EP2671465B1 - Pain-free depilation head - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the field of tweezers of the type comprising a rotary cylinder with tongs for tearing unwanted hair from the human body, and more particularly relates to an epilator comprising a massage means producing an anti-pain effect.

A plucking tweezers generally comprise blade or disc grippers disposed on a rotating barrel, the pliers being caused to close and open periodically to grip and tighten the bristles close to the barrel. the skin to tear them by the rotation of the cylinder and then to evacuate the torn hairs before starting a new cycle of tearing. Pulling the hair is a very effective method against their regrowth, but it often causes significant pain.

Such an anti-pain function on a depilatory device has been presented in the document EP1294249 in the name of the Applicant who describes an epilator having a movable member in the form of a pad having a substantially flat or convex surface or the type that it comprises protuberances, the movable member having a displacement in the plane of the skin. This document already showed that, in tests on various people, it has been found that vigorously rubbing a pain-sensitized area has the effect of immediately calming the pain perceived during the hair removal process. Nevertheless, this device has a clutter and requires a rather complicated construction. In addition, in the case where the pad is actuated directly by the epilation head, its oscillation is sometimes considered too slow and not effective.

Another document EP1782709 in the name of the applicant describes a depilatory device comprising a depilatory head removable and interchangeable with a cutting head. The cutting head comprises a fixed blade and a movable blade, the movable blade being driven in translation by a vibrating element in a direction parallel to the axis of the hair removal roller. According to the invention, the element vibrator is fixed relative to the housing of the device and it is driven by a cam recovering the movement of the electric motor by a gear train, the cam itself being also fixed relative to the housing. This document discloses a razor adjacent to an anti-pain means driven by a cam that can directly transmit the movement of the motor in a displacement in translation. However, the prior art does not propose the combination of an epilation means and an effective pain-relieving means, the two functions being realized simultaneously and being implemented in a compact block to be fixed on a personal care device. multifunction skin.

The object of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks and to provide a multifunctional body care device compatible with different interchangeable skin treatment blocks, at least one block comprises a depilation means provided with an effective pain-killing means .

Another object of the invention is to provide a depilatory device with anti-pain medium compact and robust.

Another object of the invention is a depilatory device provided with an anti-pain means easy to clean in case of jamming torn hairs.

Another object of the invention is an effective and ergonomic depilatory device, for tearing the hair always closer to the skin for a better hair removal result.

Another object of the invention is to provide an anti-pain means of rubbing the skin used during epilation which is effective.

Another object of the invention is to provide a depilatory device provided with an easy-to-use pain-relieving means having an improved lifetime while ensuring effective training of its moving parts.

Another object of the invention is a depilatory device for performing a massage on the skin to be epilated having an oscillation frequency adapted for an optimal anti-pain effect.

Yet another object of the invention is an anti-pain depilatory device which guarantees safety for the user.

Another object of the invention is to provide an epilator having a reliable anti-pain means, of simple construction and which lends itself to mass production, for less manufacturing costs.

These objects are achieved with a body care apparatus as disclosed in claim 1.

By rotary depilating cylinder is meant any device capable of supporting and driving the tweezers in a continuous rotational movement about at least one axis of rotation. Such a device may be in particular a rotary roller clamps, but also a belt carrying clamps, a chain driving articulated modules carrying tweezers, etc..

This movement in the plane of the skin produces in particular a rubbing massage action performed just next to the action zone of the hair removal roller and therefore in an area adjacent to the hair removal zone. In tests on various individuals, it has been found that rubbing a pain-sensitized area vigorously with pain has the effect of immediately relieving pain. It has also been found that by massaging an area of skin before or during a pulling action of the bristles, this massage has an anesthetic effect over a short time interval, and that the pain due to hair removal becomes more bearable thereafter .

In addition, there is a beneficial action of the surface massage of the skin on the blood microcirculation having the effect of attenuation, with friction, the presence of red dots caused by tearing of the hair.

Because the active massaging element is integrated in the bi-treatment block which at the same time contains the depilating cylinder, the massage function for an anti-pain effect is always performed simultaneously with the pulling of the hairs. Above all, thanks to a reversible fixation of the entire bi-treatment block, the latter can be dismounted easily from the housing when the user wants a treatment other than hair removal. For this purpose, the housing is constructed so as to receive other treatment heads interchangeable with the bi-treatment block, these other functional heads do not require motorized painter means as the hair removal function requires.

