U.S. patent application number 13/252430 was filed with the patent office on 2012-01-26 for body grooming device comprising an atomizer unit.
Invention is credited to Pedro Sanchez-Martinez, Stefan Sindlinger, Judith Von Dahlen.
Application Number | 20120022555 13/252430 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40718808 |
Filed Date | 2012-01-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120022555 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sanchez-Martinez; Pedro ; et
al. |
January 26, 2012 |
BODY GROOMING DEVICE COMPRISING AN ATOMIZER UNIT
Abstract
The present invention is concerned with a body grooming device
such as a hair removal device or a massaging device that comprises
a drive, an application material supply for supplying an
application material at an application material supply outlet, and
an atomizer unit for atomizing the application material, which
atomizer unit comprises a brush-like element having at least a
bristle-like protrusion, said brush-like element being coupled to
the drive so that the brush-like element is driven during an
operation mode of the body grooming device such that the
bristle-like protrusion repeatedly contacts the application
material supply outlet of the application material supply. The
special atomizer unit arrangement is simple, can be made in a cost
efficient manner and is also effectively atomizing an application
material, e.g. water, soap, lotion, gel etc.
Inventors: |
Sanchez-Martinez; Pedro;
(Kronberg, DE) ; Von Dahlen; Judith;
(Frankfurt/Main, DE) ; Sindlinger; Stefan;
(Dieburg, DE) |
Family ID: |
40718808 |
Appl. No.: |
13/252430 |
Filed: |
October 4, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
606/133 ;
30/34.05; 401/286; 606/131 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45D 2026/008 20130101;
A45D 2026/009 20130101; B26B 19/40 20130101; B05B 7/2491 20130101;
B05B 3/082 20130101; A45D 26/0028 20130101; B05B 7/2459
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
606/133 ;
401/286; 30/34.05; 606/131 |
International
Class: |
A45D 26/00 20060101
A45D026/00; A45D 44/00 20060101 A45D044/00; A46B 11/02 20060101
A46B011/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 4, 2009 |
EP |
09005020.4 |
Claims
1. Body grooming device comprising: a drive; an application
material supply for supplying an application material at an
application material supply outlet; and an atomizer unit for
atomizing the application material; which atomizer unit comprises a
brush-like element having at least a bristle-like protrusion, said
brush-like element being coupled to the drive so that the
brush-like element is driven during an operation mode of the body
grooming device such that the bristle-like protrusion repeatedly
contacts the application material supply outlet of the application
material supply.
2. Body grooming device according to claim 1 that further comprises
a blower unit.
3. Body grooming device according to claim 2, wherein the blower
unit is arranged at an end of an air conduit for guiding an air
stream generated by the blower unit during operation such that the
air stream passes the brush-like element.
4. Body grooming device according to claim 1, wherein the drive is
manually operated.
5. Body grooming device according to claim 1, wherein the
bristle-like protrusion is at least partially made from a flexible
and resilient material or is flexibly and resiliently mounted.
6. Body grooming device according to claim 1, wherein said
application material supply comprises a capillary force
element.
7. Body grooming device according to claim 6, wherein the
application material supply outlet is at least partially formed by
at least a part of the capillary force element.
8. Body grooming device according to claim 1, further comprising a
container to store the application material.
9. Body grooming device according to claim 1, wherein the
brush-like element is realized as a cylindrical element arranged
for driven rotation around its cylinder axis during the operation
mode and the bristle-like protrusion is arranged to extend radially
outwards.
10. Body grooming device according to claim 1, further comprising a
detachable attachment section comprising at least the atomizer
unit.
11. Body grooming device according to claim 1, wherein the body
grooming device is realized as a device chosen from the group
consisting of a hair removal device such as an epilator device or a
shaver device, a massaging device, a peeling device, a rubbing
device, or an abrading device.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention is concerned with body grooming
devices and in particular with body grooming devices that comprise
an atomizer unit for atomizing an application material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In the past, spray devices have been equipped to hair
removal devices, such as epilators and razors. For example, patent
application FR 2 454 283 describes an epilation device equipped
with a manually operated spray to apply a refreshing material onto
the skin. From U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,541 an electric razor is known
that comprises a misting mechanism realized as an ultrasonic
vibrator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] It is desirable to provide a body grooming device that is
improved over the known devices or at least provides an alternative
solution.
