Cutlery – Razors – With cooperating shearing blades
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-25
2003-06-24
Payer, Hwei-Siu (Department: 3724)
Cutlery
Razors
With cooperating shearing blades
C030S346510
Reexamination Certificate
active
06581289
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inner cutter for an electric rotary shaver and to a rotary type electric shaver.
2. Prior Art
A conventional electric rotary shaver will be described with reference to
FIGS. 7 and 8
.
First, to describe the overall structure, the electric shaver
10
is substantially comprised of a main body case
16
and a cutter head section
24
. The main body case
16
is made of a synthetic resin and is held in hand of the user when hair, beard, mustache, etc. (called “hair”) is shaved. The main body case
16
contains, along with other components, a motor
12
, a power supply switch
14
and a power supply part (not shown) that supplies electric power to the motor
12
. The cutter head section
24
is detachably mounted on the upper end of the main body case
16
and has outer cutters
18
, inner cutters
20
and inner cutter bases
22
for the inner cutters
20
, etc. that are built into the cutter head section
24
.
FIGS. 7 and 8
show an electric shaver
10
in which three outer cutters
18
are installed in the cutter head section
24
so that the centers of three outer cutters
18
are positioned substantially at the vertices of an equilateral triangle. However, there are no restrictions on the number of outer cutters
18
. The outer cutters
18
(and the corresponding inner cutters
20
) can be one, two or four or more.
Inner cutter drive shafts
28
made of a synthetic resin are installed so as to protrude (in a number equal to the number of inner cutters
20
) from a cutter cradle
26
that covers the opening part in the upper portion of the main body case
16
. The inner cutter drive shafts
28
transmit the rotational force of the motor
12
to the inner cutters
20
installed in the cutter head section
24
. When the cutter head section
24
is mounted on the main body case
16
(or more specifically attached to the cutter cradle
26
of the main body case
16
), the tip ends of the inner cutter drive shafts
28
are connected by an interlocking engagement to the inner cutter bases
22
to which the inner cutters
20
are attached. Also, the inner cutters
20
receive a rotational force from the inner cutter drive shafts
28
and rotate as a unit with the inner cutter drive shafts
28
.
Next, the structures of the respective components of the electric shaver will be described in detail.
First, the cutter head section
24
is comprised of a cutter frame
30
made of a synthetic resin, outer cutters
18
made of metal, an outer cutter holder
32
which is made of a synthetic resin and holds the outer cutters
18
, inner cutters
20
made of metal, inner cutter bases
22
which are made of a synthetic resin and to which the inner cutters
20
are attached, and a cutter retaining plate
34
which is made of a synthetic resin and which holds the inner cutters
20
so that the inner cutters
20
are rotatable.
The metal outer cutters
18
are formed so that the overall shape of the outer cutters
18
is a shape derived by inverting a cylindrical body which has a bottom and which has a low height (i.e., an inverted dish shape or cap shape). An annular outside hair introduction region V, and an annular inside hair introduction region W positioned to the inside of the outside hair introduction region V, are formed concentrically in the upper-surface portion of each outer cutter
18
which contacts the skin.
Furthermore, a positioning engaging portion
36
(as one example in the shape of a recess) is formed in the undersurface of the region X located within the inside hair introduction region W of each outer cutter
18
. The positioning engaging portion
36
prevents wobbling of the rotational axis of each inner cutter
20
with respect to the corresponding outer cutter
18
by engaging in an interlocking manner with the end portion of the corresponding inner cutter base (described later), so that each inner cutter
20
constantly rotates coaxially with the corresponding outer cutter
18
A plurality of hair introduction openings
40
are opened in the inside and outside hair introduction regions V and W. In
FIG. 7
, the hair introduction openings are formed as slits that extend from the outer side to the inner side of the respective hair introduction regions V and W. Scattered small holes having a round shape, oval shape or slot-form shape may be used as the hair introduction openings
40
.
Furthermore, the surfaces of the respective hair introduction regions V and W are formed as flat surfaces; in the case of the outer cutter
18
shown in
FIG. 8
, the respective hair introduction regions V and W are formed (as one example) so that they are positioned in the same plane.
Each one of these outer cutters
18
is mounted in a corresponding outer cutter holder
32
made of a synthetic resin so that: the outer cutter
18
is not rotatable, the amount of protrusion of the outer cutter
18
form the outer cutter holder
32
can be altered, and the outer cutter
18
is tiltable in all directions within a specified angular range inside the outer cutter holder
32
.
Furthermore, the outer cutters
18
are mounted together with the outer cutter holder
32
in the cutter frame
30
so that the tip ends of the outer cutters
18
protruded from outer cutter holes
42
formed in the cutter frame
30
. Since the internal diameter of the outer cutter holes
42
is formed so that it is slightly larger than the external diameter of the outer cutters
18
, the outer cutters
18
are mounted in the cutter frame
30
so that the amount of protrusion of the outer cutters from the cutter frame
30
can be varied by the movement of the outer cutters
18
along the axial lines of the outer cutter hole
42
, and so that the outer cutters
18
can be tilted in all directions with respect to the axial lines of the outer cutter holes
42
within a specified angular range.
As shown in
FIGS. 8 and 9
, the metal outer cutter
20
is comprised of a cutter supporting member
21
and a plurality of inner cutter bodies
23
. The cutter supporting member
21
has a ring-form body
21
a
, which is formed in the shape of a flat plate, and a plurality of upright supporting portions
21
b
. The upright supporting portions
21
b
are raised from the outer-circumferential edge of the ring-form body
21
a
and are lined up side by side at equal angular intervals. The inner cutter bodies
23
are formed on the tip ends of the respective upright supporting portions
21
b.
The root portions of the adjacent upright supporting portions
21
b
on the side of the ring-form body
21
a
are connected to each other within a specified height range Y from the surface of the ring-form body
21
a
so that the overall shape is formed as a cylindrical shape. Accordingly, the bottom surface portion of each inner cutter
20
is constructed in the shape of a dish by the root portions of the respective upright supporting portions
21
b
formed into a cylindrical shape, and the ring-form body
21
a.
Furthermore, the inner cutter bodies
23
are integrally connected to the inclined surfaces of the upper portions or the respective upright supporting portions
21
b
(which are formed with a triangular shape, as one example) so that the inner cutter bodies
23
protrude to the outside of the corresponding inner cutter
20
. The tip ends of the inner cutter bodies
23
are formed with a bifurcated shape, so that the overall shape of the inner cutter bodies
23
is a U shape or Y shape. Of the bifurcated tip ends of each inner cutter body
23
, the tip end on the outer-circumferential side contacts the inside surface of the outside hair introduction region V of the corresponding outer cutter
18
, while the tip end on the inner-circumferential side contacts the inside surface of the inside hair introduction region W of the corresponding outer cutter
18
. When the outer cutters
20
rotate, the respective tip ends of the respective inner cutter bodies
23
rotate while making sliding contact with the inside surfaces of the respective hair introduction regions V
Izumi Products Company
Koda & Androlia
Payer Hwei-Siu
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