Patent Grant
10723031
Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), this application claims the benefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0042780, filed on Apr. 12, 2018, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a razor cartridge and more particularly to a razor cartridge of which spacing of a plurality of blades or a blade span is adjustable.
A typical razor cartridge is composed of blades and a blade housing, generally including one or more seats onto which the blades get seated. The blades are seated on the seats, and a single razor cartridge is formed by using a clip for wrapping, i.e., coupling firmly, the blades and the blade housing to allow the blades to be fixed.
The blade housing may be provided with a single seat for mounting a single blade, although a pervasive trend in the razor cartridge art is to form a plurality of seats for multiple blades, positioned in a close arrangement, to allow body/facial hairs to be repeatly and reliably cut.
The seat is generally integrally formed with the blade housing and fixes the blades to the blade housing such that the seat engages the rear end of each blade opposite its cutting edge. Accordingly, the interval or spacing between the plurality of blades is determined according to the interval in which the seats are arranged. The spacing between the plurality of blades is referred to as a “span.”
In designing a razor cartridge, determining a proper span is an important issue. If the span is too large, it may facilitate the cleaning of the sludge, which is the residue from the hair cutting process, but it may also increase skin irritation. If the span is too small, although it may lead to skin irritation being reduced, it may also lead to insufficient cleaning of the sludge.
There are advantages and disadvantages depending on the span value and the preferred span value for each user may be different. However, as described above, the blade housing of a razor cartridge is generally formed so that once determined, a span value becomes unchangeable, making it impossible to customize the razor cartridge according to the user's needs or preference.
The present disclosure provides a razor cartridge including a plurality of blades, wherein a span, which is an interval between the blades, is adjustable by a user.
The above and other issues are addressed by the present disclosure, which can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.
At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a razor cartridge including a plurality of blades; a plurality of blade housings extended in a first direction and having seats configured to support the plurality of blades; a cartridge frame having one or more rails configured to support the plurality of blade housings such that the plurality of housings are movable along the one or more rails in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a span adjusting shifter coupled to the plurality of blade housings and configured to cause the plurality of blade housings to move along the one or more rails in the second direction.
At least another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a razor cartridge including a plurality of blades; a plurality of blade housings extended in a first direction and having seats configured to support the plurality of blades; a cartridge frame having one or more rails configured to support the plurality of blade housings such that the plurality of blade housings are movable along the one or more rails in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and a lower guard supported by the one or more rails and movable along the one or more rails in the second direction with the plurality of blade housings, wherein: the plurality of blade housings are interconnected along the second direction; the lower guard is connected to one or more blade housings adjacent to the lower guard among the plurality of blade housings; and the razor cartridge further comprises a span adjusting shifter configured to be moved in the first direction causing the lower guard to be moved in the second direction, wherein the interconnected plurality of blade housings are moved in the second direction in response to the lower guard moving in the second direction.
The details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.
The embodiments of the present disclosure provide the following effects.
The span can be arbitrarily adjusted by the user, allowing the razor cartridge to suit the user's needs and taste.
After cutting the body/facial hairs in a narrow span condition with less irritation, the shaved residue can be effectively washed out by making the span wider.
The effects according to the present disclosure are not limited by those exemplified above, and more various effects are included in the specification. Other unmentioned effects may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.
The advantages and features of the present disclosure and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and to fully disclose the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. The disclosure is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.
Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used in a sense commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. In addition, commonly used dictionary defined terms are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless explicitly defined otherwise.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. In the present specification, a singular form of nouns includes their plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. Throughout this specification, when a part “comprises” and/or is “comprising” an element, present disclosure does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements in addition to the stated element.
Further, the embodiments herein will be described with reference to cross-sectional views and/or schematic drawings that are ideal illustrations of the present disclosure. Thus, the shape of the illustrations may be modified by manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances. In addition, in the drawings of the present disclosure, each component may be somewhat enlarged or reduced in view of convenience of explanation. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification, and the term “and/or” is intended to include each and every combination of one or more of the mentioned items.
