This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0067755, filed on Jun. 2, 2022, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The disclosure relates to a cartridge of a disposable razor or cartridge-replaceable razor.
A razor is a hygiene product for adult men in almost daily use. In the razor, a shaving blade may have a cutting edge to easily cut body hair, and is usually made of high-strength metal. In general, the cutting edge of the shaving blade is fixed at a predetermined position with respect to the cartridge, and thus has low ability to cope with curved shaving.
An aspect of the disclosure is to provide a razor cartridge of which the shaving plane is passively adjustable corresponding to the curvature of skin.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided a razor cartridge including: at least one shaving blade including an edge portion with a cutting edge, and a base portion; a blade housing configured to accommodate the at least one shaving blade; and an elastic unit configured to support an end portion of the based portion of the at least one shaving blade and apply a restoring force upwards.
Meanwhile, the shaving blade supported by the elastic unit may be adjustable in vertical position inside the blade housing by at least one of an external force acting thereon downwards and the restoring force of the elastic unit.
Further, the elastic unit returns the supported shaving blade to a rest position when the external force acting on the at least one shaving blade is removed.
In addition, the elastic unit may include a supporting portion transversely extended to support a bottom of the base portion of at least one among the shaving blades; and at least one connecting portion including a first side connected to the supporting portion and a second side connected to the blade housing.
Meanwhile, the supporting portion may include at least one recess or protrusion formed in a transverse direction. Meanwhile, the blade housing may include a guard provided in front of the shaving blade in a transverse direction, and a cap provided in back of the shaving blade in the transverse direction, the guard and the cap may define a virtual shaving plane, and the at least one shaving blade supported by the elastic unit may have positive exposure with respect to the shaving plane while no external force acts on the cutting edge.
Meanwhile, the supporting portion may be formed with a stepped portion thereon to support at least one among the shaving blades at a different height.
Meanwhile, the elastic unit may include at least one rinsing hole.
Meanwhile, the blade housing may include at least one blade mounting portion in which the base portion of the at least one shaving blade is mounted.
Further, the at least one blade mounting portion may include a plurality of mounting protrusions in which the base portion of the shaving blade is mounted, the connecting portion may include opposite ends connecting the supporting portion and the blade mounting portion, and a plurality of connecting portions may be spaced apart in the transverse direction.
Meanwhile, a distance between the connecting portions adjacent to each other may be greater than or equal to a distance between the mounting protrusions adjacent to each other.
Meanwhile, the blade mounting portion may include: a pair of side mounting portions configured to support longitudinal opposite ends of the at least one shaving blade; and at least one of middle mounting portions configured to support longitudinal middle portion of the at least one shaving blade.
Meanwhile, and the at least one elastic unit may be longitudinally connected to at least one of the side mounting portion and the middle mounting portion.
Further, the supporting portion may include longitudinal opposite sides connected to the connecting portions the supporting portion.
In addition, the longitudinal opposite sides of the supporting portion are different in the number of connecting portions provided therein.
Meanwhile, each of the longitudinal opposite sides of the supporting portion may be connected to one pair of connecting portions, and a distance between one pair of connecting portions may be different from a distance between another pair of connecting portions.
To enhance the ability to cope with skin, a razor has been configured to have a head of which the angle is adjustable along the curvature of the skin. In this regard, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0015146 has been disclosed. However, such a razor has a problem in that only the angle between the cartridge and a handle is adjustable and it is difficult for the cartridge itself to secure the ability to cope with curvature of the skin.
Hereinafter, a razor cartridge according to embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, elements in the following descriptions of the embodiments may be named differently in the art to which the disclosure pertains. However, the elements with different names may be regarded as equivalent elements in alternative embodiments as long as they have functional similarity and identity. For the convenience of description, the reference numerals are assigned to the elements. However, the illustrations with the reference numerals on the drawings do not limit the elements to the scope of the drawings. Likewise, some elements partially modified on the drawings may be also regarded as equivalent elements in alternative embodiments as long as they have functional similarity and identity. Further, when an element is recognized as being naturally involved at the level of those skilled in the art, descriptions of the element will be omitted.
The razor cartridge 1 according to the first embodiment may include a blade housing 100, a shaving blade 200, a cap 300, a guard 400, a clip 500, and an elastic unit 1000.
