Facial treatment device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6679908
  • Patent Number
    6,679,908
  • Date Filed
    Friday, December 29, 2000
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, January 20, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
The present invention provides a facial treatment device which can repeat warming and cooling of the face of a person while the massages are given to the face at the same time, whereby the beauty effects such as the facial treatment and body slimming can be mutually and efficiently obtained. A Peltier element 12 is placed adjacent to a probe 11 having a high thermal conductivity, which can abut the face of a person 19 to be treated. Then, the current is supplied by a DC power supply 101 to the Peltier element 12 and the direction of the current can be switched between the forward and backward directions by the selector switch 100. Thereby, the cooling and warming of the probe 11 is repeated. At the same time, a motor 15 having an eccentric weight 17 attached thereto is driven, whereby the probe 11 is vibrated.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a facial treatment device which is used for business purposes in aesthetic salons or the like and, more particularly, to a facial treatment device which alternately warms and cools the face of a person to be treated.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




In recent years, various types of facial treatment devices have come into wide use with the growing aesthetic senses of women.





FIG. 3

is a diagram illustrating a structure of a prior art facial treatment device.




In this figure, reference numeral


30


denotes a facial treatment device body. Numeral


31


denotes a probe having a high thermal conductivity, which is attached to an opening of the body


30


. Numeral


32


denotes a Peltier element which is placed adjacent to the probe


31


and cools or warms the probe


31


. Numeral


33


denotes a radiating fin which is provided to widen the heating surface of the Peltier element. Numeral


34


denotes a blower fan which sends air and cools the radiating fin


33


which radiate the heat stored in the Peltier element. Numeral


35


denotes a cord which is attached to the body


30


. Numeral


36


denotes a person to be treated.




As shown in

FIG. 4

, a double-pole double-throw selector switch


100


and a DC power supply


101


are connected to the Peltier element


32


. When the selector switch


100


is switched to the side A, the voltage is applied by the DC power supply


101


in the direction of C. On the other hand, when the selector switch


100


is switched to the side B, the polarity of the voltage which is applied, by the DC power supply


101


, to the Peltier element


32


is reversed. As the DC power supply


101


, a stable switching power supply is employed in consideration of ripples or the like, and a rectifier circuit with a diode bridge is usually employed.




When the DC voltage in a prescribed direction is applied by the DC power supply


101


, the Peltier element


32


absorbs the heat on one of the front and rear surfaces while radiating the heat from the other surface. When the direction of the current is switched to the reverse direction by the selector switch


100


, the heat radiates from the surface which has absorbed the heat, while the surface from which the heat has radiated absorbs the heat.




Hereinafter, the description will be given of the operation of the so-constructed facial treatment device when the facial treatment is performed using this facial treatment device, with reference to

FIGS. 3 and 4

.




Initially, the probe


31


which has been cooled or heated by the Peltier element


32


is put on the face of the person


36


to be treated. When the probe


31


has been cooled, the heat is absorbed an the surface


32




a


of the Peltier element


32


on the side of the probe


31


while the heat radiates from the surface


32




b


on the opposite side via the radiating fin


33


. When the selector switch


100


is switched by an external switch (nor shown) and the direction of the current supplied to the Peltier element


32


is switched, the heat radiates from the surface


32




a


of the Peltier element


32


which engages the probe


31


and the surface


32




a


heats the probe


31


while the surface


32




b


, on the opposite side absorbs the heat.




As described above, when the probe


31


which has been cooled or heated by the Peltier element


32


is put to the face of the person


36


to be treated and the external switch (not shown) is operated to switch the selector switch


100


every predetermined period, the probe


31


is repeatedly cooled or heated. Accordingly, warm and cold stimuli can be repeatedly given to the skin of the person


36


, whereby the beauty effects such as tightening of the skin and improvement of blood circulation of the person


36


are obtained.




There are a variety of facial treatments which are usually executed in aesthetic salons and the like, and plural facial treatment devices for various purposes are used to obtain various beauty effects in a combined manner. In addition to the above-mentioned facial treatment device which executes the facial treatments utilizing the heating or cooling effects of the Peltier element, facial treatment devices utilizing steam, ultrasonics or the like are employed, for example.




However, since plural facial treatment devices are used in a series of facial treatment processes, it takes a long time to execute all the processes or it costs much to get the facial treatment devices for various purposes ready.




