This invention relates generally to wet shaving systems and, more particularly, to shaving aid delivery systems that employ a hydrophilic foam as part of the delivery mechanism.
Wet shave razor cartridges often employ what is referred to by those skilled in the shaving arts as comfort strips or glide strips. Generally, these strips are positioned on a surface of a razor cartridge that contacts a user's skin during a shaving operation. As the surface is stroked over the user's skin, the comfort or glide strips deposit shaving aid material onto the skin. The shaving aid material can be, but is not limited to, a lubricant, a medicament, or combinations thereof and as used herein the term “shaving aid” should be so construed. A problem typical of prior art comfort and glide strips is that their useful life is often shorter than the useful life of the razor blades incorporated into the razor cartridge.
Comfort strips for enhancing lubricity generally comprise matrix structures having shaving aid material in the form of lubricating polymers incorporated therein so that as the strip is moved across the skin surface, water causes the soluble portions of these polymers to leach from the matrix and be deposited onto the skin. Typically, the shaving aid becomes depleted beyond effective levels after about four or five shaves.
Both lubricating strips and comfort strips are typically manufactured using injection molding or extrusion techniques. Techniques for fabricating the comfort strips involve the molding or extrusion of the matrix material containing both the soluble polyethylene oxide blends and insoluble polymers and possibly other shaving aid materials. The matrix is generally incapable of releasing the entire soluble portion of the polymer to provide the necessary lubrication. This failure to release all of the soluble portion of the polymer is caused by insufficient exposure time of the shaving aid to water throughout the matrix structure.
Based on the foregoing, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a structure for a wet shaving system that is capable of providing a sustained, consistent release of shaving aid material from a soluble portion of a polymer to a skin surface during a shaving operation.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a delivery system for a shaving aid material. The system includes a hydrophilic foam pad, strip, sponge, or similar applicator device and shaving aid material disposed in the foam. In preferred embodiments, the foam is attached to the razor cartridge such that during a shaving operation, the foam is squeezed against the user's skin and the shaving aid material is dispelled from the foam. The shaving aid material is a water soluble composition that provides any number of functions such as lubricity, moisturizing effects, skin-peels, pore cleansing, and the like. Such compositions are typically impregnated into an open-cell structure of the foam or encapsulated in closed cells of the foam. One type of foam useful in practicing the present invention is a nanofoam. As used herein, the term “nanofoam” should be broadly construed to mean foam materials having pore sizes in the nanometer range.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a razor cartridge having a frame that defines a skin-contacting surface, at least one razor blade having an exposed cutting edge located in the frame, and a shaving aid delivery system coupled to the skin-contacting surface and covering at least a portion thereof. The shaving aid delivery system includes a hydrophilic foam having a water soluble shaving aid material disposed therein. The shaving aid material is selectively dispensable from the hydrophilic foam in response to pressure applied to the foam resulting from contact with a user's skin during a shaving operation.
In a third aspect, the present invention is directed to a shaving implement having a handle and a razor cartridge attached thereto. A shaving aid delivery system is attached to the razor cartridge. The razor cartridge includes a frame that defines a skin-contacting surface and has at least one razor blade having an exposed cutting edge. The delivery system includes a hydrophilic foam defined by a plurality of struts or walls that define tortuous paths that form a foam strip. Shaving aid material is disposed in the tortuous paths and is dispensable from the foam when the razor cartridge (and the foam) is pressed onto a surface being shaved. The shaving aid material is a water soluble material.
One advantage of the use of hydrophilic foams as shaving aid delivery devices is that a sustained release of shaving aid can be realized. Because of the hydrophilic nature of the foam, the shaving aid material incorporated therein can be controllably solubilized and released in response to the needs of the user during a shaving operation.
Another advantage of the use of hydrophilic foams is that the durability and dimensional stability of the foam structure allows the shaving aid dispensing capability of the foam to be maintained over extended numbers of shaves. More specifically, the material from which the foam is manufactured and the particular configuration of the cell structure allows the foam to maintain its structural integrity by, for example, inhibiting the collapse of the cell structure during use. By inhibiting collapse of the cells, shaving aid material (lubricants or the like) can be more efficiently and sufficiently expelled from the foam throughout the useful life of the device into which the foam is incorporated.
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The struts 14 impart structure to the strip 10, and the resiliency of the struts 14 give the strip its foam-like attributes. In particular, the struts 14 that form the tortuous paths 12 can be collapsed upon themselves to allow the strip 10 to be compressed. Upon compression of the strip 10 (e.g., by the application of pressure when pressing the strip onto the surface being shaved), the collapse of the struts 14 reduces the volume of void space defined by each tortuous path 12. As the volumes of the void spaces are reduced, fluid in the void spaces is forced along the tortuous paths 12 to areas of lower pressure. In general, the area of lower pressure is the area adjacent the boundary surfaces 16 outside the strip 10. In the preferred embodiments, the fluid in the void space is a shaving aid material.
The material from which the strip 10 is fabricated is preferably a hydrophilic polyurethane foam. The foam is derived from a prepolymer liquid resin prepared from low molecular weight polyols and polyoxyethylene diols with an isocyanate, particularly toluene diisocyanate. The resulting resin is an alcohol having two or more free isocyanate groups. The free isocyanate groups are hydrolyzed, thereby releasing carbon dioxide gas, which foams the resin. The hydrolysis reaction products react with unhydrolyzed isocyanate to form a second reaction product that cross links with itself and stabilizes the foam structure. Excess water molecules trapped in the struts 14 impart the hydrophilic properties to the foam.
Upon manufacture, the foam may be mounted to release paper for transport or for storage until the foam is ready to be applied to a shaving device or loaded with shaving aid material. The foam may be mounted to the release paper by dropping the foam onto the paper or by molding the foam directly to the paper. The release paper is a woven or non-woven material. The tack quality of the foam, particularly immediately after its fabrication, is generally sufficient to allow the release paper to be adhered to the foam.
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A preferred shaving aid material that may be incorporated into the strip 10 is polyethylene oxide, which can include blends of polyethylene oxide whereby polyethylene oxides having different molecular weights are mixed. Any suitable method may be used to impregnate the foam with the polyethylene oxide. During a shaving operation, water trapped in the struts 14 solubilizes the polyethylene oxide and transports it to the skin surface. Although the shaving aid material referred to hereinafter is polyethylene oxide, it should be understood that other shaving aid materials capable of reacting and performing in a similar manner can also be used with the strip 10.
The foam from which the strip 10 is formed provides a mechanism that yields a sustained release of shaving aid material over an extended number of shaves. In one embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment, as shown in
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The mechanisms for shaving aid material transfer described with reference to
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Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to the detailed embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed in the above detailed description, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
This application is entitled to the benefit of and incorporates by reference the disclosure of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/906,110 filed on Mar. 9, 2007. This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/906,141, filed on Mar. 9, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60906110 | Mar 2007 | US | |
60906141 | Mar 2007 | US |