Spatially relative terms should be understood in terms of the directions shown in the drawings, further including the different directions of components at the time of use or operation. The components can also be oriented in other directions, so that spatially relative terms can be interpreted according to orientation.
Hereinafter, the configuration of some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
In the specification of the present disclosure and along the y-axis shown in the drawings, the connector 30 is connected to the rear side of the cartridge frame 10, and the cartridge frame 10 is connected to the front side of the connector 30.
Further, along the z-axis shown in the drawings, the lower guard 41 is positioned below the plurality of blades 80, and the upper guard 42 is located above the blades 80. A side or lateral direction means a direction parallel to the x-axis.
The longitudinal direction of the cartridge frame 10, in which the cartridge frame 10 extends, is parallel to the x-axis, and the breadthwise direction is parallel to the z-axis. As used in the specification of the present disclosure, a first direction refers to both directions parallel to the x-axis direction, and a second direction refers to both directions parallel to the z-axis direction.
Hereinafter, the respective components and their coupling structure will be described in detail with reference to
The blades 80 are each a component for cutting hair, and in the present disclosure, they are composed of two or more blades. For each blade 80, a blade formed by bending a planar material having a cutting edge 81 may be used. Alternatively, a razor blade employed may be an unbent flat blade or a steel strip blade made of a bent support with a bladed member welded thereto on its upper surface. The blade 80 is generally made of a metal material, in particular stainless steel. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this, and any material such as ceramics, plastic, or the like can be used as the material of the blade 80 as long as it has a predetermined strength or more to withstand commensurate forces.
The cartridge frame 10 is a skeletal component of the razor cartridge 1 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, and is elongated in one direction.
The cartridge frame 10 is forwardly provided with the upper guard 42 coupled to the upper portion thereof and the lower guard 41 coupled to the lower portion thereof. The plurality of blades 80 are inserted between the upper guard 42 and the lower guard 41. The span adjusting shifter 20 may be slidably coupled to the rear of the cartridge frame 10, and the connector 30 may be coupled to the rear of the span adjusting shifter 20. The connector 30 may be formed to be pivotable in a uniaxial or multiaxial direction with respect to the cartridge frame 10 and the span adjusting shifter 20, but it may be formed in a fixed structure. It is also envisioned that the connector 30 be omitted and the span adjusting shifter 20 be directly coupled to a handle (not shown).
The front and rear of the cartridge frame 10 are at least partially opened to have a front open face into which the plurality of blades 80 is inserted, and rear open through holes 13 into which the connector 30 is inserted and locked by its frame engaging portions. With the cartridge frame 10 opened frontward and rearward, cleaning water may smoothly pass therethrough when cleaning the razor cartridge 1. In the first embodiment of the present disclosure, two total rectangular rear through holes 13 are formed along the first direction, but the shape and the number of the rear through holes 13 of the cartridge frame 10 are not limited thereto, and they may be disposed along the second direction, and the shape thereof is not limited to a rectangular shape.
The cartridge frame 10 is coupled with blade housings 51 further provided, which will be described with reference to
For the guard bar rails 11 to movably support the blade housings 51 in the second direction, the blade housings 51 have at least one rail engaging portion 513, and the guard bar rails 11 are made to conform to the rail engaging portions 513 as will be detailed below. The cartridge frame 10 may be further provided with guide slots 12 for guiding the lower guard 41 by its guard protrusions 411. The cartridge frame 10 may have conforming sections to the shape of each component coupled thereto where each component is coupled.
Referring back to
The blade housing 51 is supported by the guard bar rail 11 so as to be movable along the second direction. Therefore, the blade housing 51 has the rail engagement portion 513 correspond to the shape of the guard bar rail 11 in order to be able to move along the second direction while being coupled to the guard bar rail 11 formed to extend along the second direction in the form of a bar. The blade housing 51 has the seat 512 formed in front thereof to fix the blade 80 and a span protrusion 511 formed to protrude from the opposite side. The span protrusion 511 is inserted into a span slot 21 formed in the span adjusting shifter 20 as will be described below. The span protrusion 511 may slide and move within the span slot 21, but can not escape to the outside of the span slot 21.
