Patent Application
20230166417
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021- 0168715 filed on Nov. 30, 2021, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a razor cartridge, and more particularly, to a razor cartridge in which a razor blade is accommodated.
In general, a razor is a product for shaving body hair such as facial hair, mustache, beard, and the like, and the razor includes a handle for gripping and a razor cartridge provided with a razor blade for shaving in contact with skin.
The razor includes a replaceable razor in which a razor cartridge can be replaced, and a disposable razor in which a razor cartridge cannot be replaced.
Also, recently, a razor with a razor cartridge including a plurality of razor blades for shaving efficiency has been widely used.
Among razor cartridges, there is a razor cartridge that includes a guard for pulling skin or body hair during shaving. The guard slides on a skin surface in close contact with the skin, pulling the skin or body hair, and a razor blade following the guard cuts the pulled body hair. In this case, the razor blade may cut the body hair in much closer contact with the skin.
However, in the case of a razor cartridge including a plurality of razor blades, it is difficult for a razor blade positioned at the rearmost to effectively pull the skin or body hair due to a distance from the guard.
In addition, multiple razor blades included in the razor cartridge have relative protrusion values with respect to a shaving plane (which is a plane on the guard and a cap of the razor cartridge), and the protrusion values may be negative, neutral, or positive depending on the relative arrangement of the shaving plane and the cutting edges of the razor blades. A protrusion value of a razor blade significantly affects shaving performance, shaving feeling, and the like, and should be set to minimize nicks and cuts while providing clean shaving performance.
In addition, in the razor cartridge including the multiple razor blades, a span distance referring to a distance between cutting edges of adjacent razor blades has a lot to do with discharging performance for residues generated during the shaving and a possibility of skin irritation or shaving cuts during the shaving. For example, the greater the span distance is, the better the residue discharging performance is but more likely the skin enters between the cutting edges. Accordingly, the greater span distance may cause skin irritation and increase a possibility of shaving cuts. Conversely, the shorter the span distance is, the less likely the shaving cuts happen during the shaving but the lower the residue discharge performance is.
The present disclosure provides a razor cartridge with improved shaving efficiency.
It should be noted that objects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned object, and other objects of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following descriptions.
In an aspect, there is provided razor cartridge including: a first blade having a first base portion and a first cutting edge formed therein; a second blade disposed in front of the first blade to be adjacent to the first blade, and having a second base portion and a sliding edge therein; and a blade housing supporting the first base portion to have at least a portion of the first cutting edge exposed, and supporting the second base portion to have at least a portion of the sliding edge exposed, and the second blade is formed so that a ratio t3/t4 of a thickness t3 of the sliding edge to a thickness t4 of the second base portion is less than 1 and greater than a ratio t1/t2 of a thickness t1 of the first cutting edge to a thickness t2 of the first base portion.
In another aspect, there is provided a razor cartridge including: at least one first blade having a first base portion and a first cutting edge formed therein; at least one second blade having a second base portion and a sliding edge formed therein; and a blade housing supporting the first base portion to have at least a portion of the first cutting edge exposed, and supporting the second base portion to have at least a portion of the sliding edge exposed, and the sliding edge is formed to have a tip radius greater than a tip radius of the first cutting edge.
Other specific details of the present disclosure are included in the detailed description and drawings.
According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, at least following effect can be achieved:
As a blade having a sliding edge formed therein is included between a plurality of blades, it is possible to reduce skin irritation caused during shaving.
As a blade having a sliding edge formed therein is included between the plurality of blades, it is possible to achieve a more improved shaving effect.
It should be noted that effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those described above and other effects of the present disclosure are included following descriptions.
Advantages and features of the present disclosure and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art, and the present disclosure will only be defined by the appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.
In addition, embodiments herein will be described with reference to cross-sectional views and/or schematic views, which are ideal exemplary views of the present disclosure. Therefore, the form of an exemplary view may be deformed due to a manufacturing technique and/or an allowable error. In addition, in each drawing of the present disclosure, each element may have been somewhat enlarged or reduced in consideration of convenience of description. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.
Also, in describing the components of the present disclosure, there may be terms used like the first, second, A, B, (i), (ii), (a), and (b). These are solely for the purpose of differentiating one component from the other but not to imply or suggest the substances, order or sequence of the components. In the specification, if a component were described as ‘connected’, ‘coupled’, or ‘linked’ to another component, it may mean the components are not only directly ‘connected’, ‘coupled’, or ‘linked’ but also are indirectly ‘connected’, ‘coupled’, or ‘linked’ via a third component.
Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings for explaining a razor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to
The handle 20 includes a handle body 21 and a handle header 22.
