The present invention relates to shaving razors and razor cartridges, and more particularly to heated shaving razor handles and cartridges for wet shaving.
Users of wet-shave razors generally appreciate a feeling of warmth against their skin during shaving. The warmth feels good, resulting in a more comfortable shave. For example, barbershops typically wrap the client's face in a warm towel and apply heated shaving cream to the face prior to shaving. Various attempts have been made to provide products that deliver a warm feeling during the shaving process. For example, shaving creams have been formulated to react exothermically upon release from the shaving canister, so that the shaving cream imparts warmth to the skin. Also, razor heads have been heated using hot air, heating elements, and linearly scanned laser beams, with power being supplied by a power source such as a battery.
It is generally known that the cutting edge of a razor blade is more effective in cutting hairs when the blade is warm or hot. Just prior to shaving, some people warm the hairs and skin with hot water or a hot towel. It is also common practice to place the shaving razor under hot running water in order to heat the blades just prior to shaving. However, the increased temperature of the blades lasts only a short time during the beginning of the shaving process. Within seconds or less, the temperature of the skin surface, hairs, and blade are quickly reduced due to exposure to the ambient air temperature.
It is also generally known that heating the skin's surface, which is being shaved also helps soothe and comfort the skin. Although the heat transferred to a blade edge may be sufficient to reduce the cutting force required to cut hair, it is not sufficient to provide an adequate consumer benefit of improved comfort or a soothing experience. Razor blades have a very fine, sharp edge to efficiently cut hair, but this is not very efficient at delivering heat to the skin because of the small surface area provided for delivering heat. Accordingly, there is a need for a simple and efficient way to heat both the hair for more efficient cutting and the skin's surface for an improved soothing experience.
In one aspect, the invention features, in general, a shaving razor system having a housing with a guard and a cap. At least one blade is mounted to the housing between the guard and the cap. At least one metallic clip secures the at least one blade to the housing. The shaving razor system has a heater bar that provides warmth to the user's skin during shaving. The at least one clip directly contacts the heater bar and the at least one blade to provide heat to the at least one blade.
In another aspect, the invention features, in general, a shaving razor system having a housing with a guard and a cap. At least one blade is mounted to the housing between the guard and the cap. At least one metallic clip secures the at least one blade to the housing. The shaving razor system has a heater bar that provides warmth to the user's skin during shaving. The heater bar has at least one notch that receives at least a respective portion of the clip. A heating element is positioned below the heater bar. The heating element has a resistive member and an insulating member wherein the resistive member has a resistance of 0.1 Ohm to 20 Ohm.
In another aspect, the invention features, in general, a shaving razor system with a housing having a guard, a cap, and at least one blade having a blade edge positioned behind the guard and in front of the cap. A heater bar is positioned in front of the at least one blade. An electrical circuit is configured to deliver energy to the heater bar to heat the heater bar and the blades. A temperature of the heater bar and a temperature of the at least one blade are above 30 degrees Celsius.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. It is understood that certain embodiments may combine elements or components of the invention, which are disclosed in general, but not expressly exemplified or claimed in combination, unless otherwise stated herein. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Referring to
The shaving razor system 10 may include a removable razor cartridge 30. The removable razor cartridge 30 may have a housing 32 with a guard 34, a cap 36 and one or more blades 38 mounted to the housing 32 between the cap 36 and the guard 34. The guard 34 and the cap 36 may define a shaving plane that is tangent to the guard 34 and the cap 36. The guard 34 may be a solid or segmented bar that extends generally parallel to the blades 38. In certain embodiments, the guard 34 may comprise a skin-engaging member 40 (e.g., a plurality of fins) in front of the blades 30 for stretching the skin during a shaving stroke. In certain embodiments, the skin-engaging member 40 may be insert injection molded or co-injection molded to the housing 32. However, other known assembly methods may also be used such as adhesives, ultrasonic welding, or mechanical fasteners. The skin engaging member 40 may be molded from a softer material (i.e., lower durometer hardness) than the housing 32. For example, the skin engaging member 40 may have a Shore A hardness of about 20, 30, or 40 to about 50, 60, or 70. The skin engaging member 40 may be made from thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) or rubbers; examples may include, but are not limited to silicones, natural rubber, butyl rubber, nitrile rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) TPEs, styrene ethylene butadiene styrene (SEBS) TPEs (e.g., Kraton), polyester TPEs (e.g., Hytrel), polyamide TPEs (Pebax), polyurethane TPEs, polyolefin based TPEs, and blends of any of these TPEs (e.g., polyester/SEBS blend). In certain embodiments, skin engaging member 40 may comprise Kraiburg HTC 1028/96, HTC 8802/37, HTC 8802/34, or HTC 8802/11 (KRAIBURG TPE GmbH & Co. KG of Waldkraiburg, Germany). A softer material may enhance skin stretching, as well as provide a more pleasant tactile feel against the skin of the user during shaving. A softer material may also aid in masking the less pleasant feel of the harder material of the housing 32 and/or the fins against the skin of the user during shaving.
