side view of the embodiment of Figure 2;

Figure 4 shows a third embodiment; and

Figure 5 is a view along the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

With reference to Figure 1, the hair cutter 10 comprises a housing 12 which has a first portion 14 which forms a handle portion and a second portion 16 which is an intake portion. The portions 14 and 16 are preferably substantially circular in cross-section and the portion 14 is arranged at an angle to the portion 16. In other embodiments the portions 14 and 16 may be of rectangular cross-section The portion 14 is adapted to be connected to a source of vacuum which may comprise a conventional type vacuum cleaner which has a hose 20 or any other suitable source so that air can be drawn through an inlet opening 22 in the portion 16 and then through the portion 14 into the hose 20. Alternatively, the source of vacuum may be built into the housing 12 to provide a more compact device.

A cutting device 30 is arranged inside the housing at the portion of the housing where the handle portion 14 meets the intake portion 16. The cutter is a conventional type of shear or clipper type cutter conventionally used in hairdressing and therefore full details of the cutter will not be described herein. The power for the cutter may be supplied from an electrical cord (not shown) which is plugged into a power point or by batteries. In alternative embodiments (not shown) the device 30 may be powered by the vacuum created in the housing.

The intake portion 16 is provided with a spacer mechanism 32 which comprises a cylindrical sleeve 34 which surrounds the portion 16 and has a nut 36 for clamping the cylindrical sleeve 34 to the portion 16. The sleeve 16 carries a plurality of spacer rods 38 which are blunt at their outermost end so that they can be located against a person's head in order to space the opening 22 and therefore the device 30 a desired distance from that person's head. In use, when the source of vacuum is operated air is drawn into the inlet opening 22 and the device is located adjacent a person's head with the rods 38 lightly touching the

person's head. Air is therefore drawn into the intake section 16 through the opening 22 and the person's hair is entrained in the air flow and drawn into the opening 22 ,. The flow of air which passes from the portion 16 into the portion 14 and then to the source of vacuum is therefore drawn past the device 30 and is cut by the device 30 as the device 30 reciprocates. The location of the device 30 at the juncture of the portions 14 and 16 means that the hair passing over the cutter is caused to change direction as the air flow changes direction from the portion 16 to the portion 14. The change of direction over the device 30 assists the cutting of the hair.

In order to adjust the length of the cut, the sleeve 34 is moved relative to the portion 16 by loosening the nut 36 and sliding the sleeve 34 towards or away from the cutter 30. The sleeve 34 is arranged so that it has a minimum adjustment which always ensures that the rods 38 project beyond the opening 22. The provision of rods 38 which space the opening 22 from a person's head means that hair is always able to enter the opening 22 and entrain hair in the air flow and the device will not be drawn onto a person's head by the suction created by the vacuum. The portion 16 may be marked so that the sleeve 34 may be located adjacent a mark to cut hair to the length indicated by that mark. The device 10 shown in Figure 1 can be manufactured independent of the source of vacuum and be used with a conventional vacuum cleaner system by providing a suitable connection at the end of the section 14 for coupling to the hose 20 of a vacuum cleaner. The device can also be manufactured with its own source of vacuum and in such embodiments, the handle 14 could have ON and OFF switches for the source of vacuum and for the device 30 for easy manipulation by an operator.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has the advantage that it can quickly and accurately cut a person's hair to a desired length by appropriate adjustment of the spacer mechanism 32. Furthermore, since the device 30 is

located within a housing and is spaced a reasonable distance from the outlet of the housing, the device of this invention is safe to use and is not likely to cut or nick a person whose hair is being cut. 5 A second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. In this embodiment the housing 50 has a portion 52 of generally rectangular cross-section which merges into a larger section 54 of generally circular cross-section. The section 54 is

10 adapted to be connected to a source of vacuum. The housing 50 also has an upstanding section 56 which is arranged at right angles to the section 52.

At the juncture of the sections 56 and 52 an aperture which is preferably in the form of an elongate slot

15 58 is provided. A conventional hair cutting device 70 is supported on the body section 52 so that cutting blades 72 of the device 70 project through the slot 58 and into the housing 50.

