Patent Application
20180222068
The present disclosure relates to a hair container for a hair cutting appliance and to an attachment kit for a hair cutting appliance, particularly for an electrically operated hair cutting appliance, the attachment kit comprising a hair container and an attachment comb. Further, the present disclosure relates to a hair cutting appliance that is fitted with a respective attachment kit.
Hair cutting appliances, particularly electric hair cutting appliances, are generally known and may include trimmers, clippers and shavers, for instance. Electric hair cutting appliances may also be referred to as electrically powered hair cutting appliances. Electric hair cutting appliances may be powered by electric supply mains and/or by energy storages, such as batteries, for instance. Electric hair cutting appliances are generally used to shave or trim (human) body hair, in particular facial hair and head hair to allow a person to have a well groomed appearance. Frequently, electric hair cutting appliances are used for cutting animal hair.
EP 2 433 763 A1 discloses a hair cutter comprising a body housing, a motor arranged in the body housing, a stationary cutter fixed to the body housing, a movable cutter arranged to be driven by the motor to slide against the stationary cutter, a hair collection chamber for collecting hairs sheared with the movable cutter and the stationary cutter, and a cover adapted to be slid along an outer surface of the body housing to open and shut the hair collection chamber.
US 2004/045168 A1 discloses a hair trimming apparatus for trimming the distal ends of hair drawn therethrough, the apparatus comprising a body assembly having a handle end and having a head end; a motor mounted in said body assembly adapted for communication with an electric power source; and a cutting head assembly positioned upon said head end of said body assembly, said cutting head assembly comprising an internal containment area that holds the cut ends of hair shafts drawn through the device and trimmed. In a further embodiment disclosed in US 2004/045168 A1, a removable hair collecting tray arranged to be inserted into a housing a of the cutting head assembly is presented.
FR 2 809 049 A1 discloses a hair cutting appliance comprising a fan that is arranged to blow air towards a guide so as to position the hair at a defined orientation for cutting, wherein a hair collection container for cut hair is provided which is fixed to a housing of the hair cutting appliance.
Hair collection is an important feature for hair trimming appliances in both professional and home environments. Typically, when hair is shaved or trimmed, the cut hair sections would fall down from a cutting site in an arbitrary fashion. This may involve falling to the floor which may be the preferred option in many applications. However, typically also cut hair sections tend to adhere to the clothes or even the skin of the currently treated person or even the operator of the hair cutting appliance. This may cause additional cleaning efforts and increase the total amount of time required for accomplishing a hair cutting operation. Further, in professional environments, such as at a hair dresser or barber shop, a customer typically has to wear a poncho-like protective garment which may cause a certain level of discomfort. In home environments, typically towels are used to cover for instance the neck portion of a person whose hair is to be cut. Typically, such protective towel or similar protective scarf or blanket is only used one time before being washed. Further, the shorter the cut hair sections are, the more they tend to stick to pieces of clothing, carpets, towels, blankets and such like.
Further, hair cutting appliances are known that implement so-called spacing combs so as to set a desired cutting length. Hence, hair trimming may be greatly facilitated, e.g. by setting the cutting length to 6 mm (millimeter), 9 mm, 12 mm, etc. Further, also so-called adjustable spacing combs are known. In this context, U.S. Pat. No. 6,968,623 B2 discloses a hair trimmer comprising a body, a cutting head including a blade set, an adjustable comb, wherein the comb is movable with respect to the blade set, an electric motor for driving the blade set to effect a cutting action, and an actuator assembly that is capable of moving the comb with respect to the blade set between a fully retracted position and a fully extended position, the actuator assembly comprising a comb carriage, a comb button connected to the comb carriage, wherein the comb button is actuatable to adjust a position of the comb relative to the blade set, and a lock button movable with respect to the comb button, wherein the lock button selectively prevents and permits movement of the comb relative to the body. Consequently, manual adjustment of the length of the comb is enabled.
