U.S. patent application number 12/985376 was filed with the patent office on 2011-06-02 for epilation device.
This patent application is currently assigned to The Procter & Gamble Company. Invention is credited to Frieder Grieshaber, Bernhard Kraus.
Application Number | 20110130770 12/985376 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40104862 |
Filed Date | 2011-06-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110130770 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kraus; Bernhard ; et
al. |
June 2, 2011 |
Epilation Device
Abstract
An epilation device is proposed that has a housing, a roll-like
epilation implement mounted at the housing, which epilation
implement has clamping units for successively clamping and plucking
hairs, and the epilation device has further a powered motor
operatively coupled to the epilation implement, and a motor
control. The proposed epilation device is arranged to have at least
a fast operation mode in which the motor is controlled by the motor
control such that the clamping units move with a circumferential
speed of more than 2.5 meters per second relative to the housing.
This serves to e.g. achieve a gap-less clamping and plucking in a
use direction (U) even if the epilation device is drawn over the
skin with a relatively high speed.
Inventors: |
Kraus; Bernhard; (Braunfels,
DE) ; Grieshaber; Frieder; (Neu-Anspach, DE) |
Assignee: |
The Procter & Gamble
Company
Cincinnati
OH
|
Family ID: |
40104862 |
Appl. No.: |
12/985376 |
Filed: |
January 6, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/EP2009/004394 |
Jun 18, 2009 |
|
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12985376 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
606/133 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45D 2026/008 20130101;
A45D 26/0028 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
606/133 |
International
Class: |
A45D 26/00 20060101
A45D026/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 17, 2008 |
EP |
08 012 880.4 |
Claims
1. Epilation device (100) comprising: a housing (101); a roll-like
epilation implement (10) having clamping units (11) for
successively clamping and plucking hairs, the roll-like epilation
implement (10) being mounted to the housing; a powered motor (30)
operatively coupled to the roll-like epilation implement (10); and
a motor control (20, 21, 22); wherein the epilation device (100)
has at least a fast operation mode in which the motor (30) is
controlled by the motor control (20, 21, 22) such that the clamping
units (11) move with a circumferential speed of more than 2.5
meters per second relative to the housing (101).
2. Epilation device according to claim 1, wherein the motor (30) is
controlled such that the clamping units (11) move with a
circumferential speed of at least 3 meters per second relative to
the housing (101).
3. Epilation device according to claim 2 that further has a sensor
(40) arranged to measure the speed of the epilation device (100)
relative to a surface over which the epilation device (100) is
drawn during operation.
4. Epilation device according to claim 3, wherein the motor control
(20, 21, 22) is arranged to vary the circumferential speed of the
clamping units (11) in dependence on a speed signal provided by the
sensor (40).
5. Epilation device according to claim 4, wherein the motor control
(20, 21, 22) is arranged to vary the circumferential speed such
that the clamping units (11) clamp and pluck hairs in an
essentially gap-less manner in a use direction (U) of the epilation
device (100).
6. Epilation device according to claim 4, wherein the motor control
(20, 21, 22) is arranged to vary the circumferential speed so that
a preset plucking efficiency is steadily achieved.
7. Epilation device according to claim 1, wherein a clamping unit
(11) comprises at least a clamping element that is made at least
partially from an elastomeric material or has a coating or covering
layer of an elastomeric material covering its surface at least
partially.
8. Epilation device according to claim 1, which has a switch
element (50, 51) for selectively switching into the fast operation
mode of the epilation device.
9. Epilation device according to claim 1, wherein the motor control
(20, 21, 22) is arranged to automatically switch to the fast
operation mode if the load of the motor (30) rises above a
threshold value.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of prior co-pending
International Application No. PCT/EP2009/004394 filed Jun. 18,
2009, designating the United States.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to epilation devices and in
particular to epilation devices that have a housing, a roll-like
epilation implement having clamping units for successively clamping
and plucking hair, a powered motor coupled to the epilation
implement, and a motor control.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Epilation devices according to the previous paragraph are
known. DE 10 2004 013 755 A1 describes a device in which a
roll-like epilation implement is rotated with a circumferential
speed of 0.6 meters per second or lower relative to the housing and
in particular with a circumferential speed of 0.15 meters per
second or lower. DE 10 2004 013 755 A1 also refers to EP 0 532 106
A1, in which an epilation device is described that is rotated with
a circumferential speed of about 2 meters per second. The low speed
of the epilation implement as described by DE 10 2004 013 755 A1
serves to increase the amount of epilated hairs that are epilated
with the hair root so that a more enduring hair removal effect is
achieved in contrast to epilation devices that rotate with a higher
circumferential speed such as 2 meters per second.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is desirable to provide an epilation device that is
improved over the known epilation devices.
