EP1497083A1

EP1497083A1 - Electric device comprising an electric power element and a fluidic circuit

Info

Publication number: EP1497083A1
Application number: EP02793017A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andreas Peter; Werner Haczek; Thorsten Piesker; Stefan FÜRST; Andreas Hartmann
Original assignee: Braun GmbH
Current assignee: Braun GmbH
Priority date: 2002-04-22
Filing date: 2002-12-14
Publication date: 2005-01-19
Anticipated expiration: 2022-12-14
Also published as: DE10217987A1; WO2003089201A1; US20050050732A1; JP4115944B2; US7234240B2; DE50208172D1; ATE339279T1; AU2002358712A1; JP2005523091A; EP1497083B1

Abstract

The invention is directed to an electrical appliance, in particular an appliance for hair removal or hair care, with at least one electric power unit, an electric circuit connected thereto and including an On/Off switch, and a fluid circuit feeding a fluid from a reservoir to an application site which is open to atmosphere and where fluid is withdrawn from the fluid circuit, wherein the On/Off switch, in overcoming an actuator travel, is switchable between two end positions and is coupled to an actuator of a shutoff valve of the fluid circuit.

Description

ELECTRICAL DEVICE WITH AN ELECTRICAL POWER ELEMENT AND A LIQUID CIRCUIT

The invention relates to an electrical device, in particular a hair removal and / or care device, with at least one electrical power element, an electrical circuit connected to it and having an on / off switch, a liquid circuit which carries a liquid from a container to the atmosphere promotes open application point, at which liquid is removed from the liquid circuit.

Such an electrical device is known in the form of an electric shaver from DE 199 07 025 A1. The known device has an electric motor arranged in a housing, which drives both the shaving system of the shaving apparatus and a pump device. This pumping device conveys a shaving and / or care liquid to an application element, from which it can be dispensed onto the skin or hair to be shaved. Although the conveyor device is stopped when the shaving system is switched off, so that no further liquid is conveyed from the container, however, liquid can leak through the feed tube which connects the liquid container directly to the application point, at least when the shaver is standing upright for a long time. Liquid may also escape undesirably via the throttle point leading from the liquid container to the atmosphere.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a generic electrical device which prevents accidental leakage of liquid from the liquid circuit in a particularly simple manner with particularly low structural outlay and by means of a minimal number of components.

This object is achieved in that the on / off switch is switchable by overcoming a switching path between two end positions, in particular between two stable end positions, and is coupled to an actuator of a check valve of the liquid circuit.

This invention can be used in a wide variety of electrical devices that have a liquid circuit in addition to the circuit. These include electric shavers with the possibility of a liquid application, epilators with such an application option, steam irons, coffee or espresso machines or even liquid-applying hair dryers or curling irons. As an on / off switch, a bistable pressure switch is preferably used, which has a gate control for controlling the switching path. These pressure switches with gate controls, as are known, for example, for generating the extension movement of ballpoint refills, offer the advantage that, despite their compact design, they produce a noticeable switching path which can then be tapped effectively to actuate the shut-off valve.

A particularly simple design and failure-prone embodiment of the invention provides that the check valve is designed as a clamping element that can clamp or release a section of the liquid circuit designed as an elastic hose depending on the switch position.

A further preferred embodiment of the invention provides that the shut-off valve is designed as a seat valve or as a slide valve, in particular as a 2/2-way valve. The advantage of this embodiment is that it has a particularly precise control and switching characteristic and that the opening and closing behavior of such valves has no hysteresis and / or aging effects.

The on / off switch can be designed particularly simply and with extremely few components if it is acted upon by a switching spring which is itself designed as part of an electrical switching contact of the switch. The switch contact itself is then advantageously made of an elastically resilient material, e.g. Spring bronze, manufactured.

The on / off switch is advantageously coupled to a switching rod, one end of which forms the blocking element of the blocking valve. In order to guarantee a particularly safe functioning, it is advantageous if the shift rod is loaded by a spring element. Leakage of liquid is ensured even in the case of defective components of the switching chain if the spring element acts on the check valve in the closing direction. This additional spring element relieves the shift spring and enables the use of a two-part shift rod, the manufacturing tolerances of which can be absorbed by the additional spring.

Further objectives, features, advantages and possible uses of the present invention result from the following description of the exemplary embodiments. All the features described or depicted form individually or in any way Combination the subject of the present invention; also regardless of their summary in the claims or their relationship.

This shows:

1 shows an embodiment of the invention as a dry shaver with an application point for liquid,

Fig. 2 shows the structure of this embodiment in a highly simplified, schematic representation

3 shows a detailed illustration of a further exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 shows a sectional drawing through a seat valve.