On the one hand, adjustable combs improve the performance and enlarge the field of application of hair cutting appliances. Particularly trimming operations may be considerably simplified. On the other hand, spacing combs pose further challenges for hair catching or hair collecting units as disclosed in the above EP 2 433 763 A1. On the one hand, an adjustable spacing comb requires a considerable installation space at or adjacent to the cutting head of a hair cutting appliance. Basically the same is the case for hair catching or hair collecting units. Further, when a spacing comb is attached, the working distance and working orientation of the hair cutting appliance with respect to the skin of the to-be-groomed subject somewhat varies with the set cutting length. This may have some influence on the performance of hair collecting units. Further, for some certain applications, such as hair styling operations, good visibility of the actual cutting site is of major importance. Therefore, any attachment part would somewhat obstruct the blade head and mitigate the visibility of the cutting edge.
There is thus still room for improvement in hair collecting approaches and units for hair cutting appliances.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hair cutting appliance, a hair container for a hair cutting appliance, and an attachment kit for a hair cutting appliance implementing a respective hair container that cope with and may overcome at least some of the above-mentioned issues. In particular, it is an object to provide a hair container for a hair cutting appliance that is easy to handle and operate and that may provide the hair cutting appliance with an improved hair collecting or hair catching performance. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to present a hair container for a hair cutting appliance that is easy to manufacture, assemble and operate.
Further, it would be advantageous to provide a hair cutting appliance that can be fitted with a respective hair container, wherein the hair cutting appliance exhibits improved hair cutting performance that involves a reduction of cleaning or hair removing efforts at the treatment site. It would be further beneficial to present a respective hair container and a hair cutting appliance that is fitted with a hair container, wherein also cutting length adjustment is enabled such that, even though hair catching or collecting capability is provided, further comfort features may be implemented that improve the overall performance of the hair cutting appliance.
In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a hair container for a hair cutting appliance comprising an attachment comb is presented, the hair container comprising:
This aspect is based on the insight that it is particularly beneficial when the hair container is—so to say—attached to the hair cutting appliance in a mediate fashion. In other words, the hair container may be arranged to be positioned at a rear side of a housing or housing portion of the hair cutting appliance as an extension or an add-on of the attachment comb. As used herein, the rear side of the housing portion may be regarded as the side which is facing away from a cutting area when the hair cutting appliance is in use for trimming hair.
In accordance with the above aspect, the hair container does not have to be directly coupled or attached to the housing of the hair cutting appliance. Consequently, both the attachment comb and the hair container can be attached to the hair cutting appliance in one step. Consequently, changing attachments of the hair cutting appliance is considerably simplified since only one interface is required at the hair cutting appliance. Further, when the hair cutting appliance is in use for styling operations, neither the attachment comb nor the hair container obstructs the cutting zone. Therefore, sufficient visibility of the to-be-styled hair portion or beard portion is ensured.
Further, in accordance with the above aspect, the attachment comb and the hair container comprise a common interface. Further, an attachment interface between the attachment comb and the hair cutting appliance is provided. There is no direct interface between the hair container and the (body portion of the) hair cutting appliance, i.e. an interface where the hair container and the housing of the hair cutting appliance are directly attached to one another. In other words, the attachment comb may be regarded as an indirect interface portion between the hair container and the housing of the hair cutting appliance. A further advantage of this setting is that the hair container may be moved synchronously with the attachment comb. This is particularly beneficial when the attachment comb is arranged as an adjustable attachment comb that is operable to adjust a cutting length of the hair cutting appliance. In other words, in accordance with at least some embodiments as disclosed herein, a relative position and a relative orientation between the hair container and a top surface (contact surface) of the attachment comb is maintained even then the attachment comb is moved with respect to the housing portion of the hair cutting appliance for length adjustment.
The attachment portion may be arranged for releasably attaching the hair container to the hair cutting appliance. In one embodiment, the hair container is arranged to be attached to a releasable attachment comb. In one embodiment, the hair container is arranged to be attached to a non-releasable attachment comb. Hence, the hair container may be considered as an upgrade hair container for hair cutting appliances, and for hair cutting systems involving an appliance and at least one spacing comb. This may involve units wherein the spacing comb is fixedly attached to the appliance and units wherein at least one spacing comb is provided that may be attached to the appliance in a releasable fashion. Either type of combs may involve fixed combs and (cutting length) adjustable combs. Since the hair container provides a bypass interface with attachment combs and therefore a mediate interface with hair cutting appliances, the hair container may be marketed individually or as a component of a respective kit.
