JP2002078990A - Hair removal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hair removable device with a plurality of micro-blades, and a manufacturing method therefor. SOLUTION: The hair removal device is provided with the plural micro-blades 10, and the manufacturing method therefor includes, for example, microelectronic manufacturing techniques. A preferred 'blade' 14 has at least one cutting edge with a radius of curvature not greater than about 1,000 Å, preferably not greater than about 500 Å. An alternative embodiment of the present invention comprises a relatively great number of abrasion elements for hair removal. In addition to the blades and/or the abrasion elements, a shaving device of this invention is provided with a skin flow control element, which controls the flow of hair across the shaving device and thereby controls the angle at which the blade edges or the abrasion elements contact the hair.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus used for shaving, and more particularly to a hair removing apparatus having a plurality of micro blades and a method of manufacturing the hair removing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Complete removal of hair by a shaving device requires that the blade meet the hair to be shaved. In order to increase the likelihood of such razor blades and bristles meeting, previous techniques include devices that conform to the body contour and / or have multiple cutting surfaces.

For example, US Pat. No. 5,205,040 discloses a shaving cloth which fixes a plurality of individual cutting heads whose cutting heads and their corresponding cutting edges are oriented in random directions. For this purpose, a cloth-like flexible material is used. In use, the flexible material that secures the individual cutting head follows the contours of the body surface.

US Pat. No. 5,088,195 shows a blade member with a plurality of cutting surfaces. The blade member is a metal film that has been deformed to form an opening that extends over the shaving surface. These openings are then sharpened,
A metal film having a plurality of sharp openings is formed. One or more of these sharp openings, when engaged with the skin, contact one or more hairs and cut them.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Various embodiments of the present invention include a hair removal device having a plurality of microblades and methods of making them, including, for example, microelectronic manufacturing techniques. Embodiments of the present invention preferably have multiple "blades" that can shave. As used herein, the term "blade" is not limited to strips of metal, such as stainless steel, having a sharp cutting edge formed by grinding or honing, but after being preformed,
Includes metals, non-metals, ceramics, semiconductors and polymer materials that are sharpened or originally formed to a thickness suitable for cutting hair. The microblade can be formed from multiple layers having an accumulated thickness suitable for cutting hair, where one or more layers have a thickness suitable for shaving the hair. Is removed leaving a rigid or semi-rigid cutting edge having The "blade" of the present invention has at least one cutting edge, which has a radius of curvature of about 1
It is less than 000 Angstroms, preferably less than 500 Angstroms, and more preferably less than about 250 Angstroms. Other embodiments of the present invention include a relatively large number of abrasion members for shaving. In addition to blades and / or abrasion members,
The shaving device of the present invention has a skin flow control member, which does not cut hair, but controls the flow of body hair through the shaving device, and the angle at which the cutting edge or abrasion member contacts the hair. Control.

[0006] Another aspect of the invention includes a blade having a cutting depth that is even smaller than known shaving devices.
As used herein, the term "cutting depth" is used to indicate the portion of the cutting edge that can move through the hair without interruption. Since the bristles typically have a diameter of about 75 microns, the cutting depth of known shaving members is greater than 75 microns so that the cutting edge can cut the bristles completely in a single stroke. According to some embodiments of the invention, the cutting depth of the one or more blades is about 75 microns or less.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a shaving device is formed on a rigid or flexible substrate, such as a photolithography, wet chemical etching, milling process. Include dry etching, reactive ion etching, electron cyclotron resonance etching, or sputtering, and deposition techniques such as chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, microwave or radio frequency deposition techniques, or a combination thereof. These fabrication techniques are described in further detail below. The reason for using a relatively large number of blades is to improve the efficiency of the shaving process by cutting more bristles many times in each stroke. In the present invention, each hair is cut not in one stroke but in a plurality of strokes, and the tip of the cut hair is not straight but sharp but rounded.

[0008] Another aspect of the invention uses at least one, and preferably multiple, abrasion members, alone or in combination with a microblade or skin flow control member.
The term "ablation member" as used in this specification
Means a member that does not cut the hair depending on its operation, but uses the friction generated by rubbing the hair to erode and break the hair fibers.

