Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
  • A45D—HAIRDRESSING OR SHAVING EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT FOR COSMETICS OR COSMETIC TREATMENTS, e.g. FOR MANICURING OR PEDICURING
  • A45D26/00—Hair-singeing apparatus; Apparatus for removing superfluous hair, e.g. tweezers
  • A45D26/0023—Hair-singeing apparatus; Apparatus for removing superfluous hair, e.g. tweezers with rotating clamping elements
  • A45D26/0028—Hair-singeing apparatus; Apparatus for removing superfluous hair, e.g. tweezers with rotating clamping elements with rotating discs or blades

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a hand held, motorized depilatory device for removing unwanted skin hair, and more particularly, to a revolutionary concept and mechanically correct design to pluck out skin hair, utilizing a novel mechanism to spirally align coupled-tweezer elements.
• U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,772 to Daar, et. al. discloses an arched, helical spring, which is provided with high speed, rotational motion via motor-driven couplings, connected at its ends.
• the contact between the helical spring wire and individual hairs is essentially point-like.
• a hair that is caught between the closed spring loops may be released before the plucking operation has been completed, which results in inefficient plucking and unnecessary pain.
• Once a hair becomes trapped between closed helical spring loops continued application of rotational force causes the spring to "wind up", since it is composed of flexible wire material, yet the hair is still in place.
• the spring continues to "wind" the pulling tension applied to the hair increases until the necessary force is developed for plucking. Because a finite interval is required for this force to be developed, the user is subjected to an increased pain level.
• a depilatory device comprising a series of adjacent, closely-spaced hair-plucking discs, driven by an electric motor, housed within a casing.
• the discs are periodically deformed during their rotation, such that adjacent ones, thereof, are pressed together to pluck hairs, which may have become trapped between them, when the unit is passed over the skin.
• the external hair-traps thus formed, capture mainly hairs located in the center of the device's rotational path.
• the short hairs, located on the peripheries of the rotational path are not trapped and consequently, not plucked.
• depilatory device which would reduce noise, and therefore be less frightening to the user.
• the depilatory devices were designed, so that to be effective, the user had to hold the device substantially perpendicular to the skin surface, at many times, a most awkward position to work in.
• a motor-powered depilatory device comprising: a manually-held housing; motor means disposed in said housing; and a hair-plucking assembly, exposed through an opening in said housing, and coupled to said motor means, said hair-plucking assembly containing a right hand actuator element and a left hand actuator element, identical in construction, each carrying opposing tweezer elements, which fit together in interleaved fashion, arranged to define hair-traps, said hair-plucking assembly being rotatable about a central shaft and operable to close and open said hair-traps by a system of cams and springs.
• the actuator elements in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, are made of plastic and are simply designed, and identical in construction, making them inexpensive to manufacture, via injection molding.
• the cam followers continue rolling along the contour of the cams, eventually arriving at a depression in the cams. At that point, the retaining spring is free to return the actuator elements, as well as the tweezer elements situated on them, to their initial positions, thereby opening the hair-traps, allowing the plucked hair to be released.
• Cams are located at each end of the hair-plucking assembly, and are arranged as a set in a circular arrangement, which effectively constitutes a continuous cam arrangement.
• a set of four cam followers, arranged perpendicular to each other, is positioned on each set of cams.
• Each tweezer element comprises two wing segments and a central portion.
• the tweezer element in its central segment, has formed thereon protrusions.
• a tweezer element when engaged, is able to rock slightly around the protrusions. This arrangement permits self-alignment of the tweezer element, thereby enabling uniform distribution of gripping force among all hair-traps.
• a swivel ridge is formed on the wall of the slot, in which the tweezer element is mounted.
• the assembly procedure of the hair-plucking assembly is quite simple and rapid. The tweezer elements are snapped into position easily, and held in place by a tongue, or other mechanical means, such as the hair-guide unit, utilized in one of the embodiments.
• the tweezer elements are arranged around the hair-plucking assembly, in such a way, that the tips of each tweezer element can engage with the tips of each of two adjacent tweezer elements, so that the tweezer elements form a continuous spiral around the circumference of the assembly.