Further, there is no conventional facial treatment device which alternately warms and cools the skin of the person to be treated and has a vibration function.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of the present invention to provide a facial treatment device which gives massages to the skin of the person to be treated in addition to the stimuli given by the warming or cooling, thereby further increasing the beauty effects such as the facial treatments and body slimming as well as reducing the time required for the beauty treatments or achieving economy.




Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description and specific embodiments described are provided only for illustration since various additions and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art from the detailed description.




A facial treatment device for giving beauty treatments to a face of a person to be treated according to a 1st aspect of the present invention comprises: a probe which has a high thermal conductivity and can abut the face of the person; a Peltier element which is placed adjacent to the probe; a current supply means for supplying current to the Peltier element; a current direction switching means for switching the direction of the current which is passed by the current supply means to the Peltier element between forward and backward directions; a radiating means for radiating heat which has been stored in the Peltier element; a blower fan for sending air to cool the radiating means; and a vibration generating means for vibrating the probe. Therefore, the face of the person to be treated can be alternately warmed and cooled while the massages are simultaneously given to the face, whereby the respective beauty treatment effects and relaxing effects can be obtained together. Besides, the plural kinds of beauty treatment effects are combined and obtained by one facial treatment device. Therefore, the processing time required for the beauty treatments can be reduced and the more economical facial treatments can be realized.




According to a 2nd aspect of the present invention, the facial treatment device of the 1st aspect comprises the vibration generating means comprising: a vibrating motor; and a weight which is eccentrically attached to the motor, and the vibration generating means vibrates the probe by driving the motor. Therefore, the face of the person to be treated can be alternately warmed or cooled while the massages are simultaneously given to the face, whereby the respective beauty treatment effects or relaxing effects can be obtained together. Besides, the plural kinds of beauty treatment effects are combined and executed by one facial treatment device. Therefore, the processing time required for the beauty treatments can be reduced and the more economical facial treatment processing can be realized.




According to a 3rd aspect of the present invention, the facial treatment device of the 1st aspect comprises: the vibration generating means comprising a weight which is eccentrically attached to a blade of the blower fan, and the vibration generating means vibrates the probe by driving the blower fan. Therefore, the face of the person to be treated can be alternately warmed or cooled while the massages are simultaneously given to the face, whereby the respective beauty treatment effects or relaxing effects can be obtained together. Besides, the plural beauty treatment effects are combined and executed by one facial treatment device. Therefore, the processing time required for the beauty treatments can be reduced and the more economical facial treatment processing can be realized.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure of a facial treatment device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 2

is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure of a facial treatment device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is a diagram illustrating a structure of a prior art facial treatment device.





FIG. 4

is a diagram illustrating an example of a circuit which is connected to a Peltier element in the facial treatment device according to the prior art or the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Embodiment 1





FIG. 1

is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure of a facial treatment device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.




In this figure, reference numeral


10


denotes a facial treatment device body. Numeral


11


denotes a probe having a high thermal conductivity, which is attached to an opening of the body


10


. Numeral


12


denotes a Peltier element which is placed adjacent to the probe


11


and heats or cools the probe


11


. Numeral


13


denotes a radiating fin which is provided adjacent to the Peltier element


12


to widen the heating surface of the Peltier element


12


. Numeral


14


denotes a blower fan for sending air to the radiating fin


13


which radiates the heat stored in the Peltier element


12


and cooling the radiating fin


13


. Numeral


15


denotes a motor. Numeral


16


denotes a supporting axis for fixing the motor


15


to the body


10


. Numeral


17


denotes a weight which is eccentrically attached to the motor


15


. The motor


15


and the weight


17


constitute a vibration generating means, the motor having a shaft


21


, the weight


17


being eccentrically directly attached to the shaft


21


of the motor


15


, and the motor


15


being driven to vibrate the probe


11


. Numeral


18


denotes a cord which is attached to the body


10


. Numeral


19


denotes a person to be treated.




Hereinafter, the operation of the facial treatment device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to

FIGS. 1

to


4


.




Similarly to the prior art facial treatment device, the DC voltage in a prescribed direction is applied by the DC power supply


101


to the Peltier element


12


which is provided adjacent to the probe having a high thermal conductivity. Then, the direction of the current is switched by the selector switch


100


every prescribed period. Accordingly, the probe


11


is repeatedly cooled or heated and the face of the person


19


to be treated can be warmed or cooled.




