EP1641367A1

EP1641367A1 - Epilator having a long-hair cutter

Info

Publication number: EP1641367A1
Application number: EP04737366A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ali Beytollahi
Original assignee: Payer International Technologies & Co KG GmbH
Current assignee: Payer International Technologies & Co KG GmbH
Priority date: 2003-07-01
Filing date: 2004-07-01
Publication date: 2006-04-05
Also published as: US20070066979A1; WO2005002386A1; JP2007537766A; AT7596U1

Abstract

The invention relates to an epilator (1) having an epilation head (3), comprising seizing devices for seizing and pulling out hair, and a long-hair cutter (29) is placed adjacent to the epilation head (3). According to the invention, a protective comb (4), which can be placed over the epilation head (3), is provided that covers the cutting blade (32) of the long-hair cutter (29).

Description

EPILATION DEVICE WITH LONG HAIR CUTTER

The invention relates to an epilation device with an epilation head comprising clamping devices for pinching and plucking hair, a long hair cutter being arranged adjacent to the epilation head.

Epilation devices, which in addition to an epilation head also have a long hair trimmer, are already known from the prior art. For example, JP 4-348 704 shows an epilation device, the head frame of which houses an epilation cylinder and a long-hair trimmer which has two cutting knives movably mounted relative to one another. The totality of the clamping elements is usually referred to as an epilation cylinder, which rotate about a common axis and are pressed against one another in the area of skin contact in order to pinch and pluck hair. In the case of JP 4-348 704, the clamping elements are formed by rotating disks which are brought into contact with one another alternately in the region of the plucking zone. In devices which, in addition to an epilation unit, also have a cutting unit, a drive for the oscillating movement of the cutting blades of the long-hair trimmer is usually required in addition to the rotary drive. In the design according to JP 4-348 704, an obliquely arranged disc is connected to the axis of rotation of the epilation cylinder for this purpose, which engages with its circumference in a driver rigidly connected to a cutting knife of the long hair cutting system. In this way, a type of swash plate is created, on which the oscillating movement for the cutting knife can be tapped. However, such a drive is associated with a number of problems. For example, it is not possible to put the long hair trimmer out of operation or to arrange it in a height-adjustable manner. In the training according to JP 4-348 704, only a simultaneous operation of the long hair trimmer and the epilation system is therefore possible and therefore only a combined use of the two systems is conceivable. Furthermore, from WO 01/97748 a hair removal device has become known on one side of which an epilation head and on the other side of which a cutting or shaving head is arranged. The two systems can thus be used independently of one another, with each of the two systems also being able to be switched on and off separately. A disadvantage of the device known from WO 01/97748, however, is the fact that a combined application, ie simultaneous use of the epilation system and the long-hair trimmer, is not possible.

The hair removal device according to EP 630 596 AI also has similar disadvantages. Here, a basic device with two interchangeable, removable and attachable attachment parts is proposed, one attachment part being designed as an epilation head and another attachment part being designed as a cutting device. Here too, the two systems can only be used alternately.

The present invention aims to provide a device that is as versatile as possible, with which both hair shortening and hair removal, ie epilation, can be carried out separately, but which also allows simultaneous use of both systems. It has been shown in practice that an epilation process that is carried out after a longer period of time after the last epilation process carried out, so that the hair to be plucked already exceeds a certain length, is extremely inefficient and, moreover, painful. The prerequisite for the clamping elements of an epilation device to have a safe and efficient effect is that the hair to be plucked does not exceed a certain length. It has been shown that a hair length in the range of 5mm delivers the best results. This ensures that the clamping elements of the epilation device can grip the hair near the hairline, so that the hair is plucked immediately. With longer hair, however, there is a likelihood that the to be plucked Hair is detected near its end, here on the one hand by the elasticity of the hair itself and on the other hand by the fact that a tension of the hair is achieved only after the further rotation of the epilation cylinder through a certain angle, an effective epilation is not ensured and also causes great pain.