• the tweezer elements are able to rock slightly around said protrusions, and thereby align themselves relative to fixed points, provided by a fixed tweezer element. This novel mechanism ensures that all tweezer elements close simultaneously, developing an appropriate equal gripping force, despite inaccuracies in manufacture.
• the inventive hair-plucking assembly insures all the hair-traps close simultaneously during a revolution of the hair-plucking assembly, with no excessive applied force being required. Quality of hair plucking is thereby improved, where quahty of plucking is defined as the percentage of hairs plucked versus percentage of hairs cut. In prior art devices, excess applied force led to an increase in the number of hairs cut rather than plucked.
• the staggered arrangement of tweezer elements contributes to a much more even treatment of the skin surface, and to an increase in the speed of removal of hairs from a given area, thus leading to reduced energy consumption per unit of time.
• a further advantage of the present invention is the operation of the actuator elements by the continuity of the cams.
• the use of four cam followers per cam eliminates the need to jump from one cam to another, as is the case in. other hair plucking appliances. This configuration decreases noise levels, reduces energy requirements and reduces wear and tear of the device.
• Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a prior art hair plucking device disadvantage, in which only a portion of the hair-traps are closed, while other traps remain open;
• Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a prior art hah plucking device situation where excess force is exerted in order to ensure closure of all the hair-traps
• Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a hair-plucking assembly for use in a hair depilating device, constructed and operated in accordance with the principles of the present invention
• Figs. 4a-d show a single actuator element, illustrating a tweezer element mounting method using a hair guide to hold them in place, while guiding the hairs;
• Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the hair depilating device, using the hair-plucking assembly of Fig. 3;
• Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of the hair plucking assembly of Fig. 5, without the housing;
• Fig. 7 shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of the depilating device
• Fig. 8 displays a sectional view of the apparatus taken along the section line Nm-Vm ofFig 7;
• Fig. 9 shows a perspective exploded view of the device shown in Fig. 5;
• Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a tweezer element;
• Fig. 11 shows a perspective view of a segment of a carrier arm, showing the tweezer elements within the slots;
• Fig. 12 is a side view of the segment of the carrier arm shown in Fig. 11;
• Fig. 14 is a sectional view of the segment of the carrier arm, taken along section line XIN-XIN of Fig. 13;
• Fig. 15 is a top, sectional view of the segment of the carrier arm, taken along section line XN-XN of Fig. 13;
• Fig. 16 is a top view of the segment of the carrier arm shown in Fig. 11;
• Fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the segment of the carrier arm taken along section line XNH-XV ⁇ of Fig. 12;
• Fig. 18 is a perspective view of the tweezer elements, when all the traps are closed, showing the arrangement as a spiral continuity;
• Fig. 19 is an additional perspective view of the tweezer elements in closed hair-trap formation
• Fig. 20 is a view of the hair-plucking assembly, cut and opened out along its longitudinal axis, with the tweezer elements in open hair-trap formation;
• Fig. 21 is a view of the arrangement of Fig. 20, with the tweezer elements in closed hair-trap formation;
• Fig. 22 is a schematic representation of the tweezer elements performing self-alignment
• Fig. 23 is a schematic representation of the tweezer elements after self-alignment, and schematically displays the spiral, staggered arrangement of the tweezer elements;
• Figs. 24a-b are top and cross-sectional views of a section of the carrier arm, showing an embodiment in which the tweezer element rocks on a swivel ridge that protrudes into the gap between the tweezer element and the slot wall;
• Fig. 25 is a perspective exploded view of an actuator element in an embodiment of the device, showing the tweezer elements mechanically locked in the slots via pins that pass through them, over the actuator element length;
• Fig. 26 schematically illustrates the additional angles at which the user may hold the device while depilating, to facilitate the depilating process
• Fig. 27 schematically illustrates use of the device against a hard to reach skin surface, without requiring a change in the angle at which the device is applied;
• Fig. 28 shows an alternative embodiment of the hair-plucking assembly, featuring an annular grouping of tweezer elements
• Fig. 29 is a perspective view of the tweezer elements, when all the traps are open, showing the arrangement of the annular grouping;
• Fig. 30 is a schematic representation of the tweezer elements after self-alignment, and schematically displays the annular grouping of the tweezer elements;
• Fig. 31 is a view of the hair-plucking assembly of Fig. 28, cut and opened out along its longitudinal axis, with the tweezer elements in open hair-trap formation;
• Fig. 32 is a view of the arrangement of Fig. 31 with the tweezer elements in closed hair-trap formation. . . thorough .. ⁇ •
• FIG. 3-4 there is shown a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a hair-plucking assembly 35, for use in a hair depilating device 36 (Fig. 5), constructed and operated in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the purpose of which is to trap unwanted hairs in hair-traps 40 and to pluck them out from the root.
