This invention relates to beard and mustache trimmers and, more particularly, to beard and mustache trimmers incorporating small, pop-up trimmer elements.
Over the last several years, individuals have been increasingly drawn to the advantages provided by electric dry shavers and beard and mustache trimmers. In general, the consuming public has found that the use of razors or other systems is extremely inconvenient for removing or shaving long hair and/or short hair or stubble, as commonly found in men's beards. In addition, with the ever increasing time constraints and commitments individuals typically encounter, a fast and effective shaving system is most desirable.
The discomfort as well as the time consumed in using shaving creams, soaps and gels, in order to provide a medium for which a razor can be used, requires more time and inconvenience than most individuals are willing or capable of experiencing. Furthermore, the cost of maintaining a sufficient supply of these products creates an additional burden. Consequently, electric dry shavers and beard and mustache trimmers have become increasingly popular, as well as battery-operated electric dry shavers and trimmers which can withstand exposure to moisture, thereby enabling individuals to simultaneously shower, as well as shaving their beards.
As the popularity of using electric dry shavers increased, numerous product designs with alternate constructions proliferated, in an attempt to improve and enhance the comfort and cutting efficiency of such shavers and trimmers. However, in spite of these products, difficulties have continued to exist in providing optimum results with optimum comfort.
In the area of use relating to beards and mustaches, electric trimmers have become increasingly popular. In general, these beard and mustache trimmers incorporate two cooperating cutting blades, each of which comprise a plurality of cutting teeth. By mounting the cutting blades in overlying cooperating engagement, with one blade being stationary and the other blade movable relative thereto, the desired cutting action is achieved.
In addition, these prior art beard and mustache trimmers also incorporate a comb member or element which co-operates with the cutting blades and is telescopically movable relative thereto. In this way, the length of the hair being cut by the cutting blades is precisely controlled.
Although beard and mustache trimmers of this nature have become increasingly popular and have been constructed in a wide variety of alternate configurations, difficulties have been encountered with many of these prior art constructions. In particular, prior art beard and mustache trimmers have been incapable of providing precise, detail cutting of specific areas, even though such areas are commonly found on certain beards and mustaches.
In an attempt to satisfy this consumer need, some prior art beard and mustache trimmers incorporate a small, separate, pop-up trimmer member which can be activated whenever desired by the user. This small pop-up trimmer is employed for providing the fine detail work sought by consumers.
Although these small, pop-up trimmers have been employed on some prior art beard and mustache trimmers, the drive system required for activating and operating the pop-up trimmer has been costly and cumbersome. In addition, a substantial increase in noise is also generated by the incorporation of pop-up trimmers, as well as a loss of power to the pop-up trimmer, due to the linkages required to achieve activation and operation of the pop-up trimmer.
Consequently, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a hair cutting and trimming system for beards and mustaches which incorporates a small, pop-up trimmer element which is easily activated and inexpensive to produce.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hair cutting and trimming system for beards and mustaches having the characteristic features described above which is constructed in a manner wherein a single motor driven drive element is employed for operating both the main cutting blades and the pop-up trimmer.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a hair cutting and trimming system for beards and mustaches having the characteristic features described above which provides a pop-up trimmer having a direct linkage to the drive system and operates without any reduction of the power.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a hair cutting and trimming system for beards and mustaches having the characteristic features described above which operates without any increase in the noise level when the pop-up trimmer is engaged.
Other and more specific objects will in part the obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
By employing the present invention, all the difficulties and drawbacks found in prior art beard and mustache trimmers has been eliminated and an efficient, easily employed beard and mustache trimmer with an easily employed, efficient pop-up trimmer is realized. These goals are attained by providing a construction wherein a single motor driven drive element is employed for directly operating both the main cutting blades as well as the pop-up trimmer.
By constructing the trimmer in a manner which enables the pop-up trimmer to be directly driven by the same element which drives the principal cutting blades, a substantially improved beard and mustache trimmer construction is realized. In particular, greater power is delivered to the pop-up trimmer elements than has otherwise been attained with prior art systems as well as providing substantially reduced noise levels. As a result, a substantially enhanced system is realized.
