Patent Application
20230277830
The invention relates to a hand-held device for locally piercing a skin.
The present application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 22160485.3 filed on Mar. 7, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its respective entirety.
Such a hand-held device is used to locally pierce a human skin or an animal skin, for example to make a tattoo or for medical or cosmetic applications. For example, local skin piercing can be used to introduce a dye into upper layers of the skin, for example to create a tattoo or permanent makeup. But also the insertion of medical or cosmetic substances can be provided.
Usual hand-held devices have a housing in which a drive device is arranged, for example an electric motor, which in operation provides a mechanically generated driving force which is transmitted via a coupling device to a piercing device in the housing, so that the piercing device is moved forwards and backwards, the piercing of the skin regularly taking place at the end of the forward movement and the piercing needles of the piercing device used for this purpose being pulled out of the skin again by means of the backward movement. At least in the extended position, needle tips of the piercing needle(s) are arranged outside a front housing opening of the housing so that they can be pierced into the skin. The depth of penetration into the skin depends, among other things, on the length of the protrusion of the piercing needles relative to the front housing opening and the size of the working stroke performed by the piercing needles when they are moved into the extended (front) position.
The object of the invention is to provide a hand-held device for local skin piercing with improved operating characteristics.
For the solution, a hand-held device for local piercing of a skin according to claim 1 is provided. Embodiments are the subject of dependent claims.
According to one aspect, there is provided a hand-held device for locally piercing a skin, comprising: a housing; a drive unit disposed in the housing and adapted to provide a driving force; piercing means disposed in the housing and including at least one piercing needle disposed on a needle carrier; and coupling means disposed in the housing and connecting the a drive unit to the piercing means such that the driving force is transmissible to the piercing means to repeatedly move the needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle between a forward and a rearward position during operation. The coupling device has a lever mechanism which is set up to receive, on the drive side, a drive stroke provided by the drive device via an input of the lever mechanism when the driving force is transmitted, to convert the drive stroke into a working stroke which is different from the drive stroke, and to deliver the working stroke to the piercing device via an output of the lever mechanism.
The lever mechanism provided in the coupling device makes it possible to selectively change the drive stroke provided on the drive side in order to transmit the driving force from the drive device to the piercing device, in that the lever mechanism converts the drive stroke into the working stroke, which is different from the drive stroke. In this way, a working stroke can be provided for the operation of the piercing device that is not limited to the drive stroke provided on the drive side. Depending on the desired design of the handheld unit, the drive stroke provided on the drive side can be changed in relation to the application and converted into the working stroke.
The lever mechanism can be arranged to convert the drive stroke with a drive stroke length into the working stroke with a working stroke length that is different from the drive stroke length. In this embodiment, it is provided that the drive stroke is extended by means of the lever mechanism, which enables, for example, the provision of a larger needle protrusion of the piercing needle tips relative to the front housing opening, thereby optionally a larger piercing depth during operation of the hand-held device when piercing the skin locally.
The working stroke length can be greater than the drive stroke length. Alternatively, the working stroke length can be smaller than the drive stroke length. This makes it possible to use a drive device also in handheld devices that are to provide a working stroke in operation that is shorter or smaller than the drive stroke provided by the drive device.
In various applications, it can be provided that the lever mechanism is used to reverse or invert the direction of movement of the original drive stroke for the working stroke.
The lever mechanism may be formed with at least two cooperating levers. The at least two interacting levers can be pivotably mounted on a bearing component, for example in a respective associated bearing, wherein the respective bearing is associated with limiting means which limit a pivoting or rotary movement of the respective lever during operation of the lever mechanism during the stroke conversion.
The lever mechanism may be designed as a rigid lever mechanism between the input and the output. A rigid lever mechanism means in particular that elements or components of the lever mechanism, for example the at least two interacting levers, are fixedly connected to one another, for example a distance between the respective bearing of levers of the lever mechanism is fixed at a constant level during operation. In particular, the rigid lever mechanism may comprise or consist of flexure hinges, Due to the fixed connection formed by means of the rigid lever mechanism, a (force) transmission characteristic formed by means of the lever mechanism between the input and the output can be constant at all times during operation for moving the needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle back and forth.
The needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle may be displaceable during displacement from the rear to the front position against a biasing force provided by a retraction device. The biasing force may be configured to at least partially provide a total biasing force to be applied for displacement of the needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle from the front position to the rear position. The needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle is displaced back to the rear position with the aid of the total biasing force after displacement to the front position, which is an extended position with respect to the front housing opening for the piercing needle tip(s). The biasing force may in particular be introduced into a shaft of the piercing device rigidly coupled to the needle carrier.