[0005] The object of the invention is solved by an epilation device
according to claim 1. Additional embodiments are given by the
dependent claims.
[0006] The epilation device according to claim 1 has a housing, a
roll-like epilation implement having clamping units for
successively clamping and plucking hair, which roll-like epilation
implement is mounted to the housing, a powered motor operatively
coupled to the roll-like epilation implement, and a motor control.
The epilation device further has at least a fast operation mode in
which the motor is controlled by the motor control such that the
clamping units are moved with a circumferential speed of more than
2.5 meters per second relative to the housing and in particular
with a circumferential speed of about 3.0 meters per second
relative to the housing or more.
[0007] A roll-like epilation implement in particular means a
cylindrical epilation implement that has on its surface openings,
where through each opening at least a movable clamping element
extends so that a clamping unit is formed by the opening and the
clamping element. The epilation implement is rotated around its
longitudinal centre axis and the clamping element is concurrently
moved in succession from an open position to a clamping position in
which hairs are clamped between the movable clamping element and
e.g. a sidewall of the opening. Such an epilation implement is e.g.
described in international patent application WO 2006/037392 A1,
the content of which is included into the present description by
reference. The roll-like epilation implement could also be a
deformed or a curved cylindrical epilation implement, one example
for a bent cylindrical epilation implement is described in US
2007/093853 A1. But the roll-like epilation implement should not be
confined to implements having essentially a cylindrical
cross-section. A roll-like epilation implement is also given by
rod-like elements that are arranged one after the other on a base
body having a non-cylindrical cross section and where the rod-like
elements form a closed chain that is continuously moved along the
outer surface of the base body as is e.g. described in WO 01/95758
A1.
[0008] Circumferential speed means the speed of the clamping units
at the surface of the roll-like epilation implement in use
direction relative to the housing.
[0009] In an embodiment, the epilation device has a sensor that is
arranged to measure the speed of the epilation device relative to a
surface over which the epilation device is drawn. In a refinement,
the motor control is arranged to vary the circumferential speed of
the clamping units in dependence on a speed signal provided by the
sensor. In one embodiment, the circumferential speed is varied such
that the clamping units clamp and pluck hairs in an essentially
gap-less manner in a use direction of the epilation device and in
another embodiment, the circumferential speed is varied such that a
preset plucking efficiency is steadily achieved.
[0010] In another embodiment, at least a clamping unit comprises a
clamping element that is made at least partially from an
elastomeric material or has a coating of an elastomeric material
covering the surface of the clamping element at least
partially.
[0011] In a further embodiment, the epilation device is provided
with a switch for selectively switching into the fast operation
mode.
[0012] In an even further embodiment, the motor control is arranged
to automatically switch to the fast operation mode if the load of
the motor rises above a threshold value.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The present invention will further be described by detailed
explanation of exemplary embodiments and by reference to
figures.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of a first embodiment of an
epilation device as proposed and
[0015] FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of a second embodiment of an
epilation device as proposed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] It was found that current epilation devices such as, e.g.,
the Braun Silk-epil Xelle.RTM., are often intuitively drawn over
the skin in a use direction with a speed that coincides with the
speed a user would draw a wet shaver over the skin, that is up to
about 20 centimetres per second (cm/s). At such a speed, successive
plucking events performed by the clamping units arranged at the
circumference of the roll-like epilation implement occur with a gap
in the use direction. The actual width of the gap in use direction
depends on the width of the clamping units in use direction. As a
result, hairs are not clamped and plucked that lie in these gaps
and the plucking efficiency per stroke is reduced. Gaps between
plucking events can be avoided by either using the epilation device
at a lower drawing speed in use direction or with a higher
circumferential speed of the clamping units that are arranged on
the surface of the roll-like epilation implement.
[0017] In the past, the plucking speed of an epilation device
(which is the circumferential speed of the clamping units relative
to the housing; the drawing speed of the epilation device is not
taken into account) was in the order of about 2 meters per second
(m/s). Additionally it was described in DE 10 2004 013 755 A1 that
it would be advantageous to reduce the plucking speed to about 0.6
m/s or even lower to a plucking speed of 0.15 m/s to achieve
optimal efficiency and enduring hair removal results as the
percentage of roots that are plucked together with the hair is
increased by the low plucking speed.
[0018] It was now found, in contrast to the teachings and beliefs
of the past, that the plucking pain is reduced at higher plucking
speed and that also the efficiency of the epilation device
concerning plucking of hairs together with their roots when
compared to regular plucking speeds of about 2 m/s is only
marginally reduced when increasing the plucking speed above the
usual plucking speed of 2 m/s. In conclusion, it was now found that
increasing the plucking speed leads to less plucking pain and to an
improved efficiency at the intuitively used drawing speed, while
the root plucking efficiency is only marginally reduced.
