JP2005052556A - Electric razor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric razor having an improved structural strength of edge parts although the edge is thin and excellent in sharpness and consuming less power by providing a cutter having less friction resistance to a foil. <P>SOLUTION: The electric razor is provided with the foil 13 with an adversely U and horizontally long shape and the cutter 14 reciprocatively driven in a state where the cutter 14 internally touches with the foil 13 and having an adversely U shape. The cutter 14 has an edge range C1 where the cutter 14 shaves the beard off in cooperation with the foil 13 and a pair of bits-down discharging ranges C2 adjoining to the edge range C1. Smaller edges 32 and slits 33 in parallel rib shapes are alternately formed on the edge range C1. Support ribs 34 and bits-down discharging holes 35 are alternately formed on the bits-down discharging ranges C2. The smaller edges 32 and the support ribs 34 are alternately disposed in a horizontal direction. The smaller edges 32 is integrated with the support ribs 34 adjoining in the horizontal direction via a three-pronged base wall 36 to disperse the shearing moment working on the smaller edges 32. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric razor having a slit blade type inner blade.

  In this type of inner blade, after forming a sheet-shaped inner blade blank, the inner blade blank is press-molded to obtain a bowl-shaped inner blade, and a group of parallel ribs constitutes a slit blade type cutting blade This is known (see Patent Document 1). There, a sheet-like inner blade blank is formed by electroforming. In order to impart elasticity and flexibility to the inner blade, it is also known to provide a support wall that can be elastically deformed adjacent to the cutting blade portion (see Patent Document 2). The support wall is formed of a group of ribs that are inclined obliquely, and the cutting wall can be brought into close contact with the outer blade by the bending deformation of the support wall. Similar to the inner blade, the cutting blade is composed of a group of parallel ribs and a plurality of reinforcing ribs connecting adjacent parallel ribs.

  It is known to form a cutting blade with a group of parallel ribs in an outer blade of an electric razor (see Patent Document 3). In this case, the outer blade is formed in an inverted U shape by electroforming, and the cutting blade is formed in a slit blade shape by a group of parallel ribs orthogonal to the moving direction of the inner blade. The cutting blade made of parallel ribs is formed across the curved wall portion of the outer blade and the straight wall portion continuous to the curved wall portion, and a large shear moment is generated at the base of the cutting blade due to the large vertical dimension of the cutting blade. Easy to act.

JP 56-104688 (2nd page, Fig. 1) Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 38-9081 (first page, Fig. 4) JP 2002-143573 A (paragraph number 0023, FIG. 7)

  In the inner blade of Patent Document 1, a group of parallel ribs and oblique reinforcing ribs form a cutting blade, so that the entire inner blade is formed in a mesh blade shape, and the parallel rib and the reinforcing rib reinforce each other. The structural strength of the cutting edge can be improved. However, the inner blade configured in a mesh blade shape cannot avoid increasing the sliding contact area with the outer blade, and has a large driving resistance. In the case where the outer blade is formed of a mesh blade, the inner blade and the outer blade close each other's blade hole, which makes it difficult to capture the whiskers.

  The outer blade of Patent Document 3 formed by electroforming is thinner and sharper than a press-molded outer blade, and there is no processing distortion. The slit blade type cutting blade bent in an inverted U shape has a large opening area of the slit (blade hole), so that the whisker can be captured accurately and the cooling effect is excellent. Cutting can be done effectively. By forming the inner blade in the same manner as this outer blade, it is expected that an inner blade having the same features as the outer blade can be formed. But it is not without problems. The rib-shaped cutting blades bent in an inverted U shape are thin and the vertical dimension of each cutting blade is large. When shearing the whiskers, a large shearing moment acts on the base of the cutting blade, causing the cutting blade to deform. There is a risk.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an electric razor having an inner blade that can improve the structural strength of the cutting blade portion, and has a low frictional resistance with the outer blade and reduce power consumption, despite being thin and sharp. There is to do.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the electric razor of the present invention has a laterally long outer blade 13 that is retained in an inverted U shape, and an inverted U shape that is reciprocally driven while inscribed in the outer blade 13. And an inner blade 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the inner blade 14 includes a cutting edge region C1 that cuts the whiskers in cooperation with the outer blade 13 and a pair of fleece discharge regions C2 that are adjacent to the cutting blade region C1. The cutting blade region C1 is formed with parallel rib-shaped small blades 32 and slits 33, and the fluff discharge region C2 is formed with support ribs 34 and fluff discharge holes 35 alternately. The small blades 32 and the support ribs 34 are arranged alternately in the left-right direction. Therefore, the small blade 32 and the support rib 34 adjacent in the left-right direction are made continuous via the trifurcated base wall 36 (Claim 1).