Multiple guard bar rails 11 may be disposed apart from each other in the first direction, which allows the blade housings 51 to be spaced apart from each other along the first direction. Some of the multiple blade housings 51 spaced apart along the first direction are adapted to support different partial areas of the substrate 82 of the same blade 80 for allowing that blade 80 to be fixed to the razor cartridge 1. The razor cartridge 1 of the first embodiment is illustrated as being formed with three total guard bar rails 11 which are each coupled with six blade housings 51, resulting in the razor cartridge including eighteen total blade housings 51. Of the eighteen blade housings 51, three selected blade housings 51 selected respectively from those three engaging guard bar rails 11 are bundled into one set for supporting the same single blade 80. In other words, the substrate 82 of one blade 80 is supported by three different blade housings 51.
Each of the blade housings 51 coupled to the guard bar rail 11 is not immovably fixed but coupled to move in the second direction. The process of moving the blade housing 51 in the second direction will be discussed below in the description of
In order to secure the blade 80 to the razor cartridge 1, fixing may be accomplished throughout the substrate 82 of the blade 80, but it is not necessarily the case that the fixation takes place all over the substrate 82. Therefore, as in the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the three separated blade housings 51 form three paired blade housings for supporting one blade 80 so that a total of six blades 80 are accommodated in the razor cartridge 1 through the blade housings 51.
The span protrusions 511 of the multiple blade housings 51 supported by the same guard bar rail 11 may be arranged in a row along the second direction. Alternatively, referring to
The blade housings 51 and the cartridge frame 10 may be made of either different or same materials. For example, they may be made of plastics or metal. Materials made of plastic with partial rubber or metal may be used. Other appropriate materials may be selected for use as the components of the razor cartridge 1.
The span adjusting shifter 20 is a component that adjusts the span, which is the spacing between the blades 80. The span adjusting shifter 20 is slidably coupled to the rear of the cartridge frame 10. In the illustrated embodiments herein, the direction in which the span adjusting shifter 20 is slidable is limited to the first direction, although the span adjusting shifter 20 may be configured to be slidable in the second direction among other directions including any third direction between the first and second directions.
The span adjusting shifter 20 is engaged with the rear of the cartridge frame 10 slidably in the first direction so as not to be detached from the cartridge frame 10 during operation, for which a stopper may be formed in the cartridge frame 10 for limiting the range of movement of the span adjusting shifter 20.
The front of the span adjusting shifter 20 is coupled to the rear of the cartridge frame 10. The span adjusting shifter 20 is formed on its front surface with the span slots 21 for receiving the span protrusions 511 of the blade housings 51, and with guard slots 23 for receiving guard protrusions 411 provided on the lower guard 41. To explain the span slots 21 and the guard slots 23, reference is also made to
The span slots 21 or the guard slots 23 conform to the shapes of the span protrusions 511 or the guard protrusions 411, respectively, and they are disposed so as to correspond to the positions of the span protrusions 511 or the guard protrusions 411. However, the span slots 21 or the guard slots 23 do not necessarily conform to the span protrusions 511 or the guard protrusions 411, as long as the span slots 21 or the guard slots 23 are larger than the diameter of the span protrusions 511 or the guard protrusions 411, respectively. This allows the span protrusions 511 or the guard protrusions 411 to be accommodated and to move in the slots.
The span slots 21 accommodate the span protrusions 511 therein and serve to forcefully move the blade housings 51 by their span protrusions 511 in the second direction when the span adjusting shifter 20 is moved in one direction according to a user's operation. In the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the one direction is the first direction, wherein the blade housings 51 located stationary at the uppermost position become the reference, and the blade housings 51 thereunder are adapted to move, thereby widening or narrowing the gaps between the blades 80. To keep the uppermost blade housing 51 from moving, the cartridge frame 10 may have its interior upper side structured to secure the blade housings 51.
