Beauty machines

Abstract

A technology is provided that enables the use of multiple carrier gases in a cosmetic device that performs treatment by irradiating plasma. [Solution] The cosmetic device 1 of the present disclosure includes a handpiece 10 in which a plasma generator 11 including a corona discharge unit is disposed, a gas supply unit 20 for supplying a carrier gas to the handpiece 10, and a main body 200 having a control unit 30 for controlling the supply of the carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20. The control unit 30 controls the supply of carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20 in a switchable manner so that any one of a plurality of carrier gases can be supplied to the handpiece 10.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cosmetic device that performs treatment by irradiating plasma generated by ionizing a specific carrier gas. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, various beauty devices have been used in beauty salons and the like to introduce active ingredients (for example, vitamin C derivatives) into the skin.

[0003] Such beauty devices perform, for example, iontophoresis of active ingredients, electroporation (electroporation: electrical perforation method) which further promotes the introduction of active ingredients into the skin, plasma shower, and the like.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a facial beauty device that electrically forms micropores in human skin using electroporation while simultaneously applying ultrasonic vibrations to the skin, and immediately after the micropores are formed, diffuses ingredients effective for beautiful skin using the ultrasonic vibrations, ionizes them, and introduces them transdermally into the cell membrane. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-202660 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Electroporation, which has been used in beauty devices for some time, allows the introduction of active ingredients into the skin by forming temporary micropores in the skin. According to the technology described in Patent Document 1, although the active ingredients can be introduced into the skin by electroporation and then diffused by ultrasonic vibrations, the technology for forming temporary micropores in the skin remains the same as conventional electroporation.

[0007] On the other hand, plasma showers use plasma energy to temporarily separate the cell adhesion molecules that bind skin cells, creating temporary gaps in the skin's protective membrane and promoting the introduction of active ingredients into the skin more effectively than electroporation. While plasma showers can produce different beauty effects depending on the type of carrier gas, the technology to handle multiple carrier gases in a single beauty device has not yet been demonstrated.

[0008] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technology that enables the use of multiple carrier gases in a cosmetic device that performs treatment by irradiating plasma. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The cosmetic device disclosed herein performs treatment by irradiating plasma generated by ionizing a predetermined carrier gas. The cosmetic device includes a handpiece equipped with a plasma generator including a corona discharge unit, a gas supply unit for supplying the carrier gas to the handpiece, and a main body having a control unit for controlling the supply of the carrier gas from the gas supply unit. The control unit controls the supply of the carrier gas from the gas supply unit in a switchable manner so that any one of a plurality of carrier gases can be supplied to the handpiece.

[0010] In the above-mentioned beauty device, the control unit can switchably control the supply of carrier gas from the gas supply unit, thereby allowing any of multiple carrier gases to be supplied to the handpiece. This not only allows the plasma shower to temporarily form a gap for introducing active ingredients into the subject's skin, but also enables the application of plasma that exerts an appropriate effect depending on the subject's skin condition and purpose.

[0011] In the above-described cosmetic device, the carrier gas may include nitrogen and oxygen, and the control unit may switchably control the gas supply unit to supply nitrogen as the carrier gas or oxygen as the carrier gas. This allows the nitrogen plasma to mildly improve the hydrophilicity of the skin. Furthermore, the oxygen plasma can exert a strong hydrophilic effect on the skin. Furthermore, in this case, the gas supply unit may include a gas generator containing nitrogen-adsorbing zeolite, and a compressor that pressure-feeds the carrier gas generated by the gas generator to the handpiece.

[0012] The cosmetic device of the present disclosure may further include a serum supply unit that supplies a predetermined serum to the handpiece. This allows the serum to be introduced into the dermis layer through gaps formed by plasma irradiation. The serum may also be an oxygen-containing serum. In this case, the serum may be mixed with oxygen from the gas supply unit in the serum supply unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present disclosure, a plurality of carrier gases can be used in a cosmetic device that performs treatment by irradiating plasma. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a beauty device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2]1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating examples of how a beauty device is used according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating a procedure for treatment using a cosmetic device according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are examples, and the present disclosure is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments.

[0016] An overview of a beauty device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of the beauty device according to this embodiment. The beauty device 1 according to this embodiment is a device that performs treatment by irradiating plasma generated by ionizing a predetermined carrier gas. Note that the beauty device 1 according to this embodiment uses nitrogen and oxygen as carrier gases.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1(a), the beauty device 1 includes a handpiece 10 that is held and operated by a user who uses the beauty device 1 to perform treatment and that is brought into contact with the skin of the person receiving treatment, a gas supply unit 20 for supplying carrier gas (nitrogen, oxygen) to the handpiece 10, and a main body 200 that has a control unit 30 that controls the supply of carrier gas (nitrogen, oxygen) from the gas supply unit 20.

