JP5174508B2 - Hair growth control light irradiation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hair growth regulating light irradiating apparatus that irradiates the skin with light for regulating the growth of body hair.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a hair growth-regulating light irradiating device that performs hair removal or hair growth by applying light such as laser to the skin to be treated and suppressing or promoting the growth of hair by the action of light is known. For example, in the hair growth regulating light irradiation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the light irradiation unit provided in the device main body is set toward the skin to be processed, and in this state, the light emitter in the device main body emits light. Thus, the skin to be processed is irradiated with light through the light irradiation unit.

Such a conventional hair growth regulating light irradiating device emits light by bringing the light irradiating part and the skin to be treated into close contact with each other at the time of treatment, so there is no gap between the light irradiating part and the skin. The structure does not leak light.
JP 2005-278724 A

  By the way, since the high energy light irradiated from the light irradiation unit once has entered the inside of the skin and then has a very high illuminance even in the light diffused in the skin (hereinafter referred to as diffused light F), The user may cause optical damage such as retinal damage in the eye. Therefore, in order to prevent the optical damage, the user has used the eye mask to perform treatment. However, the treatment using the eye mask has a problem that the field of view is limited and the workability is lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hair growth regulating light irradiation device that can be treated safely without using an eye mask and has very good workability. It is to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, in the invention according to claim 1, the light emitting unit 1 that emits light for controlling the growth of the body hair of the skin M to be treated, and the outside of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 A hair-growth adjusting light irradiating device comprising a light-shielding part 2 that shields light from leaking into the skin. A diffused light shielding part 3 is provided so as to be continuously provided in a flange shape from the outside to the outside, and the diffused light shielding part 3 is rotatably connected to the skin contact surface 21. It is what.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent leakage of light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 during light irradiation to the outside, and it is also possible to prevent leakage of diffused light F with high illuminance from the skin to the outside. Even without using an eye mask, the user can safely perform treatment.

Further, even if the skin M to be processed that contacts the skin contact surface 21 and the surrounding skin are high or low, the diffused light shielding unit 3 is pivotally connected to the diffused light shielding unit 3. Can be covered along the slope of the skin M. This makes it possible to reliably prevent the diffused light F from leaking from the inside of the skin to the outside even on such a skin surface.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily and surely prevent light damage to the eyes of the user, and it is highly safe, and it is also high for the user because it can accurately irradiate a site where light irradiation is necessary. Safety can be ensured.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For convenience of explanation, the light irradiation direction is assumed to be the vertical direction, and in particular, the light irradiation portion 5 installed in the housing 4 will be described as being upward.

  1 (a) and 1 (b), an optical hair removal device comprising a light emitting unit 1 that emits light for suppressing hair growth as an example of the hair growth regulating light irradiation device in an embodiment of the present invention. Is shown. The optical hair removal apparatus houses the light emitting unit 1 inside a box-shaped housing 4 that can be held with one hand, and transmits light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 to the outside on one side end surface in the longitudinal direction of the housing 4. The light irradiation part 5 which consists of a window is provided. A flashlight composed of a xenon lamp is housed as a light-emitting body 12 in the reflector 11 as the light-emitting unit 1, and the open surface of the reflector 11 is arranged so that it can be irradiated toward the skin M to be processed. The light irradiation unit 5 is installed so as to face upward and close the open surface of the reflector 11.

  A control circuit 6 connected to the light emitter 12 by a lead wire is accommodated in the housing 4, and a high voltage obtained by boosting a voltage supplied from a power source by the control circuit 6 is applied to the light emitter 12. The light emitter 12 emits light with high energy. An irradiation switch 41 for manually operating on / off for light irradiation is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the housing 4 so as to be connected to the control circuit 6. In the figure, wiring is omitted.

  In order to perform a hair removal process using the above-described optical hair removal apparatus, first, the power switch 42 of the optical hair removal apparatus is turned on to make it operable, and the user holds the body of the housing 4 with one hand and the skin to be treated. The light irradiation unit 5 is pressed against M and set. In this state, if the irradiation switch 41 is operated to turn on the light irradiation, the light emitted in a pulse form from the light emitter 12 is irradiated to the skin M to be processed through the light irradiation unit 5, and the skin M It has a hair-loss effect on body hair.