In one embodiment, the hair container is arranged to be at least sectionally interposed between a housing portion of the hair cutting appliance and the attachment comb, when the attachment comb is attached to the hair cutting appliance. Hence, the hair container may be arranged to receive hairs from a rear or tail portion of the attachment comb at the rear side of the housing portion. Needless to say, when the attachment comb is arranged as an adjustable attachment comb, at least a main skin-contacting portion of the attachment comb is arranged at the hair cutting appliance in a fashion movable with respect to the housing portion thereof. Hence, both the attachment comb and the hair container may be moved with respect to or slide along the rear wall or portion of the housing of the hair cutting appliance.
In a further embodiment of the hair container, the attachment portion comprises at least one locking element that is arranged to lock the hair container at the attachment comb in a releasable fashion. The at least one locking element may be arranged as a snap locking element. The at least one locking element may comprise a shape selected from the group consisting of snap hooks, recesses, protrusions, indentations, snap-locks, spring-locks, snap lids, latches, catches, etc. Preferably, the at least on locking element is integrally shaped with the hair container. Therefore, preferably at least one flexible or at least partially deformable section of the hair container is provided which enables mounting the hair container to the attachment comb in a snap-on or snap-in fashion. Further, the hair container may preferably be attached to and detached from the attachment comb in a tool-free fashion. Consequently, quick action assembling and disassembling is achieved.
Generally, locking elements may be arranged in a force fit and/or tight fit (positive locking) fashion. Furthermore, locking elements involving hook and loop fasteners may be utilized. For instance, bayonet joint-type locking elements may be envisaged. In the alternative, non-mechanical locking elements may be implemented. For instance, magnetic locking elements (and mating elements) may be utilized.
In a further refined embodiment, the attachment portion comprises at least two lateral locking elements that are spaced apart from one another and that are arranged to engage mating snap lock elements at the attachment comb. To this end, the attachment comb is preferably provided with a frame portion that serves as basis for comb ribs and the mating snap lock elements. Therefore, also the mating snap lock elements (snap-on or snap-in elements) at the attachment comb may be integrally shaped with the attachment comb. Consequently, both the attachment comb and the hair container may be arranged as an integrally shaped one-piece part, respectively.
By way of example, the hair container may comprise two mounting recesses that are laterally spaced from one another and that are arranged on inwardly-facing lateral surfaces of the hair container. Further, the attachment comb may comprise two corresponding mounting protrusions that are laterally spaced from one another and that are arranged on outwardly facing lateral surfaces of the frame or frame portion of the attachment comb.
Further, in another embodiment of the hair container, the attachment portion comprises at least one alignment element that is arranged to engage a mating positioning element at the attachment comb. The alignment element and the positioning element ensure that the hair container and the attachment comb may be attached to one another in the desired relative orientation. An incorrect installation may be therefore avoided. Further, the at least one alignment element and the at least one corresponding mating positioning element may indicate a correct approaching direction/orientation which may further facilitate attaching the hair container to the attachment comb. Also a reversed or inverted mounting of the hair container can be prevented in this way.
In yet another embodiment, the hair container is arranged, in the mounted state, to be moved with the attachment comb relative to the housing porting of the hair cutting appliance when the attachment comb is moved for comb length adjustment. Consequently, in accordance with this embodiment, there is no fixed connection between the hair container and the hair cutting appliance. Further, the hair cutting appliance may be upgraded with the hair container by attaching a respective attachment comb thereto. Hence, when the hair cutting appliance already provides an interface contour for the attachment comb, by attaching the attachment comb that is arranged to receive the hair container, the hair container may be mounted to the hair cutting appliance.