In certain embodiments, the blades 38 may be mounted to the housing 32 and secured by one or more clips 42a and 42b. Other assembly methods known to those skilled in the art may also be used to secure and/or mount the blades 38 to the housing 32 including, but not limited to, wire wrapping, cold forming, hot staking, insert molding, ultrasonic welding, and adhesives. The clips 42a and 42b may comprise a metal, such as aluminum for conducting heat and acting as a sacrificial anode to help prevent corrosion of the blades 38. Although five blades 38 are shown, the housing 32 may have more or fewer blades depending on the desired performance and cost of the removable razor cartridge 30. As will be described in greater detail below, once the blades 38 have become dulled (or damaged) the consumer may slidingly disengage the removable razor cartridge 30 from the connection base 20 and replace the used removable razor cartridge 30 with a new one. The removable razor cartridge 30 may slide onto and off the connection base 20 in a direction generally parallel to the elongated gripping portion 14 of the handle 12.
The cap 36 may be a separate molded (e.g., a shaving aid filled reservoir) or extruded component (e.g., an extruded lubrication strip) that is mounted to the housing 32. In certain embodiments, the cap 36 may be a plastic or metal bar to support the skin and define the shaving plane. The cap 36 may be molded or extruded from the same material as the housing 32 or may be molded or extruded from a more lubricious shaving aid composite that has one or more water-leachable shaving aid materials to provide increased comfort during shaving. The shaving aid composite may comprise a water-insoluble polymer and a skin-lubricating water-soluble polymer. Suitable water-insoluble polymers which may be used include, but are not limited to, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, butadiene-styrene copolymer (e.g., medium and high impact polystyrene), polyacetal, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer and blends such as polypropylene/polystyrene blend, may have a high impact polystyrene (i.e., Polystyrene-butadiene), such as Mobil 4324 (Mobil Corporation).
Suitable skin lubricating water-soluble polymers may include polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, hydroxypropyl cellulose, polyvinyl imidazoline, and polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate. Other water-soluble polymers may include the polyethylene oxides generally known as POLYOX (available from Union Carbide Corporation) or ALKOX (available from Meisei Chemical Works, Kyota, Japan). These polyethylene oxides may have molecular weights of about 100,000 to 6 million, for example, about 300,000 to 5 million. The polyethylene oxide may comprise a blend of about 40 to 80% of polyethylene oxide having an average molecular weight of about 5 million (e.g., POLYOX COAGULANT) and about 60 to 20% of polyethylene oxide having an average molecular weight of about 300,000 (e.g., POLYOX WSR-N-750). The polyethylene oxide blend may also contain up to about 10% by weight of a low molecular weight (i.e., MW<10,000) polyethylene glycol such as PEG-100.
The shaving aid composite may also optionally include an inclusion complex of a skin-soothing agent with a cylcodextrin, low molecular weight water-soluble release enhancing agents such as polyethylene glycol (e.g., 1-10% by weight), water-swellable release enhancing agents such as cross-linked polyacrylics (e.g., 2-7% by weight), colorants, antioxidants, preservatives, microbicidal agents, beard softeners, astringents, depilatories, medicinal agents, conditioning agents, moisturizers, cooling agents, etc.
Referring to
The housing 32 may have an interconnect member 54 for attaching the removable shaving razor cartridge 30 to the handle 12, as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The connection base 20 may have at least one biasing magnetic element 124 and 126 for providing a pivot return force. For example, the connection base 20 may have a pair of spaced apart tabs 128 and 130 each defining a pocket 132 and 134 dimensioned to receive the biasing magnetic element. As will be described in greater detail below, the biasing magnetic element(s) 124 and 126 of the connection base 20 may repel a corresponding biasing magnetic element on the handle 12. Each of the tab 128 and 130 members may define an opening 136 and 138 dimensioned to receive a corresponding feature of the handle 12. Each opening 136 and 138 may extend into a respective side end wall 140 and 142 of the corresponding tab members 128 and 130. The end walls 140 and 142 may be generally transverse to a top wall 144 and 146 that defines the respective pockets 134 and 132 for the magnetic elements 126 and 124.
Referring to
The removable razor cartridge 30 may be attached to the handle 12 by engaging the interconnect member 54 with the connection base 20. The intermediate wall 120 of the connection base 20 may be received by the opening 72 of the interconnect member 54. The handle mounting surface 56 may engage the housing mounting surface 110 of the connection base 20 to temporarily secure the removable razor cartridge 30 to the connection base 20. The magnetic elements 112 and 114 may be aligned with and magnetically attracted to the corresponding opposing magnetic elements 58 and 60. The direction of the force between the opposing magnetic elements (e.g., between magnetic element 112 and magnetic element 58) may be generally transverse to the force required to remove and attach the interconnect member 54 with the connection base 20 (e.g., which may be generally parallel to the elongated gripping portion 14 of the handle 12).
