Skin care device

Abstract

To provide a skin care device that excels in compact design and is convenient to carry.SOLUTION: A skin care device includes: a substantially circular rigid circuit board 14; a front side support body 16 which is fixed to a front end 14A of the rigid circuit board 14, and supports an irradiation device 40; a rear side support body 20 which is fixed to a rear end 14B of the rigid circuit board 14 and supports operation switches 72, 74, 76; and a housing 12 which has a smooth disc shape that covers the rigid circuit board 14, the front side support body 16 and the rear side support body 20, and includes an irradiation window 46 of the irradiation device 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a skin beautifying device, and more particularly to a skin beautifying device that uses light irradiation. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Handy skin beautifying devices are known that irradiate light rays toward the skin and provide a skin beautifying effect that improves the condition of the skin with the light rays (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-153606 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is preferable that the handy type skin beautifying device is compact and has excellent portability so that it can be easily carried around in a cosmetic pouch or the like when traveling.

[0005] However, conventional skin-beautifying devices were bulky due to the large capacitors and transformers required to obtain the required output. For this reason, conventional skin-beautifying devices were large and inconvenient to carry around.

[0006] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a skin beautifying device that is excellent in design for miniaturization and convenient to carry around. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention is a skin beautifying device (10) that irradiates light rays to the skin to achieve a skin beautifying effect, comprising a rigid circuit board (14), a first support fixed to a first end (14A) of the rigid circuit board and supporting an irradiation device (40) of the light rays, a second support (20) fixed to a second end (14B) of the rigid circuit board that is away from the first end and supports an operating switch (72, 74, 76), and a housing (12) that is disk-shaped covering the rigid circuit board, the first support, and the second support, and that has an irradiation window (46) for the irradiation device.

[0008] According to this embodiment, the device can be designed to be compact and convenient to carry around.

[0009] In the above embodiment, preferably, the device further comprises a capacitor (56) and a transformer (58) arranged on one side of the rigid circuit board, and a secondary battery (62) arranged on the other side of the rigid circuit board.

[0010] According to this aspect, the degree of freedom in designing the skin beautifying device to be compact is improved.

[0011] In the above aspect, preferably, the device further comprises a flexible circuit board (64) arranged to cover the capacitor and / or the transformer from the side opposite to the rigid circuit board, and a control circuit (70) for the irradiation device, an operating switch (71) operable from outside the housing, and the activation switch are arranged on the flexible circuit board.

[0012] According to this embodiment, the flexibility of the design of the skin beautifying device can be improved by using a flexible circuit board to reduce its size.

[0013] In the above embodiment, the operation switch preferably includes a power switch (72) and intensity adjustment switches (74, 76) for controlling the amount of light emitted by the irradiation device.

[0014] According to this aspect, the power switch and the intensity adjustment switch can be obtained without impeding the degree of freedom in designing the skin beautifying device to be compact.

[0015] In the above aspect, the housing preferably includes a first half (24) and a second half (26) that are divided approximately diametrically so as to separate the first end side and the second end side from each other.

[0016] According to this embodiment, the housing can be easily molded, and the degree of freedom in design is improved.

[0017] In the above aspect, preferably, the second half has a bulging portion (27) such that the central portion of the joining line between the first half and the second half bulges toward the first end portion, and the operation button of the operation switch is arranged in the bulging portion.

[0018] According to this aspect, the operability of the operation button of the operation switch is improved.

[0019] In the above aspect, preferably, the half on the side of the first support has a reduced outer contour relative to the other half, and further has a cap that is fitted onto the half having the reduced outer contour and cooperates with the other half to define a smooth outer contour.

[0020] According to this aspect, the skin beautifying device is easier to hold.

[0021] In the above aspect, preferably, the device further comprises a movement amount sensor (50) for detecting the amount and direction of movement of the housing, the irradiation device includes a xenon discharge tube (44) and performs intermittent irradiation to the skin through the irradiation window, and the control circuit operates the irradiation device while the housing moves relative to the skin based on the amount of movement, the direction of movement and the dimensions of the irradiation window so that the irradiation area of ​​the light beam on the skin overlaps with each other in the nth intermittent irradiation and the n+1th intermittent irradiation.

[0022] According to this embodiment, a detailed skin beautifying effect that is neither too much nor too little can be obtained under overlapping irradiation.