[0004] A body grooming device as proposed comprises a drive, an
application material supply for supplying an application material
at an application material supply outlet, and an atomizer unit for
atomizing the application material. The atomizer unit comprises a
brush-like element that has at least a bristle-like protrusion. The
brush-like element is coupled to the drive so that it can be driven
such that the bristle-like protrusion repeatedly contacts the
application material supply outlet during operation of the body
grooming device. The mechanical contact of the bristle-like
protrusion with the application material provided at the
application material supply outlet chips off small amounts of
application material that are eventually catapulted away from the
bristle-like protrusion due to acceleration forces and thus small
application material droplets will be formed, hence the application
material is atomized As the bristle-like protrusion repeatedly
contacts the application material supply outlet, this requires that
the motion of the bristle-like protrusion has an oscillatory
component or a rotational component, which introduces acceleration
forces that are defined by movement parameters (e.g. in case of a
rotary movement, the diameter of the brush-like element and the
rotations per second are movement parameters that define the
acceleration force acting on the application material) such that
the amounts of water that are chipped off from the application
material supply outlet are catapulted away from the bristle-like
protrusions due to the acceleration forces. A different way to
provide acceleration force without the need to move the brush-like
element at a high velocity is to make the bristle-like protrusion
from a flexible and resilient material or to mount the bristle-like
protrusion in a flexible and resilient manner. If the bristle-like
protrusion is bent when it contacts the application material supply
outlet, it springs back into its unbent position when it loses
contact with the application material supply outlet. This whipping
movement is also introducing high acceleration forces. Further, the
whipping motion also introduces the acceleration forces only during
a short time period so that the application material droplets are
catapulted into a small solid angle area. The same does usually not
happen if the acceleration forces are applied due to a continuous
movement like a rotation. Thus, a simple atomizer unit is provided
that does not require any nozzle or spray. Application material
that is applied to the skin may lead to better gliding of the body
grooming device over the wetted skin or may lead to cooling effects
due to evaporation of the application material and hence to numbing
of nerves, which can reduce pain during hair removal. Thus, the
application material may be water but also any other application
material or lotion comprising e.g. alcohol and/or coolants and/or
nurturing additives etc. may be used. The brush-like element may be
arranged within a cavity formed by a housing outlet.
[0005] A "body grooming device" is a device out of the class of
devices that are used to treat the body, specifically the skin, by
hair removal through plucking, shaving or sheering, by massaging
(e.g. to stimulate blood circulation, remove muscle tension or to
treat cellulites), peeling or abrading, by rubbing in an
application material such as a nurturing lotion etc. The drivable
body grooming unit may comprise a combination of two or more
sub-units for performing two or more of the mentioned grooming
treatments.
[0006] "Application material" means e.g. a fluid-like or
lotion-like or creme-like or gel-like or soap-like or wax-like or
paste-like etc. material. The atomizer unit atomizes a fluid or
liquid into a mist of fine droplets, a soap-like material into a
dust of fine particles, and gels, cremes, and pastes are atomized
into fine material clusters.
[0007] In a further embodiment, the body grooming device comprises
a blower unit. A blower unit can be used to apply an air stream
onto the skin of the user during a regular use operation. Watery
application material that is applied onto the skin via the atomizer
may be evaporated faster by applying an air stream onto the wet
skin. In a refinement of this embodiment, the blower unit is
arranged at an end of an air conduit that guides the air stream
that is generated by the blower unit during a use operation such
that the air stream passes the brush-like element. The air stream
may hence be used to carry the fine application material droplet or
particle or cluster generated by the atomizer unit so that air and
application material are simultaneously applied to the skin. The
blower unit may comprise a drivable fan or a gas cylinder from
which gas can be released.