Circumferential speeds of the clamping units that allow this
improved usage lie above 2.5 m/s and in particular lie at about 3
m/s or even higher speeds. An epilation device as proposed has thus
at least a fast operation mode in which the motor control controls
the powered motor to move the clamping units of the roll-like
epilation implement such that the circumferential speed of the
clamping units relative to the housing of the epilation device lies
above 2.5 m/s and in particular at least about 3 m/s.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of an epilation device 100
as proposed. The epilation device 100 has a roll-like epilation
implement 10 that has clamping units 11 arranged on its
circumference. The roll-like epilation implement 10 is operatively
coupled to a motor 30, which motor 30 is energized by an
accumulator 31. Instead of an accumulator 31, the motor 30 may
alternatively (or additionally) be energized by a power cable (not
shown) that can be connected to mains voltage. The motor 30 is
controlled by a motor control 20. A switch element 50 is arranged
on the housing 101 of the epilation device 100 to allow a user to
selectively switch the device on or off or to selectively switch
from a low speed mode to a fast speed mode, in which the
circumferential speed of the clamping units 11 relative to the
housing 101 of the epilation device 100 is above 2.5 m/s, in
particular where the circumferential speed of the clamping units 11
relative to the housing of the epilation device 100 is about 3.0
m/s or even faster.
[0020] During operation, the epilation device 100 is brought into
contact with a subject's skin 90 and is moved over the skin 90 in a
use direction U as is schematically shown in FIG. 1. The clamping
units 11 arranged on the circumference of the roll-like epilation
implement 10 are moved along the circumference of the roll-like
epilation implement 10 in a direction R, e.g. by rotating the whole
roll-like epilation implement 100, which in particular can be
realized in the form of an epilation cylinder, as is generally
known in the art. Hairs 91 growing on the skin will eventually be
clamped by the clamping units 11 and plucked from the skin. A long
lasting hair removal is achieved by plucking out the hairs together
with the respective root section of the hair. The roll-like
epilation implement could be realized as an epilation cylinder as
is known in the art and is described e.g. in WO 2006/037392 A1.
Instead of a rotating cylinder, the clamping units 11 may be
arranged on a chain as is described e.g. in WO 01/95758 A1 so that
also non-cylindrical roll-like epilation implements 10 can be
realized.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of another embodiment of an
epilation device 100 as proposed. to Most features of the epilation
device in FIG. 2 are the same as in FIG. 1 and will not be
described again. The epilation device 100 according to FIG. 2 has
an additional sensor 40 that is arranged to measure the speed of
the device relative to the subject's skin The sensor 40 could be
realised as an optical speed sensor as is known from a computer
mouse. The sensor 40 could alternatively be realised as a
mechanical speed sensor such as a roll that is in frictional
contact with the skin and translates its movement into a speed
signal. The sensor 40 is connected with the motor control 20 so
that a speed signal determined by the sensor 40 can be transmitted
to the motor control 20.
[0022] The epilation device 100 also has a memory unit 21 for
storing e.g. a preset efficiency value. In one embodiment, the
efficiency value can be set by the user through a selection knob
51, which may be arranged at the housing 101 of the epilation
device 100. The switching element 50 as depicted in FIG. 1 may be
arranged to also fulfil the functionality of the selection knob 51
or the selection knob 51 is additionally or alternatively provided
to the switching element 50 arranged at the housing 101 of the
epilation device 100. A certain efficiency of the epilation device
100 is given by the density of the plucking events in the use
direction U. If an efficiency value is preset, then the motor
control 20 can vary the circumferential speed of the clamping units
in dependence on the speed of the device in the use direction U,
which speed is derived from the speed signal delivered by the
sensor 40. The higher the speed of the device in the use direction
U, the higher the circumferential speed of the clamping elements 11
so that a constant density of plucking events and hence a preset
efficiency value is achieved.
[0023] The epilation device 100 further has a motor load
determination unit 22 that in the shown embodiment determines the
motor load from the current the motor 30 requires driving the
roll-like epilation implement 10. The motor load determination unit
22 is connected to the motor control 20 so that the determined
motor load value can be transmitted to the motor control 20. If the
epilation device 100 is brought into contact with the skin 90, then
the load rises due to the friction between roll-like epilation
implement 10 and the skin 90 and due to the plucking events. The
motor control 20 compares the motor load value determined by the
motor load determination unit 22 with a threshold value, which is
e.g. chosen to lie between the load of motor if no additional
external load such as the friction between device and skin is
present (no-external-load operation load) and a previously measured
load of the motor during a typical epilation procedure (usual
operation load). If the motor load rises above the threshold, then
the motor control 20 switches into the fast operation mode. In
turn, if the motor load drops below the threshold, then the motor
control switches back into a slow operation mode. The slow
operation mode can be chosen so that the device makes only a low
noise acceptable to a user.