  The basic configuration of the hair growth adjusting light irradiation device has been described above based on the photo epilation device of the illustrated example. In the following, the configuration unique to the present invention will be described in more detail.

  In the photo epilation device of the illustrated example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the light irradiation unit 5 is provided around the entire periphery of the light irradiation unit 5 on the end surface of the housing 4. A light shielding portion 2 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view is provided so as to protrude. The light-shielding part 2 projects upward from the light irradiation part 5, and the peripheral part of the tip opening of the light-shielding part 2 is a skin contact surface 21 that contacts the skin M during treatment. Further, the diffused light shielding part 3 is continuously provided from the skin contact surface 21 to the outside, and the length of the diffused light shielding part 3 is set to a predetermined length based on the experimental results to be described later. It is formed in a shape.

  In the optical hair removal device of the present example having the above-described configuration, the light emitting unit 1 is provided while maintaining the state where the skin M to be processed is pressed against the skin contact surface 21 formed on the peripheral edge of the light shielding unit 2. By causing the light emitter 12 to emit light, leakage of the light emitted by the light shielding unit 2 to the outside is prevented. Further, the leakage of the diffused light F diffused from the inside of the skin while maintaining a high illuminance is reliably shielded by the diffused light shielding unit 3 continuously provided outward from the skin contact surface 21. As a result, the user can avoid the risk of light damage such as retinal damage due to high illuminance, and it is not necessary to use an eye mask, so that workability in treatment is remarkably improved.

  Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). Since the present embodiment is mostly the same as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and different portions are mainly described. .

  In this embodiment, the diffused light shield 3 is pivotally supported on the skin contact surface 21 and the diffused light shield 3 is directed upward (that is, toward the skin M during treatment). ) A biasing means including a coil spring for biasing is provided.

  In such an optical hair removal device, the diffused light shielding unit 3 is urged toward the skin M at the time of light irradiation, and therefore, for example, when the skin contact surface 21 is pressed against a site to be treated having a circular arc cross section. Even if it exists, the diffused light shielding part 3 presses the skin M along the circular arc. That is, it is possible to reliably prevent the diffused light F from leaking from the inside of the skin to the treated area. In addition, since the diffused light shielding unit 3 is pivotally supported, the diffused light shielding unit 3 can sufficiently handle not only the shape of the skin M but also a skin surface having a complicated shape such as an axilla. It is possible to reliably prevent the leakage of the diffused light F from the inside of the skin.

  Still another embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, although not shown, the diffused light shielding portion 3 is made of an elastic material. The elastic material is not particularly limited.

  By forming the diffused light shielding part 3 from an elastic material, when the skin contact surface 21 provided at the tip of the diffused light shielding part 3 is pressed against the skin M to be processed, the diffused light shielding part having elasticity is elastic. Since 3 elastically contacts the skin M, there is no gap due to the unevenness of the skin M. That is, leakage due to the diffused light F from the inside of the skin can be reliably prevented.

  Still another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). Since the present embodiment is mostly the same as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and different portions are mainly described. .

  In this embodiment, the diffused light shielding part 3 is pivotally supported on the skin contact surface 21, and the diffused light shielding part 3 includes an urging means for applying an urging force upward. It is. When the diffused light shielding unit 3 is separated from the skin, the diffused light shielding unit 3 rises upward according to a biasing force biased upward. Specifically, the diffused light shielding part 3 is formed in a divergent shape in the direction of irradiation, and when the skin M to be processed is pressed against the diffused light shielding part 3, the divergent light shielding part 3 spreads easily along the skin M. It is formed in a shape. Furthermore, the diffused light shielding part 3 is pivotally supported on each side of the skin contact surface 21 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and the diffused light shielding parts 3 are connected by an elastic material 31.

  In such an optical hair removal apparatus of the illustrated example, when the optical hair removal apparatus of this example is pressed against the skin M to be processed, the diffused light shielding unit 3 first comes into contact with the skin M, and further the optical hair removal apparatus is used. The diffused light shielding unit 3 spreads along the skin M as it approaches the skin M. That is, the skin M to be processed comes into contact with the upper edge of the diffused light shielding unit 3, the inwardly facing surface of the diffused light shielding unit 3, and the skin contact surface 21 in this order. Thus, when the skin M to be treated comes into contact with the skin contact surface 21, the diffused light shield 3 is in a state of covering the skin M in a flange shape, and each diffused light shield 3 is elastic. Since it is connected by the material 31, the light to the outside can be surely shielded in the entire circumference of the light irradiation (see FIG. 3B). In this way, leakage of the diffused light F from the inside of the skin to the outside is more reliably prevented.

