JPH0334953B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electric shaver that is convenient to carry, especially when traveling, and is easy to use.

When it comes to electric razors, it is easier to shave if the outer blade part protrudes to an appropriate size than the grip part of the main body case. Therefore, the outer cutter portion is generally provided upwardly or in an inclined manner at the upper end of the main body case provided with the inner cutter drive means. However, even if an attempt is made to downsize the inner blade drive means such as a motor or battery to make the main body case more compact, if the relatively large-diameter outer blade remains as it is and protrudes, the substantial bulk will increase. It doesn't change much, but rather has a shape like a handle on the head, which makes it difficult to fit into bags.

From this point of view, the present invention has a blade unit having inner and outer blades installed in a cavity formed in the main body case so that it can be moved in and out, and the blade unit is retracted into the main body case when not in use, making the entire razor compact and not bulky. The first purpose is to make it portable and to make the blade unit protrude during use to improve usability.

In such an electric shaver,
By focusing on the operating direction of the egress/egress operation tool that moves the blade unit in and out, the amount of protrusion of the blade unit can be increased even when the main body case is made thinner, and the egress/egress operation tool can be easily operated. The second purpose is to do so. In other words, FIG. 10 shows a comparative example given in order to understand the advantages of the arrangement of the egress/egress operation tool according to the present invention, in which the egress/egress operation tool 6 of the blade unit 5 is If the direction is the same as the direction A, the stroke P' of the operating tool 6 is small and can only be taken within the thickness of the main body case 1. Therefore,
The amount of protrusion of the blade unit 5 becomes small, making it difficult to use. The smaller the stroke, the greater the instantaneous operating force required. Furthermore, it is difficult to operate the egress and egress operation tool 6 with the thumb of the hand that grips the main body case 1. There are disadvantages and inconveniences. The present invention attempts to improve this point as well.

Hereinafter, the details will be explained based on the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 3 show an example of an electric shaver according to the present invention, in which a main body case 1 has an upper half 1a that is open at the front and is connected to the upper half 1a. The lower half part 1b has a cylindrical shape that is easy to grip. Inside the lower half 1b, a rechargeable main battery 2, a spare battery 3, a charging plug 4, and means for egress and egress of these are built-in, and inside the upper half 1a of the case, a rotary-type blade unit is installed on the front. 5 is built in so that it can move forward and backward. On the side of the main body case 1, there is an egress/egress operation tool 6 that also serves as a switch knob for the blade unit 5, and a charging plug 4.
Knobs 7 for moving in and out are provided so as to be slidable in the vertical direction.

In FIG. 4, the blade unit 5 includes a housing 9 in which a motor 8 is laterally fitted and supported, a porous screen-shaped outer blade 11 attached to the outer end opening of the housing 9 via a holder 10, and a motor rotating It consists of an inner cutter 14 that is attached to the shaft 12 via a holder 13 and makes sliding contact with the outer cutter 11. The upper half 1a of the main body case 1 is formed with a cavity S that is open at the front, and the blade unit 5 is entirely located in the cavity S.
The switch ring 15 is supported so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction inside a switch ring 15 which is internally supported to be rotatable around a front-rear horizontal axis.

In FIG. 6, the housing 9 of the blade unit 5
A pair of left and right cam grooves 16, 17 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the switch ring 15 at positions 180° out of phase with each other, and pins 18, 19 that fit into these cam grooves 16, 17 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the switch ring 15. have One pin 18
also serves as a connecting pin for the egress/egress operation tool 6 which is inserted into the switch ring 15 from the outside and connected thereto. The housing 9 is prevented from rotating by engaging with a stopper 20 erected from the inner wall of the upper half 1a of the case, and slides only in the front-rear direction.

front half portions 16a, 17a inclined with respect to the axis of the switch ring 15 in the cam grooves 16, 17;
When the switch ring 15 is rotated by operating the moving/retracting operation tool 6 up and down along the guide groove 21, the cam groove 16,
17 inclined front half 16a, 17a and pins 18, 1
The blade unit 5 moves back and forth with a constant stroke due to the cam action of the blade unit 9.