[0023] In the above aspect, preferably, the irradiation window is a rectangle with a vertical dimension of H mm and a horizontal dimension of W mm, and the control circuit controls the irradiation device so that the irradiation device performs intermittent irradiation every time the housing moves by H / x (mm) when the moving direction of the housing relative to the skin is along the vertical direction of the irradiation window, and every time the housing moves by W / x (mm) when the moving direction is along the horizontal direction of the irradiation window, where x is an integer.

[0024] According to this aspect, similar overlapping irradiation is performed both when the housing is moved in the vertical direction and when it is moved in the horizontal direction, so that the same detailed skin beautifying effect can be obtained. Effect of the Invention

[0025] According to the above aspect, a skin beautifying device that is excellent in design for miniaturization and convenient to carry around can be obtained. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0026] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a skin beautifying device according to the present invention, seen from the front side; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the skin beautifying device according to the present embodiment, seen from the rear side. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the skin beautifying device according to the present embodiment, seen from the front side; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the skin beautifying device according to the present embodiment, seen from the rear side. [Diagram 5] 1. Sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a skin beautifying device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the illustrated embodiment, the up-down, front-rear, and left-right directions of the skin beautifying device are defined as shown in each drawing.

[0028] As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the skin beautifying device 10 of this embodiment is configured as a handy type having a shape and size that allows it to fit in the palm of the hand, and has a housing 12 that forms an outer shell, a rigid circuit board 14 contained within the housing 12, and a cover 13 that forms a cap that selectively closes the front end of the housing 12 that forms the irradiation end.

[0029] The skin beautifying device 10 has a smooth outer shape like a flattened sphere when the cover 13 is attached.

[0030] The rigid circuit board 14 is made of a hard material and has a substantially circular flat plate shape in plan view as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A front support (first support) 16 is fixed to a front end 14A (first end) of the rigid circuit board 14 as shown in Fig. 5. More specifically, the front support 16 is a resin molded product having a shape of a flattened sphere long in the left-right direction, with the front end 16A forming a smooth flat spherical surface and the rear end 16B forming a substantially flat surface facing rearward. The front end 14A of the rigid circuit board 14 is fitted into a slit 18 formed in the vertical middle part of the rear end 16B of the front support 16 so as to open rearward. Furthermore, the front support 16 is fixed to the front end 14A of the rigid circuit board 14 by two screws 19 on the left and right.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 5, a rear support (second support) 20 is fixed to a rear end 14B (second end) of the rigid circuit board 14, which is separated from the front end 14A in the front-rear direction. The rear support 20 has a shape of a flattened sphere similar to the front support 16, and has a shorter front-rear length than the front support 16. The front end 20A of the rear support 20 forms a substantially flat surface facing forward, and the rear end 20B forms a smooth flat spherical surface. The rear support 20 is fixed to the rear end 14B of the rigid circuit board 14 by two screws 23 on the left and right.

[0032] 3 to 5, the housing 12 includes a front half (first half) 24 and a rear half (second half) 26 that are divided into front and rear parts by a dividing line P (see FIGS. 1 and 2) that extends substantially in the diameter direction, and the combination of the front half 24 and the rear half 26 forms a hollow, flattened sphere shape that covers the rigid circuit board 14, the front support 16, and the rear support 20. Since the housing 12 is formed by combining the front half 24 and the rear half 26, the front half 24 and the rear half 26 can be easily molded individually, improving the freedom of design.

[0033] Partition line P has a smooth curved shape that bulges forward at center Pc. The front side of rear half 26 includes bulging portion 27 that bulges toward front half 24 at the center in the left-right direction following the curved shape of parting line P. As a result, the center of housing 12 in a plan view belongs to rear half 26.

[0034] The front half 24 has an outer contour that is reduced relative to the rear half 26 by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the cover 13. The cover 13 is fitted onto the front half 24 having the reduced outer contour, and cooperates with the rear half 26 to define a smooth outer contour.

[0035] The skin beautifying device 10 has a smooth outer shape like a flattened sphere when the cover 13 is attached to the housing 12, so it is not bulky and is easy to hold and carry around.

[0036] The front half 24 is a hollow body that is open toward the rear and has a shape that roughly follows the outer shape of the front support 16. The front half 24 fits onto both the upper and lower surfaces of the front support 16 and onto the arc-shaped left and right side edges 14C of the rigid circuit board 14, and is connected to the front support 16 and the rigid circuit board.

