This application claims priority from European patent application No. 22159515.0, filed on Mar. 1, 2022, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference.
The present disclosure relates to the field of razors, more specifically to a razor head, a shaving razor assembly comprising a razor head, and a kit of parts comprising a plurality of razor heads. The present disclosure is also related to a method of cleaning a razor head.
Razor heads (also known as safety razor heads, razor cartridges or safety razor cartridges) are usually part of a shaving razor assembly that includes a razor handle. A razor head typically comprises one or more cutting members, each including a blade, and being arranged between a leading longitudinal side and a trailing longitudinal side of the razor head. In use, a user holds the razor handle in a shaving direction and brings the razor head into contact with a portion of skin. By movement of the razor head in a shaving direction, unwanted hair is removed.
At the same time, when shaving, hair, skin cells and other shaving debris can accumulate in the cutting members. With some prior art razor heads, this typically results in the cutting members becoming dull over time and degrading their shaving performance. Furthermore, this may also lead to unhygienic conditions that may potentially cause injury or infection of the user's skin. Most of prior art techniques suggest manual cleaning of the razor heads to remove debris from cutting members as a solution to this problem. However, manual cleaning of razor blades is not reliable in many cases, as hair, skin cells and other shaving debris may still remain between cutting members after manual cleaning is completed. In addition, manual cleaning means, such as razor brushes, may come into direct contact with cutting edges of the cutting members during the cleaning process, which speeds up their dulling.
Therefore, it is desirable to improve the cleaning process of razor heads to reduce their dulling process, improve their performance and increase duration of their service.
A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a razor head comprising one or more cutting members. The razor head of the first aspect further comprises a vibrating component configured to generate vibrations. The razor head of the present disclosure further comprises a structural element configured to transmit the vibrations from the vibrating component to the one or more cutting members. Furthermore, the vibrating component of the first aspect is disposed away from respective one or more cutting edges of the one or more cutting members towards an inner portion of the razor head, wherein the vibrating component is connected with the structural element. In the present disclosure, the structural element extends from the vibrating component towards the one or more cutting members.
A second aspect relates to a shaving razor assembly comprising a razor head in accordance with the techniques of the first aspect, or its embodiments. The shaving razor assembly of the second aspect further comprises a razor handle. The razor head of the present disclosure is either releasably attached to the razor handle, integrally formed with the razor handle via a non-pivotable connection, or integrally formed with the razor handle via a pivotable connection.
In a third general aspect, the present disclosure relates to a kit of parts comprising a razor head holder. The razor head holder of the third aspect comprises a plurality of razor heads in accordance with the techniques of the first aspect, or its embodiments. Furthermore, the kit of parts of the third aspect comprises a razor handle.
The fourth aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for cleaning a razor head. The method comprises providing a razor head in accordance with the techniques of the first aspect, or its embodiments. The method further comprises providing the razor handle. The razor handle of the fourth aspect comprises an activating element to operate the vibrating component of the razor head, wherein the vibrating component are configured to be operated by the activating element. Then, the method of the fourth aspect comprises activating the activating element of the razor handle to operate the vibrating component of the razor head for cleaning the one or more cutting members of the razor head.
Firstly, compared to some prior art techniques, the techniques of the present disclosure can allow for relatively simple automatic cleaning process of a razor head by using vibrating component (based on, e.g., a piezoelectric element) without requiring any effort from a user such as using manual means (e.g., razor brushes).
Secondly, compared to some prior art solutions, in the present technique the automatic cleaning process of the razor head may reduce the dulling process of the cutting members and prolong their lifetime. In particular, in some examples of the present techniques, the structural elements (e.g., resilient elements) may ensure controllable contact with the cutting members when transmitting vibrations from the vibrating component, avoiding a direct contact with their cutting edges.
Thirdly, in some examples of the present techniques, the vibrations of the vibrating component can be transmitted to each cutting member of the razor head, thereby providing more reliable and thorough cleaning of the cutting members compared to some prior art techniques.
Fourthly, a particular design of the structural element of the present techniques, which in some examples may involve the use of resilient elements, can allow for more efficient transmission of the vibrations to the cutting elements, thereby further improving the quality of the cleaning process.