[0008] In an embodiment, the drive is manually operated instead of
using a motor-powered drive. This can e.g. be used for devices
where the user wants to apply application material only now and
then instead of a continuous application.
[0009] In another embodiment, the bristle-like protrusion is made
from a flexible and resilient material, e.g. a natural or synthetic
rubber, or the bristle-like protrusion may itself be made from a
rigid material but is flexibly mounted so as to be resilient. This
means that the bristle-like protrusion is bent when it contacts the
application material supply outlet due to mechanical interaction
between the bristle-like protrusion and the application material
supply outlet and that the bristle-like protrusion springs back
into its original, unbent position when the bristle-like protrusion
loses contact with the application material supply outlet. Due to
the resiliency of the material, the bristle-like protrusion springs
back fast into its unbent position. This fast movement leads to
acceleration forces acting on the application material that was
chipped off from the application material supply outlet so that the
application material is catapulted away from the bristle-like
protrusion as fine droplets or particles or clusters. This bending
and springing back is enforced if the bristle-like protrusion does
not only contact an application material provided at the
application material supply outlet or contacts an edge of the
application material supply outlet only with a small tip portion
(hence: in a grazing manner) but if the bristle-like protrusion
contacts an edge of the application material supply outlet such
that a considerable portion of the bristle-like protrusion is bent
so that the springing back is a whipping movement. The material of
the bristle-like protrusion may specifically be chosen to have a
high abrasion resistance with respect to the material(s) of the
application material supply outlet, e.g. the bristle-like
protrusion can be made from a thin metal sheet that is flexible and
also resilient (as the metal sheet essentially is a leaf spring).
Flexibility of the material allows that not only the very tip of
the bristle-like protrusion contacts the application material
supply outlet but that a somewhat larger portion contacts (huddles
against) the application material supply outlet.
[0010] In an embodiment, the application material supply outlet
comprises a capillary force element. A capillary force element can
supply a liquid application material at the application material
supply outlet due to capillary forces, which are effectual
independent on the orientation of the body grooming device. The
capillary force element may get directly contacted by the bristle
like protrusion or the capillary force element may be sheathed,
e.g. by a conduit in which the capillary force element is arranged.
In the latter case, the bristle-like protrusion may be first bent
by the contact with an edge of the conduit and may then slide along
the front of the capillary force element to carry along application
material. The capillary force element may be an open-porous
material or a fleece-material etc.
[0011] In an even further embodiment, the body grooming device
comprises a container for storing the application material.
[0012] In a further embodiment, the brush-like element is realized
as a cylindrical element (which shall mean that its enveloping
surface is essentially cylindrical) that is mounted on its cylinder
axis so that it can be driven to rotate around the cylinder axis
during operation. The bristle-like protrusion is arranged to extend
radially outwards.
[0013] In another embodiment, the body grooming device comprises a
detachable attachment section that comprises at least the atomizer
unit. This allows for removing the atomizer unit in case the body
grooming device shall be used without the application material
application function. The attachment section may be realized as an
attachment section that is detachably connected between a head
section and a hand piece section of the body grooming device.
[0014] In an embodiment, the body grooming device is realized as an
epilator and in another embodiment, the body grooming device is
arranged as an electrical shaver.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The invention will be further elucidated by detailed
explanation of exemplary embodiments and with reference to figures.
In the figures
[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view onto a body grooming device as
proposed in an attached state;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view onto the top of an attachment
section comprising the atomizer unit;
[0018] FIG. 3 is the perspective view onto the attachment section
as in FIG. 2 but where the lower housing part is not shown;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic depiction of elements present in a
specific embodiment of a body grooming device as described.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] In the following, a specific embodiment of the body grooming
device as proposed will be discussed that comprises a head section,
an attachment section, and a hand piece section, where the atomizer
unit is arranged in the attachment section. It is to be understood
that this is not to be interpreted as limiting the invention. The
invention can likewise be realized by an integrally manufactured
body grooming device that has only a single housing or that has a
head section and a hand piece section.
