Patent Application
20240342935
The invention relates to a system for removing body hair from hard-to-reach areas, in particular for removing body hair from the back of a user.
Body hair removal is equally common and popular with both men and women. Body hair removal is carried out for hygienic and/or aesthetic reasons. Body hair removal or body depilation refers to all methods that aim to remove body hair in parts or, in the case of full-body hair removal, completely. A distinction is made between the following hair removal methods: Depilation, by means of shaving, depilatory cream or scarfing; and epilation, for example by halawa (sugaring), warm wax, cold wax strips, epilator, tweezers or permanently by electric or laser epilation.
Epilating devices of this or a similar type are known, for example, from the prior publications U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,575,902 A, 4,960,422 A or 5,084,055 A, which are all herein included by reference. Two types of hair removal must be distinguished, namely the removal of hairs on the skin surface (depilation) and the removal of hairs by the roots (epilation). Motor-powered epilating appliances operate on the principle of gripping and clamping the hairs to be removed and extracting them from the skin by the roots by means of pincerlike clamping members opening and closing at periodic intervals. Extraction is accomplished by the pincerlike clamping members being moved rapidly away from the skin after gripping the hair or hairs. This movement of the clamping members away from the skin may be accomplished, for example, in that the clamping members are part of a rotary cylinder, being periodically moved towards and away from each other as the cylinder rotates.
DE 10 2009 051 777 A1 describes a body razor that has the shape of a rider with two razor blades. A loop is attached to both sides of this rider so that a user can easily shave hard-to-reach areas—such as the back—with the blades on the rider.
The removal of body hair in hard-to-reach areas regularly takes a lot of time using conventional methods. Especially in the back area, it has proven to be difficult to check whether the body hair has been removed from all areas.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for removing body hair from hard-to-reach areas, which overcomes the disadvantages associated with the prior art.
In an example, the system according to the invention for removing body hair in hard-to-reach areas comprises a head unit which comprises a bearing surface for bearing against the skin. At least one electrically operated device for depilation or epilation of body hair is provided on the bearing surface, whereby the device can be a shaver, a trimmer or an epilator. An electrical storage for the electrical supply of the device for depilation or epilation, a communication module and a position sensor and/or a speed sensor are integrated into the head unit. The communication module is set up to establish a communication link with another communication module of a control unit and to transmit the data of the position sensor and/or the speed sensor to the control unit. The control unit is set up to use the data from the position sensor and/or the speed sensor to detect the position of the head unit and to evaluate the points at which depilation or epilation has already taken place.
This allows the user to reliably and completely remove body hair from areas of the body that are difficult to access or difficult to see. The system is a perfect everyday helper for back hair removal.
Position sensors (also known as gyrometers/gyroscopes or angular rate sensors) are used in many different devices, for example in cell phones, cars, pedometers, games consoles, cameras, etc. The gyrometer does not measure the absolute acceleration, but the rotational speed of a body around an axis, or its angular velocity. Its name is derived from the gyroscope or gyroscope instrument, whose construction principle with microelectromechanical components is used for the measurement.
It is possible for one, two, three (x, y, z planes) or even six axis (3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis accelerometer) to detect the movements; the position values can then be output by means of a corresponding circuit, i.e. evaluated by the control unit and, if necessary, output to an output device.
For the communication link, for example, a communication interface (12C, SPI, . . . ) can be used, which is selected depending on the model used. The sensitivity with regard to changes in position and speed is extremely high and reliably detects even the smallest changes (e.g. 12 mg/digit).
An acceleration sensor (known as an accelerometer) can also be used. This determines the inertia of a moving mass. This seismic mass is arranged in a spring-loaded, movable manner and operates a sliding resistor with a sliding contact, for example. An acceleration sensor (accelerometer) therefore contains a spring-mounted weight for each spatial axis along which the acceleration is to be measured. In classic accelerometers, this weight moves in the opposite direction to the spring force. However, for the purpose of miniaturization, the use of a piezoelectric sensor, preferably a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System), is preferred in order to determine a mass inertia along the individual spatial axes.
The control unit can be a component of or is a smartphone or a tablet and if the smartphone or the tablet, in particular the control unit, is set up to output the recorded positions on the display of the smartphone or the tablet. An application is installed on the mobile device, namely the smartphone or the tablet, which—when executed on the device—graphically displays and monitors the depilation or epilation process.
The mobile device, for example the smartphone or the tablet, can comprise a camera, and the control unit can be configured to output the captured positions of the head unit superimposed on an image of the user's back captured by the camera. In other words, the user's back can be photographed first, whereby the position of the head unit in the image is then determined and the data from the position sensor and/or the speed sensor is then used to visualize where the head unit is currently located and which areas still need to be depilated or epilated. The display takes place in real time, although there is preferably a wireless communication link between the mobile device and the head unit.
The control unit can be set up to determine the progress of the depilation or epilation using the image and the position data, and if the display is set up to show the progress graphically. If necessary, there may even be a time display indicating the time still required or the imminent completion of depilation or epilation.