What should be noted here is that the advancing/retracting operating tool 6 is slid in a direction perpendicular to the extending/retracting direction (back and forth direction) of the blade unit 5. According to this, as shown in FIG.
Compared to the comparative example shown in FIG. 0, as will be described later, the stroke P of the advancing/retracting operating tool 6 for projecting the blade unit 5 at least forward of the case can be made larger even when the main body case 1 is thin. Therefore, the amount of protrusion of the blade unit 5 can be increased. Furthermore, since the main body case 1 can be operated in the vertical direction with the thumb of the hand, for example, the blade unit 5 can be easily moved in and out.

In the deep inside of the main body case 1, there is a printed wiring board 22 having a circular upper part and a rectangular lower part as shown in FIG.
is fixedly installed, and the circular upper part is the switch ring 15.
A slit-shaped opening 23 (see Figure 6) is located deep inside.
has been inserted through. A pair of sliding contact terminals 24, 2 are provided on the inner surface of the bottom wall portion 15a of the switch ring 15.
4 is fixed, and as the ring 15 rotates, a group of sliding contacts 25 arranged in an arc on the back surface of the substrate 22 are made conductive or disconnected in an appropriate combination.

A pair of terminals 26, 2 protruding from the back of the motor 8
6 and a pair of contacts 27, 27 on the printed circuit board 22 side
and are electrically connected by a pair of terminal plates 28, 28 made of phosphor bronze. That is, this terminal board 28 has
A mounting hole 30 with a bite protrusion that is inserted into and fixed to a mounting boss 29 protruding from the back of the motor 8, and a terminal connection hole 3 into which a motor terminal 26 is inserted and connected.
1 and an elastically bendable arm 32, the tip of which is inserted into a mounting hole 33 of a printed wiring board 22 and connected to a contact 27. Therefore, even if the blade unit 5 moves forward and protrudes forward, the arm 32 of the terminal plate 28 will not move as shown in FIG.
is expanded and deformed, and the electric circuit between the motor 8 and the power supply side is maintained connected.

By rotating the switch ring 15, the blade unit 5 is moved in and out and the motor 8 is started and stopped at the same time. That is, by switching the egress/egress operation tool 6 to the four positions (a) to (d) shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the following is achieved.

(a) Position The pins 18 and 19 are at the base ends of the cam grooves 16 and 17, and the blade unit 5 is retracted. At this time, power to the motor 8 is in an off state.

(b) Position The pins 18 and 19 correspond to the ends of the inclined front half parts 16a and 17a of the cam grooves 16 and 17, and the blade unit 5
is prominent. At this time, the power to the motor 8 remains off.

(c) Position Pins 18 and 19 are in the rear half 1 of cam grooves 16 and 17
6b and 17b, and the blade unit 5 remains in the protruding state. At this time, the motor 8 is connected to the main battery 2 and is in an on state, which is the normal operating position.

(d) Position Pins 18 and 19 are in the rear half 1 of cam grooves 16 and 17
6b, 17b, and the protruding state of the blade unit 5 is maintained. In this case, the motor 8 is connected to the spare battery 3 and is in an on state. This position is used when the main battery 2 cannot be charged in time.

Each operating state of the switch ring 15 is controlled by a slit 46 with a locking step formed on the bottom wall 15a of the ring 15 and an elastically deformable locking pin 34 vertically provided on the inner inner wall of the main body case 1. Resiliently maintained by stepped engagement. Further, each operating state can be confirmed by looking at a display 48 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the extension portion 15b of the switch ring 15 through a display window 35 formed on the side of the knob guide groove 21.