Some terms are used in the present specification in the following manner (see also detailed explanations further below):
In the following specification, the term “cutting member” refers to a component of a razor head that, in use, contacts the skin of a user and cuts protruding hairs.
The term “vibrating component” as used herein should be broadly construed in the present disclosure referring to any element such as, e.g., a piezoelectric element or any other element that is capable of generating vibrations around its initial equilibrium position in response to an applied electric field or electromagnetic radiation.
The term “structural element” as used herein should be broadly construed in the present specification referring to any element that is capable of transmitting vibrations (e.g., a resilient element, more specifically, a metallic spring).
The term “leading” as used herein means the side of the razor head that contacts a portion of a user's skin first, in normal use.
The term “trailing” refers to the side of the razor head that contacts a portion of a user's skin last, in normal use.
First, a general overview over the techniques of the present disclosure related to a razor head of the first aspect will be given in connection with
In the present techniques, a razor head 1 comprises one or more cutting members 10a, 10b (e.g., one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight or more cutting members). Furthermore, the razor head comprises a vibrating component 20; 20a, 20b (e.g., a piezoelectric element or any other vibrating component, see discussions below) configured to generate vibrations. In the techniques of the present disclosure, the razor head 1 further comprises a structural element 30; 30a, 30b configured to transmit the vibrations from the vibrating component to the one or more cutting members. In this way, the razor head can be cleaned from hair, skin cells and other shaving debris in the cutting members accumulated after shaving. The structural element may include, e.g., resilient elements 35a, 35b, as shown in
In the present specification, the vibrating component 20 is disposed away from respective one or more cutting edges of the one or more cutting members 10a, 10b towards an inner portion of the razor head, as shown in
In some examples of the present techniques, the vibrating component can comprise one or more of a piezoelectric element, an electrostrictive element, a ferroelectric element and a magnetostrictive element. In some embodiments, the vibrating component comprises the piezoelectric element. For example, the piezoelectric element may comprise a piezoelectric ceramic material or a piezoelectric polymer. In a non-exhaustive example the piezoelectric ceramic material may comprise one or more of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) material, barium titanate (BT) material, and strontium titanate (ST) material. The electrostrictive element of other embodiments can comprise an electrostrictive ceramic material or an electrostrictive polymer, such as, e.g., a P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) polymer.
The razor head 1 of the present specification may comprise two or more structural elements 30a, 30b and two or more vibrating components 20a, 20b. In an example, each vibrating component of the two or more vibrating components can be connected with respective structural element of the two or more structural elements. In some cases, a first structural element 30a of the at least two structural elements can be disposed on a first side of a longitudinal extension of the razor head and a second structural element 30b of the at least two structural elements can be disposed on a second side of the longitudinal extension of the razor head that is opposite to the first side. In the example of
The structural element 30 of the first aspect can be mounted on a rear side of the razor head being opposite to a front side of the razor head that is in contact with a shaving surface when the razor head is in use. For example, the structural element 30 in the embodiment of
The vibrating component 20 of the first aspect can be connected with the structural element 30 by a fastening element. The fastening element used to connect the vibrating component and the structural element can comprise glue, one or more rivets, a magnet, or any combination thereof. When connected, the vibrating component 20 may form a single assembly with the structural element 30, as illustrated in
In the techniques of the present disclosure, the structural element 30 can comprise one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b (e.g., metallic springs 35a, 35b shown in
In the present specification, the resilient element (e.g., each resilient element) of the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b of the structural element may be a spring (e.g., a metallic spring). In other examples, the resilient element (e.g., each resilient element) of the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b may be a beam (manufactured similar to, e.g., a cantilever beam). In still other examples, the resilient element (e.g., each resilient element) of the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b may be a slab. In yet other examples, the one or more resilient elements can be manufactured as any combinations of the springs, beams, and slabs in the present specification. In some cases, the resilient element (e.g., each resilient element) of the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b may comprise a flexible material. In some examples, the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b may be integrally formed with the mounting portion 36 of the structural element 30. In other examples, the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b can be connected with the mounting portion 36 of the structural element 30 (e.g., using a suitable fastening element). In still other examples, the mounting portion of the structural element 30 may be absent so that the resilient element (e.g., each resilient element) of the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b of the structural element 30 can be mounted directly on the rear side of the razor head 1 or to its structural element support disposed inside the razor head by the fastening element (which may comprise the one or more rivets, glue, the one or more pins, or any combination thereof, as mentioned above).
