Electric shaver with imaging capability

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9848174-B2
Application number	US-201514945469-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 19, 2015
Priority date	Dec 30, 2008
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

System and method for improving the shaving experience by providing improved visibility of the skin shaving area. A digital camera is integrated with the electric shaver for close image capturing of shaving area, and displaying it on a display unit. The display unit can be integral part of the electric shaver casing, or housed in a separated device which receives the image via a communication channel. The communication channel can be wireless (using radio, audio or light) or wired, such as dedicated cabling or using powerline communication. A light source is used to better illuminate the shaving area. Video compression and digital image processing techniques are used for providing for improved shaving results. The wired communication medium can simultaneously be used also for carrying power from the electric shaver assembly to the display unit, or from the display unit to the electric shaver.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A display device for use with a cable comprising multiple wire pairs each concurrently carrying a (Direct Current) DC power signal and a digital data signal that carries a first digital image, the display device comprising:
a LAN connector for connecting to the cable;
a display component for displaying the first digital image;
a receiver coupled between the LAN connector and the display component for receiving the digital data signal from the cable via the LAN connector;
a software and a processor for executing the software coupled between the receiver and the display component for processing the first digital image; and
a single enclosure housing the LAN connector, the display component, the processor, and the receiver,
wherein the display component, the processor, and the receiver are coupled to the LAN connector for being powered only from the DC power signal.

2. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the LAN connector is a Registered Jack (RJ) type connector.

3. The display device according to claim 2 , wherein the LAN connector is RJ-45 connector.

4. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the wire pairs are Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) or Shielded Twisted Pair (STP).

5. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein the cable is a Local Area Network (LAN) cable according to, substantially according to, or based on, EIA/TIA-569 or EIA/TIA-570.

6. The display device according to claim 5 , wherein the cable is a Category 3, 5, 5e, 6, 6e, or 7 cable.

7. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein the cable includes 2 wire pairs.

8. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein the cable includes 4 wire pairs.

9. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein the cable is carrying Ethernet 10BaseT, 100BaseTX, or 1000BaseT according to, substantially according to, or based on, IEEE 802.3 standard.

10. The display device according to claim 1 , further comprising a power/data splitter coupled for passing only the DC power signal between the LAN connector and the display component for powering the display component, and between the LAN connector and the receiver for passing only the digital data signal therebetween.

11. The display device according to claim 10 , wherein the DC power signal voltage level is nominally 48, 60, or 120 VDC.

12. The display device according to claim 10 , wherein the DC power signal and the digital data signal are carried over the cable according to, substantially according to, or based on, IEEE 802.3af or IEEE 802.3at standards.

13. The display device according to claim 10 , wherein the DC power signal is carried over at least one phantom channel over the wire pairs in the cable.

14. The display device according to claim 13 , wherein the power/data splitter comprises at least one center-tap transformer.

15. The display device according to claim 10 , wherein the DC power signal and the digital data signal are carried over the cable using Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) where the digital data signal is carried in a communication frequency band that is distinct from, and higher than, the DC power signal.

16. The display device according to claim 15 , wherein the power/data splitter further comprising a Low Pass Filter (LPF) configured for substantially passing only the DC power signal between the LAN connector and the display component for powering the display component.

17. The display device according to claim 15 , further comprising a High Pass Filter (HPF) configured for substantially passing only the communication frequency band coupled between the LAN connector and the receiver for passing only the digital data signal therebetween.

18. The display device according to claim 15 , wherein the communication frequency band is above 100 Hz or above 4 MHz.

19. The display device according to claim 15 , wherein the communication frequency band is below 10 MHz or below 30 MHz.

20. The display device according to claim 1 , further comprising a step-down DC-to-DC (DC/DC) converter coupled to the LAN connector for being powered from the DC power signal having a first voltage level, and for converting and supplying a regulated DC power having a second voltage level that is lower than the first voltage level.

21. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the first digital image is carried over the cable using a serial communication that is according to, based on, or uses, a wired PAN (Personal Area Network) or a wired LAN (Local Area Network) standard, and wherein the receiver is respectively a PAN or LAN receiver.

22. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the first digital image is carried unidirectionally over the cable.

23. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the communication over the cable is packet-based and is half-duplex or full-duplex.

24. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the digital data signal is further carrying a second digital image.

25. The display device according to claim 24 , further operative for concurrently displaying the first and second digital images using the display component.

26. The display device according to claim 25 , wherein the first and second digital images cooperatively form a 3-D image, and the display device is further operative for displaying the 3-D image.

27. The display device according to claim 25 , further operative for concurrently displaying the first and the second digital images side-by-side or one-at-a-time on the display component.

28. The display device according to claim 24 , wherein the digital data signal is further concurrently carrying the second digital image time-multiplexed with the first digital image.

29. The display device according to claim 28 , further comprising a data de-multiplexer coupled to the receiver for de-multiplexing the received time-multiplexed digital images from the cable into distinct first and second digital images data.

30. The display device according to claim 28 , further comprising in the single enclosure an additional display component for displaying the second digital image.

31. The display device according to claim 30 , wherein the additional display component is connected to be powered from the DC power signal.

32. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the digital data signal is carrying digital video data that comprises the first digital image, and the display component is a digital video display.

33. The display device according to claim 32 , wherein the digital video data is in a format that is according to, is substantially according to, is based on, or uses TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), RAW format, AVI, DV, MOV, WMV, MP4, DCF (Design Rule for Camera Format), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, ITU-T CCIR 601, ASF, Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format), or DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) standard.

34. The display device according to claim 32 , wherein the digital video data comprises High Definition (HD) video data.

35. The display device according to claim 34 , wherein the digital video data comprises, uses, or is based on, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface).

36. The display device according to claim 34 , wherein the digital video data is using,

Assignees

• May Patents Ltd

Inventors

• Binder Yehuda

Classifications

• H04N23/633

  for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera · CPC title

• H04N23/661

  Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet · CPC title

• H04N23/65

  Control of camera operation in relation to power supply · CPC title

• H04N23/698

  for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture · CPC title

• H04N23/55

  Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof · CPC title