This displacement between the forward and rearward positions is performed repeatedly at a repetition frequency during operation, so that the hand-held device can be used to locally pierce a skin multiple times. In one embodiment, the selective biasing force provided by the retraction device may fully correspond to the total biasing force. The retraction device may comprise one or more restoring elements formed, for example, by one spring element or a plurality of spring elements. In this case, it can be provided that the spring elements are stretched when the needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle is displaced into the forward position and thus develop the biasing force. The biasing force may then be coupled to the needle carrier or another element of the moving parts, for example the piercing device, for moving the needle carrier back (retraction). To form a proportional biasing force or a total biasing force, for example, the lever mechanism can also be set up, in particular based on the action of a torque around the pivot point of one or more levers.
As an alternative to the provision of a retraction device, the hand-held device can be designed without such a (optionally supplementary) retraction device in such a way that, with the inclusion of the lever mechanism, a (particularly releasable) rigid (non-positive) coupling is formed between the drive device and the piercing device, so that—in addition to the driving force for displacement into the front position (push force)—the biasing force for displacement from the front into the rear position is also provided directly by the drive device and is transmitted to the stay device via the rigid (non-positive) connection (pull force).
In the housing, a sealing membrane can sealingly separate a front housing chamber from a rear housing chamber. The sealing membrane may for example be realized as a sealing diaphragm or as a sealing lip. The front housing space may open to the front housing opening. In particular, the sealing membrane prevents body fluid that may enter the front housing space through the front housing opening when the hand-held device is used for local skin piercing from then also entering the rear housing space. The rear housing space may at least partially receive the drive device. The piercing device can be at least partially arranged in the front housing space, in particular the needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle.
The retraction device may be formed with the sealing membrane, in particular the sealing diaphragm, such that the biasing force is at least partially formed when one or more elastic membrane sections of the sealing membrane are stretched from the rear position to the front position during displacement of the needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle. When the needle carrier with the at least one piercing needle is displaced to the forward position during operation, the elastic membrane sections of the sealing membrane, in particular of the sealing diaphragm, stretch so that the restoring or restoring force is provided by the sealing membrane itself. In this case, a coupling section of the sealing membrane is fixedly connected, in particular in a non-slipping manner, to the needle carrier, either directly or indirectly via an intermediate component, so that the elastic membrane sections are stretched when displaced to the forward position and the sealing membrane, in particular the sealing diaphragm, can then couple its biasing force to the needle carrier to support its displacement from the forward to the rearward position or to cause it on its own.
In an alternative embodiment, the sealing membrane may comprise a sealing lip. In particular, the sealing lip engages a component in slidingly manner moveable between the rear position and the front position. A sealing lip may slidingly and sealingly engage a component of the hand-held device, in particular of the piercing device, more particularly a shaft thereof. A sealing lip slidingly engaging a component may be configured not to exert a biasing force onto said component. A sealing lip may be fixed to the needle carrier, wherein a coupling section of the sealing lip may be fixedly connected, in particular in a non-slipping manner, to the needle carrier, and a gliding section of the sealing lip engages another component, such as the lever mechanism. Alternatively, the sealing lip may be fixed to the lever mechanism, wherein a coupling section of the sealing lip is fixedly connected, in particular in a non-slipping manner, to the lever mechanism, and a gliding section of the sealing lip engages another component, such as the needle carrier. In an embodiment comprising a sealing lip, additional biasing means, such as a spring, in particular a compression spring or a tension spring, shall be provided for providing a biasing force for the retraction device.
The lever mechanism can be arranged in the rear housing space. In this way, the lever mechanism is sealed off from the front housing space by means of the sealing membrane. The lever mechanism can be arranged at least partially in the front housing space. In an alternative embodiment, the lever mechanism is arranged in a front housing space.
The needle carrier of the piercing device can be directly connected to the output of the lever mechanism. Alternatively, an indirect connection or coupling between the needle carrier and the lever mechanism can be formed via an intermediate component associated with the needle carrier, for example via one or more connecting components.
An output member, at which the output of the lever mechanism is formed, may be pivotally received in an associated receptacle on the needle carrier of the piercing device. For example, a lever portion of one of the levers of the lever mechanism extending substantially transverse to the longitudinal direction of the housing may be pivotally received in the associated receptacle on the needle carrier.
The housing can be made in several parts with housing parts that detachable from each other. The housing is designed in multiple parts with several housing parts that detachable from each other. The housing parts can comprise disposable and/or reusable modules. Disposable modules are designed for single use and are replaced after use of the hand-held skin piercer. Reusable modules, on the other hand, are used multiple times.
The housing parts that are detachable from each other may each house one or more of the functional components or devices of the handheld device. If two housing parts each have a functional component or device of the handheld device, coupling means may be provided to couple the two functional components when the housing parts are connected, and to decouple them when the housing parts are disconnected or released from each other. For example, this may involve coupling means for connecting the drive device in one housing part to a functional component receiving the drive motion or driving force in another housing part. The coupling means can, for example, have a plug-in, clamping and/or screw connection for coupling.
