Shaving Razor Guard With Undulating Elastomeric Rows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wet shaving razors face challenges in achieving proper hair orientation, reducing frictional drag, and enhancing skin stretching while maintaining comfort and preventing nicks, as existing guards often compromise between skin stretching and closeness of shave.
Innovation Solution
A shaving cartridge design featuring a guard with undulating rows of elastomeric material, crests, and valleys that provide enhanced skin stretching and facilitate the passage of shave prep, combined with a pivoting mechanism and a lubricating cap for improved comfort and reduced friction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a rigid guard is used to maintain shaving geometry, then blade orientation and position are improved, but skin stretching is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The guard is designed with different material properties in different regions: the majority of the guard remains rigid to maintain shaving geometry, while specific localized areas (valleys between crests) incorporate elastomeric material to provide skin stretching. This local differentiation allows simultaneous achievement of precise blade orientation and enhanced skin stretching without compromising either function.
2Ease of operation
If the guard contacts skin closely to stretch skin, then skin stretching is improved, but frictional drag increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guard features localized elastomeric material in valley regions that contact the skin, providing skin stretching through elastic deformation. The crests of the undulating rows remain rigid and do not contact the skin, reducing frictional drag. This localized material placement enables skin stretching while minimizing overall friction.
Solution Approach 2:
The guard incorporates an undulating surface with crests and valleys rather than a flat surface. The curved valley regions allow the elastomeric material to conform to skin contours for stretching, while the crests maintain a rigid profile that reduces frictional contact with the skin during shaving motion.
3Ease of operation
If elastomeric material is added to improve skin stretching, then skin stretching is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric material is integrated directly into the guard structure as an insert or molded component, merging the skin-stretching function with the existing guard design. This integration approach avoids adding separate complex mechanisms and maintains a relatively simple overall device structure while achieving enhanced skin stretching.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than making the entire guard elastomeric, only specific localized valley regions contain the elastomeric material. This localized approach minimizes the amount of elastomeric material required and simplifies the overall guard structure compared to a fully elastomeric design, while still providing effective skin stretching where needed.
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 solution allows for simultaneous proper hair orientation, reduced friction, increased skin stretching, improved closeness of shave, and enhanced comfort, while maintaining effective skin engagement without sacrificing shaving performance.
Implementation Method 1
The guard may be generally rigid, for example formed integrally with a frame or platform structure which provides a support for the blades. Guards may also comprise softer elastomeric materials to improve skin stretching.
Implementation Method 2
The cap may comprise a water leachable shaving aid to reduce drag and improve comfort.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A shaving cartridge with a housing, cap at a rear of the housing, one or more blades mounted to the housing in front of the cap, and a guard at a front of the housing. The guard has a top surface with a plurality of undulating rows extending parallel to the blade. The undulating rows have crests and valleys. The valleys comprise an elastomeric material and are stepped from a front of the guard to a rear of the guard.