[0037] The rear half 26 has a planar upper wall 26A located above the rigid circuit board 14 and parallel to the rigid circuit board 14, a lower wall 26B located below the rigid circuit board 14 and parallel to the rigid circuit board 14, and a rear wall 26C that connects the rear edges of the upper wall 26A and the lower wall 26B to each other and has a substantially semicircular planar shape and a substantially semicircular cross-sectional shape, forming a hollow body that opens forward. The front end sides of the upper wall 26A and the lower wall 26B fit into both the upper and lower surfaces of the front support 16, and the rear wall 26C fits into the rear support 20, so that the front half 24 is connected to the front support 16 and the rear support 20. The rear half 26 further has engagement grooves 30 (see FIG. 3) that extend in the front-rear direction along the arc-shaped inner surfaces of the left and right side wall portions 26D. The rear half 26 is also coupled to the rigid circuit board 14 by engaging the left and right engaging grooves 30 with the arcuate side edges 14C of the rigid circuit board 14 on corresponding left and right sides.

[0038] 3, the front half 24 and the rear half 26 are fastened (coupled) to each other by two screws 32 extending in the front-rear direction to form one housing 12. The front half 24 has a reduced or recessed outline compared to the rear half 26, and the cover 13 is configured to cover exclusively the front half 24, and the cover 13 and the rear half 26 cooperate to define a smooth outer outline as a whole.

[0039] With the above-described configuration, the rigid circuit board 14 has its front end 14A and rear end 14B supported by the front half 24 and rear half 26 which are joined to the housing 12, and extends between the front half 24 and the rear half 26 like a bark bone, defining flat upper and lower chambers 34 and 36 which divide the interior of the housing 12 into upper and lower chambers.

[0040] The front support 16 supports an illumination device 40 and a movement amount sensor 50 at its front portion.

[0041] As shown in Fig. 5, the irradiation device 40 includes a concave reflector 42 that is long in the left-right direction and opens forward, and a xenon discharge tube 44 that is long in the left-right direction and is disposed at the focal position of the concave reflector 42. The front half 24 has a flat front wall 24A located in front of the front support 16. A rectangular irradiation window 46 that is long in the left-right direction and located in front of the opening of the concave reflector 42 is formed in the front wall 24A. A shield glass 48 made of transparent flat glass that matches the irradiation window 46 is attached to the front wall 24A. The xenon discharge tube 44 intermittently flashes a light beam by arc discharge. As a result, the irradiation device 40 uses the xenon discharge tube 44 as a light source to intermittently irradiate a light beam forward from the irradiation window 46.

[0042] The movement amount sensor 50 is an input device similar to an optical mouse with a microcomputer, which repeatedly captures images of a specified area of ​​the skin at specified time intervals through an opening 51 formed in the front half 24, and detects the amount and direction of movement of the housing 12 relative to the skin from the image data of the skin at specified time intervals.

[0043] Electrode plates 54 of a capacitive touch sensor 52 are attached to both the left and right sides of the front surface 16C of the front support 16. Each electrode plate 54 is configured in the shape of an arc-shaped band extending along the left and right arc-shaped edges of the front surface 16C of the front support 16. The touch sensor 52 detects whether or not the skin is in contact with the front surface of the front wall portion 24A by the proximity of each electrode plate 54 to the back surface (rear surface) of the front wall portion 24A of the front half body 24.

[0044] Electrical components such as a capacitor 56 and a transformer 58 constituting a DC-DC converter are mounted on the rigid circuit board 14 on one side (top surface) of the rigid circuit board 14 so as to be housed in the upper chamber 34. The electrical components such as the capacitor 56 and the transformer 58 constitute an irradiation drive circuit 60 that drives the irradiation device 40.

[0045] A battery pack 63 including a plurality of secondary batteries 62 that serves as the power source for the entire skin beautifying device 10 is disposed on the other surface (lower surface) of the rigid circuit board 14 so as to be housed in the lower chamber 36.

[0046] A flexible circuit board 64 is disposed in the upper chamber 34 so as to cover the capacitor 56 and the transformer 58 from the side opposite to the rigid circuit board 14. The flexible circuit board 64 is electrically connected to the rigid circuit board 14. Electronic components such as a CPU chip 66 and a memory chip 68 are mounted on the flexible circuit board 64. The CPU chip 66, the memory chip 68, and other electronic components constitute a control circuit 70 of the irradiation device 40.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 4, an operation switch 71, a power switch 72 which is an activation switch, an increase-side intensity adjustment switch 74, and a decrease-side intensity adjustment switch 76 are mounted on the flexible circuit board 64.

