US2917824A

US2917824A - Reciprocating dry shaver having stationary first cutting head means and extensible second cutting head means

Info

Publication number: US2917824A
Application number: US716095A
Authority: US
Inventors: Brauss Gustav Jakob
Original assignee: APAG APPARATEBAU AG
Current assignee: APAG APPARATEBAU AG
Priority date: 1957-05-16
Filing date: 1958-02-19
Publication date: 1959-12-22
Anticipated expiration: 1976-12-22
Also published as: FR1180175A; GB811555A

Description

Dec. 22, 1959 G. J. BRAUSS 2,917,824

RECIPROCATING DRY SHAVER HAVING STATIONARY FIRST CUTTING HEAD MEANS AND EXTENSIBLE SECOND CUTTING HEAD MEANS Filed Feb. 19. 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 2

IN VEN TO'R Gusavdo. kob Brauss j mfi kw 24 flaw ALOFHEl/S Dec. 22, 1959 G. J. BRAUSS RECIPROCATING DRY SHAVER HAVING STATIONARY FIRST CUTTING HEAD MEANS AND EXTENSIBLE SECOND CUTTING HEAD MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1958 OOOOQOOOO l/V VE/VTOR Gusfiau Jakob Brews;

' Aorne s nited States Patent RECIPROCATING DRY SHAVER HAVING STA- TIONARY FIRST CUTTING HEAD MEANS AND EXTENSIBLE SECOND CUTTING HEAD MEANS Giistav Jakob Braiiss, Goldach, Switzerland, assignor to APAG Apparatebau A.G., Goidacll, Goldach, Switzerland, a Swiss company Application February 19, 1958, Serial No. 716,095

Claims priority, application Switzerland May 16, 1957 Claims. (Cl. 30-34) This invention relates to a dry shaver and more particularly to a dry shaver comprising a housing which serves as a handle, a driving motor incorporated inside said housing, a screen-type cutting head secured to said housing and having a screening foil and an oscillated cutting blade, and a direct-action cutting head having a cutter-comb and a cutting blade.

Objects of the invention are to provide, in a dry shaver of the type stated, a direct-action cutting head mounted to be displaceable as a single unit in such manner that in the operative position its cutter-comb and its cutter blade project through an opening in said housing to the exterior of said housing and alongside said screen-type cutting head, whereas in the position of rest the cuttercomb and the cutting blade of said direct-action cutting head are retracted within said housing; and automatically operating coupling means provided between said driving motor and said cutting blade of the direct-action cutting head in such manner that the cutting blade of the directaction cutting head is only oscillated by means of said driving motor when said direct-action cutting head is in its projecting operative position, whereas, in the retracted position of rest of said direct-action cutting head its cutting blade is uncoupled from said driving motor and remains stationary. Another object of the invention is a dry shaver of the kind outlined comprising a catapultaction spring supported in the housing of the dry shaver and which tends to move said direct-cutting head out of its retracted position of rest into said projecting operative position, a catch member elastically mounted in said housing and against which said direct-action cutting head abuts in its retracted position of rest under the action of said catapult-action spring, and manually operable means projecting out of said housing for releasing said catch member and thereby releasing said direct-action cutting head so that the latter is changed over automatically under the action of said catapult-action spring into said projecting operative position.

These and other objects and the advantages of the invention will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the end of the dry shaver which is provided with two cutting heads, the direct-action cutting head being situated in the projecting operative position, and the section being taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 2 shows the same end of the dry shaver in a view similar to that of Fig. 1, but showing the direct-action cutting head in the retracted position of rest, and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the end of the dry shaver shown in Fig. 1, with the direct-action cutting head situated in the projecting operative position, the housing cover surrounding this cutting head being removed.

The housing of the dry shaver comprises two shell-like housing parts 4 and 5 of synthetic plastic material or the like to which metal covers 6 and 7 can be elastically 2,917,824 Patented Dec. 22, 1959 fastened. The housing parts 4 and 5 are held together by a plurality of screws of which only the screws 8 and 9 are shown in the drawings. The driving motor is in corporated within the widened portion of the housing, which is only partly illustrated. The driving motor is conveniently an electric motor and more particularly an oscillating armature motor, which comprises an iron core it) which is preferably elastically mounted between the housing parts 4 and 5, an energizing winding 11 which is fixed on the iron core 10 and which is traversed in the usual manner by alternating current, and an oscillating armature 12 which is articulated to the iron core. 10. The said armature generally consists of a laminated iron core and is provided at its free end with a cast-on driving member 13 of wear-resistant material-such as is known for example under the registered trademark Nylon. The driving member 13 comprises two

pins

14 and 15 which project at an angle relatively to each other, and which are used for driving the cutting blades of the two cutting heads directly.

