EP1294249B1 - Depilatory appliance comprising pain-killing means - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a depilatory appliance comprising a housing (7) containing an electric motor driving a rotary system (1) with hair-pinching devices and means for actuating a cyclic closing/opening movement of at least a hair-pinching device (2, 3) for pulling out skin hairs, said appliance comprising at least a mobile element (12) arranged proximate to the depilatory head designed to be urged in close contact with the skin. More particularly, the invention is characterised in that said element (12) provides a massage by moving in the skin plane while the hairs are being removed.

Description

The present invention relates to painkiller means for an apparatus for epilator of the type comprising a rotary roller provided with tongs for tearing off superfluous, unwanted hair of the human body.

This type of device includes clips in the form of blades or disks arranged on a rotating roller, the tongs being caused to close and open periodically in order to tighten the hairs close to the skin and, respectively, to remove the hair torn off by the rotation of the roller. The pulling of hair is a very effective method against their regrowth, but, often, it causes a significant pain.

The state of the art attests to the use of several methods using to various pain devices associated with depilatory devices. So, we known, in particular from WO 95/07638 in the name of the applicant, a skin cooling device, just before hair removal, using evaporation of a liquid deposited on the skin. This device, however, uses means, such as a liquid reservoir, a fan, which increase the size and cost of the device.

Other pain-killing devices for hair removal are known from DE documents 44 08 809 and WO 98/55000 which describe electrical stimulation means of the skin, by sending electrical impulses or discharges respectively on the area to be depilated. These devices are of limited effectiveness, while being complex and expensive.

The effectiveness of pain devices used in combination with devices hair removal has been greatly improved by the use of mechanical stimulation vibratory skin simultaneously with hair removal.

Thus, the documents EP 0 671 136 and WO 99/13750 in the name of the Applicant describe pins and brushes mounted fixed on the roll rotating bearing the tongs. Brushes and spikes are supported by an area recessed length extending parallel to the alignment of the roll clamps rotary. Brushes have a hair straightening effect before hair removal, while the pimples produce on the skin a massage effect, more or less accentuated causing a sensation of pain that masks the pain of waxing. However, the brushes and especially the pimples penetrating on a certain thickness in the skin can cause irritation on the skin.

It has also been proposed in WO 97/00032 a pliers epilator rotary machines comprising a series of mobile rollers pushed radially by the centrifugal force and / or by springs, casters which apply impulses on the skin in order to hide the pain caused by tearing hairs. This solution is nevertheless complicated, it also requires Execution details and high costs for its components.

Other epilators comprising devices for vibratory stimulation of the skin have been proposed in documents such as EP 0 493 849, where a vibrating grid capping the means of depilation, or in EP 0 760 219 where the housing of the apparatus has a vibrating frame or additional vibrating rollers, the frame or rollers being arranged next to the gripper roll. However, these means vibrators mask the area to be depilated while using mechanisms additional for their training.

We note in particular in EP 0 760 219 that the vibrating frame perpendicularly to the skin has, in addition, a finger which follows a groove practiced in the hair removal head to describe an additional movement in a longitudinal direction relative to the skin. However, this system can not be implemented only with an oscillating mechanism of drive of the head hair removal which performs oscillations of very low amplitude, because such a finger put on a pliers roll would be torn off when rotating the roll. Now, this Oscillating movement mechanism is known to be ineffective for hair removal by pulling hair.

WO 97/19613 discloses an epilator comprising a comb or a hand with flexible pins, mounted vibrating on the housing, outside the roller to pliers. However, this solution requires a mechanism of vibration even more elaborate, so complex.

Document FR 2 745 992 in the name of the applicant describes an epilator of which the hair removal roller is surrounded by a stirrup mounted vibrating on the housing. same if the means of training in vibration are a little simplified by compared to previous achievements, the fact remains that vibration also mask the area to be depilated, which is troublesome for the wearer.

