US3613237A

US3613237A - Vacuum assembly for hair clipper

Info

Publication number: US3613237A
Application number: US12287A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas P Keane
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-02-18
Filing date: 1970-02-18
Publication date: 1971-10-19
Anticipated expiration: 1988-10-19

Abstract

A VACUUM ASSEMBLY FOR A HAIR CLIPPER COMPRISING A VACUUM ATTACHMENT FIXED TO THE TOP OF THE CLIPPER BODY AND HAVING ITS FORWARD OPENING INCLINED WITH RESPECT TO THE BLADE ASSEMBLY. A SUCTION HOSE CONNECTING TO THE VACUUM ATTACHMENT ABOVE THE HANDLE PORTION THEREOF.

A CUTTING TRAP SUCTION MEANS COMPRISING A MOTOR DISPOSED OUTSIDE OF THE CLIPPER ROOM AND CLIPPER STORAGE MEANS.

Description

Oct. 19,1971 P KEANE 3,613,237

VACUUM ASSEMBLY FOR HAIR CLIPPER Filed Feb. 18, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 424 FIGI INVENTOR.

THOMAS P. KEANE Oct. 19, 1971 T, KEANE 3,613,237

VACUUM ASSEMBLY FOR HAIR CLIPPER Filed Feb. 18, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 7?,

INVENTOR.

THOMAS P. KEANE Oct. 19, 1971 T. P. KEANE VACUUM ASSEMBLY FOR HAIR CLIPPER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 18, 1970 FIG. 3

INVENTOR.

THOMAS P. KEANE United States Patent 0 3,613,237 VACUUM ASSEMBLY FOR HAIR CLIPPER Thomas P. Keane, 14 Euclid Ave., Council Blulfs, Iowa 51501 Filed Feb. 18, 1970, Ser. No. 12,287 Int. Cl. B26b 19/44 U.S. Cl. 30133 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A vacuum assembly for a hair clipper comprising a vacuum attachment fixed to the top of the clipper body and having its forward opening inclined with respect to the blade assembly. A suction hose connecting to the vacuum attachment above the handle portion thereof. A cutting trap suction means comprising a motor disposed outside of the clipper room and clipper storage means.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is in the field of vacuum attachments for hair clippers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Vacuum attachments for electric hair clippers of the prior art have connected to the clipper itself by being attached to the upper side of the clipper, and one which has been marketed, has a hair intake opening excessively close to the blade so that the in-rushing hair pulls into the opening, not only cuttings as desired, but also uncut hair which creates a nuisance. This is especially a problem when the uncut hair projects outwardly from the customers head because it is long and long mens hair is now evermore popular.

A barbers comb tends to get under uncut hair, causing it to be pushed out or frizzed up and the frizzed up uncut hair tends to be sucked up into the vacuum opening.

When the uncut hair is sucked into the second opening it tends to fill it so much as to partially clog it, reducing its air flow capacity.

Once the air flow channel through a vacuum attachment is sufficiently clogged further cuttings will fall on the floor defeating the purpose of the vacuum attachment.

Another disadvantage of having the air intake opening excessively close to the blade is that the uncut hair which is drawn into and clogs the air channel tends to prevent mobility of the clippers by binding against the edges of the hair intake opening as the barber attempts to move the clippers. A customer can also suffer some discomfort as his hair is pulled while the clippers are moving and partially filled with longer uncut hair.

Poor visibility for the barber is another characteristic of attachments which have the hair intake opening accessively close to the blade.

For example if the barbers eyes are on one side of the blade assembly he cannot see the other side of the blade assembly.

Dislocation of the vacuum attachment has been another difiiculty. This happens because prior art attachments have had their hoses connected to the rearward end of the attachment and facing away from the rear end of the clipper handle. In this position the hose by its inertia tends to pull the rear end of the vacuum attachment to one side of the clipper, causing the forward end of the vacuum attachment to be dislocated to one side of its intended position on the clipper.

Handling the clipper and hose with prior art vacuum attachments just described has been a two-handed oper- 3,613,237 Patented Oct. 19, 1971 ice ation, because with one barbers hand on the clipper, his other hand must support the weight of the hose in order to prevent the inertia of the hose from pulling the vacuum attachment to one side and dislocating it from its preferred position on the clipper.

Also the barber must use his other hand to support the weight of the hose for a vacuum opening which is to make it easier to turn the clipper from side to side as has been very difficult with clippers of the vacuum attachments of the type which have the hose attached to the rearward ends thereof.

