Surgery – Instruments – Means for removal of skin or material therefrom
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-07
2003-07-01
Philogene, Pedro (Department: 3732)
Surgery
Instruments
Means for removal of skin or material therefrom
C606S131000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06585743
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hand held, motorized depilatory device for removing unwanted skin hair, and more particularly, to a revolutionary concept and mechanically correct design to pluck out skin hair, utilizing a novel mechanism to spirally align coupled-tweezer elements.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The prior art of motor-powered depilatory devices for removing skin hair is based on a well-known concept disclosed in a patent covering an earlier mechanical device, Swiss Patent 268,696 to Fischer. There, a helical spring is arched, to provide spaces between loops of its convex side, and the spring is placed on the skin, under slight pressure, and rolled, in the direction of hair growth. The rolling motion of the helical spring causes hairs, which become trapped in the spaces, between the coil loops, on the convex side, to be plucked, when these spaces close, on the coil spring concave side.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,772 to Daar, et. al., discloses an arched, helical spring, which is provided with high speed, rotational motion via motor-driven couplings, connected at its ends. The contact between the helical spring wire and individual hairs is essentially point-like. A hair that is caught between the closed spring loops may be released before the plucking operation has been completed, which results in inefficient plucking and unnecessary pain.
Once a hair becomes trapped between closed helical spring loops, continued application of rotational force causes the spring to “wind up”, since it is composed of flexible wire material, yet the hair is still in place. As the spring continues to “wind”, the pulling tension applied to the hair increases until the necessary force is developed for plucking. Because a finite interval is required for this force to be developed, the user is subjected to an increased pain level.
The helical spring may break during use, due to the continuous bending stresses applied to it, creating a hazard to the user, as the spring is in direct contact with the skin.
In addition, a transverse deflection of hairs takes place, due to lateral movement of the spaces between the helical spring loops, which rotate in spiral fashion. Therefore, shorter hairs tend to escape the traps, created by the helical spring loops.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,902 to Alazet, there is disclosed a depilatory device, comprising a series of adjacent, closely-spaced hair-plucking discs, driven by an electric motor, housed within a casing. The discs are periodically deformed during their rotation, such that adjacent ones, thereof, are pressed together to pluck hairs, which may have become trapped between them, when the unit is passed over the skin. When the discs are pressed together, the external hair-traps, thus formed, capture mainly hairs located in the center of the device's rotational path. The short hairs, located on the peripheries of the rotational path, are not trapped and consequently, not plucked.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,902 to Alazet; U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,123 to Oliveau, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,422 to Demeester, simultaneous closing of blades is complicated and extremely difficult to ensure, while maintaining a uniform gripping force in all hair-traps. These patents describe devices, in which, parallel-positioned plucking blades or disks are fixed, relative to the rod, which carries them. Typically, cam driven motion of the rods causes the blades to close one against the other. On application of force, sufficient gripping force will be attained by some of the blades, while other blades will not be subjected to sufficient force and will remain open.
The difference in plucking-blade response to a given mechanical force is primarily a result of non-uniformity in the production of the unit elements. As a certain level of non-uniformity accompanies all production, correct and efficient performance requires finding a method to decrease, or preferably, eliminate the detrimental effects of non-uniform production.
In order for the blades to close, further force must be exerted, which causes excessive stress on the blades, which closed first. Excessive stress on the blades typically causes hair to be cut instead of plucked. In addition, a certain percentage of plucking attempts is unsuccessful. Each time hairs are pulled, without plucking the hairs, the result is increased pain, increased energy consumption, (which is particularly significant in the case of battery-operated devices), increased noise and excessive wear and tear of parts.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a superior power-driven depilatory device, which provides a drastic improvement in the ratio of plucked to cut hairs, while minimizing pain associated with the interval between grasping and plucking of individual hairs.
It would also be desirable to provide a depilatory device, which would reduce noise, and therefore be less frightening to the user.
Furthermore, in the prior art, the depilatory devices were designed, so that to be effective, the user had to hold the device substantially perpendicular to the skin surface, at many times, a most awkward position to work in.
Therefore, it would also be desirable to provide a depilatory device, whose design allows the user to efficiently utilize the device at additional contact angles with the skin surface. This would allow the user to easily maneuver the device, so as to remove hair efficiently, in hard-to-get-to areas, such as the back of the knee joint area. In addition, such a design would also allow the user to easily view the area to be depilated, which was most difficult to do in prior art devices.
Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a depilatory device, whose mechanically correct design will lead to an efficient distribution of the applied force and thereby reduce excessive wear of parts and improve the plucking efficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages and provide a hand-held, motorized depilatory device for removing unwanted skin hair, utilizing a mechanically correct design employing a novel mechanism to spirally align coupled-tweezer elements.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a motor-powered depilatory device comprising:
a manually-held housing;
motor means disposed in said housing; and
a hair-plucking assembly, exposed through an opening in said housing, and coupled to said motor means, said hair-plucking assembly containing a right hand actuator element and a left hand actuator element, identical in construction, each carrying opposing tweezer elements, which fit together in interleaved fashion, arranged to define hair-traps,
said hair-plucking assembly being rotatable about a central shaft and operable to close and open said hair-traps by a system of cams and springs.
Hair-traps are developed by a series of tweezer elements, mounted circumferentially on said hair-plucking assembly. Each of said actuator elements has a pair of carrier arms, containing slots, in which said tweezer elements are mounted. The actuator elements are arranged to provide slots for installation of a plurality rows of tweezer elements, arranged in a staggered, rather than tandem arrangement.
The actuator elements, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, are made of plastic and are simply designed, and identical in construction, making them inexpensive to manufacture, via injection molding.
On each actuator element, adjacent to the carrier arms are cams, on which are positioned cam followers that are supported by cam follower holders. Two sets of cam followers are held, one at each end, formed by the actuator elements, and are prevented from rotating by an actuator spring. The actuator spring is held in place within a slit, in the body of the appliance, which prevents it from rotating with the hair-plucking assembly. The actuator spring exerts pressure on the ends of the central shaft, which is relayed to the cam follower holders, the cam followers, and through the cams to
Langer Edward
Shiboleth Yisraeli Roberts Zisman & Co.
LandOfFree
Hair depilating device utilizing mechanism to spirally align... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Hair depilating device utilizing mechanism to spirally align..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Hair depilating device utilizing mechanism to spirally align... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3063194