[0021] FIG. 1 is a perspective view onto an exemplary embodiment of
a body grooming device 1 as proposed. The body grooming device 1 is
realized as an epilator device, but it is understood that the body
grooming device could likewise be realized as any other hair
removal device such as an electric shaver, a massaging device, a
peeling device etc. The body grooming device 1 comprises three
sections and is shown in an assembled state. The body grooming
device 1 comprises a head section 200, an attachment section 100,
and a hand piece section 300. The attachment section 100 is
detachably connected in between the head section 200 and the hand
piece section 300. The head section 200 comprises a drivable body
grooming unit 230, which in the shown embodiment is realized as an
epilation cylinder for plucking hairs from the skin during
operation. In another embodiment, the body grooming device 1 may be
realized as an electric shaver and the drivable body grooming unit
230 as a foil shaver head. The attachment section 100 comprises an
atomizer unit 170.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a perspective view onto an exemplary embodiment of
the attachment section 100 shown in FIG. 1. In the shown
embodiment, the attachment section 100 has a housing outlet 140
that is formed by a frontal shell structure 141 and an upper shell
structure 142. The atomizer unit 170 is arranged in the cavity that
is formed by the housing outlet 140. The atomizer unit 170
comprises a brush-like element 171 that has several bristle-like
protrusions 172 and that is mounted on an atomizer axis 173 so that
the brush-like element 171 can be rotated around the atomizer axis
173.
[0023] The attachment section 100 has an attachment housing 101.
The attachment housing 101 is formed by an upper attachment housing
101a and a lower attachment housing 101b. An upper shell structure
142 is part of the upper attachment housing 101a. A frontal shell
structure 141 is part of the lower attachment housing 101b. An
application material supply 150 comprises a container 151, a
conduit 153 that contains a capillary force element 152 that draws
application material stored in the container 151 due to capillary
forces and transports the application material to the application
material supply outlet 154. The capillary force element 152 may
extend into the container 151 to be in application material contact
independent on the orientation of the body grooming device 1. The
capillary force element 152 may be realized as a (open porous)
sintered polyethylene (Poroplast) element such as available from
German company Durst Filtertechnik GmbH. Alternatively or
additionally, the application material supply 150 may comprise a
pump to transport the application material from the container to
the application material supply outlet 154. As will be explained in
more detail further below, the brush-like element 171 is drivable
to rotate around the atomizer axis 173. The bristle-like
protrusions 172 thereby repeatedly get into mechanical contact with
the front of the capillary force element 152 present at the
application material supply outlet to remove during operation tiny
amounts of application material from said front part by mechanical
interaction (including friction and adhesion). The removed amounts
of application material are catapulted away from the bristle-like
protrusions 172, e.g. by centrifugal forces due to the rotation of
the brush-like element 171, so that fine droplets, particles or
clusters are formed that are generally directed towards the housing
outlet 140 so that they would wet a skin of a user during a regular
use operation of the body grooming device. The bristle-like
protrusions 172 can be made from a flexible and resilient material,
e.g. a natural or synthetic rubber, a plastic material such as a
thermoplastic material or a silicone, or even a metal sheet. As had
been explained previously, the bristle-like protrusion is first
bent when contacting the application material supply outlet and
that springs back into its unbent position when it loses contact.
The acceleration forces due to this whipping movement occur only
for a short and defined period of time and thus the solid angle
into which the droplets, particles, or clusters are catapulted can
be made smaller than in an embodiment with a fast rotating
brush-like element where the bristle-like protrusion only touches
the application material slightly without any considerable bending
and hence without any considerable whipping movements. It is noted
that the general principle can be fulfilled with a single
bristle-like protrusion 172. Depending on the amount of application
material that should be provided in the form of droplets,
particles, or clusters, two or more bristle-like protrusions 172
can be provided as is shown in the present embodiment. The
application material can be watery liquid or any other lotion that
is absorbed by the capillary force element 152.
