This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. P2013-259618, filed on Dec. 16, 2013, and the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a reciprocating-type electric shaver.
For example, as disclosed in PTLs 1 and 2, a reciprocating-type electric shaver is known in which an inner blade supported by an inner blade base and having an inverted U-shape in a cross-sectional view slides and reciprocates on an inner surface of an outer blade.
PTL 1: Japanese Patent No. 4650871
PTL 2: Japanese Patent No. 4224132
Here, in the reciprocating-type electric shaver disclosed as an example in PTL 1, when an inner blade unit is formed by fixing a metallic inner blade to an inner blade base, an engagement claw disposed in the inner blade is folded with respect to a retaining recess disposed in the inner blade base, thereby forming the inner blade unit. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a process for folding the engagement claw. Consequently, there is a problem of an increased number of processes, decreased production efficiency, and increased production costs.
In contrast, the reciprocating-type electric shaver disclosed as an example in PTL 2 has no configuration in which the engagement claw disposed in the inner blade is folded with respect to the retaining recess disposed in the inner blade base. Alternatively, a configuration is adopted in which a supplementary claw disposed in the inner blade base engages with a mounting hole disposed in the inner blade in a snap-fit manner during assembly work. Therefore, an advantageous effect can be obtained in that the number of processes does not increase. Here, in the configuration disclosed as an example in PTL 2, when the inner blade is assembled to the inner blade base, the supplementary claw is deformed inward in a short direction by an oblique guide surface disposed in an upper portion of the supplementary claw. If the assembly is completed, the supplementary claw is restored outward. However, an end surface of a lower end portion of the inner blade has a sharp edge shape. Consequently, an edge portion thereof encroaches on the oblique guide surface of the supplementary claw, thereby causing a problem in that the claw is not deformed and the assembly work cannot be carried out.
The present invention is made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a reciprocating-type electric shaver in which an inner blade can be assembled to an inner blade base with a further decreased number of processes so that production efficiency can be improved and production costs can be decreased, and which can ensure reliable assembly work by preventing a possibility that the assembly work cannot be carried out since the inner blade encroaches on the inner blade base during the assembly work.
As one embodiment, means for solving the above-described problems is disclosed as follows.
In a reciprocating-type electric shaver in which an inner blade supported by an inner blade base and having an inverted U-shape in a cross-sectional view slides and reciprocates on an inner surface of an outer blade, the inner blade has an attachment groove which is open downward in a lower end of a side edge. An inner peripheral portion of the attachment groove has an engagement groove which is recessed in an in-plane direction on a wall surface of the side edge and in a longitudinal direction of the inner blade. The inner blade base has a projection at a position corresponding to the attachment groove of the inner blade. The projection can be elastically deformed in the in-plane direction on the wall surface of the side edge and in the longitudinal direction of the inner blade, and is formed so that an engagement claw disposed in a distal end of the projection can enter and engage with the engagement groove. The engagement claw engages with the engagement groove, thereby causing the inner blade to be fixed to the inner blade base.
According to the disclosed reciprocating-type electric shaver, it is unnecessary to perform a folding process of an inner blade during assembly work. The inner blade can be assembled to an inner blade base with a further decreased number of processes so that production efficiency can be improved and production costs can be decreased. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent a possibility that the assembly work cannot be carried out since the inner blade encroaches on the inner blade base during the assembly work. Therefore, the assembly work can be reliably carried out. It is possible to prevent a defective product and downtime in a production process.
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As illustrated in
In
In addition, an eccentric pin (not illustrated) which transmits a driving force for causing the inner blade 42 to reciprocate protrudes from an upper surface of the case 10 in a direction toward a head unit 3 (to be described later), and engages with vibrators 16A and 16B (to be described later).
In contrast, in
As illustrated in
The outer blade 22 according to the present embodiment adopts a configuration in which a metal plate made of stainless steel and having a predetermined thickness is fixed to the outer blade base 23 by being bent in an arch shape, that is, in an inverted U-shape in a cross-sectional view taken on a plane perpendicular to a longitudinal direction A. Many openings (hair-entry apertures) for introducing hairs penetrate the metal plate, and are formed in an arch-shaped bent portion (that is, a predetermined top portion and a peripheral portion thereof) of the outer blade 22. This enables the hairs entering the hair-entry apertures to be cut by being interposed between a lower surface (inner surface) of the outer blade 22 and the inner blade 42. The hair-entry apertures can employ various shapes such as a round hole shape, a slit shape, or a combined shape thereof.
In contrast, although the inner blade 42 will be described in detail later, the inner blade 42 adopts a configuration in which a metal plate made of stainless steel and having a predetermined thickness is fixed to the inner blade base 43 by being bent in an arch shape, that is, in an inverted U-shape in a cross-sectional view taken on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction A. As illustrated in
The above-described inner blade base 43 is held by a holding member 14 so as to be swingable and vertically movable. The present embodiment adopts a configuration in which two sets of the outer blades 22 and 22 are held to be parallel to each other by the outer blade bases 23 and 23, and a configuration in which two sets of the inner blades 42 and 42, the inner blade bases 43 and 43, and the holding members 14 and 14 are disposed corresponding to the outer blades 22 and 22.
