Shaving apparatus

Abstract

 The invention relates to a shaving apparatus having a foil with apertures of different shapes (4.5) and a cutting member which is reciprocatable relative to the foil (3). the foil being provided with a regular pattern of the round apertures alternating with oblong apertures.
It is the object of the invention to provide construction which is optimized in respect of the requirements imposed on the foil (3) as regards the strength and rigidity and the ratio between the total area of the apertures and the area of the foil. Therefore, the foil (3) is provided with oblong apertures (5) whose longitudinal directions extend substantially in the direction (P) of movement of the cutting member.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a shaving apparatus having a foil with apertures of different shapes and a cutting member which is reciprocatable relative to the foil, the foil being provided with a regular pattern of round apertures alternating with oblong apertures.

[0002] Such a shaving apparatus is for example known from United States Patent Specification 2,900,719.

[0003] It is the object of the invention to provide an improved construction which owing to the simple shape of the apertures can be manufactured cheaply and which in an optimum manner complies with the requirements imposed on the foil in respect of the strength and rigidity and the ratio between the total area of the apertures and the area of the foil.

[0004] The shaving apparatus in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the longitudinal direction of the oblong apertures extends substantially in the direction of movement of the cutting member.

[0005] A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the round apertures are located at the vertices of a regular pattern of hexagons, an oblong aperture being situated within each hexagon.

[0006] The invention will be explained hereinafter by means of a description of some embodiments.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shaving apparatus with partly cut-away foil.

Figure 2 shows the shaving apparatus of Fig. 1 partly in side view and partly in cross-sectional view.

Figure 3 shows a detail of a development of the foil of the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2 on an enlarged scale.

Figure 4 in a similar way as Fig 3 shows a different embodiment of the foil.

[0007] The shaving apparatus in accordance with Figures 1, 2 and 3 comprises a housing 1 with a detachable shaving head 2. The shaving head 2 is provided with a foil 3 with apertures 4, 5. For the fixation of the foil 3 to the shaving head 2 said head is provided with hook-shaped projections 6 which engage with corresponding openings 7 at the edge of the foil. A cutting member 8 which is reciprocatable relative to the foil is located at the inner side of the foil. The cutting member 8 is provided with arcuate cutting elements 9 which at the ends are secured to the strips 10. At the ends these strips 10 are interconnected by the transverse members 11, so that a frame 12 is obtained which is the base for the cutting member. This frame 12 is provided with a pin 13 for the coupling of the cutting member 8 to the vibrator motor 15 via the drive spindle 14. The cutting member 8 is reciprocated in the directions P relative to foil 3.

[0008] Developed into a plane the foil 3 has a rectangular shape, a detail of said foil being shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 3. The foil 3 has round apertures 4 and oblong apertures 5. The round apertures are located at the vertices of a regular pattern of quadrangles 16 which cover the entire area. Within every quadrangle 16 an oblong aperture 5 is formed whose longitudinal direction, represented by the longitudinal axis 17, extends in the directions of movement P of the cutting member 8.

[0009] During use of the apparatus the foil 3 is moved over the skin. Beard hairs which are caught in an aperture 4 or 5 and project into the interior of the shaving head are shaved off by the cutting action between the cutting edge 18 of a cutting element 9 and the edge 19 or 20 of an aperture 4 or 5. The round apertures 4 are suitable for cutting short hairs, whilst the oblong apertures 5 are intended for longer hairs.

[0010] It has been found that such a combination of round apertures and oblong apertures whose longitudinal direction extends parallel or substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the cutting member yields better results than other combinations of round and oblong apertures.

[0011] The ronnd and oblong apertures have a simple shape, which is favourable for reasons of manufacturing technology and consequently cost-saving.

[0012] A particularly suitable pattern is shown in Fig. 4, the round apertures 4 being located at the vertices of the hexagons 21.

[0013] The longitudinal axes 22 of the oblong apertures 5 enclose an acute angle α under 45° with the direction of movement P. The hexagons 21 are of irregular shape, i.e. at least two of the three diagonals 23, 24 and 25 have different lengths. The oblong apertures 5 in the embodiment of Fig. 4 are approximately oriented in accordance with the longest diagonal 23, i.e. the longitudinal axis 22 encloses an acute angle with the diagonal 23 which is smaller than the angles and J enclosed by the longitidinal axis 22 and the diagonals 24 and 25 respectively. Thus a highly homogeneous bending resistance of the foil is obtained to bending in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement P, which is

essential for a correct engagement of the foil 4 with the member 8 and thus for a satisfactory shaving result. Such an oblique arrangement of the oblong apertures relative to the direction of movement P may also be used in the embodiment of Fig. 3.

[0014] Alternatively, an embodiment is possible in which the round apertures are located at the vertices of a regular pattern of triangles, pentagons or other polygons.

Claims

1. A shaving apparatus having a foil with apertures of different shapes and a cutting member which is reciprocatable relative to the foil, the foil being provided with a regular pattern of round apertures alternating with oblong apertures, characterized in that the longitudinal direction of the oblong apertures extends substantially in the direction of movement of the cutting member.

2. A shaving apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the round apertures are located at the vertices of a regular pattern of hexagons, an oblong aperture being located within each hexagcn.

Drawing