[0048] The operation switch 71 is located at a position corresponding to the upper surface of the transformer 58, and is supported by the transformer 58. A push-type operation button 78 of the flexible operation switch 71 is attached to the rear half 26 at a position corresponding to the operation switch 71. The operation button 78 is flush with the upper surface of the upper wall portion 26A of the rear half 26 in the non-operated state. The operation button 78 is located in the bulging portion 27 of the rear half 26. As a result, the operation button 78 is located approximately in the center of the circular upper surface of the housing 12, improving the operability of the operation switch 71 when the housing 12 is held in one hand.

[0049] The power switch 72, the increase side intensity adjustment switch 74, and the decrease side intensity adjustment switch 76 are located at positions corresponding to the rear end 20B of the rear support 20, and are supported by the rear support 20. An opening (not shown) 26E is formed in the rear half 26 at a position corresponding to the power switch 72. A push-type operation button 80 (see Figures 3 and 4) of the power switch 72 fits into the opening. An opening 26F is formed in the rear half 26, which is common to both switches. A seesaw-type operation button 82 that operates the increase side intensity adjustment switch 74 and the decrease side intensity adjustment switch 76 in an opposing manner fits into the opening 26F. The operation buttons 80, 82 are flush with the outer surface of the rear wall portion 26C of the rear half 26 when not in operation.

[0050] A charging port 84 for a secondary battery is attached to the rear support 20. The charging port 84 is, for example, a USB port, and is electrically connected to the flexible circuit board 64. An access port 26G is opened at a position of the rear half 26 corresponding to the charging port 84.

[0051] A light-emitting element 86 that serves as a pilot lamp for the power supply is attached to the upper surface of the flexible circuit board 64. A light-guiding member 88 that is optically connected to the light-emitting element 86 is attached to the front support 16 at a position near the division line P. The light-guiding member 88 has an upper surface 88A that is flush with the upper surface of the upper wall portion 26A of the rear half 26, and guides the light beam from the light-emitting element 86 to the upper surface 88A.

[0052] The skin beautifying device 10 of this embodiment is excellent in miniaturization design due to the above-mentioned arrangement of each component and the support structure of each part, etc. This makes it convenient to carry around even if the capacitor 56, transformer 58, etc. required to obtain the required output are large.

[0053] In addition, by using the flexible circuit board 64, the freedom of designing the skin beautifying device 10 to be compact is improved, and the power switch 72, the increase side intensity adjustment switch 74, and the decrease side intensity adjustment switch 76 can be positioned in positions that are easy to operate without impeding the freedom of designing the skin beautifying device 10 to be compact.

[0054] As the housing 12 moves relative to the skin, the control circuit operates the irradiation device 40 based on the amount and direction of movement of the housing 12 detected by the movement sensor 50 and the dimensions of the irradiation window 46 so that the irradiation areas of the light beam from one flash of the irradiation device 40 on the skin overlap with each other in the nth intermittent irradiation and the n+1th intermittent irradiation.

[0055] 1, when the irradiation window 46 is a rectangle with a vertical dimension of H mm and a horizontal dimension of W mm, the control circuit controls the irradiation device 40 to perform intermittent irradiation every time the housing 12 moves H / x (mm) when the moving direction of the housing 12 relative to the skin is along the vertical direction of the irradiation window 46, and every time the housing 12 moves W / x (mm) when the moving direction is along the horizontal direction of the irradiation window 46, where x is an integer.

[0056] The irradiation device 40 begins intermittent irradiation when the touch sensor 52 detects that the skin is in contact with the front surface of the front wall portion 24A, the operation switch 71 is turned on by pressing the operation button 78, and the movement amount sensor 50 detects that the housing 12 is moving relative to the skin.

[0057] The irradiated area of ​​the skin by one irradiation by the irradiation device 40 is determined by the size of the irradiation window 46, which has a vertical dimension of H mm and a horizontal dimension of W mm. Under these conditions, the irradiation device 40 performs intermittent irradiation every time the housing 12 moves H / x (mm) when the moving direction of the housing 12 relative to the skin is along the vertical direction of the irradiation window 46, or every time the housing 12 moves W / x (mm) when the moving direction is along the horizontal direction of the irradiation window 46, so that each irradiation by the irradiation device 40 to the same area of ​​the skin is performed overlapping with each other.

[0058] This allows the same overlapping irradiation to be performed both when the housing 12 is moved vertically and horizontally relative to the skin, resulting in an appropriate skin-beautifying effect being achieved uniformly over a wide area both when the housing 12 is moved vertically and horizontally relative to the skin.