It is to be understood that a hose is relatively heavy and long as a general rule as compared with the clippers, and unless the problems are remedied the freedom of action in the use of clippers is severely impaired by having the cumbersome hose attached. Heretofore in the prior art there has been no solution to the problem of handling the cumbersome hose.

In some prior art clippers the vacuum attachment has not only a top and side wall but also has had a wall adjacent the clippers as is unnecessary and is also an added expense.

Some vacuum attachments of the prior art have had their forwardmost ends provided with uppermost sides which extend so far forwardly toward the blade assembly as to block the barbers view of the other side of the blade assembly.

One prior art proposal involved a pipe adapted to swing back and forth above the barbers chair, and to which the hose is attached. But it is possible for the barber to accidentally bump such a pipe which can be painful and a nuisance.

Prior art proposals for conducting cuttings through a wall of a barbershop to a distant disposal point by means of piping have had the disadvantage that it had been intended to carry the cuttings themselves great distances sometimes fast, sharp 90-degree turns in the piping. Such a proposal greatly increases the hazard of the clogging of pipes at such turns in the piping. To have such a clogging in piping which is relatively inaccessibly disposed in a wall may have been a reason why such proposals have not met with acceptance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The combination with a hair clipper of a type having a horizontally elongated body provided with a handle portion and having a blade assembly at its forward end having cutting teeth extending at an acute angle with respect to the length of the elongated handle of the clipper substantially midway between a position of being at 90-degrees with respect to the length of the clipper body and another position of being parallel to the length of the clipper body, and a vacuum assembly comprising a vacuum attachment having a top wall and side walls, means for securing the attachment to the clipper body comprising a band of strong material extending across the top of the body section and across the upper side of said attachment, a band tightening means comprising a ledge means on the upper side of said body, and a set screw, means mounting the set screw on said band in a manner such that said set screw exerts a force against said ledge for drawing said band taut to firmly hold said attachment against the body, the side walls of said attachment being of lesser height at their forward ends and tapering to gradually greater height rearwardly therefrom, as seen in side elevation, so as to leave the desired maximum space between said blade assembly and the upper sides of said forward portions of the side walls for preserving a maximum of the barbers vision of the blade assembly when he is looking at the blade assembly from one side thereof.

The top wall of said attachment terminating at a point spaced rearwardly from the rearward side of the moving teeth portion of the blade assembly by approximately inch in order to dispose the plane of the effective opening in the vacuum attachment for hair entry in a position of approximately 65 degrees with respectto the plane defined by the forwardmost side of the blade assembly so as to provide an opening of effective and of sufiicient size without resorting to the prior art methods of extending the top of the vacuum attachment so far forward as to obscure visibility of the far side of the blade assembly for a barber who has his eyes one side thereof. The combination described in which the side walls of the vacuum assembly extend within one quarter inch of the rearward side of the teeth of the blade assembly in order to block off air flow into the hair receiving opening from the sides of the vacuum attachment in which places air flow would not carry hair into the attachment but would only cause the leaking in of flows of air from the side which would carry no hair with it and reduce the effectiveness of the suction effect.

The vacuum attachment having an air flow channel therethrough leading to a suction hose, the air flow channel being free of impediment so as to reduce clogging, the connection between the forward end of the hose and the rearward end of the vacuum attachment being disposed above the clippers and approximately mid-way :between the ends of the clippers so as to dispose this connection as far forward from the clippers as is practical in order that the inertia of the weight of the hose is not dragging on the rearward end of the clippers so that the clippers are more maneuverable, the rearward end of the vacuum attachment extending upwardly and rearwardly at approximately 30 degrees in order to dispose the hose in a lapping position with respect to the handle, but spaced therefrom sufficiently as to allow the operators hand to be received between the hose and the handle, so that the connection between the hose and vacuum attachment can be disposed as far forward as possible for the said maneuverability, and further so that the operator can grip around the handle of the clippers only and need not grip around a bulky assembly of clipper handle and vacuum attachment also, as has been the case in the prior art.

vThe extension of the sides of the vacuum attachment a very substantial distance forwardly from the forward end of the top wall of the vacuum attachment, serving also to block off the sides to prevent long, uncut hair of the customer from entering the vacuum channel and causing clogging and interfering with the maneuverabilitly of the clippers.

The hose is supported by a light swivel assembly, rather than on a heavy pipe, so that the hose canbe swung out of the way when not in use.