[0024] FIG. 3 is the same perspective view onto the exemplary
attachment section 100 as shown in FIG. 2 but with the lower
attachment housing 101b removed for better visibility of internal
details of the attachment section 100. It is referred to the
description of FIG. 2 for features visible in FIG. 2. The
respective description is not repeated. The attachment section 100
further comprises a blower unit 160 that uses a fan 161 mounted on
a fan axis 162 and located inside of a fan chamber 164 to generate
an air stream. Air conduit walls 163 extend the housing outlet 140
(see FIG. 2) to the fan chamber 164. During operation, an air
stream is generated that is guided by the air conduit formed by the
air conduit walls 163, the frontal shell structure 141 (see FIG.
4A) and upper shell structure 142 through housing outlet 140. The
air stream is directed towards the skin of a user during regular
operation of the body grooming device. Application material
droplets, particles, or clusters that are catapulted into the
housing outlet 140 are seized by the air stream and are transported
with the air stream towards the skin of the user. In case of a
liquid, the application material droplets wet the skin with a very
thin application material coating that evaporates fast, in
particular because of the air stream that is in parallel applied to
the skin. Hence, the skin cools due to the evaporation and skin
nerves are numbed, which e.g. enables a less painful hair plucking
than without numbed nerves. It needs to be stated that a blower
unit 160 is not essential for the invention and could be dispensed
with. Further, various gear wheels like first bevel gear 182 are
visible in FIG. 3. The function of the gear wheels is described
with reference to FIG. 4.
[0025] FIG. 4 is a schematic depiction of various elements present
in a body grooming device as proposed. It is noted that a body
grooming device as proposed can be realized as a single section or
only as a head section and a hand piece section (hence, all the
elements that are shown in FIG. 4 could be arranged within a single
section, e.g. a hand-piece section). Alternatively, the various
elements as described may be housed in several sections. Housing
and mounting structures are neglected in FIG. 4 for sake of
simplicity. FIG. 4 shows a power transmission unit 190 and a power
extraction unit 180. Further, parts of the atomizer unit 170, the
blower unit 160, and the application material supply 150 are shown.
In an embodiment of a body grooming device 1 as proposed with a
detachable attachment section as described in FIGS. 1-3, the drive
330, the drive shaft 312 and an attachment section coupling 311 are
disposed within the hand piece section 300. The attachment section
100 comprises the other elements. The power transmission unit 190
comprises an attachment section coupling 110 and a first shaft 112
extending from the attachment section coupling 110, which first
shaft 112 ends in a first gear wheel 114. The power transmission
unit 190 further comprises a second gear wheel 115 that is mounted
on a second shaft 113 that is connected with the attachment section
power output 111. The first gear wheel 114 meshes with the second
gear wheel 115. The first and second gear wheels 114, 115 form the
gear section 191 that is used to provide for an offset of the axis
of the first shaft 112 and the axis of the second shaft 113.
Depending on, e.g., the geometry of the attachment section 100, the
gear section 191 can be dispensed with. The drive 330 has a drive
shaft 331 that ends in a hand piece section power output 311
(indicated with dotted lines), which in FIG. 4 engages with the
attachment section coupling 110. The power transmission unit 190 is
used to transmit power from the hand piece section 300 to the head
section. The power extraction section 180 couples to the first gear
wheel 114 to extract power from the power transmission unit 190 to
drive the fan 161 of the blower unit 160 and the brush-like element
171 of the atomizer unit 170. It is to be understood that in an
embodiment in which no offset between a first shaft 112 and a
second shaft 113 is required, a single shaft extending between the
attachment section coupling 110 and the attachment section power
outlet 111 may be provided with a fixedly mounted gear wheel to
couple with the power extraction unit 180. In the shown embodiment,
a third gear wheel 181 meshes with the first gear wheel 114. The
third gear wheel 181 is mounted on a common axis with a first bevel
gear wheel 182. The first bevel gear wheel 182 meshes with a second
bevel gear wheel 183 to tilt the rotation axis by 90 degrees from a
rotation around a vertical axis to a rotation around a horizontal
axis. The second bevel gear wheel 183 is mounted on a common axis
with a fourth gear wheel 184. The fourth gear wheel 184 meshes with
a fifth gear wheel 185, which fifth gear wheel 185 drives the fan
axis 162 on which the fan 161 is fixedly mounted. The fifth gear
wheel 185 meshes with a sixth gear wheel 186 which in turn meshes
with a seventh gear wheel 187. The seventh gear wheel 187 drives
the atomizer axis 173 to which the brush-like element 171 is
fixedly mounted. Sizes of the gear wheels and hence gear
transmission ratios are chosen according to the needs of the power
extraction section 180 to drive the fan axis 162 and the atomizer
axis 173 at certain rotational speeds. It is to be understood that
the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is not to be interpreted
as limiting the present invention. It is a specific embodiment of
the general concept and any gear arrangement that would be
considered by a skilled person should also fall under the subject
matter of the present application. In another embodiment, the
atomizer unit 170 and/or the blower unit 160 are driven by an
additional drive and not by the drive 330 that is used to drive the
drivable body grooming unit 230. In such an embodiment, the power
extraction section 180 can be dispensed with.
