Patent Application
20220379507
This application claims priority from European Patent Application EP21176851.0, filed on May 31, 2021, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to blade masking foils, shaving cartridges and shaving razor assemblies.
Safety razors having a shaving cartridge (also known as shaving head or safety razor cartridge) that is permanently or removably attached to a razor handle, and wherein the shaving cartridge comprises a housing, one or more blade(s) having a blade edge and a masking foil or a blade shield that partially covers the blade edge(s) have been known for some time. The masking foils or blade shields are used to provide added protection for the skin of the user during shaving. They also allow to provide a hair alignment that decreases the hair-cutting force during shaving. As known, such a masking foil has flat and wide securing portions at its side edges. These securing portions are placed at side edges of the shaving cartridge between the blade edges and the blade retainer (also known as clip). Generally, such masking foil is assembled during production of the shaving cartridge. When the masking foil is assembled in the shaving cartridge (or shaving head) after production, then the blade(s) that are supported in the housing of the shaving cartridge by pre-stressed spring members (e.g., pre-stressed fingers) are additionally pressed at a distance equal to the thickness of the masking foil. Consequently, the blade edges become less exposed in relation to the shaving plane of the razor, which affects the efficiency of the shaving performance. Additionally, the spring fingers are more intensely stressed, which makes them less sensitive to elastic deformation due to the shape of the skin to be shaved. Moreover, due to the securing portions of the masking foil (or blade shield) situated between the blade edges and the retainer, in case the masking foil is made of a non-conductive material, the cathodic protection offered by the retainer (which can for example be made of aluminium) to the blades can be lost.
The performance of the safety razor, and particularly of the shaving head may be further improved.
According to a first aspect, a masking foil for a shaving cartridge is provided. The masking foil comprises a front side, a back side, a pair of lateral sides, at least one ribbon extending along a top side of the masking foil between the front side and the back side, and a first securing portion located at one of the pair of lateral sides. The first securing portion comprises a cross-member extending along the top side of the masking foil between the front side and the back side, and at least two securing elements extending laterally outwardly from the cross-member. The securing portion of the masking foil allows for a proper and resistant assembly of the masking foil into the cartridge.
The at least one ribbon may comprise a front bent portion extending from the ribbon downwardly at the front side, and a back bent portion extending from the ribbon downwardly at the back side. The bent portions have the advantage to provide a certain rigidity to the masking foil.
The masking foil may further comprise a front anchorage area located at the front side, and a back anchorage area located at the back side, wherein the front bent portion of the at least one ribbon is connected to the front anchorage area, and wherein the back bent portion of the at least one ribbon is connected to the back anchorage area.
In addition or alternatively, the masking foil may comprise a second securing portion located at the other one of the pair of lateral sides, wherein the second securing portion comprises a cross-member extending along the top side of the masking foil between the front side and the back side, and at least two securing elements extending laterally outwardly from the cross-member.
The cross-member of any of the first and/or second securing portion may comprise two joining members, wherein the two joining members are configured to respectively connect the cross-member to the front anchorage area and to the back anchorage area. The joining members have the advantage to provide a certain rigidity to the securing portion(s).
The securing elements may be in the form of fins, fingers, pins, tongues or any other form of the like. Further, the securing elements may be bent upwardly to form an angle Ωu with the top side of the masking foil. The angle Ωu may be in a range of 0° to 10°, particularly in a range of 0.05° to 8°, more particularly in a range of 0.1° to 5°. In addition or alternatively, the securing elements may be bent downwardly to form an angle Ωd with the top side of the masking foil. The angle Ωd may be in a range of 0° to 10°, particularly in a range of 0.05° to 8°, more particularly in a range of 0.1° to 5°. In addition or alternatively, the securing elements may be elastically deformable in an up-and-down direction. This may allow the masking foil to be assembled and held in place in the shaving cartridge. A width of the securing elements may be in a range of 0.4 mm to 6 mm, particularly in a range of 1 mm to 4 mm, more particularly in a range of 1.2 mm to 2.2 mm. A length of the securing elements may be in a range of 0.5 mm to 10 mm, particularly in a range of 0.7 mm to 8 mm, more particularly in a range of 1 mm to 6 mm.