  The width dimension b1 of the support rib 34 is set to be larger than the width dimension b2 of the blade 32 (claim 2). The small blade 32 is formed so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the reciprocating direction of the inner blade 14 (claim 3). Further, the pair of support ribs 34 opposed to each other in the front-rear direction can be formed so as to be inclined in the opposite direction with respect to the inclination direction of the blade 32 (Claim 4).

  The width dimension of the blade 32 is large on the base side as shown in FIG. 8, and can be gradually reduced toward the center of the curve (claim 5). The support ribs 34a located at both side ends of the hair dust discharge area C2 can be formed continuously at the base of the blade 32 (Claim 6).

  A cutting edge region C1 is formed in the curved wall portion of the inner blade 14 bent into an inverted U-shaped cross section, and a fleece discharge region C2 is formed in the straight wall portion (Claim 7). The inner blade 14 can be formed in an inverted U shape by applying plastic processing to a sheet-like inner blade blank 42 formed by an etching method.

  In the present invention, by arranging the small blades 32 formed in the cutting blade region C1 of the inner blade 14 and the support ribs 34 formed in the fluff discharge region C2 in a staggered manner in the left-right direction, Since the support ribs 34 adjacent to each other in the left-right direction are continuous via the trifurcated base wall 36, the shearing moment acting on the base of the blade 13 is dispersed left and right by the base wall 36, It is possible to prevent the shearing moment from concentrating on the base of the small blade 13 and improve the durability of the cutting edge portion of the inner blade 14. Therefore, according to the inner blade of the present invention, it is thinner and sharper than the conventional example, the structure strength of the cutting blade portion is improved, and the frictional resistance with the outer blade is small, so that power consumption can be reduced. Thus, an electric razor having an inner blade with excellent cutting characteristics can be obtained.

  When the width dimension b1 of the support rib 34 is set to be larger than the width dimension b2 of the blade 32, the strength of the base wall 36 is increased by the amount of the width dimension b1 of the support rib 34 while improving the sharpness of the blade 32. And a cutting edge structure that can withstand a greater shearing moment can be obtained.

  When the small blade 32 is formed in a state inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the reciprocating direction of the inner blade 14, in addition to the shearing action of the small blade 32 and the outer blade 13, cutting is performed by pulling the beard diagonally. Therefore, the beard can be cut more smoothly, and even bristles and soft hairs can be cut effectively (Claim 3).

  When the pair of support ribs 34 facing in the front-rear direction are formed so as to be inclined in the opposite direction with respect to the inclination direction of the small blade 32, the small blade 32 is formed when the inner blade blank 42 is bent in an inverted U shape. The curved wall portion of the inner blade 14 can be formed into an appropriate shape by eliminating the processing strain in the direction perpendicular to the inner surface. At the time of bending, the deformation stress generated in the small blade 32 is generated in a direction intersecting with the bending center axis of the curved wall portion, but the support ribs 34 facing front and rear are inclined in the opposite direction with respect to the inclination direction of the small blade 32. If formed in the state, the deformation stress generated in the front and rear support ribs 34 acts in a direction that cancels the deformation stress of the small blade 32, so that the inner blade 14 tends to bend and deform in the direction of the deformation stress of the small blade 32. This is because it can be wiped out.