• Hair-plucking assembly 35 comprises two identical, opposing actuator elements, a right-hand actuator element 42 and a left-hand actuator element 44 (Fig. 4a), which fit together between circular endplates 46. When assembled, hair-plucking assembly 35 has a substantially circular cross-section.
• Hair-plucking assembly 35 is driven by a motion conversion mechanism (Fig. 6) that translates the rotational motion of the hair plucking assembly into reciprocating motion of endplates 46 along the longitudinal axis of hah-plucking assembly 35, as indicated by motion arrows X and Y.
• the detailed components of the mechanism are shown in Fig. 8.
• Figs. 4a-b there are shown perspective exploded views of the left-hand actuator element 44.
• actuator elements 42 (Fig. 8) and 44 there are a pah of carrier arms 47, 48.
• carrier arms 47, 48 spaced-apart slots 50, each having seated therein a tweezer element 52, the wings of which are exposed on the periphery of each carrier arm 47, 48.
• Each tweezer element 52 is shaped as a central portion 54, with peripheral wing sections 56, 58 formed on opposing sides of central portion 54, one wing slightly offset forward of central portion 54 and one behind it, as further illustrated in Fig. 10.
• Slots 50 are formed transverse to the longitudinal axis of the hair plucking assembly 35, and tweezer elements 52 are each formed with a pivoting point, which allows longitudinal rocking motion of tweezer elements 52 with respect to the longitudinal axis, within the slot. This enables self-alignment of the tweezer elements 52,, as further illustrated in Fig. 15.
• Slots 50 on actuator element 48 and slots 50 on actuator element 44 are arranged, such that the wings 56, 58 of the tweezer elements 52, mounted on one actuator element are interleaved with the wings of tweezer elements 52 on the other.
• spaces are developed between opposing wings of interleaved tweezer elements 52, these spaces being defined as hair-traps 40.
• hair-guide retaining unit 60 which fits over tweezer elements 52 and holds them in place, while directing the hairs that escape one hair-trap into the path of the next hair-trap, and so forth. Hair-guide retaining unit 60 also completes the cyhndrical contour of the hair-plucking assembly 35.
• Fig. 5 there is shown a perspective view of the exemplary embodiment of hair depilating device 36, which comprises a casing 64, in which there is mounted a hair-plucking assembly 35, as shown in Figs. 3-4.
• the hah-plucking assembly 35 comes in contact with the skin via an opening in the casing 64.
• the casing is connected on one side to a cover 66.
• the hair-plucking assembly 35 is driven by an electric motor 68 via a reduction gear 70 rotating on shaft 71.
• the hair-plucking assembly 35 comprises a right-hand actuator element 42 and a left-hand actuator element 44, which fit together between circular endplates 46, each one identical to the other, and formed integrally with a respective actuator element.
• Hah-plucking assembly 35 also comprises cam follower holders 72, an actuating spring 74, and a split central shaft 76a-b.
• the hair-plucking assembly 35 is designed to have mounted thereon a series of tweezer elements 52.
• Fig. 7 shows a side view of the exemplary embodiment of depilating device 36.
• FIGS 8 and 9 show further construction details of the hair-plucking assembly 35.
• each actuator element 42 and 44 there is a hole, 78 and 80 respectively, which serves as a bearing to the central shaft 76a-b.
• On each actuator element there are integrally formed on endplates 46 a set of cams, 82 and 84, on which are positioned cam followers 86, which are supported by cam follower holders 72. Two sets of identical cam followers 86 are held, one at each end of hair-plucking assembly 35, formed by the actuator elements 42, 44.