It is the same in the case of the document EP 0 861 615 where the depilatory device is provided with means for stretching the skin, these means appearing under the form of two articulated arms arranged on either side of the depilatory head and pivoted or translated so as to tension the skin when the grubbing up and releasing it immediately after grubbing up. Aside from the fact that the hair removal zone is masked by said articulated arms, an applied tension on the skin can cause pain and / or irritation, particularly in bony areas of the user's body.

The object of the invention is to remedy, at least in part, the disadvantages mentioned above and to propose a tweezer with tweezers having pain-killing means for mechanically acting on the area to be depilated during the tearing of the hairs so as to calm the pain effectively felt during hair removal.

Another object of the invention is a depilatory device with painkiller means which act during tearing, while leaving visible the area to be depilated.

A further object of the invention is a depilatory device provided with means painkillers, of simple construction and suitable for large series, for lower manufacturing costs.

Another object of the invention is to provide an accessory incorporating means effective painkiller that can be used with virtually any epilation with mobile forceps, without having to proceed with constructive modifications of the apparatus and / or the device.

These goals are achieved with a depilatory device comprising a housing which encloses an electric motor for driving a rotary device system pinching and actuating means in a cyclic motion of closing / opening at least one pinch device for pulling the hairs of the skin, said apparatus comprising at least one movable element arranged next to the depilatory head intended to come into contact with the skin, because that said element performs a massage through a displacement in the plane of the skin during hair removal.

By rotary system with clamping device is understood any device capable to support and train the tweezers in a continuous movement of rotation about at least one axis of rotation. Such a device can be including a rotary roller with tongs, but also a belt carrying tongs, a chain driving articulated modules carrying tweezers, etc.

This displacement in the plane of the skin produces in particular an action of rub massage performed right next to the action area of the head to epilate and therefore in an area adjacent to the hair removal zone. During tests carried out on various people, it was found that massaging vigorously by rubbing a pain-sensitized area has the effect to calm the pain immediately. It has also been found that by massaging a zone of skin before or during a pulling action of the hairs, this massage has an anesthetic effect, and that the pain due to hair removal becomes more bearable thereafter.

The effectiveness of massage as a pain reliever is directly related to duration of the massage. As a result, it has been concluded that the skin must be massaged during less the phase of tearing of the hairs, but preferably all along the hair removal operation and at the same time as the latter.

In addition, there is a beneficial action of the massage on the surface of the skin on the micro-circulation with the effect of attenuation, with the friction, of the presence of the red dots caused by the uprooting of fur.

To get the soothing effect mentioned and not to hurt the skin during a sustained massage performed in the surface of the latter, it is necessary that the contact surface of said movable element with the skin is smooth, thin, felted, or, more generally, that it has a coefficient of friction reduced. The skin contacting surface may have protuberances or depressions more or less spaced, for example of a height included between 0.5 to 2 mm and a pitch of 2 to 10 mm. So the skin can be driven in movement by the moving element which adds to the friction on the skin of the movable element and contributes to improving the desired soothing effect. We can also use a liquid that would be rubbed on the skin, between the latter and the contact surface with the skin of the movable element. Such liquid could be, for example, an oil, fat, ointment. This liquid could be reported on the skin area at the time of massage or it could be contained in a tank supported by the depilatory device.

It has thus been found that such an action by friction and displacement of the skin performed continuously on the latter makes the epilation operation more pleasant, the possible pain felt during the grubbing up being then calmed by massage and that the appearance of the skin is significantly improved.

Preferably, said movable element is actuated in a translation movement alternative, and this in a direction perpendicular to that of displacement of the device on the skin during hair removal.

Thus, an oscillatory movement in translation, having an amplitude large enough, said movable element makes it possible to obtain a massage by sustained friction on the skin. As for the direction of this movement, it was found that such a direction allowed to perform friction on the skin at the same time that moving in order to depilate the device on the skin without to annoy the progress of the device on the skin.

In addition, the movement is carried out in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the hair removal head, which allows to recover the movement of this last, especially for a translation actuation of the tweezers, to transmit it to the mobile element and thus simplify the construction of means for actuating the latter.