Therefore, the uppermost span slots 21 into which the span protrusions 511 of the uppermost blade housings 51 are inserted extend in parallel with the first direction. The span slots 21 thereunder extend to form steeper slopes for guiding the span protrusions 511 to move along the second direction, wherein the span protrusions 511 located further downward move farther away along the second direction in response to the movement of the span adjusting shifter 20. The pattern of the span slots 21 in the first embodiment are illustrated as determined with respect to the reference of the uppermost blade housings 51 which are not so limited, but are replaceable by middle-level blade housings 51 or the uppermost blade housings 51.
However, when the span protrusions 511 and the span slots 21 are arranged in a row, the razor cartridge 1 accommodating the plurality of blades 80 may be oversized along the second direction, or to keep the same compact size, the span protrusions 511 and the span slots 21 may need to be formed overly crowded.
This issue is resolved by the zigzag arrangement of the span protrusions 511 and the span slots 21, allowing to use the space more easily and to ensure ease of manufacture. As with the span slots 21, the guard slots 23 receive the guard protrusions 411 formed on the lower guard 41 while forcibly moving the lower guard 41 by its guard protrusions 411 along the second direction responsive to the span adjusting shifter 20 moving in one direction. In the illustrated embodiments, two total guard protrusions 411 are spaced apart from each other in the first direction, but the number and position of the guard protrusions 411 are not limited thereto.
The span adjusting shifter 20 may have the shifter through holes 24 opened frontward and rearward. Through the shifter through holes 24, the connector 30 may have an engagement, and the cleansing water may be drawn in or the shaving residue can be discharged together with the cleansing water, when the razor cartridge 1 is cleaned.
As shown in
The upper guard 42 is a component that projects further from the skin-contacting front surface of the cartridge frame 10 and determines the cutting surface. The upper guard 42 is located on the upper side of the plurality of blades 80 at the front of the cartridge frame 10, and it engages the front of the cartridge frame 10. The upper guard 42 is formed in a rectangular shape in the first embodiment of the present disclosure and is configured to have its forward-facing plane come into contact with the skin when shaving. However, the skin-contacting plane may be modified into a curved surface among other various shapes.
The lower guard 41 is another component similar to the upper guard 42 in that it projects further from the skin-contacting front surface of the cartridge frame 10 and determines the cutting surface. The lower guard 41 is located below the plurality of blades 80 at the front surface of the cartridge frame 10 and may be connected to the span adjusting shifter 20. Alternatively, the lower guard 41 may be coupled to the front of the cartridge frame 10.
The lower guard 41 is provided with the guard protrusions 411. The guard protrusions 411 protrude rearward and are accommodated in the guard slots 23 of the span adjusting shifter 20. Accordingly, the lower guard 41 moves along the second direction similar to the blade housings 51 responsive to the movement of the span adjusting shifter 20.
Materials and shapes of the upper guard 42 and the lower guard 41 may employ those of a rubber guard for helping body hair alignment during body hair cutting, a comb guard, a lubrication band for protecting the skin during hair cutting, and a soap portion. The upper guard 42 and the lower guard 41 may have a structural pattern including, but not limited to, projections, perforations, a wave pattern and the like.
The clips 43 are components used to firmly fix the blades 80 seated in the blade housings 51 to the cartridge frame 10. The clips 43 are each configured to encircle the front and rear of the outer surface of the cartridge frame 10 partially or completely.
The clips 43 may be formed of aluminum or other metal. In the first embodiment of the present disclosure, two total clips are shown as being coupled to both ends in the first direction of the cartridge frame 10, although the arrangement and the number of the clips are not limited thereto.
In addition, although the clips 43 are used in the illustrated embodiments herein, various other means may be employed for securing the blades 80 seated in the blade housings 51 to the cartridge frame 10, such as by coupling caps to both ends in the first direction of the cartridge frame 10.
After the blades 80 are seated in the blade housings 51, the clips 43 are coupled to depress the cutting edges 81 of the blades 80 rearwardly of the cartridge frame 10. The clips 43 may be deformed by pressing the rear of the cartridge frame 10 forward against the clips 43, and thereby securing the clips 43 to the cartridge frame 10.