In the preferred construction, the cutting blades of the beard and mustache trimmer incorporate a fixed cutting blade and a movable cutting blade cooperatively associated with each other. In addition, the movable cutting blade is controlled by engaging a rotationally driven, eccentrically mounted pin in a movement control member which is mounted to the movable blade and incorporates an enlarged pin receiving zone.
In addition, in order to enable the use of a single drive motor, a pop-up trimmer is provided which is pivotally mounted to the housing of the beard and mustache trimmer which is movable between a first stored position and a second deployed and usable position. In addition, the pop-up trimmer incorporates a drive arm having a free end which is movable into and out of engagement with the movement control member.
In the preferred construction, the free end of the drive arm is positioned for engaging in and disengaging from the enlarged pin receiving zone of the movement control member simultaneously with the arcuate pivoting movement of the pop-up trimmer. In this way, an easily constructed beard and mustache trimmer assembly is realized which enables the user to achieve fine or detailed trimming of any desired area while employing a trimmer element which is driven directly by a single motor without any reduction of power or increase of noise level.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
By referring to
As depicted in
As best seen in
As shown in
As depicted, movement control element 30 comprises two juxtaposed, spaced, facing finger members 31 and 32 which cooperate with each other to form pin engaging recess 33 therebetween. When movement control element 30 is in its operating position, drive pin 29 is mounted within recess 33, sandwiched between finger members 31 and 32. As shaft 28 rotates, drive pin 29 causes movement control element 30 to continuously move in a generally side to side manner, causing cutting blade 26 to continuously reciprocate relative to fixed cutting blade 25. In this way, the desired cutting action is realized.
As discussed above, the incorporation of a pop-up trimmer with a beard and mustache trimmer has been found to be extremely desirable in order to enable precise, detailed cutting of beards and mustaches is to be achieved. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, beard and mustache trimmer 20 incorporates pop-up trimmer assembly 35.
In the preferred construction, pop-up trimmer trimmer assembly 35 comprises an activation button 36 and a pivotable blade carrying panel 37. As shown in
In its preferred construction, blade carrying panel 37 comprises small, detail oriented, generally planar, trimmer blades 40 and 41 constructed for cooperating with each other. As with cutting blades 25 and 26, trimmer blades 40 and 41 are mounted in overlying cooperating engagement, with blade 40 being fixed or immovable, while blade 41 is reciprocatingly movable in a generally side-to-side manner relative to blade 40. In this way, the cutting teeth of trimmer blades 40 and 41 cooperate with each other to provide the desired detailed cutting action.
In order to attain the desired movement with the resulting cutting action, pivot arm 43 is mounted to panel 37, with first end 45 thereof engaged with trimmer blade 41. In the preferred construction, pivot arm 43 is mounted to panel 37 about post 44, which establishes the pivot axis about which arm 43 is able to move. In addition, in accordance with the present invention, pivot arm 43 is constructed to cooperate with movement control element 30 in order to provide the desired directly driven, controlled movement of trimmer blade 41.
As best seen in
With second end 46 of pivot arm 43 retained in recess 33 established by finger members 31 and 32 of movement control element 30, any activation of the motor, which causes movement control element 30 to be operative, also causes pivot arm 43 to arcuately pivot about the axis defined by post 44. This side-to-side movement causes trimmer blade 41 to be moved in a similar side-to-side manner relative to stationary trimmer blade 40, thereby providing the desired detailed trimming action.
In addition to providing the desired precision cutting, the construction employed in the present invention for pop-up trimmer assembly 35 also achieves direct, linkage-free movement of pivot arm 43 for causing trimmer blade 41 to be driven in the desired manner. By achieving this direct drive of trimmer blade 41 relative to trimmer blade 40, all of the prior art difficulties and drawbacks are overcome and a low noise, vibration-free, pop-up trimmer construction is realized, with substantially enhanced power being delivered to cutting blade 41.
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.
This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/307,477, filed Jul. 24, 2001 entitled DRIVE SYSTEM FOR BEARD AND MUSTACHE TRIMMER.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20030029042 A1 | Feb 2003 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60307477 | Jul 2001 | US |