The screen-type cutting head of the dry shaver consists of a screening foil 16 which is clamped over the arcuate end of the housing parts 4 and 5, and of a cutting blade 17 which is pressed against the foil 16 by means of a spring 18 and having an aperture 19 engaged by the pin 14. As shown in Fig. 1, the screening foil 16 is clamped at one end to the housing part 5, whilst its other end is riveted to the housing cover 6. i

The direct-action cutting head is arranged within the other housing cover 7. It consists substantially of a part 29 which is provided with a cutter-comb 21, and of a cutting blade 22. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the cutting blade 22 is mounted directly on the part 21) and is pressed against the latter by means of a spring. 23 which is bent over at a plurality of points. The central part of the spring 23 (Fig. 3) bears against

lugs

24, 25, 26, 2'7, 28 which are bent out from the part 20 in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2. On the other hand, the free ends of the spring 23 rest in recesses 29, 30 which are provided in the cutting blade 22. The cutting blade 22 has also two

parallel slots

31, 32 .into which guide members 33, 34 engage with adequate clearance for movement. Thus, the cutting blade 22 is mounted for rec'iprocatory movement transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shaver in a plane parallel to the plane of sta-. tionary cutter part 211' As can be seen, the ends of the spring 23 accompany the movement of the cutting blade 1 The part 20 which is provided with the cutter-comb 21: has

further guide pieces

35, 36 which engage in a stepped,

guide slot 37 formed in a bearing plate 38. The latter has two screw-threaded holes, in which the screws 8 and. 9 can be screwed, so that the bearing plate 38 is thereby screwed rigidly to the housing parts 4 and 5. Alsojim sertedbetween the bearing plate 38 and the housing, part 5 is a leaf spring 39 and the one end of the screening,

foil 16 so that these parts also, are connected fast to the housing. Since the

lugs

25 and 26 bent out from the. part 29 also engage in the'slot 37 of the bearing plate, 38, the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 is; mounted so as to be displaceable as an entire unit in the bearing plate 33, and can be projected and retracted longitudinally with respectto the shaver at the forward end thereof,

The two

guide pieces

35 and 36 act at the same time as. abutments in connection with the stepped slot 37, so that the direct-action cutting head can take up the end positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 1, the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 is in the operative position in which it projects from the aperture 40 arranged in the housing cover 7. The position shown in Fig. 2 is the rest position inwhich the cutter-comb 21 and the toothed part of the cutting blade 22 are retracted in the housing 4- to 7. In order to prevent the part 20 provided with the cuttercomb 21 from being lifted away accidentally from the bearing plate 38, the leaf spring 39 has two bent over elastic limbs 41 and 42 which tend to press the part 20 against the bearing plate 38.

The leaf spring 39 also comprises a pressed-in catch member 43 of non-symmetric wedge-shape (Figs. 1 and 2), against which the

lugs

25 and 26 can abut either the left-hand or right-hand sides depending on the position of the direct-action cutting head 2%) to 22. Thus said catch 43 makes it possible to fix the end positions, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, of the direct-action cutting-head 20 to 22. A control button 44 fixed on an extension of the leaf spring 39 and projecting through an opening 45 in the housing cover 7 serves to press the leaf spring 39 inwardly and therefore to release the catch member 43. Projecting through a further opening 46 in the housing cover 7 is a restoring lever 47 which is riveted to a securing lug 48 bent out from the part 20. The inner bent over end of'the restoring lever 47 bears against a catapult-action spring 49. This spring 49 is carried by means of its endsin slots th and 51 which are formed in the housing parts 4 and 5. The catapult-action spring 49 is so dimensioned that it tends to press the whole directaction cutting head to 22 continuously towards the left (Figs. 1 to 3). In the position of rest shown in Fig. 2, the

lugs

25, 26 are pressed against the steep flank of the catch member 43 by the action of the catapult-action spring 49, so that the catch member 43 secures this position of rest and maintains it. But if the control button 44 is pressed inwards, then the lugs and 26 are released from the catch member 43 and the catapult-action spring 49 displaces the whole direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 out of the retracted position of rest shown in Fig. 2 into the projecting operative position shown in Fig. 1, in which the

guide pieces

35 and 36 bear against the ends of the slot 37 as a result of the action of the catapult-action spring 49 (Fig. 3). cutting head 20 to 22 from the projecting operative position'shown in Fig. 1 into the retracted position of rest shown in Fig. 2, the restoring lever 47 (Figs. 1 and 2) is pressed from the left towards the right until the

lugs

25, 26 run over the catch member 43 and the latter becomes operative.