The clips 43 in the first embodiment illustrated are shown as being structured to cover both ends in the first direction on the front surface of the cartridge frame 10, encircle the upper and lower sides of the cartridge frame 10, and grasp the cartridge frame 10 by the rear surface thereof. In some embodiments, the cartridge frame 10 may have through holes at both ends in the first direction passing through the front and rear walls for allowing the clips 43 to penetrate and attach to the cartridge frame 10.
Further, the through holes for the clips 43 may be formed on just one of the upper and lower sides of the cartridge frame 10 so that the clips 43 each has one side penetrating the cartridge frame 10 and the other side encircling the cartridge frame 10 to the rear, resulting in the clips 43 secured to the cartridge frame 10.
The following describes the process of adjusting the span of the razor cartridge 1 according to the first embodiment with reference to
In some embodiments, the span adjusting shifter 20 may be formed so as not to protrude leftward or rightward even after it is moved along the first direction, and may also be formed and manipulated so as to protrude only to either the left or right side of the cartridge frame 10. In some embodiments, to easily move the span adjusting shifter 20 along the first direction, the span adjusting shifter 20 may be provided on its rear surface with a protruding manipulator.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the razor cartridge 1 is constructed such that the blade housings 51 are converged adjacent to the upper guard 42 until they move downward along the second direction with the span increasing, allowing the lower guard 41 to accompany the movement of the blade housings 51, while the upper guard 42 is fixed to the cartridge frame 10. However, in other embodiments, the upper guard 42 may be configured to move instead of the lower guard, and the fixed guard may be the lower guard 41, and the blade housings 51 may be made to converge in the area adjacent to the lower guard 41 when the span is at its minimum width.
Referring to
With the razor cartridge 1 of
Since movement of the blade housings 51 in the first direction is limited by the guard bar rails 11, the blade housings 51 cannot move in the same direction as the first direction along which the span adjusting shifter 20 moves. However, the blade housings 51 move in the second downward direction as allowed by the supporting guard bar rails 11 because the blade housings 51 are movable in the second direction. Though the lower guard 41 is limited by its own guard protrusions 411 as guided by the guide slots 12 of the cartridge frame 10 from following the movement of the span adjusting shifter 20 along the first direction, it can still slide in the guard slots 23 and move in the second direction.
The multiple blade housings 51 move in the second direction during span adjustment, and the displacements of the respective blade housings 51 are different from each other. Moving the respective blade housings 51 by the same displacement would have no effect on span adjustment, merely causing relocation of the entire multiple blade housings 51 along the second direction. The present disclosure in the first embodiment takes the uppermost blade housings 51 as a reference point, resulting in progressively increasing displacement of each blade housing 51 as it moves farther away from the reference point along the second direction.
The process of reducing the span is the opposite of the process of increasing the span. The span is reduced by the user operating the span adjusting shifter 20 in reverse, moving the blade housing 51 in the opposite direction along the second direction.
Hereinafter, a razor cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
The razor cartridge according to the second embodiment is generally the same as the razor cartridge 1 according to the first embodiment except that multiple blade housings 54 are conjoined by bridges 53 into a blade housing unit represented by numerals 53 and 54 combined.
Specifically, the blade housings 54 for supporting the same blade are fixedly connected through the bridges 53 to maintain the spacing and orientation of each other, thereby performing their operation more stably. Even if one of the blade housings 54 that support the same blade has one or more span protrusions 541 malfunctioning, the other one or more blade housings 54 linked by the bridges 53 can still successfully move along the second direction in response to the operation of the relevant span adjusting shifter.
The bridges 53 may have their positions determined in the direction parallel to the y-axis where they are connected to the blade housings 54 between their span protrusions 541 and seats 542. This is not to interfere with the functions of the span protrusions 541 and the seats 542. The bridges 53 may integrally connect the blade housings 54 to each other to constitute the blade housing unit (53 and 54) or may be formed as a separate member to be coupled with the blade housings 54.
