Shaving Unit Retaining Member for Uniform Skin Light Guiding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shaving units with integrated light sources suffer from insufficient optical spreading of light, leading to local high intensity light spots that can cause discomfort and reduce treatment effectiveness, and thermal conduction limits the amount of light that can be applied to the skin.
Innovation Solution
The shaving unit incorporates an optically transparent supporting member and retaining member with a light-guiding portion to distribute light evenly across the skin-contacting surface, using the retaining member to guide light from the source to the supporting member, thereby avoiding direct thermal conduction and preventing local high intensity spots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a light source is integrated directly into the skin-contacting member, then the light can be emitted to the skin, but local high intensity light spots are created causing discomfort and reducing treatment effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an optically transparent supporting member as an intermediary between the light source and the skin-contacting surface. This supporting member acts as a light guide that distributes the light from the source across a larger area, preventing concentration of light intensity at any single point while still allowing the light to reach the skin effectively.
2Temperature
If the light source is thermally coupled to the skin-contacting surface for conductive heating, then skin heating effect is achieved, but thermal conduction limits the amount of light that can be applied to the skin
Solution Approach 1:
The optically transparent supporting member serves as a thermal intermediary that separates the thermal coupling path from the light transmission path. This allows the skin-contacting surface to be thermally coupled to the light source for heating purposes while the supporting member's optical transparency enables light to pass through to the skin without being blocked by thermal management structures.
3Illumination intensity
If the supporting member is made optically transparent to allow light passage, then light can reach the skin, but the structural integrity and retention of the hair-cutting unit may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material construction for the supporting member, combining optically transparent materials with sufficient mechanical strength. This composite approach allows the supporting member to simultaneously provide optical transparency for light transmission and structural integrity for retaining the hair-cutting unit in its operational position.
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
This design ensures uniform light distribution on the skin, preventing discomfort and enhancing treatment effectiveness while reducing thermal conduction to the skin, thus improving user comfort and treatment efficacy.
Implementation Method 1
The retaining member has an optically transparent light-guiding portion. The light source is arranged such that light generated by the light source is optically coupled into the light-guiding portion of the retaining member. The light-guiding portion of the retaining member has a light-outcoupling surface and is configured to guide the light received from the light source and to outcouple the light via the light-outcoupling surface in a direction towards the optically transparent portion of the supporting member.
Implementation Method 2
a portion of the supporting member comprising said portion of the skin-contacting surface is optically transparent
Implementation Method 3
it is noted that in general, any light source has a limited efficiency in converting electric power into optical power, and part of the electric power supplied to a light source is converted into thermal energy, so that a light source generates not only light but also residual heat during operation
Data Source
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AI summary
In a shaving unit (3) for an electric shaver, which is of the type comprising at least one hair-cutting unit, a base member (6) having a hair-collecting chamber (61), a supporting member (5) releasably mounted on the base member (6) and configured to support the hair-cutting unit, and a retaining member (7) connected to the supporting member (5) and configured to retain the hair-cutting unit in an operational position relative to the supporting member (5), at least one light source is applied for illuminating a skin of a user via at least a portion of a skin-contacting surface (51) of the supporting member (5) during use of the shaving unit (3). Both a portion of the supporting member (5) comprising said portion of the skin-contacting surface (51) and a portion of the retaining member (7) are optically transparent, wherein the latter portion serves for guiding and spreading light generated by the light source.