1 shows a perspective view of a dry shaving apparatus with a view of the rear of the housing 1 and of one of the two narrow sides 2 of the housing 1. At the upper end of the housing 1, a shaving head 3 is provided, on which in turn a liquid dispensing device 4 is provided. A liquid container 5 is arranged on the narrow side 2 of the housing. This liquid container can be fixed or detachably connected to the housing. According to the invention, it is also possible to arrange the liquid container within the housing in a fixed or exchangeable manner. By means of the liquid dispensing device 5, an appropriate shaving and / or lubricating liquid can be applied in a position-independent and metered manner during shaving, whereby the comfort of shaving can be significantly increased.

The shaving head 3 consists, in a manner known per se, of a central center cutter 6 for shaving longer hair, which is arranged between two curved shaving foils 7 and which cooperate with lower knives (not shown in the drawing) for shaving out short hair. The shaving foils 7 and the center cutter 6 are mounted in an interchangeable frame 8. The liquid dispenser 4 is attached to this change frame 8, so that it is ensured that the application of the liquid is always in the immediate vicinity of the shaving surface. In addition to the liquid container 5, the housing 1 also accommodates an electric motor 10 which serves both the oscillating drive of the lower blades of the shaving head and the drive of a pump 11, the pump being able to be driven both directly and indirectly. It is also possible according to the invention that the pump 11 is controlled by a separately assigned electric motor. The pump 11 is part of a liquid system connected to the liquid delivery device 4, which is shown in FIG. 2 and is used to explain it in more detail

The pump 11 serves to operate the liquid circuit and requests liquid from the liquid container 5 for the liquid delivery device 4. For this purpose, the pump 11 has an inlet 12 and an outlet 13 with an integrated throttle point. This throttle limits the operating pressure in the liquid system. The inlet 11 is via a first liquid line 14 connected to the application pocket 15 of the liquid delivery device 4, which is designed as an elongated recess in an applicator housing 16. The connection of this first liquid line 14 to the application pocket 15 takes place in the end section on the left in the drawing

The pump 1 1 is advantageously arranged within the liquid container 5, which is designed as a replacement cartridge and is exchanged for a new one after the liquid has been used up

Depending on the consumption of liquid that has already taken place, the liquid container 5 is filled with liquid 18 up to a certain level 17, wherein the area below the maximum level can be filled with a storage material for better binding of the liquid. Open-pore sintered materials close to the bottom are particularly suitable for this purpose 19 of the liquid container 5 mounts a riser pipe 20, which forms part of the second liquid line 21. The liquid line 21 leads to the application pocket 15 and is connected to its end section shown on the right in the drawing

Pressed firmly into the appliance pocket 15, the app cation element 22 is arranged in such a way that it projects beyond the top of the applicator housing 16, on which an application surface 23 is formed. The press fit between the application element 22 and the applicator housing 16 is only by at least one Secondary air duct 24 with a precisely defined flow cross section interrupted. The application element 22 can be made of a wick-like material or a sintered material made of metal or plastic. Due to its open position, it has a capillary action for liquids, which leads to complete wetting. For the operation of the liquid system it is important that the cross section of the secondary air duct 24 is precisely matched to the throttle point in the pump outlet 13 2 shows the on / off switch 25 in the switched-off position. It can be seen that in this position the contact lug 26 is at a distance from the contact element 27. The contact element 27 is connected to the negative pole of a power source with the interposition of the electric motor 10, while the contact lug 26 is connected to its positive pole. The pushbutton 29 of the on / off switch 25 is loaded in the off position by the switching spring 28. The contact tab 26 and the switching spring 29 are formed in one piece and consist of an elastic material. At its end facing away from the pushbutton 29, the switching spring 28 is held under prestress in the clamping 24 fixed to the housing. If the pushbutton 29 is actuated in the switch-on direction (this is to the right in FIG. 2), the switching spring is moved against its biasing direction, this movement is simultaneously transmitted to the contact lug 26, which moves in the direction of the contact element 27 and this electrically contacted. In this way, the electrical circuit is closed and the motor is switched on.

A push rod 30 is connected to the push button 29, the end of which is remote from the push button 29 is designed as a clamping wedge 31. Between this clamping wedge 31 and its pressure piece 32, the second liquid line 21 is carried out, which is tubular at least in the area of the clamping wedge 31. This hose-like design is carried out with an elastic hose material that can be compressed under low forces. The shift rod 33 is loaded by a spring 33 which is supported on the housing.

In the switched-off switching position shown in FIG. 2, on the one hand the electric motor 10 is switched off and the liquid line 21 is pressed together by the clamping wedge 31 against the pressing piece 32 in such a way that no liquid can pass this point. Only when the pushbutton 29 is pressed does the pushbutton including the switching rod 30 move to the right, so that not only the electrical contact between the contact tab 26 and the contact element 27 is closed, but also the clamping wedge 31 is displaced against the force of the spring 33 and the Flow cross section between this and the pressure piece 32 is released.

