The present invention relates to shaving razors and razor cartridges, and more particularly to pivoting shaving razor handles for wet shaving.
As mentioned above the present invention relates to safety razors with blade units arranged to be capable of pivoting movement relative to the handles, on which the blade units are carried, in the course of shaving. The pivoting motion allows the blade unit to follow more easily the skin contours so that the exact angle at which the handle is held relative to the skin is less critical to achieving a good shaving performance and efficiency. Razors with pivotal blade units have been successfully marketed for many years. The pivot axis, which usually extends parallel to the cutting edges of the blades, can be defined by a pivot structure by means of which the handle is connected to the blade unit. Alternatively the blade unit may include an attachment member to which a frame or housing incorporating the blade or blades and other skin contacting parts is pivotally connected. A blade unit of this form is described in WO 97/37819, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, has an attachment member in the general form of a yoke with a hub for engagement with the upper end of the handle and a pair of oppositely directed arms provided with pivot journals at their ends for engagement in sockets provided at the ends of the frame. Retention clips are applied around the respective ends of the frame to maintain the pivot journals within the sockets.
Various positions of the pivot axis relative to the blade edges have been proposed and used, including positions above and below a plane tangential to the guard and cap surfaces, and positions in front of, behind and in the region of the blade edges. There is generally a rest position to which the pivotable blade unit is biased by a spring arrangement and many different forms of mechanical spring arrangement have been suggested in the prior art. The blade unit can be mounted to pivot in either direction from the rest position, but it has been found advantageous to have the pivot axis located in front of the blades, more exactly in the vicinity of the guard, below the plane tangential to the guard and cap surfaces, and for the blade unit to be arranged to pivot in one direction only from the rest position, as described in WO 93/10947. In the Mach 3 razor currently marketed by the Applicant, the blade unit is pivotally mounted in this manner. It includes an attachment member as described above for connection to the handle, and there is a spring-loaded plunger that projects from the handle and through the hub of the attachment member to bear on the underside of the frame to bias the blade unit to the rest position. A small coil spring urges the plunger outwardly. The frictional effects which are unavoidable with such a mechanical spring arrangement are difficult to control with the result that a smooth and consistent pivoting performance is difficult to guarantee.
In one aspect, the invention features, in general, a simple, efficient shaving razor system with a handle having a proximal end portion with a pair of spaced apart arms, each arm having a biasing magnetic element. A connection base is pivotably mounted to the pair of spaced apart arms. The connection base has a pair of spaced apart tabs each defining an opening dimensioned to receive a respective end of the spaced apart arms. Each tab member has a biasing magnetic element that repels the biasing magnetic element of the corresponding arm.
In another aspect, the invention features, in general, a simple, efficient shaving razor system with a connection base having a pair of spaced apart tabs each defining an opening. A handle has an elongated gripping portion and a proximal end portion with a pair of spaced apart arms. Each arm has an end positioned within the respective opening of the tabs. The end of each arm pivots within the corresponding opening between a top wall and a bottom wall of the corresponding tabs. The end of each arm is spaced away from the respective top wall of the tab member by a magnetic force.
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.
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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.
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The housing 32 may have an interconnect member 54 for attaching the removable shaving razor cartridge 30 to the handle 12, as shown in
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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.
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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).
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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 224. 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.
It is understood that the 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 (e.g., a metallic surface) that is attracted by the magnetic element(s) of the handle mounting surface (or vice-versa). 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.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61918792 | Dec 2013 | US |