In addition, blades and abrasion members manufactured using microelectronic manufacturing techniques are sharper than blades manufactured using standard grinding techniques, thus requiring the effort required to cut each hair. Minimize. Furthermore, because the preferred blades of the present invention are very small compared to known razors, the disclosed device facilitates shaving in hard-to-reach places while minimizing discomfort.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the blade can be mounted on a blade support at a distance from the substrate and can have one or more circular or straight cutting edges.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention include a new shaving device and a manufacturing method for manufacturing a shaving device. One aspect of the present invention is to use a relatively large number of microblades. As used herein, the term "microblade" refers to at least one having a radius of curvature of less than about 1000 Angstroms, preferably less than about 500 Angstroms, more preferably less than 250 Angstroms, or less than about 1000 microns. It is used to mean a blade with two cutting edges. As will be described in more detail below, the hair removal device of the present invention can have hundreds of blades having one or more oriented cutting edges.

One aspect of the present invention involves the use of a microblade, preferably a multiplicity of microblades, alone or in combination with other skin engaging and / or abrasion members. 1 and 2 are a side view and a plan view of a micro blade having a blade support member 12, a blade edge 15, and a blade edge support member 16, respectively. The various drawings shown here only show the parts of the shaving apparatus and do not show the entire shaving apparatus of the present invention. The blades 14 and cutting edges 15 shown in this figure are extremely thin and can therefore cut hair when pulled in any direction across the skin. The bottom of the blade support 12 is most preferably formed from a substrate indicated by phantom lines, which are most inflexible. The blade support 12 is about 10 to raise the blade from the substrate by at least about 10 microns.
Preferably, it has a height of from microns to about 1000 microns. The cutting edge 15 of the blade 14 has a radius of curvature of less than about 1000 Å, preferably less than 500 Å, more preferably less than about 250 Å, and more preferably less than about 100 Å. A most preferred embodiment of the present invention has a cutting edge having a radius of curvature of about 50 angstroms or less. A preferred microblade of the present invention is about 500
It has a sharper radius of curvature than conventional stainless steel blades that have been sharpened by honing to Angstroms.

The micro-blade shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a cutting depth D which is considerably smaller than the cutting depth of a conventional blade. The cutting depth of some micro blades of the present invention is
About 1000 microns or less, more preferably about 500
It is less than or equal to microns, more preferably less than or equal to about 250 microns, and more preferably less than or equal to about 100 microns.
More preferably, it is 75 microns or less, and most preferred embodiments are 50 microns or less. While other embodiments shown have cutting depths of about 1000 microns or less, an advantage of the present invention is that larger cutting depths can be achieved. Using these relatively small cutting depths is one aspect of the present invention and is not required in all embodiments.

The shape of the micro blade shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is circular. The microblades of the present invention are not limited to a particular shape, for example, having a curved or straight surface. For example, the present invention can be implemented using microblades having a hexagon, triangle, rectangle, or other shape as desired.

The structures shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are arranged in various patterns, but are not limited to the patterns shown in FIGS. Preferably, the microblade structures are simultaneously formed using standard microelectronic manufacturing methods. One possible sequence of steps to form such a structure is to use a polyimide, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) alone having a thickness of about 0.05 mm to 2 mm, preferably 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm. Start by manufacturing a substrate made from or a combination thereof. A thin film of tungsten, tantalum nitride, boron nitride, diamond, or other desired material is deposited on the substrate. The desired film thickness depends on the strength of the blade material, with the buckling force of the blade film exceeding the maximum force required to cut the hair. Thickness meets this criterion, 1000
Materials that are less than or equal to Angstroms are most desirable. Methods of depositing blade material include one or more of the standard deposition techniques in the manufacture of microelectronics and integrated circuits, including chemical vapor deposition, plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition, electron cyclotron resonant deposition, sputter deposition, and radio frequency assisted deposition techniques. Including
You are not limited to that. One or more support materials, such as chromium, aluminum, tungsten or other desired support materials, can also be deposited on top of the blade material to improve structural stability and durability. To form this structure, a film deposit having a substrate and a deposited film is patterned using photolithography, and the deposited film as well as the substrate are selected by one or more etching techniques. Etched. Etching techniques used in the present invention include, but are not limited to, sputtering, reactive ion etching, and electron cyclotron resonance etching and wet chemical etching.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show a micro blade unit of the present invention. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but the support member 16 shown in FIG.
Was omitted and the cutting edge was formed by etching the thick film leaving the sloping cutting edge 55. The etching of the cutting edge is achieved using a wet or dry etching technique. In this embodiment, no support member is required because the blade member 54 has a total thickness where the material strength of the blade member 54 exceeds the force required to cut the hair.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show another embodiment of the micro blade unit 20 of the present invention in which an opening is provided inside the sharp blade edge 25 of the blade 24. FIG. These micro blades have a base 22 formed on a substrate 21 by a film deposition technique. These micro blade units 20
Cuts only the body hair that has entered the opening formed by the cutting edge 25 of the circular blade.