The device 70 may be secured to the housing 50 by

20 suitable securing means (not shown) or may merely be held in place by a user with the cutting blades 72 projecting through the slot 58. Alternatively the housing 50 may include a sub-housing into which the device 70 is inserted to securely hold the device 70 to the housing 50. The device 70 may be 5 battery powered or powered by a conventional power outlet and power cord (not shown). Housing section 56 includes a spacer element 60 which is movably coupled to the section 56 so as to space an inlet opening 62 of the section 56 always away from a persons head by a predetermined distance. The spacer element 0 60 and the section 56 may be provided with markings 64 so that the distance between the end of the spacer element 60 and the cutting blades 68 can be accurately determined to thereby cut a person's hair to a predetermined length.

The present embodiment operates in substantially the 5 same manner as the embodiment described with reference to

Figure 1. That is, the device 70 is operated by an ON/OFF switch or the like (not shown) to thereby power the cutting

blades 72. Vacuum is applied to the section 54 from a source of vacuum to draw a person's hair into the housing 50 through the opening 62. The spacer element 60 is lightly placed against the person's head to maintain a prescribed distance between the cutting blade 72 and the person's head and to space the opening from the person's head to thereby cut hair to a length determined by the distance between the end of the spacer element 60 and the blades 72. The vacuum applied to the section 54 causes the person's hair to curve around the right angle bend between the sections 52 and 56 thereby bringing it into contact with the cutting blades 72 to thereby cut the person's hair to the prescribed length.

In other embodiments (not shown) the housing may include elements (not shown) to create turbulence in the air flow in the housing to ensure that the hair is brought into contact with the cutting blades. If laminar flow is allowed to take place it is possible the hair may be drawn past the blades in the laminar flow without contacting the bla'des. The element may comprise a plate in the housing or a kink in the housing etc.

Figures 4 and 5 show a third embodiment in which a housing 100 is formed of three parts 102, 104 and 106. Each of the parts 102, 104 and 106 are generally cylindrical in nature and the part 102 has an end 108 which includes a plurality of projections 110 which act as spacers to space an opening 111 from a persons head. The inner surface of a cylindrical wall 112 of the part 102 includes a screw thread 114 which mates with a screw thread 116 on the cylindrical wall 118 of the part 104. The part 104 includes an end wall 120 which has a central opening 111. Arranged inside the part 104 and adjacent the end wall 120 is a cutting device 123 which includes cutting blades 124 together with a motor and gears (not shown) to drive the blades 124.

The third part 106 includes a cylindrical wall 130 which is dimensioned to fit inside the cylindrical wall 118 of the part 104. The part 106 can merely be a friction fit inside the part 104 or can include securing means (not shown)

for securing the part 106 within the part 104. The part 106 includes an air pump 132 comprised of a motor 134 and an impeller 136 for drawing air into the housing 100. Cowling 138 which has a central opening 140 is provided adjacent the impeller 136. A hair net 142 is provided to extend across the part 106 in the vicinity of the part 106 where it joins the part 104. In use, the part 102 is screw threaded onto the part 104 via the screw threads 114 and 116. The distance between the outermost points of the projections 110 and the cutting blades 124 can be adjusted by screwing the part 102 inwardly or outwardly with respect to the part 104 to cut the length of a persons hair to a desired length. The electric motor 134 is actuated to draw air in the direction of arrow A through the housing 100 and out through an exhaust outlet 150. The air is drawn into the housing 100 through the inlet 111 and entrains a person's hair in the air flow to draw the hair past the cutting blades 124. The cut hair is trapped by the hair net 142 and may be emptied by separating the parts 104 and 106 by pulling them apart if held by friction or releasing any securing means (not shown).

Power may be supplied to the cutting device 123 and electric motor 134 via electric cord (not shown) in a conventional power outlet.

Since modification within the spirit and scope of the invention may readily be effected by persons skilled within the art, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described by way of example hereinabove.