Leaf-Spring Cutter Head Suspension for Skin-Adaptive Hair Cutting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hair cutters face challenges in achieving efficient cutting action while adapting to skin contours without causing skin irritation, and they often suffer from vibrations, rattling noises, and inefficient transmission of driving forces due to conflicting requirements for resilient support structures that allow self-adaptation and rigid driving motion.
Innovation Solution
A hair cutter with a support structure using an elongated leaf spring that allows for self-adaptation to skin contours by micro-diving and micro-tilting of cutter units, providing a stiff and resilient suspension that minimizes skin contact pressure and maintains efficient driving efficiency, reducing vibrations and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a resilient support structure is used to allow self-adaptation of cutter units to skin contour, then adaptability to skin contours is improved, but transmission efficiency of driving forces deteriorates due to mechanical losses and vibrations
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into multiple leaf springs (first and second leaf springs) that independently support different cutter units. Each leaf spring provides resilient support for its respective cutter unit, allowing localized adaptation to skin contours while maintaining stable driving force transmission for each cutting element.
Solution Approach 2:
The leaf springs provide dynamic resilient support that allows cutter units to adapt to skin contours during operation. The elastic deformation of the leaf springs enables the cutter units to move dynamically with skin contours while maintaining stable driving force transmission through their elastic restoring forces.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a resilient support structure is used to allow self-adaptation of cutter units to skin contour, then adaptability to skin contours is improved, but harmful factors increase due to vibrations and rattling noises
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into multiple independent leaf springs, each supporting a specific cutter unit. This segmentation isolates vibrations and rattling noises to individual cutter units rather than allowing them to propagate through the entire cutter head, reducing overall harmful vibrations and noises.
Solution Approach 2:
The leaf springs provide dynamic resilient support that absorbs and dampens vibrations and rattling noises generated during cutting operations. The elastic properties of the leaf springs allow them to act as vibration isolators, reducing harmful vibrations and noises while maintaining cutter adaptability to skin contours.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If skin contact pressure is reduced to avoid skin irritation, then skin irritation is reduced, but cutting efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The leaf springs provide dynamic resilient support that maintains optimal cutting pressure by allowing cutter units to adapt to skin contours. This dynamic adaptation ensures sufficient cutting efficiency while distributing pressure evenly, preventing excessive localized pressure that would cause skin irritation.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient support structure changes the pressure distribution parameters by allowing cutter units to self-adjust their position and contact pressure. This parameter change enables the system to maintain adequate cutting pressure where needed while reducing overall skin contact pressure to prevent irritation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The leaf spring support structure enables effective adaptation to skin contours with reduced skin contact pressure, enhancing cutting efficiency and reducing mechanical losses, vibrations, and noise, while maintaining stable driving force transmission.
Implementation Method 1
an elongated leaf spring holding the at least one cutter unit at the cutter head frame in an elastic way to allow for self-adaption of the cutter unit to the skin contour
Implementation Method 2
stiffening the suspension of the cutter unit with regard to the driving motion of the drivable cutter element relative to the stationary cutter element to improve driving efficiency and vibrations
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to cutting body hair such as beard stubbles of multidays' beard. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hair cutter such as electric shaver and/or electric trimmer, comprising a handle and a cutter head attached to said handle, and at least one cutter unit including a pair of drivable and stationary cutter elements cooperating with each other, said cutter unit being adjustably supported by means of a support structure including a spring mechanism to allow for elastic self-adaption of the cutter unit to the skin contour in terms of diving and/or tilting of the cutter unit relative to a cutter head frame, said spring mechanism including at least one elongated leaf spring which is rigidly attached, with one end portion, to a first end portion or edge portion of said cutter unit and, with another end portion, to said cutter head frame at a spring support portion thereof adjacent to a second end portion or edge portion of the cutter unit opposite to the first end portion or edge portion thereof. Despite such eccentric attachment of the leaf spring to the cutter unit and the asymmetric layout of the spring mechanism, the elastic support structure of the at least one cutter unit nevertheless may be configured to provide for a symmetric self-adaption, in particular symmetric micro diving and/or micro tilting.