A Hair-drvinε Apparatus with a Multiple Handsrip

Technical Field The invention relates to a hair-drying apparatus the handgrip of which enables a plurality of work positions to be attained. Background Art In the prior art the largest-selling hair-drying apparatus are constituted by a main body, generally having a longitudinal development, which have an upstream intake for entraining cold air and a downstream exit for hot-air expulsion. In the main body there is a ventilator, for channelling the air, and downstream of the ventilator there is a heating resistance for changing the channelled cold air into hot air. A handgrip for manoeuvring the apparatus is located in proximity of the cold air intake, generally developing transversally with respect to the development of the main body. Where the person whose hair is being dried has short damp hair, the operator, using the handgrip, located the apparatus in a position overlying the surface of the head and directs the hot-air outlet downwards. The hot air flow is therefore directed downwards onto the area to be dried. Where the person has long hair, in order to get each lock thoroughly dry the operator has to perform a series of work stages. Having identified a lock of hair, the operator, while keeping the lock raised with respect to the rest of the hair, positions the hair-dryer in the usual position for drying the "upper" portion of the lock (i.e. the surface of the lock facing outwards from the head when the hair lies normally) , and then proceeds to drying the lower portion (i.e. the surface of the lock facing inwards, towards the person's head, when the hair lies normally), necessitating a 180° turn of the dryer as, towards the end of the lock, the dryer is positioned under the lock and the hot air is directed upward. Thus the hot air moves from below and upwards until it strikes the lower portion of the lock of hair. This is the only way to ensure complete drying of a flowing lock of hair. The positioning of the hair-dryer during the treatment of the lower portion of the lock of hair is, with the apparatus at present on the market, not very practical. Further, in the case of high-power professional hair-dryers, which are rather heavy, the continual need to pass up and down from the upper to the lower zone of a lock of hair and vice versa may, in the long-run, cause some stress damage to the wrist of the operator. The main aim of the present invention is to provide a hair-dryer which facilitates treatment of a long lock of hair, and which is overall easier and more flexible to wield. A further aim of the present invention is to provide a hair-dryer which reduces the stress on the operator's wrist. A further aim of the present invention is to provide a hair-dryer which reduces operating times for drying a long lock of hair. An additional aim of the present invention is to provide a hair-dryer which does not completely revolutionise the consolidated conformation of hair-dryers presently on the market. The set technical aims are attained by a hair-dryer apparatus which is characterised in that it comprises one or more of the technical solutions claimed in the appended claims. Disclosure of Invention There follows a non-limiting description, by way of an example, of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a hair-dryer apparatus according to the invention, illustrated in the figures of the drawings, in which: figure 1 is an isometric view of the device according to the invention in a first embodiment thereof; figure 2 is a lateral view of the device according to the invention in a second embodiment thereof; figure 3 is an isometric view of the device according to the invention in a third embodiment thereof; figure 4 illustrates the device of the invention gripped normally for drying an upper surface area of a lock of hair; figure 5 illustrates the device of the invention in a first work phase involved in drying the upper surface area of a lock of hair; figure 6 illustrates the device of the invention in a second work phase involved in drying the upper surface area of a lock of hair. With reference to the figures of the drawings, 1 denotes in its entirety a hair-dryer apparatus. The hair-dryer 1 is constituted by a main body 2, preferably developing longitudinally, exhibiting upstream of an air flow an intake mouth 3 and downstream of the air flow an air outlet mouth 4. Means for conveying air, of known type, are included inside the main body 2, which in the present embodiment are constituted by a fan facing the intake mouth 3; downstream of the fan there are means for heating, also of known type, which are generally constituted by a resistance terminating in proximity of the outlet mouth 4. A cold air flow, entrained through the intake mouth 3 by the fan, crosses the -A-

resistance and is thus heated before exiting through the exit mouth 4. A first handle 5 is exhibited externally of the main body 2; one end 6 of the handle 5 is stably connected in proximity of the intake mouth 3, while the other end 7 of the handle 5 is free. On the first handle 5 there is a series of buttons 8 for activating the hair-dryer, i.e. for switching it on and off and for regulating the fan velocity and consequently the delivery of hot air blown through the outlet mouth 4 of the main body 2. A second handle 9 is interpositioned between the main body 2 and the first handle 5, which second handle 9 is an additional grip for the operator. The second handle 9 , in a first embodiment illustrated in figure 1, exhibits a first end 10 which is stably connected to the first handle 5, in proximity of the free end 7 of the first handle 5, and a second end 11 which is stably connected to the main body 2 in proximity of the outlet mouth 4. In the first configuration the second handle 9, not removable from the hair-dryer 1, forms, together with the first handle 5 and the main body 2, a closed ring. In a second embodiment, illustrated in figure 2, the second handle 9a exhibits a first end 10a which is stably connected to the first handle 5, in proximity of the free end 7, and a second end 11a facing the main body 2 in proximity of the outlet mouth 4. In the second embodiment, the second handle 9a is not removable from the hair¬ dryer 1 but forms, with the first handle 5 and the main body 2, an open ring conformation, as there is a discontinuity generated by the second end 11a which is not connected to the main body 2. In a similar embodiment, not shown in the accompanying figures of the drawings, the discontinuity is in fact the point where the first end 10a is facing the first handle 5 but is not connected thereto. In a third embodiment, shown in figure 3, the second handle 9b exhibits a first end 1 Ib terminating with a ring portion 12, internally of which the outlet mouth 4 of the main body 2 is inserted, and a second end 10b terminating in a semi- annular portion 13 which can be press-coupled onto the first handle 5 in proximity of the free end 7 thereof. In the third configuration the second handle 9b is removable from the hair-dryer. The operator fits the second handle 9b to the hair-dryer 1 by first coupling the annular portion 12 on the outlet mouth 4 of the main body 2 and then by press- coupling the semi-annular portion 13 on the second free end 7 of the first handle 5. To remove the second handle 9b the above procedure is performed in reverse. Without forsaking the ambit of protection of the present invention, obviously the second handle 9, 9a, 9b can be linear, as shown in figures 1 and 3, or curved, as shown in figure 2; or it can even be S-shaped. The conformation of the first handle 5, shown as linear, can be different, for example it can be curved or anatomically shaped. The invention functions as follows. The operator raises a lock of long hair using one hand. The operator then grips the second handle 9, 9a, 9b, of the hair-dryer 1, and locates the hair-dryer 1 in a position overlying the lock of hair, directing the outlet mouth 4 of the main body downwards. Thus the flow of hot air exiting from the main body 2 will dry the upper portion of the lock of hair. The operator then rotates the hair-dryer 1 by 180°, without having to move the wrist. Following the rotation, the outlet mouth 4 of the hair-dryer 1 is now facing upwards, and after positioning it below the lock of hair the operator can dry the lower portion of the lock of hair. A further advantage of the present invention is that the first handle 5 can be held in the normal way and used as usual when the lock of hair to be dried is short. A further advantage of the invention is that once the hair-dryer 1 operation has been completed, the cable thereof can be wound about the second handle 9, 9a, 9b. In addition, thanks to the second handle 9, 9a, 9b forming, together with the first handle 5 and the main body 2 a ring conformation, the hair-dryer 1 can be stored tidily and unobtrusively on a wall hook, thus freeing up a drawer for other use.