Here, as illustrated in
The outer blade 22 fixed to the outer blade base 23 is held so as to be sinkable downward by an outer blade case (not illustrated). In contrast, the inner blade 42 fixed to the inner blade base 43 is held and pressed upward by the holding member 14. This configuration can provide an operation in which the inner blade 42 slides and reciprocates on the inner surface of the outer blade 22.
Next, a characteristic configuration of the inner blade 42 in the present embodiment will be described in detail.
As illustrated in
The small blades 46 are arrayed to be orthogonal to a reciprocating direction (direction of arrow A in each drawing) of the inner blade 42, and are arrayed side by side at a predetermined pitch in the reciprocating direction. As an example, both ends of the two adjacent small blades 46 and 46 have a shape in which both ends are connected to each other in merging portions 47 and 47. The merging portions 47 and 47 are respectively connected to side edges 50 and 50 disposed on both sides by connecting portions 48 and 48.
Here, in the inner blade 42, an attachment groove 52 which is open downward is formed in a lower end of the side edge 50. In the present embodiment, as an example, the attachment groove 52 is disposed at two locations in each of the two (on both sides) side edges 50 and 50 (refer to
In addition, an inner peripheral portion of the attachment groove 52 has an engagement groove 54 which is recessed (that is, cut out) in an in-plane direction on a wall surface of the side edge 50 and in a longitudinal direction (direction A in the drawing) of the inner blade 42. In the present embodiment, as an example, the attachment groove 52 is formed in an inverted L-shape in a front view, which has a stepped portion 54a for enabling an engagement claw 56 (to be described later) to be engaged therewith. In addition, two engagement grooves 54 disposed in two attachment grooves 52 in one side edge 50 are formed to face inward mutually. As will be described later, as a modification example, the two engagement grooves 54 may be configured to face outward mutually.
In contrast, in the inner blade base 43 to which the inner blade 42 is fixed, a projection 55 having a shape which can enter the attachment groove 52 is formed at a position corresponding to the attachment groove 52 of the inner blade 42. More specifically, the projection 55 and the attachment groove 52 are formed so that positions in the longitudinal direction (direction A) are coincident with each other and positions in a short direction (direction B) are coincident with each other (refer to
Here, in a state where the inner blade 42 is fixed to the inner blade base 43, a width in the short direction (direction B) of the inner blade base 43 (width between side walls 57) is set to be coincident with a width (width between the side edges 50) in the short direction (direction B) of the inner blade 42. Therefore, the projection 55 of the inner blade base 43 is disposed at a position protruding outward in the short direction (direction B) from the side wall 57 of the inner blade base 43 (refer to
Furthermore, the projection 55 can be elastically deformed in the in-plane direction on the wall surface of the side edge 50 (that is, the in-plane direction on the wall surface of the side wall 57) and in the longitudinal direction (direction A) of the inner blade 42 (inner blade base 43), and the engagement claw 56 disposed in a distal end of the projection 55 is formed so as to enter and engage with the engagement groove 54 disposed in the attachment groove 52 of the inner blade 42. Here,
Since the projection 55 is configured to be elastically deformable, when the inner blade 42 is assembled to the inner blade base 43, an advantageous effect can also be obtained in that a dimensional error is absorbed in the longitudinal direction (direction A) of an attachment portion (that is, the attachment groove 52 and the projection 55).
In addition, in the present embodiment, the projection 55 is formed in a shape where a lower end portion thereof is fixed to the side wall 57 and the projection 55 protrudes upward (refer to
As described above, the engagement claw 56 engages with the engagement groove 54, thereby bringing the inner blade 42 in a state of being fixed to the inner blade base 43. According to a configuration of the inner blade 42 and the inner blade base 43 in the present embodiment, it is unnecessary to provide a process of folding the engagement claw disposed in the inner blade with respect to the retaining recess disposed in the inner blade base, unlike the configuration disclosed as an example in PTL 1 in the related art. The inner blade can be assembled to the inner blade base with a further decreased number of processes. As a result, production efficiency can be improved and production costs can be decreased.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the width (width between side edges 50) in the short direction (direction B) of the inner blade 42 is formed to be narrower than the width (width between the side walls 57) in the short direction (direction B) of the inner blade base 43 by a minute length (for example, approximately 0.5 mm). In a state where the assembly work is carried out, the inner surface of the side edge 50 of the inner blade 42 comes into close contact with the outer surface of the side wall 57 of the inner blade base 43. In this manner, the present embodiment adopts a configuration having no looseness.