In yet another embodiment, the hair container further comprises a guide wall that is preferably shovel blade shaped, a front end of which, in the mounted state, is arranged between rear ribs of the attachment comb and a rear side of the housing portion of the hair cutting appliance in close proximity to the rear side. In other words, the guide wall may at least partially reach under the comb that is somewhat offset from the rear side of the housing portion of the hair cutting appliance. In other words, the design of the guide wall may be considered as being skid-plate shaped. Preferably, the front end of the guide wall is tapered. In some embodiments, the front end of the guide wall contacts the rear side of the housing portion of the hair cutting appliance. Generally, a remaining gap between the housing portion and the front end of the guide wall is preferably minimized so as to prevent hairs from entering the gap and, consequently, from being not trapped or collected in the hair compartment.
In yet another embodiment, the hair container further comprises two lateral catching arms which laterally delimit a hair guiding channel. The hair guiding channel may be jointly defined by the two lateral catching arms and the guide wall of the hair container. Further, at least a portion of the rear side of the housing portion may form part of the hair guiding channel.
Preferably, the lateral locking elements are arranged at or adjacent to the lateral catching arm, particularly at top end portions thereof. The laterally catching arms may be considerably flexible, due to their design, which facilitates mounting the hair container to the attachment comb. By laterally deflecting the lateral catching arms, the locking elements of the hair container may engage the mating snap lock elements of the attachment comb.
In still another embodiment of the hair container, the hair compartment is arranged as a rigid container, particularly as a rigid bucket-like compartment. In other words, the hair compartment may be arranged as a pocket or basket. In yet another embodiment of the hair container, the hair compartment is arranged as a flexible container, particularly as a flexible backpack-like compartment. Consequently, the flexible hair compartment may be formed of fabric cloth, meshed materials, and suchlike. In accordance with this embodiment, also paper-based, cellulose-based, or similarly materials may be used. Hence, the hair compartment may be arranged in a disposable fashion.
Further, the hair compartment is preferably arranged and positioned such that hairs may fall therein when the hair cutting appliance is moved in an upward movement for cutting or trimming hair. When the hair cutting appliance, the attachment comb and the hair container being attached thereto, is upwardly moved, cut hair sections may enter the hair compartment in a gravity-supported fashion. Generally, the hair guiding channel is designed to guide the hairs into the hair compartment where they may be compressed. This has the benefit that no additional active hair transfer units are required, such as blowers, conveying fans, etc.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, an attachment kit for a hair cutting appliance is presented, the attachment kit comprising:
In this way, an upgrade kit for hair cutting appliances may be provided which improves both cutting operation and hair catching performance when the hair cutting appliance is used for trimming purposes. Preferably, the attachment comb comprises a receptacle for the hair container so as to fasten the hair container to the attachment comb in a releasable fashion. Both the attachment comb and the hair container may be detached from the hair cutting appliance. Consequently, also the attachment comb may be referred to as a releasable attachment comb. If this is the case, the hair cutting appliance is suited for styling operations and shaving operations. When the attachment kit is mounted, the hair cutting appliance is particularly suited for trimming operations.
In alternative embodiments, the attachment comb may be arranged as a permanently attached integrated comb. Hence, the attachment comb may be mounted to the appliance in a non-releasable fashion.
In one embodiment of the attachment kit, the attachment comb is an adjustable attachment comb, wherein the attachment comb is arranged to engage an adjustment drive of the hair cutting appliance, particularly to engage a movable adjustment carriage of the adjustment drive. To this end, the attachment comb and the adjustment drive may be configured for a snap-on or snap-in engagement. In accordance with this embodiment, the attachment kit also may be referred to as adjustable (extendable or extractable) attachment kit. When the adjustment comb is moved for adjustment, also the hair container is moved with respect to the housing portion of the hair cutting appliance. This may improve hair catching or hair collection.