[0018] The gas supply unit 20 of the main body 200 includes a gas generation unit 21 in which zeolite that adsorbs nitrogen is arranged, and a compressor 22 that pressurizes the carrier gas (nitrogen, oxygen) generated by the gas generation unit 21 to the handpiece 10.

[0019] Zeolite has the property of adsorbing more nitrogen as the pressure of the atmosphere in which it is placed increases. Therefore, when air is pumped into gas generator 21 by compressor 22, the nitrogen in the air is adsorbed by zeolite within gas generator 21. When gas is discharged from gas generator 21 in this state, the nitrogen concentration decreases, i.e., air with a high oxygen concentration is pumped out from gas generator 21. On the other hand, when the pressure of gas generator 21 from which gas has been discharged is reduced, the nitrogen adsorbed by zeolite is desorbed. Therefore, when gas is discharged from gas generator 21 in this state, air with a high nitrogen concentration is pumped out from gas generator 21. By alternately pressurizing and depressurizing the two gas generators 21 each containing zeolite, air with a high oxygen concentration and air with a high nitrogen concentration can be generated in gas generator 21. Note that gas supply unit 20 in this embodiment may be configured to include a decompression pump that depressurizes the gas generator 21.

[0020] The control unit 30 of the main body 200 has a function of controlling the operation of the compressor 22 and a flow path switching valve 40 (described later), and is realized by, for example, a microcontroller. In this case, the control unit 30 may be configured by a processor such as a CPU, and a storage device such as a RAM or a ROM.

[0021] The control unit 30 controls the gas supply unit 20 to switch between supplying nitrogen as a carrier gas and supplying oxygen as a carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20.

[0022] Specifically, the control unit 30 controls the operation of the compressor 22 in response to a request from the user to perform a treatment, thereby controlling the supply of air to the gas generator 21. The control unit 30 controls the operation of the compressor 22 by, for example, detecting that the user has pressed a button to perform a treatment.

[0023] A flow path switching valve 40 (e.g., a three-way valve) is disposed in the carrier gas flow path between the gas supply unit 20 and the handpiece 10. The control unit 30 controls the operation of this flow path switching valve 40 in response to a carrier gas selection by the user, thereby switching between supplying nitrogen as the carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20 and supplying oxygen as the carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20. For example, if one of the two gas generators 21 stores air with a high oxygen concentration and the other stores air with a high nitrogen concentration, the control unit 30 controls the operation of the flow path switching valve 40 to switch the gas generator 21 connected to the flow path leading to the handpiece 10 in response to the carrier gas selection by the user. The control unit 30 controls the operation of the flow path switching valve 40, for example, by detecting the user pressing a gas selection button. Furthermore, in this embodiment, supplying nitrogen as a carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20 does not mean supplying 100% nitrogen gas, but rather means supplying air with a high nitrogen concentration (e.g., 90%), and supplying oxygen as a carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20 does not mean supplying 100% oxygen gas, but rather means supplying air with a high oxygen concentration (e.g., 40%).

[0024] The carrier gas introduced into the handpiece 10 in this manner is converted into plasma in the handpiece 10. The handpiece 10 shown in Fig. 1(b) is provided with a plasma generator 11 as shown in Fig. 1(c), and the carrier gas is converted into plasma by the plasma generator 11 built into the handpiece 10. The plasma generator 11 is a well-known device that includes a corona discharge unit.

[0025] A user using the cosmetic device 1 to perform treatment can irradiate plasma onto the skin of a subject using the handpiece 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of how the cosmetic device 1 is used in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the user can irradiate plasma onto the skin of a subject by bringing the tip of the handpiece 10 into contact with the skin of the subject. Specifically, a carrier gas pressurized and fed to the handpiece 10 by the compressor 22 is converted into plasma and forced out from the tip of the handpiece 10, thereby irradiating a plasma shower onto the skin of the subject. This temporarily detaches the cell adhesion molecules binding the skin cells due to the plasma energy, temporarily forming gaps in the protective membrane of the skin, allowing active ingredients (e.g., vitamin C derivatives) to be suitably introduced into the skin.