The presence of the support heel unequivocally indicates the direction of use of the epilating head in that the heel must be placed upstream of the epilation window relative to the direction of movement of the epilation head. on the area to be depilated. In addition, the heel and its contact surface allow a slight tensioning of the skin of the area to be depilated due to the friction and the slight traction induced by the heel and its contact surface during the displacement of the head. hair removal against the skin of the area to be depilated. It should be noted that the rotation, along an axis parallel to and coincident with the axis of rotation of the hair removal roller, the movable flap and the heel it carries keeps contact with the skin of the area to be epilated when slight variations in the orientation of the casing with respect to the skin of the zone to be dehaired, induced by the user. Thus, the heel and its contact surface are always parallel to the skin of the area to be depilated so that the slight tension of the latter is still maintained despite the slight variations in orientation of the housing.

The massaging element is integrated with the hair removal roller in the same bi-treatment block via the movable flap. This also allows tensioning of the skin so that it can pinch the hair without increasing the sensation of pain. Indeed, thanks to the movable flap, the massaging element is always maintained at a bearing position on the skin despite variations in orientation of the bi-treatment block for a massage with optimal anti-pain effect.

In addition, the depilating cylinder comprises means for defining the angular sectors and the movable flap is secured to said means for defining the angular sectors so as to ensure a modification of the position of the angular sectors relative to the bi-treatment block according to the orientation of the mobile component. Thus, the sequence of opening and closing clamps is always optimal despite variations in the inclination of the housing relative to the skin of the area to be dehaired.

According to the invention, the apparatus comprises a rotary cam about a secondary axis parallel to the epilation axis, the cam being mounted on a rod and intended to drive said massaging element. It is a grooved cam for the purpose of transforming a rotational movement into a translational movement of the massaging element. It simplifies significantly the construction of both the accessory and the device without increasing the size of the case, while obtaining a more compact device, with a greatly increased speed, easy to implement, effective in term training and an extended life.

In a first variant, said rod is integral with the movable flap. Thus, the cam is integrated in the dual-processing block and disassembles with the latter simultaneously, which allows a saving of space of the device.

Advantageously, the cam comprises at one of its ends a cam gear, the cam is intended to be driven by the depilating cylinder by means of a translation gear train.

One could have imagined a cam gear contacting directly with the drive pinion of the depilating roller to be driven by it, which reduces the size of the block bi-treatment. However, a structure is preferred in which said translational gear train comprises said cam gear, the drive gear and at least one gear wheel between the two for reasons of safety and adjustment. With this intermediate gear, it becomes possible to further increase the oscillation speed of the massaging element. The addition of the sprocket has a safety benefit in that a collision occurs between the sprocket teeth and the frame when the sprocket is too close to the roller.

Preferably, the cam comprises a groove formed to allow rotation of the cam in two opposite directions. This makes it possible to double the oscillation speed of the massaging element and to ensure safety for the user. Because the cam can rotate in the opposite direction to the operation of the device, the user will be able to handle in case of trapping of hair to clean the block bi-treatment. The cam path is defined such that during rotation of said cam, it enables the oscillation speed of the massaging element to be doubled and to ensure safety for the user.

In a second variant, the rod is secured to the housing. Thus, the cam is integrated in the housing of the apparatus.

In this second variant, the bi-processing block comprises at least one actuating arm of the massaging element perpendicular to the axis Δ intended to be driven by the motor by means of a mechanical transmission.

Advantageously, said mechanical transmission comprises at least said cam gear, a motor gear and a vibrating element intended to be oscillated by the cam, said vibrating element comprising a housing for receiving said actuating arm and guiding it in translation in a direction parallel to the hair removal axis. According to this embodiment, the massaging element is connected to an actuating arm which has a certain degree of freedom in a housing of the vibrating element and which is driven by the latter for a back and forth movement. The vibrating element having a T shape moves in the groove of the cam to ensure the translational movement. The massaging element can therefore follow the movement of the movable flap by sizing the housing of the vibrating element.