In order to ensure a particularly good depilation or epilation result, a pressure sensor can be assigned to the device for depilation or epilation and if the control unit is set up to evaluate the contact pressure during depilation or epilation. This evaluation can then be used to detect the contact pressure of the head unit on the entire back area. For example, the contact pressure can be output on the display of the mobile device, in particular on the display of the smartphone or tablet. An acoustic and/or visual alarm signal can be emitted by the mobile device when the pressure falls below or exceeds the specified values. The contact pressure can therefore be used as a value for the quality of depilation or epilation, whereby the control unit and the display are set up to output this quality on the display.
In order to ensure rapid removal of body hair from large areas, such as the back, a plurality of electrically operated devices for depilation or epilation can be integrated into the head unit and the devices can be arranged offset to one another.
To make the system easier to use, two holding straps can be attached to the head unit. These holding straps offer quick and clean depilation or epilation on the user's back. The holding straps can be adjusted individually so that the head unit can be moved manually along the back.
To make the holding straps easier to handle, they can be fitted with a handle or hand loop at their free ends.
In order to ensure reliable depilation or epilation for all angles and growth directions of body hair in hard-to-reach areas of the body, the head unit with its bearing surface can have the shape of a flattened or elongated rotational ellipsoid. This results in an approximately oval and therefore aerodynamic shape, which can also glide easily over the user's shoulder blades, for example, and thereby ensures reliable and thorough depilation or epilation.
Instead of using holding straps, it is also possible for the head unit to be movably attached to a rail. For example, the rail can be attached to a wall with two or more than two holding points, in particular with suction cups, whereby the head unit can then be moved along the rail in order to reach the user's back completely.
Also, the head unit can be equipped with an electric drive device that can adjust the head unit along a rail.
To adjust the head unit along the rail, the control unit can optionally be set up to control the movement of the head unit along the rail, for example, in the manner of a remote control.
Sensors can also be used to evaluate and output the points at which depilation or epilation has already taken place. The contact pressure can be monitored via the optional pressure sensor and, if necessary, an acoustic and/or visual signal can be output on the display of the mobile device.
The head unit can be attached to a holding bracket so that the user can use this holding bracket to fully lower the back. The head unit can be detachably connected to the holding bracket, which makes it easier to clean. The holding bracket itself can be provided with one or more joints in order to be able to set and temporarily fix an optimum angular position. The holding bracket can also be made of a thermoplastically deformable material, for example, in order to be adapted to the physical conditions of the respective user.
The features and combinations of features mentioned above in the description as well as the features and combinations of features mentioned below in the description of the figures and/or shown alone in the figures can be used not only in the combination indicated in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without going beyond the scope of the invention. Thus, embodiments which are not explicitly shown or explained in the figures, but which emerge from the explained embodiments and can be produced by separate combinations of features, are also to be regarded as comprised by the invention and disclosed.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:
In the present case, the control unit 110 is part of a smartphone 112, whereby the smartphone 112 is set up to output the recorded positions on the display 114 of the smartphone 112. It should be noted that any other mobile device could also be used to implement a control unit 110, for example a tablet.
In the present case, the smartphone 112 comprises a camera, wherein the control unit 110—in particular the microprocessor of the smartphone 112—is set up to output the captured positions of the head unit 102 superimposed on an image of the user's back captured by the camera. The control unit 110 is thereby set up to determine the progress of the depilation or epilation using the image and using the position data. The progress is shown graphically on the display 114. For a good result of the depilation or epilation, a pressure sensor is assigned to the device 106 for depilation or epilation, wherein the control unit 110 is set up to evaluate the contact pressure during the depilation or epilation. In particular, the device 106 for depilation or epilation is spring-mounted so that the device 106 can move back axially; in other words, it can partially move into the housing of the head unit 102. The contact pressure is shown graphically on the display 114 of the smartphone 112. In addition, an acoustic and/or visual alarm signal is emitted if the contact pressure exceeds a predetermined limit pressure or falls below a predetermined limit pressure. The contact pressure is used, for example, as a value for the quality of the depilation or epilation, whereby this quality is also shown on the display 114.
In order to reliably reach all parts of the back and to be able to take into account all directions of growth of the body hair, the head unit 102 with its bearing surface 104 has the shape of a flattened or elongated ellipsoid of rotation. It is possible for the head unit 102 to have a plurality of electrically operated devices 106 for depilation or epilation, whereby the devices 106 are then arranged offset to one another in order to be able to depilate a larger area, for example a larger area of the back.
As can be seen from the variants of
However, the head unit 102 may also be attached to a holding bracket 124, for example, as shown in
Overall, the present system 100 is characterized by the fact that depilation or epilation of hard-to-reach areas is performed quickly and thoroughly. The visualization on the display 114 offers the user additional convenience and ensures that all desired areas are depilated or epilated. The system 100 has proven to be multifunctional, so that it can be used, for example, with hand loops 118, a holding bracket 124 or also using a rail 122. The sensor system integrated into the head unit 102 offers maximum user comfort and ensures a high quality of depilation or epilation.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2021 134 444.1 | Dec 2021 | DE | national |
This nonprovisional application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/EP2022/087531, which was filed on Dec. 22, 2022, and which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2021 134 444.1, which was filed in Germany on Dec. 23, 2021, and which are both herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/EP2022/087531 | Dec 2022 | WO |
| Child | 18752686 | US |