To achieve this object, the invention essentially consists of an epilation device of the type mentioned at the outset that a protective comb that can be plugged onto and removed from the epilation head is provided, which covers the cutting blades of the long-hair trimmer. Such a protective comb fulfills a number of functions at the same time. The fact that the protective comb can be plugged onto the epilation head creates a cover for the epilation system so that the rotating clamping elements cannot come into effect. This makes it possible to use the long hair trimmer on its own, without inadvertently getting hair into the epilation head and being caught by it. When using the long hair trimmer, the protective comb, which covers the cutting blades of the long hair trimmer, glides over the skin surface of the user and in this way enables a gentle shortening of the hair without injuries. The protective comb also ensures that a constant cutting height is maintained, so that a cutting height that is particularly favorable for the subsequent epilation process can be maintained. The operating mode of the epilation device, in which the protective comb is placed on the epilation head, thus serves to shorten the hair to be epilated subsequently, as already mentioned, a shortening to approximately 5 mm is particularly advantageous in order to achieve a gentle epilation. However, the long hair trimmer can also be used to shorten hair in areas of the body in which subsequent epilation is not intended. In any case, the variability of the combined epilation and cutting device is significantly increased by the arrangement of the protective comb according to the invention, the change from one to the other mode in a simple manner by Aufbzw. Unplug the protective comb.

In order to facilitate the sole use as an epilation device, the design is preferably such that the long hair trimmer is arranged to be extendable from an inoperative position to an operating position or, conversely, is arranged to be retractable from an operating position to an inoperative position. With such a design, the long hair trimmer can only be extended into the operating position when it is actually being used, i.e. for example when the protective comb is attached. When the protective comb is removed, the clamping devices of the epilation head are exposed and the epilation process should not be impaired by the presence of the long hair trimmer, unless this is required. For this purpose, the long hair trimmer is moved into an out-of-operation position, so that the epilation device can be used in a conventional manner.

However, if a combined use of the long hair trimmer and the epilation head is desired, the long hair trimmer can be extended and a shortening and subsequent epilation can be carried out in one operation.

Advantageously, the design is further developed such that the long hair trimmer is height-adjustable to adjust the cutting length. In this way, the hair can be shortened to any length, the cutting length being defined by the distance between the cutting knife and the protective comb that can be plugged onto the epilation head. According to a preferred development, the long-hair trimmer can be mounted so as to be resiliently submersible. This enables a particularly gentle shortening of the hair, with a contour adaptation to the skin surface. Such a design can be advantageous if the protective comb is also resiliently mounted, with the resilient being coupled accordingly Movement of the protective comb and the long hair trimmer can maintain a constant cutting length.

In the case of devices which can be used both as an epilation device and as a long hair trimmer, both a rotating drive for the epilation head and an oscillating drive for the cutting blades of the long hair trimmer must be provided. The different drive speeds must also be taken into account, since the rotation frequency of the epilation cylinder is usually somewhat lower than the oscillation frequency of the cutting blades. It is therefore necessary to provide two drives with mutually different gear ratios or gear ratios, with both a rotary and a translatory drive having only one motor to be taken into account in order to take into account the limited space and energy reserves. For this purpose, the design is preferably further developed such that a two-armed rocker is provided which can be pivoted about an axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal axis of the device, the free end of one arm having a preferably spherical driver for the oscillating drive of the long-hair trimmer and the free one At the end of the other arm carries a coupling member which converts the rotation of a pinion driven by the motor into an oscillating movement. The two-armed swing arm thus serves to pick up the rotational movement supplied by the motor and to pass it on to the long-hair trimmer as a translatory back and forth movement. The driver formed for this purpose at the free end of one arm can preferably be spherical and engages in a fork-shaped projection of a carrier connected to one of the two cutting knives. The fork-shaped extension is arranged in such a way that, in an embodiment in which the long hair trimmer is arranged to be adjustable in height, it only interacts with the driver of the rocker when the long hair trimmer has been extended into the operating position. This causes the long hair trimmer is only driven when it is actually used, which results in energy savings.

The conversion of the rotational movement of the motor or of the corresponding pinion into a to-and-fro movement for the cutting knife of the long-hair trimmer preferably takes place in that the coupling member comprises a groove running parallel to the longitudinal axis, into which a driver pin arranged eccentrically on the pinion engages.

Epilation devices are usually driven by an electric motor with a speed of between 10,000 and 12,000 revolutions per minute. The design is therefore advantageously further developed such that the pinion cooperating with the coupling member of the rocker is coupled to the drive motor via an at least one-stage reduction gear. For driving an epilation cylinder accommodated in the epilation head, which carries the clamping devices, this is preferably coupled to the drive motor via a further reduction gear, the reduction gear for driving the epilation cylinder having a higher reduction ratio than that for the oscillating drive of the long-hair trimmer. This takes into account the fact that the epilation cylinder should rotate at a frequency which is below the corresponding frequency of the reciprocating movement of the long-hair trimmer.