In FIG. 5, the charging plug 4 for the main battery 2 described above is implanted in a plastic plug holder 36 and supported so as to be freely retractable from the bottom surface of the main body case 1, and is attached to a pedestal 37 inside the case. A pair of sliding contact terminals 38, 38 are in sliding contact with one side edge of each plug 4, thereby electrically connecting the transformer 39 of the charging circuit and the plug 4. A guide groove 40 is provided on the front surface of the plug holder 36 and has a tapered part 40a that narrows inwards, and a pair of legs 7a, 7 are connected to the guide groove 40, which are connected to the knob 7 made of plastic.
a is involved. Further, a locking piece 7 that can be inserted from the knob 7 into a pair of inner and outer locking recesses 42a and 42b formed on the inner edge of one side of the guide groove 41 of the main body case 1
b, 7b are provided in a protruding manner, and the plug 4 can be selectively locked in the retracted state and the extended state. Then, at the time of egress/egress operation, the leg 7a is moved to the tapered portion 4.
When the knob 7 is pushed inward while being deformed along 0a, and the locking piece 7b is removed from the locking recess 42a or 42b, the knob 7 is slid in the extending/retracting direction, and the push-in of the knob 7 is released at the end of the stroke. The knob 7 is returned to the outside by the elastic restoring force of the leg 7a and the cam action of the tapered portion 40a, and becomes locked again. Also, whether or not the main battery 2 needs to be charged can be determined by the pilot lamp 4 provided at the lower front edge of the main body case 1.
According to the display of 3.

The electric shaver of the present invention is equipped with a cover 44 made of transparent plastic that is fitted and attached from the front side when the blade unit 5 is retracted.
When the cover is attached, a part of the cover 44 interferes with the egress/retreat operating tool 6 to hold the operating tool 6 in the off position (a). Further, a cleaning brush 45 is detachably attached to the inside of the cover 44. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, a concave surface 47 is formed on one side of the joint between the upper half 1a and the lower half 1b of the main body case 1, on which the index finger can be hung in a non-slip manner. 1 is shaped so that it is easy to hold.

Although the illustrated example is as described above, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the egress and egress operation tool 6 is only operated from the above-mentioned position (a) to the (b) position, and at this (b) position, the drive of the inner cutter 14 is on/off using another switch ring knob. Good too.
Furthermore, a dry battery or an AC power source may be used as the power source. Furthermore, the wiring between the motor 8 on the side of the blade unit 5 that moves back and forth and the electric circuit on the side of the main body case 1 may be made using sliding terminals and contacts, or may be connected with lead wires as long as there is no fear of disconnection. It would be nice.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the blade unit 5 having the outer cutter 11 and the inner cutter 14 is removably mounted in the cavity S formed in the main body case 1,
The blade unit 5 is operated to move in and out from the main body case 1 using an egress and egress operation tool 6. Therefore, when the blade unit 5 is retracted and not in use, the entire razor can be reduced to the size of the main body case 1.
It is convenient to carry because it fits easily in a bag or the like. Moreover, when in use, the blade unit 5 protrudes from the main body case 1, so that the outer blade part can be easily brought into contact with the skin, making it easy to use.

Further, since the egress/egress operation tool 6 for moving the blade unit 5 in and out is arranged so as to be operated in a direction perpendicular to the elongation/retraction direction of the blade unit 5, the egress/egress operation tool 6 can be operated while holding the main body case 1. It is convenient to operate.
Furthermore, even when the thickness of the main body case 1 is reduced to eliminate bulkiness, the blade unit 5 can be Since the stroke P of the protruding/retracting operation tool 6 for protruding can be increased greatly, the blade unit 5 can be protruded largely for ease of use, and it also has the advantage of being able to be operated easily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall external view showing a specific example of an electric shaver according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway front view, Fig. 3 is a side view, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in Fig. 3. , Figure 5 is a perspective view of the charging plug,
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal side view, Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line - - in Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the electric circuit structure for the motor, and Fig. 9 is a side view showing the motor drive section when the blade unit is protruded. It is a diagram. FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a comparative example given to aid understanding of the present invention. 1...Body case, 2...Battery, 5...Blade unit, 6...Exit/exit operation tool, 8...Motor, 9...
Blade unit housing, 11... Outer blade, 14...
...Inner blade, 15... Switch ring, S... Hollow section, P... Stroke of egress/egress operation tool.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cavity S is formed in the main body case 1, and a blade unit 5 having an outer cutter 11 and an inner cutter 14 that comes into sliding contact with the inner surface of the cavity S is mounted in a removable manner, and the blade unit 5 is moved in and out. An electric shaver characterized in that an operating tool 6 for moving in and out is arranged so as to be operated in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the blade unit 5 moves in and out.