In alternative embodiments, the attachment comb may be arranged as a non-adjustable attachment comb. Hence, the attachment comb may provide a fixed cutting length. Consequently, for length variation, the kit may comprise more than one attachment comb having different length properties (e.g. 3 mm, 6 mm and 12 mm). If this is the case, the attachment combs are preferably arranged as releasable or detachable attachment combs. In another embodiment of the attachment kit, the attachment comb comprises a tail portion which is at least partially offset from the housing portion of the hair cutting appliance, wherein the hair container, in its mounted state, at least partially engages an offset gap between the tail portion and the housing portion. By way of example, the tail portion of the attachment comb may be rearwardly curved, for instance bent away from the rear side of the housing of the hair cutting appliance. Since the hair container, particularly the guide wall thereof, may engage the resulting offset gap, hair transfer may be facilitated. Further, the hair container may be arranged between the tail portion and the housing portion which may lead to a somewhat protected mounting position of the hair container.
In yet another embodiment of the attachment kit, the attachment comb is arranged as an integrally shaped injection moulding part, wherein the hair container is arranged as an integrally shaped injection moulding part. Consequently, in some embodiments, the attachment kit consists of only two parts, namely the attachment comb and the hair container. This may considerably simplify manufacturing and handling. Any locking or mating elements may be integrally shaped. Required flexibility for the mounting and dismounting action may be provided by the inherent flexibility of the injection-mouldable material (injection-moulding plastic material). Preferably, at least some on the (snap-on or snap-in) mounting elements may be obtained by providing undercuts and the moulding tool, wherein demoulding involves a forced demoulding at the undercuts so as to disengage the recessed or elevated mounting elements from the mould (without the need of sliders, etc.). This may further facilitate the manufacturing process and reduce manufacturing/tooling costs.
In yet another embodiment of the attachment kit, the attachment comb and the hair container jointly define a hair guiding channel through which, in the mounted state, cut hair sections are guided to be received in the hair compartment in the hair container. Preferably, the hair guiding channel has a downward orientation when the hair cutting appliance is moved upwardly to cut or trim hair. Further, at least a part or section of the rear side of the housing portion of the hair cutting appliance may also form part of the hair guiding channel. When the attachment kit is moved with respect to the housing portion for length adjustment, also the corresponding wall portion that forms part of the hair guiding channel is adapted accordingly. Generally, the hair compartment of the hair container is arranged to receive and accommodate hair strands, hair filaments, and further wear and residue generated in the hair cutting action.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a hair cutting appliance, particularly a hair trimmer or clipper, is presented, the hair cutting appliance comprising a housing portion, a cutting unit including a blade set, and an attachment kit in accordance with at least one embodiment as disclosed herein. Preferably, the hair cutting appliance is a hand-held electrically powered hair cutting appliance. Typically, the hair cutting appliance comprises an elongated housing and a cutting head at a top end thereof where the blade set is provided. Typically, the blade set comprises at least one stationary blade and at least one movable cutter blade that is operable to be moved with respect to the stationary blade to cut hair. The elongated housing further comprises a bottom end which is opposite to the top end thereof. Further, a front side and a rear side are provided. When the hair cutting appliance is in operation, typically the top side, where the blade set is arranged, contacts the to-be-groomed skin portion in a direct or mediate (i.e. via the attachment comb) fashion. The front side is typically facing the skin portion, when the appliance is in use. Consequently, the rear side is typically facing away from the skin when the hair cutting appliance is in operation. Therefore, the hair container, particularly the hair compartment, is arranged at the rear side of the housing portion. The above-described top side, bottom side, front side and rear side are supplemented by (two) lateral sides.
These and other aspects of the disclosure will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. In the following drawings
The appliance 10 further comprises operator controls. For instance, an on-off switch or button 20 may be provided. Furthermore, in case the appliance 10 is provided with a comb length adjustment mechanism, a length adjustment control 22 may be provided at the housing 12 of the appliance 10. As with the embodiment of
A front side of the housing portion 12 is indicated in
Further reference is made to
As indicated above, the housing 12 has a main (longitudinal) direction which will be hereinafter associated with the X-axis (length direction). Therefore, the top end and the bottom end of the housing 12 are spaced from one another in the X-direction. Further, the front side 24 and the rear side 26 are basically spaced from one another in the Y-direction. Lateral sides of the housing 12 are basically spaced from one another in the Z-direction.