Thecoupling pin 15 is provided for driving the cutting blade 22 of the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22. This pin projects through an opening 52 which is formed in the leaf spring 39, through the slot 37 in the bearing plate 38, and through the aperture 53 which is provided in the part 26, into a generally H-shaped aperture 54 which is arranged in the cutting blade 22. The opening 52, the slot 37 and the aperture 53 are so generously dimensioned that the coupling pin 15 as it oscillates to and fro transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shaver is not able to contact the leaf spring 39, the bearing plate 38 and the part 29, as will be seen from Fig. 3. On the other hand the l-l-shaped aperture 54 is so arranged and fashioned in the cutting blade 22 that when the directaction cutting head 2t) to 22 is in the projecting operative position (Fig. 1), the coupling pin 15 extends through the H-shaped aperture 54' at its narrow central region and thus entrains the cutting blade 22 in its reciprocating motion. When the cutting head 20 to 22 is displaced into its position of rest towards the right in Fig. 3, one end portion of the H-shaped aperture 54 coincides with the coupling pin 15, so that the latter oscillates freely to and fro in the aperture 54, without entraining the cutting blade 22. The direct-action cutting head 20 to In order to return the direct-action 4 22 is therefore coupled to the driving member 13 only in its projecting operative position (Fig. 1), whereas when the said cutting head is in the retracted position of rest (Fig. 2), it is automatically uncoupled from the driving member 13 and remains at rest.

Manipulation of the dry shaver which has been described hereinbefore is extremely convenient and simple. A man will generally shave first of all with the

screentype cutting head

16, 17. The direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 is retained in the retracted position of rest and thereby preserved from damage to a considerable extent. Thus there is also no risk, when shaving near the head hair, that the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 will accidentally cut into the hairs. If the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 were arranged for example fixedly in the housing 4 to 7so that it would then of course be in its operative position-the person shaving would have to be at least much more careful and give his maximum attention to what he was doing. Then, if the head hair is to be trimmed off neatly, by pressing on the control button 44 the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 is pro jected into its operative position as shown in Fig. 1, without having to shut off the motor of the dry shaver temporarily. Since the cutter-comb 21 and the cutting blade 22 project directly alongside the screen-

type cutting head

16, 17 through the opening 40, it is possible to operate once with the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 without changing the grip on the housing of the dry shaver. When the operation of cutting relatively long hairs or the like is concluded, the restoring lever 47 is pushed towards the right (as viewed in the drawings) by means of the finger nail, whereupon the direct-action cutting head 20 to 22 is brought into the retracted position of rest and rendered inoperative. Shaving can then be continued if necessary with the screen-

type cutting head

16, 17.

The invention is not limited to the particular embodiments here shown and described. Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Dry shaving apparatus comprising a housing, a screen-type cutting head connected to said housing and including a screening foil rigidly connected to said housing and a first cutting blade, a driving member within said housing, said driving member being connected to said first cutting blade, means reciprocating said driving member to reciprocate said first cutting blade in a direc tion parallel to the axis of said screening foil, a directaction cutting head slidably connected within said housing adjacent said screen-type cutting head for extension and retraction through an opening in said housing, said direct-action cutting head includirv a cutter-comb and a second cutting blade, and means connecting said second cutting blade to said driving member to cause reciprocation of said second cutting member relative to said cutter-comb solely when said direct-action cutting head is in its extended position relative to said housing.

2. Shaving apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said second cutting blade has an H-shaped aperture therein, and further wherein said means connecting said second cutting blade 'to said driving member comprises a pin secured to said driving member and extending through the aperture in said second cutting blade, said recess being so oriented in said second cutting blade that when said direct-action cutting head is in its retracted position said pin reciprocates freely within a portion of the second cutter blade aperture and said second cutter blade remains stationary relative to said cutter-comb and when said direct-action cutting head is in its extending position, said pin cooperates with a side wail of said aperture; to reciprocate said second cutter blade.

3. Shaving apparatus as defined in claim 1, and further including a catapult-action spring mounted in said housing for -J1ormallybiasing said direct-action cutting head towards its extended operating position, catch means within said housing for normally retaining said directaction cutting head in its retracted position against the biasing force of said catapult-action spring, and manual- 1y operable means extending from said housing for releasing said catch means and thus releasing said directaction cutting head.

4. Shaving apparatus as defined in claim 3 and further including restoring lever means projecting through an opening provided in said housing for returning said direct-action cutting head from its extended operative position to its retracted position against the biasing force of said catapult-action spring.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said restoring lever is rigidly connected to said cutter-comb and has an inwardly directed extension bearing against said catapult-action spring so that said catapult-action spring acts on said direct-action cutting head by means of the restoring lever extension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,370,544 Jepson Feb. 27, 1945