JPH0325736Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field The present invention relates to a reciprocating electric shaver, which detects the amount of beard debris cut by the outer blade and inner blade to notify when it is time to excrete the beard. It is about the means.

(b) Prior art An example of an electric razor equipped with a means to detect the amount of beard debris and warn when it is time to clean it is
There is an electric shaver disclosed in Publication No. 49916. In this technology, a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are installed in a beard-dust storage chamber of a rotary electric shaver, with the optical axis running in the horizontal direction. The amount of beard debris is detected by blocking the light receiving element and placing it in a non-conducting mode, and the time for cleaning is notified by a display element which is turned off by the non-conducting operation of the light receiving element.

In the conventional electric shaver mentioned above, there is no flexibility in the arrangement of the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element, making the design difficult. There was a problem with the reciprocating electric shaver that made it impossible to use it for other purposes.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention The problems to be solved by the invention are to provide flexibility in the placement of the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element for detecting the amount of hair debris, and to house them in a small space. To provide a reciprocating electric shaver with a means for detecting the amount of beard debris.

(d) Means for solving the problem A light emitting element and a light receiving element are housed inside the main body case, and flexible optical fibers each having one end optically connected to the light emitting element and the light receiving element are provided. The other ends of the optical fibers are disposed on a hair-receiving surface formed on the main body case, facing each other so that light can pass between the two fibers.

(E) Effect Light emitted from the light emitting element inside the main body case enters one end of one optical fiber, passes through the inside of the fiber, exits from the other end, enters one end of the other optical fiber, and enters the inside of the fiber. The light passes through the other end and is received by the light receiving element inside the main body case. One end of both optical fibers is placed in the beard waste storage section of the electric razor, and as hair cutting progresses and beard waste accumulates in the storage section, the light is blocked by the beard waste and the light is not received. The light energy reaching the element becomes small and the operation of the light receiving element stops. The optical fiber itself is flexible and one end thereof is placed at a suitable location in the hair debris receptacle.

(f) Embodiment The structure of the beard debris amount detection means of the reciprocating electric shaver of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body case of a reciprocating electric shaver made of synthetic resin, in which a driving source and power source such as a motor and a battery (not shown) are arranged. 2 is a protrusion provided on the upper part of the main body case 1;
A reciprocating vibrator (not shown) connected to the motor is housed inside, and a vibrating rod 3 provided on the vibrator
is positioned so as to protrude upward from an opening formed on the upper surface of the protruding end 2, and an inner blade body 4 is detachably attached to the top of the vibrating rod. The boundary between the protrusion 2 and the main body case 1 is a lint-receiving surface 50, and an aluminum die-cast outer cutter frame (not shown) is removably engaged with this lint-receiving surface 50. Further, an arch-shaped outer cutter having a large number of hair introduction holes is removably attached to this outer cutter frame, and the inner cutter body 4 is operated by sliding its blade portion 5 along the inner surface of the outer cutter. Cut the hair introduced through the hair introduction hole.

Reference numerals 6 and 7 denote a light emitting diode as a light emitting element and a phototransistor as a light receiving element constituting the whisker debris amount detection means, both of which are soldered and fixed onto a printed circuit board 8 and placed in an appropriate location inside the main body case 1. placed in position. A first optical fiber 9 allows the light emitted from the light emitting diode 6 to enter from one end, and is made of a flexible glass fiber or plastic fiber. This is a second optical fiber having one end that supplies light, and like the first optical fiber 9, it is made of flexible glass fiber, plastic fiber, or the like. The other ends of both fibers 9 and 10 are respectively extended upward from the inside of the main body case 1, and are arranged to face each other on the lint receiving surface 50 as shown in FIG. 1, or as shown in FIG. They can be opposed to each other on the upper surface of the protrusion 2, and can also be placed at any appropriate position without being limited to these positions. In the case of this type of reciprocating electric shaver, the beard debris cut by the outer cutter and the inner cutter 4 is collected in the beard debris storage section 11 formed by the outer blade frame, the protruding portion 2, and the hair debris receiving surface 50. Since this tends to accumulate particularly on the upper surface of the protrusion 2 and the mounting stage 5, the ends of both optical fibers 9 and 10 are arranged so that their optical axes are horizontal at the positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. It is desirable to arrange them so that they face each other.