The masking foil may be made of a conductive and/or non-conductive material selected from a group consisting of stainless steel, plastic material, composite, aluminium, aluminium alloys, noble metals, and/or any combination thereof. In addition or alternatively, the masking foil may comprise a wound healing and/or an antibacterial agent. In addition or alternatively, the masking foil may comprising a lubricating coating. This coating may provide a reduction of the friction between the shaving cartridge and the skin.
According to a second aspect, a shaving cartridge is provided. The shaving cartridge comprises a housing, at least two blades, a first retainer and a masking foil. The housing comprises a top surface, a bottom surface, a front edge, a rear edge and a pair of side edges extending between the front edge and the rear edge. The at least two blades are disposed between the front edge and the rear edge. Each of the at least two blades comprises a cutting edge extending toward the top surface and at an angle toward the front edge. The at least two blades are movable in an up-and-down direction in the housing. Further, the spacing between the two adjacent cutting edges defines an inter-blade span IBS. The first blade retainer is located at one of the pair of side edges, toward the top surface and is configured to cover the at least two blades such as to retain the at least two blades in the housing. The masking foil corresponds to the masking foil described above. The front side is disposed in front of the cutting edges toward the front edge, and the back side is disposed in back of the cutting edges toward the rear edge. The at least one ribbon and the first securing portion at least partially cover the cutting edges of the at least two blades. The front bent portion and the back bent portion are directed toward the bottom surface. The at least two securing elements are configured to be inserted below the first blade retainer such as to maintain the masking foil in the housing. Further, at least one of the at least two securing elements is configured to be inserted in the inter-blade span. The other one of the at least two securing elements may be configured to be arranged in the back of the cutting edge of the blade which is arranged close to the rear edge.
An advantage with the current masking foil is that a way of securing the masking foil without affecting blade edges exposures or the springs pre-stressing is provided. This is particularly useful in the cases in which a blade masking foil is to be assembled in a current production shaver head that includes blades as described herein, i.e. blades welded on a bent support or bent blades that are supported or not on spring fingers. Additionally, the securing portion allows for a proper assembly of the masking foil into the cartridge. Moreover, the shaving cartridge according to the disclosure may create a special skin sliding surface that may alter the skin flow before the cutting edge.
The cutting edges may be configured to get in contact with a bottom surface of the first blade retainer.
Further, the masking foil may comprise a second blade retainer located at the other one of the pair of side edges, toward the top surface and configured to cover the at least two blades such as to retain the at least two blades in the housing. The cutting edges may be configured to get in contact with a bottom surface of the second blade retainer.
The masking foil may be removably assembled within the housing of the shaving cartridge. In addition or alternatively, the securing elements may be configured to be elastically deformable such as to spring-mount the masking foil in the housing.
The number of securing elements extending from the cross-member of the first securing portion may be at maximum equal to the number of blades. In addition or alternatively, the number of securing elements extending from the cross-member of the second securing portion may be at maximum equal to the number of blades. Further, the number of securing elements of the first securing portion and the number of securing elements of the second securing portion may be equal. Alternatively, the number of securing elements of the first securing portion and the number of securing elements of the second securing portion may be different.
According to a third aspect, a shaving razor assembly comprising a shaving handle and a shaving cartridge as described above is provided.
Additional characteristics and advantages of the disclosure will be described with reference to the following figures in which:
On different figures, the same reference signs designate identical or similar elements.