The blade housing 100 may include an inner space in which at least one shaving blade 200 is disposed transversely side by side. The blade housing 100 may be provided with blade mounting portions 110 which are spaced apart transversely to mount at least one shaving blade 200 therein. The blade mounting portion 110 may include a pair of side mounting portions 112 for supporting the longitudinal opposite ends of the shaving blade 200, and a middle mounting portion 111 for supporting the middle portion of the shaving blade 200. The blade mounting portion 110 and the blade housing 100 may be formed as a single body. Alternatively, the blade mounting portion 110 may be provided as a separate member from the blade housing 100 and connected or assembled to the blade housing 100.
The shaving blade 200 may include an edge portion 210 having a cutting edge 211, and a base portion 220. The cutting edge 211 may be extended to face forwards in an upper portion of the edge portion 210, and used to cut body hair. The at least one shaving blade 200 includes the base portions 220 positioned between mounting protrusions 113 longitudinally formed in the foregoing blade mounting portion 110, so that its longitudinal and transverse positions can be fixed. In
The mounting protrusions 113 may be extended upwards from the top of the blade mounting portion 110 by a predetermined length. The mounting protrusion 113 may have a quadrangular, triangular or the like well-known shaped cross-section. Further, the mounting protrusion 113 may have an upper end tapered so that the at least one shaving blade 200 can be easily inserted between the mounting protrusion 113 at an assembling process.
The guard 400 is configured to stretch a user's skin surface immediately before the shaving blade 200 cuts body hair during shaving. The guard 400 is provided in front of the shaving blade 200, and stretches the skin surface immediately before the cutting, thereby helping the body hair to be aligned at an appropriate angle, for example, in a direction perpendicular to a shaving direction.
The cap 300 may be provided in back of the shaving blade 200. The cap 300 may be provided in back of the shaving blade 200, and serve to smooth a user's skin surface from which the body hair has been cut and reduce an irritation applied to the skin during the shaving. Together with the upper end of the guard 400, the upper end of the cap 300 may define a shaving plane SSP (see
The pair of clips 500 is configured to prevent the at least one shaving blade 200 accommodated in the blade housing 100 from separating upwards. Opposite ends of each clip 500 may be fixed to the blade housing 100.
The elastic unit 1000 may be configured to support the at least one shaving blade 200. The elastic unit 1000 is made of an elastic material, and configured to support the base portion 220 of the at least one shaving blade 200. When an external force acts on the shaving blade 200 supported in the elastic unit 1000 in a downward direction, the shaving blade 200 may move down by a predetermined distance while being supported in the elastic unit 1000. After the external force is removed, the shaving blade 200 may return to a rest position by a restoring force generated in the elastic unit 1000.
Meanwhile, the foregoing razor cartridge 1 may be configured to couple with a handle assembly, or may be configured integrally with the handle assembly.
Referring to
The supporting portion 1100 is configured to support at least one blade. The supporting portion 1100 may be transversely extended to have a predetermined width.
The connecting portion 1200 is longitudinally extended. The connecting portion 1200 may have a first end connected to the supporting portion 1100, and a second end connected to the side mounting portion 112. The connecting portion 1200 may be extended from the side mounting portion 112 upwards at an angle. Therefore, the top of the supporting portion 110 is positioned higher than the top of the side mounting portion 112 in the rest position. When an external force acts in a downward direction, the shaving blade 200 moves down together with the supporting portion 1100 up to the lowest position determined by the top of the side mounting portion 112 and/or the top of the middle mounting portion 111. In other words, a distance in which the shaving blade 200 moves up and down may be based on a distance between the top of the supporting portion 1100 and the top of the side mounting portion 112 and/or the top of the middle mounting portion 111.
At least one connecting portion 1200 may be provided. For example, a pair of connecting portions may be connected to the supporting portion 1000 at two points spaced apart in a transverse direction.
The supporting portion 1100 and the connecting portion 1200 may be formed as a single body.
Referring to
The elastic unit 1000 is bent in the direction of the external force acting on the at least one shaving blade. As the elastic unit 1000 is further bent downwards by the shaving blade, a restoring force also increases within an elastically transformable range. Meanwhile, the elastic unit 1000 is transformed by the shaving blade, and the bottom of the shaving blade cannot be positioned lower than the top of the side mounting portion 112 and/or the top of the middle mounting portion 111 even though the maximum external force acts thereon. Therefore, the elastic unit 1000 is transformed until the top of the supporting portion 110 has the same height as the top of the side mounting portion 112 and/or the top of the middle mounting portion 111.