This ensures that no liquid can escape from the liquid container 5 even when the electric shaver is upside down. Since the throttle point of the liquid system is also arranged in the pump outlet 13, that is to say within the liquid circuit, and therefore no pressure relief valve has to be provided to the outside, the liquid circuit is completely removed from the atmosphere when the device is switched off. closed. The switched-off pump 11 prevents leakage via the first liquid line 14.

If the motor 10 of the electric shaver is switched on by the on / off switch 25, this drives both the lower blades of the shaving head 3 and the pump 11. The pump 11 then first sucks air out of the applicator pocket 15 via the first liquid line 14. The applicator pocket 15 is initially liquid-free, just like the application element 22, so that the sucked-in air can flow in both through the pores of the application element and through the secondary air duct. This air is pressed into the liquid container 5 via the outlet 13 of the pump 11 and the throttling point arranged there, the resulting pressure increase promoting liquid 18 via the riser pipe 20 or the second liquid line 21 into the applicator pocket 15.

After the liquid has reached the application pocket 15, a liquid flow is established in the lower region of this pocket, that is, between the mouths of the first and the second liquid line. Due to its capillary action, the incoming liquid is distributed throughout the application element 22 and conveyed to the application surface 23. The portion of the liquid which can no longer be absorbed by the application element 22 is sucked off by the pump 11 via the first liquid line 14 and supplied to the liquid container 5 again.

As long as the application element is still relatively dry and its pores are mainly open, a very large amount of air is sucked in by the pump 11, which results in a very rapid increase in pressure in the liquid container 5. This in turn leads to a very rapid transport of the liquid 18 into the application pocket 15. As the liquid volume conveyed to the application element 22 increases, its pores gradually fill, and the secondary air duct 24 is gradually closed by liquid. From this moment, an operating state occurs in which no additional air can initially be sucked into the liquid system. The applicator pockets 15 cannot then overflow, but only a liquid circuit is kept in circulation. Only when a certain amount of liquid has been dispensed via the application surface 23 can air be sucked into the system again through appropriately emptied pores or through a secondary air channel 24 which has been released again. This sucked air volume then replaces the amount of liquid dispensed. The circulation system also ensures that the application element 22 is always adequately wetted and supplied with liquid 18 during operation. 3 shows a further embodiment of the on / off switch 25 and the shut-off element for the liquid line 21 coupled to it. The on / off switch consists of a pushbutton 29 which is coupled to a first switching cowl 35. This first switching cowl 35 is also located in a fixed Kuhssenführung 36 as the second Schaltkuhsse 37, which between the first Schaltkuhsse 35 and an end piece 38 of the on / off switch 25. The end piece 38 is guided in the toothing of the Kuhssenführung 36 and has on his from the push-button 29-rejecting end an integrally formed shift rod 30. The shifting gates 35 and 37 have mutually facing annular peripheral toothing sections which have toothing peaks and toothing staters. The second shifting bosses 37 can be rotated about the axis of symmetry with respect to the first shifting bosses 35 and the end piece 38, depending on whether the two gear peaks are on top of each other or whether the gear If they interlock, there is a distance defining the switching path between the first switching cowl 35 and the end piece 38. Such switching gates are known per se, for example, from the actuation of ballpoint pen refills to generate the extension movement of these refills

FIG. 3 shows the switch-off position of the on / off switch 25, ie the distance between the first switching block 35 and the end piece 38 is the worst possible since the teeth of the first and second switching blocks are interlocking. In this state, the contact between the contact lugs 26 and opened the contact element 27 The push button 29 is surrounded by a membrane 39 which is sealingly connected to both it and the housing 1. The end piece 38 is elastically biased by the switching spring 28 in the direction of the push button 29

As already shown in FIG. 2, the switching spring 28 and the contact lug 26 are made in one piece and clamped on the housing. The switching rod 30 is followed by an intermediate part 40 which is biased by the spring 33 in the direction of the switching rod 30 End portion facing away from the shift rod 30 has a clamping wedge 31, which engages behind the tubular elastic section of the second liquid line 21. The prestressing of the spring 33 causes this clamping wedge 31 to be pressed so strongly onto the liquid line 21 to the left that it presses it together and closes the liquid passage 21 is pressed by the clamping wedge 31 against the pressure piece 32, which is designed as a hose guide sleeve. Both the shift rod 30 and the intermediate part 40 are mounted in the housing 1 so that they can be moved slowly If the pushbutton 29 is now pressed for the first time, the second shifting link 37 rotates by a certain angle with respect to the first shifting link 35, so that the two toothed peaks come to rest on one another. This will switch between the pushbuttons

29 and the end piece 38 an additional, the switching path defining distance. Due to the displacement of the end piece 38 in the link guide 36 against the force of the switching spring 28, on the one hand the electrical contact between the contact tab 26 and the contact element 27 is closed, and the switching rod 30 is also shifted to the right. This then moves the intermediate part 40 and the clamping wedge 31 against the force of the spring 33 also to the right, so that the clamping of the second liquid line 21 is released. If the push button is pressed again, the switched-off state shown in FIG. 3 is restored, in which, on the one hand, the electrical contact is opened and the clamping of the liquid line 21 is closed.