Advantageously, said movable element is driven in one movement oscillatory translation at a frequency equal to or greater than 30 Hz.

Theoretical and applied medical studies have indeed established that the effect analgesic is a function of the frequency of the vibratory stimulation. So, a effective soothing effect is obtained for the aforementioned values of the frequency of movement on the skin of said movable member.

Preferably, said movable element is supported by the housing behind the head hair removal as seen in relation to the normal direction of movement of the appliance on the skin. One or more moving elements could be arranged on one side only or all or part of the perimeter of the hair removal window. We prefer however, an arrangement behind the depilatory head as thus one can obtain a good visibility of the area to be treated.

Advantageously, the skin-contacting surface of said mobile element is substantially flat, or it may also be slightly convex and / or may have protuberances.

Thus, with a flat or slightly convex contact surface, the contact area between the skin and the moving element, which confers more from efficiency to massage. The protuberances allow, moreover, to massage the deeper layers of the skin at the same time as the massage is performed on the surface, the skin penetrating between the flat surface of the pad and that of said protuberances.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the depilatory device comprises actuating means in motion of said movable element, said means being constituted by means producing rotational oscillations and means transforming these oscillations into translational oscillations.

Thus, such actuating means are of a simple and reliable construction, while remaining discreet in order to be easily integrated into the construction of a depilatory device. Rotational oscillations can be produced in a simple way, using the movement of one of the pieces in rotation of the apparatus, in particular the motor or a part of the gear train of the device. These oscillations are then transformed by means appropriate in alternative translation movements of the moving element on the skin.

In a first variant of the first embodiment of the invention, said means producing rotating oscillations comprise a piece to eccentric in rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the hair removal head.

Such a construction proves robust and efficient in operation, while being easy to manufacture.

In a second variant of the first embodiment of the invention, said means producing rotational oscillations comprise a piece to unbalance in rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the head hair removal.

This variant takes the advantages of the previous one, while simplifying the construction.

Advantageously, said means producing rotational oscillations are driven independently of the training means of the tweezers.

One could certainly consider using the rotational movement of the motor or gear train of the tweezer. But in most cases, the axis of motor and those of the gears are parallel to the axis of rotation of the head to tweezers. Therefore, to get the rotational motion needed to actuating said movable element, and which is perpendicular to that of the head to epilate, we should use a reference angle, which would make more complex the construction of the apparatus.

Thus, in particular by using a separate drive motor with an axis of coaxial rotation with that of the parts producing oscillations in rotation, greatly simplifies the construction. Moreover, by choosing the speed of rotation of the output shaft of the drive motor separated, it can vary easily the frequency of the oscillating motion of the moving element which skin. In the case of a separate training, the user can change at will the frequency in a predetermined range.

In a second embodiment of the invention, said mobile element is driven in motion directly by the hair removal head. So, in the case of a movable head in translation, said movable element engages with the side flanges of the head and follows the movement of the latter.

Advantageously, said movable element is supported by an accessory comprising fixing means to the housing of the apparatus and means connecting said movable member to the actuating means.

The massage means, the motor and the means of training could be part of an accessory (admittedly a little heavier) that would be connected to the epilator by means of fixing means and electrical connections of connection.

Thus, such an accessory could be used with virtually any device to without having to make any constructive changes to this latest. Moreover, such an accessory can be easily separable from said apparatus for the purpose of cleaning, sterilizing or replacing parts in contact with the skin.

The invention also relates to a method of hair removal by pulling hair with an apparatus according to the invention, consisting of performing a massage by rubbing of the skin area adjacent to that of hair removal together with waxing.