Although the shape of the microstructure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is circular, it is only one of many shapes that will occur to those skilled in the art. Microstructure shapes include, but are not limited to, hexagons, triangles, rectangles, or other geometric shapes. Multiple structures as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are formed simultaneously using standard microelectronic fabrication techniques and
36 and the pattern shown in FIG. 36, but is not limited thereto. One possible series of steps for forming such a structure is about 0.05 mm to 2 m.
m, preferably a polyimide, polyetheretherketone (P
EEK), starting with other flexible materials or combinations thereof. Next, the substrate is patterned with photoresist,
For example, a hollow cylindrical blade support structure disposed on the substrate in a desired pattern is formed. The height of the support structure of the cylindrical blade is about 10 to 1000 microns, preferably greater than 100 microns. One or more films are deposited on the substrate and cover the photoresist structure. The deposited film consists of tungsten, tantalum nitride, boron nitride, diamond, or any other desired blade material. The desired film thickness is from about 1 micron to 5 microns, preferably about 2 microns.
In the range of microns to 4 microns. Photolithographic techniques are used to form the cutting edge 25 by exposing a metal film at the center of each cylindrical structure. The blade is formed by either a dry or wet etching technique. Once the cutting edge 25 has been formed, the photoresist forming the cylindrical structure is removed using a suitable wet or dry etching technique, and FIGS.
The blade structure shown in FIG.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a linear microblade according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a blade 30 having a cutting edge 35 extending from the substrate, shown in phantom at a predetermined angle.
FIG. FIG. 6 shows the cutting edge 35 of this straight blade. The blades of this embodiment of the invention are oriented in the same or different direction as they extend upward at an angle to the substrate.

The plurality of structures shown in FIG. 5 and FIG.
And are arranged in a pattern that is formed simultaneously using standard microelectronic fabrication techniques as shown in FIG. 30, but is not so limited. One possible series of steps for forming such a structure is about 0.05 mm to 2 mm,
Preferably, polyimide, polyetheretherketone (PEE) having a thickness in the range of about 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm.
K), starting with another flexible material or a combination thereof. The substrate has one or more films deposited on the substrate. The deposited film consists of tungsten, tantalum nitride, boron nitride, diamond, or any other desired blade material. The desired film thickness is in the range of about 10 microns to 1000 microns, preferably about 100 microns to 300 microns. To form this structure, a film stack consisting of the substrate and the deposited film is patterned using photolithography. The deposited film as well as the substrate are selectively etched by a substrate tilted with respect to the etching technique, and the etching techniques used in the present invention include, but are not limited to, sputtering, reactive ion etching, and electron cyclotron resonance etching. Not done.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show one embodiment of the quadrangular pyramid-shaped abrasion member of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 45 is a plan view showing two triangular side surfaces 41-44. The abrasion member and other abrasion members of the present invention are as described above to scrape hair, leave abraded body hair edges, form blades to create a smooth feel, and perform a function similar to sandpaper. Desirably, it is formed from a rigid material. The abrasion material of the present invention comprises:
Different shapes can be taken as shown in FIGS.