Alternatively, the massaging member is a bar having a substantially planar skin contacting surface. One can imagine a surface having a relatively high roughness so that it produces a rubbing massage effect or an exfoliating effect during hair removal. We can also afford to use a smooth surface but with a coefficient of friction variable according to the need of the user to draw more or less the epidermal layer of the skin for a gentle massage.

According to another alternative, the massaging element is a bar having a skin contacting surface comprising protuberances. For example massage nubs or half spheres protruding from the plane of the contact surface with the skin of the bar being able to penetrate the skin, each pin / half sphere constituting in fact an anchoring point which causes the skin on the move to increase the effect of massage into deeper layers of the skin.

Preferably, the bar is ZAMAK which has a low coefficient of friction property. Zamak is an alloy of zinc, aluminum and magnesium and sometimes copper. Its name is an acronym for the German names of the metals that compose it: Zink (zinc), Aluminum, Magnesium (magnesium) and Kupfer (copper).

It should be noted that the material chosen for the bar is a material hard enough not to adhere to the skin and drag it during the friction exerted on the latter by the bar moving. Such a material may be alternatively, 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 addition, one can also consider a body care device that includes at least one massage head mounted interchangeably on the housing. Because the bi-treatment block is held on the housing by a reversible attachment means, it is detachable and interchangeable with other care accessories. We can imagine accessories such as a massage head, a shaving head, or a mower head, etc.

Finally, the apparatus may comprise an airflow system having a fan driven by an electric motor to create an air flow between an inlet opening of the housing and an outlet opening of the housing as defined in the patent. EP1884174 of the Applicant, cited here for reference. This helps bring a feeling of freshness to relieve heated skin due to hair removal and increase the effectiveness of painkiller. A single motor can be used for the airflow system as well as for hair removal in order to save cost and compactness.

• La Figure 1 est une vue en perspective de l'ensemble de l'appareil de soin corporel;
• La Figure 2 est une vue en perspective de la construction intérieure du bloc bi-traitement ainsi que son train d'engrenage selon la première variante de l'invention;
• La Figure 3 est une vue éclatée de l'élément massant avec son entrainement selon la première variante;
• La Figure 4 est une vue en perspective de l'intérieur de l'appareil selon la deuxième variante ;
• La Figure 5 est une vue en perspective de la transmission mécanique de l'élément massant illustré en figure 4.
• La Figure 6 est une vue en perspective de l'enchainement de l'élément massant, l'élément vibrant et la came illustrés en figure 4;
• La Figure 7 est une vue de coupe schématique du boitier de l'appareil ;
• La Figure 8 est une vue de coupe schématique du boitier de l'appareil avec le bloc bi-traitement monté ;
• La Figure 9 est une vue en perspective de l'appareil avec la tête de massage montée sur le boitier ;
• La Figure 10 est une vue de coupe schématique du boitier de l'appareil avec la tête de massage montée sur le boitier.
• La Figure 11 est une vue en perspective de l'ensemble de l'appareil comprenant un système de flux d'air.

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:

• The Figure 1 is a perspective view of the entire body care apparatus;
• The Figure 2 is a perspective view of the inner construction of the bi-processing block and its gear train according to the first variant of the invention;
• The Figure 3 is an exploded view of the massaging element with its training according to the first variant;
• The Figure 4 is a perspective view of the interior of the apparatus according to the second variant;
• The Figure 5 is a perspective view of the mechanical transmission of the massaging element illustrated in FIG. figure 4 .
• The Figure 6 is a perspective view of the sequence of the massaging element, the vibrating element and the cam illustrated in FIG. figure 4 ;
• The Figure 7 is a schematic sectional view of the case of the apparatus;
• The Figure 8 is a schematic sectional view of the device housing with the bi-processing block mounted;
• The Figure 9 is a perspective view of the device with the massage head mounted on the housing;
• The Figure 10 is a schematic sectional view of the camera case with the massage head mounted on the case.
• The Figure 11 is a perspective view of the entire apparatus including an airflow system.