When the external force is removed, at least one shaving blade is returned to the rest position by the elasticity of the elastic unit 1000.
Meanwhile, the elastic unit 1000 may be entirely made of an elastic material. According to an alternative embodiment, a portion of the elastic unit 1000 may be made of an elastic material, and another portion may be made of a rigid material. For example, the connecting portion 1200 required to have a restoring force against bending may be made of the elastic material, and the supporting portion 1100 required to strongly support the shaving blade may be made of the rigid material.
In addition, the elastic unit 1000 may be varied in thickness or shape depending on portions thereof, so that a portion of the elastic unit 1000 may have greater elasticity than another portion.
Referring to
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According to this embodiment, the shaving blade 200 may have the positive exposure with respect to the shaving plane SSP, and the connecting portion 1200 of the elastic unit 1000 has a first side connected to the supporting portion 1100 and a second side connected to the side mounting portion 112. At least a portion on the top of the supporting portion 1100 supports the base portion 220 of the shaving blade 200. In this case, the base portion 220 of the shaving blade 200 may be longitudinally disposed between the mounting protrusions 113, and maintained to be spaced apart at a predetermined distance from the top of the side mounting portion 112 and/or the middle mounting portion.
Referring to
When the external force is removed, the plurality of shaving blades 200 supported on the supporting portion 1100 may return to the state as shown in
Referring to
Below, other embodiments of the disclosure will be described. The following embodiments may also include the same elements as those described above in the first embodiment, but detailed descriptions will be made for only a different configuration to avoiding repetitive descriptions.
Referring to
Referring to
The front elastic unit 1000b and the rear elastic unit 1000c may be different in physical properties such as a modulus of elasticity. For example, when the front elastic unit 1000b has a high modulus of elasticity, a high restoring force is provided against an external force, thereby decreasing a degree of downward movement of the front elastic unit 1000b due to the external force. In this case, the blades supported by the front elastic unit 1000b cuts body hair more cleanly. On the other hand, when the front elastic unit 1000b has a low modulus of elasticity, a low restoring force is provided against an external force, thereby increasing a degree of downward movement of the front elastic unit 1000b due to the external force. In this case, the shaving blades are improved in vertical position to be compliant with rapid change in the curvature of skin, such as when shaving a skin adjacent to jawbone.
In this way, the shaving blades are differently adjustable in vertical position according to desired effects through the front elastic unit 1000b and the rear elastic unit 1000c.
In this embodiment, the middle mounting portion 111 may be additionally provided with a front additional elastic unit 1000d and a rear additional elastic unit 1000e. In other words, the elastic units 1000b to 1000e may be arrayed in the form of 4×2.
According to this embodiment, two elastic units such as the front elastic unit 1000b and the rear elastic unit 1000c are provided in the transverse direction. According to another embodiment, three or more elastic units may be provided in the transverse direction. For example, a middle elastic unit (not shown) may be additionally provided between the front elastic unit 1000b and the rear elastic unit 1000c.
Referring to
Further, the opposite sides of the supporting portion 1100 may be different in the number of connecting portions 1200 connected thereto. For instance, among the connecting portions 1200, a pair of connecting portions 1200a may be provided to connect the supporting portion 1100 and the side mounting portion 112, and a single connecting portion 1200b may be provided to connect the supporting portion 1100 and the middle mounting portion 111
Referring to
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In this embodiment, the supporting portion 1100 is formed with the first supporting portion 1110 and the second supporting portion 1120 leaving a height difference therebetween, thereby supporting the shaving blades at different heights.
Referring to
Referring to
The second supporting portion 1120 may be recessed from the first supporting portion 1110 downwards or may be extended from the first supporting portion 1110 downwards.
Referring to
Meanwhile, although it is not illustrated, the protrusion 1130 may be replaced by a recess formed on the supporting portion along the transverse direction.
Referring to
Referring to
As described above, the razor cartridge according to the disclosure can uniformly transmit the restoring force to the plurality of blades supported by the elastic unit configured to support at least one blade. Further, the vertical position of the shaving blade is adjustable, thereby reducing a skin irritation during shaving. In addition, a dimensional error of the blade mounting portion, in which the shaving blade is mounted, can be supplemented by the support of the elastic unit, thereby improving the alignment of the cutting edges.
In the razor cartridge according to the disclosure, at least one blade is elastically supported and the protruding length is adjusted according to external forces, thereby having an effect on improving adaptability to the curvature of skin.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2022-0067755 | Jun 2022 | KR | national |