The coupling means may comprise a magnetic component configured for transferring the driving force from the drive unit to the piercing device. The coupling means may comprise a reception member for engaging a driving pin. A driving pin may be rotatable in an oscillating manner. The reception member may be moveably fixed to the front housing part. The driving pin may be moveably fixed to the rear housing part. The reception member may be configured to receive an oscillating rotational driving movement, in particular form a driving pin. The reception member may be coupled to the piercing device, in particular to the needle carrier. In particular, the reception member is coupled to the piercing device, in particular to the needle carrier, via the lever mechanism. The lever mechanism may be configured to transfer the driving force from the driving unit to the needle carrier. Optionally, the lever mechanism may be configured to transfer a biasing force from a biasing means to the needle carrier. It may be preferred that the lever mechanism transforms the rotational oscillatory movement from the driving unit into a corresponding oscillating linear movement of the needle carrier.
A handpiece can be formed with a rear housing part, in which the drive device is arranged. A skin-piercing module can be formed with a front housing part, in which the piercing device is arranged. The handpiece is gripped by the user's fingers during operation of the hand-held device to guide the handheld device, and may be formed as a multi-use module. The rear housing member may in turn comprise one or more partial housing members. The skin piercing module with the piercing device may be formed as a disposable module so that it is replaceably attached to another housing part, in particular the rear housing part. In one embodiment, a housing interior of the skin piercing exchange module is part of the front housing space, which is sealed off from the rear housing space by means of the sealing membrane.
The lever mechanism may be at least partially disposed in the skin piercing module.
The rear housing part can be a handpiece with drive device of an electric toothbrush. The drive unit of the rear housing part, in particular of the electric toothbrush, may in particular comprise a driving pin configured to move rotationally in an oscillating manner. Alternatively, the drive unit of the rear housing part, in particular of the electric toothbrush, may in particular comprise a driving member configured to move linearly in an oscillating manner. A linearly oscillating driving member may be configured to oscillate in a direction corresponding to, in particular parallel to or equal to, the axial direction of the rear housing part, and/or the axial direction of the front housing part. The handpiece includes the drive unit and is adapted to be releasably coupled to an attachment having a brushing means, so that—in addition to the skin brushing means—an electric toothbrush is provided. In this way, an article can be provided comprising the handpiece with the a drive unit of an electric toothbrush, as well as a skin-piercing module and a brush (changing) module with the brush means, each of which can be releasably coupled to the handpiece with the a drive unit, such that the driving force or movement provided by the a drive unit can be coupled to the respectively coupled module.
The lever mechanism can be arranged in the front housing part. The lever mechanism can be arranged in the skin piercing exchange module. Alternatively, the lever mechanism can be arranged in a coupling module that can be detachably connected to the handpiece of the electric toothbrush. The piercing device can then be arranged in the skin piercing change module, which is detachably arranged on the coupling module.
The hand-held unit can have an adjustment mechanism that is set up to adjust a needle protrusion or needle overhang, i.e. an overhang or protrusion of the needle tips in relation to a front housing edge or a front housing opening through which the piercing needles move when they are moved to the forward (extended) position. In the adjustment mechanism, a housing portion on the front module housing may be adjustable relative to the needle carrier and thus to the piercing needles. For example, after coupling the skin piercing module to the handpiece, the housing part may be connected (coupled) in the region of a rear housing section to a sleeve which is adjustable or displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the housing, such that adjustment or displacement of the sleeve in the longitudinal direction of the housing, for example by rotating the sleeve along a threaded bearing of the sleeve on the rear housing part, changes the relative position of the housing part with respect to the needle carrier with the piercing needles and thus with respect to the needle tips, so that a needle projection or needle protrusion of the needle tips relative to the front housing edge is thereby set.
In one embodiment, a piercing needle tip of the at least one piercing needle is arranged to protrude beyond a front housing opening, at least in the forward position. Alternatively, the piercing needle tip may be arranged behind the front housing opening in both the front and rear positions, wherein the piercing needle tip is arranged closer to the front housing opening in the front position than in the rear position, optionally in the region of the front housing opening.