  By the way, in the optical hair removal apparatus of the first embodiment having the diffused light shielding part 3 formed in the flange shape described above, the skin contact surface 21 and the skin contact surface 21 are continuously provided outward. The diffused light shielding part 3 is in contact with the skin M to be processed, and depending on the length of the diffused light shielding part 3, it is difficult to specify the light irradiation position. However, in the optical hair removal device of the present embodiment, before the contact with the skin M to be processed, the diffused light shielding unit 3 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and the center of the rectangle is the irradiation position. Since they substantially coincide, the light irradiation position can be easily specified even before the light irradiation unit 5 is set on the skin M to be processed. In short, since the irradiation position can be specified before the treatment, it is possible to surely irradiate the position where light irradiation is necessary. Therefore, it is very safe even for the user.

  As described above, the hair growth regulating light irradiation device of the present invention has been described based on the photo epilation device using xenon light. However, the light emitter 12 provided in the light emitting unit 1 is not limited to the flash light made of xenon light, and other configurations. It may be a flashlight composed of the above, or may be irradiated with laser light using a laser diode or the like. Further, the illuminant 12 is not limited to hair removal, and may be one that promotes hair growth by irradiating light to promote hair growth, that is, the illuminant 12 emits light for controlling the growth of body hair. Anything is fine.

  Below, the experimental result which verified the illumination intensity of the leakage light to the exterior of the diffused light F from the inside of the skin according to the outward length of the diffused light shielding part 3 is demonstrated.

  As the diffused light shielding part size, the distance L from the skin contact surface 21 to the outer peripheral edge of the diffused light shielding part 3 was set to 2 mm, 4 mm, 7 mm, and 10 mm, and the illuminance of leakage light was measured for each. The measurement points of the illuminance of the leaked light are a place where the distance from the skin M to the measurement point is 1 cm (point A in the table), a place where the distance from the skin M to the measurement point is 5 cm (point B in the table), and the skin M The measurement point was measured at a location where the distance between the measurement points was 20 cm (C point in the table). The measurement results are shown in Table 1 (unit: klux).

As an experimental condition, a xenon flash lamp having an energy density of about 0.3 J / cm ² was used as the light emitter 12.

  According to this, it can be seen that when the length L of the diffused light shielding part 3 is extended from 2 mm to 10 mm, the illuminance is suppressed to 1/10 or less. Furthermore, since the irradiation unit and the eye of the user are about 20 cm away in a normal usage pattern, the illuminance can be suppressed to the indoor lighting level if the diffused light shielding unit 3 has a length of about 7 mm. I understand that If the illuminance can be reduced to the indoor lighting level, the user can use the hair-growth adjusting light irradiation device without feeling light dazzling or even feeling dazzling or uncomfortable.

1 shows an example of a hair growth regulating light irradiation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a perspective view of the whole, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of an essential part. It is a figure which shows another embodiment of this invention, (a) is a perspective view of the principal part, (b) is principal part sectional drawing. It is a figure which shows another embodiment, (a) is a perspective view of the principal part before pressing on skin, (b) is a perspective view of the principal part when pressing on skin.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light emission part 11 Reflector umbrella 12 Light-emitting body 2 Light-shielding part 21 Skin contact surface 3 Diffuse light shielding part 4 Housing 41 Irradiation switch 42 Power switch 5 Light irradiation part 6 Control circuit F Diffuse light L Length of diffused light shielding part M Process Subject skin

Claims (1)

A light-emitting unit that emits light to regulate the growth of hair on the skin to be treated;
A light-shielding part that blocks light leakage from the light emitted from the light-emitting part,
A hair growth regulating light irradiation device comprising:
The tip of the light shielding part is a skin contact surface on which the skin to be processed contacts,
A diffused light shielding unit is provided to be installed continuously in a flange shape from the skin contact surface outward .
The hair growth adjusting light irradiating apparatus, wherein the diffused light shielding unit is rotatably connected to the skin contact surface .

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