• the cam follower holders 72 are prevented from rotating by an actuator spring 74.
• the actuator spring 74 is held in place within a slit 88 (shown in Fig. 9), in the body of the appliance, which prevents the actuator spring from rotating with the hair-plucking assembly 35.
• a niche 75 at each end of the actuator spring 74. As the heads 77 of the central shaft 76a-b are spherical, they fit snugly into said niches, allowing for excellent self-alignment of the assembly.
• the central shaft 76a-b comprises two identical halves of fixed length, mounted end to end, whose purpose is to provide pretensioning of the actuator spring 74, until the spring is brought into operation. This occurs when the cam followers 86 reach the raised portion on the surfaces of the cams 82 and 84.
• the purpose of the actuator spring 74 is to transfer gripping force to the tweezer elements 52. Gripping force is the specific force required to grip the hairs and pull them out by the root.
• the gripping force is only required during a portion of the operating cycle and is only effective during this period. During the remainder of the operating cycle, the full force of the actuator spring 74 is not requhed, and as described previously, central shaft 76a-b maintains pretensioning of actuator spring 74. Retaining spring 85 is provided between sections of the central shaft 76a-b, to hold the hair-traps 40 open, by forcing the actuator elements 42 and 44 apart, until the next time they are driven together by cams 82, 84.
• Fig. 9 presents a perspective exploded view of the device shown in Fig. 5.
• the hair-plucking assembly 35 is contained within a depression 90, formed in one end of casing 64, and cover 66. Cover 66 is located on the opposite end of the casing.
• the hair-plucking assembly 35 comprises two identically constructed actuator elements, 42 and 44, each of which contains a pah of carrier arms 47 and 48. Each carrier arm 47, 48 is formed with slots 50, which hold the tweezer elements 52.
• Each carrier arm has one fixed end blade 92, which does not move from its position and is secured in place by positioning pin 93, or by other mechanical means.
• Central shaft 76a-b passes through a hole 78, 80 formed in each actuator element.
• Cams 82, 84 are formed on each end of the hair-plucking assembly 35, comprised of the interleaving actuator elements 42, 44.
• the cams 82, 84 are arranged as a set of four, in a circular arrangement, which effectively creates a continuous cam arrangement.
• a set of four cam followers 86, arranged perpendicular to each other, is positioned on each set of cams.
• the cam followers 86 are mounted so as to be free to rotate in slots 101 of cam follower holders 72, which are supported on shaft 76.
• the cam follower holders 72 are prevented from rotating by the actuator spring 74, which is situated in slots 102 of the cam follower holders 72.
• the hah-plucking assembly 35 receives rotational motion from the motor 68, via the reduction gear 70 (see Fig. 6).
• the cam followers 86 roll on the cams 82, 84, and when they reach the raised portion of the cam surface, as shown in Fig. 21, actuator element 42 and 44 are pushed one against the other, thereby causing the plucking elements 52, of the opposing actuator elements, to engage, thereby forming hair-traps 40.
• the cam followers 86 continue following the contour of cams 82, 84, eventually arriving at a depression on the cam surface.
• the retaining spring 85 then causes the actuator elements 42 and 44, together with the tweezer elements 52 mounted on them, to return to their normally open positions, thereby opening the hair-traps 40 and allowing the plucked hair to be released.
• the process repeats for subsequent rotations of hair-plucking assembly 35.
• Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a tweezer element 52.
• Each tweezer element 52 comprises two wing segments 56, 58 and a central portion 54.
• the plucking element 52 in its central segment has formed thereon protrusions 121, which enables the tweezer element to rock slightly about the protrusions, in the directions shown by the arrows in Fig 15.
• the purpose of this design is to permit self-alignment of the tweezer elements, thereby contributing to uniform distribution of gripping force among the hair-traps 40.
• the tweezer elements 52 are snapped into position in slots 50 and held in place by a tongue 122 or by other mechanical means.
• Fig. 11 shows a perspective view of a segment of a carrier arm 47 of acniator element 42, showing the tweezer elements 52 mounted within the slots 50.
• the positioning pin 93 or other mechanical means, holds the fixed tweezer element 92 in place.