A plurality of structures, such as those shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and FIGS. 39-42, are formed simultaneously in a predetermined pattern using standard microelectronics fabrication techniques. One possible series of steps for forming such a structure is about 0.05
Starting with a substrate made of polyimide, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) with a thickness in the range of from about 2 mm to about 2 mm, preferably from about 0.1 mm to about 0.5 mm. One or more films are deposited on the substrate. The deposited film comprises tungsten, tantalum nitride, boron nitride, diamond, or other desired abrasion material. The desired film thickness is in the range of about 2 microns to 55 microns, preferably about 20 microns to 30 microns. To form this structure, a film stack consisting of the substrate and the deposited film is patterned using photolithographic techniques. The deposited film is etched with a selected technique, which includes, but is not limited to, ion grinding, sputtering, reactive ion etching, and electron cyclotron resonance etching. While abrasion members exhibiting a sharp point at the top of the structure are preferred, current microelectronic fabrication techniques known to the inventor cannot form such structures. Also, by not providing a sharp point at the apex of the abrasion structure, the advantage of limiting the possibility of rubbing the skin can be obtained.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show another embodiment of the present invention in which the cutting edge of a micro blade unit similar to that shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 9 and 10 is divided into a plurality of portions. FIGS. 11 and 12 show a star-shaped blade having eight tips when viewed from above, having a different number of divided parts by blade structure without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be. Although the illustrated embodiment shows a straight-shaped sharp cutting edge, the cutting edge may have a plurality of curved, fan-shaped or saw-tooth shapes.

FIGS. 13 to 16 show two other cutting edges of the present invention having two circular cutting edges, a first formed on the inside and a second two formed on the outside. 1 shows an embodiment. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 has thin film cutting edges 75 and 76 supported by a donut-shaped blade support 72. The upper blade support 77 assists in holding the blade on the blade support 72. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 has an outer cutting edge 85 and an inner cutting edge 86 that are etched. The micro-blade unit with these double cutting edges advantageously performs a cutting operation in any direction across the shaved skin surface. Although not shown, these cutting edges are serrated,
It can be shaped into a sector or other shape.

Two other embodiments of the present invention are shown in FIGS. These embodiments have a cutting edge only on the inside. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 has a single thin film cutting edge 96 positioned inside the blade.
The embodiment shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 has an etched inner cutting edge 106. Although not shown, these cutting edges can be formed in a saw-tooth, sector or other shape.

The microblades, abrasion members and / or non-cutting, non-abrasion skin engaging members of the present invention can be placed on the substrate at any desired location. FIG.
FIGS. 1 and 22 show the flexible substrate 110 of FIGS. 1 and 2 arranged in slightly staggered rows on the flexible substrate 110.
1 illustrates a micro blade of the type shown in FIG. The blade units are spaced apart and the spacing between the blade units is preferably in the range of about 75 microns to 1500 microns, preferably about 200 microns to 800 microns. FIGS. 23 and 24 show a non-cutting structure 1 to guide the flow of the skin while shaving and to improve the flow of the skin.
8 is a plan view and a side view of another embodiment of the present invention in which the blade unit is surrounded by 8. FIG.

As mentioned above, placing one or more skin-engaging members not designed to rub or cut hair around or between the microblades or abrasion members of the present invention. Can be. These skin engaging members provide a function similar to a conventional guard bar to dilate the skin and optimize the flow of skin and hair toward one or more cutting edges. In addition, they limit the flexible blade from collapsing toward other skin engaging members, improve hair capture of sharp edges and / or provide a desirable tactile sensation when removing hair. be able to.

FIGS. 25 and 26 are plan and side views of an embodiment of the present invention having a truncated skin engaging member disposed to form a row between the microblade units 10. is there. The skin engaging member of the present invention is preferably formed from an elastic material as described above that can be used to form a flexible substrate. The skin engaging member can be used with a microblade, with an abrasion member such as those shown in FIGS. 39-42, and with both a microblade and an abrasion member. For ease of manufacture, skin engaging member 135 is identical to blade support member 12, but does not actually include a blade. Although the embodiment illustrated here shows staggered rows of micro blade units 10 and skin engaging members 135, the array of blades and skin engaging members can be arranged in a zigzag, forming rows. No need.