• la figure 1 montre une vue en perspective d'un appareil à épiler selon un premier mode de réalisation de l'invention, une partie du boítier étant enlevée;
• la figure 2 montre une vue de dessus de l'appareil de la figure 1;
• la figure 3 montre une vue en perspective d'un sous-ensemble d'actionnement selon une première variante du premier mode de réalisation de l'invention;
• la figure 4 montre une vue en perspective d'un sous-ensemble d'actionnement selon une deuxième variante du premier mode de réalisation de l'invention;
• la figure 5 montre une vue en perspective d'un appareil à épiler selon le deuxième mode de réalisation de l'invention;
• les figures 6a, 6b montrent un accessoire de l'appareil de la figure 5;
• la figure 7 montre une variante de réalisation de l'appareil représenté à la figure 5.

The invention will be better understood with the study of the embodiments taken in no way limiting and illustrated in the accompanying figures in which:

• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a depilatory device according to a first embodiment of the invention, a part of the housing being removed;
• Figure 2 shows a top view of the apparatus of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 shows a perspective view of an actuating subassembly according to a first variant of the first embodiment of the invention;
• FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of an actuating subassembly according to a second variant of the first embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a depilatory device according to the second embodiment of the invention;
• Figures 6a, 6b show an accessory of the apparatus of Figure 5;
• FIG. 7 shows an alternative embodiment of the apparatus represented in FIG. 5.

A depilatory device using painkiller means according to the invention is described in document FR 2 758 060 in the name of the applicant. It is however obvious that this device is only an example of use because any epilation device, in particular with a rotary roller with tear-off tongs, can be suitable for use with such means.

In Figure 1 we can see a hair removal device comprising a roller 1 rotatably mounted about an axis 4. The roller 1 comprises several devices of pinching, each device consisting of two blades side by side 2,3. The clamps are actuated by a cam mechanism, the rotary roller 1 and the cam mechanism receiving the drive of an electric motor 10, via a gear train 9, all these components being arranged in the housing 7 of the depilatory device.

In operation, under the action of the cams arranged on the outer faces flanges 5.6, the latter move in translation and lead to moving the pinch devices. Thus, a movable blade 2 is likely to deviate from an adjacent blade 3 and, alternatively, from apply against it. Actuation in translation of the movable blade 2 causes closure or opening of the hair removal forceps, in order to tighten the hairs and tear them off, and release them after tearing, this as and as the roll is rotated 1. Thus, the hairs of the area to be depilated are presenting in front of a window 8 of the housing 7, are torn off due to the rotation of the roll 1 or epilation head.

As can be seen in particular in FIGS. 1 and 2, the depilatory device comprises also a movable element or shoe 12 actuated by means training, the structure and functioning of which will be explained by the next, to make a movement in the plane of the skin. This movement is preferably a movement back and forth in the direction indicated by the arrows in figure 2. One or more soothing pads could be fitted on the periphery of the epilation window 8. However, it is preferred to arrange the shoe 12 behind the depilatory head in the direction of pulling the hair in order to confer more visibility to the area of depilatory skin.

The pad 12 is held relative to the casing 7 by a support piece 14 on guide rods 15 fixedly mounted in corresponding orifices in the support piece 14. The pad 12 has grooves guide 13 allowing the sliding along the rods 15, parallel to the axis 4 of the gripper roll 1.

The pad 12 is mounted relative to the housing 7 at a predetermined height of so that its upper part is almost at the same height that the periphery of the roll 1. Thus, the end of the nip blades 2,3 and that of the pad 12 are contained in the same plane which corresponds, in functioning, at the theoretical level of the skin.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the actuation in alternative translation movement of the pad or movable element 12 is done thanks to a subset 17 of actuation different from that of training and operating the tweezers, mounted in the same housing 7 of the device.

In a first variant shown in FIG. 3, the subassembly 17 is consisting of an axis 18 receiving the rotational drive movement in its lower part 19 which can be coupled for this purpose to the output shaft of a electric motor or to another rotating part, by means of appropriate coupling. The axis 18 is mounted vertically relative to the plane horizontal axis passing through the axis of the roller 1. The axis 18 has in its part upper 20 an eccentric or eccentric mounted finger 21 likely to cooperate with an oblong orifice 23 of a connecting rod 22. The connecting rod 22 is fixedly mounted relative to the pad 12 so as to impress on it the movement transmitted by the axis 18.