In the reciprocating electric razor having the above configuration, the amount of beard debris that accumulates on the upper surface of the protruding portion 2 or the hair debris receiving surface 50 is small for a while after the start of cutting hair, so that the light emitted from the light emitting diode 6 is
After passing through the optical fiber 9 and exiting the fiber from its end, it immediately enters the second optical fiber 10, through which sufficient light energy is supplied to the phototransistor 7, and the phototransistor 7 is supplied with sufficient light energy. Phototransistor 7 becomes conductive mode.

The amount of light received by the phototransistor 7 depends on changes in the amount of hair debris accumulated between the optical fibers 9 and 10, and when the hair is cut and the amount of hair debris that corresponds to the cleaning time is reached, the light entering the phototransistor 7 changes. The energy is no longer sufficient to make the phototransistor 7 conductive and the phototransistor 7 switches from the conducting mode to the non-conducting mode. A reciprocating electric shaver with a beard dregs amount detection function can be easily constructed by incorporating an alarm means activated by utilizing the conduction/non-conduction change of the phototransistor 7 into the electric circuit.

4 and 5 show an embodiment of a cleaning time notification circuit for a reciprocating electric shaver powered by dry batteries using the above-mentioned light emitting diode 6 and phototransistor 7. The lighting type is shown in Fig. 5, and the one shown in Fig. 5 is the blinking type.

In FIG. 4, 12 is a dry battery B, 13 is a motor M driven by the DC current output of the dry battery B12, 14 is a starting switch S inserted between the dry battery B12 and the motor M13, and 15 is the battery. The switch S14 and the resistor are connected to both ends of B12.
LED ₁ and 17 are light emitting diodes for detecting the amount of beard debris connected via R ₁ 16.
It is a phototransistor _Q1 which switches from a non-conducting mode to a conducting mode upon receiving light from the LED ₁ 16, and together with the resistor R ₂ 18 connected to its collector, the resistor R ₁ 16 and the light emitting diode LED ₁ 15
connected in parallel to a series circuit consisting of 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a switching transistor Q ₂ having its base connected to the collector of the phototransistor Q ₁ 17 and a base resistor R ₃ 20 connected to the base, and the transistor Q ₂ 1 has a resistor R ₄ connected to its collector. 21 and light emitting diode LED ₂₂ for alarm display are connected in series, and these resistors are connected in series.
Together with R ₄ 21 and the light emitting diode LED ₂ 22, it is connected in parallel to the series circuit consisting of the resistor R ₂ 18 and phototransistor Q ₁ 17.

In the above circuit, when the switch S14 is closed, the motor M13 is driven using the battery B12 as a power source, and at the same time, the light emitting diode LED ₁ 15 emits light.
During the period when the amount of beard debris does not reach the cleaning period amount, the light from the light emitting diode LED ₁ 15 is sufficiently received by the phototransistor Q ₁ 17, and the phototransistor Q ₁ 17 is in a conduction mode. Therefore, the base voltage of the switching transistor Q ₂ 19 is low and the transistor Q ₂ 19 is non-conductive.
The light emitting diode is off.

When the amount of beard debris gradually increases and reaches the amount required for cleaning, the amount of light entering the phototransistor Q ₁ 17 becomes insufficient to maintain conduction of the phototransistor Q ₁ 17, and the phototransistor Q 1 17 switches to a non-conducting mode. Then, the switching transistor Q ₂ 19 becomes conductive, and current flows from the resistor R ₄ 21 to the light emitting diode LED ₂ 22, so that the light emitting diode LED ₂ 22 lights up continuously. Continuous lighting of this light emitting diode LED ₂ 22 indicates that the time for cleaning has come.