A frame anchored to the side wall or ceiling of the barbershop building supporting the swivel rod and also provided with clipper support devices which are movably attached thereto and which are normally held in an upper position so that when a clipper is rested thereon they move downwardly for closing a switch to automatically shut off the suctionproducing motor and also to automatically close a valve across the suction channel to the hose so that a hose not in use will not admit air and interfere with the suction for an adjacent hose which is in use. The suction assembly comprises a hair receiving chamber which is disposed downwardly from an open outlet of the suction line so that hair can fall downwardly from the outlet into the open able hair chamber for collection and easy disposal, air drawn through the outlet being drawn upwardly through a filter thereafter carried out of the room to a suction fan for delivering the air out of doors whereby no hair enters the line leading from the filter to the suction fan so that no clogging can occur in parts of the line which are in accessibly disposed beyond the walls of the barbersho cutting room.

A switching system such that when both clippers of a two clipper assembly are hung up in disuse the fan will automatically cease to operate, and yet so that if one of the clippers is being used While the other is hung on its hook in disuse, then the fan will operate.

A horizontally swiveling support rod assembly for the hose assembly which involves using a flexible hose itself for turning all necessary corners to avoid the high expense of precision-made leakproof swivel joints, the means attaching the hose to the rod accomplishing a slidable attachment so that the hose is slidable linearly of the rod so that as the rod is swung into a storage position the linear movement of said hose with respect to the rod will accommodate for the difference in pivoting illustrated by the contrast of the pivoting of the rod sharply about an axis whereas the hose must bend gradually.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a barbershop room shown with the closer parts of the wall, ceiling, and floor broken away and showing the vacuum assembly of this invention mounted therein with a clipper shown in a storage room.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation in detail of a central part of the vacuum assembly of this invention with other parts removed.

FIG. 3 is a frontal elevation of a cutting trap portion of the invention shown with various parts broken away to reveal other parts shown therebehind.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a cutter shown with the vacuum attachment of this invention and a portion of its hose attached thereto, certain parts being broken away.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the parts shown in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The vacuum assembly for a hair clipper of this invention is generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 1 and is shown as mounted in a barbershop room 12, in which the barbers chair 20 is partially shown as disposed a substantial distance from a back side wall 14 of the shop on which a frame 20 of the vacuum assembly 10 is mounted. The vacuum assembly 10 has an air hose 30, a terminal end of which is suitably attached to a vacuum attachment 50 made in accordance with this invention, and attached to a hair clipper generally indicated at 60.

The hair clipper 60 is better seen in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 and will be seen to have a body section generally indicated at 70, a back portion of which, shown at 80, serves as a handle.

The hair clipper 60 further has a blade assembly, generally indicated at 90, attached to its forward end and diagrammatically shown here. A portion of the blade assembly is stationary and is shown at 100, and is fastened to the body section 70.

The remainder of the blade assembly is digrammatically indicated at and is movably attached to the stationary portion 100. The clipper 60 as thus described is of a conventional type, having cutting teeth extending at an acute angle with respect to the length of the clipper, such angle being generally indicated at B in FIG. 4. This angle is substantially mid-way a position of being at 90 degrees and another position of being parallel to the length of the clipper body.

A ledge means is fixed to the top of the vacuum attachment and has a horizontal upper surface disposed beneath the band 102 and is engaged by a set screw 152 threadedly disposed through the band 102 for tightening the band to firmly hold the vacuum attachment 50 in place.

The attachment 50 further has a tail 156 extending rearwardly therefrom and attached to the body section 70 by means of a screw 160.

The set SCl'CtW 152 exerts a force against the ledge 150 for drawing the band taught to firmly hold the attachment 50 against the body section 70, and the screw 160 keeps the vacuum attachment from sliding forwardly.

The vacuum attachment 50 is of a new and unusual shape, and has side walls 180 which are of smaller size and of lesser height at their forward ends so that each side wall tapers to a gradually greater height rearwardly from the forward end thereof with the undersides 182 of each side wall i180 of a concaved arcuate shape for closely fitting against and being exactly complementary to the upper side 184 of the body section 70 so as to form a substantially air-tight fit therewith.

This tapering of the side walls causes an open space 190 to exist between the upper sides of the forward end of the side walls 180, and the rearward side 200 of the blade assembly 90, which latter projects above the body section 70 at an inclination with respect to the length of the elongated body section 70 which is substantially the same as the angle B, the forward side and the rearward side of the upper end of the blade assembly 90 lying parallel to each other, as seen in side elevation. The space 190 is therefore large so as to leave a desired ideal maximum of space between the upper sides of the side walls 180 and the blade assembly 90 to preserve a maximum of the barbers ability to see an opposite side of the blade assembly from that side on which the barbers eyes are disposed.