As best shown in
In other examples not shown, the masking foil may partially cover only a certain number of adjacent blades and leave the remaining blades uncovered. The uncovered blades may increase the shaving efficiency. The difference between a cutting edge surface partially covered and a cutting edge surface uncovered by the masking foil may cause two different exposures of the cutting edge. The exposure of a cutting edge is the distance of the cutting edge from the shaving plane S. The shaving plane S is defined as the tangential line intersecting the first and second skin contact points (see
In other examples not shown in the figures, the shaving cartridge may comprise multiple masking foils, wherein the multiple masking foils can be adjacent to one another or be separated by at least one blade and wherein one masking foil may partially (or fully) cover the cutting edges of two or more blades. For example, a first masking foil may partially (or fully) cover the cutting edges of two out of five blades while a second masking foil may partially (or fully) cover the remaining three out of five blades. Alternatively, the second masking foil may cover the cutting edges of only two adjacent remaining blades. In addition or alternatively, a third masking foil may cover the cutting edge of the remaining blade out of the five. Any other coverage configuration of the blades by one or multiple masking covers may be possible.
As illustrated in
As can be seen in
The securing elements 342 as depicted in
The thickness of the securing elements 342 may be measured from the top surface to the bottom surface of the securing element. The thickness can be between 20 μm and 5000 μm. In particular, the thickness may be between 40 μm and 60 μm. The thickness may be for example of about 50 μm. The securing elements may all have the same thickness or different thicknesses depending on their location on the cross-member and within the housing and depending on the efforts they have to resist in usage. Similarly, the thickness of the cross-member 341 may be measured from the top surface to the bottom surface of the cross-member. Ideally, the thickness of the cross-member may be equal to the thickness of the securing elements (i.e., between 20 μm and 5000 μm, in particular between 40 μm and 60 μm, more particularly of about 50 μm). Alternatively, the thickness of the cross-member may be different than the thickness of the securing element(s). The length of the securing elements between the junction with the cross-member and the free end may be comprised between 0.5 mm and 10 mm, particularly between 0.7 mm and 8 mm, more particularly between 1 mm and 6 mm, preferably about 1.25 mm. All securing elements may have the same length or, alternatively, have different lengths depending on the location in the housing, e.g., with relation to the blades and/or the blade retainer. The width of a cross-member measured between the lateral sides of the cross-member may be comprised between 0.2 mm and 6 mm, particularly between 0.35 mm and 5.5 mm, more particularly between 0.5 mm and 5 mm, preferably about 0.7 mm. In case of two cross-members (e.g., when two securing portions are available, one on each lateral side of the masking foil), the cross-members may have the same width or different widths.
As illustrated in
The front anchorage area 29a and the back anchorage area 31a each may form an angle with the axis Z-Z. The two angles can be equal or different.
The shaving cartridge 10 of
As best illustrated in
The securing elements 342 may further be configured to be elastically and/or plastically deformable such as to spring-mount the masking foil 26 in the housing 13. As illustrated in
In some examples, the inter-blade span IBS may be in a range of 0.4 mm to 6 mm, particularly in a range of 1 mm to 4 mm, more particularly in a range of 1.2 mm to 2.2 mm. In some examples, several different inter-blade spans IBS may be available on the same shaving cartridge. In some examples, the inter-blade span may be the same for all adjacent cutting edge spacings. Therefore, the form and width of the securing element is configured to be inserted within the corresponding inter-blade span IBS. The width of a securing element may be the maximal distance between its furthest lateral sides (lateral with reference to the securing element means the side that faces the front side and the side that faces the back side) and may be in a range of 0.4 mm to 6 mm, particularly in a range of 1 mm to 4 mm, more particularly in a range of 1.2 mm to 2.2 mm.