[0059] In the skin beautifying device 10 of this embodiment, the irradiation energy per irradiation of the irradiation device 40 can be made smaller than when the desired skin beautifying effect is obtained by a single irradiation, and the user can easily fine-tune the irradiation to the skin under overlapping irradiation while observing the condition, so that it is neither too much nor too little.

[0060] Although the specific embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and its modified examples, and can be modified in a wide range of ways. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 10: Skin-beautifying device 12: Housing 13: Cover 14: Rigid circuit board 14A: Front end (first end) 14B: Rear end (second end) 14C: Side edge 16: Front support (first support) 16A: Front end 16B: Rear end 16C:Front 18: Slit 19: Screw 20: Rear support (second support) 20A: Front end 20B: Rear end 23: Screw 24: Front half (first half) 24A: Front wall 26: Posterior half (second half) 26A: Upper wall part 26B: Lower wall part 26C: Rear wall 26D: Side wall part 26F: Opening 26G: Access port 27 :bulge 30: Engagement groove 32: Screw 34: Upper room 36: Lower chamber 40: Irradiation device 42: Concave reflector 44: Xenon discharge tube 46: Irradiation window 48: Shield glass 50: Displacement sensor 51 :Aperture 52: Touch sensor 54: Electrode plate 56: Capacitor 58: Trance 60: Irradiation driver circuit 62: Secondary battery 63: Battery pack 64: Flexible circuit board 66: CPU chip 68: Memory chip 70: Control circuit 71: Operation switch 72: Power switch (operation switch) 74: Increased intensity adjustment switch (operation switch) 76: Decrease side intensity adjustment switch (operation switch) 78: Operation button 80: Operation button 82: Operation button 84: Charging port 86: Light emitting element 88: Light guide member 88A:Top surface P: Parting line PC: central part

Claims

1. A skin beautifying device for obtaining a skin beautifying effect by irradiating light to the skin, A rigid circuit board; a first support member fixed to a first end of the rigid circuit board and configured to support the light irradiation device; a second support fixed to a second end of the rigid circuit board remote from the first end and supporting an actuation switch; a housing having a disk shape covering the rigid circuit board, the first support and the second support, the housing having an irradiation window for the irradiation device.

2. A capacitor and a transformer disposed on one side of the rigid circuit board; 2. The skin beautifying device according to claim 1, further comprising a secondary battery disposed on the other surface of the rigid circuit board.

3. The skin beautifying device according to claim 2, further comprising a flexible circuit board arranged to cover the capacitor and / or the transformer from the side opposite the rigid circuit board, and a control circuit for the irradiation device, an operation switch operable from outside the housing, and the activation switch are arranged on the flexible circuit board.

4. The skin beautifying device according to claim 3 , wherein the operation switch includes a power switch and an intensity adjustment switch for controlling the amount of light emitted by the irradiation device.

5. 3. The skin beautifying device according to claim 2, wherein the housing includes a first half and a second half that are divided in a substantially diametrical direction so as to separate the first end side and the second end side from each other.

6. The skin beautifying device according to claim 5, wherein the second half has a bulging portion formed by the central portion of the joining line between the first half and the second half bulging toward the first end portion, and an operation button of the operation switch is disposed in the bulging portion.

7. The skin beauty device according to claim 5, wherein the half on the first support side has a reduced outer contour relative to the other half, and further comprises a cap fitted to the half having the reduced outer contour and cooperating with the other half to define a smooth outer contour.

8. a movement amount sensor for detecting a movement amount and a movement direction of the housing; the irradiation device includes a xenon discharge tube and performs intermittent irradiation on the skin through the irradiation window; The skin beautifying device of claim 3, wherein the control circuit operates the irradiation device so that, when the housing moves relative to the skin, the irradiation area of ​​the light beam on the skin overlaps with each other between the nth intermittent irradiation and the n+1th intermittent irradiation based on the amount of movement, the direction of movement and the dimensions of the irradiation window.

9. The irradiation window is a rectangle having a vertical dimension of H mm and a horizontal dimension of W mm.

9. The skin beautifying device according to claim 8, wherein the control circuit controls the irradiation device so that the irradiation device performs intermittent irradiation every time the housing moves by H / x (mm) when the moving direction of the housing relative to the skin is along the vertical direction of the irradiation window, and every time the housing moves by W / x (mm) when the moving direction is along the horizontal direction of the irradiation window, where x is an integer.

Images