A body care appliance as illustrated in the Figure 1 and designated as a whole by the reference 1 comprises a housing 2 defining a gripping area and being equipped with a control button 6 for starting or stopping the apparatus. The housing 2 has a hollow shape in which is arranged an electric motor 3 as visible in the Figure 2 which drives a gear train 22 which transmits the rotational movement of a motor gear 33 to a gear wheel 221 by means of a gear intermediary 223. According to the variants illustrated in Figure 2 and the Figure 4 , the transmission wheel 221 comes into direct contact with a drive pinion 42 of an epilation cylinder 4.

Such a depilating cylinder 4 comprises several tearing modules consisting of clamps or rotating discs for exerting a rapid closure for pinching the bristles. The hair removal cylinder 4 is rotatable relative to a hair removal axis Δ parallel to the plane of the skin to be depilated and is rotated by the drive pinion 42. The hair removal cylinder comprises means for defining the sectors angular 41, for example, formed by one or more cams associated with cam paths adapted so that the clamps are open when they begin to flush at a window epilation 92 and close while they out flush again and well before exiting the hair removal window 92.

Always at the Figure 1 , the apparatus provided with the depilating cylinder 4 comprises in the vicinity thereof a massing element 7 in the form of a bar designed to oscillate at a high frequency in a direction parallel to the epilation axis Δ. Such a movement of the bar is intended to accompany the mechanical depilation causing pain due to tearing of the hair and provide an anesthetic effect that can "scramble" the sensation of pain. In order to combine the two functions: hair removal and massage, so that they are performed simultaneously and harmonized, the depilating cylinder 4 and the massaging element 7 are integrated in the same bi-treatment block designated by the reference 8 .

The bi-processing block 8 comprises a base 82 integral with a cover 83 which receives the depilating cylinder 4; the massaging element 7 and their drive mechanism. The base 82 comprises in the lower part of the hooks 25 coming automatically, under the pressure of a spring, in engagement with locking means 222 located in the upper part of the housing 2. An unlocking button 24 is provided on one side of the housing 2 by means of which the locking means 222 are pushed to release the hooks 25 and remove the bi-processing block 8. With the reversible locking system, the entire bi-treatment block comprising the depilating cylinder 4 and the massaging element 7 is Removable housing 2 and interchangeable with other processing accessories.

Before presenting the different modes of actuation of the bar, it should first be understood that it would be preferable to bring tangential movement in a closed and intimate manner to the skin regardless of the angular positioning of the housing 2 of the bar. 'device relative to the work plan which will maximize the oscillation of the bar and increase the effectiveness of the pain-killing effect.

For this purpose, the bar is incorporated in a movable flap 9 which is itself housed in the cover 83 of the block. Indeed, as has been said above, the hair removal cylinder 4 is flush with the epilation window 92 provided in the body of the bi-treatment block. According to the illustrated example, the epilation window 92 is defined by, on the one hand, two longitudinal edges 91 and 94 parallel to each other and to the epilation axis Δ and, on the other hand, two transverse edges which are parallel to each other and have an arcuate shape being contained in planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation Δ. One of the longitudinal edges, here the lower edge 94, is fixed being formed by an edge of the cover 83. According to the invention, the other longitudinal edge is movable by being formed by the movable flap 9 in rotation around the hair removal axis Δ. This movable longitudinal edge is designated by the reference 91. The movable flap 9 comprises a bearing heel 93 which extends in the extension of the movable longitudinal edge 91 opposite the epilation window 92. The heel then defines a contact surface with the skin of the area to be depilated. In order to guarantee that the bristles of the area to be treated can be removed as efficiently as possible regardless of the inclination of the casing 2 with respect to the skin, the movable flap 9 is preferably secured to the means for defining the angular sectors 41. Thus, the means for defining the angular sectors 41 are rotatable about the depilation axis Δ and follow the variations of the inclination of the housing 2 relative to the skin of the area to be dehaired. The movable flap 9 further comprises a massage window 95 giving access to the massaging element 7. The latter comprises a circular groove 73 forming with protruding lines of the massage window 95 a slide connection, which ensures the movement back and forth of the bar in a plane parallel to that of the shutter mobile 9. Thus, the bar follows the movement of the movable flap 9 regardless of the inclination of the device and ensures an optimal massage effect. Note that, under the frictional force between the movable flap 9 and the drive pinion 42 of the depilating cylinder 4, the movable flap 9 and the barrette painter will always be required to solicit the skin and thus kept in contact intimate with the skin.

