SHAVING ARRANGEMENT AND HAIRCUTTER

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Embodiments of present disclosure generally relate to a shaving assembly and a hair cutting appliance including the shaving assembly.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Conventional trimmers or clippers for shaving and grooming facial hairs are designed to cut the hairs at a certain distance from the skin. Close shaving trimmers use a modified construction to enable hair cutting at a much closer distance from the skin than conventional trimmers. Normally, close shaving trimmers relies on thinner guard-teeth. Further, for achieving an effective and comfortable trim, complex rounding features and other features may also be needed.

[0003] In a construction, the first skin-contacting portion of the teeth may be constructed, for example, from a moldable material (such as, plastic) combined with the thin metal guard teeth to enable the close hair cutting.

[0004] In an alternative construction as disclosed in CN106346519A , a thin and flat metal sheet with guard teeth or hair-catching cut-outs is stretched over a molded base. This type of construction has an advantage in terms of cost, as it can be simply constructed from a flat sheet of thin foil. However, this construction does not address the comfort and safety issue at the sides gliding over the skin. The edges of both glide sides are straight and not optimal for shaving comfort or safety, as they are formed from a thin flat sheet by punching or cutting. In this case, uncomfortableness would be caused when the sharp glide slides are applied and glided on the skin.

[0005] US 2015 / 314461 A1 discloses a hybrid shaving system that includes an inner cutter that is arranged between two outer cutters. The outer cutters have a comb that forms the guard and cooperates with a cutting element. The comb has a basically U-shaped cross-section, seen in a longitudinal direction. The comb is supported on a cutter frame, wherein two opposite ends of the comb are each mounted to one of two opposite ends of the cutter frame.

[0006] EP 2 875 917 A1 discloses an end protecting element made of plastic, wherein the protecting element is injection-moulded either directly on the blade or separately formed and joined to the blade.

[0007] WO 2016 / 134979 A1 discloses a blade set for a haircutting appliance, the blade set comprising a stationary blade and a cutter blade, the stationary blade being one of a composite metal-plastic blade, a layered blade made of several metal sheets, and a blade made of a single bent metal sheet.

[0008] US 2 323 655 A discloses a shaving assembly comprising a supporting member, a cutting element, and a guard foil surrounding the cutting element. The guard foil according to this document includes a bent part and a flat contact surface, and a protection element disposed at at least one end of the guard foil.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] In order to solve the discomfort and even safety issues caused by the sharp glide sides, the present invention provides in claim 1 a shaving assembly with a protection element and it provides in claim 3 a hair cutting appliance including said shaving assembly.

[0010] In first aspect of the present disclosure, a shaving assembly is provided. The shaving assembly comprises: a supporting member; a cutting element extending in a first direction; a guard foil stretched and extending in the first direction, the guard foil including a bent part and a flat contact surface, wherein the guard foil surrounds the cutting element via the bent part of the guard foil with respect to an axis along the first direction, wherein the bent part extends in the first direction for fixing the guard foil to the supporting member there, and wherein the flat contact surface is adapted to be in contact with skin; and a protection element arranged at at least one end of the guard foil and including a curved surface exposed to the skin, wherein the protection element is constructed as a sidewall of the supporting member, wherein the sidewall includes the curved surface projecting beyond the contact surface in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction and wherein the end of the guard foil is adjacent to the sidewall.

[0011] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the protection element can effectively avoid a direct contact of the user's skin with the non-proceeded sharp edges, thereby enabling a skin-friendly contact with the user's skin.

[0012] The protection element is constructed as a sidewall of the supporting member, wherein the sidewall includes the curved surface projecting beyond the contact surface in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction.

[0013] In this way, the original design of the guard foil will be not affected, which eases the fabrication of the guard foil. Moreover, such modular components-based shaving assembly allows manufacturers to individually fabricate all necessary components and store them for a future assembly. In addition, the sidewall may also function as the side cover of the shaving assembly to close the internal space defined by the supporting element and the guard foil during the hair cutting, so that the cut-off hair may be at least temporarily kept within the internal space without going to the ambient.

[0014] In some embodiments, the contact surface includes a plurality of guard teeth arranged along the first direction; and the cutting element includes a plurality of moving teeth arranged along the first direction and adapted to move with respect to the plurality of guard teeth along the first direction.

[0015] In second aspect, a hair cutting appliance is provided. The hair cutting appliance comprises: a shaving assembly according to the first aspect of the present disclosure; and a driving mechanism configured to cause a movement of the cutting element inside the shaving assembly.

[0016] Through the following discussions, it would be apparent that compared to conventional hair cutting appliance, the hair cutting appliance including the skin-friendly shaving assembly according to various embodiments of present disclosure avoids a direct contact of the sharp edge to the user's skin, and thereby the discomfort and safety issue can be eliminated. Meanwhile, due to the less-expensive components and less-complex rounding design, the overall cost of the appliance is reduced and the fabrication / assembly is simplified.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Drawings described herein are provided to further explain the present disclosure and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The example embodiments of the disclosure and the explanation thereof are used to explain the present disclosure, rather than to limit the present disclosure improperly. FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a conventional shaving assembly in an unassembled status; FIG. 1B illustrates a perspective view of the shaving assembly of FIG. 1A in an assembled status; FIG. 6A illustrates a perspective view of a protection element constructed as a sidewall of the supporting member of a shaving assembly, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 6B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the shaving assembly including the protection element of FIG. 6A; and FIG. 6C illustrates a perspective view of the shaving assembly including the protection element of FIG. 6A.