The handle body 21 is a part to be gripped by a user of the razor 1. The handle header 22 is provided at one end of the handle body 21 and detachably coupled to the razor cartridge 10, so that the handle header 22 can pivotably support the razor cartridge 10 coupled thereto.
The handle header 22 is pivotably coupled to a handle coupling portion 111 formed in a rear surface of the razor cartridge 10, so that the razor cartridge 10 can be supported to be pivotable within a predetermined angle range with respect to a fixed shaft or a shaft that moves in a predetermined range.
In addition, the handle header 22 may be detachably coupled to the handle coupling portion 11. In this case, the handle 20 may be provided with a manipulating portion (not shown) for operating the handle header 22, and as the user operates the manipulating portion, the handle header 22 may be decoupled from the handle coupling portion 111.
Meanwhile, referring to
Each of the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 may include an edge 124a or 125a, a bending portion 124b or 125b, and a base portion 124c or 125c.
The base portion 124c or 125c are sandwiched by a blade support portion 112 of the rear housing 110, which will be described later, so that a corresponding one of the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 is maintained in the blade housing 110 and 120.
The bending portion 124b or 125b forms an obtuse angle from the base portion 124c or 125c and extends in a shaving direction. The shaving direction is a stroke direction of the razor cartridge 10 during shaving.
The edge 124a or 125a is formed at an end of the bending portion 124b or 125b and is formed to extend along a longitudinal direction (a length direction) of a corresponding one of the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127.
A detailed description of each of the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 will be described later.
The blade housing 110 and 120 may include a front housing 120 and a rear housing 110.
The rear housing 110 forms a rear surface of the blade housing 110 and 120, and supports and accommodates the plurality of blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 in the longitudinal direction.
A plurality of blade support portions 112 for respectively supporting the plurality of blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 is formed in the front surface of the rear housing 110. Although not illustrated in the drawings, the blade support portions 112 may be configured to support a central portion and both sides of each of the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127. Each of the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 may be inserted into a gap between the blade supports 112 to remain accommodated in the rear housing 110.
The front housing 120 includes a blade window 121 that is opened toward the front.
At least a part of the edge 124a and 125a of each of the plurality of blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 accommodated in the rear housing 120 is exposed to the outside through the blade window 121.
A guard 122 may be provided at one side of the front surface of the front housing 120. The guard 122 is positioned in close contact with a user’s skin during the shaving to pull the skin, so that body hair can be cut more deeply. In order to pull the user’s skin more effectively, the guard 122 may be formed to have at least one pattern extending approximately in the longitudinal direction, and the guard 122 may be formed based on a rubber material.
Although not illustrated in the drawings, a comb member to align body hair during the shaving may be further provided at one side of the front surface of the front housing 120. The comb member may be formed to have at least one pattern extending approximately in a transverse direction.
A lubricating band 123 including a lubricating material may be provided at one side of the front surface of the front housing 120.
In this embodiment, the blade housing 110 and 120 including the front housing 120 and the rear housing 110 has been described as an example. However, according to an embodiment as described in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2021-0073349, a razor cartridge in which a blade is accommodated and fixed by a blade housing and a clip may be applied.
Hereinafter, the plurality of blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 will be described in more detail.
The plurality of blades 124, 125, 126, 127 includes a first blade 124, a second blade 125, a third blade 126, and a fourth blade 127. Referring to
The first blade 124, the third blade 126, and the fourth blade 127 are respectively identically formed. Therefore, the detailed description of the first blade 124 will apply to a description of the third blade 126 and the fourth blade 127.
Referring to
The first cutting edge 124a is processed sharply compared to the first bending portion 124b and the first base portion 124c, and is formed to extend from the first bending portion 124b in the shaving direction (or toward the guard 122). The first cutting edge 124a is configured to cut body hair during the shaving.
Referring to
The second blade 125 includes a sliding edge 125a, a second bending portion 125b, and a second base portion 125c.
The second base portion 125c may be formed to have the same geometry as that of the first base portion 124c, and the second bending portion 125b may be formed to have the same geometry as that of the first bending portion 124b.
However, the sliding edge 125a is manufactured not to be as sharp as the first cutting edge 124a, and extends from the second bending portion 125b in the shaving direction (or toward the guard 122). The sliding edge 125a may serve to pull body hair or skin without cutting the body hair during the shaving.
To this end, referring to
Meanwhile, the first cutting edge 124a is formed so that the ratio t1/t2 of a thickness t1 of the first cutting edge 124a to a thickness t2 of the first base portion 124c is less than 1.
The sliding edge 125a is formed so that the ratio t3/t2 of a thickness t3 of the sliding edge 125a to a thickness t4 of the second base portion 125c is smaller than 1 but greater than the ratio t1/t2.