  When the width dimension of the blade 32 is gradually reduced toward the center of the curve on the base side, the strength on the base side is improved and the shearing moment is increased while the cutting function of the blade 32 is sufficient. Can be obtained. Further, since the degree of opening of the slit 33 at the curved center portion of the small blade 32 can be increased, the whiskers can be captured effectively by that amount, and the small blade 32 is reduced by the smaller width dimension in the vicinity of the curved center of the small blade 32. Therefore, the inner blade 14 can be reliably adhered to the inner surface of the outer blade 13 (claim 5).

  If the support ribs 34a located at both ends of the fluff discharge area C2 are formed continuously at the base of the blade 32, the blades 32 and the support ribs 34a at both ends are smoothly and continuously cut. It is possible to eliminate the formation of uneven portions at the side edges of the blade region C1 and the fluff discharge region C2. If an uneven portion is formed on the side edge of the fluff discharge area C2, the portion may be caught by the outer blade 13 and either the outer blade 13 or the inner blade 14 may be damaged. It is possible to improve the durability of the inner blade 14 and the outer blade 13 by removing the damage peculiar to the above (claim 6).

  When the cutting edge region C1 is formed in the curved wall portion of the inner blade 14 bent in an inverted U-shaped cross section, and the fluff discharge region C2 is formed in the straight wall portion, the base wall 36 formed of a wall continuous in the left-right direction. Since the boundary line between the curved wall portion and the straight wall portion is formed, the inner blade 14 can always be formed in a constant bent shape. For example, compared to the case where the boundary line between the curved wall portion and the straight wall portion is formed in a state crossing the slit 33 and the fluff discharge hole 35, the inner blade 14 having no variation in the bent shape is obtained, Accordingly, the sharpness of the inner blade 14 can be stabilized (claim 7).

  According to the inner cutter 14 formed by performing plastic working on the sheet-like inner cutter blank 42 formed by the etching method, the inner cutter 14 having a thin and uniform thickness can be obtained. For example, as compared with a thin inner blade formed by a three-dimensional electroforming method, there is an advantage that processing yield does not occur and the yield of the inner blade 14 can be improved (claim 8).

  The drawings show a specific example of a reciprocating electric shaver according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the electric razor includes a main body case 1, an operation unit that is inserted and loaded in the main body case 1, a switch panel 2 that is mounted on the front surface of the main body case 1, and a non-illustrated scraper that is disposed on the rear surface of the case. It consists of a blade unit. Above and below the switch panel 2 are provided a switch knob 4 for starting the motor, an indicator lamp 5 for displaying the operation state, and the like.

  The operation unit includes a lower half electrical component unit and a razor head provided on the upper part. The electrical component unit is configured by assembling a circuit board, a secondary battery 7, a motor 8 and the like to an electrical component holder made of a plastic molded product. Switches, LEDs, electronic components, and the like are mounted on the circuit board. These electrical component units are accommodated in the main body case 1 and sealed.

  In FIG. 4, the razor head is provided with a pair of front and rear main blades 10, a center blade 11 disposed between the pair of main blades 10, and a driving mechanism for driving them. The main blade 10 includes a pair of front and rear outer blades 13 and 13 supported by the outer blade holder 12 and inner blades 14 and 14 which are inscribed in the outer blades 13 and 13 and reciprocally slide. The center blade 11 includes an outer center blade 11a and an inner center blade 11b each formed of a slit blade (see FIG. 4).

  In FIG. 5, the outer blade holder 12 is divided into an inner case 12b that supports the pair of front and rear outer blades 13 and the center blade 11, and an outer case 12a that supports the inner case 12b. In FIG. 3, a lock release button 16 that engages and captures the outer blade holder 12 and a compression coil spring 17 that presses and urges the lock release button 16 to the engagement posture are incorporated on the left and right inner surfaces of the main body case 1. ing.

  When the left and right lock release buttons 16 are pressed simultaneously, the outer blade holder 12 can be removed from the razor head. Thus, when the outer blade holder 12 is composed of the outer case 12a and the inner case 12b, the inner case 12b, the outer blades 13 before and after the inner case 12b, and the center blade 11 are combined into one unit. It can be exchanged as a part, and the three of the front and rear outer blades 13 and the center blade 11 can be individually exchanged as necessary.