[0026] Alternatively to the shown motor-power driven embodiment,
the atomizer unit 170 may be manually driven. E.g. a toothed rack
may be arranged in meshing contact with a gear wheel mounted to the
atomizer axis 173 so that a user could depress the toothed rack and
thus rotate the atomizer axis and hence the brush-like element 171.
This is in particular of interest if application material should be
applied only now and then and not in a continuous manner. All the
gear arrangements and a dedicated motor can then be dispensed with
so that the body grooming device would become more light-weight,
cheaper, and less bulky.
[0027] FIG. 4 further depicts parts of the application material
supply 150. The application material supply 150 comprises a
container 151 and a capillary force element 152 that extends into
the container 150. A liquid application material (typically of low
to medium viscosity) that is stored in the container 150 is drawn
to the application material supply outlet 154 by capillary forces,
which are effectual independent on the orientation of the body
grooming device. The capillary force element 152 may be made from a
fibrous or porous material. The capillary force element 152 is
arranged in a conduit 153. Container 151 and capillary force
element 152 can be realized as a replaceable module so that certain
wear of the material of the capillary force element 152 at the
application material supply outlet 154 due to the mechanical
contact with the rotating bristle-like protrusions 172 of the
brush-like element 171 is acceptable.
[0028] In conclusion, the gist of the described invention lies in
the realization of the atomizer unit 170. The atomizer unit 170
comprises a brush-like element 171 that has a least a bristle-like
protrusion 172, which brush-like element is driven to repeatedly
get into contact with an application material supply outlet 154.
Tiny amounts of application material are withdrawn from the
application material supply outlet 154 due to mechanical contact
between the application material provided at the application
material supply outlet and the bristle-like protrusion 172. The
application material is then eventually catapulted away from the
bristle-like protrusion 172 due to acceleration forces (e.g. the
centrifugal force due to a rotation or the acceleration force due
to the whipping movement a resilient bristle-like protrusion
performs when it looses contact with the application material
supply outlet) so that fine application material droplets,
particles, or clusters are formed that can be applied to a skin
surface of a user of the body grooming device 1.
[0029] It is to be noted that the general arrangement of a
brush-based atomizer that in particular comprises an application
material supply with a capillary force element can also be employed
as an application material dispensing system as such. Use of such
an application material dispensing system is contemplated e.g. for
misting devices such as air humidifiers and inhalers (nebulizers),
household bottles containing cleaning agents or the like, bottles
containing beauty care agents such as skin lotions, and perfume
bottles. Such an application material dispensing system would
comprise a brush-like element that is movably mounted, an
application material supply comprising an application material
supply outlet and a capillary force element, and a (manually
powered or motor-powered) drive to move the brush-like element such
that a bristle-like protrusion of the brush-like element repeatedly
contacts the application material supply outlet, where the
application material supply outlet may at least in part be formed
by a part of the capillary force element.
[0030] 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."
* * * * *