Therefore, during the shaving, the sliding edge 125a performs a function of pulling body hair without cutting the body hair, and the first cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124, which follows the second blade 125, proceeds while cutting the body hair pulled by the sliding edge 125a.
Since the fourth blade 127 or the third blade 126 is adjacent to the guard 122, the third blade 126 and/or the fourth blade 127 may cut the body hair pulled by the guard 122. However, since the first blade 124 is positioned at the rearmost among the plurality of blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 and the third blade 126 and/or the fourth blade 127 cuts the already cut body hair, it may be hard for the sliding edge 125a to reach the body hair pulled by the guard 122 if the sliding edge 125a is not provided in front of the first blade 124.
However, according to this embodiment, the sliding edge 125a is formed in the second blade 125 positioned in front of the first blade 124 and the first blade 124 cuts body hair pulled by the sliding edge 125a, and thus, it is possible to cut the body hair more deeply and have a shaving done cleanly.
In addition, compared to a razor cartridge in which a plurality of blades all include cutting edges, the razor cartridge according to the present embodiment in which the second blade 125 including the sliding edge 125a is included between the blades 124, 126, and 127 respectively including cutting edges is less irritating to the skin and thus enables a smoother shaving.
Referring to
In addition, referring to
A second rinsing gap L2 between the first blade 124 and the second blade 125 may be greater than a second rinsing gap L2 between the second blade 125 and the third blade 126. For example, the second rinsing gap L2 between the second blade 125 and the third blade 126 may be formed to have a range of 0.05 to 0.07 mm, and the second rinsing gap L2 between the first blade 124 and the second blade 125 may be formed to have a range of 0.065 to 0.09 mm.
As described above, the second blade 125 may not perform cutting of body hair. Accordingly, the residue discharged between the second blade 125 and the third blade 126 may be less than the residue discharged between the other blades. Thus, the second rinsing gap L2 between the second blade 125 and the third blade 126 may be formed to be smaller than the second rinsing gap L2 between the other blades.
However, the first blade 124 performs cutting of body hair and cuts body hair pulled by the sliding edge 125a of the second blade 125, and thus, the residue discharged between the first blade 124 and the second blade 125 may be more than the residue discharged between the second blade 125 and the third blade 126. Therefore, the second rinsing gap L2 between the first blade 124 and the second blade 125 may be formed to be greater than the second rinsing gap L2 between the second blade 125 and the third blade 126.
A span distance between every two adjacent blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 (e.g., a distance between neighboring edges parallel to a shaving plane A) may be formed to have a range of about 0.8 to 1.2 mm.
The first base portion 124c and the second base portion 125c may have the same geometry, and the first bending portion 124b and the second bending portion may have the same geometry. In this case, a shape of the blade support 112 for insertion of the first blade 124 and a shape of the blade support 112 for insertion of the second blade 125 may be the same.
Therefore, there is no need to specially design the shape of the blade support 112 for the second blade 125 including the sliding edge 125a, and the second blade 125 according to this embodiment may apply even to a blade housing of an existing razor cartridge in which a cutting edge is formed in every blade.
In addition, the second blade 125 according to this embodiment is different from other blades 124, 126, and 127 in terms of thickness or tip radius of edge, but has a similar overall shape (e.g., a configuration comprised of a base portion, a bending portion, and an edge), span distances between the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 may be maintained approximately constant. As the span distances between the blades 124, 125, 126, and 127 are provided constant, it is possible to prevent a shaving cut and provide a consistent shaving feeling.
Referring to
Referring to
The substrate S2 of the second blade 125 may be substantially the same as the substrate S1 of the first blade 124. However, the sliding edge 125a of the second blade 125 may be manufactured to have the coating layer C2 thicker than the coating layer C1 of the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124, so that a tip radius or thickness of the sliding edge 125a can be greater than a tip radius or thickness of the cutting edge 124a. In this case, it is not necessary to prepare a separate substrate for manufacturing the second blade 125, and the second blade 125 may be manufactured simply by maintaining a process time of forming the coating layer C2 longer than a process time of forming the coating layer C1 of the first blade 124.
However, in some embodiments, the sliding edge 125a of the second blade 125 may have a thickness approximately identical to a thickness of the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124, whereas a thickness of the substrate for the second blade 125 may be greater than a thickness of the substrate for the first blade 124. Alternatively, both the substrate and the coating layer of the sliding edge 125a of the second blade 125 may be formed to be thicker than those of the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124.
Referring to
A state in which the first coating layer C1 is formed in the substrate S2 may be substantially the same as that of the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124. In the embodiment of
That is, a tip radius or thickness of the sliding edge 125a may be formed to be greater than a tip radius or thickness of the cutting edge 124a by additionally forming the second coating layer C3 in the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124.