  The outer blade 13 is formed as a sheet-shaped mesh blade formed by an etching method or an electroforming method. By attaching the front and rear edges to the outer blade frame 15 as shown in FIG. Shape is retained. The outer cutter frame 15 is detachably engaged with the inner case 12 b of the outer cutter holder 12.

  In FIG. 3, the rotational power of the motor 8 is converted into a reciprocating motion by the vibrator 18 and transmitted simultaneously to the inner blade 14 of the main blade 10 and the inner center blade 11 b of the center blade 11. The reciprocating power can also be transmitted to the saw blade unit 3 by pushing up the slide knob of the saw blade unit 3 from the standby position. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 19 denotes a head case that covers and seals the outer surface of the vibrator 18.

  The inner blade 14 is attached and fixed to the inner blade frame 21 shown in FIG. The inner blade frame 21 includes a blade mounting base 22 whose upper and lower surfaces are open, a pair of side walls 23 projecting from the upper surfaces of the left and right sides of the blade mounting base 22, and a passive piece 24 provided on the lower surface side of the blade mounting base 22. It is a plastic molded product that is integrally provided with. A blade receiving surface 25 for receiving the inner blade 14 is formed in the front and rear surfaces of the blade mounting base 22, and a positioning projection 26 and a stepped portion 27 are formed at the center and the left and right ends, respectively.

  On the left and right sides of the blade receiving surface 25, elastically deformable catch claws 28 for engaging and fixing the inner blade 14 are integrally formed. In order to facilitate the mounting of the inner blade 14, the front and rear blade receiving surfaces 25 are formed in a downward tapered shape (see FIG. 4). In the state in which the inner blade frame 21 with the inner blade 14 assembled is engaged and connected to the vibrator 18, the inner blade frame 21 can be tilted to the left and right around the passive piece 24, but it is disposed between both 14 and 21. Since the inner blade frame 21 is pushed up and biased by the spring 48, the inner blade 14 can always be in close contact with the outer blade 13.

  In the developed view of FIG. 1, the inner blade 14 has a cutting blade region C1 for cutting the whisker in cooperation with the outer blade 13, a pair of front and rear fouling discharge regions C2 adjacent to the cutting blade region C1, Front and rear mounting walls 31 that are received by the blade receiving surface 25 are provided. In the cutting edge region C1, parallel rib-shaped small blades 32 and elliptical slits 33 are alternately formed. The small blade 32 and the slit 33 are formed so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the left and right reciprocating directions of the inner blade 14. In this embodiment, the inclination angle θ is set to 16 degrees.

  In the fuzz discharge region C2, partial arc-shaped support ribs 34 and eyebrow-shaped foul discharge holes 35 are alternately formed. In a state where the inner blade 14 is mounted on the inner blade frame 21, the support ribs 34 and the fleece discharge holes 35 that oppose each other in the front-rear direction are formed so as to be inclined in opposite directions with respect to the reciprocating direction of the inner blade 14. The reason will be described later. The small blades 32 and the support ribs 34 are arranged alternately in the left-right direction. Specifically, the small blades 32 and the support ribs 34 are alternately formed with the end portions of the support ribs 34 facing the center of the arc edge of the slit 33.

  By alternately disposing the small blades 32 and the support ribs 34 as described above, the small blades 32 and the support ribs 34 adjacent in the left-right direction are continuous via the trifurcated base wall 36. As a result, the shearing moment acting on the base of the small blade 32 is dispersed to the left and right by the base wall 36, and it is possible to eliminate the concentration of the shearing moment on the base of the small blade 32. The small blade 32 and the support rib 34 are formed at the same adjacent pitch, but the width dimension b1 of the support rib 34 is set slightly larger than the width dimension b2 of the small blade 32. In this embodiment, the width dimension b2 of the blade 32 is set to 0.25 mm, the width dimension b1 of the support rib 34 is set to 0.35 mm, and the breaking strength of the supporting rib 34 is set to be larger than the breaking strength of the blade 32. .