Hereinafter, a razor cartridge 3 according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
The razor cartridge 3 according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure is very similar to, but slightly different from that of the second embodiment. The razor cartridge 3 has blade housings 55, a lower guard 56, a cartridge frame 61 and a span adjusting shifter 62, wherein the blade housings 55 are not connected to the span adjusting shifter 62 located at the rear of the cartridge frame 61 but are coupled to the adjacent blade housings 55 or the lower guard 56 so that the blade housings 55 move in co-operation with the lower guard 56 when moving along the second direction.
The third embodiment of the present disclosure has the blade housings 55 similar to those of the second embodiment, but not having the guard bar rails 11 of the first and second embodiments and the rail engaging portions 513 for engaging the blade housings 51 and 54 with the guard bar rails 11. Instead, the blade housing 55 of the third embodiment includes housing coupling protrusions 551 and housing couplers 552 with which the housing coupling protrusions 551 of another blade housing 55 may be engaged. Therefore, the cartridge frame 61 maintains only the two rows of rails that can hold both ends in the first direction of the blade housing 55 to prevent the body of the blade housing 55 from coming off.
The razor cartridge 3 according to the third embodiment has the adjacent blade housings 55 interconnected to each other along the second direction or has the blade housing 55 connected to its adjacent lower guard 56. Specifically, when connections are made between the blade housings 55 or between the blade housing 55 and the lower guard 56, housing coupling protrusions 551 and 561 located at the lower levels are coupled to the housing couplers 552 located at the higher levels.
Once coupled, the housing coupling protrusions 551 and 561 and the housing coupling holes 552 are not immovably bound together but are loosely conjoined to allow relative movement between the conjoined blade housings 55 or between the blade housing 55 and the lower guard 56. Gap adjustment between the blade housings 55 would be hampered by a tight binding against such relative movement.
The lower guard 56 of the third embodiment has a structure similar to the lower guard 56 of the second embodiment. The lower guard 56 has a guard portion formed on its front surface and guard protrusions 562 formed on its rear surface, which inherit the features of the lower guard of the second embodiment. However, for coupling with the adjacent blade housing 55, the lower guard 56 of the third embodiment has housing coupling protrusions 561 shaped similar to the housing coupling protrusions 551 of the blade housing 55, and has bridges 565 shaped similar to bridges formed in the blade housing 55. The housing coupling protrusions 561 of the lower guard 56 are engaged with the housing coupling holes 552 of the nearest blade housing 55.
Referring to
As shown in
Conforming to the blade housings 55 having no span protrusions, the span adjusting shifter 62 of the third embodiment does not include a span slot, but includes guard slots 621 and shifter holes 622.
As an alternative to the third embodiment, the lower guard 56 may not be connected to the span adjusting shifter 62 and the blade housing 55, and one blade housing 55 may have its span protrusions be connected to span slots of the span adjusting shifter 62, to adjust the entire span of all blade housings 55.
Hereinafter, the span adjustment process of the razor cartridge 3 according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
When the cartridge frame 61 is viewed from the rear side with the span adjusting shifter 62 removed, no span protrusions can be seen because the blade housings 55 do not include span protrusions, but housing coupling protrusions 551, 561, which connect between the blade housings 55 and between the blade housings 55 and the lower guard 55, can be seen. Further, the protruding guard protrusions 562 can be seen.
When the span is minimum, the span adjusting shifter 62 is partially protruded to the left side of
The cartridge frame 61 according to the third embodiment may further include latching portions 613 for preventing the span adjusting shifter 62 from falling out in the direction parallel to the y-axis while allowing it to stably slide along the first direction. The ends of the clips 43 may also cover rear parts of the span adjusting shifter 62 to function like the latching portions 613.
When the span adjusting shifter 62 is operated or flicked to the right of
The lower guard 56 is connected to the adjacent blade housing 55 through the housing coupling protrusions 561 and the housing coupling holes 552, while the other multiple blade housings 55 are connected to each other through the housing coupling protrusions 551 and the housing coupling holes 552, wherein the lower guard 56 and the multiple blade housings 55 are stacked along the second direction. Accordingly, as the lower guard 56 moves downward along the second direction, the blade housing 55 that is connected to the lower guard 56 moves downward along the second direction, which is followed by the connected blade housings 55.