In order to achieve an even higher variability of the device according to the invention, the design can be further developed such that the epilation head is designed to be removable, coupling elements being provided for receiving a shaving head. With such a design, the epilation head is designed as an interchangeable head and can be replaced by a shaving head after complete removal, so that a conventional dry shaving apparatus is available by combining a shaving system with the long-hair cutter. The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of an exemplary embodiment shown schematically in the drawing. 1 shows a front view of an epilation device, FIG. 2 shows a first sectional view, FIG. 3 shows a second sectional view and FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the rocker in a section along the line IV-IV in FIG.

An epilation device 1 with a base body 2 and an epilation head 3 is shown in FIG. In the area of the opening of the head frame, the epilation cylinder 4 can be seen, which has a plurality of clamping elements which serve to pinch and pluck the hair. The switch for switching the epilation device on and off is designated by 5. In the illustration arranged on the left in FIG. 1, the epilation device 1 is shown with the comb 6 attached, and it can be seen that when the comb 6 is attached, the epilation cylinder 4 is covered, so that no hair _. can get into the area of the rotating clamping devices.

The sectional view according to FIG. 2 shows that an energy supply unit 7 and an electric drive motor 8 are arranged in the interior of the basic housing 2. The output pinion 9 of the motor 8 engages in a pinion 10, which is rigidly connected to a further pinion 11, the pinion 12 and 13 driving the rotary cylinder 4 about the axis 14. The rotary cylinder has a plurality of carriers 15 for clamping elements 16, which are actuated by pressure rollers 17, so that the hair to be plucked is gripped by the clamping elements as they pass through the plucking zone.

Starting from the pinion 10, the long hair trimmer is driven, which, as can best be seen in FIG. 3, is arranged on the outside of the base body 2. The pinion 10 engages in a pinion 18 which has an eccentrically arranged driver pin 19 which has a coupling part 22 arranged at the free end of the arm 21 of the rocker 20 works together. The rocker 20 is rotatably mounted about the axis 23, a detailed view of the rocker 20 being shown in a section along the line IV-IV of Figure 2 in Figure 4. It is clear here that by engaging the driver pin 19 in a groove of the coupling part 22, the rocker 20 is caused to oscillate in a rotary motion according to the arrow 24. The second arm 25 of the rocker 20 carries at its free end a spherical driver part 26 which engages in a corresponding fork-shaped extension 27 which is connected to a carrier 28 for a cutting knife of the long hair cutter 29.

In the sectional view according to FIG. 3, the long hair trimmer 29 is now more clearly visible and it can be adjusted in the direction of the double arrow 31 with the aid of the handle 30, whereby in the extended position, i.e. in the position shown in broken lines, the cutting knife 32 engages the driver end piece 26 in the fork-shaped extension 27. In the extended position of the long hair cutter, the cutting knives 32 come to lie at a predetermined distance from the protective comb 6, as a result of which a constant cutting length of the hair is defined. The view according to FIG. 3 clearly shows that the protective comb 6 covers the epilation head 3 and at the same time offers sufficient protection against the sharp-edged cutting knives 32 and facilitates guiding the device over the skin surface.

Claims

Expectations :

1. epilation device with an epilation head comprising clamping devices for pinching and plucking hair, the epilation head being arranged adjacent to a long hair cutter, characterized in that a protective comb which can be plugged on and removed from the epilation head (3) is provided and which holds the cutting blades (32) of the long hair cutter (29) covered.

2. epilation device according to claim 1, characterized in that the long hair trimmer (29) is arranged extendable from an inoperative position into an operating position.

3. epilation device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the long hair trimmer (29) for adjusting the

Cutting length is height adjustable.

4. epilation device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the long hair trimmer (29) is mounted resiliently submersible.

5. epilation device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a pivotable about an axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal axis of the device (23) two-arm rocker (20) is provided, the free end of one arm (25) preferably being spherical Has carrier (26) for the oscillating drive of the long hair trimmer (29) and the free end of the other arm (21) carries a coupling member (22) which converts the rotation of a pinion (18) driven by the motor (8) into an oscillating movement.

6. epilation device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the coupling member (22) comprises a groove running parallel to the longitudinal axis, in which engages an eccentrically arranged on the pinion (18) driver pin (19).

7. Epilation device according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the pinion (18) which interacts with the coupling member (22) of the rocker (20) is coupled to the drive motor (8) via an at least one-stage reduction gear.

8. epilation device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the epilation head (3) comprises at least one of the clamping devices having epilation cylinder (4) which is coupled via a reduction gear with the drive motor (8) and driven to rotate.

9. epilation device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the reduction gear for driving the epilation cylinder (4) has a higher reduction than that for the oscillating drive of the long-hair trimmer (29).

10. Epilation device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the epilation head (3) is designed to be removable, coupling elements being provided for receiving a shaving head.