We will now explain in detail the training of the massaging element 7. In a first embodiment as illustrated in FIG. Figure 2 , the bar is driven directly by a cam 5. In operation, the transmission wheel 221 transmits the rotational movement to the cam 5 by means of a translational gear train 81 comprising, in order, a cam gear 52, a the gear wheel 60 and the drive gear 42 of the depilating cylinder 4. When the apparatus is started, the drive pinion 42 is rotated by the transmission wheel 221 and drives, at the same time, the speed gear 60. The speed gear 60 being an intermediate gear transmits the movement to the cam gear 52 whose transmitted speed is greater than that of the drive gear 42 because the speed gear 60 has a larger diameter. small as the drive pinion 42. The cam 5 being mounted coaxially with the cam gear 52 on a rod 53 secured to the movable flap 9 is rotated about a secondary axis Δ 'parallel to the axis d Δ hair removal.

In order to be able to transmit the rotational movement of the cam 5 in a translational movement of the massaging element 7, the cam 5 has a groove 51 into which a cylinder 71 projecting from the massaging element 7 is inserted. cylinder 71 being guided by the ramp of the groove 51 to bring the bar to a movement back and forth. The advantage of such a drive system is to be able to modulate the speed of the cam 5 so that it is adapted to the frequency of friction of the bar on the skin. The sprockets forming part of the translation gear train 81 have diameters and numbers of teeth at a certain ratio, which makes it possible to amplify or reduce the output speed of the housing by modifying these parameters.

In a variant of this first embodiment that is not illustrated, it is possible to eliminate the speed gear 60 while putting the cam gear 52 in direct contact with the drive gear 42. In this case, it is possible to gain in terms of space of the bi-treatment block. However, this variant is not preferable since a collision occurs between the teeth of the drive gear 42 and the movable flap 9 when the cam gear 52 is too close to the depilating roller 4.

In order to further improve the use of the apparatus, the cam 5 is preferably a double cam having a groove for moving the bar in one direction or the other. This has the advantage of being able to double the frequency of vibration of the bar and also to ensure the safety and efficiency of the device. When the hair removal cylinder is in contact with the skin, there may be a wedging of bristles between the cylinder and the movable flap, the double cam allows to manually turn the hair removal cylinder in the opposite direction to that Operation for troubleshooting or cleaning.

In a second embodiment of the invention as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 , the cam 5 is rotated by the gear train 22 forming part of the assembly of a mechanical transmission 23 located inside the housing 2. In operation, the cam 5 is driven by the cam gear 52 which itself is set in motion by one of the pinions of the gear train 22, for example, the transmission wheel 221. A vibrating element 61 forming part of the mechanical transmission 23 connects the cam 5 and the element massaging 7 in order to transmit the movement of the cam 5 remaining in the housing 2 to the removable massaging element 7 of the housing 2 and separable from the cam 5. For this, and as illustrated in FIG. Figure 6 , the vibrating element 61 is a cross-shaped piece comprising a horizontal branch 63 mounted on a horizontal rod 64 for ensuring the translational guidance of the vibrating element 61 and a hollow branch 65 having a housing 62 in which comes insert the object to be activated. The horizontal branch 63 comprises a protruding guide pin 74 which is inserted into the groove 51 of the cam 5 to be guided in translation by the ramps of the groove 51 and follow the movement of the cam 5.

According to this embodiment, the bar comprises an actuating arm 72 in the form of two metal rods intended to fit into the housing 62 and to be guided by the walls of the housing 62. Knowing that the housing 62 can be opening all keeping the same degree of freedom for the movement of the actuating arm. With such a construction of the apparatus, the vibration frequency of the bar is controlled and optimized and the cam gear 52 can be rotated at a speed greater than that of the transmission wheel 221.

One can also, of course, use the double cam presented in the first embodiment in order to obtain a higher frequency.