The vacuum attachment has a top wall 220 which terminates, as indicated at 230, along a line transversely disposed with respect to the length of the body section 70 and spaced rearwardly from the rearward side of the blade assembly 90 by approximately of an inch in order to dispose the plane of the effective opening 250 in the vacuum attachment in a position for easy entry of hair and approximately 65 degrees with respect to a plane defined by the forwardmost side of the blade assembly, this angle of 65 degrees being indicated at A in FIG. 4, so as to provide an opening of effective and sufficient size without resorting to the prior art methods of extending the top of the vacuum attachment so far forward as to obscure visibility of the far side of the blade assembly for a barber who has his eyes on one side thereof.

The side walls 180 of the blade assembly extend at their forward ends to within inch of the rearward side of the blade assembly 90, or expressed in another way to within 4 inch of the rearwardmost teeth of the blade assembly 90 in order to block off air flow into the hair receiving opening 250 from the sides of the vacuum attachment 50.

(The vacuum attachment 50 has an air flow channel therethrough shown at 270, and leading upward and rearward to an upwardly and rearwardly extending elongated annular rearward portion 28-0 of the vacuum attachment 50, to which latter an outer end 282 of the hose 30 is attached in a suitable manner, and at a place which is disposed approximately mid-iway or somewhat forwardly of mid-way between the forward and rearward ends of the body section 70 of the clipper so as to dispose the connection as far forward as practical so that the inertia of the weight of the hose 30 is not dragging on the rearward end of the clipper for making the clipper more handy and more maneuverable. The rearwardly extending portion 280 extends upwardly and rearwardly at approximately 30 degrees with respect to the horizontal, as seen in side elevation whereby the hose 30 is in lapping position with respect to the body section 70 overlapping the handle 80.

The operator can grip the handle 80 without interfer ence from the hose 30 because of its spacing from the handle.

The hose 30 leads rearwardly to a suitable connection at 290 to permit air to flow in the direction of the arrow 2% into a lower tube 310 which can be square, as shown in FIG. 3. l

The tube 310 extends through a switch and valve housing 312 and into a central portion 320 of a cutting trap assembly 330.

The cutting trap assembly 330 can also be called a cuttings trap 330, and as best seen in FIG. 1, it is attached by means of a frame 350 to the wall 14 of a building whereby it is supported above the floor out of the way and near the ceiling. The cuttings trap assembly 330 has an upper hollow portion generally indicated at 340 which is attached to the frame 350 and also has a lower portion or lower container portion 344 mounted on the underside of the upper portion 340 and removably secured thereto and normally substantially sealed thereby because the lower portion 344 fits into the upper portion snugly and is held there by releasable attachment clip assemblies 346.

The tube 310 can also be called a hollow element 310 and it extends through the upper hollow portion 340 of the trap, and has an open end 348 facing downwardly and spaced a substantial distance from the bottom of the lower container portion 344.

A hollow header 360 extends through an upper part 362 of the upper top portion 340 from the exterior thereof and a filter 370 is disposed between the lower container portion 344 and the header 360 and divides the upper container portion340 into an upper part 362 and a lower part 320.

The header 360 has opening means therein defined by hollow connectors 390 through which filtered air can pass into the header from the upper side of the filter 370.

The filter 370 blocks substantially all of the flow of air from the open end 348 upwardly to the header 360.

The building generally indicated at 400, and of which the wall 14 forms a part, is an inhabitable building, and a conduit means 410 is provided which leads from the header 360 to the exterior of the building at an outlet 420. In the conduit means is a blower 424 for blowing the air outside.

The conduit 410 preferably extends upwardly through the ceiling 430 of the building and then outwardly through the side wall 14.

As thus described, air-carrying cuttings falling out of the open end 348 will tend to pass upwardly in the direction of the arrows 402 through the filter 370, whereas the heavier cuttings themselves will fall directly downwardly by gravity as shown by the arrows 450 and can be disposed of by removing the lower container portion 344 periodically.

Referring to FIG. 1, a hollow suction element is there shown at 470 and is attached to the lower tube 310 which can also be called a hollow element 310 whereby it is to the hollow suction element 470 that the rearward end of the hose 30 is attached.

