Surgery – Instruments – Means for removal of skin or material therefrom
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-24
2003-09-16
Izaguirre, Ismael (Department: 3765)
Surgery
Instruments
Means for removal of skin or material therefrom
Reexamination Certificate
active
06620175
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a hair removing device for removing unwanted body hair for the personal grooming and the like.
2. Background and Material Information
A known hair removing device is disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI 9-308521, shown in
FIGS. 19 and 20
. In this known device, a motor
3
is rotated to rotate a roller unit
51
via a belt
56
, the roller unit having a plurality of disks. Unwanted body hair is caught and pulled out by the disk due to the rotation of the roller unit
51
. A cleaning element
53
having a bristle brush is provided in a casing
52
. Body hair accumulated in the disk for catching and pulling out the body hair is removed by the cleaning element
53
and falls into a partition. The body hair from the partition may be emptied by removing a cover
54
.
While the body hair accumulated in the disks is removed through the cleaning element
53
, in the above-described known device, body hair cannot be sufficiently emptied from this device. Moreover, hair follicles, sebum and other fatty or sebaceous secretions pulled out by this device along with body hair have the tendency to adhere to the inside of the device, thereby making it difficult to empty and clean the device.
In addition, rotational driving force of the motor
3
is transmitted to the roller unit
51
via a belt
56
, as shown in FIG.
19
. In the area where the belt
56
is provided, a gap
55
exists between the roller unit
51
and the motor
3
. Such an arrangement is often problematic in that body hair, sebum and other unwanted organic matter through the gap
55
into the portion of the device housing the motor
3
, thereby reducing the life of the device. Further, the roller unit
51
portion having the body hair, sebum and other organic matter stuck thereto cannot be washed with water without destroying the device, as this device is not water resistant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a hair-removing device and method capable of preventing body hair, sebum and other unwanted organic matter and the like from entering the area of the driving source which would otherwise cause failure of the driving source. The present invention may be washed with water, thereby providing for the easy removal of body hair, sebum and other organic matter wound or stuck onto a rotary cylinder or a detent.
With the present invention, hair, sebum and the like do not enter a portion of the device that houses a driving source, thereby preventing possible failure of the driving source. Body hair, sebum and the like that is wound or stuck onto a rotary cylinder, or body hair, sebum and the like that is stuck onto a detent can easily be removed by washing the device with water.
The hair removing device of the present invention provides a rotatable cylinder having a hair removing unit provided with a plurality of detents configured to engage and disengage each other, the hair removing unit configured to pull out hair through rotation of the rotatable cylinder. Also provided is a driving source configured to rotate the rotatable cylinder, and a drive transmission configured to transmit driving force from the driving source to the rotatable cylinder. The present invention also includes a housing having a handheld configuration and configured to house at least the driving source and at least a portion of the drive transmission, and a first water-resistant member affixed to the housing at substantially a middle portion of the drive transmission and configured to substantially water-resistantly seal the driving source. With such a structure, the water-resistant member can prevent body hair, sebum and other unwanted material from entering the housing. By washing the rotatable cylinder and the detents with water, moreover, hair (e.g., pulled out body hair, hair torn into pieces during removal or the like) and sebum which are wound or stuck onto the rotatable cylinder or hair and sebum which are stuck to the detents can be easily removed. Also, the water-resistant member prevents water from entering the housing which would otherwise damage the driving source housed therein, so that washing can be easily and safely performed.
Moreover, the present invention may further include a rotatable cylinder gear operably connected to the rotatable cylinder, wherein the drive transmission includes a gear train configured to transmit the driving force from the driving source to the rotatable cylinder gear, and wherein the gear train is provided with the first water-resistant member. With such a structure, the water-resistant member is provided for water-resistantly sealing the gear train portion to transmit driving force to the gear provided on the rotatable cylinder in a manner different from a prior art structure in which driving force is transmitted through a belt in order to rotate the rotatable cylinder. Consequently, water-resistant sealing can be easily achieved with the simple structure of the present invention.
Furthermore, the present invention may further include a base housed within the housing and having a plurality of base portions, at least one of the base portions configured to rotatably support a shaft of a gear of the gear train. The first water-resistant member may include a first water-resistant portion configured to substantially water-resistantly seal a region of the gear of the gear train, and a second water-resistant portion configured to substantially water-resistantly seal a region between the base portion that is configured to rotatably support the shaft of the gear of the gear train and another base portion. With such a structure, it is possible to water seal regions between the bases for rotatably supporting the shaft of the gear, in addition to the reduction gear portion, through the water-resistant member, in order to water seal the housing against entry of water from the rotatable cylinder, at the middle of the gear train.
Moreover, the first and second water-resistant portions may be integrally formed with the base portion that is configured to rotatably support the shaft of the gear of the gear train. By such integral formation of the water-resistant member with one of the bases, the number of parts can be reduced.
The base of the present invention may be housed within the housing and include a plurality of base portions, at least one of the base portions being configured to rotatably support a shaft, and the invention may further include a pair of gears of the gear train coaxially positioned about the shaft, wherein at least a portion the first water-resistant member is positioned between the pair of gears. Since water-sealing is carried out by the water-resistant member on the shaft portion between the gears fixed to both sides of the shaft of the reduction gear, the driving source side can be sealed against entry of water from the rotatable cylinder.
Further, the first water-resistant member may be further configured to substantially water-resistantly seal a portion of the gear train provided in the housing, and the rotatable cylinder may be readily removable from and attachable to the housing. With such a structure, the rotatable cylinder can be easily removed from and reattached to the housing for cleaning. Consequently, a part of the gear train in the housing can be cleaned. In addition, the rotatable cylinder can be removed, so that the rotatable cylinder alone can be washed with water.
Also, the first water-resistant member may be further configured to substantially water-resistantly seal a shaft portion of a gear of the gear train directly rotatably engaging the rotatable cylinder gear. With such a structure, hair and sebum may be prevented from entering the part of the housing where the gear train is provided. It is thus preferable that only the part of the invention housing the rotatable cylinder should be cleaned. Hair, sebum and the like can easily be removed by washing with water.
The invention may further include a hair removing head that houses the rotatable cylin
Inoue Tomoyuki
Iwasaki Jyuzaemon
Sueyoshi Hidekazu
Takeuchi Toshihiro
Taniguchi Naoki
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Izaguirre Ismael
Matsushita Electric & Works Ltd.
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