Electric shaver

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10532473-B2
Application number	US-201715716882-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2017
Priority date	Sep 28, 2016
Publication date	Jan 14, 2020
Grant date	Jan 14, 2020

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electric shaver. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electric shaver comprising a handle and a shaver head including at least one cutter unit having a drivable cutter element and a shear foil, wherein the shaver head is connected to the handle by means of a support structure which in some cases may provide for some movability of the shaver head relative to the handle. The shaver head and/or the at least one cutter unit may have an elongated contour with a main axis extending transverse to the handles' longitudinal axis and substantially parallel to a cutting oscillation axis of the cutter element. The shaver head is spaced apart from the handle with a gap defined between a bottom face of the shave head and a top face of the handle, the gap forming a ring-shaped contraction in the outer contour of the shaver around the support structure and giving access to the support structure bridging the gap.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric shaver comprising:
a. a handle, and
b. a shaver head including at least one cutter unit which includes a drivable cutter element and a shear foil,
c. wherein said shaver head is connected to said handle by means of a support structure,
d. wherein said shaver head and/or said at least one cutter unit have an elongated contour with a main axis extending transverse to the handle's longitudinal axis and substantially parallel to a cutter oscillation axis of said at least one cutter element,
e. wherein said shaver head is positioned spaced apart from said handle with a gap defined between a bottom face of said shaver head and a top face of said handle, said gap forming a peripheral contraction in the outer contour of the shaver around said support structure and giving access to the support structure bridging said gap,
f. wherein said support structure includes a four-joint linkage including a pair of link arms pivotably connected, on the one hand, to the handle and, on the other hand, to the shaver head to allow for swiveling and/or tilting of the shaver head relative to the handle,
g. wherein said pair of link arms extend through said gap uncovered and freely accessible via said gap with movement of said link arms being visible to a user.

2. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein each of said link arms has a head joint connected to a shaver head part and a handle joint connected to the handle or a base part connected thereto, said head joints and said handle joint define pivot axes extending parallel to each other and substantially transverse to a longitudinal axis of the handle.

3. The electric shaver according to claim 2 , wherein said link arms are mounted in a standing configuration with the head joints of the link arms further away from the handle than the handle joints of the link arms.

4. The electric shaver according to claim 2 , wherein said link arms, with their longitudinal axes which extend through said head joints and said handle joints, are arranged in a common plane which is inclined at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the handle, said acute angle ranging from 5° to 40° or from 10° to 30°.

5. The electric shaver according to claim 2 , wherein said link arms, in a neutral or intermediate or non-tilting position of the shaver head, are arranged in a double pitch roof-like configuration with a distance of the handle joints of the link arms from each other being larger than a distance of the head joints of the link arms from each other.

6. The electric shaver according to claim 2 , wherein biasing means are provided for biasing the shaver head away from the handle and/or away from the base part, thereby biasing the shaver head into a neutral or non-tilting position of the link arms and allowing for floating of the cutter unit.

7. The electric shaver according to claim 2 , wherein a drive unit including a motor is accommodated within the handle, wherein a drive train connecting said motor to the cutter element includes an elongated drive transmitter extending from said handle to the cutter element in the shaver head, wherein said elongated drive transmitter includes a shaft having a shaft portion extending outside the housing of the handle, wherein said shaft portion extends in-between said pair of link arms arranged on opposite sides of said drive transmitter and/or the handle joints of said link arms define pivot axes extending on opposite sides of said shaft portion.

8. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein said link arms have a U-shaped or T-shaped or L-shaped cross-section.

9. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , a neck which is surrounded by said gap and includes said support structure, has a cross-sectional area of less than 50% of a maximum cross-sectional area of the handle and/or of the shaver head when considering a cross-sectional plane transverse to a longitudinal axis of the handle.

10. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein said gap, at its smallest section, has a width of more than 3 mm or more than 5 mm, said width corresponding to the distance of the bottom face of the shaver head from the top face of the handle.

11. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein said gap forms at least one sight channel going from one side of the shaver to another side of the shaver opposite thereto.

12. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein said top face formed by a housing of the handle and/or said bottom face of the shaver head have a convex or dome-shaped contour, wherein said gap has its smallest width in the center of said top face and/or in the center of said bottom face, which width continuously increases towards an outer periphery of said top face and/or said bottom face.

13. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein said handle includes a swelling projection from a back side of the handle at an end portion thereof adjacent to the top face.

14. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein said handle has an elongated shape the cross-section of which essentially continuously increases from a bottom face thereof to the top face opposite to said bottom face.

15. The electric shaver according to claim 1 , wherein said link arms
are configured to define an instantaneous center of rotation moving along a path extending through and/or adjacent to said cutter element and having a curved shape which, when considering a working range of rotation of the shaver head, is convex towards a functional side of the shaver head to be contacted with the skin to be shaved, and/or
are configured to define an instantaneous center of rotation of the shaver head moving further away from a diving side of the shaver head on which diving side the shaver head dives towards the handle when rotating about the axis defined by the link arms.

Assignees

• Braun Gmbh

Inventors

• Krauss Joachim
• Gleich Detlef
• Stegmann Wolfgang

Classifications

• B26B19/048 Primary

  Complete cutting head being movable · CPC title

• B26B19/386

  Means for attaching the head thereto · CPC title

• B26B19/042

  Long hair cutters or older types comprising a cutting grid · CPC title

• B26B19/145

  Cutters being movable in the cutting head · CPC title

• B26B19/146

  Complete cutting head being movable · CPC title