The switching valve 45 shown in Fig. 4 is integrated in an alternative embodiment of the invention in the second liquid line 21, the free end 46 of the arcuate connecting tube 47 connecting the switching valve 45 to the container, while the free end 48 of the substantially tubular valve closing element 49 is connected to the applicator pocket 15 of the liquid dispensing device 4 by means of the second liquid line 21. The valve closing element 49 is guided in the valve housing 50 in a through bore 51, from which it protrudes with the end 48. The end of the through bore 51 opposite the valve closing element 49 is closed by an elastomeric sealing seat 52. By placing the valve closing element 49 on the sealing seat 52, the central bore 53 of the valve closing element can be closed. In this state, the connection between the liquid container 5 and the liquid dispensing device 4 is then interrupted.

On the outer contour of the valve closing element 29, a circumferential groove 54 is formed in the region of the end 48, in which the coupling fork 55 engages, which is designed as part of the actuating head 56. The actuating head 56 is in turn with the shift rod

30 - see Fig. 2 - connected.

A leg spring 57 is held on a beam-like projection 58 of the valve housing 50, the coil-like middle part of this leg spring 57 surrounding the projection 58. The first leg 59 of the leg spring 57 elastically loads the actuating head 56 in a direction that the closing of the coupled valve closing element 49 causes. For this purpose, the end of the second leg 60 is supported on a stop 61 of the valve housing 50. 4, the switching valve 45 is opened, since the fastening head 56 has been displaced by the switching rod 30 when the pushbutton 29 has been actuated against the force of the leg spring 57 and thus the valve closing element 49 has been moved in a direction away from the sealing seat 52. The first leg 59 or the fastening head 56 then lies against the stop 63 in an end position. When the pushbutton 29 is switched off, the pressure force by the switching rod 30 is eliminated, so that the actuating head 56 is driven back by the pressure force of the leg spring 57 and the valve closing element 49 is thus pressed onto the sealing seat 52. The connection between the liquid container 5 and the liquid dispensing device 4 is thus closed again.

In contrast to the hose clamp according to FIGS. 2 and 3, the switching valve 45 according to FIG. 4 dispenses with the sealing function by deforming the elastomeric hose part, which results in a more precise switching with active opening of the valve 45. The use of the leg spring 57 enables a large switching travel of the valve, which is necessary if the actuation with considerable overstroke by a link control with a switching link according to FIG. 3 - see there the first switching link 35, link guide 36, second switching link 37 and end piece 38 - should be done.

The section of the valve closing element 49 which projects out of the valve housing 50 as far as the groove 54 is encapsulated by an elastomeric bellows 62. This bellows 62 also serves as a valve spring acting in the opening direction, albeit with a low spring force. As a result, the switching valve 54 works particularly free of play, as a result of which extremely short switching paths can be realized.

Claims

claims:

1. Electrical device, in particular hair removal or hair care device, with at least one electrical power element (10), an on / off switch (25) having an electrical circuit connected thereto, a liquid circuit (11, 14, 15, 21) that conveys a liquid (18) from a container (5) to an application point (23) which is open to the atmosphere and at which liquid is removed from the liquid circuit, characterized in that the on / off switch (25) can be switched between two end positions by overcoming a switching path and is coupled to an actuator (30) of a check valve (31, 32) of the liquid circuit.

2. Electrical device according to claim 1, characterized in that the EinJAus switch (25) is designed as a bistable pressure switch with a gate control (35, 36, 37, 38) for controlling the switching path.

3. Electrical device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the check valve is designed as a clamping element (31, 32) which clamps or releases a section of the liquid circuit which is designed as an elastic hose.

4. Electrical device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the check valve is designed as a seat valve (45).

5. Electrical device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the check valve is designed as a slide valve, in particular as a 2/2-way valve.

6. Electrical device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the EinJAus switch (25) is acted upon by a switching spring (28) which is designed as part of an electrical switching contact (26).

7. Electrical device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the on / off switch (25) is coupled to a switching rod (30), one end of which forms the blocking element (31) of the blocking valve.

8. Electrical device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the switching rod (30) is loaded by a spring element (33).

9. Electrical device according to claim 8, characterized in that the loading of the switching rod (30) by the spring element (33) in the closing direction of the check valve (31, 32) takes place.