• Fig. 12 shows a side view of the segment of carrier arm 47, seen in Fig. 11, showing the tweezer elements 52 within the slots 50 and the adjacent grooves 94 which guide the hairs into the traps 40.
• Fig. 13 is a front view of the segment of carrier arm 47, seen in Fig. 11.
• Fig. 14 shows a sectional view of carrier arm 47, taken along section line XIN-XIN of Fig. 13, in which there is shown tweezer element 52 and its swivel protrusion 121. The tweezer element is held in place by tongue 122. Also shown is a fixed tweezer element 92, which is held in place by positioning pin 93.
• Fig. 15 is a top, sectional view of carrier arm 47, taken along section line XN-XN of Fig. 13, in which there is shown the mounting of tweezer elements 52, arranged to rock back and forth on carrier arm 47. Also shown is the fixed tweezer element 92, which is held in place by positioning pin 93, slots 50 and the hair-guide grooves 94.
• Fig. 16 is a top view of the segment of the carrier arm 47 shown in Fig. 11. Figs. 15-16 assist the viewer in visualizing the self-alignment possibilities that this device-design allows.
• Fig. 18 is a perspective view of the tweezer elements 52, when all the hair-traps 40 are closed, showing the arrangement as a spiral continuity 124.
• Fig. 19 is an additional perspective view of the tweezer elements 52 in closed hair-trap formation. This view better illustrates protrusions 121, providing swivel points enabling efficient gripping force distribution among tweezer elements 52, which are arranged as shown around central shaft 76a-b (shaft not shown).
• Figs. 20 and 21 show how the hair-plucking assembly 35 would appear if cut along its longitudinal axis and opened out. This illustration enables an appreciation of the mechanically correct and efficient staggered hair-trap arrangement relative to the surface being depilated.
• the cam followers 86 have reached the depressions in the surface of the cams 82, 84, and consequently, the hair-traps 40 are open.
• the continuous cam arrangement can be clearly seen in these figures.
• the cam followers 86 roll smoothly from cam to cam in a continuous circle, without the need to jump from cam to cam, as occurs in prior art devices.
• the equalized stress distribution on the cams and cam followers is also apparent, and this reduces wear and tear, noise generation, and energy consumption.
• Fig. 22 is a schematic representation of the tweezer elements performing self-alignment.
• Fig. 23 shows how tweezer elements 52 are arranged around the cylindrical hair-plucking assembly 35, so that the tips of each tweezer element 52 can engage with the tips of each of two adjacent tweezer elements.
• the tweezer elements 52 create a continuous spiral 124 around the chcumference of the hair- ⁇ lucl ing assembly 35, and guarantee self-alignment all along the spiral.
• tweezer elements 52 are able to rock slightly around a ridge 130, and thus align themselves relative to fixed points, provided by the fixed tweezer elements 92. This design ensures that all tweezer elements 52 close simultaneously in response to an appropriate gripping force, and even compensates for manufacturing inaccuracies, as illustrated in Figs. 22 and 23. In Fig. 23, there are also shown schematically the elements 52 spiraling along the circumference of assembly 35.
• Fig. 25 there is shown a perspective exploded view of an actuator element 42, showing an alternative mechanical locking arrangement of tweezer elements 52 in the slots, using pins 132 (Fig. 24b) that pass through them over the actuator length.
• Fig. 27 there is shown a schematic representation of the device 36 depilating a hard-to-reach area behind the knee joint.
• the device may be held at one particular angle, without requiring adjustment on passing between portions of the leg.
• Fig. 28 shows an alternative embodiment of the hair-plucking assembly 35, featuring an annular grouping of tweezer elements 52.
• Fig. 32 is a view of the arrangement of Fig. 31 with the tweezer elements 52 in closed hair-trap 40 formation.

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• 2001
  • 2001-06-07 CA CA002411234A patent/CA2411234A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-06-07 CN CN 01810862 patent/CN1232229C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2001-06-07 AU AU74447/01A patent/AU7444701A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-06-07 WO PCT/IL2001/000524 patent/WO2001093767A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2001-06-07 EP EP01940961A patent/EP1294294A4/de not_active Withdrawn

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