The fact of having a removable bi-treatment block 8 integrating the hair removal cylinder 4 and the massaging element 7 makes the device more compact and multifunctional by putting other accessories interchangeable with the bi-treatment block requiring a motorized movement. As an indication and not limitation, the housing 2 of the apparatus is adapted to receive a massage head as shown in FIG. Figure 9 .

It would also be possible to combine the depilatory depilation with other skin treatments, so that the epilation takes place between two separate pain actions in series. As an example shown in Figure 11 , the device comprises on the opposite side of the bar an air outlet which blows fresh air to the skin depilated. The system comprises a propeller driven by an electric motor to create an air flow between an inlet opening of the housing 87 and an outlet opening of the casing 86 as defined in the patent EP1884174 of the Applicant, cited here for reference. This helps bring a feeling of freshness to relieve heated skin during hair removal and increase the effectiveness of painkillers.

Of course, other modifications may be made to the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (15)

1. Appliance (1) for body care comprising

   - a case (2) which encloses an electric motor (3) and a gear train (22) driven by said motor (3),

   - a depilatory cylinder (4) rotating about a depilatory axis (Δ) parallel to the plane of the skin to be treated, said depilatory cylinder (4) comprising at one of its ends a drive pinion (42) intended to be driven by said gear train (22),

   - a massaging element (7) intended to be in contact with the skin and to be driven in a translation oscillating motorised movement in a direction parallel to the depilatory axis (Δ),

   Characterised in that it comprises a two-treatment unit (8) integrating said massaging element (7) and said depilatory cylinder (4) and in that said two-treatment unit (8) is mounted interchangeably on the case (2) of the appliance, and in that said two-treatment unit (8) comprises a mobile flap (9) in rotation of said depilatory axis (Δ) which defines at least one mobile longitudinal edge (91) of a depilatory window (92) and which comprises a support bracket (93) on the depilatory zone extending in the extension of the mobile longitudinal edge (91) opposite the depilatory window (92), and in that the massaging element (7) is mounted opposite the mobile longitudinal edge (91) of the support bracket and that there is a slide link in relation to the mobile flap (9) in a direction parallel to said depilatory axis (Δ)
2. Appliance according to claim 1, characterised in that the depilatory cylinder comprises means for defining angular segments (41) and that the mobile flap (9) is integral with said means for defining angular segments (41) in such a way as to provide a modification of the position of the angular segments in relation to the two-treatment unit (8) according to the orientation of the mobile flap (9).
3. Appliance according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises a cam (5) rotating about a secondary axis (Δ') parallel to the depilatory axis (Δ), with the cam (5) being mounted on a rod (53) and intended to drive said massaging element (7).
4. Appliance according to the preceding claim, characterised in that said rod (53) is integral with the mobile flap (9).
5. Appliance according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the cam (5) comprises at one of its ends a cam pinion (52) and that the cam (5) is intended to be driven by the depilatory cylinder (4) by means of a translation gear train (81).
6. Appliance according to the preceding claim, characterised in that said translation gear train (81) comprises said cam pinion (52), the drive pinion (42) and at least one speed pinion (60) between the two.
7. Appliance according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that the cam comprises a groove (51) formed in order to allow for a rotation of the cam (5) in the two opposite directions.
8. Appliance according to claim 3, characterised in that the rod (53) is integral with the case (2).
9. Appliance according to claim 8, characterised in that said two-treatment unit (8) comprises at least one actuating arm (72) of the massaging element (7) perpendicular to the depilatory axis (Δ) intended to be driven by the motor (3) by means of a mechanical transmission (23).
10. Appliance according to the preceding claim, characterised in that said mechanical transmission (23) comprises at least said cam pinion (52), a motor pinion (33) and a vibrating element (61) intended to be oscillated by the cam (5), said vibrating element (61) comprising a housing (62) intended to receive said actuating arm (72) and to guide it in translation in a direction parallel to the depilatory axis (Δ).
11. Appliance according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the massaging element (7) is a barrette having a substantially planar contact surface with the skin.
12. Appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the massaging element (7) is a barrette having a contact surface with the skin comprising protuberances.
13. Appliance according to claim 11 or 12, characterised in that the barrette is made of ZAMAK material.
14. Appliance according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises at least one massaging head (88) mounted interchangeably on the case (2).
15. Appliance according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises an air flow system.

Images