FIGS. 27 and 28 show an embodiment of the invention similar to that shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, but with a cutting edge 1 for each blade.
45 has a sawtooth shape instead of a straight line. FIG. 29 and FIG.
0 is the cutting edge 3 of one embodiment of the present invention on the substrate 150
5 shows a method of arranging a plurality of linear micro blades 30 provided with the micro blades 5. In this embodiment, the direction of the cutting edge is aligned in a single direction and faces it. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 31 and 32, the cutting edges have one set of blades facing in one direction and another set of blades facing the other intersecting.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 33 and 34 shows blades arranged to face alternately in different directions. From this detailed description, those skilled in the art will be able to tilt in one, two or more directions to provide a shaving operation in multiple directions.

FIG. 37 and FIG. 38 are a plan view and a sectional view of another embodiment of the micro blade of the present invention. These illustrated microblades have a microblade support 185 mounted on a substrate 180 and having a microblade tip 186 and a blade upper support 188 disposed thereon. Blade upper support 18
8 is configured to firmly support the micro cutting edge 186. During the deposition of the upper blade support 188, some portion of the upper blade support material 189 enters the inner portion of the blade support if that area is not covered during the deposition of the upper blade support material. According to this and other embodiments of the present invention, the blade upper support material 188 is used to control skin flow to some extent, if desired.

The various embodiments of the present invention are preferably formed by known manufacturing techniques in the area of microelectronics, such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. These manufacturing techniques can provide sharper cutting edges than blades manufactured using standard grinding and honing techniques. It is believed that these blades minimize the effort required to cut each hair.

Such techniques include photolithographic techniques for pattern formation, dry plasma and wet chemical etching for material removal and plasma deposition for material deposition. The substrate of the present invention can be in the form of a napkin or formed as a razor head with a permanent handle or a disposable handle. As used herein, the meaning of the term "razor head" includes a cartridge connected to a separate razor and a razor blade portion of a disposable razor in which the handle and the razor blade portion are integrally formed. The substrate of the present invention has flexibility or rigidity. The technique of the present invention is used to provide multiple blades, abrasion members and skin engaging members. For example, according to the present invention, the hair removal device comprises at least one
0, 100, 200, 500, or at least 100
It can have zero blades.

[0034] Certain types of substrates include polyimide. The blades can be arranged randomly, staggered, in an ordered matrix, or in any other desired configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a blade of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the blade shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a second blade of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a second blade of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the straight blade of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the straight blade of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the abrasion member of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the abrasion member of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view of another blade and support of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of another blade and support of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a side view of another blade of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of another blade of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a plan view of another embodiment of the blade of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention showing a plurality of members similar to the blade shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 22 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a side view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a side view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a plan view of one embodiment of the saw blade of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a saw blade of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a side view showing another embodiment of the present invention showing a configuration of a plurality of members similar to FIG. 28 with or without a serrated blade.

FIG. 30 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention showing the configuration of a plurality of members similar to FIG. 28 with or without a serrated blade.

FIG. 31 is a side view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a side view showing the configuration of another blade of the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a plan view showing a configuration of another blade of the present invention.

FIG. 35 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention showing the configuration of a plurality of members similar to those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 36 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention showing the configuration of a plurality of members similar to those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 37 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 38 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 39 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the abrasion member of the present invention.

FIG. 40 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the abrasion member of the present invention.

FIG. 41 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the abrasion member of the present invention.

FIG. 42 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the abrasion member of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 micro blade unit 12 blade support member 14, 24, 30 blade 15, 35 blade edge 16 blade edge support member 20 blade unit 21 substrate 25 blade edge 72 blade support body 85 outer blade edge 86 inner blade edge

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Glenis Joan Auroff, Maple Vail Drive, Woodbridge, 06525, Connecticut, USA 11F term (reference) 3C056 BC00 BC01

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A personal hair removal device comprising: a substrate; and at least ten blades connected to the substrate, each having at least one cutting edge having a radius of curvature of about 100 Angstroms or less. 2. A personal hair removal apparatus comprising: a substrate; and at least ten blades connected to the substrate and having a cutting depth of about 1000 microns or less. 3. A personal use comprising: forming a substrate; laminating a thin film of at least one etchable material on the substrate; and etching a plurality of cutting edges on the laminated film. A method for manufacturing a hair removal device.