The hose 30 can be referred to more generally as a hose assembly and can be composed of elements which are not necessarily flexible. although in FIG. 1 the entire hose is substantially flexible in a uniform way. A rod 510 is provided and is pivotally attached by means 512 to the frame 20 in that sense that portions of the upper portion of the cuttings trap assembly can be considered part of the frame 20, and further in the sense that a control housing 520 mounted on the forward side of the upper cuttings trap assembly portion 340 is also part of the frame 20, whereby the rod 510 is thereby attached to the frame 20 so that it can swing horizontally into a horizontal plane. The hose assembly 500 has a central part 540 attached to and supported by the rod 510, the attachment being accomplished by members 560, which latter each extend around and support the hose 500 and also extend around a sleeve 510' received on the rod 510 in a slidable manner, whereby they are freely slidable lengthwise of the rod 510 so that the hose is slidable linearly of the rod whereby the rod is swung into a storage position substantially at a right angle to the position shown in FIG. 1, the linear movement of the hose with respect to the rod will accommodate for the difference in pivoting which is illustrated by the contrast of the pivoting of the 7 rod sharply about an axis which is accomplished by the means 512, whereas the hose itself must bend more gradually in an arc.

Those parts of the hose assembly 500 which are disposed between the central rod supported part of the hose and the clipper 60 are substantially entirely flexible, although it is preferable that the entire hose assembly b flexible.

' The clipper has a cord 600 which extends to the control housing 520 in a manner such that a considerable part of the length of the cord extending to the clipper follows generally along the length of the hose assembly because the cord is attached to the hose assembly for support by suitable attachment means 610 so that the cord does not swing around in the air separately from the hose assembly to the greater extent that would otherwise be the case during hair clipping motions.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of forked clipper receivers are there shown at 700 each having two spaced substantially parallel prongs 710 adapted to receive the body of a clipper therebetween. The prongs 710 are spaced apart a lesser distance than the distance which the blade assembly 90 extends in a direction transversely of the body of the clippers, whereby when a clipper is rested between the prongs 710, the prongs will support the clipper against the pull of gravity in the manner shown in FIG. 2.

A movable means generally indicated at 720 in FIG. 2 attaches the forked clipper receiver 700 to the frame, the movable means comprising also a pivot attachment 722 at one end of a long arm 724 which forms a part of the movable means 720. There is one arm for each of the clipper receivers 700 and they are adapted to swing up and down whereby they move downwardly to a limited extent when the receiver 700 attached thereto is supporting a clipper.

A switch means 730 is mounted on the control box or control housing 520, which latter forms part of the frame 20, and the switch 730 is operated so as to shut off the electricity from a power source, not shown, to an electrical receptacle 738 at times when a clipper 700 is disposed in a position for depressing a respective arm 724 and operating the switch 730 whereby power to that respective clipper 60 is shut off because electricity cannot pass from the receptacle 738 through a plug 740 at the end of the cord 600 of the clipper.

On each arm 724 there is connected a valve control rod 790, a portion of which can be seen in FIG. 2 in full lines and the remainder in dotted lines. The rod 790 is attached at its lower end to a respective arm 724 and is attached at its upper end to a sliding valve 800 whereby as the arm 724 is depressed the downward movement of the rod 70 will cause the valve 800 to depress for sliding across the inner end (through a slot in the upper side) of the tube 310 (the slot being shown at 810), so that the sliding valve shuts off air flow through the tube 310 so the suction power is not wasted through that tube because of its attachment to a respective hose 600 which works with the clipper 60 which is not in operation.

Conversely, when a clipper 60 is lifted from its clipper receiver 700, then the arm 724 moves upwardly and a spring 860 attached to the upper side of the control housing 520 and attached also to the rod 790 will urge the rod 790 upwardly for raising the valve 800 to open the tube 310, although whenever the arm 724 is urged downwardly by a clipper 60 being disposed on its clipper receiver, the spring 860 will be extended and the valve 800 will close the inner end of the element 470, the inner end being shown at 472.

Referring to FIG. 3, two suction means 470 are shown closeable each by its own valve 80, each valve controlled by its own rod 790, lifted by its own spring 860, and connected to its own arm 724.