[0026] When a voltage is applied to the corona discharge section of the plasma generator 11 built into the handpiece 10, the carrier gas (nitrogen, oxygen) undergoes dissociation and ionization in the electric field region of the corona discharge section. This generates a stable ionized plasma (nitrogen plasma, oxygen plasma). The plasma thus formed is then pushed toward the tip of the handpiece 10 by the carrier gas continuously supplied from the gas supply section 20. The plasma not only generates energy that separates skin cell adhesion molecules, but also contains ions, electrons, and high-density activated radicals (reactive species). These reactive species are highly reactive and easily react with other molecules, making them useful for improving various skin problems and skin beauty treatments.

[0027] The nitrogen plasma emitted by the cosmetic device 1 of this embodiment has the effect of mildly improving the hydrophilicity of the skin. This nitrogen plasma is suitable for approaching the inside of the skin and for care of the repair and regeneration systems, and has effects such as promoting skin regeneration by stimulating fibroblasts, suppressing redness and inflammation in sensitive skin through its anti-inflammatory effect, supporting collagen production, and providing care with reduced downtime.

[0028] On the other hand, the oxygen plasma emitted by the cosmetic device 1 of this embodiment has a strong hydrophilic effect on the skin. This oxygen plasma is suitable for skin removal care, and has effects such as oxidizing and decomposing sebum, keratin, and waste products with active oxygen, improving dullness by removing old keratin through oxidation, preventing acne and acting as an antibacterial agent through the sterilizing action of ozone and active oxygen, and brightening skin by suppressing melanin.

[0029] As described above, the beauty device 1 in this embodiment is configured to be switchable between supplying nitrogen as a carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20 and supplying oxygen as a carrier gas from the gas supply unit 20, which not only makes it possible to temporarily form a gap for introducing active ingredients into the skin by plasma shower, but also makes it possible to irradiate plasma that exerts an appropriate effect according to the subject's skin condition and purpose.

[0030] Next, a cosmetic treatment using the cosmetic device 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the flow of treatment using the cosmetic device 1 of this embodiment.

[0031] In this flow, first, in S101, a Hydra Peel treatment is performed on the subject's skin to remove dirt accumulated in pores, etc. In this case, the cosmetic device 1 may be equipped with a handpiece dedicated to the Hydra Peel treatment.

[0032] Next, in S102, plasma irradiation is performed on the subject's skin, temporarily forming gaps for introducing the active ingredient into the skin. At this time, as described above, plasma can be irradiated to exert an appropriate effect according to the condition and purpose of the subject's skin.

[0033] Next, in S103, a high-speed spray of the beauty serum is performed, and the beauty serum is introduced into the dermis layer through the gaps formed by the plasma irradiation. The beauty serum may be an oxygen-containing beauty serum. In this case, the beauty device 1 further includes a beauty serum supply unit that supplies the oxygen-containing beauty serum to the handpiece 10. The beauty serum supply unit mixes the beauty serum with oxygen from the gas supply unit 20.

[0034] According to the cosmetic device 1 described above, a plurality of carrier gases can be suitably used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1...Beauty equipment 10. Handpiece 11. Plasma generator 20 Gas supply unit 30 Control unit 200···Main unit

Claims

1. A cosmetic device that performs treatment by irradiating plasma generated by ionizing a predetermined carrier gas, a handpiece in which a plasma generator including a corona discharge portion is disposed; a main body including a gas supply unit for supplying the carrier gas to the handpiece and a control unit for controlling the supply of the carrier gas from the gas supply unit; Equipped with the control unit switchably controls the supply of the carrier gas from the gas supply unit so that any one of the plurality of carrier gases can be supplied to the handpiece. beauty equipment.

2. the carrier gas comprises nitrogen and oxygen; the control unit switchably controls the supply of nitrogen as the carrier gas from the gas supply unit and the supply of oxygen as the carrier gas from the gas supply unit. The beauty device according to claim 1.

3. The gas supply unit includes a gas generator in which nitrogen-adsorbing zeolite is disposed, and a compressor that pressure-feeds the carrier gas generated by the gas generator to the handpiece. The beauty device according to claim 2.

4. The handpiece further includes a beauty serum supply unit that supplies a predetermined beauty serum to the handpiece. The beauty device according to claim 1.

5. The handpiece further includes a beauty serum supply unit that supplies a predetermined oxygen-containing beauty serum to the handpiece. In the serum supply unit, the serum and the oxygen from the gas supply unit are mixed. The beauty device according to claim 2.

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