Surgery – Instruments – Means for removal of skin or material therefrom
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-01
2003-09-02
Dvorak, Linda C. M. (Department: 3731)
Surgery
Instruments
Means for removal of skin or material therefrom
C606S131000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06613057
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to an epilating device comprising a housing with an opening, a rotatable drive shaft which extends substantially parallel to said opening, at least two cooperating pinching elements which are coupled to the drive shaft in a rotational direction of the drive shaft and which are pivotable with respect to each other by means of a compression member from a catching position, in which a distance is present between the pinching elements near said opening, into a pinching position, in which the pinching elements contact each other near said opening, a delaying element being provided on at least one of the pinching elements for delaying a pivotal motion of the pinching elements relative to each other towards the pinching position.
An epilating device of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is known from EP-A-0 532 106. The known epilating device comprises a series of disc-shaped pinching elements, each of which cooperates with each of its two adjacent pinching elements. The compression member comprises two roller members which exert a compression force on the two outermost pinching elements, said compression force being transmitted through the series of pinching elements along an imaginary transmission line extending between the two roller members. During rotation of the drive shaft and the pinching elements, every two adjacent cooperating pinching elements are periodically pivoted with respect to each other under the influence of said compression force about a main pivot axis which is defined by a line through a main stud, which is present on one of the two pinching elements and by means of which the two pinching elements bear on each other, and through a point of contact between the central hubs of the two pinching elements. When the two pinching elements are in the catching position, hair which is present in the opening of the housing can penetrate between the pinching elements. Subsequently, when the main pivot axis of the two pinching elements passes said transmission line, the two pinching elements are pivoted into the pinching position, so that the hairs which have penetrated between the pinching elements are pinched between the pinching elements and are subsequently extracted from the skin as a result of the rotation of the drive shaft and the pinching elements. In the known epilating device, the delaying element is constituted by an additional stud, which is present on one of the two cooperating pinching elements and defines an additional pivot axis together with the main stud. When the two pinching elements are pivoted about the main pivot axis towards the pinching position, the pinching elements are temporarily kept at a reduced distance from each other near the opening of the housing by the additional stud, and the cooperating pinching elements are not further pivoted into the pinching position until the additional pivot axis passes said transmission line upon further rotation of the drive shaft and the pinching elements. As a result of the use of the delaying element, the cooperating pinching elements are kept at a mutual distance near the opening during a relatively long period of time, so that a relatively large number of hairs can be caught between the pinching elements before the pinching elements arrive into the pinching position.
A drawback of the known epilating device is that pairs of cooperating pinching elements, which are in the pinching position at the same moment, do not reach the pinching position simultaneously as a result of tolerances in the positions of the pinching elements relative to the drive shaft. Since a maximum pinching force between one of said pairs of pinching elements in the pinching position is not reached until the other pairs have also reached the pinching position, hairs present between two cooperating pinching elements in the pinching position can escape from between these pinching elements when the other pairs of pinching elements have not yet reached the pinching position as a result of said tolerances. As a consequence, the efficiency of the known epilating device is adversely affected.
An object of the invention is to provide an epilating device of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph, in which the pivotal motion of the pairs of pinching elements, which are in the pinching position at the same moment, towards the pinching position is better synchronized, so that the above mentioned drawback of the known epilating device is diminished.
To achieve this object, an epilating device in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the delaying element comprises at least a first and a second contact position for the two cooperating pinching elements, which define a pivot axis about which the pinching elements are pivotable with respect to each other, said pivot axis being arranged at a distance from a central point of the pinching element carrying the delaying element and between said central point and a pinching surface of said pinching element, said pivot axis extending substantially perpendicularly to an imaginary line connecting said central point with a central point of said pinching surface. During rotation of the drive shaft and the pinching elements, the two cooperating pinching elements are pivoted with respect to each other about said pivot axis from an intermediate position into the pinching position or from the pinching position back into said intermediate position each time said pivot axis passes the transmission line of the compression force of the compression member. Since the pivot axis is arranged at a distance from the central point of the pinching element between said central point and the pinching surface of the pinching element and extends substantially perpendicular by to said imaginary line, the cooperating pinching elements remain in said intermediate position for a relatively long time during rotation of the drive shaft, so that the pivotal motion of the pinching elements from said intermediate position into the pinching position and the build-up of the maximum pinching force between the two pinching elements take place in a relatively short period of time. Since the pivotal motion of the pinching elements into the pinching position takes place in a relatively short period of time, the differences between the points of time at which the pairs of pinching elements, which are in the pinching position at the same moment, reach the pinching position is considerably reduced, so that the pivotal motion of said pairs of pinching elements into the pinching position is better synchronized.
A particular embodiment of an epilating device in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the delaying element comprises a substantially flat contact surface for the two cooperating pinching elements, said pivot axis being defined by a straight edge of said contact surface. In this particular embodiment of the epilating device in accordance with the invention, a simple and practical construction of the delaying element is obtained in that the first and the second contact point constitute two angular points of said contact surface, the pivot axis being defined by said straight edge which extends between said two angular points.
A further embodiment of an epilating device in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the two cooperating pinching elements comprise two pairs of cooperating pinching surfaces arranged diametrically relative to each other, one of the two cooperating pinching elements comprising a further delaying element for delaying a pivotal motion of the pinching elements with respect to each other towards a further pinching position, said further delaying element comprising at least a third and a fourth contact position for the two cooperating pinching elements, which define a further pivot axis about which the pinching elements are pivotable with respect to each other, said pivot axis and said further pivot axis extending parallel to each other and substantially perpendicularly to said imaginary line and being arranged respectively on both sides of, an
Barlett Ernestine C.
Dvorak Linda C. M.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics , N.V.
Ruddy David M.
LandOfFree
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