At this time, when the motor


15


is driven by a control switch (not shown), the motor


15


with the eccentric weight


17


is rotated and accordingly the body


10


and the probe


11


are vibrated. The vibrations of the probe


11


give facial massaging effects to the person


10


.




When the stimulation by the warming or cooling is alternately given to the skin of the person


19


and the massages are simultaneously given to the person


19


, the beauty effects of the facial treatment and slimming such as tightening of the skin, activation of the metabolism of the skin and removal of dirt in the pores can be further increased. Further, the vibration function has relaxing effects for gently massaging the skin and smoothing the nerves.




Besides, the skin is warmed or cooled while the massages are simultaneously given to the skin, and these two types of beauty treatments are executed together by one facial treatment device, whereby the processing time which is required for the beauty treatments is reduced. Moreover, it is unnecessary to purchase plural facial treatment devices, one of which has one of the two functions and the other has the other function, and therefore it is very economical.




In this case, the facial treatment which alternately warms and cools the skin of the person


19


and the massaging by the vibrations are both executed simultaneously utilizing the Peltier element


12


. However, the beauty treatment processes can be performed in combination with other beauty treatment techniques such as ultrasonic vibrations.




Further, when the facial treatment device having these various facial treatment functions is used, the facial treatment device can be constructed to arbitrarily select whether one of these beauty treatment processings is to be executed solely or a combination of these beauty treatment processings is to be executed.




In the facial treatment device according to the first embodiment, the eccentric weight


17


is attached to the vibrating motor


15


inside the body


10


, and the probe


11


is vibrated by the drive of the motor


15


. Therefore, the face of the person


19


can be alternately warmed and cooled, and the massages can be simultaneously given to the face of the person


19


. Consequently, the beauty treatment effects such as the facial treatment and body slimming, and the relaxing effects can be synergistically obtained. Besides, the plural beauty treatment processes are executed together by one facial treatment device. Therefore, the processing time required for the beauty treatments can be reduced and the more economical facial treatments can be realized.




Embodiment 2





FIG. 2

is a diagram illustrating a structure of a facial treatment device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in

FIG. 1

denote the same or corresponding parts. Common parts to those in the first embodiment are not described here.




In this second embodiment, an eccentric weight


20


is attached to a blade of the blower fan


14


, instead of the vibrating motor in the body


10


provided in the first embodiment.




Accordingly, when the facial treatment device according to the second embodiment is used, the body


10


and the probe


11


are vibrated because of the turn of the blower fan


14


to which the eccentric weight


20


is attached. This vibration of the probe


11


gives comfortable stimuli to the face of the person


19


, whereby the beauty treatment effects such as tightening of the skin, activation of the metabolism of the skin, removal of stains in pores, and the relaxing effects can be obtained together.




As described above, according to the facial treatment device of the second embodiment, the eccentric weight


20


is attached to a blade of the blower fan


14


for cooling the radiating fin


13


and the probe


11


is vibrated because of the turn of the blower fan


14


. Therefore, the face of the person


19


is alternately warmed or cooled while the massage is simultaneously given to the person, whereby the beauty treatment effects such as facial treatment and body slimming and the relaxing effects can be obtained together. Besides, the plural beauty treatment effects are combined and executed by one facial treatment device. Therefore, the processing time required for the beauty treatments can be reduced and more economical facial treatments can be realized.



Claims
  • 1. A facial treatment device, comprising:a probe which has a high thermal conductivity and abuts a face of a person to be treated; a Peltier element which is placed adjacent to the probe; a radiating means which is placed adjacent to the Peltier element, for radiating heat which has been stored in the Peltier element; a blower fan which is placed adjacent to the radiating means, for sending air and cooling the radiating means; a vibration generating means which is placed adjacent to the blower fan, for vibrating the probe, said vibration generating means comprising a motor and a weight, the motor having a shaft, the weight being eccentrically directly attached to the shaft of the motor, the motor being driven to vibrate the probe; a current supply means for supplying current to the Peltier element; and a current direction switching means for switching the direction of the current which is supplied by the current supply means to the Peltier element between forward and backward directions.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2000-002920 Jan 2000 JP
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
5097828 Deutsch Mar 1992 A
5209227 Deutsch May 1993 A
5327886 Chiu Jul 1994 A
6023932 Johnston Feb 2000 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
258921 Oct 1995 TW