Here, in the present embodiment, it is possible to carry out the assembly work, since a guide surface 59 in both ends of the inner blade base 43 causes the side edge 50 on both sides of the inner blade 42 to be pushed and expanded outward in the short direction (direction B) by the minute length, by only causing the inner blade base 43 to enter from below the inner blade 42. Therefore, it is unnecessary to perform a process for pushing and expanding the side edge 50 on both sides of the inner blade 42 outward in the short direction (direction B) by using a manufacturing device and a jig during the assembly work. Accordingly, the device costs can be decreased, and the production efficiency can be improved. In addition, since the assembly work can be carried out without using the manufacturing device and the jig, the width (width between the side edges 50) in the short direction (direction B) of the inner blade 42 can be formed to be narrower than that in the related art. Therefore, even when two or more sets (for example, five sets) of the blade units are provided, the reciprocating-type electric shaver can be formed to have a compact size by suppressing an increase in the thickness in the short direction.
Here, in the present embodiment, the attachment groove 52 is configured so that an opening edge portion (edge portion of an opening in the lower end) 52a is formed in a curved shape, that is, by means of curved surface processing (refer to
According to the configuration disclosed as an example in PTL 2 in the related art, the lower end portion of the side edge is inevitably configured to have a sharp edge due to the processing step of the inner blade. Consequently, a malfunction occurs in which the lower end having the sharp edge is caught on the engagement projection, thereby causing a problem in that the assembly work between the inner blade and the inner blade base cannot be satisfactorily carried out. Even if processing for rounding the edge is performed by allowing an increase in the processes (that is, increase in the production costs and decrease in the production efficiency), the curved surface processing has some limits since a plate thickness of the side edge is very thin.
In contrast, according to the configuration of the attachment groove 52 and the projection 55 in the present embodiment, that is, according to the configuration in which the projection 55 can be elastically deformed in the in-plane direction on the wall surface of the side edge 50 (side wall 57) and in the longitudinal direction (direction A) of the inner blade 42 (inner blade base 43), and in which the engagement claw 56 disposed in the distal end of the projection 55 is formed so as to enter and engage with the engagement groove 54 disposed in the attachment groove 52 of the inner blade 42, the above-described problem can be solved. Furthermore, the configuration of the opening edge portion 52a of the attachment groove 52 fulfills the more useful function in solving the above-described problem.
That is, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent a possibility that the assembly work cannot be carried out since a lower end portion of the inner blade 42 encroaches on the projection 55 of the inner blade base 43 during the assembly work. Therefore, the assembly work can be reliably carried out. As a result, it is possible to prevent a defective product and downtime in the production process.
In addition, as a characteristic configuration in the reciprocating-type electric shaver 1 according to the present embodiment, in the inner blade base 43, the right and left fixing ribs 58 are disposed at the position corresponding to the attachment grooves 52 of the inner blade 42. The right and left fixing ribs 58 are formed in a shape of being in close contact with an inner peripheral portion 52c which is opposite to an inner peripheral portion 52b which have the engagement groove 54 in the attachment groove 52 (refer to
Here, the right and left fixing ribs 58 are disposed at two locations in each of the two side walls 57. Peripheral walls 58a which come into close contact with the two inner peripheral portions 52c are formed to face outward mutually. According to this configuration, the two peripheral walls 58a come into close contact with the two inner peripheral portions 52c so as to face outward mutually. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a possibility that the inner blade 42 is misaligned with the inner blade base 43 in the longitudinal direction (direction A), thereby enabling mutual fixing work to be reliably carried out.
As a modification example, when the two engagement grooves 54 are formed to face outward mutually, a configuration may be adopted in which positions for coming into close contact with the two inner peripheral portions 52c are formed to face inward mutually. According to this configuration, similar to the above-described configuration, it is also possible to prevent the possibility that the inner blade is misaligned with the inner blade base 43 in the longitudinal direction (direction A), thereby enabling the mutual fixing work to be reliably carried out.
As described above, according to the reciprocating-type electric shaver 1, it is unnecessary to perform a folding process of the inner blade during the assembly work, and the inner blade can be therefore assembled to the inner blade base with a further decreased number of processes. Therefore, the production efficiency can be improved, and the production costs can be decreased.
In addition, it is possible to prevent a possibility that the assembly work cannot be carried out since the inner blade encroaches on the inner blade base during the assembly work. Therefore, the assembly work can be reliably carried out. As a result, it is possible to prevent a defective product and downtime in the production process.
Without being limited to the above-described embodiments, the present invention can be modified in various ways within the scope not departing from the spirit of the present invention. In particular, the reciprocating-type electric shaver having two sets of blade units has been described as an example. However, without being limited thereto, the present invention can also be preferably applied to a reciprocating-type electric shaver having three or more sets of blade units, for example.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2013-259618 | Dec 2013 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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20070245565 | Sato | Oct 2007 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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4224132 | Feb 2009 | JP |
4650871 | Mar 2011 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150165630 A1 | Jun 2015 | US |