Patent Application
20240049861
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The present disclosure relates to the field of devices for personal hygiene maintenance, and more specifically to the field of devices for cleaning and maintaining shaving devices.
Here are the problems with the existing technology. The industry of personal hygiene products relies on the consumer to regularly use and purchase these grooming products in order to ensure a constant flow of profit. If used regularly, many of these products will need to be purchased periodically as the quality of these products decreases. For example, hand held razors used for shaving experience constant force against the blades periodically which can result in a dull blade, insufficient results, and buildup between blades. These factors often cause consumers to throw away the bladed attachment and replace with a new one or, depending on the type and price of the razor, throw away and replace the entire handheld razor.
The most affordable and common device for personal hair care is a razor. The problem with these common razors is that they lack a method to maintain the quality and cleanliness of the blades. Many people tend to place their razors on a ledge in their bathroom without cleaning said razor, allowing the hair, soap, and filth sit in the razor until its next use. Other people attempt to clean their razor by placing it under running water and/or using their hands to wipe away the buildup between the blades. This way of cleaning the razor can be time consuming, tedious, wasteful of water, and dangerous to the user if not done carefully.
Additionally, by failing to clean the blade of a razor, the razor can rust and/or dullen which may decrease the lifetime use of the razor. This will cause the user to spend more money replacing the razor blades more frequently. Considering the current shaving devices on the market have numerous blades, the cost to replace the razor blades can quickly add up.
Moreover, the gap between blades of a typic razor ranges from 0.010 in. to 0.038 inches which makes it difficult to properly clean the razor blade. This is an extremely small amount of space that needs to be clear of any debris before use. By using an old, dirty razor blade on your skin, the risk of infection increases, and even greater chance when shaving over irritated skin. Bacteria formed on the unclean razor blade can bypass your outermost layer of skin through microscopic tears which may cause numerous health complications.
As a result, there exists a need for improvements over the prior art and more particularly for a more efficient way of cleaning a shaving device.
A system and method for cleaning shaving devices is disclosed. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of disclosed concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description including the drawings provided. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this Summary intended to be used to limit the claimed subject matter's scope.
In one embodiment, an apparatus, system, and method for cleaning shaving devices is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a base, an attaching element, a trough, and a plurality of removable bristles attached to an inside bottom wall of the trough such that substantially all of the bristles extend upward toward the trough opening. A fluid is disposed within the trough submerging substantially all of the removable bristles. The apparatus further includes a removable lid having an elongated opening and a holding element configured for retaining a shaving device. The base includes a mating surface on the top side of the base, while the trough includes a mating surface located on the outside of the trough. These mating surfaces, in one embodiment, define a track allowing the user to easily remove the trough to empty and refill the liquid when needed.
Additional aspects of the disclosed embodiment will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosed embodiments. The aspects of the disclosed embodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description, explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments. The embodiments illustrated herein are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, wherein:
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While disclosed embodiments may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting reordering or adding additional stages or components to the disclosed methods and devices. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosed embodiments. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosed embodiments is defined by the appended claims.
The disclosed embodiments improve upon the problems with the prior art by providing an apparatus, method, and system for cleaning shaving devices. For example, the disclosed embodiments provide a user with a shaving device holder. After the user cleans the device and is ready to store it for next use, they can simply hang the head of the shaving device on the groves configured for retaining the device allowing for easy retrieval. This holder also allows the razor to dry having the water drain down out of the holder preventing bacteria or rust from forming on the blades from stagnate water. The disclosed embodiments also solve the issue with cleaning the razor blades on the device itself. The following embodiments present a device with elements such as a trough and bristles strategically placed in order to clear each blade and each gap between blades of any excess hair or any debris. This method of cleaning a shaving device prevents the user from harming themselves from using his or her skin when cleaning razor blades and ensures a longer shaving device life by maintaining the quality of the device.
Referring now to the Figures,
The base may be made out of metallic material such as carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, Titanium, other metals or alloys, composites, ceramics, polymeric materials such as polycarbonates, such as Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS plastic), Lexan™, and Makrolon™. Other materials having waterproof type properties may also be incorporated. The base may be made of other materials and is within the spirit and the disclosure.