Further, in FIG. 5, 23 is a dry battery B, 24 is a motor M driven by the DC current output of the dry battery B23, and 25 is a motor M2 driven by the dry battery B23 and the motor M2.
A starting switch S and 26 are inserted between the battery B23 and a light emitting diode LED ₁ for detecting the amount of beard debris, which is connected to both ends of the battery B23 via the switch S25 and a resistor _R1 27. It is a phototransistor _Q1 that switches from a non-conducting mode to a conducting mode upon receiving light from the LED ₁ 26, and together with the resistor R ₂ 29 connected to its collector, the resistor R ₁ 27 and the light emitting diode LED ₁ 2
connected in parallel to a series circuit consisting of 6.
30 is a switching transistor _Q2 whose base is connected to the collector of the phototransistor _Q1 28, and a collector resistor is connected to the base.
It has R ₈ 31. 32 is a control IC, a resistor R ₅ 33 is connected to its terminal, and a light emitting diode LED ₂ 2 is connected in parallel to the resistor R ₅ 33 for warning of cleaning time.
3 is connected, and its terminal is connected to the collector of the switching transistor Q ₂ 30. In addition, there is a resistor R ₆ 35 and a capacitor between the above terminals.
A series circuit consisting of C ₁ 36 and a capacitor C ₂ 37 are connected in parallel with each other.

In the above circuit, when the switch S25 is closed, the motor M24 is driven using the battery B23 as a power source, and at the same time, the light emitting diode LED ₁ 26 emits light.
During the period when the amount of beard debris does not reach the cleaning period amount, the light from the light emitting diode LED ₁ 26 is sufficiently received by the phototransistor Q ₁ 28, and the phototransistor Q ₁ 28 is in a conduction mode. Therefore, the base voltage of the switching transistor Q ₂ 30 is low and the transistor Q ₂ 30 is non-conducting, so the IC
The terminals 32 and 32 are in an open state. At this time, the capacitor is connected through the resistor R ₅ 33 and the resistor R ₆ 35.
The resistor R ₅ 33 to which C ₁ 36 is charged has a small voltage drop and the light emitting diode LED ₂ 34 is off.

When the amount of hair debris gradually increases and reaches the amount required for cleaning, the amount of light entering the phototransistor Q ₁ 28 becomes insufficient to maintain conduction of the phototransistor Q ₁ 28, and the phototransistor Q 1 28 switches to a non-conducting mode. Then, the switching transistor Q ₂ 30 becomes conductive, and
Further, due to the charging of the capacitor C ₁ 36, the voltage at the terminal becomes high, and the IC 32 is activated to short-circuit between the terminals. Therefore, current flows from the light emitting diode LED ₂ 34 to the transistor Q ₂ 30 via the terminal ~, and the light emitting diode LED ₂ 34 lights up. At this time, capacitor C ₁ 36 is discharged via resistor R ₆ 35. Then, the connection between the terminals is cut off and the light emitting diode LED ₂ 34 goes out. Then, the capacitor C ₁ 36 is charged again via the resistor R ₆ 35, and the voltage at the terminal becomes high, and again the terminal ~
The light emitting diode LED ₂ 34 is lit. Thereafter, as the capacitor C ₁ 36 is repeatedly charged and discharged, the light emitting diode LED ₂ 34 blinks, thereby displaying a warning that it is time to clean the shaving section of the electric razor.

(g) Effects of the invention As explained above, the invention uses a flexible optical fiber that houses a light emitting element and a light receiving element inside the main body case, and optically connects one end to the light emitting element and the light receiving element. and the other end of each of these optical fibers is disposed on a hair waste receiving surface formed in the main body case, facing each other so that light can pass between the two fibers. The amount of shavings detection section can be easily and freely set in an effective position, and the light emitting element and light receiving element can also be freely placed in the appropriate place, making it convenient for the design of a reciprocating electric shaver with a beard shavings amount detection function. An effect is produced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main parts of the reciprocating electric shaver of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the beard debris amount detection means, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an implementation circuit diagram for notifying the cleaning time, and FIG. 5 is another implementation circuit diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Main body case, 2... Protrusion part, 50... Hair waste receiving surface, 11... Beard waste storage part, 6... Light emitting element, 7... Light receiving element, 9, 10... Optical fiber.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are housed inside the main body case, and flexible optical fibers each having one end optically connected to the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element are provided, and the other end of each optical fiber is connected between the two fibers. A reciprocating electric shaver characterized in that the reciprocating electric shaver is disposed on a hair receiving surface formed on the main body case so as to face each other so that light can pass therethrough.