[0024] It should be noted that the motor control 20 can be arranged
to control the motor 30 in such way that a gapless plucking is
achieved or so that a constant efficiency is achieved on basis of a
speed signal delivered by a sensor provided to measure the speed
with which the epilation device is drawn over a surface also
independently from the existence of a fast operation mode of more
than 2.5 m/s. Likewise, the switching of the motor between a slow
mode (e.g. between 0.5 m/s-1.5 m/s, in particular 1 m/s) and a
faster or regular mode (e.g. between 1.5 m/s-2.5 m/s, in particular
2 m/s) in case the motor load rises above a threshold as discussed
can also be implemented without the faster or regular mode being
necessarily a fast mode of more than 2.5 m/s. The advantages of
these provisions are evidently the same as in case of a fast mode
of more than 2.5 m/s. An epilation device would then comprise a
housing, a roll-like epilation implement having clamping units for
successively clamping and plucking hairs, the roll-like epilation
implement being mounted to the housing, a powered motor operatively
coupled to the roll-like epilation implement, a motor control, and
a sensor arranged to measure the speed of the epilation device
relative to a surface over which the epilation device is drawn
during operation, whereas the motor control is arranged to vary the
circumferential speed of the clamping element in dependence of a
speed signal provided by the sensor. The motor control could then
further be arranged to vary the circumferential speed of the
clamping units either such that the clamping units clamp and pluck
hairs in an essentially gap-less manner in a use direction of the
epilation device or such that a preset plucking efficiency is
steadily achieved.
[0025] An exemplary diameter of a roll-like epilation implement 10
realized as an epilation cylinder is about 2 cm and an exemplary
circumferential width of a clamping unit 11 is about 4 mm. Due to
mechanical restrictions and for efficiency reasons, each clamping
unit 11 is often axially spaced to all other clamping units 11 of
the roll-like epilation implement 10. Thus, only one clamping unit
11 is arranged at a given axial position with respect to the use
direction U of the epilation device 100, which use direction U is
perpendicular to the axial extension of the roll-like epilation
implement 10. Given a circumferential speed of the clamping unit 11
relative to the housing 101 of the epilation device 100 of 2 m/s
and assuming an intuitively chosen drawing speed of 20 cm/s of the
epilation device 100 over the skin, the clamping unit 11 will clamp
hairs at positions that are 6 mm apart from the respective previous
clamping position. As the circumferential width of the exemplary
clamping unit 11 in use direction is 4 mm, a gap of 2 mm remains
that has not undergone a clamping and plucking event. In order to
improve the efficiency of the epilation device 100 at the
intuitively chosen drawing speed of about 20 cm/s, the
circumferential speed of the clamping unit 11 is increased in the
fast operation mode so that after a rotation of the roll-like
epilation implement 10, the clamping unit 11 is clamping and
plucking hairs at a distance of 4 mm with respect to the previous
clamping and plucking position. As a result, this leads to an
essentially gap-less clamping and plucking of hairs in the use
direction U. For the given exemplary numbers this results in a
circumferential speed of the clamping units 11 relative to the
housing 101 of the epilation device 100 of 3 m/s. Generally, an
improvement of the efficiency is achieved with a circumferential
speed of the clamping units 11 with respect to the housing of 2.5
m/s or a larger circumferential speed such as 2.6 m/s, 2.7 m/s, 2.8
m/s or 2.9 m/s. For the exemplary geometrical dimensions of an
epilation device 100 as used for the present computations, a
circumferential speed of 3.2 m/s or even more, such as 3.4 m/s or
3.6 m/s would then allow to reduce the circumferential width of the
clamping units 11 to still achieve an essentially gap-less clamping
and plucking of hairs. A reduced circumferential width of the
clamping units 11 leads to reduced surface areas of the clamping
elements of a clamping unit 11 that are pinched together to clamp
hairs, which in turn reduces the noise generated by the epilation
device 100. As the noise is increased with increasing
circumferential speed due to the increasing pinching speed at
constant geometry of the clamping units 11, reduction of the width
of the clamping unit is one measure to counteract noise increase.
As another measure to reduce noise generated by the epilation
device 100, the clamping elements of the clamping units 11 can be
at least partially made of an elastomeric material such as a
synthetic elastomeric material or a natural elastomeric material
such as rubber or can be at least partially coated by such a
material.
[0026] The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be
understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values
recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension
is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally
equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension
disclosed as "40 mm" is intended to mean "about 40 mm."
* * * * *