In operation, the rotational movement of the vertical axis 18 is transformed by the eccentric finger 21, which moves relative to the connecting rod 22, in translational vibrations of the pad 12 in a horizontal plane. So, the skate 12 describes movements back and forth in the plane of the skin and performs so a massage action on it.

In a second variant embodiment of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the subassembly 17 also includes a vertical axis 18, but having at its end 20 an unbalance 25. A flexible coupling 27 allows the oscillation in rotation of the unbalance 25 during the driving of the axis 18. The upper end 26 of the axis 18 is fixedly mounted relative to the pad 12.

When driving in rotation of the vertical axis 18, the unbalance 25 generates vibrations in rotation around this axis, transmitted vibrations integrally with the pad 12. The pad 12 is guided in its movement by the fixed rods 15 and therefore the rotational vibrations received by the pad are transformed into vibrations in translation along the guide 13, therefore parallel to the axis 4 of the roll 1.

The drive in rotation of the axis 18 can be done by the engine 10 of the apparatus, by means of a bevel gear, in particular a bevel gear, or it can be operated by a separate motor. Figures 1 and 4 show such motor 28 comprising a motor shaft coaxial with the axis 18 of the subassembly 17.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention in which the drive of the movable element or shoe 12 is performed directly by the hair removal head. Thus, the pad 12 can be mounted permanently on the housing 7 of the apparatus for receiving the movement in alternative translation of the head depilation or it can be removably mounted relative to the latter, in particular being realized as an accessory of the depilatory device. As previously, the pad 12 will be disposed adjacent to the epilation window, behind the head in the direction of movement of the device on the skin.

FIGS. 6a and 6b illustrate such an accessory 30 consisting of a frame 31 forming hood intended to be mounted on the upper part of the depilatory device, the pad 12 being mounted on the upper part of the frame 31, next to the window 8 in the frame 31. It can be fixedly mounted or removable compared to the latter. The frame 31 has inside the side walls or arches 35,36 resting on the depilatory head, in particular on the lateral flanges 5.6 of the latter.

The frame 31 furthermore comprises fastening means 32, 33 at the housing 7 of the depilatory device. These fixing means consist in particular of a hook 33 which fits into a corresponding hole of the housing 7, and a hollow fastening tab 32 bearing on the housing 7 of the device and inside which is introduced a lug of the housing 7. The parts each of the means for fixing the frame to the housing have dimensions allowing translational movement of the male parts corresponding to the amplitude of the movement described by the accessory.

In operation, the cyclic movement of translation of the hair removal head is transmitted, via the flanges 5.6, to the accessory 30, in particular the arches 35,36 of the frame 31. The accessory 30 is thus driven in one movement oscillatory in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation 4 of the roller 1. In this embodiment, all parts of the accessory 30 follow the head of depilation in its movement in translation, the frame fixing parts 31 to the housing 7 of the device moving in corresponding holes.

Thus, the skate describes in the plane of the skin a back-and-forth movement which mass the skin area after pulling the hair, which gives an effect soothing, soothing the pain quickly.

The rotary roller 1 rotates at a speed of the order of 1300 rpm, the head performs two movements back and forth by rotation of the roller, which generates vibrations in the movable member or shoe 12 at a frequency of 40 Hz. Vibrations at such a frequency or at a higher frequency calm the sensations of pain due to the pulling of hair. Solutions for amplify the frequency of the vibrations of the pad 12 can be envisaged, in particular the actuation of the flanges 5,6 by cams having a number more important axial protuberances and that increases the number of back and forth flanges by rotation of the gripper roll.

The amplitude of the back and forth movement described by the moving part can be for example between 1 and 3 mm.

The contact surface of the pad 12 with the skin must be sufficiently smooth so as not to injure the skin. By way of example, the roughness R _a of such a surface must preferably be less than 3.2.