Referring to
The heater bar 22 may comprise any material that is effective in dissipating heat. A suitable material for the heater bar 22 is a metal such as aluminum, copper, gold, steel, brass, nickel and alloys thereof with aluminum being the preferred metal. Other materials having heat dissipating properties similar to those of the metals listed may also be used. The heater bar 22 may be coated or textured to provide an improved user experience as it may come into direct contact with the user's skin during shaving. For example, the heater bar 22 may be textured with small protuberances or bumps and coated with a polymer composition such as a polyfluorocarbon.
The heater bar 22 comprises the skin contacting surface 106 and a lower or second surface 220 opposed to the skin contacting surface 106. A heating element 222 is positioned below the second surface 220 of the heater bar 22. The heating element 222 may comprise a resistive member 224 and an insulating member 226. The resistive member 224 has a first surface 228 and an opposed second surface 230. The insulating member 226 may have a first surface 232 and an opposed second surface 234. The first surface 232 of the insulating member 226 is joined to the second surface 220 of the heater bar 22. The second surface 234 of the insulating member 226 is joined to the first surface 228 of the resistive member 224.
The heating element 222 may comprise a second insulating member 236. The second insulating member 236 may have a first surface 238 and an opposed second surface 240. The first surface 238 of the second insulating member 236 may be joined to the second surface 230 of the resistive member 224.
The resistive member 224 may have a first end and an opposed second end. Electrical contacts may be provided at each end and, respectively, of resistive member 46. The electrical contacts may comprise silver. Other conductive materials such as aluminum, copper, gold, steel, brass, nickel, and alloys thereof may be used for electrical contacts. Current leads are secured to electrical contacts, to form part of an electrical circuit which is configured to deliver energy to the resistive member 224 to heat the resistive member 224. The resistive member 224 of heating element 222 delivers heat to the heater bar 22 which is dissipated over the upper or skin contacting surface 106 of the heater bar 22 to provide warmth to the user's skin during shaving.
The insulating member 226 may be comprised of glass, glass-ceramic, ceramic, oxides, or any other dielectric materials. The resistive member 224 may be comprised of a sol-gel solution filled with a conductive powder. A coating may be formed by mixing a sol-gel solution with up to about 90% by weight of the solution of a conductive powder to provide a uniform stable dispersion. Suitable resistive members are disclosed in WO 02/072495 A2. The resistive member may also be constructed of nickel chromium, gold, steel and other materials. The resistive member preferably has a resistance of from about 0.1 to about 100 Ohm, more preferably from about 0.5 to about 20 Ohm, and most preferably 2 Ohm. The second insulating member 236 may be comprised of glass, glass-ceramic, ceramic, oxides or any other dielectric materials. The resistive member(s) may be joined to the insulating members by a sol-gel process, spraying, dipping, spinning, brushing, printing, sputtering, gluing or other suitable techniques. The resistive member 224 may heat up sufficiently to heat the skin contacting surface 106 of the heater bar 22 to about 30° C. to about 70° C.
The heater bar 22 may be heated to a temperature above 30 C (for example, about 30 C to about 70 C). In addition, the heater bar 22 may transfer heat directly or indirectly to heat the blades 38 to a temperature above 30 C (for example, about 30 C to about 70 C). In certain embodiments, the temperature of the blades 38 may be greater than the temperature of the heater bar 22 because the surface area of the blades 38 contacting the skin is much smaller than the surface area of the heater bar 22. Thus, a higher temperature of the blades 38 is less likely to burn the skin, but provide improved cutting of hair. The heater bar 22 may directly contact at least one of the metallic (e.g., aluminum) clips 42a and 42b, which may directly contact the blades. In certain embodiments, the clips 42a and 42b may be a single piece construction (e.g., a pair of clips connected by an elongated metallic strip). The clips 42a and 42b may provide efficient heat transfer from the heater bar 22 to the blades 38. Aluminum generally has a much higher thermal conductivity than plastic or steel. Accordingly, the clip(s) retain the blades in place and provide efficient heat transfer from the heater bar to the blades.
It is understood that magnetic elements 58, 60, 112 and 114 (i.e., exert an attractive force, not a repelling force) described herein may be an element that either exerts an attractive force or an element that is attracted by a magnetic force. For example, the magnetic element(s) of the handle mounting surface may be a material that attracts metal and the magnetic element(s) of the housing mounting surface may comprise a metallic material that is attracted by the magnetic element(s) of the handle mounting surface. In certain embodiments, the magnetic elements of both the handle mounting surface and the housing mounting surface may exert a magnetic force for improved engagement. Any of the magnetic elements described herein may include ceramic magnets, alnico magnets, samarium cobalt magnets, neodymium iron boron magnets, electromagnets, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, any of the magnetic elements described herein may also be plated or coated (e.g., with plastic, rubber or nickel) to resist corrosion caused by the shaving environment.
The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm.”
Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or application and any patent application or patent to which this application claims priority or benefit thereof, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
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