[0018] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference symbols are used to indicate the same or similar elements.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to several example embodiments shown in the drawings. Though example embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated in the drawings, it is to be understood that the embodiments are described only to facilitate those skilled in the art in better understanding and thereby achieving the present disclosure, rather than to limit the scope of the disclosure in any manner.

[0020] FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a conventional shaving assembly 100 in an unassembled status. As shown, the shaving assembly 100 generally includes a supporting member 1, a cutting element 2 extending in a first direction X, and a guard foil 3 also extending in the first direction X.

[0021] The contact surface 31 includes a plurality of guard teeth 37 (also referred to as "hair-catching cut-outs") arranged along the first direction X, and the cutting element 2 includes a plurality of moving teeth 21 arranged along the first direction X. In operation, under the control of a driving mechanism (is not shown), the moving teeth 21 are adapted to move (or oscillate) with respect to the plurality of guard teeth 37 along the first direction X. For sake of discussion, the first direction X may be considered as a longitudinal direction of the shaving assembly 100.

[0022] FIG. 1B illustrates a perspective view of the shaving assembly 100 in an assembled status. As shown, the guard foil 3 is stretched and surrounding the cutting element 2 via a bend of a part of the guard foil 3 with respect to an axis along the first direction X. In some embodiments, the thickness of the guard foil 3 is in a range of 40 to 120 micrometers, for example, 80 micrometers.

[0023] The guard foil 3 includes a bent part 38 and a flat contact surface 31. The bent part 38 extends in the first direction X for fixing the guard foil 3 on the supporting member 1. The flat contact surface 31 is adapted to be in contact with skin of a user.

[0024] In addition to the two lateral sides along the first direction X, as further illustrated in FIG. 1B, the flat contact surface 31 also includes two glide edges 39 which are oriented substantially perpendicular to the first direction X and exposed to the user's skin with no protection means provided thereon. As discussed above, in view of the fact that the glide edges 39 are formed by punching or cutting from a thin metal foil, these two glide edges 39 are usually sharp and not optimal for shaving comfort or safety.

[0025] In view of the forgoing, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the shaving assembly 100 as shown in FIGs. 1A-1B is further equipped with a skin-friendly protection element. The protection element is arranged at the ends 310 of the guard foil 3 and includes a curved surface 41 exposed to the skin of the user. In this way, a direct contact of sharp edges with the skin of the user can be avoided, thereby improving the shaving comfort and guaranteeing the shaving safety.

[0026] Various embodiments of the shaving assembly 100 with the protection element 4 are described below with reference to FIGs. 6A-6C.

[0027] In some embodiment as shown FIGs. 6A-6C, the protection element is constructed as a sidewall 42 of the supporting member 1. The sidewall 42 includes the curved surface 41 projecting beyond the contact surface 31 in a second direction Y that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction X. It is to be appreciated that the side wall 42 may be integrally formed with the supporting member 1. Of course, the side wall 42 may also be a separate component that is detachable from the supporting member 1.

[0028] In this way, the original design of the guard foil 3 is not affected, which eases the fabrication of the guard foil 3. Moreover, such modular components-based shaving assembly 100 allows manufacturers to individually fabricate all necessary components and store them for a future assembly. In addition, the sidewall 42 may also function as the side cover of the shaving assembly 100 to close the internal space defined by the supporting element 1 and the guard foil 3 during the hair cutting. In this way, the cut-off hair may be at least temporarily kept within the internal space without going to the ambient.

Claims

1. A shaving assembly (100), comprising: a supporting member (1); a cutting element (2) extending in a first direction (X); a guard foil (3) stretched and extending in the first direction (X), the guard foil (3) including a bent part (38) and a flat contact surface (31), wherein the guard foil (3) surrounds the cutting element (2) via the bent part (38) of the guard foil (3) with respect to an axis along the first direction (X), wherein the bent part (38) extends in the first direction (X) for fixing the guard foil (3) to the supporting member (1) there, and wherein the flat contact surface (31) is adapted to be in contact with skin; and a protection element arranged at at least one end (310) of the guard foil (3) and including a curved surface (41) exposed to the skin, wherein the protection element is constructed as a sidewall (42) of the supporting member (1), wherein the sidewall (42) includes the curved surface (41) projecting beyond the contact surface (31) in a second direction (Y) that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction (X) and wherein the end (310) of the guard foil (3) is adjacent to the sidewall (42).

2. The shaving assembly (100) of claim 1, wherein the contact surface (31) includes a plurality of guard teeth (37) arranged along the first direction (X); and the cutting element (2) includes a plurality of moving teeth (21) arranged along the first direction (X) and adapted to move with respect to the plurality of guard teeth (37) along the first direction (X).

3. A hair cutting appliance, comprising: a shaving assembly (100) according claim 1 or claim 2; and a driving mechanism configured to cause a movement of the cutting element (2) inside the shaving assembly (100).