The material chosen for the pad is a material hard enough not to to adhere to the skin and lead to it during the friction exerted on it by the skate in motion. Such a material may be, for example, a plastic material of the polyamide type loaded with glass ball or POM which is a material known to have a low coefficient of friction due to its good sliding properties.

In Figure 7 is shown a variant of the accessory shown in Figures 6a, 6b and intended to be used with the apparatus shown in FIG. frame of this variant, the mobile pad 12 is arranged on either side of the tweezers or epilation window 8. Thus, he performs a movement of friction massage on the skin before, during and after the operation pulling hair.

In addition, to increase the effect of massage already achieved with a skate to substantially flat contact surface, there are provided massage pins or protuberances 38 projecting from the plane of the contact surface with the skin of the pad 12. The pins or protuberances 38 can thus to penetrate the skin, each pin constituting indeed an anchor that drives the skin on the move to increase the massage effect in the deeper layers of the skin.

The pins or protuberances 38 have the end in contact with the rounded skin so as not to hit the skin when they come rubbing on this last. They are also made of a hard material, which does not adhere to the skin, as previously described. The protuberances 38 have a height preferably between 0.5 and 2 mm for an indicative step between 2 and 10 mm. For example, the average diameter of a protrusion 38 which can be in the form of sphere, cylinder or truncated cone, is included between 1 and 4 mm.

It is also possible to envisage using a mobile skate 12 having a surface contact with corrugated, streaked or any other form of skin rounded protruding from the plane of the skin contact surface 12. Other embodiments may be envisaged without depart from the scope of the invention. So, we could use the rotation movement of roller 1 and frictionally drive a horizontal axis, parallel to that of the roller 1, to produce oscillations in rotation, subsequently transformed in oscillations in translation of the pad 12 in the plane of the skin.

Claims (12)

1. An epilator comprising a case (7) enclosing an electric motor (10) for driving a rotary system (1) comprising tweezer devices and actuator means for causing at least one tweezer device (2, 3) to open and close in cyclical motion in order to pluck hairs from the skin, said epilator including at least one moving element (12) arranged beside the epilator head for coming into contact with the skin, the epilator being characterized in that said element (12) performs massage during epilation by moving relative to the epilator head in the plane of the skin.
2. An epilator according to claim 1, characterized in that said moving element (12) is actuated to perform reciprocating movement in translation in a direction perpendicular to the travel direction of the epilator over the skin during epilation.
3. An epilator according to claim 2, characterized in that said moving element (12) is driven with oscillating motion in translation at a frequency equal to or greater than 30 Hz.
4. An epilator according to any preceding claim, characterized in that said moving element (12) is supported by the case (7) in a position that is behind the epilator head relative to the normal travel direction of the epilator over the skin
5. An epilator according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the area of contact between the skin and said moving element (12) is substantially plane and/or may present projections (38).
6. An epilator according to any preceding claim, characterized in that it includes actuator means for actuating the motion of said moving element (12), said means being constituted by means (18, 21, 25) producing oscillations in rotation and means (22, 13, 15) transforming said oscillations into oscillations in translation.
7. An epilator according to claim 6, characterized in that said means producing oscillations in rotation comprise an eccentric (21) in rotation about an axis (18) perpendicular to the axis of rotation (4) of the epilator head (1).
8. An epilator according to claim 6, characterized in that said means producing oscillations in rotation comprise an unbalance weight (25) in rotation about an axis (18) perpendicular to the axis of rotation (4) of the epilator head (1).
9. An epilator according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that said means producing oscillations in rotation (18, 21, 25) are driven to move independently of the means driving the tweezers.
10. An epilator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said moving element (12) is driven to move directly by the epilator head.
11. An epilator according to claim 10, characterized in that said moving element (12) is supported by an accessory (30) including means (32, 33) for fastening to the case of the epilator and means (35, 36) connecting said moving element to the actuator means.
12. A method of epilation by plucking hairs using an epilator according to any preceding claim, the method being characterized in that it consists in performing friction massage of the zone of skin adjacent to the epilation zone at the same time as epilation is taking place.

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