  As described above, the small blades 32 and the support ribs 34 are formed in a staggered shape in the left-right direction, but are limited to the support ribs 34a (see FIG. 1) located at both side ends of the fluff discharge region C2. The ribs are continuous with the base of the small blade 32 and are formed by linear ribs orthogonal to the reciprocating direction of the inner blade 14. As a result, the fluff discharge holes 35 located at both ends of the fluff discharge region C2 are formed in a substantially square shape. In this way, when the support ribs 34a at both ends are formed continuously at the base of the small blade 32, the small blades 32 and the support rib 34a at both ends are smoothly continuous, and the cutting edge region C1 and the fluff It is possible to eliminate the formation of uneven portions at the side edges of the discharge region C2. Incidentally, if there is a concavo-convex part, the part may be caught by the outer cutter 13 and either the outer cutter 13 or the inner cutter 14 may be damaged.

  A positioning groove 39 is formed in the central portion in the left-right direction of the mounting wall 31, and a long oval engagement hole 40 is formed in the left and right sides to engage with the catching claw 28. By engaging the groove 39 with the protrusion 26 and receiving the left and right side ends of the mounting wall 31 with the stepped portion 27, the inner blade 14 can be positioned so that it cannot move left and right. In this state, the catching claw 28 falls and engages in the engagement hole 40, and the inner blade 14 can be fixed so as not to be separated.

  After forming the sheet-like inner blade blank 42 shown in FIG. 1 by an etching method, the inner blade 14 is bent into a trapezoidal shape with the former bending dies 43 and 44 as shown in FIG. Further, bending is performed with the next-stage bending dies 45 and 46 to form an inverted U-shaped cross section. The material for forming the inner blade blank 42 is a stainless steel plate having a thickness dimension of 0.3 mm. The obtained inner blade 14 is constituted by a curved wall portion and a pair of front and rear straight wall portions continuous to the curved wall portion, and the cutting edge region C1 is formed at the curved wall portion, and the straight wall portion. Is bent so that the fuzz discharge region C2 and the mounting wall 31 are formed. Further, the front and rear straight wall portions are bent so as to have a tapered shape corresponding to the blade receiving surface 25 of the inner blade frame 21.

  As described above, when the curved wall portion and the straight wall portion are formed with the front and rear base walls 36 as a boundary, a boundary line between the curved wall portion and the straight wall portion is formed in the base wall 36 continuous in the left-right direction. As a result, the inner blade 14 having no variation in the bent shape can be obtained. As described above, the front and rear straight wall portions are formed in a tapered shape corresponding to the blade receiving surface 25 of the inner blade frame 21, but in a state where the inner blade 14 is attached to the inner blade frame 21. The front and rear straight wall portions are expanded and deformed back and forth to exert elastic force. Therefore, the mounting wall 31 is brought into close contact with the blade receiving surface 25, so that the cross-sectional shape of the inner blade 14 can be always constant.

  When the sheet-shaped inner blade blank 42 is formed by the molds 43, 44, 45, and 46, there is a possibility that deformation stress in an oblique direction is generated in the inner blade blank 42 and the curved wall portion cannot be formed properly. This is because all the small blades 32 are formed in an inclined state with respect to the side portion of the inner blade blank 42, and the deformation stress generated by the small blades 32 intersects the bending center axis of the curved wall portion. In order to correct such distortion of the deformation stress and to properly shape the curved wall portion, the support ribs 34 and the fleece discharge holes 35 opposed to the front and rear are opposite to the inclination direction of the small blade 32. It is formed in an inclined state so as to cancel out deformation stresses generated in the support rib 34 and the small blade 32.