I claim:

1. In combination: a hair clipper, a flexible hose having an entrance end and an exit end, means attaching said hose to said hair clipper in a manner for directing hair cuttings from said clipper into said hose entrance end when air is moving into the entrance of said hose, a trap having a filter means having air entry and air exit sides, a container means forming a trapping chamber in communication with the air entry side of said filter means, said trapping chamber having an air entry port, said container means having a substantial volume below said filter means and below said air entry port so that hair cuttings can fall by gravity therethrough downwardly away from said filter means, said container means also having an air exit chamber on the air exit side of said filter means, said air exit chamber having an exit port, said container means sealing edges of said filter means so that in use substantially no air can fiow through from said inlet port to said exit port except through said filter means, said container means having an openable and closable section providing access to said trapping chamber for the emptying of cuttings therefrom, air flow line means connecting said exit end of said hose with an exhaust port, said trap and said blower being disposed in said air flow line means in a manner for conducting substantially all air leaving said hose through said trap and said blower, said blower causing air to move through said trap at a speed slow enough for causing hair cuttings to fall by gravity into said trapping chamber away from said filter means while air passes through said filter.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said hair clipper is of a type having a horizontally elongated body having a handle portion having a forward end, said body having a top side and a forward end, a blade assembly at said forward end, said blade assembly having a reciprocating member having thereon a row of upper cutting teeth on its upper side, a vacuum assembly comprising a vacuum attachment disposed on the top of said body adjacent the forward end thereof, said vacuum attachment having a top wall and having side walls, means for securing said attachment to said clipper body, said top wall having a forward terminal edge extending substantially along a line transversely disposed with respect to the length of said body and spaced rearwardly from the rearward side of said reciprocating member a substantially greater distance than the forward ends of said side walls so as to define a cuttings opening outlined by said top wall and said side walls for receiving cuttings, the side walls of said attachment being of lesser height at their forward ends and each taper to gradually greater height rearwardly from their forward ends as seen in side elevation so as to balance the first factor of desired maximum space between said blade assembly and the upper sides of said forward portions of the side walls for preserving a maximum of the barbers vision of the blade assembly when he is looking at the blade assembly from one side thereof and the second factor of guiding the airflow into said attachment at the sides of the attachment.

3. The combination with claim 2 of: said vacuum attachment being substantially rigid and hollow and having an airflow channel therethrough extending from said cuttings opening to an exit port, a hose assembly connected to said attachment at said exit port, said exit port being disposed above a central part of said body rather than a rearward part thereof, the upper wall of said rigid attachment having a rearward portion extending upwardly and rearwardly to said exit port.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which said rigid attachment has a rearward wall the rearward side of which inclines forwardly and downwardly from an upper rearfor the pivoting of said one end about a substantially vertical axis whereby said rod is adapted to swing through a substantially horizontal plane, said hose assembly having a central part attached to and supported by said rod, a part of said hose assembly between said part attached to said rod and said other end being flexible.

6. The combination of claim 5, and hose attachment means attached to and supporting said central part of said hose and slidably connected to said rod for supporting said hose on said rod and for allowing said hose to move linearly of said rod.

7. The combination of claim 3 further comprising a frame, a forked clipper receiver having two spaced substantially parallel prongs adapted to receive the body of said clipper therebetween, said prongs being spaced apart a lesser distance than the distance which the blade assembly extends in a direction transversely of said body, whereby when a clipper is rested between said prongs with its blade assembly above said prongs said prongs will support said clipper against the pull of gravity, a movable means attaching said forked clipper receiver to said frame, said movable means being movably attached to said frame in a manner such that said movable means and said receiver both move downwardly to a limited extent when said receiver is supporting said clipper, switch means mounted on said frame, a source of electrical current, an electrical cord extending from said clipper, circuit means placing said switch means in series with said electrical cord and with said source of current so that said current can flow to said clipper only when said clipper is not on said clipper receiver.

8. The combination of claim 7 in further combination with a valve operatively correlated with said hollow suction element, means operably connecting said valve to said movable means in a manner such that when said movable means and said receiver move downwardly as said receiver receives said clipper said valve will close.

9. The combination of claim 8 in further combination with a similar and second combination of elements with the exception that the suction elements of each of the combinations join each other so that both deliver hair cuttings into said lower container portion of said trap.

10. The combination of claim 1 in which said clippers and hose are inside of a building room and said blower is outside of said room.

11. The combination of claim 1 in which said clippers, hose, and trap are inside of a building room and said blower is outside of said room.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,549,839 8/1925 Kuehne 30133 3,073,026 4/1963 Schaedler 30-133 3,341,944 9/1967 Ligon 30-133 3,368,277 2/1968 Vevea 30133 3,384,919 5/1968 Jording 30-433 X ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner J. C. PETERS, Assistant Examiner