Generally, any combination of two or more (at least two) securing elements 342 and two or more blades 12 are possible as long as following is fulfilled: the number of securing elements 342 extending from the cross-member 341 of the first securing portion 34 may be at maximum equal to the number of blades 12, and/or the number of securing elements 342 extending from the cross-member 341 of the second securing portion 34 may be at maximum equal to the number of blades 12. In some examples, the number of securing elements 342 of the first securing portion 34 and the number of securing elements 342 of the second securing portion 34 may be different. In other examples, the number of securing elements 342 of the first securing portion 34 and the number of securing elements 342 of the second securing portion 34 may be equal. In general, one securing element is configured to be inserted in one inter-blade span IBS formed by the cutting edges 15 of the blades 12. The securing elements 342 may be inserted in adjacent inter-blade spans IBS or be equally (i.e., evenly) distributed among and within the inter-blade spans IBS (e.g., with three securing elements and five blades, the securing elements may be inserted in the inter-blade spans at the sides and the in the in the middle, leaving the ones respectively in the middle empty). Alternatively, the securing elements 342 may be randomly distributed among and within the inter-blade spans IBS. In still another alternative, one of the securing elements may be arranged behind the cutting edge of the latest blade, i.e. in the back of the cutting edge of the blade which is arranged close to the rear edge of the shaving cartridge. The more the number of securing elements 342 is close to the number of inter-blade spans, the most the assembly security of the masking foil into the shaving cartridge is improved.
It is also to be noted that the repartition of the securing elements on the cross-member, and therefore their location in the available inter-blade spans may have an influence on how the force exerted by the blades on the masking foil once assembled and during shaving will be distributed in the masking foil, and particularly in the securing portion. In fact, an even and equal distribution of the securing elements along the cross-member allows for an even force distribution in the securing element when the force exerted by the (e.g., spring-loaded) blades on the bottom surface of the masking force is evenly distributed along the securing element. The more securing elements are available on the securing portion, the more the force may be distributed among the securing elements. This may lead to an optimised sizing of the securing portion, and particularly the securing elements of the masking foil. Additionally, the counter-acting force of the blade retainer on the top surface of the securing elements need to be considered. As will be described further below, the blades may be arranged in any other configuration within the housing, which may lead to an uneven force entry onto the securing portions. The design, localisation on the cross-member and sizing of the securing elements may therefore be adapted to the blade's configuration and the housing in which it will be assembled.
During assembly, the masking foil may first be assembled on the blades and then secured with the blades by the retainer. In another example, the masking foil may be assembled to the shaving cartridge after the retainer has been assembled on the blades. For this, the flexibility of the securing elements permits the assembly of the masking foil below the retainer by bending the securing elements, which will pre-stress the blades in the housing. Therefore, the masking foil can be assembled in an already assembled shaving cartridge (or shaver head), industrially or by the final user with e.g., a special jig, through slight elastic deformation of the securing elements of the masking foil and/or the masking foil just before its attachment in the housing.
An advantage with the current masking foil is that a way of securing the masking foil without affecting blade edges exposures or the springs pre-stressing is provided. This is particularly useful in the cases in which a blade masking foil is to be assembled in a current production shaver head that includes blades as described herein, i.e., blades welded on a bent support or bent blades that are supported or not on spring fingers. Additionally, the securing portion allows for a proper assembly of the masking foil into the cartridge.
As described above, the masking foil 26 comprises at least one ribbon 32. In
Each ribbon 32 is connected to a front anchorage area 29a via a front bent portion 29 and to a back anchorage area 31a via a back bent portion 31 as visible for instance in
As depicted in
Besides that, the coverage percentage of the ribbons 32 can be comprised between 1% and 70%. In particular, the coverage percentage of the ribbons 32 may be comprised between 5% and 20%. For example, when the masking foil 26 comprises six ribbons 32, the coverage percentage of the masking foil 26 by the ribbons 32 may be of about 20%. The ribbons 32 may be parallel to each other, transversally between the front side and the back side of the masking foil. The distance D (shown in
Viewed from the side, the ribbons of the masking shape can have different shapes. As illustrated in
As depicted in
In another example not shown, the blade(s) may not be borne by a bent support 21 and be welded below the masking foil. Therefore, the masking foil can act as a shield for the blades.
In the configurations where the blades 12 are movable, the shaving cartridge 10 may comprise spring-loaded fingers 19 (shown for example in
Regardless of the fact that the blades can be movably or non-movably arranged in the housing, the front and the back anchorage areas may be attached in the housing and the masking foil can act as a blade retainer. Indeed, when the blades are movable, the blades can move toward the bottom surface during shaving. When the blades move toward the top surface to return to their rest position (non-shaving), the movement of the blades may be stopped by stumbling against the masking foil.