As shown in
Usage of the hair container 32 may be particularly beneficial for trimming relatively short hair as the resulting (cut) hair sections are considerably short and relatively easy to catch. Further, short hair sections are often experienced as being tickling, particularly in facial regions and also difficult to be removed from clothes, towels, scarfs, etc.
The attachment comb 30 and the hair container 32 may jointly form an attachment kit 34 for the appliance 10. Preferably, the attachment kit 34 is a releasable attachment kit. Further, the attachment kit 34 is arranged for a snap-on or snap-in attachment and detachment. Preferably, the attachment kit 34 improves the appliance's hair trimming performance.
As can be further seen in conjunction from
For mounting the hair container 32 to the appliance 10, an attachment portion 50 is provided (not shown in
A further benefit of this arrangement is that no attachment or interface geometry for the hair container 32 is required at the housing 12. Hence, when the hair container 32 is not required, no disturbing of obstructing elements are present. Consequently, the appliance 10 may be particularly suited for multi-purpose usage, particularly for trimming, shaving and styling. Further, also attachment combs may be mounted to the appliance 10 which are not arranged to receive the hair container 32.
Further reference is made to
The attachment comb 30 comprises a comb frame 62 which is arranged as an all-round frame. Between lateral frame sections the ribs 40 are arranged and may define front ribs 80 and rear ribs 82 which are separated from one another by the opening 42. At a most remote top and rear end, the ribs 40 define a tip edge 64 of the attachment comb 30. As with the embodiment of
Further, the attachment comb 30 comprises attachment bars 66 extending from the comb frame 62. The attachment bars 66 may be referred to as lateral attachment bars. The attachment bars 66 basically extend in the X-direction from the top side towards the bottom side (refer to the double-arrow 58 of
The ribs 40 of the attachment comb 30 further define a top surface or portion 72 which basically defines a contact surface with the to-be-groomed skin. The top portion 42 is defined by the front ribs 80 and a top portion of the rear ribs 82.
A tail portion 74 of the attachment comb 30 is basically defined by the rear ribs 82 and the respective portion of the comb frame 62. At the tail portion 74, snap lock elements 76 are provided at the comb frame 62. The snap lock elements 76 may be arranged as snap-on or snap-in elements, for instance. In the exemplary embodiment of
The attachment portion 50 of the hair container 32 is arranged to engage the snap lock elements 76 and the positioning element 78 of the attachment comb. As can be further seen from
The attachment portion 50 of the hair container 32 comprises snap locking elements 90 which are arranged as recesses. The snap locking elements 90 may be arranged as snap-on or snap-in locking elements 90. The snap locking elements 90 are arranged to engage the snap lock elements 76 (mating snap-on or snap-in elements) of the attachment comb 30. The snap locking elements 90 are arranged at lateral ends of the container housing 46 at or adjacent to the lateral catching arms 88. The hair container 32 further comprises an alignment element 92 which is arranged to engage the positioning element 78 of the attachment comb 30. The alignment element 92 is arranged as a protruding alignment tab at the container housing 46.
As can be further seen from
Further reference is made to
Adjustment may be effected by operating the length adjustment control 22. The adjustment mechanism may be a manually operated mechanism or a motor powered adjustment drive. Hence, the user may either directly retract or extract the adjusted attachment comb 30 or may operate or control a motor which acts as an adjustment drive motor.
Further reference is made to
As can be best seen from
Reference is still made to
Hairs 106 may be caught, raked and erected by the ribs 40 of the attachment comb 30. Eventually, the hairs are guided towards the blade set 16 and cut by the cooperating cutting action of the stationary blade and the movable cutter blade thereof. Cut hair sections may then enter the hair guiding channel 102 so as to be guided and moved towards the hair compartment 48, where cut hair sections 108 may accumulate. Preferably, as can be best seen from
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.
In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15179703.2 | Aug 2015 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2016/067731 | 7/26/2016 | WO | 00 |