The result of this process is shown in
Hereinafter, a razor cartridge 4 according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
The razor cartridge 4 according to the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is similar to the razor cartridge 3 according to the third embodiment except that a lower guard 58 is provided with span adjustment knobs 582 and that neither a span adjusting shifter nor guard protrusions are provided. The general operation such as the span adjusting process is similar to that of the razor cartridge 3 of the third embodiment, as can be seen in
The razor cartridge 4 according to the fourth embodiment does not include a span adjusting shifter, obviating the need for lower guard 58 to include guard protrusions otherwise needed to be connected to the span adjusting shifter. Instead, the lower guard 58 has the span adjustment knobs 582 projecting obliquely downward.
In the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure, two span adjusting knobs 582 are provided so as to protrude obliquely in the downward direction, on both ends in the first direction of the lower guard 58. However, the number and positions of the span adjusting knobs are not limited to the illustrated particulars.
The lower guard 58 includes a guard portion 584 on its front surface and a plurality of stopper slots 587 and 588 recessed on both sides thereof. The stopper slots 587 and 588 are grooves into which stoppers 713 of a cartridge frame 71 to be described below are inserted and the number of the stopper slots 587 and 588 is determined by the number of span types for which the razor cartridge 4 is specified.
When the span is minimum, the multiple blade housings 57 and the lower guard 58 of the razor cartridge 4 according to the fourth embodiment converge on the upper side.
The span adjustment knobs 582 that replace a span adjusting shifter may be manipulated in the second direction to adjust the span of the blade housings 57.
When shaving, it is typical that the razor cartridge 4, which is in contact with the skin, moves along the second direction to cut hairs by the cutting edges, so that the frictional force by the skin can act on the lower guard 58 in the second direction. Unless a fixture is present, the frictional force may cause the lower guard 58 to move in the second direction and an undesirable span change may occur during the shaving.
Such a problem is resolved by providing stoppers 713 in the cartridge frame 71. The stoppers 713 protrude from the inner surfaces of the cartridge frame 71 where the inner surfaces meet the lower guard 58. The lower guard 58 has a structure in the form of concave stopper slots 587 and 588 which are complementary to the stoppers 713 for catching the same to restrict the movement of the lower guard 58 in the second direction.
Although the stoppers 713 are convex and the stopper slots 587 and 588 are concave in the fourth embodiment, in an alternative embodiment, the stoppers may be concave and the stopper slots may be convex. The present disclosure is not limited to such particular structure as long as the lower guard 58 is fixed in the second direction.
In the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure, two stopper slots 587 and 588 are formed so that the lower stopper slot 587 serves for the minimum span state and the upper stopper slot 588 for the maximum span. However, the number, positions, and span correspondence of the stopper slots 587 and 588 are not limited thereto.
With the lower stopper slot 587 corresponding to the state of minimum span, as shown in
When the user applies a downward force of a predetermined magnitude or more along the second direction to the span adjustment knobs 582, the maximum static friction force between the lower stopper slots 587 and the stoppers 713 is overcome to shift the lower guard 58 downward, leaving the stoppers 713 to rest in the upper stopper slots 588.
As the lower guard 58 moves downward, the blade housing 57 that is connected to the lower guard 58 also moves downward. Since the multiple blade housings 57 are connected to each other, the remaining blade housings 57 follow down except for the uppermost blade housing 57. This increases the span of the razor cartridge.
With the stoppers 713 located in the upper stopper slots 588, the razor cartridge 4 is kept in the maximum span state.
The lower guard 58 may include the guard portion 584 integrally, rather than separately as in the instant embodiment to employ the guard portion 584 made of rubber, a lubricant band or such material independent of the lower guard 58. The lower guard 58 may be formed with a guard hole 586 into which the guard portion 584 is coupled to complete the lower guard 58.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the technical idea or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present disclosure.
Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the idea and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as long as they fall within the idea of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2018-0042780 | Apr 2018 | KR | national |
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