In examples not shown, the masking foil may present different patterns viewed from the top of the shaving cartridge. Depending on the pattern, the angle α between the front side (and/or the back side) and the ribbon may not be equal to 90°. In one example, the ribbons may all be oriented in the same direction with an angle α different than 90°. In other examples, all the ribbons may be oblique but not oriented in the same direction; the ribbons may extend transversally between the two side edges; the ribbons may be oriented according to a circumferential direction; the ribbons may form a skin contacting surface with a hexagonal shape, like a honeycomb; the ribbons may comprise several circular shapes; the pattern may be rhomboidal; the pattern may include an intermediate portion from which the ribbons extend; and many other patterns such as the patterns disclosed in context with the embodiments of FIG. 12 of US 2019/0255720 A1, which is incorporated herewith in its entirety. In any of these examples and others not disclosed, the ribbons may or may not contact the securing portion(s). The listed examples should not be limiting; any combination of number of ribbons and of their inclination angle can be provided on the masking foil. Each pattern of the masking foil can manage differently the direction of the hairs in relation to the cutting edge. The oblique ribbons may for example provide hair cutting effect which may improve shaving comfort during shaving. Any orientation of the ribbons may change the interaction of the shaver head with the skin and may improve shaving comfort and reduce the skin friction. The above orientations may alter the way that the shaver head interacts with the skin, thus improving skin management and shaving comfort and reducing the head to skin friction. For example, diverging ribbons may further stress the skin, creating thus a smoother skin terrain with less friction.
The masking foils disclosed in this document (e.g., in
The masking foil according to the present disclosure can be made of a conductive and/or non-conductive material selected from a group consisting of stainless steel, plastic material, composite, aluminium, aluminium alloys, noble metals such as e.g., gold or platinum and/or any combination thereof. Since the blade retainer, which comprises aluminium, is in direct contact with the blades, the masking foil can be made of any conductive or non-conductive material and/or coating and the cathodic protection offered by the blade retainer to the blades will be preserved.
In order to enhance functionality of the masking foil, it can comprise a wound healing and/or an anti-bacterial agent and/or coating. Wound healing material components or agents can for example be hydrocolloids, hydrogels, polycaprolactone (PCL), natural polymer films (as wound dressing), bioactive dressings made from natural polymers and skin substitutes containing allogenic live fibroblasts. Anti-bacterial agents can for example be obtained using silver ion antimicrobial technology. Silver ion antimicrobial technology may be a silver-based active ingredient that can be incorporated e.g. into polymers, coatings, textiles and more to offer continuous product protection against bacterial growth. The masking foil can also comprise a lubricating coating, such as hydrophobic or hydrophilic, such as polyfluorocarbon, for example polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or hydrogel coating. This coating may provide a reduction of the friction between the shaving cartridge and the skin.
The masking foil can also have color properties. For instance, different colors can be provided on the masking foil in order to distinguish the male or female utilization. For instance, the masking foil can be blue when intended to a man shaving razor, and red or pink when intended to a woman shaving razor. The masking foil can also be provided with a material which may have properties allowing a changing of the color after a particular number of uses. For instance, the masking foil can be green when never utilized and red when worn.
In another example, in order to improve adaptability of the masking foil on skin contours, the masking foil may be placed above the top surface of the shaving cartridge. The bent portions may be wrapped around the front edge and the rear edge, extending toward the bottom surface of the shaving cartridge. The masking foil may act as a blade retainer.
In another example, the masking foil may be flexible. Through the creation of a masking foil that may be thick enough to be flexible to adapt to face contours, the masking foil can act as a flexible casing for the blades. For example, by making a centre of the masking foil fixed and free to pivot, the blades can follow inwards or outwards the contours of the face. The movement of the masking foil may be initiated by the continuous exertion of force by the elastic fingers. The masking foil that may be hinged at its centre by the shaving cartridge may have the tendency to be lifted upwards by the elastic fingers. Depending on the face contours the shaving plane may self-adjust accordingly.