The base may be formed from a single piece or from several individual pieces joined or coupled together. The components of the base may be manufactured from a variety of different processes including an extrusion process, a mold, casting, welding, shearing, punching, folding, 3D printing, CNC machining, etc. However, other types of processes may also be used and are within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is understood that the attaching element, the trough, and/or the removable lid may each be formed by the same processes and/or materials as the base. It is understood that the combination of these elements to define the apparatus 100 may comprises a plurality of different compositions and materials consistent with this disclosure. The elements of apparatus 100 may comprise other materials and/or be formed by other processes that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Referring to
The side view of the base, shown if
In this embodiment, the track or mating surface is a dovetail joint removably interlocking the base to the trough. Dovetail joints are known for their durability and strength due to the way their pins and tails are oriented. The use of this joint allows the user to slide the trough along the track when removing and attaching to and from the base. This joint benefits this device by ensuring a strong connection between the two components which is important to keep the trough stable as the user move the razor side to side. In the example embodiment shown, because the dovetail joint does not extend through the entire length of the trough, the trough is limited to only sliding off of the base in one direction and therefore cannot be removed from either side of the base. Additionally, the dovetail track or joint prevents the trough from being pulled off of the base upwards and prevents the trough from disengaging the base when the razor is being cleaned.
The second mating surface located on the bottom outside surface of the trough is configured to removably attach to the base mating surface. The plurality of removable bristles are attached to a removable pad that rests on the inside bottom wall of the trough. The pad is attached to the inside bottom wall of the trough such that substantially all of the removable bristles extend vertically toward the trough opening. The liquid stored inside the trough may be water, an antibacterial soap, other cleaning fluids and/or a combination thereof.
The attaching element is used for securing the apparatus to an object or surface allowing the user to choose where to place the apparatus based on the user's preference. In the example embodiment, the attaching element acts as a receiving end of a fastener, as shown, the receiving section is a hole or opening which will receive the shaft of a screw or nail to secure the base to a surface, such as a wall, for example. However, in other embodiments the attaching element may be in the form of a suction cup, a magnet, hook and loop fasteners, snap fasteners, adhesive, etc. The attaching element may be made from a variety of different materials, and manufactured by a variety of different manufacturing processes.
As mentioned above,
The front view of the base has a cutout sized to a razor head with a narrowing and/or tapered section. Because the wall of the base is slanted, the head of the razor will fall into the pocket of the base and be held by the base. In this example embodiment the base acts as a holding element. This holding element is efficient for retaining a shaving device because the size of the opening 181 is configured to allow easy insertion of a razor head while the narrowing or tapered section allows the handle of the shaving device to sit at the bottom of the V-shaped opening. This V-shaped opening also allows for a plurality of razor handles to fit comfortably in the pocket making the holding element more versatile to differently sized and shaped shaving devices. The way this holding element is configured, it encloses the razor blades within the base shielding the blades from excess water, debris, etc. while also preventing the user from accidentally grabbing the head of the razor rather than the handle.
The base also has at least one drain slot 185 to allow water to excrete from the base. This will allow air to circulate and prevent mold, mildew, and bacteria from accumulating between the blades. These drain slots are important to prevent unnecessary and unneeded water or cleaning fluid buildup in the base which would require a user to detach the base from the wall or surface and empty the base in addition to emptying the trough. In other embodiments the drain slots may be sized or shaped differently. For example, in other embodiments the drain slots may include small circular holes or in other embodiments the front wall of the base can be made from a mesh-like material allowing fluid to exit the base.9
In other embodiments the track can include a differently shaped mating surface or simply a different design of track still allowing for removably attaching two parts or components. In other embodiments the track may be configured to encompass one of a plurality of different mating surfaces within the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the track may be configured to secure the trough to the base via a sliding mechanism, an interlocking mechanism, a press-fit mechanism, a force-fit, snap-fit, etc.
When constructing a brush-like cleaning device, the first component manufactured is the handle or the material used to hold the bristles. In the example embodiment this component is the removable pad. This component must be made from solid sturdy materials in order to hold the bristles in place and able to be used continuously. Once the block, or removable pad is created, then the bristles may be installed. Bristles are available in many varieties as there are many different types and forms of brushes. Common bristles can be made from vinyl, nylon, animal hair such as or horse or boar hair, plant-based materials, synthetics, polypropylene, and/or metal wire. The removable bristles illustrated in the example embodiment need to be strong and durable enough to withstand sharp and thin razor blades and constant impact and friction that will be endured during the cleaning of the razor blades. Regarding the bristle pad, the bristles are usually inserted by a machine in tight bundles. The insertion process is performed by folding and stapling the bundles into predrilled holes, or they can be folded over a small piece of metal, wood, or fabric as to create a pad, of which the pad comprises a material form fit to the bottom interior wall of the trough and having the plurality of bristles attached thereto.
The pad will attach to the inside bottom surface of the trough where it may be held on by magnetic force, by adhesive, by use of hook and loop elements, clips, etc. The removable pad may have a coating on the bottom surface allowing it to stick to the bottom of the trough, of which may also include a material to preserve the adhesive, such as wax paper for example.
Furthermore, once the removable bristles have dulled, or are not efficient, the user can continue to step 180. Step 180 directs the user to remove the plurality of removable bristles from the trough and proceed to replace them by inserting a second plurality of removable bristles into the trough. This step is optional, however necessary to ensure the efficiency of the apparatus.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
