Razor Cartridge Non-Cutting Element Skin Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing razor cartridges with multiple blades often result in discomfort and inefficiency due to increased blade pressure and difficulty in shaving hard-to-reach areas like the neck, leading to missed hairs and skin irritation.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a non-cutting element within the blade array of a razor cartridge, which can be positioned between blades to reduce blade pressure, align hairs, and improve skin management, thereby enhancing shaving comfort and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple blades are used in a razor cartridge, then shaving closeness is improved, but skin discomfort and irritation increase due to cumulative blade pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The blade array is segmented to include both cutting blades and non-cutting elements. This segmentation allows the system to distribute functions: cutting blades perform hair removal while non-cutting elements provide skin management and hair alignment, reducing cumulative pressure on the skin while maintaining shaving closeness.
Solution Approach 2:
Non-cutting elements act as intermediaries between the cutting blades and the skin. These elements align hairs and manage skin contact without performing cutting, thereby reducing direct blade-to-skin pressure and irritation while facilitating closer shaves.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple blades are used in a razor cartridge, then more hairs can be cut, but shaving efficiency decreases due to missed hairs in hard-to-reach areas
Solution Approach 1:
Non-cutting elements perform preliminary actions by aligning and positioning hairs before they reach the cutting blades. This preliminary hair alignment ensures that subsequent blade passes are more effective, reducing missed hairs in hard-to-reach areas and improving overall shaving efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Non-cutting elements serve as intermediaries that prepare hairs for cutting by aligning them properly. This mediation ensures that cutting blades can effectively reach and cut hairs in difficult areas, improving the proportion of hairs cut while maintaining productivity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If blade tip span is reduced to improve skin management, then skin bulge between blades is reduced, but rinse-ability of hair clippings and debris decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The blade array is segmented to include non-cutting elements that create additional spacing and rinse-through gaps. This segmentation allows for optimized blade tip spans that reduce skin bulge while the non-cutting elements maintain adequate rinse-through gaps for effective hair clipping and debris removal.
4Quantity of substance
If the number of blades is increased to cut more hairs, then shaving coverage is improved, but discomfort increases due to increased blade pressure on skin
Solution Approach 1:
The blade array is segmented to include both cutting blades and non-cutting elements. This segmentation allows the system to distribute functions: cutting blades perform hair removal while non-cutting elements provide skin management and hair alignment, reducing cumulative pressure on the skin while maintaining the ability to cut multiple hairs.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting function is extracted from all elements in the blade array. Only specific elements have cutting edges, while others are dedicated to skin management and hair alignment. This extraction reduces the total cutting force applied to the skin while maintaining effective hair removal capability.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 1A
Figure 2
AI summary
A novel razor cartridge includes at least one non-cutting element disposed anywhere within a blade array between a guard and a cap and/or in a blade position of a frame providing skin/hair management. This non-cutting element allows the fine-tuning of parameters such as blade-skin contact, hair orientation, blade spans and rinse-through gaps in manners that improve shaving comfort, closeness, efficiency, and/or rinse-ability. The non-cutting element may include projections, fin-like elements, comb-like features having teeth, exfoliation or lubricating capabilities. By having a fixed non-cutting element disposed midway in a blade array, a multi-stage cartridge is provided with a middle control point with potentially different functionality before and after the non-cutting element. The non-cutting element is not attached to another blade in the blade array though it may be manufactured as a modified blade support, attached to a blade support, or as part of the frame or the clips.