In the present techniques, the razor head can extend longitudinally along a longitudinal axis (x) and the resilient element of the one or more resilient elements 35a, 35b of the structural element 30 can extend from the vibrating component 20 towards the respective cutting member from the one or more cutting members 10a, 10b along a first direction (d) (see, e.g.,
In some examples of the present techniques, the cutting member (e.g., each cutting member) of the one or more cutting members 10a, 10b can be an integrally formed cutting member comprising a radiused bend, and a cutting edge formed at a distal end of the radiused bend. In this case, the cutting member can be referred to as a “bent blade”. In other examples, the cutting member (e.g., each cutting member) of the one or more cutting members 10a, 10b can comprise a blade (e.g., the blade with a cutting edge) attached to the cutting member. In some cases, the cutting member can comprise a blade support having a blade mounting portion disposed on an inner surface or on an outer surface of the blade support, wherein the blade can be attached to the blade mounting portion. For example, the razor blade may be glued, or laser welded to the blade support (e.g., to the blade mounting portion of the blade support). The cutting members of the razor head (e.g., when the razor head comprises more than one cutting member) can be of the same type (e.g., all cutting members may be bent blades) or can be of different types in the above-defined sense.
In the present specification, the razor head 1 may comprise a housing 40 extending longitudinally along a longitudinal axis (see, e.g., the x-axis shown in
A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a shaving razor assembly 80 comprising a razor head 1 in accordance with the techniques of the first aspect, or its embodiments. The shaving razor assembly of the second aspect further comprises a razor handle 50 (as illustrated in
The razor handle 50 of the second aspect can comprise an activating element to operate the vibrating component 20; 20a, 20b of the first aspect. In some examples, the activating element can be one of a wireless activating element or an electronic circuit configured to induce vibrations in the vibrating component 20; 20a, 20b (which comprises, e.g., one or more of a piezoelectric element, an electrostrictive element, a ferroelectric element and a magnetostrictive element). In this case, the longitudinal or transversal vibrations of the vibrating component can be induced by the electromagnetic radiation that may be emitted by the wireless activating element or the electronic circuit. Alternatively, the activating element can be directly connected with the vibrating component 20 of the first aspect, for example, using a respective number of cables (e.g., one or more, or two or more cables) that extend from the activating element of the razor handle 50 to corresponding facets of the vibrating component. In this case, the longitudinal or transversal vibrations of the vibrating component may occur in response to an electric field applied to its corresponding facets supplied by the activating element (e.g., to two opposite facets of the vibrating component 20 shown in
In a third general aspect, the present disclosure relates to a kit of parts (not shown in figures) comprising a razor head holder. The razor head holder of the third aspect comprises a plurality of razor heads 1 in accordance with the techniques of the first aspect, or its embodiments. Furthermore, the kit of parts further comprises a razor handle 50. More specifically, the kit of parts may comprise the razor handle 50 according to the second aspect as described above.
The fourth aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for cleaning a razor head 1. The method comprises providing 100 a razor head 1 in accordance with the techniques of the first aspect, or its embodiments. The method further comprises providing 200 the razor handle 50. The razor handle of the fourth aspect comprises an activating element to operate the vibrating component 20; 20a, 20b of the razor head 1. The vibrating component of the fourth aspect are configured to be operated by the activating element. The method of the fourth aspect further comprises activating 200 the activating element of the razor handle 50 to operate the vibrating component of the razor head 1 for cleaning the one or more cutting members 10a, 10b of the razor head.
In the techniques of the present disclosure, the razor handle of the fourth aspect can be the razor handle of the second aspect, or its embodiments. In some cases, when the razor head of the present disclosure is releasably attached to the razor handle, the method of the fourth aspect can further comprise coupling the razor handle 50 to the razor head 1.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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22159515.0 | Mar 2022 | EP | regional |