Electric shaver

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10315320-B2
Application number	US-201314426059-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 4, 2013
Priority date	Dec 13, 2012
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

This electric shaver has outer blades, inner blades, an inner-blade joint component, and skin-entry prevention parts. The outer blades have outer-blade holes. The inner blades have main inner-blade walls, multiple blade pieces, inner-blade holes, and internal inner-blade spaces. The inner blades move back and forth relative to the outer blades so as to cut hair that has entered through the outer-blade holes. The main inner-blade walls are connected to the inner-blade joint component. The internal inner-blade spaces are bounded by the main inner-blade walls and the multiple blade pieces. The skin-entry prevention parts are located inside the internal inner-blade spaces, at positions that correspond to the inner-blade holes, and are structured so as to contact skin that has entered the internal inner-blade spaces via the inter-blade holes.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electric shaver comprising:
an outer blade;
inner blades;
an inner blade joint component; and
a skin guard, wherein:
the inner blades are arranged in a first direction, which is a direction in which the inner blades are driven when the electric shaver is in a shaving operation, and the inner blade have a depth in a second direction crossing the first direction and a height measured from the inner blade joint component in a third direction crossing the first and second directions,
the outer blade includes an outer blade hole,
each of the inner blades includes an inner blade main body wall and a blade piece,
the inner blades rotate relative to the outer blade or move back and forth relative to the outer blade to cut hair drawn in through the outer blade hole,
the inner blade main body wall is coupled to the inner blade joint component,
an inner blade hole is formed as an opening between one blade piece and an adjacent one blade piece of the inner blades and an inner blade internal space is formed, as a lower space below the inner blade hole, by one of the inner blades having the one blade piece and an adjacent one of the inner blades having the adjacent one blade piece,
the skin guard is located in the inner blade internal space at a position corresponding to the inner blade hole,
the skin guard includes a first skin guard and a second skin guard, the second skin guard protruding from the first skin guard,
the skin guard is coupled to the inner blade joint component in such a manner that the second skin guard of the skin guard comes into contact with the skin that enters the inner blade internal space through the inner blade hole, and
each blade piece has a maximum depth in the second direction, the skin guard has a maximum depth in the second direction, and the maximum depth of the skin guard is smaller than the maximum depth of each blade piece.

2. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein:
the skin guard includes a guard base and a guard contact portion,
the guard base is coupled to the inner blade joint component or the inner blade main body wall and supports the guard contact portion, and
the guard contact portion is shaped to extend toward the inner blade hole and an end of the guard contact portion is located between a distal end of one of the inner blades and a proximal end of the one of the inner blades or is located between the outer blade and the distal end of the one of the inner blades.

3. The electric shaver according to claim 2 , wherein the guard contact portion includes protrusions protruding from the guard base and a recess between the protrusions.

4. The electric shaver according to claim 2 , wherein the guard contact portion is formed from an elastic material.

5. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein:
at least two inner blade internal spaces are formed by the inner blades, and
a plurality of skin guards, each being the skin guard, are located in the at least two blade internal spaces, respectively, so that one skin guard is located in one blade internal space.

6. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein:
each of the inner blades includes a longitudinal high pressure portion configured to contact the skin with a first pressure, and a longitudinal low pressure portion configured to contact the skin with a second pressure lower than the first pressure by the longitudinal high pressure portion, in a longitudinal direction of the inner blade joint component, and
the skin guard is located in the inner blade internal space at a position corresponding to the longitudinal high pressure portion and the skin guard is not located in the inner blade internal space at a position corresponding to the longitudinal low pressure portion.

7. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein the skin guard is one of a plurality of skin guards arranged in a lateral direction of the inner blade joint component in the inner blade internal space.

8. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein
each blade piece of the inner blades has an arch shape including two end portions and a middle portion between the two end portions, the middle portion serves as a lateral high pressure portion configured to contact the skin with a first pressure, and each of the two lateral end portions serves as a lateral low pressure portion configured to contact the skin with a second pressure lower than first pressure by the lateral high pressure portion, in a lateral direction of the inner blade joint component which is the second direction; and
the skin guard is located in the inner blade internal space at a position corresponding to the lateral high pressure portion and the skin guard is not located in the inner blade internal space at a position corresponding to laterally outermost ends of the lateral low pressure portion in the second direction.

9. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein the skin guard is formed integrally with the inner blade.

10. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein the first skin guard has an arch shape having two leg portions and a curved head portion, and a plurality of second skin guards are provided on the first skin guard.

11. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein:
each of the one of the inner blades and the adjacent one of the inner blades has a first height in the third direction, a first width in the first direction, and a first depth in the second direction, and
the skin guard has a second height in the third direction less than the first height, a second width in the first direction less than the first width, and a second depth in the second direction less than the first depth.

12. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein the skin guard is located in the inner blade internal space at an intermediate position between the one of the inner blades and the adjacent one of the inner blades.

13. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first skin guard of the skin guard is an arch having a curved top surface, and
the second skin guard of the skin guard is a protrusion protruding from the curved t op surface of the first skin guard so that a height gap is formed between the curved top surface of the first skin guard and the second skin guard.

14. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein
the first skin guard of the skin guard is an arch having a curved top surface, and
the second skin guard is one of a plurality of second skin guards, the plurality of second skin guards being protrusions arranged on the curved top surface of the first skin guard so that a height gap is formed between the curved top surface of the first skin guard and each of the second skin guards.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Narita Kenji
• Tatsuta Shigeru
• Sakon Shigetoshi
• Nakayama Satoshi

Classifications

• B26B19/12 Primary

  of the oscillating- cutter type; Cutting heads therefor; Cutters therefor (B26B19/04 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B26B19/04 Primary

  Cutting heads therefor; Cutters therefor; Securing equipment thereof · CPC title

• B26B19/044

  Manufacture and assembly of cutter blocks · CPC title

• B26B19/141

  Details of inner cutters having their axes of rotation perpendicular to the cutting surface · CPC title