The second coating layer C3 may be a coating layer having a color different from that of the first coating layer C1. In this case, since the sliding edge 125a of the second blade 125′ is expressed in a different color from that of the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124, it is possible to visually distinguish the first blade 124 and the second blade 125′ in processes of assembling and inspecting a razor cartridge. In addition, because a user of the razor cartridge 10 is able to visually check the existence of the second blade 125′, it is possible to easily distinguish the razor cartridge 10 from an existing razor cartridge and easily recognize the function of the second blade 125′.
Meanwhile, in some embodiments, the second blade 125 may be formed based on a material different from a material of the first blade 124. The first blade 124 is formed based on a steel material in order to cut body hair and the like, but the second blade 125 performs a function of pulling the body hair rather than a function of cutting the body hair. Therefore, the second blade 125 may be formed based on a material capable of effectively pulling the body hair (e.g., rubber, plastic, silicone, etc.). In this case, the first blade 124 and the second blade 125 may be visually distinguished from each other due to color of materials, or the second blade 125 may be visually differentiated from the first blade 124 by forming a coating layer of a specific color in the second blade 125.
Referring back to
The shaving plane A is a plane on which the user’s skin and the razor cartridge 10 come into contact with each other. The shaving plane A may be determined by a shape of the blade housing 110 and 120. For example, referring to
The fact that a cutting edge is disposed to have a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A indicates that the cutting edge is positioned below the shaving plane A, which in other words means that the cutting edge is disposed to be spaced apart in a direction away from the skin with respect to the shaving plane A.
The fact that the sliding edge 125a is disposed to have a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A indicates that the sliding edge 125a is disposed above the shaving plane A, which in other words means that the sliding edge 125a is disposed to be spaced apart in a direction closer to the skin with respect to the shaving plane A.
In particular, the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124 may be formed to have a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A, and the sliding edge 125a may be formed to have a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A. Since the sliding edge 125a has a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A, a traction force for the skin/body hair by the sliding edge 125a is improved. In addition, since the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124 has a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A, skin irritation caused by shaving the skin may be reduced, thereby ensuring shaving safety.
In addition, the cutting edge of the third blade 126 may be formed to have a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A, and the sliding edge 125a may be formed to have a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A. In this case, a probability of the skin to be cut by the cutting edge of the third blade 126 is lowered, thereby improving shaving safety.
Referring to
In this case, the first blade 124 and/or the third blade 126 may be disposed so that each of the cutting edges 124a and 126a also has a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A.
However, the sliding edge 125a may be disposed closer to the shaving plane A than the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124 is (G12 < G13), or the sliding edge 125a may be disposed closer to the shaving plane A than the cutting edge 126a of the third blade 126 is (G12 < G11).
In this case, it is possible to achieve the same effect as that of a case where the sliding edge 125a is formed to have a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A and the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124 and/or the cutting edge 126a of the third blade 126 is formed to have a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A.
Referring to
In this case, the sliding edge 125a may also be disposed to have a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A.
However, the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124 is disposed to be closer to the shaving plane A than the sliding edge 125a is (G22 > G23), or the cutting edge 126a of the third blade 126 may be disposed to be closer to the shaving plane A than the sliding edge 125a is (G22 > G21).
In this case, it is possible to achieve the same effect of the case where the sliding edge 125a is formed to have a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A and the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124 and/or the cutting edge 126a of the third blade 126 is formed to have a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A.
Referring to
In this case, it is possible to achieve the same effect of the case where the sliding edge 125a is formed to have a positive protrusion value from the shaving plane A and the cutting edge 124a of the first blade 124 and/or the cutting edge 126a of the third blade 126 is formed to have a negative protrusion value from the shaving plane A.
As described with reference to
As described above, in a razor and a razor cartridge according to the present disclosure, at least one of a plurality of blades forms a sliding edge rather than a cutting edge. The sliding edge plays a role of pulling body hair/skin in a shaving direction, rather than cutting body hair, during shaving, so that a cutting edge following the sliding edge can cut the body hair pulled by the sliding edge, enabling a cleaner shaving.
In addition, since the sliding edge protrudes toward the skin compared to other cutting edges are, a traction force for body hair/skin by the sliding edge may be improved. Further, because the cutting edge is positioned before the sliding edge, it may reduce a probability of shaving cuts and improve shaving safety. Moreover, skin irritation caused by the cutting edge following the sliding edge is reduced, thereby enabling shaving safety.
It will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure without departing from the technical idea or the gist of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are not limiting but illustrative in all aspects. It should be appreciated that the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the following claims rather than the above-mentioned detailed descriptions and all modifications or alterations deduced from the meaning, the scope, and equivalences of the claims are to be construed as falling within the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2021-0168715 | Nov 2021 | KR | national |