  When the sheet-shaped inner blade blank 42 is formed by the etching method described above, the inner blade blank 42 having a uniform thickness is obtained, and the inner blade blank 42 is subjected to plastic working to form the housing-shaped inner blade 14. Further, there is no processing failure such as a part of the inner blade blank 42 being lost or deformed during bending, and the yield of the inner blade 14 is improved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. When the inner blade blank 42 is formed by the etching method, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 3, the cutting edge tip of the small blade 32 that is in sliding contact with the outer blade 13 can be inclined by the erosion action of the etching solution. The sharpness of the inner blade 14 can be remarkably improved compared to the inner blade formed by the precision press method.

  FIG. 8 shows a modification of the blade 32. There, the width of the small blade 32 is increased on the base side and gradually decreased toward the center in the circumferential direction to improve the strength in the vicinity of the base of the small blade 32, and the slit at the curved center portion of the small blade 32. The opening degree of 33 was enlarged so that the whiskers could be captured effectively. Further, the small blade 32 is easily elastically deformed by the small width in the vicinity of the center of the small blade 32 so that the small blade 32 can be in close contact with the inner surface of the outer blade 13.

  Other than the above-described embodiment, the small blade 32 does not need to be inclined with respect to the reciprocating direction of the inner blade 14, and may be a rib shape in which the entire small blade 32 is curved. In the above embodiment, the inner blade 14 is bent in a horseshoe shape, but it may be bent in an inverted U shape by a curved wall and a straight wall parallel to the front and rear.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the main blade 10 has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to the inner center blade 11 b of the center blade 11. The outer blade holder 12 can be composed of one independent component, and does not need to be composed of the outer case 12a and the inner case 12b as described in the embodiment. The inner blade blank 42 may be formed by an electroforming method or a precision press process in addition to the etching method.

It is an expanded view of an inner blade. It is a front view of an electric razor. It is a vertical front view of a razor head. It is a vertical side view of a razor head. It is a disassembled perspective view of a razor head. It is a disassembled perspective view of an inner blade. It is explanatory drawing which shows notionally the bending process of an inner blade. It is an expanded view which shows another Example of an inner blade.

Explanation of symbols

13 Outer blade 14 Inner blade 32 Small blade 33 Slit 34 Support rib 35 Flour discharge hole 36 Base wall C1 Cutting blade region C2 Flour discharge region b1 Support rib width dimension b2 Small blade width dimension

Claims (8)

A laterally long outer blade (13) retained in an inverted U shape, and an inverted U-shaped inner blade (14) driven in a reciprocating manner while inscribed in the outer blade (13),
The inner blade (14) includes a cutting edge region (C1) that cuts the whiskers in cooperation with the outer blade (13), and a pair of fluff discharge regions (C2) adjacent to the cutting blade region (C1). And
The cutting blade region (C1) has parallel rib-shaped small blades (32) and slits (33), and the fluff discharge region (C2) has support ribs (34) and fluff discharge holes (35). Are formed alternately,
The blades (32) and the support ribs (34) are alternately arranged in the left-right direction, and the blades (32) and the support ribs (34) adjacent in the left-right direction are formed into a trifurcated base wall ( 36) An electric shaver characterized by being continuous through   The electric shaver according to claim 1, wherein the width dimension (b1) of the support rib (34) is set to be larger than the width dimension (b2) of the blade (32).   The electric shaver according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the small blade (32) is formed at a predetermined angle with respect to the reciprocating direction of the inner blade (14).   The electric razor according to claim 1, wherein the pair of support ribs (34) opposed to the front and rear are formed in a state of being inclined in a direction opposite to an inclination direction of the blade (32).   The electric shaver according to claim 1, wherein the width dimension (b2) of the small blade (32) is gradually reduced toward the center of the curve greatly on the base side.   The electric shaver according to claim 1, wherein the support ribs (34a) located at both side ends of the fluff discharge area (C2) are formed continuously at the base of the blade (32).   The cutting blade region (C1) is formed in the curved wall portion of the inner blade (14) bent into an inverted U-shaped cross section, and the fluff discharge region (C2) is formed in the straight wall portion. The electric razor according to 1.   The electric shaver according to claim 1, wherein the inner blade (14) is formed into an inverted U shape by subjecting a sheet-like inner blade blank (42) formed by an etching method to plastic processing.

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