In another example, the masking foil may be welded to the blade retainer. For example, the securing portion(s) may be welded with the corresponding blade retainer, enhancing the attachment of the masking foil to the shaving cartridge.
The disclosure may not be limited to the previous features. In other examples not shown but disclosed in detail in US 2019/0255720 A1, which is incorporated herewith in its entirety, the masking foil may not extend parallel to the axis Y-Y, but the exposure of the blades may be progressive to reduce the friction between the shaving cartridge and the skin during shaving; the masking foil may comprise a plastic cover; the front and back anchorage areas may comprise holes that cooperate with pins in the housing, such that the masking foil may be fixed to the housing; the blades may stepwise form two or more different exposures and the masking foil follows these exposures to improve the gliding effect and reduce nicks and cut irritations during shaving; the masking foil may comprise a joint to permit a pivot movement of the masking foil within the housing along an axis parallel to the X-X axis, which may offer a more constrained way of how the blades may move during shaving and may lead to a good adaptability of the blades on the surface to shave, thereby improving shaving performance; the thickness T of the ribbon may be progressive along the ribbon such that the masking foil may have a better interaction with the skin, minimize the friction between the shaving cartridge and the skin, and provide a more efficient and closer hair removal; the thickness T of the ribbon may change stepwise such as to improve the hair removal or provide the possibility to trim the hairs; slots in the housing may allow the masking foil to move upwards and downwards such as to provide a better shaving on difficult areas of the skin and improve the hair removal; the ribbons may have protrusions to stabilise the blades and reduce nicks, cuts and irritations during shaving; the securing portions may have fingers oriented toward the bottom surface in the Y-Y axis and contacting the blades such as to reduce the skin friction during shaving and improve the rinsing of the shaving cartridge; the masking foil may be made two layers of two materials to allow deformation e.g. due to the effect of heat; the shaving razor may be provided with heating means; the masking foil may comprise different materials on its different elements for example to allow for a certain heat (and/or electric) conductivity in certain regions of the masking foil; the masking foil may comprise an inner channel connected to a generator via the front and back anchorage areas and permitting e.g. steam or lubrication diffusion through the channel to the shaving surface; the masking foil may comprise a cover having flexible properties to hide or deactivate the use of the covered blades; the masking foil may have displacement means to set the distance D between each ribbon, such as to adjust the shaving cartridge to skin friction and the rinsing of the shaving cartridge; the ribbons may comprise bristles, which may provide a soft contact with the skin during shaving and/or a massage of the skin during shaving; the masking foil may comprise corrugations that may comprise a lubricant or a shaving aid element; the ribbon may comprise pikes as shark fins providing a dermo-dynamic feature, improving the gliding effect of the shaving razor on the skin during shaving; the masking foil may have an organic pattern that may follow the skin contours and guide the hair smoothly such as to provide a better hair alignment, a smoother shaving and a better hair removal; the ribbons may comprise sphere shaped protrusions to provide a massage of the skin during shaving; the ribbons may comprise rounded protrusions to eliminate the bulging effect that may happen during the shaving; the ribbons may comprise extruded protrusions that have a rectangular or a conical shape with the effect to improve hair removal and reduce nicks, cuts and irritations during shaving; the ribbons may comprise small barbs that may provide a mechanical exfoliation (e.g. sebum removal) of the skin during shaving; the handle and the cartridge may comprise a vibrating means connected to the masking foil.
In this disclosure, the expression “connected to” is not limited to a direct connection between two objects (i.e., it is not required that the two objects abut). For instance, a first object and a second object can be indirectly connected through a third object. Further, the term “edge” refers to a boundary limiting an object. This does not necessarily mean that there is a material boundary.
Although the present disclosure has been described above and is defined in the attached claims, it should be understood that the disclosure may alternatively be defined in accordance with the following embodiments:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21176851.0 | May 2021 | EP | regional |