It may be preferred that the housing comprises a front housing part and a rear housing part. The front housing part and the rear housing section part may be releasably coupled to each another. The front housing part may comprise a first casing for sealingly housing components and/or devices contained therein. The piercing device may in particular moveably fixed to the front housing part. The piercing device may be received within the front housing. It may be preferred to arrange the piercing device completely and constantly outside of the rear housing. Particularly, the piercing device is moveable with respect to the first casing so as to be at least partially or completely retractable into the first casing and/or so as to be at last partially or fully protrude beyond a front housing opening of the first casing. The lever mechanism may be received, in particular completely, within the front housing. It may be preferred to arrange the lever mechanism completely and constantly outside of the rear housing. The front housing part may in particular be realized as a piercing exchange module. The front housing part may be realized as a, preferably reusable or disposable, needle cartridge. The front housing part preferably comprises a skin-piercing module. The rear housing part may comprise a second casing for sealingly housing components and/or devices contained therein. Preferably the drive device is contained within the rear housing section. Particularly, the rear housing part may be realized as a handpiece. In a particular embodiment, the rear housing part can be a handpiece with drive device of an electric toothbrush. The drive device may be received within the rear housing. It may be preferred to arrange the drive device completely and constantly outside of the front housing.
While the present disclosure generally refers to skin piercing needles, the disclosure is to be understood to relate also to stimulating needles. Stimulating needles may have rounded tips. A rounded tip may have a tip radius of no less than 0.05 mm, in particular no less than 0.1 mm. The rounded tip may have a tip radius of no more than 0.5 mm, in particular no more than 0.25 mm, preferably no more than 0.1 mm. In a particular embodiment, the rounded tip may have a tip radius in the range between no less than 0.05 mm and no more than 0.08 mm. Stimulating needles may be configured not to pierce an animal skin and/or human skin.
The patent or application file contain at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of the patent or patent application publication with color drawings(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
In the following, further embodiments are explained with reference to figures of a drawing. Here show:
A piercing device 22 is arranged in a module housing 21, in which piercing needles 24 are arranged on a needle carrier 23. The needle carrier 23 is connected to a module-side coupling device 25 in such a way that, during operation, a driving force provided via a coupling component 26, which is provided by a drive device in the housing 2, is transmitted to the needle carrier 23, so that the needle carrier 23 with the piercing needles 24 arranged thereon is moved back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the housing between a front and a rear position.
The needle carrier 23 is guided in the module housing 21 during back and forth movement in operation. A spring element 30 ensures that a housing sleeve 31 with a cap 31a is pressed against a bottom of a module receptacle on the handpiece 4a after docking and regardless of the setting of a needle protrusion of the piercing needle tip 27 with respect to the front housing opening 28 or the front housing edge 29.
After coupling the skin piercing module 20 to the handpiece, a housing part 21a on the module housing 21 is connected in the region of a rear housing section 21b to a sleeve 4b that can be adjusted or displaced in the longitudinal direction of the housing 2 (cf.
The housing part 21a abuts a circumferential ledge 21c on the module housing 21, which forms a stop for the housing part 21a.
In the shown embodiment example, the displacement into the front position towards the front housing opening 28 takes place against a biasing force of a sealing membrane 40, which is stretched in the process (cf.
The sealing membrane made of an elastic material then also contributes to moving the needle carrier 23 with the piercing needles 24 back to the rear (retracted) position according to
Referring to
In the example shown for the lever mechanism 32, this is designed to increase the stroke, which means that the decoupled working stroke is greater than the coupled drive stroke. The stroke length is increased. In alternative embodiments, the stroke length can remain the same or can be shortened by means of the lever mechanism 32.
In the embodiment shown, the biasing force provided by the sealing membrane 40 optionally supplements the lever mechanism 32 at least when moving the stay device back.
In
For this purpose, a housing part 51 is adjustable or displaceable after coupling to the handpiece 4a by means of the sleeve 4b formed thereon (cf.
If the other needle piercing module 50 is used for an insertion of a substance during local piercing of the skin, it is possible to insert the substance to be inserted via a module opening 52, so that it can reach the pierced skin in particular due to capillary forces along the piercing needles 24. In the embodiment of the needle piercing module 20 in
Referring to
While the pins 24 are shown in particular in
In the examples in
The lever mechanism 32 is formed with the first and second levers 33, 34 formed in a crossed arrangement. The first and second levers 33, 34 are pivotally mounted to the module housing by means of a respective bearing 73, 74. The drive stroke is introduced to the lever mechanism 32 via a coupling component 75, and the converted working stroke is then transmitted to the needle carrier 23. In this way, the driving force provided by the handpiece of the electric toothbrush is transmitted to the needle carrier 23 with the positioning needles 24, with the stroke conversion or conversion taking place in this case.
An adjustment element 76, which in the example shown is formed with a rotary element, is arranged to adjust a needle protrusion or needle protrusion for the piercing needles 24 relative to the front housing opening 28 by rotating the rotary element. For this purpose, it is provided that the rotating element cooperates with an eccentric mechanism (not shown) in such a way that a position of a sleeve component 77, at which the front housing opening 28 is formed, can be changed relative to the piercing needle tips 27 in the extended (front) position of the piercing needles 24.
The features disclosed in the foregoing description, the claims, and the drawing may be significant, both individually and in any combination, for the realization of the various embodiments.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22160485.3 | Mar 2022 | EP | regional |
